Category: CNN Regional

By Ashley Portillo

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    LITTLETON, Colorado (KCNC) — There are new protections to make roads safer around schools and school zones. One law that went into effect on Wednesday is the Liam Stewart School Zone Act, which expands school zones to roads within 1,000 feet of a school. Liam was 13 years old when he was hit and killed by a car while riding his bike to school in Littleton back in 2023.

For nearly three years, Liam’s father, Josh Stewart, has been advocating for safer streets and changes since his son’s death.

“After Liam’s death, we made sure that the school route signs went up, showing kids where the safe ways to get to schools are,” Josh told CBS Colorado. “We really are working with our city government, trying to make changes, not just for kids trying to get to school, but for anybody trying to get anywhere.”

It wasn’t until he was driving in the area, that Josh noticed the signage was moved, and the school zone changed at Euclid Middle School, where Liam was biking to when he was hit in a roundabout.

In a statement, the city of Littleton said, after research and an evaluation with consultants, in some cases, shortening school zones increases driver awareness and improves overall safety for drivers and students.

Josh argues that the changes made the area “considerably less safe.”

“It felt very much the opposite of a change towards safety,” Josh said. “The thing that hit the hardest is realizing that Liam had been killed in a school zone, and the changes to the school zone put his death just outside of the school zone.”

Josh’s priority then became ensuring children have safe avenues to get to school. He began visiting school zones in other districts and communities and learning more about them. He found that, in Colorado, cities, counties, municipalities and Colorado Department of Transportation manage school zones.

“There were a lot of inconsistencies I found across cities and across counties, and school zones aren’t the same anywhere, which creates confusion, and we needed to fix that,” Josh said. “This is the first statewide law that actually puts a standard around a school zone for Colorado.”

Under the new law, school zones are now defined as roads within 1,000 feet of a school. School zones less than 200 feet must update their school zone to be compliant with the law. It also requires signs indicating there’s a school zone, with traffic penalties doubled.

“That right there makes it enforceable. What I learned from police departments is that they have a hard time enforcing double penalties in school zones because most cities don’t sign them correctly to be enforceable,” said Josh, who added clear signage also gives prosecutors the ability to prosecute negligence in school zones if someone is injured, seriously hurt or killed.

Schools with existing zones between 200 and 1,000 feet can keep their current boundaries but must follow the legal process in order to modify them. To reduce the size of a school zone, a public hearing must be held ensuring the community can provide feedback.

“It still gives a city the opportunity to go less than 1,000 feet, but they have to hold public engagements, and they have to involve the school districts, and they have to involve the people that utilize these areas,” Josh said.

Cities can also designate a “school street,” and reduce the speed limit to as low as 10 mph. Governments can use automated vehicle identification systems to track traffic violations in a school zone. Districts and cities who also want to expand their school zone boundaries can raise funds for new signage.

Stewart hopes the changes in law improves driver behavior in and around school zones.

“What good is a school zone that doesn’t start until you can see the school? You really need to know that you’re in an area that there’s going to be a lot of students well before you get to the school,” Josh said. “I think it also puts a reset on the people that are designing these school zones to really think about the people that are using school zones.”

Josh added that the law also sets a guideline on the changes communities can advocate for, a change he believes Liam would’ve supported.

“Liam would have been a sophomore in high school. He would have been driving this year,” Josh said. “He cared for kids. He cared for his friends. He cared for others. And I think anything that he thought was going to make sure somebody was safer without asking for it would have been something that he would have wanted to have happen.”

Josh said the work is just beginning. Next is educating parents, principals and school boards on the changes.

“I’m happy that school districts and parents will have a legal standing when it comes to a school zone. Right now, if you feel like the school zone your child’s school has is too small or unsafe, there’s no legal recourse for you to do anything about it,” Josh said. “This law gives a standard where now you can hold a city accountable for something that they need to bring up to maintenance.”

In the full statement from the city of Littleton, it told CBS Colorado, “Following the October 2023 death of Liam Stewart, the City Council established the Safer Streets initiative. As part of this program, city staff conducted a School Zone Safety Evaluation that involved 12 area schools. In that comprehensive third-party evaluation, consultants and staff considered national best practices and guidance as outlined by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The MUTCD establishes national standards and research-backed guidance for the use of traffic control devices on streets, highways, and in school zones across the United States. It was determined that standardizing the distance of all school zones (to include, in some cases, shortening them in closer proximity to school properties) fosters increased driver awareness, thereby improving overall safety for drivers and students. The public can view the School Zone Safety Evaluation in its entirety at LittletonCo.Gov/SaferStreets under the 2024 tab. Since the completion of this study, city staff has been implementing the results.”

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 S.E. Jenkins, Matthew Ablon

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    DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is demanding answers after the recent recall of nearly 30,000 pounds of raw beef from Argentina.

Officials from Texas and Florida recalled the meat because the product entered U.S. commerce without going through a standard reinspection process. He says the USDA needs to answer for this mix-up.

“We’ve been doing this for a year,” Miller said. “How much got through we didn’t know about? How much is out there, uninspected, that we didn’t catch? We caught this one basically treasure truck trove of 30,000 pounds. I think the agriculture committees in the House and Senate need to bring Brooke Rollins, USDA, we need to figure out what happened. We don’t need a repeat of this. We gotta get to the problem and fix it.”

Five products, all of which are boneless beef products in cardboard boxes of various weights and carry the “FrigorIfico Gorina SAIC” brand, are impacted:

– “Top Sirloin Butt” (“Cuadril Sin Tapa”) – “Eye Round” (“Peceto”) – “Topside Cap Off” (“Nalga AD S/Tapa”) – “Flat” (“Carnaza Cuadrada”) – “Knuckle” (“Bola de Lomo”)

“The sad part about it is this: when it’s repackaged and mixed with our beef, it can be labeled as a product of the USA. We don’t even know what it’s from Argentina,” said Miller. “That’s lying to the American consumer.”

The recall comes about a year after President Trump announced a plan to import more meat from Argentina. Miller has said he disagrees with that plan.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, along with the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America and other farming groups — who are normally some of the president’s biggest supporters — all criticized Trump’s plan because of what it could do to American ranchers and feedlot operators. And agricultural economists say Argentine beef accounts for such a small slice of beef imports — only about 2% — that even doubling that wouldn’t change prices much.

Several factors have sent beef prices soaring, starting with continued strong demand combined with the smallest U.S. herd size since 1961.

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 Darius Johnson, Shardaa Gray, Sara Tenenbaum

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    PORTAGE, Indiana (WBBM) — The woman who was killed in a Portage, Indiana, house explosion during severe storms Tuesday has been identified.

Aerial footage of the home in the 6600 block of Harrison showed it had been completely destroyed, with debris scattered around the smoking ruins. The explosion hit and damaged neighbors’ homes and sent debris down the street. First responders had trouble getting to the scene because of downed trees from the earlier storms.

Neighbors told CBS News Chicago an elderly couple had lived in the home for at least 30 years. The husband, they said, had gone to the doctor before the storms hit Tuesday and asked his wife if she wanted to go, but she decided to stay home.

Wednesday morning, family identified the woman as 86-year-old Leona Rice. Her husband and sons were at the home this morning, laying keepsakes on the doorstep, but did not want to speak.

Now all that’s left of the home is the foundation and the stairs that once led to the front door.

Neighbors said when Rice’s husband returned from his doctor’s appointment Tuesday, the home was reduced to rubble and his wife’s body was still inside.

“I got out there, I put my arms around him, and I said come with me, come sit down,” said neighbor Shirley Golob.

“It’s just a sad situation that that had to happen like that,” said neighbor Margaret Clark.

CBS News Chicago First Alert meteorologists believe the home was hit by hurricane-force straight-line winds going 100-1110 mph, the same force as an EF-1 tornado or a Category 2 hurricane.

“Tragedy really. I mean seeing the house down the block blew up and just the destruction everywhere is terrible,” said neighbor Desmond Lord.

Lord lives down the block from the couple. He said his daughter narrowly avoided her own tragedy during the storms as her call stalled when she was pulling out of the driveway, shortly before a massive tree branch fell on it.

“She decided to come back in the house when the storm got bad. Right when she reached the door, tree fell. So she was very lucky. Very lucky. God was in her hands,” he said.

A few houses down, a massive tree also fell on Posey Jacobs’ car.

“I usually park there. I had work at 1, so I was like, getting dressed honestly and ready to go. I’ve been needing to work, so I’m kind of sad,” she said.

Neighbors have come together to pick up the pieces of their community and hope to be spared by the next storm.

“We can recover. God’s will, we will recover. But there’s just a lot of work that needs to get done,” Clark said. “But we will get through it and we will make sure that everybody is fine.”

Neighbors said they smelled gas throughout the community after the explosion Tuesday.

Multiple gas leaks have been reported throughout Portage and other parts of Northwest Indiana that were devastated by the storms, and NIPSCO said it is working to keep them under control and restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers.

City officials said the cause of the house explosion remains under investigation.

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 Jennifer Mayerle

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    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — A Twin Cities metro mother blames the Minneapolis VA Medical Center for her son’s suicide.

Marine veteran Allen Giller died less than four hours after leaving the Medical Center in 2022. His mother has filed a federal civil lawsuit. According to court documents, the VA denies the allegations.

Deb Giller recalls his final moments with Senior Investigative Reporter Jennifer Mayerle. We want to warn you it includes discussions of suicide.

“He rests here with me. I start my day and end my day here, praying over him and holding him,” Deb Giller said, standing by her son’s ashes.

The corner of Deb Giller’s home holds so much meaning with her late son, Allen. His presence is felt throughout her place.

“Allen was free-spirited. Always wanted to be a Marine and was in camo by the time he was four,” Deb Giller said.

The 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Allen Giller’s family says he received several commendations before he was honorably discharged. They say it was only after that, he was diagnosed with mental illness.

“PTSD, bipolar tendencies, so high highs and low lows,” Deb Giller said.

The diagnosis was the beginning of a run of hospitalizations and mental health holds.

Medical records show Allen Giller went back to the Minneapolis VA Medical Center one day after being discharged from a 72-hour hold. He was asking for help. That was on March 17, 2022.

“And I’ve been on a loop since he died of having to relive that day over and over and over again,” Deb Giller said.

According to medical records, soon after being admitted Allen Giller wanted to leave. Records show a psychiatrist had to sign off, and “the patient was discharged to his mother’s care as requested on 17 March with follow-up in place.”

“I was just being a mom. They should have kept him. If the computers could have talked to each other, if somebody could have made a call from the ER to the floor. Who knows what would have happened? I think my son would still be alive,” Deb Giller said.

According to a police report, Deb Giller says Allen Giller “seemed to quickly switch attitudes” on the way home. The report shows she made a 911 call for “an adult son who is manic” saying “she was worried he could get hit by a vehicle” after he ran away and into traffic. Police notes say “I did not see anything that would lead me to believe that the male was a threat to himself or others” and “we did not have enough to place the male on a health and welfare hold.”

After police left, Deb Giller was driving her son back to the Minneapolis VA Medical Center when she said he kept trying to get out of her car.

“I was begging him, begging him and at some point, he just took off his hat and opened the door and rolled out in traffic on 94. I pulled over, and I was getting out and screaming. And he jumped up on the overpass, saluted and then he was gone. And I was just screaming, ‘Jesus, help me, please, help me, please, help me.’ I can’t do anything different because it’s over, I can’t unsee what happened. But a part of me died that day as well,” Deb Giller said.

Attorney Peter Bertling is suing the United States government on behalf of the Giller family for wrongful death.

“I brought this lawsuit because this is a death by suicide that could have been prevented,” Bertling said.

The lawsuit filed in 2024 reads “Allen should never have been discharged … because he was mentally unstable; had attempted suicide earlier that morning; was a danger to himself and others; and at high risk for suicide.”

“If the physicians and health care providers at the Minneapolis VA would have followed their own policies and procedures, their own mandatory suicide prevention training, Allen Giller would probably still be with us here today. But they didn’t. They failed him, they failed his family, and they failed the system,” Bertling said.

A VA spokesperson told WCCO: “VA does not comment on pending litigation.”

WCCO reviewed the VA’s Suicide Prevention Program Bertling provided, which was in place at the time of Allen Giller’s hospitalization. Medical records show at least one suicide risk assessment was done by a psychiatry resident. Allen Giller was found to be low risk. She noted Allen Giller should be admitted for stabilization and safety, and if he didn’t voluntarily stay, he may need to be placed on a hold.

WCCO did not find a full assessment on March 17, 2022, from the staff psychiatrist who discharged him.

“The psychiatrist didn’t do a proper suicide risk analysis as he was trained to do before he let Allen leave the VA that day. That morning Allen came to the VA and he said, ‘I need help.’ He agreed to be voluntarily admitted to the VA, and then somebody who was not in his right mind changed his mind and they let him go,” Bertling said.

Allen Giller’s family has stayed close, saying they are forever changed by the loss. They share their grief because they want to prevent another family from feeling their pain.

“He was just a baby, 27 years old. And I brought him into this world, and I was there when he left this world,” Deb Giller said.

While the VA wouldn’t comment, WCCO found it denied the allegations in court documents. A judge denied the request to dismiss the case. A settlement conference is scheduled for Wednesday.

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By Adam Thompson, Tara Lynch

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — A man accused of urinating on people during a Morgan Wallen concert in Baltimore last month now faces assault charges.

Jayson Reed, 33, is facing four counts of second-degree assault, public urination and other related offenses. After an arrest warrant for indecent exposure was issued Tuesday, Reed was taken into custody in Wilson County, North Carolina, where he is being held without bail pending extradition to Maryland.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police said officers responded to a report of a fight at the show at M&T Bank Stadium on July 18. Concertgoers told police that a man had urinated on them while they were sitting in their seats during the performance.

Police identified a man and escorted him out of the stadium. After investigating and speaking with witnesses, MDTA Police detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Reed.

Troy Grevelding told CBS News Baltimore that he and his family traveled from Syracuse, New York, to attend the concert. He said that after Wallen took the stage, he and his wife felt something dripping on their legs. Grevelding said they looked behind them and saw a man they did not know urinating in the stands.

“I just look, and at that point his pants are completely down. He’s urinating all over myself … all over my wife,” Grevelding said. He said his two nieces, one of them an 8-year-old girl, were also urinated on.

“I’m freaking out, and the guy’s just telling me, ‘It’s OK, man. It’s OK, brother,'” Grevelding said. He posted a series of videos about the incident on Facebook, which went viral. He said he tried to push the man away from his family and told him to stop.

Grevelding told CBS News Baltimore Thursday he was aware of Reed’s arrest, but added he was frustrated that Reed wasn’t taken ito custody last month at the concert.

At the time, MDTA Police said in a statement that they were aware of the video and were investigating.

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By Tammy Mutasa

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A man was stabbed to death on an escalator in Boston’s South Station Wednesday event, and police are seeking the public’s help to find the attacker.

Transit Police responded to a report of a fight in the Red Line station at about 5:30 p.m. A man was found suffering from at least one stab wound. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died.

“At this time, the preliminary investigation indicates that there was an altercation between the victim and another male on the escalator leaving South Station,” said Boston Police Superintendent Paul McLaughlin.

No arrests have been made. McLaughlin asked anyone who witnessed the stabbing to contact police. He said detectives are working to talk to witnesses and gather video evidence.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is assisting in the investigation.

“There’s obviously, given the time of day, a number of witnesses, so anyone who knows anything about what may have happened … either before, during or after this altercation, we need you to contact the Boston Police Department,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

State Senator Nick Collins said the stabbing during rush hour is “very tragic and alarming.”

“We know that the police are involved right now in a thorough investigation,” Collins said. “They have strong surveillance of what transpired and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and their family.”

Collins believes it is an isolated incident and said the transit system is safe.

No other information has been released.

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By Mike Toole, Logan Hall

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A man described as “very dangerous” by Massachusetts State Police was captured Wednesday after a wild chase on Interstate 93 in the Boston area during the morning rush hour.

Troopers were looking for an armed man who they say was holding a pregnant woman hostage in a car when they spotted them around 7 a.m. in an Infiniti SUV on the northbound side of the Southeast Expressway in Quincy.

Video from the incident showed the car smashing into vehicles while weaving through traffic as it was followed by several troopers heading toward Milton.

“A James Bond movie” “It was like something out of a James Bond movie,” said Kristen Eck, the traffic reporter for WBZ NewsRadio 1030. Eck recorded the chase on a video camera attached to a drone in the HOV lane.

“During the pursuit, the suspect vehicle crashed into 8 vehicles on Interstate 93 before the driver attempted to flee on foot by exit 11,” State Police spokesperson Sgt. Gregory Jones said in a statement.

“Troopers apprehended the suspect, facilitated medical care for the victim, who is a pregnant woman, and recovered a firearm from the suspect vehicle.”

State Police later identified the driver as 31-year-old Dominic Hampton-Boyd of Dorchester. He is expected to be arraigned on several charges in Quincy District Court as early as Thursday.

There’s no update yet on the woman’s condition.

“Never seen anything like that” “It was crazy. I’ve been covering traffic for WBZ Radio for 29 years and I’ve never seen anything like that as up close as I did this morning,” Eck told CBS News Boston.

“Normally you wouldn’t think that somebody would continue to try to escape through a traffic jam through morning rush hour traffic, but this person was very determined to get away.”

Traffic was backed up for miles after the crash.

No other information is available at this point in the investigation. It’s being handled by the Norfolk District Attorney’s office.

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By Erika Stanish

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    BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh-area police department is warning about scammers after investigating several cases where residents have fallen victim.

The Buffalo Township Police Department told KDKA-TV that over the last several months, multiple elderly residents have lost nearly $100,000 to a scheme that is more sophisticated than investigators have ever seen before.

Police warn of sophisticated scheme Chief Timothy Derringer said scammers are contacting the victims, allegedly threatening them into sending a bulk amount of money in either cash or gift cards in packages at local postal offices.

“The scammers are able to hack into their phone, take control of their bank accounts,” Derringer said. “So it does look legit.”

Derringer said scammers are using different methods to target the victims, like pretending to be their bank or using scare tactics like saying their loved one is in jail, or using personal information about the victim to steal their money.

“A lot of times they don’t believe the police, they don’t believe the family members, they’re so coerced into what the scammer is telling them to do,” Derringer said. “They forget. It’s no fault of their own, but they forget. They think it’s a legit problem and they go and take multiple transactions of cash in order to fulfill that obligation, whatever the scammer is telling them to do. Once you send that money, you may as well throw it away because you’re not going to get it back.”

Derringer said in several cases, scammers have asked residents to send bulk amounts of cash through South Pike Postal on Mulone Drive in Buffalo Township. He said a scammer attempted to victimize the same woman twice.

“It was an elderly female,” Derringer said. “She wanted to ship another $30,000 in order to win 15 million.”

Store manager spots red flags Luckily, he said the store manager at South Pike Postal has been able to stop the victims from sending money, based on the red flags she sees when they walk into the store.

“I had one lady, she’s like, ‘Oh, I’m shipping out a coffee pot,'” Monica Placek, the store manager at South Pike Postal, said. “It’s $1 general coffee pot. To overnight it, it was over $500. I’m like, ‘something’s not right.’ So I’m allowed to open it because it’s my package now, so I open it up and I catch about 16 grand and a debit card in the coffee pot.”

Placek told KDKA-TV that the scammers had hacked the victim’s phone and were intercepting phone calls to the victim when police tried to intervene.

In another case, Placek said a woman was trying to mail $60,000 in cash.

“I was like, ‘I’m gonna open the box just to make sure it’s packed properly. I’m allowed to.’ She’s like, ‘No, don’t, don’t.’ I’m like, OK. And I’m like, ‘What are you shipping out?’ She’s like, ‘There’s $60,000 in there,'” Placek said.

Another man showed up to ship books to California, Placek said, and was willing to pay a hefty fee to overnight the package.

“I opened it up and there was $27,000 in cash,” Placek said. “It’s just red flags. Like, you know, don’t get me wrong, we ship out overnight. We ship out standard ground, everything. But the red flags to me is why are we shipping books overnight? Like, why are we spending $300 to ship something that isn’t even worth that much?”

Police invite residents to public discussion “If I can get anything out there, it’s please check with somebody prior to shipping anything anywhere,” Derringer said. “Contact 911 in your community, check with a family member, check with a friend, check with anybody before you ship any type of currency or money.”

Because of the recent uptick in scams, Buffalo Township Police are inviting the public to attend a public discussion on Saturday at Zion Methodist Church.

Officers, along with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, will be there to discuss scams, how to recognize scams, how to protect your information and how to avoid becoming a victim. Other topics during the discussion will include drug awareness and resources for the community. The event starts at 10 a.m. at 438 Bear Creek Road in Sarver.

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.