Category: CNN Regional

By Matt Schooley

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    BOSTON (WBZ) — Veteran Boston firefighter Robert “Bobby” Kilduff Jr. died Saturday night after falling from the third floor of a Dorchester home while battling a large fire.

It happened around 8:15 p.m. on Treadway Road. The Boston Fire Department shared video that show flames raging through the roof of the home.

A mayday call was issued when Kilduff fell. He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. Early Sunday morning, firefighters stood and saluted Kilduff’s body during a dignified transfer as he was moved from the hospital to the medical examiner’s office.

Kilduff was a third-generation firefighter and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

“Bobby was known throughout the department as one of those people you could go to for anything. He was just a firefighter’s firefighter. He would do anything for you, he would do anything for the people of the city,” Boston Fire Commissioner Rodney Marshall said at a news conference early Sunday morning.

The veteran firefighter is survived by his adult daughter and son.

“He was our friend, our brother, and a dedicated family man,” Sam Dillon, Boston Firefighters Local 718 president said in a statement.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said during the news conference that “Boston lost a hero tonight.”

“Firefighter Robert Kilduff, Jr. came from a family of firefighters, and he held this calling as the highest duty to serve and protect,” Wu said. “Because of his actions, working alongside his fellow firefighters, every resident came out of the flames safe and sound. On behalf of the City of Boston, we extend our deepest condolences to the Kilduff family and all of Bobby’s loved ones.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey ordered flags in the state be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings in memory of Kilduff.

“His heroic actions last night saved the lives of five individuals, in addition to the countless people he rescued throughout the course of his distinguished career. His death serves as a reminder of the dangers firefighters face every day when they put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe,” Healey said in a statement. “My heart goes out to his family and his brothers and sisters in the Boston Fire Department. On this tragic day and every day, I want all of our Massachusetts firefighters and their loved ones to know that we stand with you, and we are forever grateful for your service and sacrifice.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Lissette Nuñez

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    SUMMIT, Illinois (WLS) — Emmett Till’s cousin and the great-great-great-grandson of the Jim Crow laws architect hope to inspire others as they share their friendship.

It was reunion that some would not expect during Memorial Day weekend.

“I can remember when Emmett was kidnapped and murdered. I was there when they took him,” said Till’s cousin, Argo Temple Church of God in Christ Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr.

Parker came together with Charles Sims, the great-great-great-grandson of James Z. George, a late U.S. senator from Mississippi.

“My great-great-great-grandfather authored the 1890 constitution, which he became the primary author of the Jim Crow law. So, for me, coming here, I think, it is long overdue,” Sims said.

The two met in Washington, D.C. last year at the Smithsonian. Parker invited Sims to his church in Summit to worship and speak at his congregation, something that Sims took him up on.

The two families’ histories are worlds apart and filled with pain, but Sunday was about healing.

“That’s why I’m here, I think, to show the unity in the community, to show brotherhood, and to show that we can reach across party and racial lines,” Sims said.

“Having Charles here and willing to stand up and come forth and acknowledge the wrongs, without any animosity or real hate, just to talk about history, shows how far we’ve come and how much work we still need to do,” Parker said.

Their message on Sunday is meant to inspire hope that even through divisive times, love can win.

“Love is stronger than pain, that we all have the ability to sit down to show love and bring that unity back to the community, even if it took 80 years or 150 years,” Sims said.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Naomi Ruchim

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — With the Knicks just one win away from reaching the NBA Finals, the New York City Police Department says it won’t support any more playoff watch parties outside Madison Square Garden due to unruly fan behavior.

Knicks playoff games have been shown on large outdoor screens on 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues. The watch parties are free to attend, and have drawn huge crowds. According to the NYPD, about 6,000 people attended the watch party Thursday night for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The NYPD said at Thursday’s watch party, some attendees jumped over police barriers, threw things into the crowd, blocked vehicle traffic on multiple streets, and climbed on top of subway entrances. There were also reports of public drinking. Six people were arrested.

“This is not about having enough of the unruly fans – this is about keeping people safe,” an NYPD spokesperson said in a statement, in part.

City Councilmember Oswald Feliz, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, spoke out against the decision Saturday.

“Public safety has to be a top priority, but this is a city with a lot of resources,” he said, “and we should be able to have these events and, at the same time, be able to have them in a safe way and also in a successful way.”

Dr. Darrin Porcher, a former NYPD lieutenant who spent 20 years with the department, said he doesn’t think the NYPD made the right call.

“It baffles me that the permit has been denied for 6,000 people because this is something that the NYPD has been doing for years on end,” he said.

Some fans said they understand the decision and that a few bad apples are ruining the fun for everyone.

“It kinda sucks, but I honestly get it,” fan Joe Raguso said. “I understand partying, having fun. This is a special time of year. But once you start fighting, that’s not cool, man. We all gotta love each other. We’re the Knicks. We’re all together right now.”

“It kind of sucks because this fan base is hungry,” fan Shaughnessy Moody said. “We haven’t won a championship in over 50 years.”

“Everybody is just trying to have fun. They’re enjoying the Knicks season,” fan Nick Malacary said.

Police said they will review requests to hold watch parties at other locations, such as SummerStage in Central Park.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Loureen Ayyoub

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Opera singer Tim Blevins performs regularly outside San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre, where his powerful voice has become familiar to many passing through the Civic Center neighborhood. But for Blevins, music is more than performance; it is survival.

“Singing probably saved my life,” Blevins said. “Because I was kind of an anomaly to be a Black man singing opera, and be good at it.”

Blevins, 61, earned a master’s degree from Juilliard School and has performed on major opera and Broadway stages throughout his career. But after struggling with drug addiction, he experienced periods of homelessness that drastically changed the course of his life.

Still, he said music remained the constant that carried him through.

“No matter what has ever happened in my life, singing is what I have always fallen back on,” Blevins said. “If I ever need to eat, I sing.”

Now living in the Civic Center area, Blevins often performs for donations along Market Street near Eighth Street, an area known for both heavy foot traffic and a visible homeless population.

Injuries, including one to his hip, have left him using a wheelchair. Even so, Blevins said he remains confident in his voice, though he admits performing in public can still make him uncomfortable.

“I’m kind of introverted, you know,” he said. “I’m shy because I messed my teeth up. And so, I don’t really look up and sing.”

But even without making eye contact, Blevins’ performances routinely stop pedestrians in their tracks.

Angela Allen, one of two friends who recently stopped to listen to Blevins perform, said his music immediately resonated with them.

“Music really speaks to you,” Allen said. “I think it’s a universal language. And no matter where you come from and who you are, it just stops you in your tracks. And how wonderful to be out here and hear something like this. So, we were blessed.”

Blevins said the reactions he receives from strangers often remind him why he continues to perform.

“I’ve had people say they were getting ready to go kill somebody and they heard me sing and it stopped it,” he said.

For Blevins, the voice that brings peace to others also helps sustain him financially, allowing him to save money for food and family support.

“Survival,” Blevins said. “Singing is survival for me. So no matter what, I have to sing.”

And so he does, continuing to perform on the corner of Market and Eighth streets, where opera echoes through the heart of the city.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Andrea Nakano

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — It was a ride a San Francisco couple will never forget and will never want to take again. Elliot Slade and his fiancée took a Waymo from San Mateo, hoping to reach their Mission District home.

Instead, the Waymo sped through a construction zone, was chased by police, then veered off the highway into a residential neighborhood.

“The Waymo started freaking out as we got closer to the merge cause the lanes were kind of all merging,” Slade said. “One lane was gone, another lane was, who knows where it was. Cars were all over the place going in.”

Slade captured cellphone video showing the Waymo trying to merge, but it was what happened next that terrified him and his fiancée.

“The scariest part, we’re all like OK, something’s happening,” he said. “We’re just going to pull over, we’re going to be safe. Then it accelerated to highway speeds down this construction lane.”

At that point, Slade wondered if he was going to make it out of the Waymo alive.

“There were construction signs,” he added. “There were lights going on. Police in the distance and it sped up. That’s when I looked at my fiancée, we’re done. This is it. We’re dead. We’re going to die right here in the Waymo.”

Slade says the Waymo sped up for roughly 20 seconds. It eventually got off the highway and pulled over in a residential neighborhood. That’s when they finally heard from a Waymo representative.

“She came on the line and said from what I could see, it seemed like a stressful experience,” he recalls the voice saying. “What do you want to do next? I was like we want to get out. They’re like do you want to continue the journey; I was like absolutely not.”

Waymo started service on the freeways in November of 2025 in four cities: San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Miami.

“Safety is Waymo’s top priority, both for our riders and everyone we share the road with,” Waymo said in a statement. “We have temporarily paused freeway operations, as we work to integrate recent technical learnings into our software and expect to resume these routes soon.”

Waymo offered Slade three free rides up to $40 each in the future, but he’s not sure if he’ll take them up on it, definitely not a ride that would require getting on the highway.

“What was scary was that for the first time, we felt completely helpless,” he said. “You can’t jump into the seat. No one was picking up. It was going at 70 [mph] on this construction lane into what we thought were like trucks. And police and everything. I was like what can we do. We can’t even open the door. What do we do at this point?”

Slade is hoping Waymo will thoroughly look into the incident and see how the company can prevent similar incidents from happening again. He says after his ride, he will have a hard time trusting autonomous vehicles until an independent study is done and transparent data is released.

“It was one of those things, once you lost your autonomy in the car, I don’t want to feel that again,” he said. “Like it was a really freaky moment.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Conor McGill

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    ROCKLIN, California (KOVR) — Rising tensions in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are continuing to push gas and diesel prices higher, adding new pressure to school districts that rely heavily on fuel to transport students every day.

The Rocklin Unified School District is among several districts in the region moving toward increased use of electric school buses, a transition leaders say will lower long-term fuel costs while reshaping the experience for students, drivers, and families.

For grandparents like Debby Wells, the difference is noticeable before the bus even arrives.

“It’s very, very quiet and I have to really listen hard for it,” Wells said while waiting with her grandchildren at a Rocklin Unified bus stop.

Inside the district’s transportation yard, Director of Transportation Matt Hebb says the shift toward electric buses is happening quickly.

“They’re all yellow, school bus yellow. Just walking up to it, it’s difficult to tell the difference,” Hebb said. “But the IC has the electric up on the upper part and on the nameplate on the side.”

Rocklin Unified says that within the next year, electric buses are expected to outnumber diesel buses in the district’s fleet.

“We’re going to have over 50% electric buses, so it’ll be almost all electric going around this yard,” Hebb said.

District leaders say the transition is about more than reducing emissions. With diesel prices remaining volatile, officials say electric buses are also helping reduce transportation costs.

According to the district, diesel buses cost about 88 cents per mile to fuel, while electricity costs around 31 cents per mile.

Rocklin Unified says its 11 electric buses have already logged approximately 120,000 miles this year, saving an estimated $37,000 in fuel costs.

Charging the buses is also relatively simple for drivers, according to Hebb.

“When you come in to recharge, you just plug it in and it’s communicating with the charger to establish connection and go ahead and recharge,” he said.

The transition has also meant adapting to new technology inside the district’s maintenance shop.

Senior mechanic Charlie Elias, who spent more than three decades working on diesel engines, now helps maintain the district’s growing electric fleet.

“We get about a 10 to 15% less miles, but over in the hilly districts of El Dorado County, they’re getting a lot less because they’re using regen more going downhill,” Elias said.

Elias says regenerative braking helps recharge the battery, but can also increase wear on the tires.

“When the regen activates, it basically skids the tires to turn the motor into a generator instead of a power plant,” he said.

For Wells, the technology may continue to evolve, but she believes transportation systems still need to keep moving forward.

“Electric vehicles might not stay, might not be permanent. There’s always alternatives,” Wells said. “But we can’t stay with the status quo. We have to keep moving forward.”

In Rocklin, that future is already rolling through the district, one quiet ride at a time.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.