Category: CNN Regional

By Brandon Downs, Steve Large

Click here for updates on this story

    FAIRFIELD, California (KOVR) — The Fairfield Police Department released body camera footage of officers breaking up a fight and arresting two students at Fairfield High School on Wednesday as a video of the incident circulated on social media.

Officers said they responded to the high school shortly after 12:30 p.m. due to a fight on campus that involved multiple students.

One student fought a school official who was attempting to break up the fight, police said. The officer requested emergency help and saw one student attempting to pull something out of a backpack during the fight.

The officer believed the student was grabbing a weapon and confiscated two backpacks. Police said they later found sharp objects in the backpacks, including a screwdriver.

The student was then escorted to a school office by the officer, as a large crowd followed them. Once that student was in the office, the officer contacted a second student, who they say was still trying to fight.

Police said the student refused to listen to the officer and ran into the large group, where more fights were taking place.

When the officer tried to detain the student, police said the student hit the officer. The officer was able to grab the student and escort him toward the school office.

But the student pulled away and was “displaying aggressive behaviors,” police said. At this time, additional officers arrived at the scene, and one officer took the student down to the ground.

Police said the student continued to resist arrest and placed his hands over his head and covered his face. An officer tried to place the student’s hands behind his back, but was unsuccessful.

This is when police said the officer hit the student, calling it a “distraction strike to the second student’s hands.” The officer then tried again to place the student’s hands behind his back, but was still unsuccessful.

“The officer applied additional distraction strikes, which resulted in the second student complying and placing his hands behind his back,” police said.

That student was then arrested as a large group of students surrounded officers.

The first student who was placed into the school office then escaped, but was soon after arrested, police said.

The police department addressed a video on social media, saying it’s committed to transparency and released body camera footage. Viewer discretion advised.

Police said the two students, who were not identified, were arrested for causing a disturbance on a school campus and resisting arrest. They were not injured in the incident, police said. No officers were injured either.

“That officer needs to be investigated, the school needs to be investigated and these kids need more safety by the staff or the police that they have on campus,” said Anhloc Harris, a friend of the student’s family who came to the school to protest the actions by police.

Fairfield Suisun Unified School District issued a statement reading that the police department is conducting an investigation, as is the site administration.

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 Kenny Choi

Click here for updates on this story

    SAN FRANCISCO, California (KPIX) — San Francisco’s “canine court” is expected to reopen after a year without hearings for vicious and dangerous dog cases.

The pause has left a growing backlog of cases and frustrated dog bite victims who say they have had no legal route to proceed.

San Francisco resident Ati Soleimani says her dog Charlie isn’t the same these days after he was mauled by a pit bull in Golden Gate Park three years ago.

“He’s been fearful. He gets scared pretty much by everything and anything,” Soleimani said.

“She sees a pit bull, and plants himself, starts whining, and does not want to go forward. He just changed completely.”

Soleimani said the attack was so vicious that Charlie had to undergo emergency surgery.

Vicious dog attacks, including the 2001 case of Diane Whipple, a woman who was mauled and killed by two dogs in her apartment building, eventually led to the formation of San Francisco’s canine court.

SFPD’s Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit, which investigates cases with only a few officers, says reported dog attacks have been rising over the last several years.

“The vicious and dangerous dog hearing process is really important for the city and when you do have a problem dog,” said Sally Stephens. “We were very distressed to hear that there had been a year-long process with no hearings happening.”

SFPD says this year, only 66 cases are ready for hearings, out of about 1,000 reported attacks piling up since last summer.

City officials say backlogs are growing because there’s no dog court judge to hear cases since last year, partly because of budget issues and lack of funding.

District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill has been pushing to reopen canine court.

“This about keeping dogs safe and people safe,” Sherrill said. “Accountability is incredibly important in San Francisco. Above all, this is about safety. This is about us living in a city together, and this is about government doing the right thing.”

Soleimani says the absence of a dog court and backlogs led to hostile exchanges with the pit bull’s owner.

“I was actually fearful because that guy really threatened me and my dog over the phone,” Soleimani said.

The city’s canine court determines whether a dog should be classified as “vicious” or “dangerous,” and what restrictions should be imposed to protect public safety, including mandatory muzzling, obedience training, or, in extreme cases, euthanasia.

San Francisco Chief of Public Safety Steven Betz says the mayor’s office has found long-term funding to reinstate a hearing officer.

“The police department will manage clerical work for the hearings, and we have a fund where a hearing officer shall be hired who will independently hear these cases,” Betz said.

Dog owners like Soleimani believe the restart of dog court is a much-needed step in the right direction.

“After you know all this, I spoke with a lot of people. just on the street, a lot of people get attacked by dogs and people get attacked by other dogs,” Soleimani said.

City officials say they are in the process of hiring a new hearing officer and that the city’s dog court will be operating again starting in July.

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 Edie Kasten, Joe Donlon

Click here for updates on this story

    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — May is ALS Awareness Month, and a Chicago couple is tackling the devastating disease head-on.

Falling in love and getting married was easy for Cecil Puvathingal and Grace Christian

“I like to say that I knocked it out of the park on August 3rd of 2018. That’s the night that I met this beautiful young lady,” Puvathingal said.

“Within the first five minutes we met, I told him, ‘Listen, I don’t want to date for an infinite amount of time,'” Christian said. “‘If you want the same thing, we can move forward. If not, I can go home right now,’ and he said, ‘You know, the food’s really good here,’ and next thing you know, it’s history.”

Building their family was not as easy as that first date, but after five rounds of IVF, Puvathingal, who works in the tech industry, and Christian, a nurse, finally got the news they’d been waiting for.

“We found out I was pregnant in March of last year,” she said. “We were so happy, and then all of a sudden, he kept saying, ‘Oh, I’m not feeling well. Something’s going on.'”

Puvathingal started feeling numbness and tingling sensations.

“I could see him trying to open the window and struggling,” Christian said.

Puvathingal was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, on July 9, 2025. Christian was four months pregnant, and their joy quickly turned into dread.

“It was like someone just punched the heck out of everything that we had planned,” she said. “As a nurse, it’s a curse. It’s a curse, because I know where this is going to end, and, as mean as it sounds, I hope the Lord has mercy; either he gives a miracle, or he takes him before.”

ALS is a fatal neuro-muscular disease. It affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control the ability to move, walk, and talk.

People with ALS eventually lose voluntary movement, the ability to chew and swallow, and even the ability to breathe on their own. There is no cure.

ALS patients also lose the ability to do simple tasks that we all take for granted. Puvathingal’s caregiver has to help him with those every day.

Puvathingal and Christian’s baby, Lizzy, is just six months old, and Christian feels like she’s being torn in every direction.

“I play chess with my husband’s life. I try to stay ahead of everything,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m not doing a good enough job for either of them, I’m not giving 100 percent.”

But Puvathingal calls his wife “Amazing Grace,” his saving grace. He believes that life is all about how you look at it.

“I don’t think anyone would blame us for being upset, angry, frustrated. They wouldn’t blame us for yelling at the world, but I just don’t choose to look at life that way,” he said. “I’m in a wheelchair, but I can still kiss my wife. I’m batting a thousand, because I have my wife by my side. I have our daughter that she’s holding.”

“I have my family and my friends that jump in every single day to help us,” he added. “I still have a lot going for me. We still have a lot going for us.”

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 Amelia Mugavero

Click here for updates on this story

    ALEDO, Texas (KTVT) — The Aledo community is mourning the loss of 14-year-old Brayden Martin after school officials confirmed the 8th grader was killed in an ATV crash Wednesday night, just hours before he was supposed to graduate middle school.

Aledo Independent School District confirmed Martin’s death to CBS News Texas. An Aledo ISD trustee and Martin’s select baseball team also said the crash involved an ATV.

In a statement to families, the district said extra support staff were on campus Thursday for students and teachers grieving the loss.

“We had extra support at Aledo Middle School this morning for our students and staff,” the district wrote in part. “We have asked our entire community to pray for Brayden’s family, friends and teachers.”

Martin’s death has sent shockwaves through the close-knit North Texas community, where friends, classmates and teammates have shared tributes online.

His select baseball team, the Wildcatters NTX 14U Place, posted a heartfelt message honoring their teammate.

“Brayden was more than a teammate — he was family,” the team wrote. “His love for the game, his smile, and the impact he made on everyone around him will never be forgotten.”

The post continued: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Martin family, his teammates, coaches, and all who knew and loved him during this unimaginable time. Forever a Wildcatter. Forever #10.”

Shane Davis also shared condolences online as memories and prayers poured in across social media.

Another Aledo family says they understand the unimaginable grief the Martins are now facing.

Glen Bates lost his 11-year-old son, Noah, in a UTV crash four years ago while riding on a ranch with friends. Bates told CBS News Texas that the pain of losing a child never goes away.

“You know, when you lose a child, you enter into a club that no parent ever wants to be a part of,” Glen Bates said. “And, it’s a lifelong journey.”

Glen Bates said his son was thrown from the vehicle after the boys lost control. He was killed instantly.

After Noah Bates’ death, the Bates family created the Noah Bates Memorial Foundation, focused on ATV and UTV safety education and training.

Federal safety data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows children under 16 make up a significant number of ATV-related deaths and injuries nationwide. A majority of those deaths are boys.

“These accidents are preventable,” Glen Bates said. “It just takes engagement. It takes conversation.”

Martin’s family has asked for privacy as the community continues to rally around 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 John Lauritsen

Click here for updates on this story

    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — Minnesota anglers could soon be reeling in fewer walleyes. The state’s Department of Natural Resources is proposing to change the statewide walleye bag limit from six fish to four.

In the past, the downtime between the end of ice fishing and the walleye opener was somewhat slow at Bemidji’s Northwoods Bait and Tackle. But in recent years, owner Will Pappenfus has seen a change.

“Guys are getting their families out. They are staying out there. It’s busy,” said Pappenfus.

And as anglers stop by his store, talk of walleyes inevitably comes up. Nowadays, Pappenfus said it’s not so much about the size of the fish, it’s about how many they can take.

“I would say it’s 50-50. I would say guys that are more of the older fishermen, that’s just the way they’ve fished the last few years that’s what they want to do. They want to fill their freezer, they want to keep their limit, that’s what they were told,” said Pappenfus.

But he and some of the younger anglers have a different take.

“Cutting it down a little bit can help some of these lakes that are hurting just a little bit, and rebound back,” he said.

“I think doing four is the right thing to do,” said Kyle Bahr, an angler from Brainerd. “I’m not going out and keeping my six walleyes. By myself, I keep one. I make some potatoes with it. And I’m a happy man.”

The DNR said public discussion for changing the walleye limit has been going on for 10 years. They said a recent survey of thousands of licensed anglers shows 48% are in favor of a change, while 23% oppose it.

The idea behind the four-walleye limit, which some lakes have already adopted, is to be more conservative as Minnesota’s waterways evolve.

“The six-fish limit in Minnesota has been in place since 1956, and there is a lot that has changed since then,” said Marc Bacigalupi, regional fisheries supervisor for the DNR.

WCCO caught up with Bacigalupi on Lake Bemidji, where the limit is still six walleyes with no protected slot, meaning anglers can keep any walleye they catch.

“What we are seeing is zebra mussels, in particular, are messing with the food chain of walleyes. That can affect the early survival of walleyes,” said Bacigalupi.

In addition to invasive species, Bacigalupi said both ecology and technology have come into play. In particular, forward-facing sonar is making fishermen more effective than ever.

“We can see those anglers with increased catch rates. Overall, we haven’t seen a huge increase in catches and people keeping those fish at all times, but the potential is definitely there,” he said.

Gary Barnard worked as a DNR fisheries manager for 43 years. Now retired, he spends a lot of time on Lake Bemidji. Barnard believes there isn’t real evidence yet to suggest walleyes are in danger, which is why he’s against a regulation change and wants the daily limit to stay at six.

“The thing is, it used to take a good biological reason to make a limit change like this. And when you don’t have that, you are just taking opportunity away from anglers for no good reason,” said Barnard. “And that’s the main reason I’m opposed to it.”

The DNR said climate change is also a reason for the proposal, with studies showing future lake conditions aren’t favorable for walleyes compared to other fish species.

The proposal is going through the legal process right now and will be reviewed by a judge this summer.

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.