Category: CNN Regional

By Tammy Mutasa

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    SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A beloved Springfield, Massachusetts, zoo is closed, after significant damage from a powerful macroburst on Saturday.

Before the gates at The Zoo in Forest Park can reopen, there’s a lot of work to do to make sure it’s safe for the animals and the people who come to see them. The animals are safe, but their home took a direct hit that left parts of the zoo unrecognizable.

“It was overwhelming. It was really overwhelming,” said zoo executive director Sarah Tsitso.

Enclosures were crushed, narrowly missing animals inside. Fifty-year-old oak trees were ripped from the roots, and debris was scattered everywhere from broken tree limbs.

“To know that every single animal here not only survived but was unharmed and that’s just really remarkable,” Tsitso said.

Since Saturday’s storm, the people who care for the animals are still figuring out how to put their home back together. More than 220 rescue and rehab animals find sanctuary at the zoo, and many have been reshuffled to other parts of the zoo.

“At the end of the day, all these animals still live here and no matter what’s happened we still have to feed the animals, clean up after the animals, take care of them and make sure they’re safe and happy and healthy every day,” said Tsitso.

The Zoo in Forest Park is a seasonal nonprofit, relying on admission revenue during its limited season.

“We’re losing out on $35,000 of revenue every week that we’re closed,” said Tsitso. “So, the financial part is daunting.”

The public is already stepping up, reaching out to offer donations and help with cleanup, hoping there’s still a staple for this community to come back to.

“We were really in a bad place when this happened. You never want to see a place you love have something like this happen to it, but the one good part has really been the community rallying around us and showing their love and support for the animals and for the place that so many people come to every year,” said Tsitso.

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 Brandon Truitt, Anna Meiler

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    ACTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Police are searching for a 17-year-old boy after two members of his family were found dead in their Acton, Massachusetts, home Tuesday night.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said an adult woman and a teenage boy were found dead inside a Martha Lane home after a well-being check was requested by another member of the household.

“We have no information at this point as to the cause or the manner of death,” Ryan said at a news conference late Tuesday night.

A third member of the household, 17-year-old Arjun Aravind, is unaccounted for, along with a car owned by the adult woman who was found dead.

Police are actively looking for Arjun, who is believed to be driving that car, a 2014 green Honda Accord with Massachusetts license plate 34P-D94.

Ryan advised, “Any member of the public who either sees Arjun or the vehicle, do not approach either Arjun or the vehicle, and instead immediately call 911.”

Arjun is approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds.

Ryan said Arjun was related to the two people found dead inside the home, but more information is not being released pending family notifications.

The district attorney confirmed that a search conducted in Hudson, Massachusetts, Tuesday evening was connected to the investigation.

Residents of Acton, specifically in the area of Martha Lane, should expect to see an increased police presence as the investigation continues.

“Our thoughts are with the family. Obviously this is a tragedy for everybody involved,” Acton Police Chief Douglas Sturniolo said. “I want to let people know, if you do see something, please call us, say something.”

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 Stephanie Stahl

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month with a focus on recruiting more Black organ donors.

Doctors say race doesn’t matter when it comes to organ transplants, but there’s a push to get more Black donors because 70% of patients waiting for transplants in Philadelphia are Black.

One Philadelphia mom who didn’t trust organ donation changed her mind after she watched what happened with her son.

“He was my everything,” Madeline Sargent said of her only child, lovingly known as “Jimmy Jam.” “He was so happy, so jolly, so positive.”

“Jimmy Jam” signed up to be an organ donor when he got his driver’s license.

“I immediately lost it,” Sargent said. “I was like, you know, why did you do that?”

At the time, she explained to her son why she didn’t trust the process.

“If something happens to you and I’m not there, they’re not going to take care of you,” she said. “They just want your organs.”

Research shows that’s a common misconception about becoming an organ donor, especially among people of color.

“Some of it is about the historic mistrust within the medical community.” Christine Radolovic, the chief clinical officer with Gift of Life, said. “The Black community makes up the largest percentage of those that are waiting for life-saving transplants nationally while they are in the greatest need. They are actually of a community that donates least often.”

Sargent is now part of the Gift of Life community because two years ago, Jimmy, at the age of 30, died from a cardiac arrest. His organs saved six people.

“It feels like he’s continuing life. He’s given life,” Sargent said. “It gives me a sense of purpose.”

She’s changed her mind about organ donation. She says her son received the best care possible that wasn’t compromised because he was an organ donor.

She’s an organ donor advocate now committed to building trust and saving lives, which is Jimmy Jam’s legacy.

“It makes me feel like he is serving a purpose,” Sargent said. “He’s my hero.”

Sargent says someday she might want to meet some of the people who Jimmy saved. Each donor can save up to eight people and improve the lives of 100 more.

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 Joe Holden

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    DELAWARE COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KYW) — It was a piranha out of water and way out of place. Saturday was no ordinary fishing trip for Seamus Coffey and his dad, Michael. They were at Ridley Park Lake when the young angler reeled in a catch he won’t soon forget.

“I caught two catfish,” Seamus said.

The 8-year-old Seamus says he normally baits his line with string and a hot dog. He was fishing Saturday at Ridley Park Lake with his dad when he felt a tug.

“He thought it was a bass at first because we usually catch little catfish,” Michael Coffey said. “So he’s reeling it, reeling it, reeling it and then when I saw it, what did I say? I said, ‘Slow down, dude, you might lose it.’ This looks like something we haven’t caught before, like a big bluegill or something.”

“I’m reeling it in and I’m thinking it’s a bass,” Seamus said.

“He got it on the ground and I was like, ‘It’s a bluegill, I don’t know what this is,’ and he said it’s a piranha,'” Michael Coffey said.

The Coffeys have fished here for years. Young Seamus seemed to know exactly what he was looking at.

“Because I watch YouTube,” he said.

“Remember, I Google imaged it, and I was like, ‘Dude, it’s a red-bellied piranha,'” Michael Coffey said. “It was pretty crazy.”

Officials with Pennsylvania’s Fish and Boat Commission said this was likely someone’s pet until things got out of control at home. It was also explained that the person likely believed they were doing the right thing by placing a piranha in the lake.

“Some of our folks have determined that this is certainly a species of piranha,” Mike Parker with the Fish and Boat Commission said. “And that person no longer wanted their pet and then unlawfully introduced it into the waterway.”

Coffey said at first he put the native South American fish back in the lake but then thought twice.

“Basically have to get rid of it for the ecosystem,” Coffey said, “so we ended up getting rid of it, humanely, and put it back for the snapping turtle that hangs out over near the rocks over there.”

They estimated the piranha to be about 9 1/2 inches in length, weighing about 2 pounds with all those teeth.

State officials believe this to be an isolated incident.

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By Madeline Bartos

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    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Two men are facing charges after authorities said they seized about 180 pounds of cocaine as part of a large-scale drug trafficking investigation in the Pittsburgh area.

Darnell Rhinehart and Lamar Lewis were arrested on drug and firearms charges after FBI Pittsburgh said law enforcement seized 80 kilograms of cocaine on Monday night.

The FBI said investigators watched Rhinehart on video surveillance loading multiple brown cardboard boxes from a tractor-trailer into the bed of his vehicle on Monday afternoon, arriving and leaving within just two minutes.

Authorities said they tracked Rhinehart to a Pittsburgh bar several hours later and watched as Lewis parked his pickup truck near Rhinehart’s vehicle and took four brown cardboard boxes. Lewis then placed a heavy bag in Rhinehart’s vehicle before driving away, the FBI said.

A traffic stop on Lewis’ vehicle turned up 50 kilograms of cocaine as well as a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol that was later confirmed as stolen, investigators said.

Authorities continued trailing Rhinehart, who was later seen picking up a red backpack from a home before driving to another Pittsburgh bar. He walked into the bar with the bag and left without it, the FBI said, and when authorities arrested Rhinehart, they found 5 kilograms of cocaine in the backpack.

Several more searches at locations associated with Rhinehart turned up 35 more kilograms of cocaine in cardboard boxes as well as “large sums” of cash and a shotgun, the FBI said.

“Seizing 80 kilos of cocaine means taking away profits and the power that money can buy right out of the hands of international criminal organizations,” FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Richard Evanchec said in a news release. “Shipments like this represent money flowing right back to groups that rule through violence and fear. Cocaine trafficking is not a victimless crime, and the FBI and our partners will use every tool at our disposal to keep ridding our communities of these deadly narcotics.”

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By Adi Guajardo

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — A man says he saved his wife and her friend after their tour boat capsized near Liberty Island last weekend.

A mother and her 5-month-old daughter died and the captain is now facing federal charges.

Celebration turned to tragedy quickly A surprise birthday bash on a boat set the stage for unforgettable Saturday night.

“We were in front of the Statue of Liberty. They were taking pictures,” Jorge Ortiz said by phone Tuesday.

Ortiz said their excitement turned into panic in a matter of seconds.

“[The boat] flipped so fast that it took us,” Ortiz said. “I started calling out for my wife because then I remembered that she don’t know how to swim.”

Ortiz said it was so dark, two boats went past them as they screamed for help. He said it felt like they were in the water for 25 minutes before a third boat came to their rescue. He said the U.S. Coast Guard arrived shortly after.

According to court documents, Manuel Hernandez, the tour boat captain, made a U-turn and a swell swamped the bow, capsizing the boat with 14 people on board.

“There was a little baby we were trying to find,” Ortiz said. “We couldn’t see. It was too dark.”

Ortiz said he managed to pull his wife and her friend onto the overturned boat to keep them safe. He said he remembered two boats passing by, and when they spotted a third, they’re calls for help grew louder.

“We started flashing the light, and I started screaming, ‘Help! Help!'” Ortiz said.

When a party boat spotted them, he said they felt relief, but it was short-lived. He said the Coast Guard found Sara Sanchez and her 5-month-old daughter, Antonella. They were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

“She was in the bottom of the boat,” Ortiz said.

“He just said [life vests] weren’t required” Ortiz was asked about life vests and if they were easily accessible.

“The only life vest that the captain gave was to the girl that had the baby,” Ortiz said. “He had life vests. He just said they weren’t required.”

Federal prosecutors claim Hernandez failed to obtain the proper credential to operate a tour boat and exceeded the boat capacity. He’s now facing federal charges, including two counts of misconduct or neglect of ship officer resulting in death.

CBS News New York called, emailed, and visited the location listed for Zeus Luxury Rental, the tour company that hired Hernandez, but have not heard back.

“He’s gonna have to pay for what he did,” Ortiz said. “He put everybody in jeopardy and a mother and daughter lost their lives.”

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By Jeff Capellini, Allen Devlin

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    NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — Rafael Rubio, the New York City Council worker who was detained and released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has now been granted asylum.

Rubio, a data analyst, was set to be deported but was released on June 19, three weeks after being granted asylum by an immigration judge. He had been detained for five months at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey.

The Department of Homeland Security has appealed the granting of his asylum. CBS News New York reached out to DHS for comment, but did not immediately get a response.

Rubio said he was taken into custody at a routine asylum interview on Long Island on Jan. 12, despite having legal protection to live and work in the U.S. He said at the time his temporary protected status as a citizen of Venezuela lasts through October.

“That was a shocker. It was a shock because, per my knowledge at that time, I was doing everything correctly,” Rubio told CBS News New York on Tuesday night.

DHS had previously called Rubio “a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela” with a history that “includes an arrest for assault,” adding, “He had no work authorization and his TPS had been terminated.”

City Council Speaker Julie Menin repeatedly disputed claims that Rubio overstayed a visa, was arrested and had no work authorization.

“He was wrongfully in ICE detention for months on end, which is unconscionable,” Menin said Tuesday. “He had done nothing wrong, and now the government has acknowledged that he is rightfully supposed to be here and he was granted this permanent asylum.”

Rubio thanked his attorneys, Menin and the City Council.

“I was overwhelmed with emotions. It was a very humbling experience,” Rubio said. “The fight is not over. Something is gonna get, this is going to get, better eventually.”

As for other detention cases, Menin said the City Council has funded close to $82 million in legal services to make sure that the right to counsel is protected.

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By Kaley Fedko

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WUPA) — A teenage hockey player from Atlanta is helping give people with disabilities a chance to learn how to ice skate.

Seventeen-year-old Grey Altemeyer was born and raised in Atlanta and now attends high school in Massachusetts, where he is a student-athlete.

He grew up volunteering with Special Olympics Georgia Miracle Sk8trs, which hosted ice skating lessons for people with disabilities at The Cooler Rink in Alpharetta.

When The Cooler closed in 2025 after 28 years, Miracle Sk8trs lost its home.

Altemeyer told CBS News Atlanta the lack of adaptive skating sessions was a void he wanted to fill immediately.

“I really felt a love for the Atlanta hockey community. It’s a smaller hockey community, but it’s super tight, and I never really lost that community in my heart,” said Altemeyer. “So I wanted to do an event like this to bring the Atlanta community back together and to give another chance for adaptive skating here in Atlanta.”

He created Fun on Ice, an annual event at The ICE Complex in Cumming, where volunteers help people with adaptive disabilities learn to ice skate.

“There were no chances for any kids with adaptive issues to go out and skate,” said Altemeyer. “Learning to skate can be stimulating, so what I try to do here is match each kid up one-on-one, so that their issues can be fully met with their volunteer.”

Altemeyer partnered with the Miracle Sk8ters and Atlanta’s ECHL team, the Atlanta Gladiators, to host the event and bring in volunteers.

Enter 27-year-old Melody Forrest, an Atlanta resident with a disability who loves ice skating and has known Altemeyer through his time with Miracle Sk8trs at The Cooler.

“I love to ice skate. It makes me feel happy, excited, and calm,” Forrest said.

Her mother, Stacey Johnson, told CBS News Atlanta she started taking Forrest to the rink in high school after class as a way to be active and make friends.

“It’s hard to make friends,” said Johnson. “She had a lot of friends in high school, but when her friends moved away for college, there were not many opportunities out of school, so we just really tried to find opportunities wherever they were, and she loved coming to ice skating because she’s had so many volunteer friends that have helped her.”

When Altemeyer launched Fun on Ice in the summer of 2025, Forrest received one of the first invitations.

“Melody was here when there were only three to seven kids on the ice at the Miracle Sk8trs events,” said Altemeyer. “She is just so passionate about skating. You feel her love for skating, and I think she’s truly the heart of what we’re looking for in Miracle Sk8trs.”

For Forrest and other adaptive skaters, Fun on Ice in Cumming is about more than finding a place to skate.

It became a place to find her footing and help nurture a community.

The ICE Complex hosted the second Fun on Ice event Aug. 2.

This year, about 35 skaters from across metro Atlanta spent time together on the ice.

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By Ted Scouten

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    FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (WFOR) — A former choir member at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was arrested Monday and charged with sending a bomb threat to the congregation, authorities said.

Melissa Redway, a former teacher at Westminster Academy who reportedly suffered a brain injury, was taken into custody months after the incident occurred in February. According to an arrest report, Redway sent an email threatening to “blow up the whole entire church.”

Investigators noted that Redway’s behavior had become increasingly concerning after she was laid off from her teaching position. Staff reported that Redway did not accept the job loss well and made multiple attempts to rejoin the church choir. In one instance, a witness said Redway arrived at practice wearing a cassock, ran down the aisle, and exited the church. Employees also reported receiving incoherent emails from Redway that referenced specific concerts.

When police searched the home where Redway lived with her parents, they reported finding no weapons, contraband or devices consistent with bomb-making materials.

Redway is currently being held on a $7,500 bond. If released, she will be required to wear an ankle monitor.

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.