Category: CNN Regional

By Andie Bernhardt

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    RACINE, Wisconsin (WDJT) — A Racine mom is speaking out after she says her 14-year-old daughter, who was attending a quinceañera, was beaten and tased by her peers in Sturtevant.

“It’s terrifying, you know, you don’t expect that type of stuff to happen,” said the mom, who has asked to remain anonymous for her daughter’s safety.

Video shows the moment the mom says her 14-year-old daughter was hit, kicked and tazed by other teenagers at a quinceañera Saturday night at Fountain Banquet Hall.

“It was infuriating for me,” said the mom. “You know, to know that I couldn’t be there to help her or do anything about it.”

She says there was an open invite circling social media for the party, which the venue says led to things getting out of hand.

Theresa Beth, the owner of Fountain Banquet Hall, took to social media to say around 8:45 p.m. is when they decided to stop letting people in after the venue reached capacity.

Beth says the teens were given multiple warnings to leave, with many refusing, so she called the cops. She says police stayed on-site for around an hour, but after they left, multiple fights broke out among teens and adults.

Now, the mom wants every teen who laid a hand on her child to be held responsible, and she says she will be pressing charges.

“She suffered some minor injuries, but she’s doing well,” the girl’s mom said. “She’s getting better.”

The Racine Police Department was called to assist, but the Racine County Sheriff’s Office is handling this investigation. CBS 58 reached out for more information, but we’ve not yet heard back.

“I would just like to see more parents take accountability, you know, and just keep an eye on their kids,” said the mom. “You know, talk to them, let them know that type of stuff isn’t cool.”

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 Dryden Quigley

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    YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California (KGO) — Yosemite National Park is seeing heavy congestion at the start of its first summer without a timed reservation system, with visitors reporting long lines, limited parking and crowded conditions throughout the park.

So far this year, Yosemite has recorded nearly 100,000 more visitors than at the same point last year, contributing to what many describe as chaotic conditions.

They said the biggest issue was long wait times to get inside the park. “People were waiting for at least hour and a half,” said visitor Andranik Arakelyan.

The waiting didn’t stop there.

“I would say by 7:30, the entire park, it was impossible to park there. There’s nowhere to park for anybody,” said visitor John Leerskov.

Visitors waiting to find parking, board shuttles and access popular viewpoints.

“It was a lot of shoulder to shoulder, a lot of chaos, a lot of angry people, a lot of oblivious people,” Leerskov said.

It looks like some grew impatient, with videos showing dozens of cars illegally parked.

“People pulling onto meadows, pulling off pavement, going off-road. The lines to get even shuttles around the park, I mean, from the videos were just horrendous,” said conservationist and author Beth Pratt.

This is the first summer visitors can enter Yosemite without a reservation requirement, following what park officials described as a “comprehensive evaluation.”

“We are committed to visitor access, safety, and resource protection, and will continue active traffic management strategies to ensure a great visitor experience,” said Yosemite Superintendent Ray McPadden back in February.

“While reservation systems are one valuable management tool, our data demonstrates that a season-wide reservation requirement is not the most effective approach for the coming season.”

Still, some environmental advocates say the previous system better controlled crowds.

“Without any limits on the amount of vehicles, the amount of people, it becomes overwhelmed,” said John Buckley, Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center Executive Director.

Buckley argues the decision may benefit tourism revenue but harm the park’s environment.

“The best accessibility is when there’s managed park conditions so that the number of vehicles is balanced with the amount of parking and the capacity of the roads,” he said.

Even some visitors like Arakelyan, who opposed reservations in the past, say they now see their value. He used to get frustrated with having to reserve weeks in advance.

“There’s just not enough capacity, like infrastructure and the employees to handle all of this traffic,” Arakelyan said.

With peak summer season approaching, some are calling for changes.

“These are the best protected places on the planet, and we cannot be managing them like an amusement park,” Pratt said.

For those hoping to avoid the crowds, the Yosemite Conservancy recommends arriving early, visiting during the week or using bus transportation. To get updates on current traffic conditions in the park, text ynptraffic to 3331.

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 Allie Triepke

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    BOISE, Idaho (KIVI) — As rat sightings continue to spread across the Treasure Valley, one Boise woman is hoping a community-driven map can help neighbors track the growing problem — while promoting a more humane approach to pest control.

Boise neighbor Robin Hadder created a website featuring an interactive map where people can anonymously report rat sightings and signs of infestations throughout the Treasure Valley.

“And I just thought… I know how to do that,” Hadder said.

The map allows neighbors to report sightings of live or dead rats, along with evidence such as droppings, burrows and chewed materials.

Hadder said the response from the community has been immediate.

“Well, we’ve had dozens of, um, sightings already put on the map,” she said.

Concerns over rats have increasingly become part of the public conversation in Idaho. Earlier this year, lawmakers discussed whether rats should be declared a public nuisance during the legislative session after growing concerns from residents across the Treasure Valley. No formal action was ultimately taken.

Now, Hadder hopes the map can help identify infestation hotspots and provide useful data for communities, researchers and pest control companies.

Friday, Hadder met with Idaho News 6 near one of the latest reported sightings near the Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve parking lot off McMillan Road.

“And so when we find hotspots in towns, we’ll be able to do things like do a trial of rat birth control in an area and document the results. And I am going to be giving the results for free, like open source to the city and to like local universities if somebody wanted to do a study on rats in the area,” Hadder said.

Hadder is advocating for pest control companies to use rodent birth control instead of rat poison, saying it offers a more proactive and humane way to reduce rat populations while limiting unintended consequences for pets, wildlife and the environment.

Earlier this week, Idaho News 6 reported on a Treasure Valley family whose cat died after coming into contact with rat poison.

“Stories like the one that you had about that cat dying… I don’t want to hear stories like that anymore,” Hadder said.

Hadder is now inviting exterminators to partner with the project and become preferred pest control businesses listed on the website.

“Anybody that partners with us will, uh, not use the rodenticides, but use rat birth control instead. It will knock out their ability to reproduce, and rats usually only live a year or two, and so… just the natural die-off in the area will drastically cut the populations,” she said.

Neighbors can report rat sightings through the website’s map feature.

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 Mekialaya White

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    DENVER, Colorado (KCNC) — Being a new mom is a rollercoaster, filled with joys and inevitable challenges. So, a Colorado nonprofit is helping moms, meeting them right where they are physically and financially.

For 40 years, Mothers’ Milk Bank in Arvada has provided life-saving resources for growing families, thanks to nearly 22,000 donors.

Anne Marie Piazza is one of those generous donors. CBS Colorado caught up with Piazza on a recent breast milk delivery, who says being a new mom has had its ups and downs.

“He’s just a joy to have,” she said while holding her 9-month-old son. “I grew up with babies around me all the time, so I just thought I would know what to do, but it was a lot more than I anticipated. There are so many things that I didn’t think about right away. It’s really intense in the beginning. He had some trouble gaining weight, and he had jaundice, and there were some scary things I had to experience. If you let yourself go down that rabbit hole, it can really drag you down.”

She worked to overcome those challenges and has now opened her heart to help other moms.

“I knew I wanted to donate my milk for moms who didn’t have their supply come in like mine did,” said Piazza.

Mothers’ Milk Bank provided that connection.

“We are so fortunate to allow us to be in this middle spot to connect moms who have more milk than their baby needs to babies who don’t have mom’s milk for one reason or another, whether they were born premature or perhaps there are health conditions that make it difficult for them,” said Milk Bank Director Rebecca Heinrich. “We know that mother’s milk is the best first food for babies. In the U.S., 1 in 10 babies is born premature, and mom’s body may not be ready to make milk when the baby is born so early. There may be trauma. There may be complications.”

Mothers’ Milk Bank milk is dispersed across the Denver metro area and to milk banks nationwide.

“Here in Colorado, we are one of the largest milk banks in the country,” Heinrich continued. “Not every state has a milk bank, so not every baby would have access to milk if not for our donors that allow us to pasteurize and process this milk, test it for safety, and deliver it. We want milk banking to be as ubiquitous and out there as blood banking.”

Heinrich says their ultimate goal is to break down all barriers for families.

“For families that are struggling financially, for families that are finding it difficult to support their children, that’s one of the ways we do that is through human milk. Just taking things off their plate, offering human milk is going to make all the difference in the life of that baby.”

“It just feels really good to know I can give those moms peace of mind, especially when it comes to something as simple as, it seems silly, but feeding your baby,” said Piazza.

Because it really does take a village. Piazza is glad to know she’s part of it.

“You got this. You got this, mama!” Piazza said with a smile.

In order to donate breast milk, bloodwork and a questionnaire are required. To learn more, visit their website.

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 Mike Castellucci

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    LOVELAND, Colorado (KMGH) — Once a ringmaster for the Greatest Show on Earth, Kevin Venardos nearly lost everything — until a rented tent and a bold vision brought him back under the spotlight.

It’s Phoenix Baisa’s job to meet the audience before the show, welcome them, and help them to their seats. Call her the circus greeter.

What the audience doesn’t yet know, as they take their seats under the big tent, is that Baisa is also the star of the show.

Venardos Circus, set up in a parking lot in Loveland, is what happens when you don’t give up.

Venardos almost did.

“If you can get a community to believe in you, there is not a power on heaven and earth that will stop you,” Venardos said.

For Venardos, it used to be all a balancing act.

“I had to be brought to my absolute knees to recognize, to begin to nurture a sense of gratitude,” he said.

Venardos said the show reinvents the American circus as a stage‑driven experience centered on artistry, narrative, and connection.

Earlier in the day, the cast rehearsed.

“This year we’re doing a story which is Alice in Wonderland, and I’m Alice,” Baisa said.

While Baisa and Angel Ramos warm up, Venardos remembers having nothing, except an idea.

“Having the experience to be ringmaster of the Ringling Circus, I was 22 when I got that gig, in my naivety, most of this mess happened in my early 30s,” he said.

That mess after he left the Greatest Show on Earth had his head spinning. Bad decisions, bankruptcy, and an apartment with no furniture.

“Pain is like a spoon that carves out room in your heart, and it’s only then you have room for gratitude to get in there,” Venardos said.

He had a dream. He built his own circus.

“We made a little video of a circus that didn’t exist in a rented tent. A vision for a thing I once wanted to accomplish, and I used that video to pitch a dream,” he said.

Today, 12 years later, he’s getting people to see the magic.

Venardos wondered how he could use his dream to help others accomplish theirs.

He’s doing it every day.

Things are getting easier now. All he has to do is look into the audience.

“We’ve touched dreamers who’ve been in the house, and it’s inspired them to live their circus dream. Whatever that is,” he said.

Monday was the last day for the show’s Loveland run. It then splits into multiple touring companies to hit the road.

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 Maricela De La Cruz

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    SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California (KCRA) — South Lake Tahoe saw a large number of visitors over Memorial Day weekend, with families enjoying the warm weather and local businesses experiencing unexpected holiday crowds.

The summer kickoff brought families outdoors, with children jumping into the lake and visitors soaking up the sun.

“We just did a spontaneous trip. You know, we just said let’s get our things and let’s head out,” Liliana Resendiz, a first-time visitor from Lodi, said. “For here, we got basic things like sandwiches for the kids, fruits, chips.”

Local businesses reported a surge in activity.

“It’s kind of a shock. It’s almost – the Saturday and Sunday kind of approach towards the Fourth of July weekend,” David Miligante of Tahoe Bike Company said. “For businesses out here, it’s great. It was surprising. I wasn’t expecting it to be as busy as it has been.”

Lisa Coretz, who traveled from Minden, Nevada, shared her experience.

“We closed the office and I’m up here having a great time enjoying Lake Tahoe,” she said.

She described Regan Beach as a hidden gem.

“It’s not crowded at all. Regan Beach, well I shouldn’t even say – it’s a little gem in Lake Tahoe, so I love coming here,” Coretz said.

Kayak businesses also saw high demand during the holiday weekend.

“We had kayaks going out all day, from when we opened – we were basically sold out of kayaks from open til when we closed,” Matt Brunton of South Tahoe Kayak said.

He noted the impact of the warm weather, saying, “May’s starting to warm up.”

I think people are excited to get outside, excited to get out, excited to get paddling,” Brunton said.

With visitor numbers rivaling a typical Fourth of July weekend, businesses in South Lake Tahoe are hopeful the momentum will continue throughout the summer.

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 Pepper Purpura

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    WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Monday will mark the final day for Blue Zoo Aquarium at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines. It’s also the final performance for its resident mermaids in the facility’s tanks.

The aquarium is closing after being evicted from its space near Jordan Creek Mall. For Angie Cunningham, the closure means losing far more than a part-time job.

Inside Blue Zoo’s 48,000-gallon saltwater tank, Cunningham transforms into “Sirena,” a professional mermaid performer complete with handmade tails and jeweled crowns to dazzle the aquarium’s young visitors.

“It just becomes all part of you,” Cunningham said.

But beneath the sparkles are years of specialized training. Cunningham earned a PADI scuba mermaid instructor certification, completing coursework in breath control, underwater rescue, emergency response and endurance swimming while performing in her monofin tail.

She’s practiced free diving in the ocean, learned how to safely rescue unconscious swimmers while wearing a tail and completed long-distance swim tests designed to prepare professional mermaids for live performances and teaching others how to safely tail swim in the layers of costuming.

“Altogether, you’re probably looking at maybe 20 pounds,” she said about the costume’s weight.

She said few people in Iowa have completed the advanced training.

Her equipment is also a significant investment. Cunningham owns multiple handcrafted tails costing thousands of dollars, along with custom tops, crowns and specialized monofins, a specialized piece of scuba gear resembling two. All belong to her, not Blue Zoo Aquarium.

Cunningham said she originally joined Blue Zoo not as a performer, but as an educator.

She previously volunteered at Blank Park Zoo and said animals had always been a major part of her life. After the death of her only son several years ago, she said performing as a mermaid helped her heal emotionally and start prioritizing her health.

Over time, Cunningham said the role became deeply personal.

“There’s times where I’m swimming where I feel like he’s got his hand on my shoulder,” she said of her son. “The water is always the place now where I find him.”

For Cunningham, one of the hardest parts of the closure is losing access to the tank itself.

“There’s nowhere else in Des Moines I’m going to find a big tank where there’s a window in it, and I can come down and interact and really live that mermaid life,” she said.

She said most public pools will not allow mermaid tails because of liability concerns, despite her certifications, rescue training and liability insurance.

Private gigs, such as birthday parties and backyard pool appearances, exist, but are inconsistent.

“I know that I’m probably going to be really limited,” Cunningham said.

Still, she hopes this is not the end of Sirena.

“In some ways, I feel like Santa Claus,” she said. “They come and hug on me, and they want to tell me mermaid secrets.”

Sunday will also be Cunningham’s final performance at Blue Zoo. The aquarium said admission for its final day will be free while capacity allows.

Blue Zoo Aquarium opened at Jordan Creek Town Center in 2024 as an interactive family attraction featuring sharks, stingrays, reptiles and birds alongside mermaid shows and educational exhibits.

But the facility also faced controversy during its time in Des Moines.

The state previously investigated animal welfare concerns, including the death of a parakeet and an incident in which a guest was bitten by a bamboo shark.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the primary accreditation organization for zoos and aquariums in the United States, does not list Blue Zoo in West Des Moines as an accredited aquarium.

Blue Zoo said a substantial rent increase made it impossible to continue operating the Des Moines facility. Court documents show it is being evicted for failing to pay rent.

“Caring for animals at the level they deserve is both a huge responsibility and a significant investment,” the company wrote in the deleted statement on Facebook.

The aquarium later announced Memorial Day would be its final day operating and that admission would be free while capacity allows.

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.