Category: CNN Regional

By Peter Maxwell

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    ST. CLAIR SHORES, Michigan (WXYZ) — A Lakeview High School gym class syllabus is drawing scrutiny from parents and an attorney after a requirement asks female students to share personal health information in order to make up missed swimming days.

Andy Amsdill, the father of a Lakeview student, says he was stunned after reading his daughter’s class syllabus. He immediately reached out to school leaders, questioning why students are being asked to disclose something so personal.

“This is their private information. That teacher, nor anybody in the school administration, has any right to it,” Amsdill said.

Under a section titled “Non-Swim Days for Pool Only,” the syllabus addresses female students who miss swimming because of their menstrual cycle. It states a parent must provide a written note or email stating the length of their cycle in order for those missed days to be made up.

“The teacher wants us to either send a note or an email with the suspected length of the cycle which by itself is ridiculous,” Amsdill said.

The syllabus also states that if a student does not participate in dry land gym activities, or for each day not made up, it will be considered a non-participation day resulting in a loss of points.

Amsdill contacted school leaders questioning why that level of personal information is necessary just to excuse or make up a swimming day. He says the response fell short of a district-wide fix.

“The best they got for me was that my daughter wouldn’t have to do it, but they weren’t doing it systematically,” Amsdill said.

Amsdill believes the requirement raises Title IX concerns, arguing female students like his daughter are being singled out because of their menstrual cycle.

Attorney Jon Marko says the syllabus language is legally problematic.

“This is a problematic area here,” Marko said.

Marko said the requirement could run afoul of federal and state law.

“It could be violative of both federal and our state anti-discrimination laws which is called the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,” Marko said.

Other Lakeview parents also weighed in on the syllabus requirement.

“To have to disclose that information is really invasive and I think it’s unnecessary,” Elizabeth Gibson said.

Amy Droelle, another Lakeview parent, echoed those concerns.

“For sure against privacy for the young ladies that are going to class and they shouldn’t have a grade reduction,” Droelle said.

The Lakeview School District Superintendent Karl Paulson provided WXYZ-TV with statement:

“We recently became aware of a parent’s concern relative to certain class expectations. Given our commitment to partnering with parents to address any issue that might arise, we immediately sought to schedule a meeting with the parent to engage in a conversation about the concern. We look forward to meeting with the parent in the coming days and working collaboratively with that objective. The Lakeview School District remains fully committed to educational excellence and best practices in all it does.”

Amsdill says he plans to make his voice heard at Tuesday night’s school board meeting and encourages other parents to do the same.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WXYZ 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 Sam Harasimowicz

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    BATAVIA, Ohio (WCPO) — The Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office has a new team member, and he’s bringing a “cold nose and a warm heart.”

Germaine is a 2-year-old Labrador/retriever mix who’s found a new home at the prosecutor’s office in Batavia.

Prosecutor Mark Tekulve and Victim Advocate Allyson Ware brought Germaine onto their team through Canine Companions, which trains service dogs for all sorts of different duties.

Germaine is now a part of the Victim Assistance Program, which began in Clermont County in 1985 and has grown to include four full-time team members. Germaine brings that number up to five.

“He is able to really put, in particular, victims at ease,” Tekulve said.

I was there as Germaine traveled with Ware from the prosecutor’s office to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.

We went into what’s called a soft interview room, where Ware demonstrated how Germaine will provide comfort to victims during investigations and court proceedings.

“Some of his commands are providing deep pressure both on the lap while sitting and then also on the ground to assist with anxiety when it comes up,” Ware said.

Germaine practiced his “cover” command, where he rests on a person like a living, breathing heated blanket. Germaine practiced on Sgt. Yvonne Sheppard and me.

“Anything we can do as an office and as individuals to relieve some of the difficulty that these folks experience, we want to do,” Tekulve said.

In his first couple of weeks, Germaine has already been put to work, offering support in a recent case.

“We had a case; it was a domestic violence case, and I had previously met with the family, so they were already familiar with me,” Ware said. “When they saw him, they were just over the moon.”

Germaine is also being trained to sit and offer support inside the courtroom, where he’ll be present for victims who could be testifying for hours, according to Ware.

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 La’Tasha Givens

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    COLLEGE PARK, Georgia (WUPA) — Inside his College Park studio, Otis Damón gently wets and steams a piece of fabric known in the trade as a “hood,” preparing to shape it over a wooden block.

To the fashion world and Hollywood, Damón is a master milliner whose striking, bespoke designs crown icons such as Whoopi Goldberg, Patti LaBelle, and Ne-Yo, regularly appearing on the big screen.

For Damón, his shop is far more than a business. It is a lifeline.

“I call this place my sanctuary. It’s not just a studio,” Damón said. “I call this my art therapy.”

Damón’s journey to high fashion began during a period of deep isolation. Since he was 6 years old, he had carried an unnameable weight.

“Back then, I didn’t know what it was,” Damón said. “I didn’t know I was depressed or dealing with depression. As a grown-up in church, everything’s spirit, and I thought it was, you know, that.”

He turned to a teacher at school for help.

“I confided in her that I was contemplating suicide that summer before my 10th-grade year, and she instructed me to come to her class every day on my lunch, and she taught me how to sew, so I started making clothes first,” he said.

Sitting at the machine, the steady hum and physical rhythm began to quiet the darkness.

“It was the rhythm of using my hands and hearing the machine, putting things together,” he said. “It just gave me a peace. So some of my best works came out of my darkest times, honestly.”

Each of his head-turning headpieces takes nearly three days to complete, hand-shaped over traditional wooden molds to create one-of-a-kind silhouettes from towering, avant-garde crowns reminiscent of Erykah Badu’s signature style to reimagined, southern “church lady” hats.

While his craft transformed a silent battle into celebrated wearable art, Damon is open about the fact that healing is an ongoing journey. In addition to the therapeutic outlet of design, he receives medical treatment for depression.

“I still struggle,” Damon said. “I just learned how to life surf with it.”

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here.

For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@nami.org.

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 Dillon Thomas

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    GREELEY, Colorado (KCNC) — A Northern Colorado restaurant spent Monday giving away its entire menu for free as a way to give back to the community.

Tres Amigos in Downtown Greeley offered free food to anyone who dined in at the restaurant from opening until closing at 9 p.m. Alcohol was the only item not included in the giveaway.

“Today we are giving back to the community,” said Jonathan Iniguez, owner of Tres Amigos.

The restaurant’s giveaway is part of an effort by Iniguez and his team to return some of the support they say they have received from the Greeley community. Iniguez said the restaurant is celebrating its anniversary and has grown quickly, opening its third location within five years.

“We have been blessed,” Iniguez said.

Tres Amigos gave away about $50,000 worth of food during last year’s giveaway.

“Hopefully we beat that record this year,” Iniguez said.

For Iniguez, the giveaway is about more than the amount of food served. He said it is a chance to help people during a difficult time, even if the gesture makes a difference for just one person.

“It makes me happy. Times are tough right now. It is more about giving back and pitching in, ourselves. But sometimes it makes someone’s day,” Iniguez said.

He said seeing the community come together around the restaurant is personally rewarding.

“It just completes you and makes you feel whole,” Iniguez said.

Some visitors told CBS Colorado they loved the gesture, and the food, so much that they will now become return customers.

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 Gabriela Vidal

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    NORTHGLENN, Colorado (KCNC) — A remarkable discovery was recently made by a rather unlikely person.

“I’m still like in this dream that I’m going to wake up at any time,” said Colorado resident Kent Hups.

Hups is a science teacher at Northglenn High School, and a research associate with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In July 2025, he became the first person to ever identify a Tyrannosaurus rex trackway.

“I just kept looking and looking and looking, and then I eventually came around a corner, and I climbed up a little bit on this hill,” he said. “I looked and I saw what I thought was a track, and that to me was that’s when I got excited.”

Hups was among several volunteers who went with researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on a summer trip to the badlands of southwestern North Dakota, in search of any discoveries they could find on the land.

“We’ve been very lucky over the last several years, where we found some pretty remarkable things that we brought back here to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; things like Teen Rex, this juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex that was found by these three kids. We found a large, beautiful Triceratops skull and partial skeleton that’s here at the museum,” Hups said.

“But usually, we find the bodies of these dinosaurs,” said Dr. Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

It was on this mission, however, that Hups stumbled upon a formation of a T. rex track.

“In that process of getting excited and doing measurements, I looked behind and I said, ‘Oh my god, there’s another track back there, I think,'” said Hups.

“There’s never been a trackway of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. There have only ever been two isolated tracks of T. rex found, one in Montana and one in New Mexico,” said Lyson. “To find an entire trackway is certainly hitting the lottery.”

Four tracks were ultimately uncovered with Hups’ help. Each of them has now been visually preserved through a 3D digital model, helping researchers determine the T. rex’s size and speed.

“Seeing it was impressive, the scale of it. It’s a big area, and so it was awesome to see like the pattern,” said Evan Tamez-Galvan, Fossil Preparer at DMNS.

“They’re my babies. It’s my babies, you know. It’s like, you know, people go, ‘What are they? They’re my babies. I found them,'” said Hups.

Hups keeps one of those tracks close by with a 3D replica in his classroom, while the tracks he discovered will eventually be shipped over to DMNS in October, so visitors can watch as scientists cut through the tracks and uncover even more details about this epic predator.

“I’m really hopeful that there’s some skin impressions preserved. That’s my dream,” said Lyson. “It would provide us with an idea of what the foot actually looked like.”

For Hups and his students, this discovery fuels a ferocious passion for learning.

“I was so excited when I went home,” said Angela Aguirre, one of Hups’ students. “I was literally jumping up and down with joy.”

“It’s crazy to think that that was once a real animal that caused this, and now we’re like the first people to be messing with it,” said student Alayna McClurg.

It’s a one-of-a-kind discovery that Hups also hopes will inspire more people to get out and explore.

“There’s always amazing stuff to be discovered, and people find it all the time, but you have to be out looking for it,” said Hups.

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 Derek James

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    HUDSON, Wisconsin (WCCO) — In downtown Hudson, Wisconsin, a small gallery is making room for a lot of creativity.

From prints and jewelry to ceramics and acrylic paintings, the Cream of the Crop Artists Gallery is the latest chapter in an idea that took root at the Minnesota State Fair.

“The proposal was to have an art gallery at the fair and kitsch and called Cream of the Crop Artists Gallery. An art gallery that was really approachable to others, like anybody could come in,” said Genie Castro, owner and curator of the gallery.

Castro got into the fair over a decade ago. In 2023, she brought the same concept to downtown Hudson.

Forty artists are represented at both spaces.

Castro says part of the fun is not always knowing what’s going in.

“It’s fun to curate off the cuff when everyone brings things in. I know the kind of work they make but it’s fun to be in that setting and arrange it accordingly,” explained Castro.

For Hudson artist and UW-Stout junior Broden Decker, the gallery is about more than displaying art.

“Having people like Genie who curate an art space where you can show and present your work really gives artists an opportunity to have the incentive or have the push to make, express myself through this art that is a part of me and it heals me and it also heals other people,” said Decker.

That connection between artist and community is at the heart of it for everyone involved.

“When you’re walking or you’re here or maybe even at the fair. You’re seeing people pick up a piece and being like ‘I love this’ or ‘I have this’ or ‘I want this.’ It gives meaning to the work,” said Crystal Shawn, an emerging artist.

“Relationships are what this whole thing is about for me,” said Castro.

Cream of The Crop Artists Gallery is open weekends from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and other times by appointment.

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.