Category: CNN Regional

By Nick Lunemann

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    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — A Metro Transit driver training instructor is being praised after rescuing a man from a burning vehicle while leading a training session in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Kenneth Johnson, who has been a bus driver for 10 years and an instructor for nearly four, was working with two students on March 13 when he came across a crash near 25th Street and Portland Avenue.

Johnson, who works out of Metro Transit’s instruction center training new bus operators, said the morning had started like any other.

“We were just having a good training session,” he said.

Then he saw smoke.

Johnson said he pulled over, grabbed a fire extinguisher from the back of the bus and ran toward the vehicle.

The car’s engine compartment was on fire and the driver inside was not moving or responding, Johnson said. He tried to break the side window with the extinguisher, then moved to the back window and eventually broke a smaller window before working to put out the flames.

Once the fire was under control, other people began to help, but the doors still would not open, Johnson said. He then contacted Metro Transit’s Transit Control Center to report what was happening.

Johnson said first responders arrived and took over. He does not know the condition of the driver.

He said the gravity of what happened did not hit him until after he and his students had left the scene.

“That’s where it actually hit me,” Johnson said. “I still got to get home to my family, too.”

Johnson said the experience became a real-world lesson for the trainees who were with him that day.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “But also know your surroundings.”

Coworkers have called him a hero, but Johnson said he does not see himself that way.

“I don’t honestly believe that I’m a hero,” he said. “I’m just a regular human being.”

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 Gino Vicci

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — General Motors has announced that it’s making another round of layoffs at its Factory Zero plant in Detroit.

The latest round, the second this year, impacts roughly 1,300 workers and is due to a readjustment of operations because of declining electric vehicle demand.

The affected employees will be laid off temporarily for 30 days.

In January, 1,200 people were laid off at Factory Zero due to lower EV demand.

Many drivers CBS News Detroit spoke with on Tuesday said they are now open to purchasing an EV because the cost of gas has skyrocketed since the US-led war with Iran began, like Ken Stilwell.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s too much,” Stilwell said when referring to the cost at the pump.

Stilwell said he’s never owned an EV but would strongly consider it now despite a lack of infrastructure.

“I think I would, but there would have to be more infrastructure for the charging stations. I worry about that I drive up north a lot and that’s always a huge concern,” he said.

Marvin Thomas is also considering EVs if higher gas prices continue.

“At a certain point, gasoline will become obsolete and EV’s will become the new gasoline,” Thomas said.

Automotive experts like Paul Eisenstein have been sounding the alarm about EV production and staffing since the tax credits to purchase them went away and demand has significantly lowered over the years.

Eisenstein predicted layoffs last year and that is happening, particularly with GM as of late.

With lower EV demand and higher gas prices, the automotive industry is in an unusual predicament.

This is something that Thomas believes could force car buyers to eventually choose EVs.

“If gas were to keep rising, EVs will become the new gasoline, so most people will have to switch over,” Thomas said.

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By WTKR Web Staff

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    EMPORIA, Virginia (WTKR) — A Virginia State trooper pulled a man from his burning pickup truck in Emporia on Wednesday, police say.

The trooper, identified only as S. Baker, was responding to a disabled vehicle on Low Ground Road.

In video provided by VSP, the trooper is seen pulling the man from the wrecked car seconds before it’s engulfed in flames.

Police say the grass beneath the truck caught fire as Baker was speaking to the driver.

The driver was evaluated by EMS and was taken home afterward.

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 Jenna Wells

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    KENOSHA, Wisconsin (WDJT) — Kenosha police believe they have cracked a cold case.

An arrest was made Monday, March 30, for a murder that happened almost five decades ago.

Police said advanced technology, diligent investigative work, and a nationwide collaboration led to the arrest of a 68-year-old man in Tennessee, now charged with killing a Kenosha man inside his home in 1977.

“Today represents an important step towards justice for the victim, their family, and our community,” said Lt. Adam Jurgens, Kenosha Police Department’s public information officer.

The reopened cold case could bring closure to the family of Ralph Gianoli, 49 years after his death.

“To say that we are overwhelmed is an understatement, and overjoyed with the news that we received yesterday,” said Gianoli’s niece, Carla Smith.

Ralph Gianoli was 48 years old on Sept. 7, 1977, when a friend found him dead in his home on 25th Avenue near 53rd Street in Kenosha.

“Officers on scene reported signs of violent struggle, including blood spatter, broken bottles and overturned furniture,” said Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton during a Tuesday press conference about the case.

Gianoli was found with an electrical cord tied around his neck. An autopsy determined his cause of death was asphyxiation by strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Investigators on scene collected hairs, fingernail scrapings, and several other pieces of evidence.

“Great credit to the detectives and investigators at the time, that they did such a great job of preserving evidence,” said Captain James Beller, the head of Kenosha Police Department’s cold case unit.

At the time, investigators exhausted all leads available, and with no arrests, the case went cold.

Gianoli’s family held out hope, and 30 years later, his niece had her first meeting with detectives.

“I’ve been offered nothing but kindness and respect, and really, realism that this may not ever be solved,” Smith explained.

According to the criminal complaint, at the time of his death, Gianoli worked at American Motors, had no known enemies, and frequented local taverns.

In 2023, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab developed a partial-known male DNA profile from Gianoli’s fingernail clippings that were collected during his autopsy. The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) DNA file was developed in a private lab and uploaded into a family tree DNA database.

Detectives conducted investigative genealogy through public websites, and matched relatives to the suspect DNA, leading them to James Terry Fowler in Memphis, Tennessee.

Detectives found Fowler was previously convicted of killing his father in 1983 in Huntsville, Alabama, but only served five years, as the plea was downgraded from murder to manslaughter.

Court records said Fowler had shot his father, who was in a wheelchair, several times. Witnesses described Fowler as a “quiet loner” who couldn’t hold a job and “wandered the country,” and said he was staying with his father for several months before the murder.

Through court records, Kenosha detectives found Fowler had a child with a woman who lived in Salem, Oregon. They interviewed her in October of 2024, and she described him as “extremely violent and abusive.”

Detectives also interviewed Fowler’s biological son, who said he had never met his father, and allowed investigators to collect his DNA, which matched with Fowler’s.

Investigators also found Fowler had graduated from the Great Lakes Naval Base, 20 miles from Kenosha, just days before Gianoli was killed.

In January of 2025, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation obtained a search warrant for DNA swabs and fingerprints from Fowler. They located him living in a shack behind a home near Memphis, and he agreed to an interview.

The complaint states that during the interview, Fowler recalled his time at Great Lakes and visiting Wisconsin. He told them about being convicted for killing his father, saying it was, “not the best time” in his life, and he stopped drinking and doing drugs after that.

When asked about the night of Gianoli’s murder, Fowler told investigators he was out drinking at a club and wanted to go home with a girl. When detectives showed him a photo of Gianoli and the crime scene, he said he didn’t want to look at the photo or talk about what happened at the house that night.

One month later, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab confirmed that the DNA collected throughout the process was Fowler’s – a probability of one in 296 trillion of random match to unrelated individual.

“The Cold Case works hard, and they use whatever technology is available, and as technology advances, we continue to explore it and use it,” Beller said.

The Kenosha Police Department and Kenosha County district attorney worked with several organizations to establish probable cause, and on Jan. 16, 2026, they issued an arrest warrant for $1.5 million.

KPD detectives arrested Fowler in Memphis on March 30, 2026.

“We are just all so grateful that you didn’t give up, and that justice will be served,” Gianoli’s niece said.

Fowler is currently in custody in Tennessee, awaiting extradition to Kenosha for one count of first-degree murder.

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 Michael Guise

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    WELLSTON, Ohio (KDKA) — A 17-year-old driver was intoxicated when his vehicle rear-ended a golf cart, killing an off-duty police officer last year, authorities in Ohio said.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a news release on Tuesday that the 17-year-old boy has been charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of aggravated vehicular assault, one count of vehicular assault, and two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Jackson County Juvenile Court.

Officer Matthew Juniper with the Wellston Police Department was killed in the crash on Aug. 30, 2025. Yost said the teen was intoxicated and driving a Hyundai Accent when he rear-ended a golf cart traveling southbound on South Pennsylvania Avenue near the intersection of Sixth Street in Wellston around 2 a.m.

Juniper was a passenger in the golf cart and was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. The driver of the golf cart, also a Wellston police officer, was seriously injured in the crash, Yost said.

Juniper, who joined the Wellston Police Department in 2021, was remembered as “truly one of a kind.”

“Matt was truly one of a kind, everything you would want in a police officer and more,” a Facebook post from the department said after his death. “Compassionate and fair, hard-working and dedicated to his craft, fun to work with and a joy to be around.”

The 17-year-old boy reportedly sustained minor injuries.

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By Colter Anstaett

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    HAMPTON, Virginia (WTKR) — Family members of the 1-year-old boy who died Thursday after a DUI crash in Hampton early Monday morning tell WTKR News 3 the 14-year-old driver is the child’s mother.

Family members say the baby boy’s name was Ma’Khai. News 3 is choosing not to identify the teen.

“I’ve been in his life since day 1. This is the hardest,” Ma’Khai’s grandmother, April Logan, said.

Friday afternoon, News 3 Hampton reporter Colter Anstaett spoke with Ma’Khai’s family members, including his paternal grandmother and godparents.

Family videos shared with News 3 show Ma’Khai enjoying life. Friday, just shy of his second birthday, the videos were some of the precious memories his family was clinging to as they tried to cope with an unimaginable tragedy.

They said Ma’Khai would have turned 2 on April 4.

Logan tells News 3 her 17-year-old son is Ma’Khai’s father. While she’s angry, she said she can’t hate Ma’Khai’s mother.

“The Lord, my spirit, won’t let me. My spirit won’t let me,” said Logan.

According to Virginia State Police, Ma’Khai’s mother was not wearing a seatbelt and did not have the child properly restrained when she crashed on I-64 in Hampton near the 261 mile marker.

Both were seriously injured in the crash, according to VSP. As of Friday, Ma’Khai’s mother was charged with driving under the influence, driving without a license and a child restraint violation, with other charges pending.

Family members said they did not know where she got the car and, as of Friday, VSP had not clarified what Ma’Khai’s mother was accused of being under the influence of.

Ma’Khai’s godfather, Donte Walls, had a message for young people.

“Be more responsible,” he said. “Stop trying to outgrow your age and just be your age. There’s nothing wrong with being a teenager. Stop thinking that you’re grown.”

As of Friday, the crash remains under investigation.

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By Jamal Goss

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WUPA) — As NASA prepares for its next mission to the moon, one Atlanta university is drawing attention for its growing role in space exploration.

The Georgia Institute of Technology says it has produced 14 astronauts, tied for the second most among public universities in the country, with alumni flying on dozens of missions and logging hundreds of millions of miles in space.

But leaders at the university say its impact goes far beyond the astronauts themselves.

Inside labs on campus, researchers and students are working on projects connected to the International Space Station and future missions to the moon, including technology already being tested in orbit. “Students actually build spacecraft hardware, operate it when it’s in orbit around the moon,” said Jud Ready, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Space Research Institute.

Ready says that hands-on experience allows students to work with the same types of systems used in real missions, helping prepare the next generation of engineers and scientists.

That work builds on decades of contributions to the U.S. space program.

Former NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, a Georgia Tech graduate, said the university’s reach extends across nearly every part of space operations.

“It’s not just the astronauts, the engineering behind it, the scientists,” Kimbrough said. “A lot of those came from Georgia Tech that are part of the space program.”

As NASA moves forward with its Artemis program aimed at returning humans to the moon and eventually traveling farther into space, Kimbrough says the moment represents a major step forward.

The work being done at Georgia Tech, Ready added, is part of that future.

Research tied to the International Space Station is already underway, and additional technology developed in Georgia is expected to head to the moon later this year.

University leaders say that momentum could help inspire a new generation, one that doesn’t just watch space exploration, but helps lead it.

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