Category: CNN Regional

By Sarah Horbacewicz

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    DENVER, Colorado (KCNC) — After an unseasonably warm winter, the Denver Board of Water Commissioners has announced mandatory watering restrictions ranging from watering gardens to service in restaurants. As Denver looks to reduce water use by 20% in the next year, the city is asking restaurants to “serve water only upon request.”

The new regulations are something restaurant owner Juan Pedro says he understands but wishes he had more notice about ahead of time.

“When the when the city and the state are putting restrictions like that on you, they’re doing it for a reason,” Pedro said, “This isn’t a huge change in behavior for us, it’s just a problem that we’re going to need to solve and we’re in the problem solving business.”

Pedro says he owns more than 20 businesses across Denver that are impacted by these restrictions, including restaurants, coffee shops and bars. This includes his restaurant Magna Kainan in the Rino neighborhood where staff and customers are adapting to water requests instead of automatically having a full glass at their table. Pedro says at some higher-end restaurants he’s considering putting bottled water options out for sale on tables as well. Some other Denver restaurants also mentioned that they already ask their tables if they’d like water before filling any glasses as a standard practice.

While Pedro says this shift is something his staff “will need to get used to,” he’s concerned for how this new policy could impact bar service.

“A place like Sorry Gorgeous, which is a cocktail lounge, we like to put jugs of water out that people can self-serve water and we’re going to need to go away from that. And I think that’s really important for bars to be able to hydrate people,” Pedro said. “I would strongly recommend that the city exempt bars from that. Restaurants, I think, are a little bit more equipped to handle that, coffee shops (too). But really busy bars? You’re asking for trouble.”

New water restrictions go beyond the glass at a dining table, but extend across the city to include car washes, landscaping and other non-essential activities.

Denver Water spokesperson Todd Hartman says conservation is critical following a winter with historically low snowpack.

“People need to find ways to save water by not using excessive water outside or inside,” Hartman said. “We just want to stress how important that is to our customers, because the snowpack is so poor this year.”

After what officials describe as the warmest winter in Colorado history, Pedro worries the situation could worsen heading into summer.

“Water is essential to running a restaurant, so it could have a huge impact on us,” he said. “You’ve got to wash dishes, that’s a priority for sanitary reasons, and you’ve got to wash your hands.”

Despite the uncertainty, Pedro hopes early conservation efforts will help prevent stricter measures later.

“Everybody needs to be patient,” he said. “These businesses are doing their best to comply with what the city and state are asking us to do. I think it’s an opportunity for the community to come together and help solve a problem.”

The Denver Board of Water Commissioners has put these measures in effect through April 30, 2027. The city of Aurora is also encouraging restaurants to serve water upon request but would only become mandatory if the city votes on further water restrictions.

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 JoBeth Davis, Krista Tatschl

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    PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kansas (KMBC) — “I think I’m being followed.”

Those words were the first indication Terah Moore had that the Uber ride she’d ordered to go to a nearby store wasn’t going to be a typical grocery trip.

“My Uber driver said, ‘I think I’m being followed,'” Moore told KMBC 9 News from her hospital bed. “They followed her every move. She said, ‘No, am I being followed?’ I looked back, and I said, ‘Dang, you are being followed.'”

The events that followed stretched from Overland Park, Kansas, into Prairie Village and ended with Moore being shot multiple times.

Her Uber ride to the store turned into the most terrifying moment of her life.

“She just took off and started driving real fast,” Moore said. “She ended up hopping the island, she’s literally going 115 miles per hour. I said, ‘Slow down, slow down, you about to miss your turn, slow down!'”

Moore said the driver passed the Price Chopper near Bannister and 95th and dodged through a gas station parking lot.

“I’m thinking we’re about to run into the building there,” Moore said. “I was like, ‘We either going to die in a car accident or they gonna get us.'”

Police said that the SUV, a red or maroon 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee, caught up with Moore’s ride near 99th Street and Roe Avenue. People inside the Jeep opened fire.

“The next exit that came up was Roe. We’re weaving through traffic, her horn don’t work. She’s trying to honk her horn. By the time we got on Roe, that’s when I heard the first shots…I instantly ducked down in my seat.”

Moore said the back window of the car shattered, the driver of the Uber was screaming.

“I hear her saying, ‘I want my mama! I want my mama! I want my mama! Oh my God, I don’t want to die today!'”

Moore kept trying to calm the woman, telling her to slow down, knowing a sharp turn was coming.

“By now we’re on a residential street, 99th and Roe, now we see houses. That’s when they really started shooting,” Moore said.

Moore said the driver hit a tree and the vehicle flipped. Scene video shot by KMBC 9 News shows the car on its side in a wooded residential area near Franklin Park in Prairie Village.

“I’m happy we got into a wreck, ’cause now it’s over,” Moore said the thought went through her mind. But things quickly went from bad to worse.

“They got out of their car and shot us up again while the car was on fire.”

Moore, knowing she had been shot, struggled to get out of the burning car. She caught sight of the suspects, two Black males, one of whom was skinny with locs.

“They weren’t men, they were some young teenagers,” she said. “They had automatic guns.”

Neighbors helped Moore and the Uber driver out of the car. Moore was rushed to the hospital, where she spent several days in the ICU. She was shot five times.

The driver of the Uber suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Police issued a public plea to help identify the vehicle and its drivers, adding the Jeep had Kansas license plate 9103ACY.

Moore said she still doesn’t know if the Jeep had been following her driver before she was picked up. She didn’t know the driver before the Uber ride, or the suspects involved.

She’s beyond grateful for the people who helped pull her from the car’s burning wreckage.

“I appreciate y’all just being there,” she said. “It probably wouldn’t have even ended if y’all wasn’t there, called 911 for us. I really appreciate that because I was able to see my kids again.”

Moore is the sole caretaker of four young children. She’s out of her job as a forklift driver due to the extent of her injuries, and she’s facing mounting medical bills.

A GoFundMe has been started to help Moore and her family with those bills, and to relocate to what she believes will be a home in a safer area. Funds raised will also help Moore provide for her family while she recovers.

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 Irene Gonzalez

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    California (KOVR) — For women’s history month, a local woman who helped build military aircraft during World War II is now sharing her story, more than 80 years later.

At 101 years old, Beatrice Beck, who goes by Bea, looks back at a life that helped shape the nation.

From her time as a riveter during World War II at Lockheed Martin in Burbank.

“I worked on the B-17,” she said, “and I came from Minnesota, and that’s where I landed, working at Lockheed. It was nice. I work in a big airplane plant somewhere in California. We are already turning out planes at a rate that everyone said was impossible a year ago.”

Bea, who now lives in Nevada City with her daughter, Sandy, took us back to her roots.

“We would not have built all the planes we needed to build to come out successful in the second World War if it weren’t for the women who did it,” Sandy said.

Growing up on a farm in Wabasha, Minnesota, one of 18 children, Bea milked cows and attended a one-room schoolhouse during the great depression.

“When I go back there now, there’s nobody home,” Bea said.

“She had a brother, Johnny, who was drafted and was going to California, and she had just graduated high school,” Sandy said. “She wanted to come out here with her sisters and just get off the farm.”

She got off the farm and onto the assembly line, riveting, welding and wiring aircraft, like the B-17 bomber.

“I think women did do a majority of the work,” Sandy said. “However, there were some men there, too. And one of them was my father.”

Bea’s husband has since passed, but the story goes that they met on a Bombay rack at the factory.

“They were married at St. Finbar’s Church in Burbank, California, on November 20, 1945,” Sandy said.

“Yeah, I worked in electrical and had to show other people different things,” Bea said.

Bea was invited to the U.S. Capitol when Rosie the Riveter was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. She wasn’t able to make it, but received a replica that is now proudly displayed in their home

Nowadays, Bea has traded her drill for quiet afternoons with her daughter, enjoying the simple sounds of home.

Bea continued to work on aircraft, wiring pilots’ cabins, until 1987.

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 Haley Rimmel

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    ANDERSON COUNTY, South Carolina (WYFF) — Officials in Anderson County are investigating after a group of children found a skull while playing near a creek.

Deputies say the skeletal remains were found in the Homeland Park area Sunday afternoon.

Several agencies responded to Lawrence Road and after investigators did some digging, 40 to 50 bones were found.

The coroner said the bones’ may have been in this location for five to 10 years.

The investigation is still in its early stages, but an anthropologist will walk the creek bank with officials on Monday, according to the coroner.

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 La’Tasha Givens

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — It starts with the “Daddy Wave.” From there, a group of Metro Atlanta fathers and their children embark on a high-energy adventure into the land of books, complete with an on-screen roller coaster, group sing-alongs, and plenty of “tickle time.”

They are known as The Library Dads, a movement that is turning quiet library corners into hubs of fatherhood and literacy building foundations.

A few years ago, Khari Arnold began taking his then-four-month-old daughter Ariah, to the library. What started as a solo father-daughter outing quickly evolved into a mission.

“After a year, I decided it would make sense to get other dads involved in learning how to bond through books,” Arnold said. “From there, we built a brotherhood.”

That brotherhood has become a vital support system for local fathers. For many, like Kassell Scott, the experience is transformative. Scott recently attended a meetup for the first time with his three-year-old daughter, Amahle.

“It was eye-opening to see other dads like myself who are engaged, and it was motivating as well,” Scott noted.

While the meetups are filled with fun and excitement, one of the main goals is to address the literacy crisis and reducing the isolation some fathers feel.

Derrick Lampkin has been bringing his sons, Dominique and Tristan, to the group for the past year. Now, his 7-month-old daughter Madeleine Sophia is joining the tradition.

“We continue coming because it shows my boys that dads show up,” Lampkin said. “They’re there, and it’s a good community.”

The results of this consistent engagement are measurable. Arnold says that by the age of 18 months, his daughter Ariah already had a working vocabulary of 250 words.

“That’s because she constantly heard those sounds and syllables being planted inside her brain,” Arnold explained. By prioritizing reading, these fathers are ensuring their children have a head start before they ever step into a classroom.

The Library Dads tour continues next weekend (April 18th) at Toco Hills Library in Decatur with the final stop for the spring at the Gwinnett County Library Norcross Branch.

The library events are free, but often fill up quickly. Interested families are encouraged to register online in advance to secure a spot.

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 Holden

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    WESTLAKE, Ohio (WEWS) — A Northeast Ohio woman is out nearly $200,000 after falling victim to an elaborate gold scam, but thanks to Westlake Police, investigators were able to catch two of the suspects who were targeting the elderly victim.

“If someone comes to Westlake to victimize one of our elderly residents or other people, we will arrest you. We will find you, we will arrest you,” said Captain Jerry Vogel from Westlake Police.

Investigators with the Westlake Police Department say they caught the men mid-scheme last week, bringing a months-long investigation to an end.

Police say the case began in August 2025, when a 78-year-old woman saw a pop-up alert on her computer claiming she had been hacked.

The message directed her to call a number for help, which connected her with someone posing as an FBI agent.

“We try to educate people if you receive a text message that’s unexpected or an email or a phone call or these pop ups on your computer and you think it may be legitimate—at least look up the number in a separate way. Don’t use the number provided to you,” Vogel said.

According to investigators, the scammer told the victim not to tell anyone and to keep the details confidential, claimed her money was at risk, and instructed her to withdraw money and convert it into gold.

Over several months, the victim purchased gold bars and coins — eventually handing over nearly $200,000.

“They told her she needed to keep it secret. She wasn’t allowed to tell family, friends, law enforcement because they threatened her with jail time and that she would compromise a national security investigation,” Vogel said.

Investigators say the suspects even came directly to her home in Westlake to collect the gold, which they say makes this even more brazen and concerning.

Police say the scammers also sent letters and made repeated calls to appear legitimate.

The case began to unravel when employees at a nearby gold shop noticed red flags and told the woman to contact police.

The tip led to a coordinated sting operation through Westlake Police, where they “out-scammed the scammers.”

Detectives used the victim’s phone and computer to communicate with the suspects, setting up another pickup using fake gold.

“We just assumed her identity. We started sending pictures to the scammers. They required pictures of the gold she bought. We acquired fraudulent receipts that she had bought it, to prove to them she had bought it,” Vogel said.

With the help of drones and multiple officers, Westlake Police tracked down the suspects and pulled them over near Crocker and Detroit roads.

Two men, ages 41 and 38, both from Pennsylvania, were arrested.

The suspects now face multiple felony charges, including theft by deception and complicity to commit theft.

Police say the case should serve as a major warning.

They say the FBI will never ask for money or gold; urgent demands for cash and secrecy are major red flags.

In addition, they say requests involving gold, gift cards, or cryptocurrency are always scams.

Investigators say it’s unlikely the Westlake woman will ever get her money back, and there is a possibility that other victims exist.

Police are encouraging anyone who may have been targeted by a similar scam to come forward immediately.

“We’re not gonna let these people get away and victimize people in Westlake,” Vogel said.

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.