Eagle cam captures chilling coyote howls: “Never heard anything like this”

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Lauren Linder

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The eagles at Glen Hazel have had an exciting few weeks. First, laying eggs, and now, a run-in with some wild animals was caught on camera.

The sound of sirens set off a pack of coyotes near the eagle nest in Glen Hazel. As the howls got louder, the mother eagle woke up. It was captured Saturday just before 8 p.m. on the livestream Bill Powers set up with his company PixCams.

“The eagle popped up, was looking around like, what’s kind of happening here? It really took us off guard, because we’d never heard anything like this before,” Powers said.

He put up a new camera a few months ago so people could continue to track the pair of bald eagles that moved across the Monongahela River after their nest in Hays collapsed in 2024.

Just last month, the mom laid two eggs, and now, for the first time, at least seen on video, she experienced the cries of coyotes.

“We know there’s coyotes in the Pittsburgh area, but we’ve never heard this many together communicating the way they were,” Powers said. “This sounds like something you’d hear in a very remote location of Pennsylvania, just not in the city.”

Powers said it’s an area with houses nearby and probably a few hundred acres of woods. He feels this shows these animals are becoming more prevalent across the region, even hearing more in his neck of the woods in Murrysville.

“The coyotes have become more established and more urbanized,” Powers said.

It’s something he’s more concerned about for families with pets, urging them to keep them inside at night since it’s breeding season. However, he’s not worried about the eagles or their eggs, which he’s expecting to hatch the last week of March.

“I think the eagles are safe. There’s no way that the coyotes could get up in a tree or anything like that,” Powers 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.

A professional driver thought he was paying his E-ZPass tolls. Then he got a $14,000 bill.

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Mahsa Saeidi, Walter Smith Randolph

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A long-time New York City driver says he monitored his E-ZPass account and paid his tolls, but he was still hit with huge late fees.

Now, a $14,000 bill has forced him to stay parked, so he turned to CBS News New York investigative reporter Mahsa Saeidi for help.

Luis Corporan has been a professional driver licensed with the Taxi and Limousine Commission for more than a decade.

Driving is how the husband and father supports his family, but his car has been parked since Feb. 9 when the Department of Motor Vehicles suspended his registration for “failing to pay tolls, fees or other charges, as reported by” the MTA.

“As drivers, we have to be on top of it, but I was on top of it, paying my toll bills,” Corporan said.

The DMV’s suspension unit emailed Corporan a breakdown stating he owes the MTA $2,134.71 in tolls and $11,900 in fees, bringing the grand total to $14,034.71. The tolls date back years, and the fees are more than five times the tolls.

“When I heard the amount … there was no words,” Corporan said. “I just hung up the phone and started just thinking, where I get the money from?”

Corporan said he did receive some notices, but thought they were for tolls he had already paid through the app. He questions why his transponder appears to work at some tolls but not others.

“Why wasn’t it reading it here, but then it actually started reading here?” he said.

Corporan said he did receive some notices, but thought they were for tolls he had already paid through the app. He questions why his transponder appears to work at some tolls but not others.

“Why wasn’t it reading it here, but then it actually started reading here?” he said.

As CBS News New York has previously reported, some people have made deals to reduce their bills, but the MTA won’t say who gets a deal and why.

Corporan said when he tried to make a deal with the MTA, the agency offered to settle for roughly $8,000 but only if he paid by the end of the day.

Corporan didn’t have the money then, and he says he has even less now after going more than a month without a paycheck.

“I have four girls … and this is how I support them,” he said.

MTA Chief Janno Lieber has said the agency has a toll payer advocate to help people in situations like this, but Corporan said he contacted the advocate on Feb. 17 and still has not heard back.

“I just want people to come together, come together and speak out, “Corporan said. “I’m not the first and I probably won’t be the last.”

Corporan’s story is not unique. CBS News New York’s series “Driven Into Debt” reveals a pattern: drivers who believe they’re paying tolls who later get hit with a DMV suspension notice and a bill they never saw coming.

Chris Zimring, of Staten Island, said he was never notified about late fees and ended up owing $25,000. Melissa Lichtman said an error in her license plate number resulted in a bill over $3,000. Brooklyn resident Ian Chichester was hit with a $35,034.06 bill, but made a deal with the MTA for an 80% fee reduction, which brought the bill down to about $10,106.95.

The MTA says it “continues to be perplexed” by our coverage and calls these cases “willful persistent toll evasion.”

“To me, that is just sheer not caring about people,” State Assemblymember Mike Reilly said.

The MTA notes its fees are legal, citing various courts, but Reilly is trying to change that, introducing a bill to cap fees that he says are crippling his constituents.

“Even though something is legal doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “That just means that we haven’t passed my legislation that caps what they can charge.”

Consider this: while the MTA’s fees can reach tens of thousands of dollars, the New York State Thruway’s fees max out at $600 a year.

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.

Rev. Al Sharpton joins NYC museum’s call to stop next-door construction after Underground Railroad discovery

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Noelle Lilley

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — The Rev. Al Sharpton is calling on New York City to help protect the Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan after a recent discovery revealed connections to the Underground Railroad.

He and other local leaders say a proposal for an eight-story building next door could put the museum in danger.

“In 1776, Declaration of Independence, we were slaves, and some of those slaves came through this building seeking liberation and freedom,” Sharpton said at a press conference on Monday alongside museum staff and members of the City Council. “And to tear it down is to tear [down] the history of freedom fighters all over this city and all over this nation.”

The project was submitted by Kalodop II Park Corporation and would demolish the existing building to construct a new one.

CBS News New York spoke to a management company affiliated with Kalodop, Park-It Management, which said the project leader was not available for comment at the time of publication.

As recently as 2023, the Landmark Preservation Commission had previously approved applications for a building on the site, but required 10 independent safeguards to protect the museum and the passageway. This includes prohibiting the removal of remnant walls of any existing structure and requiring that structural framing for the new building be completely independent of the Merchant’s House. However, construction never moved forward. This new proposal is scheduled to be reviewed by the LPC on Tuesday, but will not be voted on just yet.

“Our engineers and engineering studies have shown that the museum is definitely going to face pretty severe damage from the construction next door, both from the vibrations associated with construction of excavation and building. And then also from the heavy weight of that big, big building right next door, which will drag down our rubble foundation.” said Emily Hill-Wright, the Merchant’s House Museum’s director of operations. “It’s such an important part of our history as New Yorkers and as Americans.”

Earlier this year, the Merchant’s House Museum confirmed that a hidden space in the home built by Joseph Brewster in 1832 was used to help enslaved African Americans escape to freedom. The narrow passageway is hidden in a chest of drawers between bedrooms on the second floor, then drops 15 feet to the ground floor. Museum archivists say it could have been for a hiding place or a quick exit, but now they’re concerned that this historic discovery would be destroyed if construction begins before curators can fully examine and understand the space.

“The passage … is really mere bricks away from this proposed development next door. There really is no way that this passage survives this construction.” Hill-Wright said. “For the last 14 years, the museum has been fighting the proposed development of a commercial building next door.”

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.

Inspiring teen using bright mind, big heart to spread kindness among others

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Najahe Sherman

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    COCONUT CREEK, Florida (WFOR) — An inspiring eighth grader is using his bright mind and big heart to spread kindness.

Eighth grader Abhay Agarwal at North Broward Preparatory School created Kind Kingdom.

“Kind Kingdom is an interactive platform for young kids to learn important values like respect, kindness, cooperation, cleanliness in an interactive way by animation, videos, and games,” said Agarwal.

Agarwal says the idea came to him after noticing kindness is a value that deserves more attention, so he created a fun way for younger kids to learn it.

“In our community, and actually even globally, the value of kindness has decreased over time. So in order to bring a resurgence to kindness I created this to teach young kids kindness in a creative way,” said Agarwal.

Kind Kingdom features interactive games that focus on different values. One example, Clean Up the Kingdom, encourages kids to sort their trash and keep their communities clean.

“Abhay came to me after the summer and shared Kind Kingdom with me, and he said ‘Hey, I want to run this by you,’ and when he came to my office it was a fully-fledged website encouraging kids to practice different values that are positive in society,” said Ariel Jespersen, Director of Educational Technology at North Broward Preparatory School.

He even tested the games with his classmates receiving overwhelming approval.

“It’s amazing how he put it together. All the games are really cool,” said eighth grader, Hunter Catz.

The idea keeps growing, there’s now even Kind Kingdom apparel for those who want to lead with kindness and wear that message proudly.

“Even if you do a small action, it can make a huge difference. For example, if there’s a person sitting alone at lunch, you could even just say hi to them, or sit with them, it makes their day,” Agarwal 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.

Fallen tree destroys home during storms, 95-year-old escapes in time

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Leondra Head

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — Severe weather across Metro Atlanta Monday morning brought down trees and power lines. One of them came through a home in Southwest Atlanta, almost hitting someone inside.

The Steave family says they are thankful to be alive after that massive tree ripped through the second floor of their home.

“I slept through the storms. Around 5:30, I heard a loud whomp,” Tonia Steave, a homeowner on Dale Lane, said.

Steave says the tree ripped through her closet and restroom on the second floor of the house.

“I heard metal breaking and glass breaking and jumped up. It took the whole back of the house off,” Steave said.

She says the tree landed just a few feet away from her bed. Her clothes and makeup were destroyed in the damage.

“The whole back section of the house and my dressing room, all my clothes. All I have is what I have on,” Steave said.

Steave told CBS News Atlanta that her granddaughter, who was visiting, and her mother were inside the home when the tree collapsed.

“Just 3 people,” Steave said.

Her husband Edward was working overnight and came home to the destruction.

“I was worried about my family. It just wasn’t a good feeling,” he said.

“My mother fell and bumped her head, and she went to the ER. She’s fine,” Steave said.

Steave’s 95-year-old mother was almost hit by the fallen tree.

“She got out just in time. She was in her bed, and something woke her up,” Steave said.

The home is no longer inhabitable, and the Steaves plan to live with family in the area. They say they do plan to rebuild after they make arrangements with their insurance company.

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.

Twin Cities snow-shoveling groups seek volunteers to help neighbors in need

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Ubah Ali

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    ST. PAUL, Minnesota (WCCO) — Minnesotans were still digging out Monday night after Sunday’s heavy, wet snow. While some people whip out the shovels and start clearing, others simply cannot.

It’s not uncommon to see Minnesotans lending a helping hand, but in some areas, neighbors can’t keep up with the demand.

In St. Paul, volunteers known as Saintly City Snow Angels are those who step in, clearing sidewalks and driveways. Melissa Wenzel is one of the administrators of the Facebook group and says the demand is hard to keep up with.

“If I could personally help everybody who needs help, I’d be busy for about a solid week,” Wenzel said. “The list is long right now, [a] lot of folks that need help.”

Many of the requests come from seniors and people recovering from an illness. Right now, Wenzel said 22 people are waiting for a volunteer to help dig them out.

Though the need is great after Sunday’s spring storm, Wenzel says 139 have been helped for a total of 262 times. She says it is incredible and that there’s always room for more volunteers.

Across the river in Minneapolis, Sophie Su and Zach Navaro are doing the same as Snow Angels in the Fulton neighborhood.

This volunteer-based group, in its first year and part of a program with Minneapolis Public Works, is offering free snow shoveling to help keep public sidewalks safer and more accessible this winter.

Through the partnership, the Minneapolis group received a $5,000 grant, which it used for safety equipment.

“We are meeting our demand but open to accepting more applicants,” Su said.

Su said in their first year, a team of 15 people volunteered their time to shovel 44 sidewalks, driveways and paths.

With more snow on the way, the need for volunteer shovelers isn’t ending. Organizers in both groups say they are always looking for volunteers and accepting applications from those who need the help.

Anyone who wants to volunteer as a Saintly City Snow Angel or add their sidewalk to the shovel list can connect with the organization’s Facebook page.

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.

Startup helps children across the U.S. become published authors

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Monique John

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — A growing number of children across the U.S. are becoming published authors thanks to the help of a writing software startup in metro Atlanta.

Terri Asberry Jr. is really serious about baseball.

“It’s just always been my expertise, my peace,” Ashberry said. “You know, I mean, I feel like nobody can take that from me.”

That’s why baseball is mainly what he writes about, and what led Asberry to getting published at 14 years old.

Asberry met his writing coach and fellow baseball fanatic, Anthony Joiner, in a summer literacy program for young people two years ago. Joiner helped Asberry and more than 30 other children self-publish an anthology using Joiner’s book-writing software, Blooksy. Asberry and Joiner have been friends ever since.

“I started telling him stories about how I hit a game-winning homerun,” Asberry said. “You know, back for my little league team, my first home run. And we kind of elaborated on that. You know, put it in a haiku poem, different stuff like that.”

“We know that students constantly write about things that they’re not necessarily familiar with,” Joiner said. “So we write about Romeo, Juliet, all these things that they learn about. We focus on writing their own story.”

Asberry is one of 500 children and 1,400 adults whom Joiner says he has helped get published nationwide since 2023 on subjects they’re passionate about. A short story, poem, and haiku of Asberry’s are published in an anthology called “Through Our Eyes: Chapters from Teenage Minds,” alongside more than 30 other children’s works.

“[T]hat allows them to tap in, more creatively than they would with something they’re not familiar with,” Joiner said.

Dr. Rebecca Parshall is the deputy director for Learn4Life, an organization focused on improving literacy and overall academic performance among metro Atlanta children. She says there is a literacy crisis among children in Atlanta nationwide, noting that only 38% of third-graders in the metro are proficient in reading and writing their end-of-year state tests. She says poor access to early childhood education is one significant factor behind the problem. But she says prioritizing oral language education, reading comprehension, and encouraging children to write can help reverse the problem.

“Parents and educators can really cultivate a love of reading and writing. That’s the most important thing. That reading and writing doesn’t feel like a chore. Reading and writing are ways to build empathy. They are ways to build imagination. There are opportunities for us to step inside someone else’s shoes and really understand the perspective of a character in a book that you’re either reading or writing yourself,” Parshall said.

Asberry’s father, Terri Asberry Sr., says his son has performed well in school since he was small, and that he demonstrated a talent for writing by the time he was in the second grade. But Asberry Sr. says he’s thrilled that his son has poured into his writing now as a teenager. He enjoys reading his son’s words about the sport they both love. He says he hopes his son keeps writing and that he can see Jr.’s work being translated to the silver screen.

“How he expresses himself in writing is, I say, satisfying,” Asberry Sr. said. “It’s a gratification for us to know where he, you know, knows what he’s thinking, and to be able to see him illustrate that in words is amazing.”

As he holds a copy of “Through Our Eyes,” Asberry Jr. says seeing his name in print exhilarates him.

“My work, I feel like I definitely put my all into it, so I kind of do deserve it, he said. “But just to see myself in a book like that lets me know I can go out there and do more.”

The teen said he hopes this experience helps strengthen his essay-writing skills for when it’s time to apply to college. Maybe it will help him get on the bestseller’s list one day, too.

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.

Mother of fallen firefighter frustrated with lack of action on welding safety bill

CNN Newsource on March 17, 2026

By Louisa Moller

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    BOSTON (WBZ) — Flames glowed from the roof an old mill building in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood on Saturday. Fire officials report that flames were moving across the roof of 1 Westinghouse Plaza. A firefighter was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest.

Now, this Hyde Park fire is stoking an anger that has lived inside Kathy Crosby-Bell for over a decade. Crosby-Bell’s son, Boston Firefighter Michael Kennedy, and fellow firefighter Lt. Edward Walsh were both killed in a Back Bay blaze in 2014. The cause of the fire at a Beacon Street brownstone was determined to be sparks from unpermitted welding work on a windy day.

The cause of Saturday’s fire in Hyde Park is still under investigation but fire officials say welding was taking place at the building last weekend.

“I know a lot of fires begin because of hot works and nobody wants to track them,” Crosby-Bell said.

For years, Crosby-Bell and her non-profit, the Last Call Foundation, have advocated for legislation which would increase oversight and training for welders.

Right now, there are two proposed bills that would require welders to undergo training using a National Fire Protection Association program, impose fines on welders who do not take the training, and slap criminal penalties on welders who do not take training and have work that results in injury or death.

“There’s somebody to hold responsible. Not like what happened with Mike and Ed. Nobody was held responsible,” Crosby-Bell said.

The legislation also proposes a database of welders.

Different versions of the legislation have languished in the State House for a decade and Crosby-Bell wants to know why.

“On March 26, it will be 12 years since that fire happened. And the immediate aftermath was everyone wanted to help and do something. Well that faded so quickly with the politicians and we have to wonder why,” she said.

WBZ-TV reached out to the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, where the legislation currently sits, as well as the sponsor of the Senate and House versions of the bill and received no response.

WBZ-TV learned the welding work taking place at 1 Westinghouse Plaza was done with a proper permit. The firefighter who went to hospital remains there.

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Kansas City mother pleads guilty in connection with 5-year-old’s deadly fall from 17th floor

CNN Newsource on March 16, 2026

By Chloe Godding, JoBeth Davis

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — A Kansas City mother charged in her 5-year-old son’s death has pleaded guilty to a new charge.

Corrinne O’Connor was initially charged with endangering the welfare of a child after her son’s death in 2023. That charge was amended Monday, and she pleaded guilty March 16, 2026, to first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

Grayson O’Connor, 5, fell from the 17th floor of an apartment building and died. Detectives said surveillance video shows the boy fell from his apartment. His body was discovered in an alley behind that building.

Neighbors told KMBC 9 News that they believed Grayson O’Connor’s death was preventable.

Documents revealed that the Missouri Department of Social Services had seven interactions with the family before Grayson’s death but did not separate him from his mother.

Videos shared with KMBC included O’Connor repeatedly cursing at Grayson, hitting him, and another fight. Neighbors reported problems to property managers and police.

KCPD and the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services even put Grayson in a neighbor’s care for several days after he was found wandering downtown alone at night. He was returned to his mother four days later.

O’Connor was sentenced March 16, 2026, to 10 years in prison with credit for time served.

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‘The Homerun Project’ seeks to help with housing crisis by renovating a home for giveaway

CNN Newsource on March 16, 2026

By Emma Benson

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    SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSL) — At a time when owning a home seems out of reach for many, a group of friends is trying to make the American dream possible.

Sky Evans, along with his wife Lily and friend Sawyer Reidelbach, started what they call the Homerun Project. They are renovating a 1920s house in Salt Lake City and, once it’s finished, plan to give it away — no mortgage, no rent, just a fresh start, in a drawing.

“We cannot fix the housing crisis for everybody, it’s such a disaster. But we wanted to fix it for someone,” Lily Evans said.

Evans said they are renters themselves and even sold one of their investment properties to help make the renovation possible.

“That’s really how passionate we are about this — to be able to bring such a dream to somebody else,” Sky Evans said.

The transformation is already well underway.

“What’s cooler than being able to give away a house?” Reidelbach said. “Every day I wake up, it’s all I think about. I lay in bed, and I think about it — getting to work on this makes me so happy.”

Once the renovation is complete, they say the goal is simple.

“Somebody is going to get keys to a home, and that’s really the moment that this whole project is for,” Sky Evans said.

They hope to expand this project in the future, giving even more people a place to “run home” to.

“We love it. We’re so excited about it, and we think it will change someone’s life,” Lily Evans said.

The giveaway ends Aug. 23, and the winner will be randomly chosen after that. Each dollar spent on merchandise through their website counts as entries. For more details, visit TheHomerunProject.com. Updates on the renovation are also available on their Instagram page.

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.