Category: CNN Regional

By Kaicey Baylor

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore’s Sandtown Safe Streets is celebrating more than a year without homicides in the community.

“Since March 15, 2025, the Safe Streets Sandtown site has gone 374 days without a homicide in their zone,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. “We understand that this work is a part of how homicides and non-fatal shootings in Baltimore have fallen nearly 60% since 2021.”

Mayor Scott said this is the first time this site has ever gone more than a year without a homicide. He added that historically, the Sandtown-Winchester community has been considered one of the most violent neighborhoods in the city.

“Y’all are providing a safe space for my young people at Lillian Jones [Recreation Center] when no one else was willing to be for them after a young lady who was 13-years-old was murdered in front of that recreation center,” said Baltimore City Councilman James Torrence.

Sandtown Safe Streets team members grew up in the neighborhood.

“I’m the little girl who used to walk up and down here,” said Site Director Nicole Warren.

She and her team interrupt violence each day.

“When I got on Nikes or New Balances, they know I’m on the ground,” she said. “So, I’m going to keep marching.”

“These people are intervening in conflicts, putting their lives at risk every single day to save other people’s lives,” Mayor Scott said.

They also build relationships with neighbors and have been sharing necessary resources to turn the violent trend around.

Safe Streets members said now it’s about continuing the work they do each do while also pushing for more resources to this community.

MONSE reports Sandtown Safe Streets mediated 91 potentially violent conflicts in 2025.

MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis said in 2025, across all Safe Streets locations, they mediated about 1,700 conflicts. So far this year, the agency has recorded roughly 350 mediations.

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 Kerri Corrado

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    MEDFORD LAKES, New Jersey (KYW) — Jake Tapia, a police officer in Medford Lakes, New Jersey, received the Medal of Honor Wednesday night for his heroic efforts on the job that saved a woman’s life.

Tapia rescued a 25-year-old woman who crashed into Ballinger Lake near Stokes Road and Lenape Trail shortly after 5:00 a.m. on March 8.

Tapia was conducting a traffic enforcement when he heard a loud bang and a woman screaming.

“When I went to go look, I saw a vehicle in the lake, and I quickly dropped my gear and got in there and swam her back to shore,” Tapia said.

Tapia then swam about 25 feet to the woman. While he remained humble talking about the rescue, he says his training and instincts kicked in, safely pulling her to the shoreline.

“I just had to go in and go get her, there was no choice. I seen her kind of bobbing a little bit, and I went in,” he said.

Despite being one of the Medford Lakes Police Department’s newest officers, Talia was not officially sworn in — until now.

Talia was sworn into the police department Wednesday night, in addition to receiving the medal. The department waited to hold his formal swearing ceremony so his mom, who had health complications, could be there.

His mom stood right next to him holding the Bible as he took the oath to protect and serve.

“That was special just because my mom,” he said. ” My mom just means a lot.”

Chief John McGinnis Jr. says he is extremely proud of Talia.

“Jake is a new officer and has been with us over a year, and it was a miracle he was there to hear the noise and commotion,” McGinnis said. “He reacted back to his training and instinct and did what he had to do to help.”

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 Grant Stephens

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    KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KSHB) — Amazon’s Prime Air drones are officially flying in the Kansas City, Kansas area, giving the public an up-close look at the new delivery system.

Amazon opened the gates at its Kansas City, Kansas site to show exactly how the drones get orders from their launch pad to a customer’s backyard.

Here’s how it works – inside the MKC6 fulfillment center, a special box is loaded on a dedicated line. Those boxes are then wheeled outside to the launch pads and a crew of Prime Air workers.

“Our MK 30 drone. This is the drone that actually completes the customer deliveries,” said Josh Brundage, senior manager of commercial operations for Prime Air, explaining the delivery process.

“So if you live within about an eight mile radius of this building, you’ll be eligible for drone delivery. Depending on your order, it has to be less than five pounds, and it has to fit in this box right here. And as long as your order fits that profile, even if it’s multiple items that go in this box, you’re eligible for drone delivery. And also, if you get multiple items, and we get multiple boxes, you can also get, you know, back to back and get multiple drone deliveries in the same day.”

Once a customer places an order, they pick a delivery spot. Because drones do not need driveways, many people choose their backyard.

“A lot of people really prefer the backyard, because it’s a lot more private, a lot safer. So you select your delivery point, the drone then flies to that area of your property. It comes down to about 12 feet and hovers at 12 feet, the back of the drone opens up and the package comes out and falls out the bottom. So the drone actually never lands. And when the drone gets to the delivery area, it uses an onboard camera to make sure that there is nothing or no one in the way,” Brundage said.

While someone monitors the flight stats back at the base, the drones fly completely on their own once a new battery and a package are slotted in. Eric Ramos, a Prime Air operations manager, detailed the launch sequence.

“You can see we have a little bit of movement on the pad. It’s going through its initial checks, like I said, to check whether check other aircraft in our airspace and do a system check as well,” Ramos said.

The drones are smart enough to adjust if something or someone is in the way.

“If your dog is out in the backyard and the drone gets there, the drone will actually identify that… if the dog follows, it will not drop the package on your dog, and it will come back, and we’ll get you your package another way,” Brundage said.

Beyond the novelty of the delivery method, the service has the potential to make life a little easier for customers.

“I think at first people want to get a drone delivery just to get a drone delivery, but then they realize that, you know, I can leave work and have something at my house by the time I get home… or I have a sick child, I can just have something dropped off in my yard for it,” Brundage said.

Amazon said the Kansas City, Kansas, site is the seventh facility to have Prime Air operational. The company hopes to start up more locations across the country this year.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Scripps editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Morgan Rynor

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — A South Florida couple expecting their first baby is letting March Madness choose their daughter’s name.

High school sweethearts John and Maria Ruiz fell in love with each other – and basketball.

“When she went away to college to go to (University of North Carolina), obviously a really big basketball school, her love for the sport grew as well and so we kind of bonded over that,” John said.

They found out in November they were expecting their first baby, a girl.

“When you find out you’re pregnant, you have this list of potential names that you start building out, right?” John said. “So, as the list grew, it was already perfect for, like, setting it up this way with the bracket.”

He’s referring to the massive bracket they set up on their living room wall with the 64 teams playing in the NCAA tournament. Next to each school, is one name option. The higher the team is ranked, the higher the name preference.

“The top, top name up here is Duke,” John said. “Overall, one seed, is Sophia. That is one of the preferred names. They were going against 16 seed, Sienna, which we just gave them the name of their school, Sienna. Figured that worked out perfectly.”

As Carolina fans, it was not easy assigning their top name choice, Sophia, to their rival, Duke.

“For her to (potentially) be named after a team that we do not like is going to be very interesting for her,” John said. “If she grows up being a fan of them because of it, that’s on us, but we’re fully willing to accept that.”

They’re willing to accept any of the names.

“Craziest name on here, I would say, is assigned to Villanova, which is an eight seed, so not so low,” John said. “That name is Ffion. My friend went to Villanova, and he lives in Wales, and Ffion is a very popular girl’s name in Wales.”

If you ask CBS News Miami’s Morgan Rynor, who met the couple, it’s not the craziest name on the bracket.

“Here we got number one seed, Valentina, so again, preferred name, going up against Khaleesi,” John said. “Game of Thrones fans, you might recognize that name.”

Maternity Madness, as their friends and family call it, has them invested. They’ve set up multiple TVs in the living room to watch multiple games at once.

For the University of Miami fans, that name would have been Casey.

For the University of Florida, it would have been Olivia.

“Princess is probably a pretty crazy one, they’re playing the Florida Gators,” John said. “So hopefully Olivia takes that one and Princess does not, does not advance.”

If you want to follow along on their journey to naming their baby girl here are their Instagram handles: @Johnruiz77 and @Mariaandruiz_

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 Ben Simmoneau

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — Alzheimer’s is not a disease you expect in your thirties. But after getting that devastating diagnosis, a Massachusetts woman then had to fight her insurance company, which said she was too young for the treatment prescribed by her doctor.

Her family believes the insurance based the denial on an arbitrary age limit, which has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the medication. They’re now speaking out about their experience to encourage a policy change.

When Haritha Sudanagunta started experiencing memory and speech issues in her mid-thirties, there was reason to worry.

“She’s a lawyer. (She has) bioengineer training. Trivia Wiz. She was on Jeopardy,” her husband Robert MacLean said.

But it would take several years to get a clear diagnosis. When the family did, it was devastating: Alzheimer’s disease.

“I think it was shock, right? And grief,” MacLean said. “Your world falls down when you hear something like that.”

But still, there was hope. A pair of new medications, lecanemab and donanemab, are now on the market, which can slow the advance of Alzheimer’s by targeting the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain that impairs cognitive function.

Sudanagunta’s doctor, Dr. P. Monroe Butler at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said one of the new medicines, donanemab, which is marketed under the brand name Kisunla, is the right fit for her.

“These infusion therapies actually dissolve the amyloid — the Alzheimer’s plaques — and slow the disease down modestly, but it’s the first time we’ve been able to do that,” Dr. Butler said. “Early onset Alzheimer’s is when the symptoms begin before 60, and that’s about five or 10% of patients. But it’s not typical to start in our thirties.”

Drug maker Eli Lilly said studies showed donanemab can reduce plaque buildup by up to 84% for patients with mild dementia symptoms. It comes at a cost: $32,000 for one year of treatment. But Sudanagunta’s insurance denied the request for her to receive it.

“They primarily cited Haritha’s age,” MacLean said. “She was too young for the drug.”

In their denials, which arrived in the span of just a few weeks last fall, Wellpoint Insurance repeatedly said Sudanagunta needed to be at least 60 to take the drug. But the company didn’t explain why, and it’s something Butler strongly disagreed with.

“The earlier we’re able to start treatment, the better the results are that we’re seeing,” he said. “Time is brain.”

Butler also said the insurance company denied him advocating directly on Sudanagunta’s behalf, something known in the industry as a peer-to-peer authorization. Like many health insurance decisions, the age requirement felt arbitrary to the family. And perhaps it was.

MacLean noticed that Wellpoint’s age range for donanemab — 60 to 85 — just happened to exactly match the age of participants in the drug’s clinical trial. But there was no such age restriction when the FDA actually approved the drug for patient use.

“The FDA’s approval of the drug … did not have age as a requirement to take it,” MacLean said.

So he went to work, contacting his employer’s benefits manager, their elected officials and the media — anyone he thought could help. And it worked. Wellpoint reversed its decision without any explanation to the family.

But Sudanagunta and MacLean believe the process is still broken. It’s too opaque and inflexible. They hope that by speaking up, Wellpoint will change this age limit for the next patient who needs this medication.

“It’s a difficult process to go through when you’re facing what’s probably the hardest news of your life,” MacLean said. “To be offered medicine, to be offered treatment, to be offered hope, and then to have that taken away.”

In a statement, a Wellpoint Insurance spokesperson said that because Sudanagunta’s “diagnosis is rare for her age, there was limited clinical evidence to guide an initial decision,” but pointed out that after further review, the company did approve the medication.

The spokesperson said they are “committed to supporting her to the full extent of her coverage.”

It’s a good reminder that if you get denied by your health insurance, it’s worth exploring every avenue to appeal that decision and ask your doctor for help.

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 Erik Waxler

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    TAMPA, Florida (WFTS) — A Pasco County Marine who lost both legs in a 2010 roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan is now working on a different kind of front line. He’s helping investigators uncover evidence in child exploitation cases.

Justin Gaertner, whose recovery and journey have been followed for more than a decade, is now a computer forensics analyst with Homeland Security Investigations.

He calls his crew “the geek squad.”

From a workstation lined with computer screens, Gaertner examines hard drives, phones, and other digital devices, searching for evidence tied to cases involving child exploitation, human trafficking, and other crimes.

“We’ve arrested a police officer. We’ve arrested firefighters. Mayors. People of public trust,” he said.

In one recent case, investigators helped build a prosecution against an Oldsmar man accused of victimizing dozens of children, including his own.”

“For that instance, I was literally on scene, found the images and videos while the kids were right there in the living room,” Gaertner said.

Gaertner joined the U.S. Marine Corps out of high school and was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was severely injured by an improvised explosive device in 2010. He later transitioned into federal law enforcement work in 2013 through a program that recruits wounded veterans for cybercrime investigations.

“I say that the Marines made me a man,” he said. “But in all reality, this — working for Homeland Security Investigations — this is where I was meant to be.”

His current role often involves reviewing disturbing material, something he said requires mental resilience.

“It’s mentally hard and more bearing,” Gaertner said. “That’s why they pulled in the combat wounded veterans, because we have a certain mindset.”

Investigators say prevention is just as important as enforcement, especially as children gain access to technology at younger ages.

“Internet safety starts in the beginning,” Gaertner said. “That’s the world we are in. We are in a digital world now.”

Federal officials encourage parents to talk openly with their children about online activity, monitor devices and set clear boundaries for internet use. Resources for families are available through Know2Protect at as well as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which offers tools for reporting and prevention.

Gaertner said while he has received recognition for his work, the outcomes are difficult to celebrate.

“I wish I would have never had to rescue them in the first place,” he said.

As technology evolves, investigators say so do the tactics used by criminals. But Gaertner said the mission remains unchanged.

“That’s why we say nothing is ever truly deleted,” he said. “And if it is, we are going to end up finding it.”

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By Rebecca Petit

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    BARTOW, Florida (WFTS) — A free equestrian program in Bartow is helping people with special needs gain independence and compete in the Special Olympics.

A mother reached out to Tampa Bay 28 reporter Rebecca Petit, wanting to highlight how the owners of Rockin’ W Ranch are changing lives.

What started as a riding lesson four years ago has turned into a newfound sense of independence for Stephanie Pappas.

“The horses just make me happy. I groom them and just love being here,” said Pappas.

Her once-uncertain demeanor has been replaced with confidence, and she now guides her horse with control and pride.

“They taught me a lot of stuff and ever since they taught me, now I’m like a pro,” Pappas said.

That transformation is exactly the mission behind A Heart for HERO’s,” a nonprofit program run by Kathy and Cowboy Everly at their Bartow ranch. Since 2017, the program has provided support for riders with disabilities to compete in the Special Olympics. Offering free access to horses, expert instruction, and a place to train.

“We’re working to make these students as independent around the horses as possible. The Special Olympics national program has three horse master levels, a beginner, intermediate and advanced,” Kathy Everly said.

Many of the horses are retired and donated to the ranch, giving them a second purpose while helping athletes thrive.

“It’s amazing how you can see the transition with the horses also, and how they adapt and care for the kids,” said Cowboy Everly.

The nonprofit is looking to expand its operations and build an indoor arena at the ranch. The husband and wife are creating a space where athletes of all abilities can grow not just as riders, but as individuals.

“We’ve had autistic kids, that they won’t talk to you, but they’ll talk to the horse. We had a young man with Angelman syndrome and when he started, he could not even walk,” Kathy said.

With the help of dedicated volunteers, the ranch has brought joy to hundreds of families with children who have special needs.

“I get choked up every time I come here. They’re always in a good mood. They’re very patient with the athletes,” said Colleen Pappas.

Now the riders are preparing to compete in the Special Olympics Florida at the 2026 State Equestrian Championships in Ocala this weekend.

Getting a chance to show just how far they’ve come.

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 Sadie Buggle

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    WHEAT RIDGE, Colorado (KRDO) — A man wanted on a felony warrant is now in custody after police in Wheat Ridge say they found him hiding in a stranger’s attic.

The Wheat Ridge Police Department (WRPD) says the unusual arrest began on March 13, when an officer patrolling in the area of West 44th Avenue and Dover Street spotted a vehicle whose registered owner had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Police say the suspect was later seen leaving the car and walking into a nearby home. After confirming the man’s identity, officers contacted the homeowners, who gave them permission to search the residence.

Officers called in a drone team to assist – which quickly located the suspect hiding in the home’s attic.

Body camera video released by the department shows officers confronting the man as he climbs down from the attic, with one officer telling him, “You could’ve saved us like an hour, man.”

The suspect responded plainly: “I was taking a nap.”

“Weird place to take a nap, man,” another responding officer can be heard saying.

Police say the suspect, who wasn’t publicly identified, was taken into custody on his felony warrant and booked into jail – where he can hopefully get some more rest.

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.