Category: CNN Regional

By Victor Jacobo

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — Chicago’s Colombian community continues to step up to help victims of a deadly earthquake earlier this month.

Johan Balaguera, one of the owners of Pan Y Pizza Pa’Ya, was born in Colombia and came to the U.S. at 10 years old. He later established the restaurant and bakery that has locations in Albany Park and Portage Park.

Watching the devastation from this month’s earthquake, which left hundreds dead and destroyed thousands of homes in his native country, prompted him to want to help in some way.

“We kept seeing the news, we kept seeing what happened, and got a call from my mom. She was like, ‘We got to do something,'” Balaguera said. “I mean, we have a business, we have people, let’s do something.”

The restaurant is hosting fundraisers for two days for Colombia, where 100% of proceeds will go to the Colombian Red Cross to support earthquake relief efforts.

“It’s very heartwarming to see everybody trying to get together and put something for their part,” Balaguera said.

David Gomez is the owner of another Colombian restaurant in the Chicago area, and said businesses and organizations with ties to Colombia have raced to send help.

“To see my home nation being impacted by a natural disaster like that, it’s sad,” Gomez said. “The unity that we have seen from our people is amazing, especially now that a tragedy has hit our country.”

Customers said they are eager to contribute however they can.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a little or a lot,” said Veronica Brown, of Forest Park.

She’s grateful her family in Colombia are safe, but both she and her husband feel compelled to help.

“One of my favorite things about Chicago is that it’s kind of a melting pot of people from all over the world, and it’s just a place where we help each other and we want to help people that are in trouble,” Jerome said.

Pan Y Pizza Pa’Ya is continuing its fundraiser on Thursday in Albany Park.

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 John Lauritsen

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    TAYLORS FALLS, Minnesota (WCCO) — For five generations, one family has run the Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours along the St. Croix River in Minnesota.

“It’s a long time, but what a blessing. We get to live here. We get to work here,” Amy Frischmon said.

Frischmon’s family has navigated the St. Croix River countless times since 1906. It can be a tricky task when you have an 80-foot-long boat and a 100-foot-wide channel.

“You have the current, you have the wind, you have the depth of the water and a huge boat,” said Frischmon.

You also have no shortage of scenery. On any given trip, you’ll see kayakers and climbers, bald eagles stand tall, ready to pounce on their next fish, and if you look closely at the rocks and use your imagination, images come into focus. There’s one called the “Old Man of the Dalles” that’s been featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

“We’ll see the Holy Cross. St. Croix means the Holy Cross. That’s how the river got its name,” said Frischmon.

The history of the St. Croix and Frischmon’s family has flowed together over the decades. Twenty years before her great-grandfather opened the boat tours, the waterway was a highway for loggers, but the logjam of 1886 was a doozy.

“It’s a 90-degree angle right here and I think they just kept sending more and more logs until they weren’t able to go around the corner,” said Frischmon.

The river was backed up for seven miles, with misplaced stacks of timber reaching 50 feet high.

Historians say there was enough wood in that logjam to build 20,000 three-bedroom homes.

Today, it’s smooth sailing on the St. Croix. Both the Princess and the Queen are authentic paddle-wheel boats.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a split and they go backwards and forwards, and it is fascinating,” said one passenger.

“Our boat can actually go through two feet of water,” said Jack Schmid.

Schmid is captain of the Princess, a job he doesn’t take lightly.

“You have to make your decisions and directions early because you’ll still deviate from course a little bit,” said Schmid. “I love it up here. I can’t leave it.”

Many visitors feel the same way.

“All of it. All of it. The water, the rocks, the trees, the sand, everything,” said passenger Susan Elthoff.

“I hope people are able to come and relax and see the scenery and the beauty of the St. Croix Valley,” said Frischmon. “I hope we can do this in another 120 years.”

The Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours are open from the first Saturday in May through most of October. They have tours seven days a week.

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 Elle Meyers

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    HOWELL, Michigan (WWJ) — Environmental advocates are asking everyone to be on the lookout for a couple of invasive species that are making Michigan their home and causing some damage.

“Red swamp crawfish, or crayfish, or crawdad … are, actually, the Louisiana crawfish, so they’re native to the southeastern United States, they’re your typical crawfish boil crawfish,” said Molly Wozniak, an invasive species coordinator with the Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston and Shiawassee Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area.

Wozniak said these kinds of crawfish are popular as bait and in aquariums, but when they’re released into the wild in Michigan, they become a problem because they can damage the wider habitat, degrade water quality and lack natural predators to keep their numbers down.

“We haven’t seen them in a lot of large lakes, but that’s not to say that they can’t live there, but they do like the swampy areas, so we tend to find them in slow-moving sort of mucky water,” said Wozniak.

She said that if anyone encounters the crawfish found on the Howell High School campus, they can remove them themselves, but they should check the markings. The half moons on the crawfish’s back and their spotty claws identify the red swamp crawfish. There are native crawfish that wouldn’t like being removed from their home.

“If you find a crayfish that you think is a little bit suspicious definitely take a picture and send it to us, you can collect it to you know prevent it from going back into the environment but there are eight native species of crayfish in Michigan,” said Wozniak.

Wozniak said that anyone on the lookout for invasive species should also keep an eye out for grasses like stiltgrass. It’s also not native and can really overpopulate if it’s not managed.

“We see it oftentimes in kind of edge habitats, so like it’s kind of on the edge of forests and roadsides, ditches and parking lots. It’s not one that you would see, like in the middle of your yard,” she said.

Wozniak said it’s an easy grass to pull and toss out with your yard waste, and that’ll help slow the stiltgrass’s growth.

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 Bryan Lynn, Drew Aunkst, Caroline Foreback

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    ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (WJZ) — Fire investigators are looking into what caused a deadly house explosion in Annapolis, Maryland.

One woman was killed and a man was seriously hurt in the explosion that leveled a home on Green Holly Drive around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Anne Arundel County Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Larry Schultz said in a news conference that the blast caused the upper floor of the home to collapse onto the lower level.

The department is investigating whether propane used inside the home may have contributed to the explosion. Schultz said a vendor had been at the house about an hour before the blast to resupply propane.

He said the priority for crews was to locate and secure the propane tank. Once that’s done, they’ll conduct a thorough inspection of the damage.

“Wherever the tank is, whether it’s underground and there’s a feed on top or whether the tank is above ground, everything is kind of buried in debris,” Schultz said. “So if we can find out who that vendor is and they can point us in the right direction, that would be really helpful.”

Schultz said the explosion sent debris about a half-block up the street.

Fire officials said the woman who died went into cardiac arrest following the explosion. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Neighbors had started performing CPR before firefighters arrived.

A man found inside the house suffered severe burns and was airlifted to a hospital, according to fire officials.

A search dog was also brought in to help determine whether anyone else may be trapped in the debris.

“The integrity is significantly challenged, but we don’t have anybody to confirm that there was not somebody else there, a friend, a neighbor who may have come to help,” Schultz said.

Four neighboring homes were evacuated as a precaution. Investigators are searching for doorbell camera video that may have recorded the explosion.

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 Cheryl Fiandaca

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A young Roxbury mom says her car was supposed to be in an auto repair shop; instead, it was out on the road. Her dashcam captured it driving around Boston and into Weymouth.

Shayna Morales says the recording shows her Hyundai Tucson even racked up tolls going through the Ted Williams Tunnel. In the end the car’s odometer showed it logged hundreds of miles.

Car spotted at red light Morales dropped her car off at River Street Auto Center in Hyde Park. She says the shop was recommended to her by her extended warranty company ProGuard. Days later she spotted her car at a red light with a woman she didn’t know behind the wheel.

“I was flabbergasted,” Morales said. “I go up to her and I’m like, ‘Why are you driving my vehicle?’ and she’s like ‘I’m driving your vehicle from Weymouth.’ And I asked, ‘Why is my vehicle in Weymouth when I dropped it at the shop in Hyde Park?’ She didn’t answer. The light turned green and she drove off with my car while I’m walking to the train.”

Morales says a mechanic at the shop told her the woman driver was his stepdaughter. The I-Team went to River Street Auto Center to ask them about it. A man named Jesse said he was the manager. He didn’t know Shayna Morales and said he would look into it and get back to us.

“They didn’t fix the car” Using the car wasn’t the worst of it. Morales says the shop replaced the transmission with a faulty one and took photos that she says show damage to her car when she got it back. “They didn’t fix the car; it actually came back with more issues,” Morales said.

Concerned about safety, Morales, who has a one-year-old, took her car to the Hyundai dealership in Braintree to be evaluated. Documents show mechanics found the transmission could give out at any time.

Morales tried reaching out to the shop and the warranty company for help. “When I called ProGuard, they said well we’re not going to fix it, we’re sorry we sent you there but we’re not going to fix it, you have to speak to River Street Auto Center. When I texted River Street Auto Center, which I have proof, he’s like unfortunately you’re going to have to get in contact with ProGuard,” Morales said. “Nobody ever seems to help me.”

I-Team’s Call for Action Frustrated, Morales contacted the I-Team’s Call for Action. After reaching out to ProGuard, she got a text approving her repairs at the Hyundai dealership.

“We approved the claim at Hyundai,” Morales said. “And I was like well that was definitely Cheryl. So yeah, if it wasn’t for you, I probably would have been without a car. It would have been sitting in the garage, and I would have been taking the train still and the bus.”

ProGuard did not provide a statement, but in a series of emails to the I-Team denied recommending the shop or requiring Morales to take it there for the warranty repair. The company told the I-Team it provided Morales with a list of shops to choose from. It also said it was in the process of repairing her car when the I-Team reached out.

“It was a long journey, yeah longer than it had to be, but because of you it finally got resolved so yeah thank you,” Morales said.

The I-Team reached back out to the manager of River Street Auto Center for an update. He said he would respond but did not.

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By Neal Riley, Tammy Mutasa, Anna Meiler

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    WORCESTER, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Newly released video from Worcester, Massachusetts, police shows Karen Solomon, who is wanted for questioning in the death of her police officer husband.

The Ring camera video appears to show the 58-year-old Solomon wearing flip-flops, shorts and a T-shirt as she walks by an animal clinic on Mills Road near Coes Pond at 5:41 a.m. on Tuesday.

There has been a large law enforcement presence in the wooded area and the water as police search for Solomon. It’s less than a mile from the Wildwood Avenue home where her husband, 57-year-old Kurt Solomon, was found dead by police early Tuesday morning.

“The levels of agencies are going to extend from local, state and federal; for state police I know firsthand the Air Wing is involved,” law enforcement expert Todd McGhee said. “You have capabilities that are on the Air Wing such as infrared, looking through heat signals through dense wooded areas. You have K-9 support in order to pick up the scent. Those types of resources are significant.”

The district attorney has referred to Solomon as a suspect in the case.

“The Worcester Police Department is still actively searching for her and continues to believe she is armed,” a police spokesperson said in a statement. “We ask the public to remain vigilant and if you see her or can provide any information, please contact the Worcester Police Department.”

Kurt Solomon was a 31-year veteran of the Worcester Police Department. Investigators have not shared his cause of death.

Sources told WBZ-TV that they are married. WBZ interviewed Karen Solomon in 2016 when she was developing an app to help police officers in crisis. She is the founder of First H.E.L.P., an organization that helps first responders with mental health issues and tracks law enforcement suicides.

Kurt Solomon was close to retirement, his union president said. Authorities have said they cannot share more information about what happened because of domestic violence laws in Massachusetts.

McGhee detailed other ways that police could potentially get information in the case.

“What were the emotions involved in the relationship? Were there things that might have seemed off to others about their relationship? Were conversations shared, either by Officer Solomon or his wife with friends and coworkers? All of these pieces, layers of information can turn into intelligence,” he said.

The community is grappling with not knowing where Karen Solomon is and the sorrow of losing a well-respected, well-known police officer.

“It’s just horrifying; it really is,” said neighbor Karen Avedian. “Sad, very sad.”

“None of it makes sense,” said neighbor Gabrielle Wilson.

The home on Wildwood Avenue is still at the center of the veteran patrolman’s death investigation. As crime units and crime tape surrounded the house, neighbors who knew the officer are perplexed.

“I think I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, and very nervous about the situation because we’re not getting a lot of new information given to us, so it leaves you feeling very uneasy,” Avedian 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 Michael Guise

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    FAYETTEVILLE, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Nearly 3,000 pounds of trash was removed from the Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania last week, officials said.

The Michaux Forest District said in a Facebook post that its staff pulled 2,900 pounds of trash illegally dumped along the road in the state forest. The trash included mattresses, couches, televisions and tires.

“Not only does this utilize valuable resources and time away from our daily tasks, but it also uses funds out of our district budget to dispose of other people’s trash,” the Facebook post said.

The Michaux Forest District, located in south-central Pennsylvania, is asking the public’s help in identifying the people who dumped the trash. If anyone spots trash dumping or other illegal activities, they can contact the district forest at 717-352-2211 or fd01@pa.gov.

“If you do see somebody dumping trash on the state forest, we ask that you please do NOT approach them but instead take a picture of a license plate or take note of the make and model of the vehicle to help our rangers investigate,” the Facebook post closed with.

Michaux State Forest, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, is considered Pennsylvania’s “cradle of forestry.” It covers more than 85,500 acres in the South Mountain area in Cumberland, Franklin and Adams counties. The state said the forest is named for Andre Michaux, a French botanist who discovered and named many plants in the 18th century.

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By Michael Guise

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    LOGAN COUNTY, Ohio (KDKA) — A missing woman in Ohio was found dead in a pond, authorities said.

The Logan County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that 63-year-old Marianne R. Saxton was found dead on Tuesday around 10 p.m. in Zanesfield.

The sheriff’s office said deputies were called to the 7000 block of Ohio State Route 559 for reports of a missing woman. At the scene, investigators searched a pond on the property and found the missing woman’s body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Deputies are continuing their investigation into the incident,” the Logan County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook.

It was not immediately clear how long the woman had been missing, as no additional details were released by law enforcement. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance were not released.

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By Ryan Hughes

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    OCEAN CITY, New Jersey (KYW) — Many people are trying to soak up the last few weeks of summer, but several beachgoers in Ocean City, New Jersey, said a major replenishment project has disrupted their season.

On the beach near St. Charles Place, as many people jumped in the ocean and relaxed in the sun, machines were moving sand only a few feet away. Several beach access points were blocked off, and a submerged pipe stretched across the sand for several blocks.

“It’s been difficult to find new entrances to the beach. It ruins our routine,” said Kerry Cochran, who was spending the day down the Shore.

Many people have been complaining about the noise and smell near Ocean City’s downtown beaches this summer during the replenishment project.

For several weeks now, the Army Corps of Engineers has been restoring the beaches and dunes after strong storms caused severe erosion last year.

“I know the replenishment was needed, just the timing was not good,” said Jim Brown, who owns Brown’s Restaurant on the boardwalk.

Brown says the project has been hurting his bottom line.

“My afternoons over the Fourth of July weekend, and the time they were here, were off about 50%,” he said.

The city says the first stage of the project from 1st Street south to 11th Street was completed Tuesday.

Now, work has started on the final stage from 1st Street north to Seaview Road.

The Army Corps said, “We do recognize that construction can impact the experience for visitors and residents, and we work with the contractor to try to minimize those aspects to the degree possible. They close no more than 1,000 feet of beach as work progresses along the shoreline. Additionally, we would add that the project has to continue 24/7 due to the large costs of mobilizing a dredge to the site.”

Laurie Todd owns a home in Ocean City and said she understands the work is needed.

“If you go down further, it’s a bigger beach, so it’s a little better, and you just have to be flexible,” Todd said.

The city also tells CBS News Philadelphia that because the Army Corps of Engineers is investing in protecting so many shore towns, and because of the limited availability of qualified contractors, municipalities are unable to schedule the work at their convenience.

Daily updates on the progress, open beaches and swimming areas are posted on Ocean City’s website.

The project is scheduled to be completed in September.

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By Adi Guajardo, Allen Devlin

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — Police are investigating after a 19-year-old was found dead Tuesday morning inside a Staten Island condo.

Officers responded to a 911 call just after 11 a.m. about an unconscious person at Foxwood Square Condos on Elmwood Park Drive.

They found the young man lying face up on the living room floor with bruising around his wrists and ankles, and his ribs were also protruding, exhibiting signs of malnourishment, according to police sources.

A police officer stood guard outside an apartment on the third floor Wednesday. One neighbor said she often heard screaming coming from inside that apartment.

Angela Mujahid and Conception Barbosa live directly below the apartment where the 19-year-old was found.

“It was just kind of a shocker for me to come home yesterday to detectives. You know, the morgue,” Mujahid said.

“This is a safe community. You don’t expect that here,” Barbosa said.

Mujahid and Barbosa say the 19-year-old had appeared frail, but also rarely appeared at all. Barbosa said he saw him only twice in three years.

“He was real quiet. Like I said, he looked too skinny, you know, like he wasn’t eating,” Barbosa said. “He was docile. He was quiet.”

Neighbors say the 19-year-old lived in the unit with a woman, a man and a child, who they believe is toddler-aged.

Residents in the building were alarmed.

“Everybody knows each other so the fact that there is an individual laying there that was potentially abused … It’s very sad,” a resident named Milla said.

Milla said some had never even seen a young man coming from the building.

Others in the neighborhood say the man who lived in the apartment spent a lot of time outside.

“He was always working on the car, so he was kind of, his presence outside was, you know, visible,” Milla said.

The 19-year-old has not been identified by authorities. The cause of death remains under investigation.

No arrests have been made in connection with his death.

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.