Category: CNN Regional

By Jason Rantala

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    Minnesota (WCCO) — Twin Cities native Michael Larsen, better known as Eyedea, made a name for himself with his freestyle battle rap skills and as one-half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities.

Larsen died in 2010 from an accidental drug overdose at age 28, but he left behind thousands of pages of handwritten lyrics, some dating back more than three decades.

“He was very smart, extremely smart,” said mother Kathy Averill. “Very well read at an early age.”

Larsen’s mother knows these physical works wont last forever. The question was how to preserve it all?

Local MCs, even Larsen’s mother, read old lyrics, which were combined with old recordings and fed into an AI program. That’s how the recently released Eyedea album came to be.

Longtime friend Willy Lose, who put together the album, said it was like piecing together a puzzle, with Larsen’s voice in his head at all times.

“Kind of feeling like he was there with me and we were doing this together,” said Lose.

But reception has been mixed.

“I mean, I guess some people are kind of a little disappointed that it’s mechanically made. Other people are really happy and glad that they can hear more, especially people that knew him as a teenager,” said Averill. “They’re like, ‘This sounds just like him.'”

“The first thing that everybody wants to do is question the morality of the whole thing,” said Lose. “Personally? Mikey would have been all over this.”

With countless more pages of lyrics, Averill said she’s hopeful there’s more music to come.

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 Victor Jacobo

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — Five years after Chicago police officer Ella French was shot and killed in the line of duty, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released body camera footage showing the late officer’s final moments.

French and her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr., were shot during a traffic stop in West Englewood on Aug. 7, 2021. French was killed, and Yanez was critically wounded, but survived.

COPA said it released body camera footage on Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, and because previous court orders preventing the public release of the videos are no longer in place.

“As we do so, it is important to remember that this video captures a profoundly tragic event. Our thoughts remain with Officer Ella French and Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., their loved ones, colleagues, and all those whose lives were forever changed by this incident. I encourage everyone who views this video and all videos COPA releases to do so with respect for those affected,” COPA chief administrator LaKenya White said in a statement.

Until now, the videos had only been seen in court at the 2024 trial of the man later convicted of French’s murder.

Officials have said French, Yanez, and fellow officer Joshua Blas pulled over brothers Emonte and Eric Morgan for driving with an expired plate.

Footage released by COPA includes video from all three officers’ body-worn cameras, as well as security camera footage from surrounding buildings.

Body camera video shows the officers telling the Morgan brothers to get out of the vehicle before a struggle ensued.

During the struggle, Emonte Morgan shot French and Yanez, and tried to shoot Blas.

French, 29, was killed. Yanez was shot four times in the head. He was left partially paralyzed and lost his right eye.

At a trial in 2024, a jury convicted Emonte Morgan of first-degree murder in French’s death. A judge later sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Eric Morgan pleaded guilty to weapons charges in 2023 and was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

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 Brandon Goldner

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Despite living and walking the streets of Philadelphia 250 years ago, the research conducted by America’s Founding Fathers continues to play a pivotal role in helping scientists understand how the Earth’s climate is changing.

One of those innovations can be found inside the Franklin Institute along the Parkway.

The museum is home to the first known lightning rod, which Benjamin Franklin crafted in 1749.

“Probably the most monumental, arguably, invention of Benjamin Franklin,” Susannah Carroll, the Franklin Institute’s director of collections, said. “It was very effective. It was bent twice by lightning strikes.”

Franklin’s goal for the lightning rod was to prevent fires, a topic he was familiar with because he also co-founded the nation’s first volunteer fire company.

Today, lightning rods can be found on top of skyscrapers around the world, including the iconic spire topping One Liberty Place in Center City.

Carroll said Franklin also shaped the path for present-day meteorologists, like CBS Philadelphia’s Grant Gilmore, who track a range of weather patterns, including an ongoing trend of progressively warmer temperatures due to pollution from cars and factories.

“It was our Founding Fathers who started those initial note-taking and weather observations for what we can look back on,” Gilmore said. “In 2026, our averages are about 5 to 7 degrees warmer than when they were back in 1776.”

Scientists and researchers, including Jen Brady, a senior analyst and research manager at the science nonprofit Climate Central, point to rising temperatures as being a key reason for the spike in dangerous weather patterns.

“We’ve seen a large increase in the number of severe storms, which includes these hailstorms, lightning storms, thunderstorms,” Brady said. “There is some early evidence that we are going to see more lightning as well because of climate change.”

Carroll said if Franklin were alive in the 21st century, he would’ve likely been interested in researching the effects of climate change.

“He was trying to solve a problem for humanity,” Carroll said. “He was trying to make the world a better place.”

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 Kaicey Baylor

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — The Baltimore Ravens are investing $1 million in gun violence prevention initiatives across the city.

The announcement coincided with Tuesday’s “Baltimore Together: A Violence Prevention Summit at M&T Bank Stadium,” an event supported by the Ravens as part of this investment.

“There isn’t a more important threshold, piece of work, that really the community is engaged in right now other than saving lives,” Baltimore Ravens President Sashi Brown said. “We had to educate ourselves and have a lot of conversations on how to engage as a football team because this is a really difficult issue for anybody to dive into. For us, it was really about, it’s life-saving work. Reducing from 300-plus homicides to 133. It’s 200 Baltimore citizens alive today.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott applauded the investment.

“They are not just a sports team in the city of Baltimore but of the city,” Scott said. “They’re involved in something as critical as reducing violence in the city of Baltimore. We would not be where we are without their investment.”

Partnerships curb gun violence in Baltimore Here are the grant recipients:

The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE): The funding supports technical assistance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab to expand the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS). This research-backed model has already demonstrated significant success in Baltimore, reducing homicides and shootings by roughly one-third in the Western District.

MedStar Health Hospital Violence Responder (HVR) Program: Funding provides emergency assistance to victims of gun violence, domestic violence, and human trafficking treated at local MedStar Health hospitals to help cover costs for shelter, clothing, food, and other essential needs. This support also expands community education efforts, including Stop the Bleed, Hands-Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training for students, and a broader reach for gun violence prevention programming across Baltimore.

Everytown for Gun Safety: This investment will be used to finance a series of conflict resolution and gun violence prevention training tours across Baltimore high schools. This sustained investment has already demonstrated measurable impact, reaching hundreds of local students and generating nearly one million social media views to foster long-term safety within the community.

Roca Maryland: The Ravens’ multi-year investment will be used to advance Roca’s evidence-based violence intervention work in Baltimore, where the organization currently serves more than 350 of the city’s highest-risk young men annually. Roca’s proven model combines relentless outreach, Rewire CBT – a non-clinical adaptation of cognitive-behavioral therapy – and transitional employment to help young people turn away from violence, heal trauma and accomplish long-term behavior change.

University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center: This investment has allowed Shock Trauma to create and host collaborative forums, such as the Baltimore Together: A Violence Prevention Summit, which brings leaders from across city, state and federal government, healthcare, universities and community organizations together to foster stronger alignment of goals and forge partnerships. These efforts leverage each organization’s unique strengths, perspectives and expertise toward developing long-term solutions to gun violence.

Healing Through Storytelling: Johns Hopkins Medicine: This commitment supports the strategic expansion of the “This Is My Story” (TIMS) initiative across Johns Hopkins trauma units and the creation of the Johns Hopkins Medicine “Champions for Change” Fellowship, a paid leadership program that engages Baltimore youth impacted by violence in storytelling, advocacy and healing practices.

Baltimore Violence Prevention Summit Baltimore leaders said cracking down on gun violence takes teamwork and conversations, looking at the city’s history of violence and collaborating on ways to keep crime levels down.

“The numbers in the last six weeks are not as good as they have been in the more recent past,” said University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Physician-in-Chief Tom Scalea. “We need to double down.”

Baltimore Police have recorded 44 homicides so far this year. Around this same time last year, the city marked 58.

Recent data show a 60% reduction in homicides between 2022 and 2025, with non-fatal shootings down by 50%, reflecting the impact of coordinated efforts among community groups, public agencies and healthcare partners.

“This year, we want to be better,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “The only way we can continue to do that … is by working together to cure Baltimore of gun violence.”

During Tuesday’s summit, city and community leaders gathered to address the root cause of violence and connect on ways to reduce it across the city.

“Think about what life is like now that you’ve been in this work,” Scott said. Think about what you can do to take it to the next level.”

“Having these types of resources allows us to think about how we invest upstream within our communities to form partnerships within the community that can help in the conversation around how we drive prevention,” University of Maryland Medical System President & CEO Mohan Suntha said.

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 Matt Schooley, Kristina Rex

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A man who died in an assisted living home in Boston went unnoticed for nine days and was decomposing when he was found, according to a lawsuit filed by his family in Massachusetts.

Felipe Dip was a resident of Chestnut Park at Cleveland Circle in Brighton when he was found dead on July 21, 2023. According to a lawsuit filed by his two sons Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court, his body was “badly decomposed” when employees discovered him.

Dip’s sons are suing the facility’s owner, Benchmark Senior Living, and an employee who is only identified as John Doe because the family does not know the worker’s name.

Benchmark Senior Living said in a statement they “strongly disagree” with the accusations.

“The health and safety of our residents is our top priority. Though we cannot comment fully on the merits of active litigation, we strongly disagree with the description of the events and allegations contained in the lawsuit and will defend against them,” the company said.

A spokesperson for the family’s attorney, Thomas Flaws, released a statement about the lawsuit Wednesday.

“The family of Felipe Dip has filed this lawsuit to learn the truth about what happened to their father and to hold those responsible accountable,” Flaws said. “Mr. Dip was entrusted to the care of an assisted living facility that families rely on to keep their loved ones safe. The allegations in this case raise serious questions about whether that trust was honored. Our focus now is on a thorough and transparent examination of the facts. The family deserves answers, and we intend to pursue them through the legal process.”

According to the lawsuit, the John Doe “was specifically assigned the responsibility of monitoring Felipe Dip and conducting regular welfare checks to ensure his safety and well-being.” Dip’s sons said there was a motion-sensing camera system to detect any movement in his room. They claim the last time any motion was detected there was “on or about July 12, 2023.”

The sons said over the next nine days their father would have been expected to show up for regular meals. They claim 27 meals went by and no one ever checked on their father in his room. According to the lawsuit, any missed meal “should have triggered a welfare check by staff.”

Dip’s sons, Ricardo Dip Calimano and Benjamin Dip Gerber, are suing for two counts of negligence, and one count of negligent infliction of emotional distress.

“The Defendants’ negligent failure to monitor, check on, or otherwise attend to Felipe Dip for a period of approximately nine days … was conduct so far beyond the bounds of reasonable care as to foreseeably cause severe emotional distress to members of Felipe Dip’s immediate family,” the lawsuit reads.

The sons want a jury trial and are seeking judgement “for all damages available under Massachusetts law.”

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 Garna Mejia, KSL

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    PERRY, Utah (KSL) — A young mother and her 6‑month‑old baby are safe after a pickup truck barreled off U.S. 89 and crashed directly into their living room on Thursday night, nearly bringing the house down around them.

The terrifying incident unfolded about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Perry Police Chief Scott Hancey. According to Hancey, a northbound truck was reported driving erratically on northbound U.S. 89 before it struck another vehicle, veered off the roadway, went down an embankment, and ultimately slammed into the home.

According to Derek Walton, the home belongs to his son and daughter-in-law, Gavin and Brie Walton. Brie Walton was in the living room with her infant daughter when she heard a loud sound outside.

Derek Walton said Brie Walton looked out the window just in time to see the truck coming toward the house.

“She looked out the window and saw the truck coming and was able to at least stand up and start moving away from it — but it still hit and knocked her down,” Derek said.

Brie Walton suffered several injuries but is expected to recover. Her baby, who was asleep in another room, was unharmed.

Crews had to shore up the structure before attempting to remove the truck, fearing the home might collapse. The impact left the side of the house destroyed and the interior exposed. Amid the debris, the couple’s wedding photo still hung on the wall, a small reminder of the life they were building in their first home, purchased just two years ago.

Derek Walton said the family is shaken but grateful.

“The way it (the truck) went airborne here, if she hadn’t seen it and gotten away, it could’ve came down and basically been on her,” he said. “It was hard for me to believe that a vehicle could go over this hill right here and get into the house like that. But once I seen it and I know that they’re both OK, it’s a blessing.”

Investigators believe alcohol was a factor. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Before hitting the Walton home, police said the truck hit another vehicle on the highway and drove into an embankment.

Tire marks on the property appear to vanish near the driveway slope, leading the family to believe the truck may have gone airborne before impact.

Southbound lanes of U.S. 89 were temporarily shut down but have since reopened. Perry police, Brigham City firefighters, and ambulance crews all responded.

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.