Category: CNN Regional

By Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com

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    POCATELLO, Idaho (eastidahonews.com) — K9 officers from across eastern Idaho teamed up to certify their police dogs to track and root out fentanyl, making them the first in the region.

Seven different law enforcement agencies participated in the training, with officers gathering in a Historic Downtown Pocatello building to introduce the scent of pure fentanyl to their dogs and have them prove they can locate it. From across all the agencies, 13 dogs received their certifications and will now be able to track the dangerous narcotic in their communities.

Corporal Jared Miller of the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office said completing the certification allows the officers to continue, “keeping the drugs off the streets and keeping people and citizens safe from overdoses and things like that, is the main goal.”

When fentanyl is combined with other drugs, as it often is, the dogs are able to detect it. But with pure fentanyl, they often aren’t familiar with the odor, so they don’t know what they’re looking for.

“The dogs are imprinted on all the other odors, such as methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana, so now they’ll be imprinted on fentanyl too,” Miller explained.

Now that the odor is imprinted on the police dogs, they’ll be able to sniff it out if they come across someone who is trafficking pure fentanyl.

The agencies participating in this training certification were the Pocatello, American Falls, Blackfoot and Shelley police departments, the Power and Bingham County sheriff’s offices and Idaho State Police. Miller pointed out that combining this training not only saved money but also allowed for more information sharing.

“Cooperation is huge, because we bring different areas together with different knowledge (about) trends that are going on … and we all share information (and) work together to make our dogs better,” Miller said.

The Housing Alliance and Community Partnerships, a public housing authority based in Pocatello, donated building space at 805 North Main Street for the training certification.

“In the end, that’s what it ultimately comes down to, is making the dogs better at what they do,” Miller said.

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By Andrew Adams

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    SALT LAKE CITY (KSL, KSL TV) — Nearly 10 weeks after a mass shooting and fire at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse killed four people and injured eight, one of the wounded finally came home from the hospital.

Benjamin Phelps was discharged on Friday to the cheers of family, friends and ward members after being shot in the abdomen during the Sept. 28 attack and enduring 25 subsequent surgeries.

“About 3 or 4 in the morning, you’re in pain, you’re feeling sick — there’s some pretty dark times, and so you really had to grab onto something,” Phelps said Monday during an interview with KSL TV.

Phelps described a recovery journey filled with determination and faith in which he accepted every prayer and blessing that was offered.

“I really had to start bearing down upon what I believed in, and I really had to focus and buckle down,” Phelps said. “When those actions and that faith combine, magic and miracles happen that otherwise won’t.”

Phelps’ son was also wounded by shrapnel during the attack, but the family said the boy was back playing with his siblings the next day.

The emotional recovery was likely to take much longer, acknowledged Phelps’ wife, Danalee.

Phelps turned emotional talking about the role his wife played in his recovery.

“We would try to focus on the positive, and my wife was wonderful coming and spending time with me and telling me all the things and trying to keep me included,” he said. “I tried to hold onto those.”

Phelps expressed gratitude to his friends, church members and others in the community for the support and love they showed during his journey, and he said the couple hoped to ‘pay it forward and back’ in the future.

The couple said they would cherish the upcoming holiday season.

“This Christmas season will be a different one because how much we value the time we have together as a family,” Phelps said. “It is truly a blessing.”

What happened in September was painful and difficult to put into words.

“It is a traumatic story, it is a devastating story,” Danalee Phelps said.

Phelps said he chooses to reflect on how the community came together.

“Instead of it being remembered, you know, ‘This was such a terrible incident,’ I want it to be remembered what people have bonded together to do in response to the evils that do happen around us,” Phelps said. “Good will overcome evil, and we’ll crush and outweigh that evil in all accounts.”

Family members said Phelps still faced a long road to recovery. As of this week, a GoFundMe* account set up to help had raised more than $219,000 of a $250,000 goal.

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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By Mary Culbertson and Kennedy Camarena, KSL

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    SALT LAKE CITY (KSL, KSL TV) — A second person was arrested in relation to the murder of a semitruck driver who was found dead inside his truck in September of last year in Delle.

Court documents revealed the second person arrested was the victim’s ex-wife.

KSL initially reported the first person tied to the case, Jaswinder Dhillon, 46, was arrested in October 2024. At the time, little information was given as to how Dhillon might have known the victim.

Officials announced Tuesday a second arrest was made on Nov. 20 in California. According to police, Jatinder Purewal, 47, was arrested after police found evidence allegedly linking her to the death of her ex-husband, Jaspinder Singh, the truck driver found dead on Sept. 26, 2024.

After Dhillon was taken into custody, investigators said he and Purewal made frequent jailhouse phone and video calls to each other.

“Several of these communications were translated from Punjabi into English. Jaswinder and Jatinder frequently expressed their love for each other and talked about various other things,” a probable cause statement reads.

According to the statement, Purewal is currently married to a different man, and shares a child with the victim in the case, Singh.

Investigators wrote in court documents that Singh’s family was interviewed after his death. They told officers that Purewal had made threats to kill her ex-husband in the past.

Further, Purewal and Singh’s daughter said she “believed (Purewal) was involved in Jaspinder Singh’s death. The daughter explained that she obtained a restraining order gainst her mother, the defendant, and she felt her mother was very capable of killing her dad.”

During the investigation, search warrants obtained call logs and devices from Purewal’s home in California. Meanwhile, calls between her and Dhillon made no mention of Singh.

“Jaswinder explained that he didn’t fully understand why police arrested him and Jatinder briefly mentioned a news article about the incident. Jaswinder explained that his car broke down somewhere at a gas station in Utah and then he drove back home,” court documents state. “However, the two of them never discussed the fact that Jatinder’s ex-husband was the victim who had been murdered.”

Contrarily, the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services provided investigators with a report on Oct. 22, 2025, that showed a match of Singh’s DNA on Dhillon’s cellphone.

Further, GPS location information recovered from Dhillon’s cellphone showed he was within four meters of Singh’s semitruck when it was parked on the Interstate 80 eastbound on-ramp in Delle.

“This is the same location where the victim’s body was found inside the semitruck,” the probable cause statement reads. “Jatinder Purewal admitted to being on voice and video calls with Jaswinder Dhillon during this time.”

Investigators concluded in the statement that Purewal was on a video call with Dhillon’s phone on Sept. 26, 2024, at approximately 5:44 a.m. — the date and time her ex-husband was killed.

“Based on the foregoing, it is believed that the Jaswinder Dhillon was encouraged by (Purewal) to commit crimes of Aggravated Murder and Aggravated Kidnapping,” the statement reads. “Further, the defendant lied to law enforcement regarding her knowledge of the events on the night the Aggravated Murder and Aggravated Kidnapping took place.”

DPS announced charges against Purewal Tuesday, noting she’d been arrested in California and already extricated to Tooele as of that time.

“Evidence obtained in the investigation indicates that Ms. Purewal and Mr. Dhillon were in communication before, during, and after the time the victim was killed,” DPS said. “In addition, agents were able to find evidence that Ms. Purewal was involved with the following crimes: Aggravated Murder (1st Degree Felony), Aggravated Kidnapping (1st Degree Felony), Obstruction of Justice (2nd Degree Felony), Obstruction of Justice (2nd Degree Felony).”

DPS asked anyone who has information regarding this case to call 801-965-4747.

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By Bianca Buono

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    NEWPORT BEACH, California (KABC) — A gas leak from an abandoned oil well in the middle of a Newport Beach neighborhood has forced the city to declare a local emergency and has put the homes in the center of it all at risk of being torn down.

Emergency construction workers will continue working around the clock for the next nine days to repair the significant oil leak coming from the so-called “orphan” oil well.

The abandoned, private oil well dates back to the 1920’s and is about 800 feet underneath a family’s home.

Back in October, the homeowners discovered thick oil coming from the well seeping into their house, prompting mandatory evacuations that have since been lifted.

A 110-foot-tall oil rig in the middle of the peninsula is now working day and night.

“You get the constant beeping at three in the morning. It’s a little, you know, disturbing, but we understand. I mean, we don’t want to blow up either so there’s that,” said Hollie Keeton, who lives about 100 yards away from the construction site on Marcus Avenue.

Newport Beach officials say the rig is digging 1,000 feet down to pull the oil out and plug the well with a special cement.

“We don’t want it to leak into other people’s homes or into the street or even into the waterway. The water is right there. And so, we’ve been taking emergency action to get this thing capped,” said Mark Vukojevic, utilities director for the city of Newport Beach.

The city says the well was drilled in 1924 and capped just five years later after the oil wasn’t viable.

“It’s very, very difficult to produce a product out of it because it’s so extremely thick,” Vukojevic said.

More than 100 years later, the residents are paying the price.

“The well has no owner, right? And so, we’re dealing with private property, so this is really a complex situation,” said Vukojevic. “But just like anything else on your own private home, if something happens on your home, in your private property, those become the responsibilities of the homeowners.”

The city tells Eyewitness News that the 24/7 work will continue for about 9 more days with the goal of finishing up before Christmas.

As for those two homes that have been red tagged – the city says the homeowners are trying to figure out next steps, but they’ll likely have to be torn down.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

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By Julia Avant

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    Detroit (WWJ) — The parent of a Monroe, Michigan, student-athlete has filed a Title IX complaint over a transgender student from another school competing in a girls’ volleyball game and tournament.

On Monday, parents and elected officials held a news conference, asking authorities to determine whether policies were followed.

Sean Lechner submitted the formal complaint to the school administration, Michigan High School Athletic Association, the state and the U.S. Department of Education. The complaint claims that parents in Monroe were not notified ahead of time about the transgender student-athlete from an Ann Arbor school, saying some school administrators knew before the game but didn’t notify parents.

“Both schools failed to ensure fair competition, provide a safe environment and equal opportunity to participate in sex-separated athletic programs,” read the complaint.

Lechner says he is standing up for his daughter after parents were concerned that the transgender student was not only playing against their teenage girls but also changing in the same locker room. The complaint claims that during one of the matchups at Monroe, the students from both teams shared a locker room, which constitutes “a violation of privacy and bodily integrity protections under Title IX.”

“They failed to protect our daughters, they failed to uphold federal law, and they failed to share what truly occurred before, during and after,” Lechner said.

CBS News Detroit reached out to MHSAA and was told in part, “One waiver for eligibility was granted under our transgender student policy for the 2025-26 fall sports season,” and that the waiver was granted in compliance with applicable state and federal law.

As it pertains to the transgender athlete being inside the locker room, the MHSAA said the decision to put all athletes in one changing room was up to the school.

“It caught everyone off guard,” said 16-year-old athlete Briley Lechner, who spoke at the news conference. “As I was looking at this person, admiring at how amazing they were, admiring at how high they could jump, I was getting down on myself, wondering why I’m not capable of that.”

Michigan Republican legislators are backing the families and a bill that would ban transgender girls from competing in women’s sports. They say it’s a violation of federal law under Title IX.

“To be clear, this is not about singling out a particular student; this is about calling out the individuals that are allowing this to happen,” said State Rep. Rylee Linting (R-Grosse Ile Township).

CBS News Detroit reached out to the ACLU and multiple LGBT advocacy groups for comment, and we have not heard back yet.

Monroe and Ann Arbor Schools both declined to comment until the investigation is complete.

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By Lacey Beasley

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — Gov. Greg Abbott is vowing to expand Turning Point USA youth chapters to more high schools across Texas.

This is the conservative organization that activist Charlie Kirk founded. Kirk was assassinated three months ago on a Utah college campus.

The high school program for Turning Point is called “Club America.” It’s a student-led, conservative-promoting group.

According to Abbott, 500 high schools across the state already have a chapter on campus, including dozens in North Texas.

During an announcement from the governor’s mansion on Monday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick promised $1 million in campaign funds to help expand the program across Texas.

While there are no plans to force schools to start the clubs founded by Kirk, Abbott said any attempt to stop students from creating one would result in disciplinary action.

“Let me be clear,” said Abbott. “Any school that stands in the way of a Club America program in their school should be reported immediately to the Texas Education Agency, where I expect meaningful disciplinary action to be taken place for any stoppage of TPUSA in the great state of Texas.”

The CEO of TPUSA and the widow of Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk, will talk about her husband’s murder in a town hall this weekend, moderated by CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss.

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