Category: CNN Regional

By Olivia Hickey

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    STILLWATER, Oklahoma (KOCO) — When astronauts lift off toward the moon Wednesday, they will be using critical parts built in Oklahoma.

Dozens of critical pieces of technology that will help in the launch of Artemis II are made by Frontier Electronic Systems in Stillwater.

“This has been years of development, building products in anticipation of this. There are not a lot of people in the U.S. or the world who can say, ‘Yeah, we touched these parts going to space.’ That’s cool!” Darryl Smith, program manager at Frontier Electronic Systems, said.

More than 20 pieces of equipment that Artemis II will use are made in Stillwater, including the rotational hand controller astronauts will use in their capsule.

“If they move forward, it’ll pitch forward or pitch back sideways,” Smith said.

Inside a former Payne County hotel, it’s all hands on deck at Frontier Electronic Systems, where they are putting together critical aerospace technology equipment.

“There’s a slot that goes into this. So, many inspections,” Michelle Aiken, senior quality and compliance representative at Frontier Electronic Systems, said.

Aiken said that these panels took years to build and emphasized the importance of precision.

“If you want to do something challenging and do something that means a lot, this is the place to be,” she said.

Frontier Electronic Systems has been part of several launches, including Artemis I, which paved the way for this moon mission.

Aiken said that this will be the first launch she had a hand in.

After tuning in to the takeoff, the team at Frontier Electronic Systems will move on to their next mission.

“We here at Frontier are continuing to build additional products for additional launches,” Smith said.

The launch is set for 5:34 p.m. CT on April 1.

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 Ricardo Tovar

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    BIG SUR, California (KSBW) — As drivers feel the pain at the gas pump, some are getting sticker shock when they pull in for gas in the coastal hamlet of Gorda-by-the-Sea on the Big Sur coast.

“That’s insane. I just saw it right now, and I couldn’t believe it. It’s not something I’m used to,” said Gustavo Fraga, traveling north from Los Angeles.

“I’m a tourist, but for me, that’s too high — too expensive,” said Diego Monge, visiting from El Salvador.

What is too expensive? How about $10 for premium, $9.70 for plus, and $9.40 for regular, the cheapest option.

“Over there in L.A., we’re at about, like, $6 max, which is something that, you know, hits everyone like crazy. But here it’s $10. I’ve never seen that, ever,” said Fraga.

And most people never will — unless they’re traveling along the scenic Big Sur coast, where there are few gas stations in between. Gorda Gas is often mentioned as having the highest gas prices not just in the state, but in the country.

We asked the station owner what he tells customers when they ask why his prices are so high.

“Well, I always tell them the high prices are because we run the place on generators. We don’t have power — we create our own power here,” said gas station owner Leo Flores.

The price of diesel Flores needs to power his generators is also on the rise. But another reason, Flores says, is that his gas is hauled in from Fresno, more than 100 miles away.

At more than $9 a gallon, not everyone is filling up the tank. Customers are usually pumping less than three gallons — just enough to get to a cheaper station.

“They probably could charge $20 a gallon, and if you have to get gas, you have to get gas,” said Debbie Carignan, traveling from Southern California.

Don’t expect to see $20-a-gallon gas in Gorda. That’s because the owner is limited by the number of digits on his gas pumps, so for now, $9.99 is the max.

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 Marvin Hurst

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    LAKE DALLAS, TX (KTVT) — City leaders in Lake Dallas got more than an earful from residents who believe they were failed during a crisis in late March when a house explosion critically injured Jessica Bailey Lopez.

“A young woman’s life is forever altered. Traumatized for something that was completely preventable,” Sarah Parker said.

Parker joined many others who filled the city council chambers in Lake Dallas. She said the response on March 19 demonstrated the city’s inability to respond to its citizenry in any emergency.

“What is your plan to prevent this from ever happening again? What is your plan to notify this community? What is your emergency action plan because there is zero,” she said.

The explosion shook part of the city. Lopez was airlifted to a hospital, where she remains in critical condition. During the chaos, emergency responders evacuated 40-50 people, according to Lake Dallas City Manager Luke Olson.

Wendy Orozco said she was left without essential information about the safety of her home, the length of displacement, or even where to go for assistance. She said her friends got it worse from a rude officer who evacuated them.

“When the daughter answered the door, she was told she must evacuate,” Orozco said. “She said, ‘It’s not that easy, my mom has stage four cancer, it’s going to take a minute.”

A councilman said officers were moving to save lives. Orozco said he pointed the family north even though they had nowhere to go. Fortunately, they were able to spend some time at the Orozco home.

“We are all victims. We are all victims within our own little community,” Parker said.

Atmos Energy’s Vice President of Public Affairs, Kelly Beigler, and Vice President of Operations for the MidTex Region, Kyle Slaughter, gave an update on their findings. Slaughter said the cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

“While the investigation into the event at 620 Moseley is ongoing, we want to share with you what we have learned to date,” Slaughter said. “We discovered a leak on our gas main under Wilson Drive near 620 Moseley.”

He said a portion of the pipe was sent to the lab for analysis. Slaughter described the section of pipe as “short” and owned by a “predecessor.” He said that the company worked to remove the kind of pipe discovered on Wilson, south of the explosion, but somehow missed this portion made in the 70s.

According to Slaughter, they acquired the gas distribution system in 2004 and were unaware of its existence. In the meantime, he said the company removes this piping when found. They are removing two miles of it in Lake Dallas.

As for a disaster or an emergency plan, Olson said the city does have one. It does not have a system to alert residents in the event of an emergency. He said they would consider a system during budgeting, which is coming up.

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 Bri Buckley

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    MIAMI, Florida (WFOR) — Surveillance video shows an alleged domestic violence incident involving professional boxer Gervonta Davis and his former girlfriend, with the boxer’s attorney filing a motion to dismiss the charges on Wednesday.

The incident occurred in October 2025 inside Tootsie’s strip club in Miami Gardens. The video reportedly shows Davis, also known as “Tank,” dragging the woman down a hall and pushing her down the stairs of the club where she works. At one point, she appears to be asking him to stop.

Davis was charged with battery, false imprisonment, and attempted kidnapping following his arrest in January. He has since been released.

During a court hearing Wednesday morning, Davis’ attorney, Simon Steckel, filed a motion to dismiss, which the judge denied. Steckel claimed there is more to the story.

“The video speaks for itself. However, what you guys may or may not know is that within an hour or so after that video was made, she went home with him and spent the next 9 hours with him, with no fear, with no problems, and that’s also documented in the video that we have,” Steckel said.

Richard Wolfe, the alleged victim’s lawyer, disputed the claim. “That’s a gross mischaracterization of what happened. What happened is, as he threatened to do, he showed up at her house. She was scared like any other victim; she did what she needed to do to get out of that situation,” Wolfe told CBS News Miami.

The defense claims that the former girlfriend is extorting Davis in this case

The defense further argued that the case is an instance of extortion, claiming the woman demanded $1.1 million after the incident, documented in writing.

“We believe this is a shakedown, a shakedown by the alleged victim of Mr. Davis for money because he had a fight coming up at the time, within two weeks after this alleged incident, in which he was scheduled to make a lot of money on a fight against a guy by the name of Jake Paul. And I believe this all ties together and we’re going to put this together in court before this judge and before anyone else that we have to,” Steckel said.

Wolfe countered that his client was merely trying to settle the case. “There was a request to settle the case; whatever those requests were, those are what’s called confidential settlement communications. They can never come into court; they are inadmissible,” Wolfe said. “My client didn’t ask for this, she is a victim here.”

Davis’ next court date is scheduled for May 14th.

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.

WCCO

By Conor Wight

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Car thefts are spiking in Minneapolis, and police say that a newer method of stealing is partially to blame.

According to spokesperson Sgt. Garrett Parten, officers have found tablet devices in some stolen vehicles that can be used in conjunction with a generic key fob to get a car started.

Locksmith Andrei Damian showed WCCO how the tools work. To begin, he calibrates a blank key fob to work for a specific kind of car brand. From there, he plugs his Autel tablet into the target vehicle, which then downloads data from the car and transmits it onto the fob. From there, that fob will unlock and start the car just like the one the driver would have walked off the dealership lot with at the time of purchase.

The whole process takes just minutes, though Damian noted that it’s rare that it will work on newer car models.

“We just plug in, and we read the file and you’re doing a clone of the existing key,” Damian said.

His device set him back about $2,500, though cheaper, less effective models can be found online. He wants to see laws change to require licenses to purchase these kinds of devices and for there to be increased penalties when people are caught with them in their possession. He and his peers in the locksmith industry use them to help drivers who may have lost their keys or are otherwise locked out of their vehicles; it’s why, he said, he and others have become targets themselves.

“I had a car with four young teenagers pulled right at the side of my vehicle,” Damian said, describing a time that a group stole equipment from him. “Four guys, with guns, what can you do?”

Parten said that while this method is new, it does not appear to be widespread. As of Monday, data from the Minneapolis Police Department shows there were 1,528 stolen vehicles so far in 2026. In just under 40% of those instances, he said, a driver had left their car running and unattended.

Still, data shows a 43% increase in the number of cars stolen without keys year-over-year.

Damien and other experts recommend looking into what’s known as a ghost immobiliser or kill-switch. These devices allow the driver to create a unique way of starting up the car. For example, a driver could make it so that they’d need to press the volume button or toggle the high beam lever before pushing the start button.

The number of car thefts in the city is about 8.8% lower than the three-year average after the records set in 2023.

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 Wight

Click here for updates on this story

    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Car thefts are spiking in Minneapolis, and police say that a newer method of stealing is partially to blame.

According to spokesperson Sgt. Garrett Parten, officers have found tablet devices in some stolen vehicles that can be used in conjunction with a generic key fob to get a car started.

Locksmith Andrei Damian showed WCCO how the tools work. To begin, he calibrates a blank key fob to work for a specific kind of car brand. From there, he plugs his Autel tablet into the target vehicle, which then downloads data from the car and transmits it onto the fob. From there, that fob will unlock and start the car just like the one the driver would have walked off the dealership lot with at the time of purchase.

The whole process takes just minutes, though Damian noted that it’s rare that it will work on newer car models.

“We just plug in, and we read the file and you’re doing a clone of the existing key,” Damian said.

His device set him back about $2,500, though cheaper, less effective models can be found online. He wants to see laws change to require licenses to purchase these kinds of devices and for there to be increased penalties when people are caught with them in their possession. He and his peers in the locksmith industry use them to help drivers who may have lost their keys or are otherwise locked out of their vehicles; it’s why, he said, he and others have become targets themselves.

“I had a car with four young teenagers pulled right at the side of my vehicle,” Damian said, describing a time that a group stole equipment from him. “Four guys, with guns, what can you do?”

Parten said that while this method is new, it does not appear to be widespread. As of Monday, data from the Minneapolis Police Department shows there were 1,528 stolen vehicles so far in 2026. In just under 40% of those instances, he said, a driver had left their car running and unattended.

Still, data shows a 43% increase in the number of cars stolen without keys year-over-year.

Damien and other experts recommend looking into what’s known as a ghost immobiliser or kill-switch. These devices allow the driver to create a unique way of starting up the car. For example, a driver could make it so that they’d need to press the volume button or toggle the high beam lever before pushing the start button.

The number of car thefts in the city is about 8.8% lower than the three-year average after the records set in 2023.

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.

WCCO

By Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield

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    Minnesota (WCCO) — Even though the surge of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis is over, the memories remain. And some adults are especially worried about children in immigrant communities and what they saw.

That’s when a group led by a pediatrician stepped in.

“We hope that reading books with family members reduces stress for kids and their families,” said Kris Hoplin, Reach Out and Read’s executive director.

Reach Out and Read is a unique program where doctors directly hand books and prescribe reading to kids at their check-ups.

“Research shows that families, especially families with young children, really have a trusted relationship with their medical provider,” Hoplin said. “So when that medical provider comes in with a book and they start talking in a family-friendly way about early brain development, building your baby’s brain, the social-emotional sort of bonding that happens when you share books and create a routine around books, families really listen.”

It’s the program that helped get young Johannes well read. He got his first book from his doctor as a baby.

“He’s very proud of like having expertise,” said Ellen Saliares, Johannes’ mom. “He went into kindergarten on the first day and was like, ‘I am Johannes, I’m animal expert.'”

The focus now is to get kids who witnessed the ICE surge hooked on reading, too. They are delivering 10,000 books direct to those kids’ doors.

“We know that kids are resilient, but we want to meet them where they are and help to reduce stress, and so we know that books and shared reading, it does that,” Hoplin said.

Here’s where your spring cleaning could come in. Reach Out and Read is collecting new or gently used books in English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish. You can also donate to the group so they can buy more culturally specific books.

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 Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield

Click here for updates on this story

    Minnesota (WCCO) — Even though the surge of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis is over, the memories remain. And some adults are especially worried about children in immigrant communities and what they saw.

That’s when a group led by a pediatrician stepped in.

“We hope that reading books with family members reduces stress for kids and their families,” said Kris Hoplin, Reach Out and Read’s executive director.

Reach Out and Read is a unique program where doctors directly hand books and prescribe reading to kids at their check-ups.

“Research shows that families, especially families with young children, really have a trusted relationship with their medical provider,” Hoplin said. “So when that medical provider comes in with a book and they start talking in a family-friendly way about early brain development, building your baby’s brain, the social-emotional sort of bonding that happens when you share books and create a routine around books, families really listen.”

It’s the program that helped get young Johannes well read. He got his first book from his doctor as a baby.

“He’s very proud of like having expertise,” said Ellen Saliares, Johannes’ mom. “He went into kindergarten on the first day and was like, ‘I am Johannes, I’m animal expert.'”

The focus now is to get kids who witnessed the ICE surge hooked on reading, too. They are delivering 10,000 books direct to those kids’ doors.

“We know that kids are resilient, but we want to meet them where they are and help to reduce stress, and so we know that books and shared reading, it does that,” Hoplin said.

Here’s where your spring cleaning could come in. Reach Out and Read is collecting new or gently used books in English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish. You can also donate to the group so they can buy more culturally specific books.

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.