Category: CNN Regional

By Stef Manchen

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    TULSA, Oklahoma (KJRH) — Two mothers, united by unimaginable loss, connected by extraordinary love.

Cheryl Manley and Stephanie Baker never imagined they’d meet over matching tragedies.

Cheryl’s daughter, Amanda, died in a traffic accident. Years later, so did Stephanie’s son Cody.

Both young lives saved so many others, donating their livers, kidneys, and hearts.

“If they had met in life, it would have been a good friendship, I think,” said Stephanie.

“I think they’re friends in heaven making fun of us,” said Cheryl.

The mothers found each other through the Transplant Games of America, competing on Team Oklahoma, where donors, families, and recipients celebrate life’s second chances.

“The games are a lot of fun, but it’s in your face what brought you here every day,” said Cheryl. “She liked helping people, and that’s probably what solidified the decision to donate because we knew that even in death, Amanda would want to help.”

The shared tragedy brought the mothers together at the games, creating a friendship forged in grief but strengthened by hope.

“There are times of the year that are harder for her, and there are times of the year that are harder for me, and we know this, we don’t have to wonder, there’s no second-guessing,” said Stephanie.

But friends became family when Stephanie learned she needed a transplant of her own.

Cheryl said she didn’t hesitate to give up a piece of herself to help her friend.

“If Stephanie had needed me to sit with her at the hospital because she was going through something, I would have done that,” she said. “For me, donating a kidney was just donating a kidney. It wasn’t, I wasn’t a hero or anything like that, I was just her friend, I was just doing what she needed me to do. We had been supporting each other for all those years, why would I not?”

This June marks Cheryl’s 13th Transplant Games and Stephanie’s 9th. They’ll travel to Denver together June 18-23, competing and honoring the lives saved because of organ transplants.

The 2024 Transplant Games hope to set a Guinness World Record for the most donors, recipients, and families in one place.

“It’s really a solidification of our decision when I can see somebody, they didn’t have to be Amanda’s recipient, the fact that they’re a recipient and would have died without a transplant is enough for me,” said Cheryl. “They’re on my team, and I love them so much.”

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 Erin Christy

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    TULSA, Oklahoma (KJRH) — When Becca Wollman opened Cultivate Hair Studio, she immediately saw a need for parents.

“I noticed a need to understand how to take care of their children’s hair, and a lot of times there are obstacles keeping them from that,” said Wollman.

She found dads particularly having trouble, as many had not had the opportunity to learn, or needed the opportunity to learn. So, she started a workshop, Dads Do Hair, welcoming all ages and all hair types.

“Things as simple as brushing hair, de-matting, detangling, ponytails, but especially things like brads and twists,” she said.

Robert Burrell is attending with his daughter, Taliyah, 6.

“I grew up with a single parent, so my mom did my hair all the time,” said Burrell. “I never had to worry about it. But now having a daughter with hair as thick as mine, and has so much of it. My wife is the primary for hair everything, but I feel like I can help out a little bit.”

Wollman also put together a style guide for dads. In it, the message, “your child will remember the effort long after they remember the style.”

“I just want to be able to give her a couple of braids, my son some braids, look presentable, and get out the door,” said Burrell.

Six-year-old Taliyah gave some advice for staying patient through the process.

“iPad and watch something, or sometimes I color,” she said.

Her favorite part?

“I like it when it’s finished,” she laughed.

And when it’s finished, it’s worth it.

“Our confidence starts with our hair,” explained Wollman. “When these kids go out into the world, and they don’t have the confidence walking out the door, it makes their day a lot harder.”

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 Adam Schumes

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    GILBERT, Arizona (KNXV) — Pebble Ranch Senior Living hosted its first annual volleyball tournament Wednesday, bringing together teams of seniors from communities across the East Valley — walkers, wheelchairs and all.

“Welcome to the first annual Pebble Ranch volleyball massacre,” Ron Stuewe said.

Stuewe, a Pebble Ranch resident, said the inclusive format was one of the event’s highlights.

“It’s nice because people in their walkers and wheelchairs can play,” Stuewe said.

For many participants, the scoreboard was beside the point. Briana Watson, Pebble Ranch Senior Living’s executive director, said the tournament was about more than athletics.

“It’s better for their overall health and wellness, right? Being with humans is very important, and just for them to compete and have fun,” Watson said.

For Stuewe, the tournament was also a chance Wednesday to finally put faces to names he had heard about for years.

“It’s fun seeing other people, where they are from and at. We have heard about all these different places but now we can associate names and faces,” Stuewe said.

One team took home a trophy Wednesday, but Stuewe made clear he wasn’t finished competing.

“We won one game, lost one game, I’m ready to do battle again,” Stuewe said.

Fellow resident Arvella Merrill said what happens off the court matters just as much as what happens on it.

“We are social animals whether we like it or not and it’s therapeutic to converse with others,” Merrill said.

Merrill summed up the spirit of the day simply.

“When you’re in this position it’s a good place to be,” Merrill 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 Cameron Polom

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    MESA, Arizona (KNXV) — Bill Schwarz has been running most of his life. At 90 years old, he’s about to do something he’s never done before.

The Mesa, Arizona, resident is preparing to run his first marathon later this month at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series in San Diego — proving that adventure doesn’t come with an expiration date.

Three days a week, Schwarz trains at an EōS Fitness in Mesa, combining runs with Pilates, strength work, mobility training, and recovery sessions as he prepares for the biggest race of his life.

Stretch trainer Christine Hopkins has been alongside him every step of the way, watching his determination inspire everyone around him inside the gym.

At an age when many people are slowing down, Schwarz is pushing himself into completely new territory — showing others that goals, growth, and excitement for life don’t have to fade with age.

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 Rishi Oza

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    EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Martin Aceves has been legally blind his whole life. He’s an El Paso native and University of Texas at El Paso graduate trying to find a way to involve the blind community in public more.

For the last three years, he worked to make a game of billiards for the blind. A guide maker, whose son is blind, helped Aveces make wooden guides for the game.

The game is similar to normal billiards; the goal is to get the balls into the pockets, but you can’t see. Players can’t fully see what’s going on, but they can feel it.

“When they could see, they actually played the game. And that comes back, the full feelings get into effect and getting involved with the game,” said Aceves.

The first Tuesday of every month, the players get together at the Marty Robbins Rec Center in East El Paso. The group calls themselves the “Sharp Shooters.”

“Living on your own is hard, but it’s possible,” said Carlos Mosqueda, a member of the group.

Another member, Frank Rodriguez, said he never thought he would be able to play pool again.

“We want the people to get involved and come and do something, you know, to get them out of the house,” said Rodriguez.

According to Aceves, about 5,000 people are visually impaired throughout El Paso. He wants to get as many involved in his game as he can.

“Blindness is a major tragic issue, more so than other disabilities. It completely cancels a person’s life until they get retrained into society,” said Aceves.

His next steps are getting all of Texas involved, and creating a tournament around the state.

“I’m 70. Between now and 80, I want to see a state championship of this,” he said. “Let’s say I see a thousand individuals playing pool and that I started this? Give me a break. That’s very enjoyable.”

To get involved, Aceves says that you can meet them at the Marty Robbins Center and get started.

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 Jeremy Tombs

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    BRIGHAM CITY, Utah (KSTU) — More than three weeks after the Box Elder County Commission decided to green-light a massive data center, hundreds came to Brigham City to voice their continued frustration over the Stratos Project.

Those opposed to the proposed data center showed up on Wednesday from across northern Utah.

“I’m a single mother from Eagle Mountain. I made a rant [on social media] to meet up here at one of their meetings, and it just kind of exploded!” said protest organizer Tiffany Larson.

Many of those who protested outside the courthouse were from diverging ideological backgrounds.

“I look around here, this is probably not my type of crowd. So what do we all have in common? We don’t like being treated poorly,” shared former Utah State Rep. Phil Lyman.

The protesters coalesced around a general feeling of being unheard.

“Together, we can make them listen,” shouted Brigette Cottam to a cheering crowd.

Having grown up in nearby Willard, Cottam is part of the Box Elder Accountability Referendum group (BEAR), and hopes the listening happens through the possibility of a referendum that currently hangs in the balance of county officials.

“Tomorrow, we should be hearing back on approval or denial of the referendum,” said Cottam. “Tomorrow, no matter what they say, we hit the ground running.”

At the rally, protestors took their concerns into the county commission chambers, where many first learned of the 40,000-acre plan.

“Every year we pray for rain… we’re worried about our water. We live it in the desert. Utah’s a special place, and we need to treat it with the love and respect it deserves,” said Box Elder County resident Elizabeth Hulbert.

As the commissioners listened to an hour’s worth of comments without reply, the angry locals made sure their message got across to county leaders and those behind the project.

“I didn’t see any buses. I’m trusting none of you got paid to show up,” BEAR organizer Farrah Pliley asked the crowd. “You woke up all the ‘BEARS’. An entire state of them. All these angry BEARS against one shark. Good luck, you’ve got quite the fight ahead of you.”

Earlier Wednesday, a water rights change application for the Stratos Project had been pulled for the second time. Murray Hollow L.C. withdrew the application that had about 700 official protests written against it. All of that money will again go to the state’s general fund, and none will be refunded to the protesters who filed them.

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 Jeremy Fredricks

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KMTV) — School counselors in the Omaha area are beginning to use specially designed AI chatbots to help identify causes and solutions for students dealing with mental health challenges, even as concerns about AI’s impact on young people’s mental health continue to grow.

Karla Sextro, a counselor at DC West Schools in Valley, said she had not used AI to assist her work with students until recently. A specially designed chatbot provided her with ideas on causes and treatments for a first-grade boy who refused to go to school.

“I’m scared to use AI,” Sextro said.

The chatbot walked through details the counselor had already discussed with the student’s caregiver.

“It explained a lot that we’ve already discussed with the caregiver,” Sextro said.

More than 1 in 8 people 21 and younger use generative AI for mental health advice, according to a study published in November 2025. Most of those tools are general-use AI chatbots.

Thang Tran, a professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and a team developed specific chatbots designed for school counselors. One helps counselors identify possible causes and solutions for students, and the other addresses ethical concerns.

“I don’t know exactly what the AI is actually saying to them for their particular situation, so that’s where the consultation, supervision, and really the follow-up is helpful, important and necessary,” Tran said.

Tran said AI can make mistakes and that there are concerns about confidentiality. Sextro said she plans to incorporate AI more into her work but describes it as one tool among many.

“I think it’s a great tool. I don’t think it’s what you should go to and use completely,” Sextro said.

Tran said he is working on an updated version of the chatbot to address counselors’ ethical questions.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KMTV 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 Kristine Sorensen

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    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — New moms now have more support with the statewide expansion of a mom-to-mom texting program through a nonprofit called NurturePA.

Six thousand moms in Allegheny County have used the free service since NurturePA started it in 2014. It’s now open to anyone in Pennsylvania who’s pregnant or caring for a child up to age five. Trained mentors, who are moms themselves, are paired with a new mom for anonymous, nonjudgmental texting support.

Sharon Welburn used the service with her firstborn child and loved having someone to vent to and learn from.

“I didn’t realize how common jaundice in babies was until my baby was jaundiced,” Welburn said. “I was panicking that I did something wrong, and then my mentor texted, ‘You’re OK. You’re not doing anything wrong. It’s something that sometimes happens. My kid had jaundice when they were born.'”

The trained mentors screen for postpartum depression eight times in the first year after the baby is born. NurturePA Executive Director Susan Crookston says the service is especially ideal for moms in rural areas who are further from support networks. She says for many new moms, having a baby can feel disorienting because so much changes.

“New baby, new everything,” Crookston said. “Your body is different … Every element of your life can be upended by a baby, and though it’s a wonderful and joyous experience, it’s also incredibly challenging.”

Nurture PA is also collecting parenting wisdom from moms across Pennsylvania to be shared across their platforms and in an art exhibit.

To share your words of wisdom or enroll in the free mom-to-mom texting service as a new mom or a mentor, go to the NurturePA website. And for more advice and local resources for new parents, go to Kidsburgh.org.

KDKA is proud to partner with kidsburgh.org.

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 De’Jah Gross

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    CINCINNATI (WCPO) — A Cincinnati man in recovery from alcohol use disorder is walking across a graduation stage Thursday, and the diploma he thought he never earned has been waiting for him all along.

Shawn Hughes, 58, is a resident at Prospect House, a long-term men’s spiritual recovery center in Price Hill. For decades, Hughes believed he had not graduated from Woodward High School after missing three days of summer school in 1987.

“I was absent from school those three days they gave me, so I assumed that I didn’t graduate,” Hughes said.

That assumption turned out to be wrong.

Hughes enrolled in Cincinnati Public Schools’ ASPIRE program, which offers free day and evening classes for people looking to earn their GED. Three weeks in, the staff made a discovery that stopped him in his tracks.

“Three weeks into me taking the classes, they called me into the office and said, ‘Sean, you already have your diploma.’ I said, ‘What?'” Hughes said. “This is surprising to me. I came here to get my GED.”

His diploma had been sitting in the basement of the school.

Hughes will walk across the stage Thursday as part of the ASPIRE program’s graduation ceremony, finally marking the milestone he thought had passed him by nearly 40 years ago.

“I was happy, actually surprised,” Hughes said.

Cincinnati Public Schools is working to spread the word about the program. ASPIRE sites are offered in partnership with community agencies throughout the city of Cincinnati.

According to the district’s website, classes are free and available year-round during the day and evening. Online courses are also available.

“I said to myself, I’m going to start doing things for myself that I wouldn’t do if I were still out there,” Hughes said.

Hughes said the road to this moment was not easy. He has spent years battling alcohol use disorder.

“Prior to me having my children, I was an alcoholic, and I got in some trouble a few times through the court system, and the third time I got a DUI, and they decided to put me in a treatment program through Talbert House,” Hughes said.

He stayed sober for eight years before falling back off.

“Spent 25 years doing the same thing. I called my sister, who’s been in sobriety for 35 years, to help me,” Hughes said. “I wasn’t doing anything, but destroying myself and looking at death.”

Recovery at Prospect House, where he’s been for five months, has given him a new foundation. The center offers a treatment program, three-quarter housing and alumni housing, creating a community where men at different stages of sobriety can support one another.

“We take them in regardless of their resources or ability to pay, being willing, having that gift of desperation, having seen unsuccessful attempts, and being ready to commit to long-term abstinence-based treatment is really the key,” Paul Quertermous, executive director of Prospect House, said. “We don’t accept anyone on medication-assisted treatment. We are one model, abstinence-based, 12-step, and we work very hard to maintain that model, and to keep everybody on the same path.”

For Hughes, returning to education was about more than a diploma. It was about understanding himself.

“I just always turned to that, even though when the alcohol went away, I still had that problem still there. So I just wanted to take time out for myself and learn me. I needed to know who I really was,” Hughes said.

Quertermous said watching Hughes reach this point has been meaningful.

“They don’t know if they’re ever going to make it, and Shawn is at that point where he can see that he can build a life now, and that’s a wonderful thing to see,” Quertermous said.

Hughes is also one of the newest cooks at Prospect House. His next goal is to attend college to study robotics and continue growing a bond with children.

“If I die tomorrow, I can say I did something,” Hughes said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WCPO 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.