Category: CNN Regional

By Emily McLeod

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    ATHENS, Georgia (WUPA) — 64 students made history at the University of Georgia on Monday as they attended their first class at the newly established School of Medicine. Chase Dudley is one of the 64 students who got accepted.

He was fixing his parent’s dryer when he got his acceptance call from the school’s dean, Michelle Nuss.

“I knew it was her; I knew what was going on, you don’t get a call from Dean Nuss unless you’re getting accepted into the School of Medicine,” Dudley said. “So it was almost numbing how excited I was. I remember kind of stumbling over my words, speaking to her, getting off the phone and just jumping up, pumping my fist.”

Dudley attended UGA for his undergrad and initially majored in journalism. After interviewing people with experience in healthcare, he began to wonder if there was a way he could combine medicine and communication.

“Turns out that medicine is communication,” Dudley said. “You know what I mean? Being able to listen to somebody and be there and be gregarious and kind and supportive while applying the knowledge that you have gained in order to hopefully steer them in the right direction for their own care which is how I arrived here.”

Dudley is from Madison County, just outside of Athens. He said it’s surreal to be able to learn in a community so close to home.

He says he ultimately wants to practice medicine.

“My goal for a very long time was to go off and then come back here, try to be the best position I could, bring my perspective, and then learn elsewhere but then return so that I could deliver care to Athens and specifically I guess Elberton, Comer, Colbert, this sort of local area and now I don’t have to,” Dudley said. “Now I get to help shape the sort of curriculum and the sort of ethos that we’re going to have here.”

According to the University, the launch of UGA’s School of Medicine comes as the state is dealing with a shortage of medical professionals. The school cited figures that Georgia ranks 39th in the U.S. for the number of active patient care physicians per capita.

“You see that throughout our state depending on what you read, we’re usually at the bottom end of those lists of the physician shortages, what counties don’t have a physician or a certain type of physician,” said UGA School of Medicine Associate Dean for Admissions, Brian Steele. “Being a land grant school, we definitely want to take our university to the people. We want to help fill that need.”

Right now, a $100 million building plan is under construction that will allow the School of Medicine to hold up to 120 students per class.

Ahead of their first day, the inaugural students had a hands-on orientation experience traveling to hospitals and technical schools throughout the state.

“We want to be active learning in our curriculum and what better way to see Georgia than to actually go out and experience Georgia,” Steele said. “So yes, we could have brought physicians from all over the state to come talk to them in front of a classroom or read a powerpoint but what better way than just go and see that firsthand?”

Steele said the students’ qualifications go beyond GPA’s and MCAT scores.

“Our class had over 54,000 hours of research,” Steele said. “One out of every four of our students have already published something or co-authored something regarding research. They had over 36-thousand hours of community service.”

UGA’s School of Medicine is on the Health Sciences campus in Athens.

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By Aaron Parseghian

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    SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Somerville, Massachusetts firefighter is now on paid administrative leave, accused of running a World Cup ticket scam that brought in more than $14,000.

Robert Whelan, 50, of Somerville, was arrested Thursday, July 30. He pleaded not guilty to several charges, including larceny and document forgery, at his arraignment Monday in Somerville District Court.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office said Whelan took money from at least 30 people totaling more than $14,000 to get them tickets to World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The tickets were never delivered and the money was never returned, the D.A. said.

According to the criminal complaint, Whelan “stated he had access to the World Cup tickets because I hit the lottery as a patriots season ticket holder.”

Police said he told the alleged victims, “The funds went through him as the middleman.”

Investigators said Whelan made “varying excuses” when the tickets weren’t delivered, then said “all the tickets were flagged and canceled due to internal fraud concerns, and that refunds would be issued.”

Whelan allegedly then told the group he would withdraw money from his retirement account with the city of Somerville to pay them back.

“He provided a screenshot of an email to the group representing that on June 25, 2026, a withdrawal of $157,000 was approved from his pension fund,” police wrote in the criminal complaint. Whelan allegedly said the email was written by Michael Pasquariello, the director of Somerville’s retirement board.

Police reached out to Pasquariello who said he never sent an email, and no money was taken out of Whelan’s account, because it’s not possible when an employee is still working for the city.

Investigators also said Whelan forged an email about the tickets using a New England Patriots logo and a link to Ticketmaster. Legitimate letters would have had the FIFA logo and a link to the World Cup portal, police said. The New England Patriots said no one named Robert Whelan is a season ticket holder.

In court Monday, Whelan’s attorney Sean Delaney said his client was a victim of the scam as well and had been conned by a ticket broker who had gotten tickets for Whelan and his family in the past.

“What had happened, this woman failed to produce any of the tickets. You want to know what Mr. Whelan has done since, judge? Out of pocket to compensate some of the folks that have not, did not receive tickets,” Delaney said. “He’s taken a complete hit and a complete loss.”

Whelan was released on $250 cash bail.

A spokesperson for the city of Somerville said Whelan “has been placed on paid administrative leave.”

“The City respects the legal process, and any personnel action will be determined after that process is complete. This is an active investigation under the purview of the Middlesex District Attorney.”

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By Neal Riley, Juli McDonald

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    PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Plymouth woman was killed by a falling tree while she sat on her porch Monday afternoon. It happened as storms bringing high winds and flooding downpours rolled through Massachusetts.

First responders were called to a home on Sullivan Avenue at about 1:10 p.m. for a report that a woman was trapped underneath a tree that had fallen on a back porch.

“The preliminary investigation indicates that the victim was sitting outside on her porch when a large gust of wind caused the tree to snap and collapse onto the home and the victim,” the Plymouth police and fire departments said in a statement.

The woman was a 61-year-old Plymouth resident. Authorities said police officers and neighbors found her under the tree and immediately started lifesaving efforts, but she later died at the hospital. Her name has not yet been released.

Neighbors were devastated by the news. “Just a lovely woman. Always smiling, always happy. It’s very sad,” one neighbor told WBZ-TV.

The neighbor said she went outside to let her dog out. “The rain had let up for a bit and she has a dog. Her very best friend dog and the neighbor also has a dog,” the neighbor said. “So, they both went out onto their back porch to let their animals out during the downpours and the neighbor heard this loud crack, and he looked over and a tree had fallen from State Road right onto her.”

Plymouth police and the Plymouth County district attorney’s office are investigating.

While central and western Massachusetts were most affected by heavy rain that flooded some streets, the bigger concern in the southeast part of the state was the wind. Gusts were forecast to reach up to 40 m.p.h. in Plymouth on Monday afternoon.

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By Adam Thompson

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Dali’s owner and operator, which alleged that the ship’s builder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, designed a dangerous ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, killing six construction workers.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Grace Ocean Private Limited, the Dali’s owner, and Synergy Marine Private Limited, its manager, claimed the ship had a simple but dangerous defect that caused the electrical system to lose power.

The lawsuit alleged that a label positioned too close to the end of a critical cable detached, causing a circuit breaker to open. Without electrical power, the ship lost steering capability and struck the bridge.

“Hyundai Heavy Industries defectively designed the switchboard,” the lawsuit stated.

The Dali experienced four blackouts in less than 12 hours before colliding with the Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Last week, attorneys representing the owners and operators of the Dali pleaded not guilty to all counts in a criminal case brought by federal prosecutors against the companies.

Last May, federal prosecutors charged both companies, and a 47-year-old man who was the Dali’s superintendent, with conspiracy, obstruction, and making false statements to investigators.

In June, federal prosecutors filed additional criminal charges in the deadly 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. The chief engineer of the Dali was charged with violations of the Port and Waterways Safety Act. Karthikeyan Deenadayalan is accused of knowingly and willfully failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard about hazardous conditions on the ship.

The federal indictment charged Synergy Marine’s with conspiracy to defraud the United States, failing to inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, misconduct or neglect by ship officers causing death, false statements and obstructing an agency proceeding.

Federal prosecutors accuse the owners and operators of the ship of improperly using a “flushing pump” to supply diesel to two of the Dali’s generators, rather than normal fuel supply pumps that have redundancies and can automatically restart. That pump’s failure has been blamed for the second of two power outages in the moments leading up to the collision.

“If the Dali had been using the proper fuel supply pumps, then the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge,” said Kelly Hayes, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland.

Last month, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore assured that the Key Bridge reconstruction will be completed safely, on time and on budget.

The governor toured the Key Bridge construction zone with members of Congress, encouraged by the progress.

The cost of the rebuild project remains between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion. The bridge is expected to be finished in 2030, which is two years later than initially anticipated.

The state cut ties with its previous contractor, Kiewit Corporation after it projected a nearly $9 billion price tag.

“It is going to have additional safety precautions and mechanisms that were not there when the original bridge was built. It will have to be larger because it has to accommodate larger ships,” Moore said. “I know when people say, well, that’s ambitious to say you’re going to build a bridge that’s safer and bigger and build it faster than what was done before, the answer is it is ambitious.”

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By Cyera Williams

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    CROWNSVILLE, Maryland (WMAR) — Marine veteran Kenneth Hayden was considered unaccompanied when he arrived at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery for his final burial.

The Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families had been unable to locate relatives who could attend the service. But when Hayden was laid to rest, he was surrounded by active-duty Marines, fellow veterans and community members who came to make sure his final goodbye was not a lonely one.

Vietnam veteran Bill Gray estimated that more than 100 people attended the military honors ceremony.

Gray did not know Hayden personally. He came after receiving an email from the state announcing that two unaccompanied veterans would be buried that day—Hayden at Crownsville and an Army veteran at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery.

Gray attended with two friends who also served in Vietnam.

“It’s a brotherhood,” Gray said. “Being in the military is a brotherhood, a sisterhood. We have each other’s back, and in this case, we’re here to honor the service that this man gave his country.”

Roughly 30 to 40 active-duty Marines were among those who attended, along with representatives from veterans organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans.

Although the people surrounding Hayden’s gravesite were largely strangers, Gray said their shared experience of military service connected them.

“I did not know this man, did not know his family,” Gray said. “But we as veterans are part of his family, and that’s why we came to honor him.”

Hayden was buried with his wife, Peggy, according to Russell Ware, director of cemetery and memorial programs for the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families.

Ware said little was known about Hayden’s personal life, but the state confirmed that he had served honorably in the Marine Corps and was eligible to be buried among his fellow service members.

“He served with honor, and he is given the right to be buried with his brothers and sisters in arms here,” Ware said.

Ware said the state typically reserves the final Friday of each quarter for unaccompanied veteran burials, depending on whether veterans’ remains have been received.

Public notices are shared through the department’s newsletter and social media pages, often 30 to 45 days before a scheduled ceremony.

“Time is the most precious gift that somebody can give that can never be replaced,” Ware said. “The people that showed up today gave that precious gift to somebody they didn’t know, just because they served.”

The department works with medical examiners, funeral homes and veterans service organizations to identify unclaimed remains and determine whether the deceased served in the military.

Ware said some remains can sit unclaimed for decades when funeral homes or other organizations do not know whom to contact. One of the first veterans buried through the state’s effort was a World War I veteran who died in 1984.

Since January 2022, the department has provided proper burials for 49 unaccompanied veterans, Ware said.

“It’s not just a fight. It’s a duty, it’s an honor, it’s a charge for us to do,” he said.

Hayden may have arrived at the cemetery without relatives standing beside him, but Gray rejected the idea that the Marine was alone.

“No, he was not,” Gray said.

For the veterans and strangers who came to honor him, Hayden was more than an unfamiliar name. He was a fellow service member, a Marine and a member of a military family determined to remember its own.

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By Shakeria Hawkins

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    LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Amber Legan wakes up every morning and searches Facebook for posts about stolen Hyundais. She and her sister spend about 3 hours after work each day driving through parking lots, apartment complexes, and neighborhoods across Las Vegas looking for her 2014 dark gray Hyundai Elantra.

“My sister and I go out after work… we hit every side of town about three hours every day,” Legan said.

That daily routine recently paid off — not for her own car, but for another Las Vegas woman who had also reported her Hyundai stolen.

“She went on Facebook and typed ‘Hyundai Elantra,'” Legan’s sister, Heather Legan, said.

The sisters drove to the area and found the car sitting in a Walgreens parking lot.

“We found her car in the Walgreens parking lot,” Amber said.

“With all the windows down, and one busted out,” Heather said.

They called the owner, who was able to recover her car.

Just days earlier, Amber had also reported an abandoned Hyundai near her neighborhood. Police confirmed that vehicle had also been stolen.

While her own car remains missing, her search has now helped recover 2 stolen vehicles.

The experience changed how Amber looks at abandoned vehicles.

“If you see something that doesn’t look normal… call it in,” she said.

Metro Police say motor vehicle thefts are down 30% this year compared to last year. But Hyundai and Kia models remain among the most common targets. Officers urge owners to visit a dealership to make sure their vehicles have the latest security updates.

Amber is still waiting to get her own vehicle back and hopes sharing her story will encourage other Hyundai owners to take extra precautions.

“I just want people with Hyundais to be aware… there need to be extra precautions,” she said.

Anyone who spots a dark gray 2014 Hyundai Elantra with license plate 4046F4 is asked to call it in.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KTNV verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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.