Category: CNN Regional

By Chantelle Navarro

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    NORMAN, Okla. (KOCO) — The University of Oklahoma student who received a zero on a psychology essay after citing the Bible is speaking out after claiming religious discrimination.

Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at OU, said after bringing up what happened to the university, the school decided that the grade, which was worth 25 points, would not count against her. But that doesn’t mean the conversation is over just yet.

“I just did the assignment and turned it in, and I talked about the Bible in it. That is, I view all my opinions in the world through, the Bible,” Fulnecky said.

When she submitted the essay reacting to an article for her class, she received a zero. Her graduate instructor, who is transgender, was the person grading the essay.

They called the essay offensive and said it lacked empirical evidence.

“I gave my opinion, and, not just my opinion, but that’s like the Bible says that God created male and female, and anything that’s not from God, is glorifying to God, is glorifying to the enemy,” Fulnecky said.

Excerpts of the essay said society is pushing the lie of multiple genders, and that is demonic. She said she believes it is against God’s will.

“What I meant by that, the demonic thing, is that I didn’t mean for that to be offensive, but the truth will naturally offend people, and so I think that’s why people are kind of viewing that as offensive,” Fulnecky said.

“So, would you have a problem having a transgender teacher?” KOCO 5’s Chantelle Navarro asked.

“I would not if they were able to separate their kind of beliefs and things from grading, then I don’t really care who my professors are,” Fulnecky said.

She was supposed to be graded on whether there was an understanding of the article, whether it was a clear reaction, and whether the main ideas were organized in a coherent discussion.

She received zero out of 25 points and filed a complaint against OU, claiming her religious freedom was violated. The instructor was placed on administrative leave.

Fulnecky said she isn’t sure whether she will seek any legal action.

“In the end, I really do not see this lawsuit going anywhere, as there is no constitutional guarantee to an A in a class at a public university,” attorney Ed Blau told KOCO.

The graduate instructor, who was contacted through email, declined to comment.

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By Michael Cusanelli, Jackson Stoever

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    WINOOSKI, Vermont (WPTZ) — A second-grade student and his mother from Winooski have been arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The 7-year-old boy and his mother were detained while traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Winooski School District found out about their detainment when the student did not show up for class on Monday. The school then called the boy’s father, who said he did not know where his family was, and that he had lost contact with them last week. He told the school that they had left to visit family out of state on Thursday. He lost contact with them on Friday.

The boy and his mother were on their way to visit family in Minnesota. They made it as far as Illinois. That is where they were detained. It is unclear why they were taken into custody or why they were stopped in the first place.

The family is originally from Ecuador. As for their legal status, the father was in the process of applying for asylum in the U.S.

Winooski has a “sanctuary school district,” which means the district does not inquire about immigration status.

They are currently being held together at a detention facility in Texas. The school district was able to make brief contact with them there, but the call dropped. They have not heard from them since.

Winooski School District Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria says this is the first time one of their students were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He is now calling for their release.

“We sort of already know what happens to detainees, whether they’re detained here or elsewhere, it’s all the same web,” said Chavarria. “Our families live in fear. I personally understand that. Many families do not have the privilege to go about their lives the same way most people can, to go to the grocery store, to go to school, to visit family without having this constant terror of being separated from your child.”

In a statement posted to the district’s social media page, Chavarria said, “Our second grader should be in his classroom, not in a detention cell.”

Chavarria is a native of Nicaragua and a naturalized American citizen. Earlier this year, he was held by immigration authorities in Houston while returning from a visit to family members overseas.

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By John Grinvalds

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    LEXINGTON, Neb. (KETV) — The news that Tyson Foods would be shuttering its plant in Lexington, Nebraska left the community adrift last week.

“They feel like their life is over,” Ramon Prado, a counselor in Lexington, told KETV last Tuesday. “They dedicated their life the last, at least for sure the last 20 to 25 years, 30 years to Tyson.”

City and state leaders have rallied to keep the closure from destroying Lexington, but agricultural leaders in Nebraska say its impact on the beef industry in the state will be unavoidable.

“It’s just not the closing of a plant,” Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue said. “It’s the closing, you know, of that whole economy that goes around that.”

The end of production in Lexington will hurt the plant’s 3,200 employees. But it will also spell trouble for the truckers and producers who weave their way onto the compound every day, hauling roughly 4,000 heads of cattle.

“Those cattle have to go somewhere,” Craig Uden, the incoming president of the Nebraska Cattlemen, said. “It’s really in the center of the cattle feeding industry up here in Nebraska. There’s been more growth around this plant within the 200 miles.”

There are other plants in Nebraska, but whether they can pick up the slack is an open question.

“It’s a logistics nightmare,” McHargue said. “You have to now add that time, these trucks are gonna have to go farther. So you really need more trucks on the road, which then you need more truck drivers.”

One cause for the catastrophe is the downturn in the national cattle herd. The American Farm Bureau says, after years of drought and labor issues, it’s at its lowest in more than 70 years. McHargue and Uden say that puts strain on the packers who have fewer heads to process per day.

“There was a risk that we would lose a packer,” McHargue said. “What’s very unfortunate is that it’s in Nebraska. And, you know, that’s the disappointing thing, especially with the newer reports that cattle on feed, you know, is number one here in Nebraska more than Texas. So why Nebraska?”

Both McHargue and Uden say the herd population is set to rebound.

“I do believe the herd will grow,” Uden said. “It’s just going to be at a slower pace.”

But then, there will be fewer packers, fueling more economic uncertainty down the line.

“The pinch point, my gut says we’re going to have in a couple of years if we don’t get a plant like Lexington retooled and back to processing cattle,” McHargue said.

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By Phil Tenser, Peter Eliopoulos

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    SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Fire officials credited a utility worker for using a bucket truck to rescue a resident from a burning building on Monday in Somerville, Massachusetts.

According to Chief Charles Breen of the Somerville Fire Department, the Eversource employee was working nearby when they saw the fire. They used the bucket truck to help a woman out of the upper floor.

“She had climbed out a window onto the front porch under heavy smoke and fire conditions, and the Eversource worker got her into the bucket and got her to safety,” Breen said. “So I, I’d like to really give credit to that worker. He did a hell of a job. Definitely saved a woman’s life.”

The worker did not want to be identified but told NewsCenter 5 that he was working up the street and spotted the smoke.

He said he saw the woman stuck on the awning as she was trying to escape through the window. He drove down and extended his bucket truck to help her get to safety.

Breen said the rescued resident was not seriously injured, but they were taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation.

Pictures from the scene show the resident sitting on the awning with flames burning to her right and the bucket truck waiting in front of her.

Sky5 flew over the building at 47 Marion St. after the flames were knocked down and saw heavy damage to both floors of a unit near the center of the building. Numerous firefighters were working on the roof, where some smoke was still visible.

“We were able to get ahead of it on both sides and stop into that one unit. However, all six units have suffered smoke and water damage,” Breen said.

The affected building is located on the south side of Lincoln Park, near the intersection with Wyatt Street. The intersection was closed for the emergency response.

Fire officials said the utility worker did not want to be identified.

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By JD Franklin III

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    MCDOWELL COUNTY, North Carolina (WXII) — Deputies in McDowell County went above the call of duty to care for an elderly couple in the community.

On Thanksgiving, a McDowell County resident, who was in a local nursing facility recovering from surgery, contacted the sheriff’s office to ask, “Can someone please check on my wife?”

Officials realized that his wife, 96, was at their home with no way to communicate.

Two deputies immediately responded. While checking on her, one of the deputies realized she was spending the holiday alone and brought her a Thanksgiving plate from his own family’s dinner.

Since then, officials said they have been stopping by daily to make sure she is doing well.

On Monday, the granddaughter of the couple stopped by the sheriff’s office to thank deputies. She and one of the deputies were able to snap a photo, which you can see below.

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By Hayley Crombleholme

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    FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that a pizza box helped lead their office to a suspect in a home burglary.

Back in January, a report said a 65-year-old woman left work and arrived at her Pritchard Drive home in Palm Coast to find it ransacked. She reported that anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000 in cash had been taken.

A report says the suspect got inside the home and switched off the power breaker, unplugged the internet modem, and covered an interior security camera with a jacket.

“He then ransacked the home,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “In the process, when he was ransacking in the kitchen area, he cut himself and left some blood on a pizza box, which really helped this investigation.”

The sheriff said that DNA was put into a state and federal database, and it came back as a match to 33-year-old William Vargas-Carmona.

“It was determined that the individual was in fact in this country illegally, and had been deported and illegally came back into this country,” Staly said. “But he made the mistake of coming to Flagler County, where we take crime seriously.”

In October, a warrant was issued for Vargas-Carmona’s arrest for burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft. On Nov. 21, Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified the sheriff’s office that they had found him in Jacksonville.

“What surprised me the most is that he was still around,” Staly said. “I’m glad he was. ICE was able to find him and notify us that they had him in custody.”

Vargas-Carmona was taken to a detention center in Baker County.

“He’s not going to be able to victimize any other Florida resident. He is in jail where he belongs,” Staly said.

Court records show Vargas-Carmona is set to be arraigned in Flagler County later this month.

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By Wayne Covil

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    COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Virginia (WTVR) — Three first graders at Lakeview Elementary School in Colonial Heights became unlikely heroes when they sprang into action to save their teacher’s life after she started choking on food.

Madison Swift, 23, was in her first year teaching when the frightening incident occurred a week ago.

“I was eating while working with a student when I suddenly started choking on my food,” Swift said.

That’s when three of her students — 7-year-old Kolton Hersh and 6-year-olds Dereck Contreras-Franco and Bryson Doss — realized something was seriously wrong.

“She choked and she cannot breathe,” Contreras-Franco said.

“All of a sudden, her face and eyes started going red,” Doss said, demonstrating how Swift was gesturing for help.

Each of the three boys took a different approach to helping their teacher. Contreras-Franco went for the emergency call button on the wall, and when the office answered, he and other students began screaming that Swift was choking.

Doss decided to run out the door to get another teacher “because I knew that she was choking and I knew I needed to get another teacher.”

Hersh, who was right beside Swift, took the most direct approach. “Then I pat her on her back to get the food out of her throat,” he said, demonstrating the back blows he performed.

Swift vividly remembers how her students helped save her life that day. “The student next to me bent me over and started doing back blows to my back to where I dislodged the food,” she said.

She praised each boy’s quick thinking. When Contreras-Franco pressed the emergency button, “he and all the other students in my room were letting the office know I was choking and that I needed help.”

Doss “got the teacher across the hallway once he realized it was an emergency.”

Swift has no doubt about what happened that Friday. “They 100% saved my life,” she said.

The first-year teacher believes the strong relationship she built with her students from day one made all the difference. “At the beginning of the year, I built that trust and love relationship so they saw their teacher in crisis and they just kind of jumped into action right away,” Swift said.

Swift has a treasure box in her classroom where students who perform well throughout the week can pick something out. That Friday, Kolton, Dereck and Bryson all got that special opportunity — a small reward for their life-saving heroism.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WTVR verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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By Pepper Purpura

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Iowa saw more than 200 crashes on state highways from Nov. 27 through Nov. 30 as a powerful round of snow and ice created dangerous travel conditions across the state, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Eight of those crashes involved snowplows.

The wave of wrecks came as crews worked long hours to clear roads following heavy snowfall that dumped almost 11 inches in Des Moines. Des Moines Public Works said Monday it has now finished plowing residential streets.

Tow truck drivers have also been busy responding to stranded motorists. Andy Deboard of Perry’s Service & Towing said calls spiked immediately after the tow ban lifted Sunday.

“Opened at 7. Phone started ringing. I had three calls within the first 15 seconds,” Deboard said.

He said the combination of holiday travel and deep snow left many drivers unprepared.

“We were just hit with, you know, 10, 12 inches right off the bat and it threw a lot of people a curveball they weren’t expecting,” he said.

Deboard added that dangerous conditions extend beyond plow operators to the tow crews working beside busy roads.

“That’s the most dangerous part of our job is working along the roadside,” he said. “Any time you see flashing lights, whether it be a snowplow, police car or fire truck, tow truck, it doesn’t matter what color those lights are. Pay attention. Slow down. Give them space.”

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