Category: CNN Regional

By Ali Bauman

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — Some 9/11 families are defending New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inclusion in this year’s solemn remembrance ceremony after an online petition asked he not attend.

“The focus should be on where are we in this world, 25 years later?” Elizabeth Miller said.

Miller’s father was killed in the 9/11 terror attacks nearly a quarter-century ago. She’s been attending the annual remembrance ceremony in Lower Manhattan since, and is now nearly the age he was when he died.

Year after year, mayors, presidents and politicians on both sides of the aisle have paid their respects at the ceremony.

“Mayor Mamdani has assured 9/11 families that he wants to be there to honor our loved ones, and I think he should be allowed to do that,” Miller said.

Miller is speaking out after an online petition garnered more than 72,000 signatures from the public asking ceremony organizers to carefully consider Mamdani’s participation this year.

Two petitioners whose spouses were killed in the attacks told CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner last week that their concern stems from the mayor’s public positions and rhetoric.

“We felt that having Mamdani there would show a disrespect to our family members because of the people he supports,” Giovanni Galante told Rozner. Galante’s wife died on 9/11.

Miller is the project director of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, which has over 250 members. In a statement, that organization responded, in part, “We strongly condemn the anti-American accusations and Islamophobic sentiment underlying the effort seeking to prevent him from being at Ground Zero.”

“Clearly calling for the mayor of New York City to skip the 9/11 memorial because he’s a Muslim, or because these guilt-by-association smears, is anti-Muslim bigotry, plain and simple,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Mamdani has reaffirmed his commitment to attend.

“I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them,” Mamdani said last week.

Miller said she hopes this debate does not overshadow the true reason they’re all there.

“The focus really shouldn’t be on who’s there, who’s not there,” Miller said. “It should be on our loved ones.”

A spokesperson for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum said, in part, “we have intentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics because remembering those we lost on 9/11 should never be a partisan issue.”

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 Cindy Hsu

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    DUTCHESS COUNTY, New York (WCBS) — For most kids, summer camp is a time to make new friends and explore the outdoors, but at a Girl Scout camp in upstate New York, campers are learning a different skill: knitting.

The activity at Camp Kaufman is meant to foster community, boost self-esteem, and demonstrate a sense of accomplishment.

“This is a place where we give them the permission to learn by doing and to do it in the most fun way possible,” said Kristen Glass, the director of camps and outdoor education for the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. “Community is essential and that’s what we provide here at camp.”

The camp is situated on 425 acres in Dutchess County and allows the campers to have all the normal camp experiences, but it’s the knitting that is the standout.

“To find ways to work together and individually to find inner peace, to be able to have positive relationships with ourselves and with others,” Glass explained.

“It’s so great to see them move away from the screens and just scrolling and being able to do something, not only just a good use of their hands, but be able to make something at the end of it,” said lead knitting instructor Cecilia Nelson-Hurt.

The campers love it.

“Both knitting and zip-lining can challenge your mind in a positive way because it makes you think. It’s like processing. So it helps you challenge yourself,” said camper A’tijah.

“It’s like a conversation opener because when you’re knitting with someone else, it’s like, ‘Oh, do you need help? How are you doing so far?'” another camper said.

Knitting is also shown to have a plethora of health benefits, like reduced stress, mitigated anxiety and depression, and more, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“The non-pharmaceutical treatments for mild to moderate depression, malaise, isolation, anhedonia – call it what you want to – is social activities,” said psychologist and expert on young adult mental health Dr. Nicholas Kardaras. “The pride that comes from some kind of arts and crafts can be really healing.”

Campers say they already feel the benefits.

“You’re able to use something that you could feel and touch and physically see and that it helps your brain feel better and your mood feel better,” a camper named Morireoluwa said.

“Sometimes you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t do this,’ but it also kind of makes me feel accomplished when I finally work through what I’ve done, and I’m like, ‘Yay!'” said camper Alyssa.

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By Najahe Sherman

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    BROWARD COUNTY, Florida (WFOR) — A Broward County educator and author is helping young children build confidence from an early age with a new book celebrating individuality.

Every child deserves to feel seen, valued, and confident. That’s the message Heather Binns hopes to share through her children’s book, Perfectly Made.

Inspired by conversations with her own daughter, the Broward County Public Schools administrator recently released the book, designed for children ages 4 to 8.

“I noticed my daughter was going to school, having issues with representation, and she was asking questions that I at the age of 4 or 5 was asking my own mother,” said Binns.

Binns shared the book with girls at the Embrace Girls Foundation, a nonprofit that invests in girls from underserved communities. She recently hosted a community event at the historic Lyric Theatre, celebrating literacy, confidence, and representation. She says confidence starts long before the teenage years.

“Why are we waiting until the girls become teenagers that we’re pouring into them when they’ve already compared themselves to the world, and they’re already allowing society to tell them who they are. If there’s an opportunity to tell them that they are loved, they are worthy and they are perfectly made, do it as early as possible,” said Binns.

It’s a message that resonates with her 6-year-old daughter, Carter.

“It makes me glad and happy,” she said.

And with community leaders like the former director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, Stephanie Daniels, who purchased books for every girl attending the event.

“The young girls can find some commonality in the book. By reading this book, and understanding who they are, and again not comparing themselves to other people,” Daniels said.

Binns hopes the book encourages families to start conversations about self-worth early, reminding every child they are uniquely made and worthy of confidence from the very beginning.

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By Ivan Taylor

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — A 43-year-old North Miami woman is facing multiple felony charges after police say she carried out an antisemitic attack on a Jewish man inside the Starbucks located within a Target store in North Miami Beach.

According to North Miami Beach Police, the incident happened Sunday afternoon at the Target located at 14075 Biscayne Boulevard.

Investigators identified the suspect as Chyvonne Juanita Palmer, who was arrested at the scene and later appeared before a bond court judge.

Police said the victim was sitting at the Starbucks wearing a yarmulke, also known as a kippah, when Palmer “suddenly stood up” and approached him without provocation.

According to the arrest report, Palmer began screaming at the victim before striking him twice with a cellphone. Officers said she then returned to her seat, but the confrontation escalated moments later.

Investigators allege Palmer stood up again, grabbed a metal chair, raised it in an apparent attempt to strike the victim, and repeatedly shouted, “I hate them.”

Before she could allegedly hit the man with the chair, two bystanders intervened, according to police. One of them escorted the victim to the men’s restroom for safety while authorities responded.

On Monday evening, a Target spokesperson released a statement condemning the incident.

“We’re deeply saddened by this incident, as the safety of our guests and team is Target’s top priority,” the company said in a statement. “We do not tolerate this kind of behavior in our stores and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement.”

The attack has left members of the local Jewish community concerned.

“I would say nowadays, it’s very strange because we want to be free,” said Alex Klein, a Jewish customer who was sitting at the same Starbucks on Monday, though he did not know the victim.

Klein said incidents like this underscore the need for greater unity.

“We need to spread more light to the world and kindness,” he said.

Palmer has been charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice, and disorderly conduct.

During her first court appearance, a judge ordered that Palmer be released to the custody of Southern Winds Hospital in Hialeah for a mental health evaluation.

As of Monday night, she had posted bond and was no longer in custody.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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 Sharon Lawson

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    WINDER, Georgia (WUPA) — The mother of Apalachee High School shooting victim Mason Schermerhorn says she remains caught between gratitude for the time she had with her son and the pain of losing him too soon.

“I’m stuck in a weird place because I’m so privileged that I was his mom and I got to call him my son,” Breanna Schermerhorn said. “But I wish I had him longer.”

Now, her family is preparing to pursue accountability in civil court.

Attorney Mike Puglise, who represents the Schermerhorn family, said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Barrow County School System and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. He claims warning signs involving school shooter Colt Gray were missed before the deadly attack at Apalachee High School.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m dealing with the civil litigation, bringing those responsible — mainly the government entities — to account for what happened,” Puglise said.

Puglise pointed to the response on the morning of the shooting, when Gray’s mother reportedly contacted the school and warned that her son was acting erratically and had access to firearms.

“Thirty-six minutes elapsed from the time that they first received a call from the mother saying her son was acting delusional and he had access to firearms,” Puglise said. “They needed to get to him. You don’t just put it on the back burner, and when you receive the information, you make sure you get the right student.”

Puglise also raised questions about how the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office handled an FBI tip involving Gray months before the shooting.

Puglise claims the detective who investigated the tip should have taken additional steps.

“He didn’t report back to the FBI anything about what he found,” Puglise said. “He didn’t report it to the other schools in the surrounding areas — Barrow County — to say, ‘We have a problem. This kid needs to be red-flagged.'”

The family’s attorney said the planned civil case is not simply about financial compensation. He said it is intended to force accountability and strengthen protections for other students.

“I was at the funeral, at the celebration of life. What a remarkable young man,” Puglise said. “He had his whole future ahead of him. Tell me, how do I write a check for that? What is going to take that grief away? Nothing.”

“It’s about protecting those children, protecting those kids,” he added. “Priceless.”

Puglise had already filed the legal notices required under Georgia law.

They expect to file the civil lawsuit in the coming weeks.

CBS News Atlanta reached out to Jackson’s Sheriff’s Office and Barrow County School System. Jackson’s Sheriff Office did not respond by the time of publication.

In a statement, Barrow County School System said:

“Thank you for understanding that we cannot comment on potential litigation, court proceedings, or investigations. Our priority remains the well-being and safety of our students, staff, and families. We are committed to maintaining a supportive learning environment while serving our community with integrity and care.”

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By Emily McLeod

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    ATHENS, Georgia (WUPA) — 64 students made history at the University of Georgia on Monday as they attended their first class at the newly established School of Medicine. Chase Dudley is one of the 64 students who got accepted.

He was fixing his parent’s dryer when he got his acceptance call from the school’s dean, Michelle Nuss.

“I knew it was her; I knew what was going on, you don’t get a call from Dean Nuss unless you’re getting accepted into the School of Medicine,” Dudley said. “So it was almost numbing how excited I was. I remember kind of stumbling over my words, speaking to her, getting off the phone and just jumping up, pumping my fist.”

Dudley attended UGA for his undergrad and initially majored in journalism. After interviewing people with experience in healthcare, he began to wonder if there was a way he could combine medicine and communication.

“Turns out that medicine is communication,” Dudley said. “You know what I mean? Being able to listen to somebody and be there and be gregarious and kind and supportive while applying the knowledge that you have gained in order to hopefully steer them in the right direction for their own care which is how I arrived here.”

Dudley is from Madison County, just outside of Athens. He said it’s surreal to be able to learn in a community so close to home.

He says he ultimately wants to practice medicine.

“My goal for a very long time was to go off and then come back here, try to be the best position I could, bring my perspective, and then learn elsewhere but then return so that I could deliver care to Athens and specifically I guess Elberton, Comer, Colbert, this sort of local area and now I don’t have to,” Dudley said. “Now I get to help shape the sort of curriculum and the sort of ethos that we’re going to have here.”

According to the University, the launch of UGA’s School of Medicine comes as the state is dealing with a shortage of medical professionals. The school cited figures that Georgia ranks 39th in the U.S. for the number of active patient care physicians per capita.

“You see that throughout our state depending on what you read, we’re usually at the bottom end of those lists of the physician shortages, what counties don’t have a physician or a certain type of physician,” said UGA School of Medicine Associate Dean for Admissions, Brian Steele. “Being a land grant school, we definitely want to take our university to the people. We want to help fill that need.”

Right now, a $100 million building plan is under construction that will allow the School of Medicine to hold up to 120 students per class.

Ahead of their first day, the inaugural students had a hands-on orientation experience traveling to hospitals and technical schools throughout the state.

“We want to be active learning in our curriculum and what better way to see Georgia than to actually go out and experience Georgia,” Steele said. “So yes, we could have brought physicians from all over the state to come talk to them in front of a classroom or read a powerpoint but what better way than just go and see that firsthand?”

Steele said the students’ qualifications go beyond GPA’s and MCAT scores.

“Our class had over 54,000 hours of research,” Steele said. “One out of every four of our students have already published something or co-authored something regarding research. They had over 36-thousand hours of community service.”

UGA’s School of Medicine is on the Health Sciences campus in Athens.

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By Aaron Parseghian

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    SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Somerville, Massachusetts firefighter is now on paid administrative leave, accused of running a World Cup ticket scam that brought in more than $14,000.

Robert Whelan, 50, of Somerville, was arrested Thursday, July 30. He pleaded not guilty to several charges, including larceny and document forgery, at his arraignment Monday in Somerville District Court.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office said Whelan took money from at least 30 people totaling more than $14,000 to get them tickets to World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The tickets were never delivered and the money was never returned, the D.A. said.

According to the criminal complaint, Whelan “stated he had access to the World Cup tickets because I hit the lottery as a patriots season ticket holder.”

Police said he told the alleged victims, “The funds went through him as the middleman.”

Investigators said Whelan made “varying excuses” when the tickets weren’t delivered, then said “all the tickets were flagged and canceled due to internal fraud concerns, and that refunds would be issued.”

Whelan allegedly then told the group he would withdraw money from his retirement account with the city of Somerville to pay them back.

“He provided a screenshot of an email to the group representing that on June 25, 2026, a withdrawal of $157,000 was approved from his pension fund,” police wrote in the criminal complaint. Whelan allegedly said the email was written by Michael Pasquariello, the director of Somerville’s retirement board.

Police reached out to Pasquariello who said he never sent an email, and no money was taken out of Whelan’s account, because it’s not possible when an employee is still working for the city.

Investigators also said Whelan forged an email about the tickets using a New England Patriots logo and a link to Ticketmaster. Legitimate letters would have had the FIFA logo and a link to the World Cup portal, police said. The New England Patriots said no one named Robert Whelan is a season ticket holder.

In court Monday, Whelan’s attorney Sean Delaney said his client was a victim of the scam as well and had been conned by a ticket broker who had gotten tickets for Whelan and his family in the past.

“What had happened, this woman failed to produce any of the tickets. You want to know what Mr. Whelan has done since, judge? Out of pocket to compensate some of the folks that have not, did not receive tickets,” Delaney said. “He’s taken a complete hit and a complete loss.”

Whelan was released on $250 cash bail.

A spokesperson for the city of Somerville said Whelan “has been placed on paid administrative leave.”

“The City respects the legal process, and any personnel action will be determined after that process is complete. This is an active investigation under the purview of the Middlesex District Attorney.”

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By Neal Riley, Juli McDonald

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    PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Plymouth woman was killed by a falling tree while she sat on her porch Monday afternoon. It happened as storms bringing high winds and flooding downpours rolled through Massachusetts.

First responders were called to a home on Sullivan Avenue at about 1:10 p.m. for a report that a woman was trapped underneath a tree that had fallen on a back porch.

“The preliminary investigation indicates that the victim was sitting outside on her porch when a large gust of wind caused the tree to snap and collapse onto the home and the victim,” the Plymouth police and fire departments said in a statement.

The woman was a 61-year-old Plymouth resident. Authorities said police officers and neighbors found her under the tree and immediately started lifesaving efforts, but she later died at the hospital. Her name has not yet been released.

Neighbors were devastated by the news. “Just a lovely woman. Always smiling, always happy. It’s very sad,” one neighbor told WBZ-TV.

The neighbor said she went outside to let her dog out. “The rain had let up for a bit and she has a dog. Her very best friend dog and the neighbor also has a dog,” the neighbor said. “So, they both went out onto their back porch to let their animals out during the downpours and the neighbor heard this loud crack, and he looked over and a tree had fallen from State Road right onto her.”

Plymouth police and the Plymouth County district attorney’s office are investigating.

While central and western Massachusetts were most affected by heavy rain that flooded some streets, the bigger concern in the southeast part of the state was the wind. Gusts were forecast to reach up to 40 m.p.h. in Plymouth on Monday afternoon.

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By Adam Thompson

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Dali’s owner and operator, which alleged that the ship’s builder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, designed a dangerous ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, killing six construction workers.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Grace Ocean Private Limited, the Dali’s owner, and Synergy Marine Private Limited, its manager, claimed the ship had a simple but dangerous defect that caused the electrical system to lose power.

The lawsuit alleged that a label positioned too close to the end of a critical cable detached, causing a circuit breaker to open. Without electrical power, the ship lost steering capability and struck the bridge.

“Hyundai Heavy Industries defectively designed the switchboard,” the lawsuit stated.

The Dali experienced four blackouts in less than 12 hours before colliding with the Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Last week, attorneys representing the owners and operators of the Dali pleaded not guilty to all counts in a criminal case brought by federal prosecutors against the companies.

Last May, federal prosecutors charged both companies, and a 47-year-old man who was the Dali’s superintendent, with conspiracy, obstruction, and making false statements to investigators.

In June, federal prosecutors filed additional criminal charges in the deadly 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. The chief engineer of the Dali was charged with violations of the Port and Waterways Safety Act. Karthikeyan Deenadayalan is accused of knowingly and willfully failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard about hazardous conditions on the ship.

The federal indictment charged Synergy Marine’s with conspiracy to defraud the United States, failing to inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, misconduct or neglect by ship officers causing death, false statements and obstructing an agency proceeding.

Federal prosecutors accuse the owners and operators of the ship of improperly using a “flushing pump” to supply diesel to two of the Dali’s generators, rather than normal fuel supply pumps that have redundancies and can automatically restart. That pump’s failure has been blamed for the second of two power outages in the moments leading up to the collision.

“If the Dali had been using the proper fuel supply pumps, then the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge,” said Kelly Hayes, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland.

Last month, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore assured that the Key Bridge reconstruction will be completed safely, on time and on budget.

The governor toured the Key Bridge construction zone with members of Congress, encouraged by the progress.

The cost of the rebuild project remains between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion. The bridge is expected to be finished in 2030, which is two years later than initially anticipated.

The state cut ties with its previous contractor, Kiewit Corporation after it projected a nearly $9 billion price tag.

“It is going to have additional safety precautions and mechanisms that were not there when the original bridge was built. It will have to be larger because it has to accommodate larger ships,” Moore said. “I know when people say, well, that’s ambitious to say you’re going to build a bridge that’s safer and bigger and build it faster than what was done before, the answer is it is ambitious.”

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By Cyera Williams

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    CROWNSVILLE, Maryland (WMAR) — Marine veteran Kenneth Hayden was considered unaccompanied when he arrived at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery for his final burial.

The Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families had been unable to locate relatives who could attend the service. But when Hayden was laid to rest, he was surrounded by active-duty Marines, fellow veterans and community members who came to make sure his final goodbye was not a lonely one.

Vietnam veteran Bill Gray estimated that more than 100 people attended the military honors ceremony.

Gray did not know Hayden personally. He came after receiving an email from the state announcing that two unaccompanied veterans would be buried that day—Hayden at Crownsville and an Army veteran at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery.

Gray attended with two friends who also served in Vietnam.

“It’s a brotherhood,” Gray said. “Being in the military is a brotherhood, a sisterhood. We have each other’s back, and in this case, we’re here to honor the service that this man gave his country.”

Roughly 30 to 40 active-duty Marines were among those who attended, along with representatives from veterans organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans.

Although the people surrounding Hayden’s gravesite were largely strangers, Gray said their shared experience of military service connected them.

“I did not know this man, did not know his family,” Gray said. “But we as veterans are part of his family, and that’s why we came to honor him.”

Hayden was buried with his wife, Peggy, according to Russell Ware, director of cemetery and memorial programs for the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families.

Ware said little was known about Hayden’s personal life, but the state confirmed that he had served honorably in the Marine Corps and was eligible to be buried among his fellow service members.

“He served with honor, and he is given the right to be buried with his brothers and sisters in arms here,” Ware said.

Ware said the state typically reserves the final Friday of each quarter for unaccompanied veteran burials, depending on whether veterans’ remains have been received.

Public notices are shared through the department’s newsletter and social media pages, often 30 to 45 days before a scheduled ceremony.

“Time is the most precious gift that somebody can give that can never be replaced,” Ware said. “The people that showed up today gave that precious gift to somebody they didn’t know, just because they served.”

The department works with medical examiners, funeral homes and veterans service organizations to identify unclaimed remains and determine whether the deceased served in the military.

Ware said some remains can sit unclaimed for decades when funeral homes or other organizations do not know whom to contact. One of the first veterans buried through the state’s effort was a World War I veteran who died in 1984.

Since January 2022, the department has provided proper burials for 49 unaccompanied veterans, Ware said.

“It’s not just a fight. It’s a duty, it’s an honor, it’s a charge for us to do,” he said.

Hayden may have arrived at the cemetery without relatives standing beside him, but Gray rejected the idea that the Marine was alone.

“No, he was not,” Gray said.

For the veterans and strangers who came to honor him, Hayden was more than an unfamiliar name. He was a fellow service member, a Marine and a member of a military family determined to remember its own.

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