Category: CNN Regional

By Carli Petrus

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    PLYMOUTH, Mich. (WXYZ) — A simple social media post from a daughter living thousands of miles away has transformed her father’s struggling food truck business in Plymouth, turning one customer a day into overwhelming crowds that forced the business to close early due to high demand.

Smiley’s Spuds and Corn, located just off Five Mile Road in Plymouth, serves everything from loaded potatoes to Philly cheesesteaks. The food truck is run by Smiley Rammaha and his wife Iman, who first opened in West Bloomfield earlier this year before relocating to Plymouth.

“He was out for three months because permits in West Bloomfield didn’t allow him to continue his business there,” said Sahar Rammaha, Smiley’s daughter who lives in California as an emergency room doctor.

The couple recently reopened in Plymouth, but business was slow. Cold weather and Smiley Rammaha’s ongoing health struggles made things even harder for the family business.

“Two days into it, his first day, he had like five customers. His second day, he had only one customer,” Sahar Rammaha said.

Wanting to help from thousands of miles away, Sahar Rammaha turned to social media and posted a video on TikTok about her father’s situation.

“I decided to just jump on TikTok and just hopefully someone in Michigan would see it and lo and behold, thousands of people actually viewed the video, which was to my surprise. And overnight, he went from like one customer to 100,” Sahar Rammaha said.

When we visited on Tuesday, orders were pouring in so fast at Smiley Rammaha’s food truck that they had to close early. Every customer we spoke with had come after seeing Sahar Rammaha’s video.

“Her video sounded very genuine,” said Tim Turner, who wanted to help out a small business in his community.

Turner ordered multiple items to share with others in need.

“I ordered a couple potatoes, one for me and one more my neighbor. He’s not doing too good,” Turner said.

Some customers took Sahar Rammaha’s message more personally than others. Vanessa Orozco waited over an hour and a half for her order Tuesday night and said she would have waited longer if necessary.

“Oh, I felt that,” Orozco said. “My father is an immigrant himself and he has a restaurant and I know how she must be feeling right now, so it’s really nice to see in a place where things can quickly get nasty online, people actually coming together.”

Sahar Rammaha said she feels overwhelmed and shocked by the response her parents’ food truck is receiving.

“I feel really proud of my hometown and my entire state of Michigan for really coming out. Some of them have driven a couple of hours to show support for my dad and his story of being someone who does dialysis three days a week and still shows up to provide a source of income,” Sahar Rammaha said.

Smiley Rammaha said he’s just thankful for the community support.

“Unbelievably happy person, me and Iman,” Smiley Rammaha said.

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

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    PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Some packages that missed their final destination have landed at the Christmas Village in Philadelphia, specifically booth 119 at the City Hall courtyard.

The unclaimed mail remains wrapped, each one a mystery for shoppers who pay between $10 and $40 before the big reveal.

Action News’ Maggie Kent and Alicia Vitarelli even gave it a try.

“So our motto is, ‘You get what you get, you don’t get upset.’ So really, you can open literally anything, but people are always excited to watch other people open them,” said Emma Zielinski, the owner of Chain Mail Unclaimed.

Zielinski said she uses a broker who sources parcels from suppliers and warehouses before they’re discarded.

“I saw it on TikTok. Someone did it at a farmer’s market in Paris, and she’s like, ‘It’s the coolest thing I did in Paris.’ And I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was like, I would never be able to say no to that as a customer because it’s so low risk, high reward. So I was like, ‘We should start this,'” Zeilinski said.

The booth has been selling out consistently, she added.

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 William Albert

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    RICHLAND (KAPP) — Benton County emergency officials are evaluating flood damage and preparing for the possibility of more high water later this week after historic flooding hit the region.

Last week, parts of Richland, West Richland and Benton City were hit by flooding after the Yakima River reached historic 30-year high water levels, pushing the area into major flood stage on Saturday. In response, the American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at Central Church in Richland, while Benton County Emergency Management coordinated with local first responders throughout the flooding.

“The densely populated and heavily impacted area was the Beach RV Park in Benton City, very close to the Yakima River, and they were dramatically impacted,” said Deanna Davis, Benton County Emergency Management manager. “They were under an evacuation request for that area.”

Since the flooding has calmed, Benton County Emergency Management is now in the documentation phase, collecting information from residents and businesses about damage caused by the flooding.

“We document the damage that is there, and we submit that to our state agencies in hopes of painting the picture of what our community just went through — what the impacts were to businesses and homes in that area,” Davis said.

She says there is a very short window to collect that data.

“We have a really short turnaround time for a high-end preliminary evaluation, so we’ll be looking at overhead footage from areas where we see water and submitting very preliminary numbers to the state,” Davis said.

Early estimates already show significant impacts.

“We’ve estimated around 50 homes, plus the Beach RV area, which has about 110 spots,” Davis said. “There are some significant numbers there — whether those residents took on substantial water, we won’t know until that damage evaluation process moves further.”

Benton County Emergency Management officials say they’re still working to determine the full scope of damage from last week’s flooding. But they also say the threat isn’t over, with the potential for more flooding in the coming days.

“With the potential weather systems that are coming through, we’re looking at possibly reaching flood stage again by Thursday,” Davis said.

Benton County Emergency Management says crews are staying prepared for additional flooding while also working to determine whether the area may qualify for FEMA assistance.

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 Melissa Luck

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    SPOKANE, Wash. (KXLY) — Winds exceeded 80 miles per hour in parts of the Inland Northwest Wednesday, knocking down trees and taking out power for tens of thousands of people.

The National Weather Service reported gusts of 84 miles per hour at the Pullman/Moscow Airport, 84 mph at the Lewiston Airport, 75 mph at Spokane International and 66 mph in Coeur d’Alene.

In comparison, the devastating Spokane wind storm of 2015 saw a peak gust of 71 mph.

As of Wednesday morning at 7 am, Avista reported more than 60,000 people without power.

At 22nd and Bernard on Spokane’s south hill, several large trees are down, including one blocking Bernard completely.

Crews all over the region are busy clearing trees and power lines. Most school districts are either canceling or delaying schools for the day.

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 Alan Gionet

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    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (KCNC) — Jon and Carrie Hallford, the couple who operated the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs which left nearly 190 bodies in a building in Penrose, have agreed again to a plea deal to state charges.

That’s after a judge made the rare move earlier this year, to reject previous plea agreements to state charges made by the 4th Judicial District Attorney in Colorado Springs.

The pair was in a courtroom in Colorado Springs Tuesday. They had already pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, money laundering and forgery earlier this year.

But Judge Eric Bentley rejected those plea deals. In Jon Hallford’s case he was to do 20 years.

“The sentence negotiated by the parties does not adequately account for the harms that these crimes have caused,” said Bentley.

Bentley later rejected to Carie’s Hallford’s plea and sentence of 15-20 years for similar reasons, saying it was too lenient.

Both have also been convicted of federal charges of wire fraud. Jon Hallford is serving a sentence of 20 years for that. Carie Hallford is yet to be sentenced.

The new state plea deal is for 30-50 years for Jon Hallford and 25-35 years for Carie Hallford.

But some families have called for close to 200 years, one year each for each of the bodies.

Word of the new plea deal surprised some. And some families are already expressing disappointment.

“Disheartened, discouraged and upset,” related Tanya Wilson Tuesday night. “The only thing this changes are the numbers.”

She worried the sentence would be concurrent with the federal sentence and by the time the Hallfords emerged from federal prison, there would be no state time left, given the state’s sentence reductions. Wilson hoped for a trial, noting the strong evidence against the couple. She said she planned to address the judge in the case again when sentencing was scheduled for Monday, to object to the new plea arrangement.

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 DeJanay Booth-Singleton

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    MACOMB COUNTY, Michigan (WWJ) — Two Michigan men have been charged after one of the men allegedly used the other to impersonate him in a court-ordered DNA paternity test.

According to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, Mark McCraken, 34, of Clinton Township, and Derek Harrison, 36, of Roseville, were arraigned for tampering with evidence. Prosecutors say both men, who are lodged at the Macomb County Jail, have habitual offender fourth offense notices that could result in up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors allege that on Sept. 12, 2025, McCracken used Harrison to sign in as him at the Macomb County Administration Building to submit his DNA for a paternity test.

“The allegations in this matter are truly outrageous. As many know, Macomb County takes matters of child support extremely seriously, and this case will receive the full attention it warrants,” said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido in a statement.

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.