CNN Regional – Page 189 – NPG Content Share

Central Market marks nearly 300 years as America’s oldest farmers market

CNN Newsource on June 30, 2026

By Lori Burkholder

LANCASTER, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — Lancaster Central Market in Pennsylvania, the oldest continuously operated farmers market in the United States, has been a cornerstone of community life for nearly 300 years.

“The history of Lancaster Central Market goes back almost 300 years,” said Melissa Ressler, executive director of the market.

Founded in 1730 on land donated by Anne and Andrew Hamilton, the market began as a 120-square-foot outdoor mobile market where produce was sold from wagons and horseback. In 1889, the current market house was built in just six months, and it continues to welcome thousands of visitors each week.

“What has been so special about this is how the market has continued to be a central part of this community,” Ressler said.

One of the oldest stands at the market is Groff’s Farms, operated by four generations of the Groff family.

“It’s four generations that we are working here. We get to work with our grandchildren and the farm,” said Earl Groff.

For over 70 years, the Groff family has sold produce grown on their farm at the market.

“We’ve been coming since my grandmother, my grandmother’s mother came. It’s a tradition,” said Cindy Holden, a customer.

“It’s wonderful. It keeps changing, but we’re glad for all the people who keep coming back,” Groff added.

Just around the corner, another piece of Lancaster history thrives at Long’s Horseradish, a business that began in the 1900s with a pushcart brought over by the founder’s ancestor.

“It was started in the 1900s when the first ancestor came over and he had a pushcart,” said Kathleen Stoltzfus, owner of Long’s Horseradish.

The business still uses equipment that is more than a century old.

“It works well, so why change it,” Stoltzfus said.

“Every step of the way, it’s done by hand,” she added.

“The fresher you get it, the better it tastes,” Stoltzfus said.

“It’s delicious. You can’t find it anywhere else,” said customer Kathy Speitel.

As the nation celebrates its 250th birthday, Lancaster Central Market serves as a reminder that America’s story isn’t just found in monuments and museums but in places where generations gather, businesses are supported, and traditions are passed down.

“It’s mind-boggling to think about how steady this location has been to predate our country’s history,” Ressler said.

Lancaster Central Market will celebrate its official 300th anniversary in 2030.

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.

Boutique comforts women, offers products to help post-surgery | Woman’s Doctor

CNN Newsource on June 30, 2026

By Lacee Griffith

Click here for updates on this story

BALTIMORE (WBAL) — While hospitals can feel very clinical, there’s a shop that offers products for women post-surgery with kind, friendly faces to provide support.

Elisa Lawson created The Women’s Health Boutique at The Weinberg Center for Women’s Health and Medicine at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore almost 30 years ago. The boutique recently received an upgrade to a new space.

Lawson told WBAL-TV 11 News that she worked at department stores but saw what was missing: Certain items that would help women who have just gone through tremendous losses and health issues.

“To be able to give them the opportunity to take advantage of all of their benefits from their insurance company in an environment that feels like you’re shopping and the close connection we have with all the surgeons here allows us to introduce them to the new products so they can bring patients down,” Lawson told WBAL-TV 11 News.

“I’m referring patients down here all day, every day just to really cross one thing off the checklist, all their practical concerns, their post-op recovery garments,” said Zoe Jafee, a breast cancer patient navigator.

Products include specialty bras, breast forms, compression garments, wigs and more.

“When I was going to get my single mastectomy, (I learned) that I would need a compression bra and I would need all these things and I was already overwhelmed, and they said, ‘Well, we have a place right here,'” said Heather van Keuren, a breast cancer survivor.

“They showed me a plethora of items that I could purchase, and things that I could need to help me be better at what I needed to do for my cancer recovery,” said Karen Brooks, a breast cancer survivor.

“We cheer them on during their surgery and we take care of them for life after.”

However, the products aren’t just items. The products come with people, many of whom are considered family by those who shop at the boutique.

“They’re like my sisters now,” van Keuren told WBAL-TV 11 News. “I talk about them all the time and they really want to make sure that we feel as best as possible during one of the hardest things in our life.”

“It’s a place where we hug women and we welcome women, and we make them feel safe before their surgery,” said Jennifer Crawford, with The Women’s Health Boutique. “We cheer them on during their surgery and we take care of them for life after.”

The boutique is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Seniors are spending more time on their phones, AARP says. Why that’s a mixed blessing.

CNN Newsource on June 30, 2026

By Jennifer Bisram

Click here for updates on this story

NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — You may be familiar with the term “screenagers,” which is a reference to teens who spend a lot of time on their phones.

New research shows the roles may be reversing, however, as senior citizens spend more time on their phones. Adult children are now telling their parents to put the phones down.

The number of older adults using smartphones soared from 55% in 2016 to 90% now, according to the AARP. That makes senior citizens one of the fastest growing groups using digital devices.

“I love my phone”

Aida Orellana, a 61-year-old grandmother from Harlem, is part of that statistic.

“I love my phone,” she said.

She uses it as her planner, news source, GPS and photo album. Sometimes, it’s even her closest companion.

“Between the pandemic and me becoming my mom’s caregiver, my social life dwindled. So my phone became my best friend,” Orellana said.

She says staying plugged in helps her stay sharp.

“It makes me think. It makes me get curious,” she said.

Orellana says she uses it for her cognitive health, too.

“My mom passed away from Alzheimer’s, so I think that’s another reason why I think I go a little extra hard. Because I want to make sure I’m doing my best. I want to make sure that I’m not idle,” she said.

Even as technology opens doors, it can quietly close moments happening right in front of us. Orellana says she spends 4-5 hours a day on Instagram and Facebook.

She’s not alone.

According to the national nonprofit Older Adults Technology Services, or OATS, older adults use an average of 10 apps on their smartphones. Nearly 90% use social media.

“A whole new series of tools and opportunities”

OATS runs a free tech training program called Senior Planet. In 2025, they helped more than 850,000 older adults across the U.S., including 200,000 in and around New York City.

“Technology has brought a whole new series of tools and opportunities but also some problems that a lot of older people are grappling with,” OATS founder Tom Kamber said.

Kamber said technology can be a powerful tool for healthy aging.

“They’re using it for rideshare, and transportation comes up a lot, GPS for driving, getting around where you’re going. They use it for purchasing consumer products. The Amazons and those sorts of things,” Kamber said.

“You have to get up off of the couch” Research also shows technology has brain benefits, and helps reduce isolation.

“Technology for older people tends to overcome some of that isolation and bring them together with others. Whereas for kids, it tends to create couch potato vegetables,” Kamber said.

Kamber highlighted connections like Facetiming grandchildren, keeping up with friends on social media and joining online communities.

However, he says, balance matters because what may begin as a connection can become a distraction.

“You have to get up off of the couch,” Kamber said. “And if you’re not getting up, you’re going to be physically declining quickly.”

Research also shows digital technology, if used moderately, can help delay cognitive decline and slow down the development of dementia.

Perhaps the lesson is while technology keeps us connected, sometimes the most important notification is the one right in front of you.

CBS Chicago reporter, photographer attacked by 3 men near Adler Planetarium

CNN on June 30, 2026

WBBM

By CBS Chicago Team, Jermont Terry, Jeramie Bizzle

Click here for updates on this story

CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — A scary situation for a CBS News Chicago reporter and photographer who were attacked near the Adler Planetarium during a shoot on Monday afternoon.

The incident happened just before 4:30 p.m. on the 900 block of East Solidarity Drive.

As our reporter and photographer were preparing to go on the air during the 4 p.m. newscast, three men in a white tow truck approached.

Two witnesses visiting Chicago said they watched as the tow truck parked directly in front of the news van.

“They just were trying to do anything they could to scare them unnecessarily. It came out of nowhere,” one witness said.

The crew and the two witnesses say a white or Hispanic man with a dog got out first and then moved aggressively towards the crew while shouting racial slurs targeted at one of our journalists.

“It started racial with the cameraman because he’s an African American male,” the witness said.

The man ordered the dog to attack, but it did not, Chicago police said.

“I think he was trying to, again, intimidate him, make him scared by having the dog approach first,” the second witness said.

When one of the crew members defended himself from the dog, witnesses say that’s when the other two men in the tow truck jumped out.

“They were saying, ‘Leave the dog alone,’ and I just feel like maybe the scene got more chaotic than they were expecting, and I feel like the only thing they thought to do was to just cause as much damage as they could and leave,” the witness said.

One of the men then smashed our photographer’s camera while the other smashed the windshield of our news truck with a traffic cone before taking off.

Fortunately, the reporter and photographer got away unharmed. Three people were arrested about 20 minutes after the incident, following another attack, police said. CPD received reports about the same tow truck—this time because the occupants were pointing a gun at people on the sidewalk near 42nd and Western in Brighton Park. By the time officers caught up to the truck, the driver sped off.

Eventually, all three occupants from the tow truck jumped out after crashing into a squad car. A gun was also recovered from the tow truck, police said. The gun was not pointed at the CBS crew.

“We didn’t see any guns in that moment, but to know that it escalated to that or could of been that is just terrifying,” the witness said.

A CBS spokesperson said in a statement, “We are shocked and horrified by this crime and we are grateful that our journalists are safe.”

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Charges are pending.