Category: CNN Regional

By Brady Halbleib

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — California’s craft beer industry is going through a transformation, and while it’s happening slowly, it’s changing what a brewery looks like and what it has to do to survive.

Gone are the days of breweries focusing only on the beer. Now, it’s about something more — the experience.

At Backstage Brewery in Sacramento, assistant brewer Gavin Broussard is getting ready for the night’s entertainment.

“I’ve heard people mention this is like Nashville meets Hollywood,” he said.

Beer is apart of their business model, but so is live music.

“We want to help the ecosystem of local musicians in Sacramento,” Broussard said.

Backstage Brewery, located on 24th Street just off Broadway, opened just four months ago with a stage built in the center of their taproom.

Happening across town at Log Off Brewery in Rancho Cordova, head brewer Kenny Terry is doing what he does best — making beer. But these days, that doesn’t quite fill the glass.

One of the reasons why is that Terry and his team aim to make their brewery a community center, a place for engagement parties, trivia nights, live events and even wakes.

“We like to think it’s like life and death,” Terry said. “This is the community house.”

Log Off Brewery Manager Nicole Scott spends a lot of her time thinking outside of the glass into what happens inside the taproom.

“It’s just coming up with the crazy ideas of how you get bodies in here to of course enjoy the beer but also it gets people together,” she said.

The craft beer industry across the country has struggled over the past few years. The National Brewers Association reports more breweries have closed in California than have opened in the past two years.

Reasons include rising costs, inflation, tariffs on things like aluminum cans and brewing equipment, and also changing consumer habits.

“I think breweries are adapting and figuring out ways to chase that new drinker, but it was a lot different than even it was two years ago,” said Bart Watson, president and CEO of the National Brewers Association.

The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) says the industry isn’t dying but it’s forced to change.

“Especially as the main beer demographic has aged,” said Kelsey McQuaid-Craig, executive director of the CCBA. “I say this as an elder millennial. I was the person going to the random warehouse brewery to check out the new beer. Now, I have a kid and I want to stay somewhere a little while longer.”

A generation that helped crack open the craft beer industry is now older. The things they want have changed, and the successful breweries are adapting, adding events, live music, nonalcoholic options and even cider.

For brewers like Broussard and Terry, the change isn’t a bad thing because in a business that brings people together over beer, the experience you provide is the thing that keeps them coming back.

“We’re trying to give good beer and a place for people to feel comfortable,” Broussard 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.

By Cecilio Padilla, Jake Gadon

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — Sacramento-area leaders formally launched a bid Thursday to bring a Major League Baseball expansion team to the region, unveiling a proposal tied to a nearly $2 billion public-private investment and a new ballpark district in West Sacramento.

The proposed stadium site would sit in West Sacramento’s River District, just south of Sutter Health Park, as part of a fully controlled and entitled 50-acre mixed-use development.

Regional leaders, business groups and former Major League players gathered to pitch Sacramento as a future West Coast market for MLB expansion.

The investment plan includes about $800 million in land and private investment, along with about $1 billion expected from the City of West Sacramento through tax increment financing, hotel fees and other sources. West Sacramento officials said the money would not come from the city’s general fund, and no public vote would be needed.

The $800 million portion includes a $500 million cash investment through the United Auburn Indian Community and the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, along with a land donation tied to the current Sutter Health Park site that accounts for about $300 million in land equity.

Speakers at the announcement included Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero and former big leaguers Dusty Baker and Derrek Lee.

Guerrero previewed the effort during her State of the City address last week.

“West Sacramento has proven to be a success at hosting Major League Baseball crowds and the buzz in the air around Sutter Health Park shows that the region is ready. Having MLB teams play in Sacramento elevates our visibility and our viability,” Guerrero said.

The push comes as the A’s temporarily play in West Sacramento while preparing for their move to Las Vegas in 2028.

Local leaders say the region’s recent population growth, strong sports fan base and sellout crowds for the A’s have helped build momentum for an expansion push.

Supporters of the bid are also pointing to Sacramento’s market size. The metro region has a population of about 2.7 million people but only one major North American professional sports franchise, the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

Sacramento also ranks as the 20th-largest media market in the U.S., with 1.55 million TV homes, according to Nielsen data for the 2025-26 season.

The pitch mirrors other recent efforts to elevate Sacramento’s sports profile, including Sacramento State’s push for a higher-profile role in college athletics, by leaning heavily on the region’s population growth, media market and fan support.

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 Richard Ramos

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    REDWOOD CITY, California (KPIX) — The Redwood City Police Department says an automated license plate reader helped detectives identify and arrest a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed a 72-year-old woman over Memorial Day weekend.

Police said officers were called around 1 p.m. on May 24 to the area of Middlefield Road and Beech Street in Redwood City for reports of a vehicle striking a pedestrian.

Officers found the woman near the intersection with critical injuries. She was later declared dead at an area hospital.

Detectives later recovered surveillance video that captured the collision and identified the suspect vehicle as a late-model white Toyota Tundra, police said. They were then able to use license plate reader data to search for vehicles matching that description in the area at the time of the crash.

Investigators said the search led detectives to a single vehicle connected to a local address.

On May 25, officers located the suspected truck parked in the driveway of the registered owner’s home. The vehicle was seized as evidence while detectives continued their investigation.

Authorities said the registered owner and driver of the truck, identified as 52-year-old Francisco Gallardo Alvarez of Redwood City, later went to the police department on his own accord on Thursday.

Gallardo Alvarez was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run resulting in injury or death, police said. He was booked into the San Mateo County Maguire Correctional Facility.

The name of the woman killed was not released.

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 By Carlos E. Castañeda, Tim Fang, Veronica Macias

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    SAN FRANCISCO, California (KPIX) — A San Francisco Bay Area woman dubbed by police, prosecutors, and victims as the “party mom” was sentenced to more than three decades in state prison Thursday after she was convicted for hosting alcohol-fueled parties for her teenage son and friends during the pandemic in which she encouraged child sexual assaults.

Shannon Marie O’Connor, also known as Shannon Bruga, received the maximum sentence of 35 years and 10 months. She is expected to serve about 27 years following credit for time served.

O’Connor was convicted on several dozen counts in March, including facilitating the forcible sexual assault of one child onto another child, child endangerment, annoying or molesting a child, and dissuading witnesses from testifying.

“Defendant Shannon O’Connor preyed upon and victimized an entire community of children and their parents for years,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said at a briefing after the sentence was handed down. “Today, for the first time in a long time, for these brave, strong and resilient children and their families, there is some justice and we are all grateful for that.”

O’Connor’s sentencing comes after a hearing that began on Tuesday, in which multiple victims provided impact statements. Earlier Thursday, the court heard from two sisters in a statement read by the oldest, who said her bright future was derailed thanks to O’Connor, along with her identity and sense of self.

A survivor’s mother also described to the court how O’Connor groomed her daughter, showered her with gifts pretending they were from O’Connor’s 15-year-old son who she was dating at the time. Other mothers burst into tears describing how alarmed they were when O’Connor gifted one of their daughters lacy thong underwear.

“I listened to the testimony of several victims and their parents and heard these words and phrases over and over again,” Rosen said. “Predator, manipulated, groomed, hypersexualized, violated, betrayed, traumatized, isolated, intimidated, harassed. Made me feel small. Suffered severe anxiety and depression. Contemplated suicide. Not over it, life-long impact, forever changed me, stole my innocence, took away my childhood. But I also heard resilient, strong survivors.”

Before sentencing, O’Connor turned to face the survivors and their parents, saying that she had no sexual inclination for any of the minors who were involved, as parents responded by shaking their heads and some wiping away tears.

The 51-year-old O’Connor, a former resident of the affluent Santa Clara County city of Los Gatos, staged at least six teen parties in 2020 and 2021 at her home and other locations.

Court documents said O’Connor bought beer, vodka, whiskey and condoms for the mostly 14- and 15-year-old teens and encouraged them to drink, resulting in some teens drinking to the point of vomiting and unconsciousness. In some cases, O’Connor would Snapchat or text teens to leave their homes in the middle of the night and drink at her home.

O’Connor urged the sexual assault of intoxicated teen girls, “sometimes non-consensual, and sometimes while she watched,” according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Court documents described O’Connor providing a boy with a condom and pushing him into a room with an intoxicated girl, who later escaped and locked herself in a bathroom.

During a New Year’s Eve party at her home, O’Connor allegedly watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed. In another case, she brought a drunk teen into a bedroom where he sexually assaulted an intoxicated 14-year-old girl, who also told investigators that at another party she was so drunk she almost drowned in a hot tub, according to court filings.

O’Connor was arrested in 2021 in Idaho, where she was living at the time. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office said it investigated O’Connor after an Idaho family reported O’Connor was harassing them. The family told investigators the harassment began after they met with O’Connor when she was looking for a home in Idaho but then tried to sever ties with her after finding out she was part of a sexual abuse investigation.

When detectives arrived at her home northwest of Boise, they found “there were 10 underage boys and two girls at her home — most of whom spent the night there,” according to a sheriff’s office news release.

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 Paula Wethington

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    CHELSEA, Michigan (WWJ) — If you saw an odd light in the sky over Michigan about 5:11 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, it was a fireball, also known as a very bright meteor.

The American Meteor Society said they received 82 reports, including two videos, of the fireball sighting around Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The Michigan sightings included people in Chelsea, Charlotte, Fenton, Fraser, Melvindale, Monroe and Warren. Others who saw it were from Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

The fireball was moving in the sky, several of the notices said.

“It was so bright and green it caught me off guard,” one of the reports from Michigan said.

“It was very bright and seemed very large,” another Michigan report said.

“Several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth’s atmosphere each day. The vast majority of these, however, occur over the oceans and uninhabited regions, and a good many are masked by daylight,” the American Meteor Society said.

The active meteor showers this week include the Anthelion and eta Aquariids showers, the American Meteor Society said.

Fireball sightings that recently got attention in Michigan included a meteor shower in late March.

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 Chloe Rosen

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    BROOKLYN PARK, Minnesota (WCCO) — Police in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, arrested a man Thursday evening, whom they believe is connected to a body found in a drainage pond. The body was found around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday near the 6900 block of Lakeland Avenue North and has been identified as Jontae Lee, according to police.

Police say that in mid-March, officers were called to the intersection of 70th Avenue North and Maryland Avenue North for a disturbance.

When officers arrived, they learned that two friends, both men, had been in a disagreement and one, identified as Lee, had left the scene on foot. Police say that Lee left the scene after he attacked the other man.

Police set up a search area but were not able to find Lee. After he failed to return home later that day, police issued a missing persons report.

Over the course of two months, detectives searched the area, reviewed video from nearby businesses and spoke to family and friends of Lee. Detectives also used cellphone data and social media data to find the man.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, Brooklyn Park detectives arrested the other man involved in the March disagreement. He is currently in the Brooklyn Park Jail.

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 Jason Rantala

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    ST. PAUL, Minnesota (WCCO) — Those close to Gabriel Arrazola Perez, known as Gabe for short, said the 44-year-old who lived in St. Paul was a master barber with a love of Mexican art.

“It’s just beyond comprehension that anybody would lift a finger to someone who was a pacifist,” said Danielle Robinson Briand, an immigration attorney and friend of Arrazola Perez. “His passing is something that has taken the entire community by surprise.”

Robinson Briand met Arrazola Perez in Mexico and helped him become a U.S. citizen back in 2022. This year, she said he stood strong protecting his family and community during Operation Metro Surge.

“We don’t know what happened, but whatever happened was very violent and we want to get to the bottom of it,” said Robinson Briand.

Arrazola Perez was last seen by his sister on Sunday, Robinson Briand said.

“It was a shock when on Monday the detectives showed up at his home and let his sister know that he was found,” said Robinson Briand.

Arrazola Perez owned Barbers on Bryant in Uptown. A note of his passing now sits in the shop window.

In a statement, family members said: “He was our safe place, our protector, our provider, and the person who held all of us together.”

“We want justice for him. Whoever is responsible, whether it was one person or multiple people, they need to be apprehended and they need to face justice for this,” said Robinson Briand.

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 Victor Jacobo

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — Teens on the South Side of Chicago held a candid conversation Thursday night, sharing their views on recent teen takeovers, some of which have turned violent and deadly. Meantime, police leaders in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side thanked the community for their support at a rally to support officers.

At an annual “Support the Police Prayer Rally” in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on Thursday evening, Jefferson Park District Police Cmdr. Thomas Hanrahan shared officers’ gratitude for the backing from the community.

“Your presence here is not only symbolic, it’s meaningful. It sends a clear message to the men and women of the Chicago Police Department who serve in this district every day that they’re not alone, and that their work is seen, and that their service is appreciated,” Hanrahan said.

Among the various issues facing officers is grappling with teen takeovers, or teen trends, including two recent incidents which turned violent.

On Sunday, five police officers were injured when an 18-year-old man drove a vehicle into them in the 1200 block of South Loomis Street as they were trying to disperse a large crowd of teens.

On Monday night, 53 people were arrested and nine weapons were seized after another teen gathering turned violent near the lakefront in Hyde Park. Police said several hundred people were involved in the takeover, many of them dancing on top of squad cars, and throwing objects at officers as police tried to clear the area. Three teens were shot near 55th Street and Cornell Avenue after the gathering moved from 57th Street Beach across DuSable Lake Shore Drive to Hyde Park near the Museum of Science and Industry.

“Through it all, [officers are] expected to remain steady, professional, and compassionate,” Hanrahan said.

Meanwhile, in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, a group of South Side youth held a candid conversation Thursday evening on the issue of teen takeovers.

“Honestly, I’d probably say like it’s just like, something like kids, teenagers want do is like let loose,” one teen said.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that. What’s wrong is the destruction, the killing, the shooting, the disrespect, all that,” one woman responded.

“Usually trends, like, a lot of people be there, usually a few that you know, or people that’s going to be there, just wanting to make mess,” another teen said.

The event in Greater Ground Crossing neighborhood was hosted by the nonprofits Season to Soar and KCC Academy of Chicago.

“There have not been many conversations where the youth voices are centered,” said Season to Soar executive director Kymbria Young.

Young led the conversation where young people said participation in teen trends is prompted by a desire to socialize, a lack of things to do, and economic pressures leading youth to seek affordable activities.

“My message to everyone is really to just be open minded, and be open to hearing the youth out, and hearing their point of view and their side and trying to work together for solutions,” Young said.

Meantime in west suburban Naperville, police said they are aware of a potential teen trend event in that city on Monday. The department said they’ll be increasing police presence in the downtown area.

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 Charlie De Mar, Todd Feurer, Desiree Evans

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — One person was killed on Thursday afternoon after FBI agents opened fire on an SUV in the Homan Square neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.

The shooting happened around 3 p.m. in the 3700 block of West Lexington Street. A Chicago Fire Department spokesperson confirmed one person was killed in the shooting.

Officials have not said if the man fired shots at agents, but sources said he was wanted in connection to a bank robbery.

After the shooting, several FBI agents in helmets and protective vests approached a Cadillac SUV with rifles drawn. Agents later pulled a person who appeared to be dead out of the driver’s seat.

The vehicle had been struck by dozens of bullets, and was left heavily damaged.

“The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously. In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI’s Inspection Division,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.

People who live nearby said they heard at least 15 shots.

“This is everyday life. I mean, you can’t explain something that happened that you don’t even know about, but however it’s going, all we can do is watch and try and avoid it,” Felica Fort said.

One person who said he has lived in Homan Square for more than two decades, and asked to remain anonymous, said he witnessed the shooting from his balcony. He described a shootout between the man in the SUV and FBI agents.

“He came up through the sunroof and started spraying bullets, and they sprayed back at him,” the man said. “I’m diving on the floor when the shots took place.”

A man who said he was the brother of the man shot by the FBI identified him as a 25-year-old named Abdul. He said his brother was just visiting a relative near Lexington Street and Independence Boulevard.

“For him to just be sitting in the car and them to shoot him, they wanted him dead,” he said. “We know he did not shoot. He would never shoot at the police, because, I mean, that’s death. That’s suicide by cop. He’s not stupid.”

The FBI declined to immediately provide any further information on Thursday afternoon.

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 J.D. Miles

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    DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) — A wife and mother of three was planning a girls’ trip out of the country, but suddenly found herself alone and facing 12 years in a third-world prison.

In that prison, Sabrina Underwood says she had to endure hellish conditions and pay for protection just to stay alive. That woman is the daughter of a retired Dallas Police officer and is finally free thanks to her parents’ determined efforts to save her.

“It was only supposed to be a week,” said Underwood. “I told my kids it’s my first vacation by myself. It was supposed to be something quick, simple and fun.”

As a working mother of three, Underwood needed a break. So she planned the girls’ trip in late December to visit a friend who had moved to Panama.

She brought a suitcase that she says she was still packed after a road trip with her husband from Texas to Tennessee the day before. A suitcase with something inside that would turn her trip to Panama into a nightmare.

“When they opened the suitcase, on the top of it, I was like, ‘No, my medication is on the bottom, you gotta look in here,'” Underwood said. “And he stopped me, and he put his hand in and pulled out the gun, and my jaw dropped.”

Authorities at the airport in Panama found a handgun that Underwood’s husband received from his military deployment and had placed in the bag on their road trip.

“It was crazy,” she said. “It was surreal. I was losing my mind. I was texting, crying, shaking. In one second, my whole life was destroyed.”

The 34-year-old was soon in a Panamanian prison facing a 12-year sentence, accused of trying to smuggle the gun into the country.

“There’s a lot of conspiracy theories,” said Underwood. “I am not trying to sell the gun in Panama. I’m not an international criminal.”

Photos of the prison show a row of cells that other prisoners could enter, feces on walls, roaches everywhere and buckets that were used for showers.

“You couldn’t have blankets or pillows,” said Underwood. “Roaches crawling on you when you tried to sleep. It was very bad.”

Underwood says she was immediately targeted by other prisoners and relied on her cellmate for protection.

“People would steal from me,” she said. “And there was a Panamanian woman that, when I was getting out of the shower, assaulted me. There were stabbings. I witnessed a couple of stabbings.”

Underwood’s father Paul Inman, is a retired Dallas police officer who spent the last five months desperately trying to get her released.

“They were able to buy a phone from a guard, and that’s the way we were able to keep in touch with her,” said Inman. “And that right there kept me sane because I knew she was safe.”

After nearly a month, Underwood was eventually able to get out of the prison and was placed under house arrest in Panama while awaiting trial.

But the thought of being away from her three kids for 12 years was unimaginable for Underwood, who contemplated suicide.

“I had a plan for that,” she said. “I wouldn’t put my kids through that.”

Fortunately for the 34-year-old, it turned out to be just that, and last week she was released from prison without explanation and returned to the U.S. to the welcoming arms of her family.

” was ready to kiss the ground,” said Underwood. “I bleed red, white and blue. Now, I know America is not perfect, but I am so happy to be here, so happy to see my kids be able to play with them, hold them, walk outside, it’s a blessing.”

Underwood says it was the determination of her parents, not politicians, who made it happen.

“I know my parents,” she said. “I know my dad. They are strong-willed people and they don’t give up.”

Despite her ordeal and the loss of her job over it, Underwood still finds ways to smile at the memory and plans to use her experience to help others.

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.