Category: CNN Regional

By KTBS Web Staff

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    CAMPTI, Louisiana (KTBS) — A Campti man was injured Wednesday afternoon after being trapped underneath his zero-turn lawn mower, according to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office.

A neighbor was able to pull the man to safety before deputies and first responders arrived in the 100 block of Jim Bell Road north of Campti.

A medical helicopter was dispatched to the scene to take the 60-year-old man to a regional trauma center, where he’s being treated for moderate but non-life threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

Witnesses told deputies the man was changing the battery on his lawn mower when it suddenly engaged after both cables were connected. The mower spun, lifted from the front and pinned the man to the ground.

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By Eric Naktin

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    KONA, Hawaii (KITV) — Coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB) continue generating issues throughout parts of the islands.

The battle to stop the spread of CRBs includes the Kona region.

Recent operations to work toward eradicating the invasive species were coordinated by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and the Biosecurity Plant Pest Control Branch. Efforts also involved the Hawai’i Department of Transportation Highways Division.

Crews have already fumigated and hauled away over 140 tons of potential CRB breeding-site material from a nursery in Keahole Agricultural Park in recent weeks. Traps have also been set up.

An online town hall took place last night addressing Hawaii Island concerns and beyond.

Kawehi Young with the Big Island Invasive Species Committee stated, “The number one thing is to inspect breeding material, so things like compost, mulch, things like whole green waste, dead trees can also be a breeding material. We’ve seen CRB moving in bagged soil on Oahu. Container mulch, if you can put it in a sealed container, thick container; that’ll prevent beetles if they’re in that material from coming out.”

Officials said that additional CRB detection traps have been deployed and increased surveillance and monitoring will be ongoing in the surrounding region.

New tools are being worked on to fight CRBs. If you have issues or concerns involving coconut rhinoceros beetles your encouraged to call 1-808-643-PEST(7378).

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By Josh Sanders, Jim McHugh

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — For most of his life, Kevin Christ couldn’t take a breath without help.

Born prematurely with serious lung issues, the Bucks County man spent his early childhood on a ventilator and the next three decades tethered to oxygen, never without a tube in his neck or therapy to help him breathe.

But on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, Christ stood tall on the mound, took a deep breath and let it fly. His first pitch crossed home plate, cheered on by thousands, including his proud family and the medical team who helped save his life.

“Now that I’m free from oxygen, it feels amazing,” Christ said moments after his pitch.

Christ’s journey to this moment has been anything but easy.

Doctors at Temple University Hospital first met Christ 11 years ago. Despite the challenges of breathing through medical devices, he graduated from high school and held a job, determined to live life as fully as he could.

“Despite having a tube in his neck and being on oxygen, he graduated from high school. He had a job,” Dr. Gerard Criner, the director of the Temple Lung Center, said. “He’s always shown incredible strength.”

Last summer, Christ’s health took a turn for the worse. As he was struggling to breathe, his mother, Jennifer Giarrartano, rushed him to Temple. By January, he was listed for a double lung transplant. The following month, his condition worsened, and doctors placed him on ECMO, a form of life support, as they waited for donor lungs.

On March 7, Christ underwent a successful double lung transplant. He returned home on April 2, finally free from oxygen tanks for the first time in his life.

“I wish I could meet the person who donated their lungs to me,” he said. “To thank them.”

Six months later, Christ is not only thriving; he’s making memories. Tuesday’s Phillies-Mets game marked more than just a rivalry on the field. For Christ, it was a celebration of survival.

“Just seeing him finally get the reward from all the long suffering of 36 years … we’ve come a long way,” Jim Christ, Kevin’s father, said. “He’s done a great job. He’s so strong.”

The emotional moment was capped off by long-time Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker, who introduced him to the crowd:

“Please welcome double lung transplant recipient Kevin Christ,” Baker said at Citizens Bank Park.

Kevin Christ’s pitch sailed over the plate, a small throw, but a giant leap for someone who once relied on machines to breathe.

One pitch. One moment. One breath of freedom.

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By Natalie Duddridge

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — A vast archive of more than 1,000 hours of 9/11 footage is being donated to the New York Public Library.

Filmmakers who turned their cameras towards the people and asked New Yorkers to share their stories are now opening the collection to the public. Much of it has never seen before, even by the creators themselves.

“Point in the opposite direction”

On Sept. 11, 2001, filmmakers Steven Rosenbaum and his partner Pamela Yoder sent their crews to shoot a dating show for dog owners in Midtown Manhattan.

But when the first plane hit the North Tower, they rushed to redirect their cameras to Lower Manhattan.

“I said to these seven crews, if anyone needs to go home and be with their family, that’s fine. And everyone said no, we’re going,” Rosenbaum said.

He added, “One – I’ll never forget – he turned to me, one of the shooters, and he said, ‘What do we shoot?’ And I said, ‘There will be all of these news crews down there. Just look and see where they’re pointing, and point in the opposite direction.’ And that turned out to be pretty good advice.”

For the next week, they captured hundreds of hours of video showing not the wreckage, but the emotions and the humanity, unfiltered.

“My wife and I have seen more hours of 9/11 footage than any other two people on Earth”

To gather an even wider perspective, they put out a public request for footage.

“We put an ad in The Village Voice, and we said, if you saw 9/11 and have a camera, we want to talk to you,” Rosenbaum said.

The result was more than 1,200 hours of videos and interviews. So much poured in, it’s never been viewed in its entirety.

Rosenbaum says watching the footage now, the moment comes back to life.

“Literally like I was standing there,” he said.

The filmmakers released a documentary the following year using a fraction of the footage.

“My wife and I have seen more hours of 9/11 footage than any other two people on Earth. I’m positive of this. We still will look at a drive and be stunned at something we’ve never seen before,” he said.

The rest — about 1,000 hours — sat in their apartment until they decided to donate it to the NYPL archives.

“We’re just now beginning to look at 9/11 in the scope of a historical event”

The library will now take on the massive job of archiving the material responsibly.

“Archivists have an incredibly thoughtful attention to questions of privacy and violence, and it’s a very challenging tightrope that we walk because it is not our job to censor,” NYPL Curator Julia Golia said. “But it is our job to create structures of safety so that people can watch them in the right environment.”

The hope is the footage may eventually help shape new research, books and documentaries.

But above all, Rosenbaum wants to give future generations a deeper understanding of how New Yorkers lived through 9/11.

“News is the first draft of history. History begins in 20 years. We’re just now beginning to look at 9/11 in the scope of a historical event,” Rosenbaum said.

Curators say the archive will open by 2027 in phases: first in the library’s reading rooms, and later, when ready, online through the public library’s website.

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By Alice Gainer

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — In the 24 years since the 9/11 terror attacks, over 1,600 victims have been identified, but there are 1,100 more who remain unidentified.

Scientists say the commitment they made in 2001 to bring everyone home has not been forgotten.

The search for remains after 9/11

On Sept. 11, 2001, Mark Desire was at the World Trade Center site with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to preserve evidence and set up a temporary morgue when the South Tower collapsed.

“I thought I was dead. I thought that was it,” he said.

He ran as the tower fell, was hit by debris and went crashing through a window, suffering several injuries.

He came to work the next day on crutches and was put in charge of doing DNA identifications at Ground Zero.

“To do proper searching, it needed to be spread out more,” he said.

The decision was quickly made to use the recently shuttered Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island.

1.2 million tons of debris sorted, sifted and buried

Michael Mucci, who was the Department of Sanitation’s director of the site at the time, oversaw its reopening hours after the terror attacks.

“Two a.m. on [September] 12th was when we got our first two loads of material,” he said. “From there, it just ramped up.”

It was a tremendous and deeply personal around-the-clock, multiagency forensic operation with a view of the skyline where the towers once stood.

“There was a tractor operator who lost his son. There was a crane engineer who lost his wife,” he said. “I tell you what really got me, when they started bringing in crushed fire trucks … And you knew, everybody on Staten Island knew a fireman or a policeman that was in the towers, so when they started bringing in the crushed fire trucks, that kinda hit home.”

Material was sorted and sifted, some of it passing through quarter-inch sieves.

After it was all sorted, 1.2 million tons of debris was buried at the site.

More than 100 DSNY workers, including members of the medical examiner’s office, have died from 9/11-related illnesses.

Evolving technology helps identify victims decades later

Mucci explained material that had victims’ remains was in its own section.

“We tried to keep it as dignified as possible,” he said.

Desire, who worked at Fresh Kills and is now the assistant director of the NYC OCME, said remains, some as small as the size of a pea, were then transported to the medical examiner’s DNA lab. Years later, more would be found in Lower Manhattan.

“They were finding remains on rooftops, in manholes, so the search kept getting a little bit more expanded,” said Dr. Jennifer Odien, a forensic anthropologist with NYC OCME.

Scientists say 24 years later, they continue to test and retest remains as technology evolves. They urge family members to contact them, saying they could make more identifications today if they had familial DNA.

“If they want to check on the DNA that was submitted early on to make sure that everything we have is the most sufficient for comparison,” Odien said.

Three more victims were just identified in August, thanks to advanced DNA testing.

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By Mauricio Maldonado

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    MIAMI, Florida (WFOR) — A group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Miami Beach, the mayor and a commissioner, alleging violations of the First Amendment during a pro-Palestine protest in December 2023 outside the city’s convention center during Art Basel.

“As much as Mayor Meiner and Commissioner Suarez wish to silence our voices they will not succeed,” said Donna Nevel, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

That morning, members Jewish Voice for Peace stood in front of Miami Beach City Hall holding signs that read, “We will not be silenced.” The lawsuit had been filed only hours before their announcement.

Lawsuit details alleged violations The lawsuit claims the group’s right to protest was violated when Miami Beach police ordered them off a public sidewalk on Dec. 8, 2023.

It also points to what it calls further violations through an ordinance passed on March 13, 2024, which was sponsored by Mayor Steven Meiner and co-sponsored by Commissioner David Suarez.

The resolution directs the city administration to implement and enforce time, place and manner restrictions on future protests “to the fullest extent permitted by law, with the aim of ensuring public safety and protecting city residents, preventing disturbances, and preserving the rights of all.”

It also requires the Miami Beach Police Department to notify the mayor and commission of protests of any size within one hour of learning about them.

“The tactics of the mayor and the commissioner, including yelling over us and shutting off the mics when we try to speak at public meetings,” Nevel said.

“The Miami Beach commission passed a flattening unconstitutional anti-protest ordinance that attempts to give police 100% discretion to silence protesters whenever they or the mayor sees fit,” said Katherine Giannamore, the attorney for Jewish Voice for Peace.

City leaders defend ordinance

Mayor Meiner defended the ordinance, saying it is intended to protect residents.

“Free speech is obviously sacrament and they will have that and they can have that. But you’re not going to intimidate and surround residence and that is what our legislation does,” Meiner said.

Commissioner Suarez also pledged to stand by the ordinance.

“We will defend it tooth and nail because we are on the right side of this fight and we’re also on the right side of history,” Suarez said.

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