Home

26 kids were buried alive in California. A new CNN Film shows how one plotted their escape – and what happened years later

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

(CNN) — In 1976, gunmen stormed a school bus carrying 26 children – ages 5 to 14 – and their bus driver in Chowchilla, California. As part of a ransom plot, they drove the hostages into a rock quarry and forced them into what could have become a mass grave: a moving van soon to be covered with 6 feet of dirt.Almost 50 years on, those students have become unwitting pioneers in what child trauma can look like decades later. Now, the new CNN Film, “Chowchilla,” delves into how the largest mass kidnapping in US history became a catalyst for change.There’s the 14-year-old hero who devised a cunning escape to free the hostages – but didn’t get due credit and spiraled down a dark chasm of substance abuse.There’s the 10-year-old girl who comforted other terrified kids, then spent decades confronting the kidnappers at parole hearings until the agony became too much to bear.And there’s the 6-year-old boy who fought relentless nightmares and all-encompassing anger before finding unexpecte...

No. 8 Hurricanes open ACC play with balanced 62-49 win over Notre Dame

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The offense wasn’t great. The defense was, and No. 8 Miami started Atlantic Coast Conference play with a grind-it-out win.Matthew Cleveland scored 14 points, Norchad Omier and Nijel Pack each added 13 and the Hurricanes beat Notre Dame 62-49 on Saturday in the ACC opener for both teams.It was the first time Miami (6-1, 1-0) held a team under 50 points since a 46-44 loss to Virginia on March 4, 2020. And it was only the sixth time in its last 355 games that Notre Dame (3-4, 0-1) was held under 50 points, going back to Feb. 9, 2013.“There’s been so much preseason hype because of the last two seasons,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said. “There’s been high expectation, which is great, but that’s on paper. It doesn’t win any games. You’ve got to play the game and you’ve got to play the opponent. I knew this game would be a much slower pace, much lower scoring.”The Hurricanes — the only men’s team in the country to make the ...

Youth football teams from Dixmoor and Robbins raise funds for Florida trips and eye national championships

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

When the Robbins Eagles youth football organization was founded in 1983, it was seen as a way to “give kids something to do and to give them the chance we didn’t have,” according to Bernard Ward, who helped start the program.Now, on the 40th anniversary of the team’s founding, the Eagles will play on the national stage as the team advances to the American Youth Football League championship in Naples, Florida.“They are going to represent the whole Midwest,” Ward said at a pep rally Tuesday. “It’s the best investment we ever made.”They will be in Florida at the same time as the Dixmoor Vikings are fielding two teams vying for the title in the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando.Vikings coach Dwayne Tyson will bring a team that came in second at last year’s competition, falling shy of the title primarily because he and some other coaches and players came down with the flu at the last minute.“We had big expectations from the...

Teen girls are being victimized by deepfake nudes across the country

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

A mother and her 14-year-old daughter are advocating for better protections for victims after AI-generated nude images of the teen and other female classmates were circulated at a high school in New Jersey.Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, officials are investigating an incident involving a teenage boy who allegedly used artificial intelligence to create and distribute similar images of other students — also teen girls — that attend a high school in suburban Seattle, Washington.The disturbing cases have put a spotlight yet again on explicit AI-generated material that overwhelmingly harms women and children and is booming online at an unprecedented rate. According to an analysis by independent researcher Genevieve Oh that was shared with the Associated Press, more than 143,000 new deepfake videos were posted online this year, which surpasses every other year combined.Desperate for solutions, affected families are pushing lawmakers to implement robust safeguards for victims...

Patriots rookie Malik Cunningham primed for game-day role after elevation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

Patriots fans itching to see how undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham can boost the team’s struggling offense will get their wish Sunday.The Patriots elevated Cunningham from the practice squad to the gameday roster on Saturday afternoon. Cunningham, who’s played quarterback, wide receiver and special teams with the Patriots, will revert back to the practice squad on Monday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | NFL Notes: How will we remember the Mac Jones era in New England? New England Patriots | Four Patriots who should take on bigger roles vs. Chargers in Week 13 New England Patriots | Patriots new starting QB must depend on cast of disappointing receivers New England Patriots | Patriots-Chargers injury report: Keenan Allen questionable, two Pats WRs out New England Patriots | Patriots missing two WRs at final practice before Chargers game This will be Cunningham’s second game on the ...

Here's where to find California's oldest general store

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

KNIGHTS FERRY, Calif. (KSWB) -- From local produce to old fashioned candy and fresh flowers, California's oldest general store has been supplying passerbyers and locals with goods for nearly two centuries. Found in small towns and rural communities, general stores typically sell groceries, soft drinks, and other everyday products. All the while, these types of storefronts tend to create friendly and neighborly atmospheres for those who enter. How are freeway exits numbered in California and why? California's very first operating general store opened almost ten years ahead of the Civil War in 1852, according to NoeHill. This avocational website explores historic sites and other points of interest in California and the American West.It's called Knights Ferry General Store.Located in the Northern California town known as Knights Ferry, this unincorporated historic community is found in Stanislaus County. It's nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.With 41 people surv...

North York resident struck by 2 vehicles in Niagara Falls

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

A 31-year-old male from North York is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after being struck by two different vehicles in Niagara Falls on Saturday morning.At approximately 2:30am, Niagara police officers attended the area of Lundy’s Lane and Garner Road, in the city of Niagara Falls, to assist an ambulance call.An investigation revealed that a 2023 Black Kia being driven by a 26-year-old male was travelling westbound on Lundy’s Lane when the male from North York was crossing the street on foot.  The pedestrian was struck by the Kia, then proceeded to be struck by a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, being driven by a 21-year-old male, who was also travelling westbound on Lundy’s Lane.Niagara paramedics were on scene prior to police arrival and transported the male to a local hospital, who was then transported to an out of region hospital by ORNGE with life-threatening-injuries. The circumstances surrounding the cause of the collision remain under investigation.

Chad Allan, founding member of Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, dies

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — Celebrated musician Chad Allan, a founding member of legendary Canadian rock bands the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, has died. He was 80.Jamie Anstey, vice president of Regenerator Records which reissued a number of his early albums and recordings, says Allan died Tuesday but his family asked friends to delay announcing the news to give them time to grieve privately.Allan had suffered a number of strokes since 2017 and had spent time in hospitals and a care home near his home in Burnaby, B.C.Born Allan Kowbel on March 29, 1943, he adopted the stage name Chad Allan over frustrations with friends calling him “cow bell” and formed his first band while attending high school in Winnipeg.The band took on several name changes, including Chad Allan and the Reflections and Chad Allan and the Expressions, before adopting the Guess Who. Burton Cummings joined the group in 1965 and Allan left the band shortly thereafter over concerns that his exuberant live...

Third-party candidate leaves Mexico’s 2024 presidential race. Next leader now likely to be a woman

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A third-party candidate announced Saturday he is leaving Mexico’s 2024 presidential race, practically ensuring the country ’s next president will be a woman. Samuel García, the governor of the northern border state of Nuevo Leon, said Saturday he won’t run for president in the June 2 elections. He had been polling below 10% in the race, and was given almost no chance of actually winning.That leaves only the ruling Morena party and the opposition coalition’s candidates, both of whom are women. While García’s small Citizen’s Movement party could yet nominate another male candidate, García’s troubled exit suggests the party won’t be able to find anyone of much stature to run.Gov. García’s decision came after one of the wilder chapters in Mexican politics. On Friday, the border state across from Texas briefly saw two interim governors designated to replace García, who had asked for a six-month leave of absence to campaign for president. M...

Bonnie Crombie elected new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 07:00:04 GMT

Bonnie Crombie is the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party but it wasn’t the cakewalk many anticipated.The Mississauga mayor needed three ballots to defeat Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith in the race to replace Steven Del Duca, who resigned after last year’s provincial election.Despite being the clear leader after the first ballot Crombie fell 912 points shy of winning outright, sending the race to a second ballot.On the second ballot, Crombie picked up 488 points to put her within a stone’s throw of winning it all while Erskine-Smith gained 472 points and Liberal MP and former provincial cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi finished third after collecting just 341 points, dropping him off the ballot for the final round.In the end, Crombie finished with 6,911 points while Erskine-Smith ended with 6,029.Erskine-Smith and Naqvi had previously reached an agreement to endorse each other as second choices, though their supporters were not obligated to rank them that way.Former Liber...