Category: CNN Regional

By Ashley Glass

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    PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (WPTV) — WPTV viewers bring a wide range of stories to our attention at our Let’s Hear It community meet-ups. This one, shared with Morning Anchor Ashley Glass, centers on a simple idea with a powerful message: take a sip and help save a life.

“Today, we’re talking about my son, Ethan,” Alicia Ireson shared at a Let’s Hear It event in Palm Beach Gardens Feb. 11.

Ethan, now 7, came up with the idea at just 6 years old to host a lemonade stand to raise awareness and money in the fight against Parkinson’s disease.

“I just wanted to help my dad,” Ethan said.

Alicia’s husband, and the father of Ethan and his brother Ian, was diagnosed in 2020 with young-onset Parkinson’s.

“He’s kind. He’s very nice,” Ethan said of his father.

“He’s funny. He’s smart. And he can still do things even though he’s fighting through Parkinson’s,” added Ethan’s older brother, Ian.

What started as one lemonade stand has grown into a family-wide mission to raise awareness, and response from the community has been overwhelming.

“It’s breathtaking how they’ve come out,” Ireson said.

Looking ahead, Ethan hopes his small stand can make a big difference.

“Maybe we could get a cure for Parkinson’s and help my dad,” he said.

So far, Ethan has raised nearly $8,000 for the Parkinson’s Foundation through his lemonade stands. His next stand is scheduled for March 1 in Palm Beach Gardens, with a Parkinson’s fundraising walk planned for later this month.

You can follow Ethan’s journey—and learn how to join the Ireson family’s walk team—through their Instagram pages.

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 Robb Coles

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    NASHVILLE (WTVF) — When the ice storm hit Nashville, many people hunkered down at home.

However, Officer Michael Douglas made a different choice — he stayed at the stables in Percy Warner Park to care for the Metro Nashville Police Department’s mounted patrol horses.

For three days, Douglas worked alone in the dark and cold, keeping the horses fed and watered after the stable lost power.

“Horses eat and drink to produce their own body heat to stay warm,” Douglas said.

The officer spent those initial days cleaning stalls by flashlight in the enclosed barn with no electricity.

Due to fallen trees and icy conditions, other officers couldn’t leave their homes to help, leaving Douglas as the sole caretaker for the patrol’s horses.

“Every day you were without power, you were anticipating today’s going to be the day that we’re going to get power,” Douglas said.

The stable remained without electricity for nine days.

Douglas even had to break up ice that formed on the water buckets inside the stalls to ensure the horses could drink.

Among the horses Douglas cared for was Tucker, his partner, and the newest addition to the mounted patrol.

Thanks to Douglas’s dedication during the storm, the horses made it through safely.

Now they’re back to regular patrol duties and taking advantage of spring weather.

The horses join the patrol as young as 4 years old and work until they’re 20, giving these partnerships plenty of time to develop.

“We get them as young as four years old, and they will work until they’re 20 years old,” Douglas said.

This story was reported on-air by journalist Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WTVF verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Ellen Ice

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    FRANKFORT, Kentucky (WLEX) — The state treasury has a vault where $1.1 billion in unclaimed property lives, and with more than four million items, it’s getting full.

“It’s money that belongs to the people, it’s not the government’s money and it shouldn’t be held by us, it should be returned to them,” said Deputy Treasurer Russell Webber.

Webber says unclaimed property is considered abandoned after a certain amount of time depending on the asset.

Since January 1, 2024, the office has returned $88 million to Kentucky residents.

“It might be a life insurance policy, it might be a lock box at a bank, it may be a dormant banking account, it may be an uncashed payroll check,” said Webber.

They have items dating back to the 1940s, including a glass case full of military metals and memorabilia. They even have a Purple Heart.

“We want to get it reunited with their families so they can keep that legacy in their family for years and years to come,” said Jim Florence, Director of Unclaimed Property.

They also have some odd items.

“We have hair lockets, we have teeth,” said Florence.

There is no statute of limitations on keeping the items. As long as they belong to you, the treasury will keep them under lock and key.

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 Erin Rosas

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    SCOTT COUNTY, Kentucky (WLEX) — James Farthing, who won Kentucky’s largest Powerball jackpot in history, faces new criminal charges after being arrested on an intimidation allegation in Scott County on Feb. 11, a citation revealed.

The arrest marks the second time Farthing has faced criminal charges since he and his mother, Linda Grizzle, claimed the record-breaking $167 million Powerball prize in April 2025.

Deputies responded to a residence on Cynthiana Road after a woman called 911 saying she feared for her life and believed the occupants had weapons, according to the citation. The woman was reportedly found hiding under a desk in the home’s front office.

After being taken to an area hospital, the woman told investigators that Farthing had picked her up from her Lexington home for a planned gathering and allegedly pressured her to consume a “gummy” of unknown substance.

While the woman was receiving medical attention, she received a text message from Farthing, the citation read.

Deputies seized Farthing’s phone after learning he was actively texting the victim during the investigation. A search warrant was obtained for the property, during which officers discovered marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and a .380 caliber handgun wrapped in clothing inside a dryer, according to the citation.

Farthing reportedly denied ownership of the weapon, claiming it belonged to another resident. He was arrested and transported to the Scott County Detention Center.

This latest arrest comes after Farthing was previously arrested in Florida just one day after publicly claiming his lottery winnings in Aug. 2025. In that incident, body camera footage showed Farthing kicking a deputy in the face during an altercation at a St. Petersburg hotel bar. He was tased and tackled to the ground after attempting to flee.

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 Eileen Buckley

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    BUFFALO, New York (WKBW) — Rev. Diann Holt founded Durham’s Maternal Stress-Free Zone 15 years ago after witnessing the trauma mothers face during childbirth, including her own experiences giving birth to her sons.

“Because I could see all the trauma and the problems that I encountered when I gave birth to my sons,” Holt said.

The program, located within Durham Zion Church on East Eagle Street on Buffalo’s East Side, offers comprehensive support from birth planning to breastfeeding assistance for mothers and families facing various challenges.

“Please keep in mind, every individual that comes into our program does not necessarily be in financial poverty. Sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s spiritual. Sometimes it’s oh my God. It’s the state of who they are at the time that they’re encountering what it is that they’re encountering,” Holt said.

The program extends beyond maternal support to include fathers who need guidance with their children.

“The courts now are giving fathers their children. So, if we get a dad who comes in and says, ‘I don’t know what to do with this little girl’, and we’ll say, rock her, love her, and we’ll teach you how to braid her hair,” Holt said.

The center provides meals for families as part of its holistic approach to care. Holt connects this service to her spiritual mission.

“Well, that’s the spirituality piece. Did Jesus ever attempt to teach preach to anyone without feeding the human body? He didn’t. And it’s also a way of teaching them about nutrition,” Holt said.

While I was visiting the center, Volunteer Supervisor Rhonda Butler showed up with this special t-shirt for Rev. Holt.

“I love it!” Rev. Holt said. “She’s a hero to so many people,” Butler said. “The mothers come in, babies come in, hugging her. They call her Momma Di.”

One mother who uses the program’s services praised its family-centered approach.

“They like to help families…and it’s just very family oriented,” she said in a recorded video. “And I love it and they help you with whatever you need.”

At 77 years old, Holt has been an ordained minister since 1997 and tells me she works around the clock to serve her community and is not retiring anytime soon.

“I will tell you this, that I will continue to do this until God calls me home,” Holt said.

For Holt, Black History Month represents something deeper than an annual observance.

“I tell people that Black history is 24/7, 365, every day you open your eyes, take a deep breath and plant your feet on the floor. You’re creating history,” Holt said. “And the only way we can do that is to do it in love and to do it in wisdom, and to do it with kindness and to do it by being inclusive.”

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

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 Taylor Epps

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    WILLIAMSVILLE, New York (WKBW) — The Lottbrein family has gotten the same question since their quintuplets were born: How are you going to fit a family of 9 in a car?

West Herr answered that question on Tuesday with a surprise for the family, a 2026 Chevrolet Suburban.

“We were shocked and so incredibly appreciative of it because we never expected any of this,” said Jessica Lottbrein.

They have two cars between both parents, but since their babies have been in the hospital, they’ve only had the one car.

“The Yukon broke down during one of the storms while he was coming to visit me in the hospital, so he had to walk like 3 miles to the hospital,” said Jessica.

One of the babies was discharged from Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, and after she came home, her grandmother, Jessica’s mom, made a call to Scott Bieler of West Herr.

“We’ve been really impressed with both of you. What a blessing,” said Bieler. “We just thought, there’s gonna be things that are gonna be concerns, checkmarks of what we gotta think about and do, and we wanted to take the worry of transportation off your minds.”

So he gifted them the Suburban with three rows to fit as many kids as possible, as well as wagons full of toys and supplies for the quintuplets and teddy bears for the big sisters.

“This will tremendously help getting everyone home and then just navigating life,” said Jessica.

The other four babies are still getting strong in the NICU until it’s time to go home to West Seneca.

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 Barry Pintar

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — With the deep fryers warming up for the start of Lenten fish fries on Wednesday, you’ve likely noticed the price you’re paying has gone up over the last few years.

Nappie’s Food Service in North Fayette has aisles and aisles of fish ready to supply Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland with cod, haddock, pollock and all types of seafood for fish frys.

“We’ve been buying fish for the past few months,” said Nappie’s partner Nick Napoleone. “We have truckloads upon truckloads of fish.”

Napoleone is the third generation owner of Nappie’s, the Pittsburgh area’s largest independent family-owned food distributor. Prices have certainly changed over the years, mostly going up, especially in the last three years.

“Cod is definitely the big thing in our region,” said Nappie’s buyer Danny Johnston. “The big thing going on with it right now is the price of it, it’s just kind of skyrocketed the last couple of years because of the Russian war going on, and that’s where a lot of the frozen sea fish, which is kind of where the higher-end stuff is fished out of. So, with that kind of limiting what’s available, there’s places like Greenland and Canadian waters, they’re getting a lot more of the cod now, and there’s just a lot less to go around.”

Unlike other types of food supplies, fish prices can fluctuate heavily, depending on catch quantities, weather, and yes, even foreign wars.

“Fish is definitely more expensive this year. It just depends,” Napoleone said. “It’s a commodity item so when you think about fish, we buy fish from all over the world. Whether it’s Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic, the Pacific, the Atlantic, it just depends.”

So if you notice your local church or club charging more and more for fish every year, they’re likely not hiking prices by choice, it’s because they’re paying more. But people are still buying and loving their local fish fries.

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 Elijah Westbrook

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Two manhole fires that erupted in Brooklyn sent two people to the hospital and caused a building to be evacuated Wednesday morning.

The dramatic scene started just before 3:30 a.m. on Humboldt Street in Williamsburg. Video shows firefighters battling the flames shooting up out of the ground, incinerating nearby cars.

The FDNY received a call reporting elevated carbon monoxide levels inside an apartment building caused by the fires. Officials quickly elevated it to two alarm fire with more than 140 first responders heading to the scene.

“It’s the worst of situations as far as the intersection of gas lines and electric utilities, and so there’s a main right underneath it. It’s not fed from one direction; it’s fed from multiple directions,” he said.

FDNY Battalion Chief Barry Legurnic said about 49 apartments were evacuated, so about 200 people.

Two people were taken to the hospital to be evaluated for injuries unrelated to the fire. Three MTA buses are helping the evacuated residents stay warm, and the Red Cross is also at the scene assisting. A warming center was also set up nearby, officials said.

The fire is out, but residents are still unable to go back inside. National Grid and Con Edison crews are working to identify the cause.

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.