CNN – National

By Maxime Tamsett, Alta Spells, Carrington Peavy and Dawn Sawyer, CNN (CNN) — A Georgia teacher is facing termination after reading a book about gender identity – which some parents complained was controversial – to her fifth grade class. Cobb County School District (CCSD) informed the teacher, Katherine Rinderle, that it “intends to terminate” her

By Andy Rose and Emma Tucker, CNN (CNN) — An Oklahoma sheriff who allegedly participated in a secretly recorded conversation that included racist remarks about lynching Black people and comments about killing journalists will not face criminal charges and cannot be removed from office, the state’s attorney general announced Friday. In a letter to Oklahoma

By Elizabeth Joseph, CNN (CNN) — A California woman has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after lying to authorities that a couple was attempting to kidnap her children, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. Kathleen Sorensen, 31, was sentenced to jail Thursday on a single count of knowingly making a false

By Sara Smart and Zoe Sottile, CNN (CNN) — E. coli contamination from a sewage discharge has prompted the closure of a six-mile stretch of the Chattahoochee River in Roswell, Georgia, ahead of the July 4th holiday weekend. The river is closed from the Chattahoochee Nature Center to Johnson Ferry Road, according to a tweet

By Nic F. Anderson and Samantha Beech, CNN (CNN) — A Philadelphia towing company has been accused of running an organized criminal enterprise which purchased millions of dollars’ worth of stolen catalytic converters from thieves to sell at a profit, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said TDI Towing purchased $8.2 million dollars’ worth of stolen catalytic

By Nicole Chavez and Isabel Yip, CNN (CNN) — While most Americans support stricter gun measures, people of color are more likely to favor them compared to White Americans, a new report says. The Pew Research Center found Black adults showed the highest support for stricter laws, at 77%, followed by Asian adults at 74%

By Eli Masket and Sara Smart, CNN (CNN) — A commercial truck driver who caused a fiery six-vehicle crash in January in Arizona was “actively using the TikTok application” when he rear-ended two passenger vehicles, killing five, according to officials. The driver, identified as Danny G. Tiner, collided with the vehicles in the early morning

By Sabrina Souza, CNN (CNN) — The Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooter told a forensic psychologist who evaluated him that he had identified multiple targets to carry out the mass shooting of Jews, testimony at the killer’s death penalty trial revealed Thursday. Under cross-examination by federal prosecutor Eric Olshan, defense witness Dr. Richard Rogers said convicted

By AJ Willingham, CNN (CNN) — Today is the traditional getaway day for the long holiday weekend. We’re taking some time off here at 5 Things too. We’ll be back in your inboxes next Wednesday. Until then, happy Fourth of July! Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with

By Andy Rose and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN (CNN) — Homer Hogues, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, died this week in Dallas, just two days after the death of his wife, according to an obituary provided by his family. He was 96. Hogues, who served in the US military as an airplane mechanic and

By Elizabeth Wolfe and Andy Rose, CNN (CNN) — The Texas Department of Public Safety must release records related to last year’s deadly Uvalde elementary school shooting, a district court judge in Austin ruled Thursday. District court judge Daniella Deseta Lyttle ruled in favor of a coalition of media outlets – including CNN – that

By Justin Gamble, Meron Moges-Gerbi and Jeremy Harlan, CNN (CNN) — Navajo Nation police officers are searching for Native Americans who have been victimized by what the state of Arizona calls “fraudulent Medicaid providers.” According to state officials, treatment facilities designed to treat Native Americans for substance abuse and mental health issues allegedly defrauded the

By Brynn Gingras and Linh Tran, CNN (CNN) — If Megan Talkington’s daughter told her mother she wanted to be in law enforcement, the veteran police officer in West Virginia says she knows exactly her response. “I would tell her, ‘No.’ I would not want my daughter to walk through the halls of the West

By Samantha Beech (CNN) — A Virginia sheriff is facing federal fraud and conspiracy charges as the US Justice Department claims he handed out deputy sheriff badges in exchange for money to help fund his reelection campaign, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Howard Jenkins, 51, and three other Virginia men

By Nicole Chavez, Stephanie Elam and Anna-Maja-Rappard, CNN (CNN) — A task force examining reparations for Black residents in California released its final report Thursday with more than 115 recommendations for how the state should compensate those harmed by slavery and “historical atrocities.” Recommendations in the landmark report, comprised of more than 1,000 pages, include

By Devon M. Sayers and Justin Gamble, CNN (CNN) — Christine King Farris, the eldest sister of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., died Thursday, according to a Twitter post by her niece, Rev. Bernice King. “I love you and will miss you, Aunt Christine,” Rev. King wrote. She was 95, the King Center

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here is some background information about affirmative action as well as a few notable court cases. Affirmative action policies focus on improving opportunities for groups of people, like women and minorities, who have been historically excluded in United States’ society. The initial emphasis was on education and employment. President John

By Cheri Mossburg, CNN (CNN) — Kouri Richins, the Utah widow accused of killing her husband with a fentanyl overdose and then writing a children’s book about grief, is being sued by her late husband’s estate, new court filings show. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Eric Richins’ living trust and estate on Tuesday,

By Cheri Mossburg, CNN (CNN) — A woman convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail into a Southern California bank after becoming angry over the wait for a teller was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday, federal officials said. Teranee Millet, 35, threw the firebomb into a bank in Torrance following a dispute with

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Madonna, musician and actress. Personal Birth date: August 16, 1958 Birth place: Bay City, Michigan Birth name: Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone Father: Silvio Ciccone, engineer Mother: Madonna (Fortin) Ciccone Marriages: Guy Ritchie (December 22, 2000-November 21, 2008, divorced); Sean Penn (August 16,

By Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court’s landmark decision to bar colleges and universities from considering race as a specific basis for admission will make it more difficult for schools to achieve a diverse student population, civil rights leaders and education advocates say. The gutting of affirmative action upends a long-standing precedent

By Joe Sutton and Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN (CNN) — Richard Allen, the man charged in the 2017 killings of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, confessed to the crime during a phone call with his wife while in custody, a newly unsealed court document alleges. Allen was arrested in October and faces murder charges in

By Dakin Andone, Denise Royal and Carlos Suarez, CNN Fort Lauderdale, Florida (CNN) — A jury has acquitted on all counts the former school resource officer who stayed outside during the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida – absolving him of wrongdoing in the rare trial of a law

By Faith Karimi, CNN (CNN) — With summer activities in full swing, CNN Travel asked flight attendants for secrets to surviving one of the year’s most chaotic travel seasons – and used their insight to compile a list of essential tips. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On

By Andy Rose, CNN (CNN) — The family of Irvo Otieno – who died in March while being admitted to a Virginia mental health facility – is asking the Department of Justice for a federal investigation into his death, their attorneys announced Wednesday. Seven sheriff’s deputies and one hospital worker are facing second-degree murder charges

By Rob Frehse, CNN (CNN) — Two more police officers in New Haven, Connecticut, are being fired in connection with a 2022 incident that paralyzed Randy Cox as he was being transported in a police van handcuffed and without a seat belt. The New Haven Board of Police Commissioners voted 5-0 to fire Officer Oscar

By Lauren Mascarenhas and Nouran Salahieh, CNN (CNN) — Dangerous air quality and hazy skies persist as smoke from Canada’s raging wildfires drifts south, leaving more than 100 million people under air quality alerts across a dozen states from Minnesota to New York and down to the Carolinas. By 6 p.m. Thursday, Detroit topped the

By Christina Maxouris and Holly Yan, CNN (CNN) — US medical experts will analyze “presumed human remains” found within the Titan submersible’s wreckage as mystery still surrounds the vessel’s catastrophic implosion last week in the North Atlantic. “There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to

By Cheri Mossburg and Taylor Romine, CNN (CNN) — At least 16 people were injured Wednesday when an Amtrak train collided with a truck blocking the tracks and partially derailed in Southern California, local officials said. The driver of the truck was transported to a trauma center and another person was taken to a medical

By Jamiel Lynch, CNN (CNN) — A Delta Air Lines flight from Michigan to Florida was diverted to Atlanta on Wednesday due to an incident with an unruly passenger, the airline said in a statement. Delta did not provide details but said its representatives are “in contact with our flight attendant to provide support and

By Isabel Yip, CNN (CNN) — For Nancy Johnson, Windsor Park was like a dream when she first moved to a new home in the historically Black North Las Vegas neighborhood in 1976. But within a few years, the cracks began to show – and homes started to sink. “The homes, the streets started cracking,

By Sabrina Souza and Eric Levenson, CNN (CNN) — The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter was “blatantly psychotic” and believed he should have been rewarded with medals and a parade for the attack, a forensic psychologist who examined him last year testified at his death penalty trial on Thursday. “He tried not to express this very much,

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here is a look at the July 20, 2012, movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Twelve people were killed and 70 injured. On July 16, 2015, James Holmes was found guilty on all 165 counts against him: 24 first-degree murder, 140 attempted murder and one count of possession or control

By Michelle Watson, CNN (CNN) — Matthew Nilo, a Massachusetts man who was charged in the sexual assaults of four women after his DNA was pulled from a drinking glass, was indicted on new rape charges stemming from “sexual attacks” that happened between 2007 and 2008, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a

By Amy Simonson and Ray Sanchez, CNN (CNN) — A Texas police officer tells two children with their mom in a mall parking lot to be good and to wear their seat belts when a burst of gunfire erupts. The mother is then seen in footage from the officer’s body camera ducking and whisking her

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Grammy-winning singer Linda Ronstadt. Personal Birth date: July 15, 1946 Birth place: Tucson, Arizona Birth name: Linda Marie Ronstadt Father: Gilbert Ronstadt, hardware store owner Mother: Ruth Mary (Copeman) Ronstadt, homemaker Children: adopted: Carlos and Mary Clementine Education: Attended University of Arizona,

By Shawn Nottingham and Aya Elamroussi, CNN (CNN) — The Rankin County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi has fired multiple deputies after two Black men filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging six White deputies entered their private residence illegally and tortured them for nearly two hours. “Due to recent developments, including findings during our internal

By Taylor Romine and Eric Levenson, CNN (CNN) — Two mushroom farms that employed the Half Moon Bay mass shooting suspect were cited for “serious” health and safety violations in an investigation stemming from the January workplace attacks, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health announced in a news release Monday. The two farms

By Byron Manley, Curt Merrill, Renée Rigdon and Henrik Pettersson, CNN (CNN) — Millions of people in the US have been under air quality alerts this year, particularly after smoke from wildfires in Canada wafted across the border. This map, which updates every 30 minutes, shows the air quality in your area. The-CNN-Wire™ & ©

By Tina Burnside, CNN (CNN) — A judge has granted a motion to delay the trial date in the case against Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch national accused in the alleged extortion of the mother of Natalee Holloway, the American teenager who disappeared during a high school graduation trip to Aruba in 2005. Van

By Nouran Salahieh, Joe Sutton and Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN (CNN) — More than third of the US population is under air quality alerts, covering more than a dozen states from the Midwest to the East Coast, as smoke from Canadian wildfires sweeps across parts of the United States, prompting officials to call on the public

By Raja Razek, CNN (CNN) — The parents and nephew of race car driver Jimmie Johnson’s wife, Chandra Janway Johnson, were killed Monday at a home in Muskogee, Oklahoma, according to a news release from the Muskogee Police Department. A police spokesperson told CNN it was a suspected murder-suicide. On Monday, police received a 911

By Alisha Ebrahimji and Sara Smart, CNN (CNN) — Rip currents have claimed the lives of 11 people within two weeks along the Gulf Coast, amid warnings from officials about the hazardous water conditions, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service. The deaths have spanned the Gulf of Mexico between Fort Morgan, Alabama,

By Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN (CNN) — Ralph Yarl, the Missouri teen who was shot in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell, has spoken out for the first time in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I’m just a kid and not larger than life because this happened to me,” Ralph told Robin Roberts

CNN Editorial Research (CNN) — Here is a look at soldier on soldier attacks in the US military. 2009 Fort Hood Shooting November 5, 2009 – Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan kills 13 people and an unborn child and injures 32 more during a shooting rampage at Fort Hood military base (now Fort Cavazos)

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN (CNN) — Consider this a wake-up call: Earth’s axis is shifting and we only have ourselves to blame, according to a new study. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. 1. Trump CNN has obtained an audio recording of a 2021

By Denise Royal, Carlos Suarez and Dakin Andone, CNN (CNN) — Jurors concluded their second day of deliberations Tuesday evening in the trial of the former school resource officer who stayed outside during the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school – the culmination of a rare prosecution of a law enforcement officer

By Jessica Xing, CNN (CNN) — A university janitor who turned off a freezer after hearing multiple “annoying alarms,” ruined more than 20 years of research, according to a lawsuit filed against his employer by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York. The janitor, who is not being sued in the lawsuit, was a contractor

By Amy Simonson and Jamiel Lynch, CNN (CNN) — Two escaped inmates in northwestern Tennessee have been captured after they broke out of jail through a skylight, law enforcement said. One of the inmates, Ronnie Sharp, was taken into custody after “a brief foot chase” in Union City Tennessee, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office said

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN (CNN) — John B. Goodenough, the Nobel Prize-winning engineer whose contributions to developing lithium-ion batteries revolutionized portable technology, has died. He was 100. He died Sunday, according to a release from the University of Texas at Austin, where Goodenough served as a faculty member for 37 years. His cause of death

By Taylor Romine and Holly Yan, CNN (CNN) — The man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students could be executed by firing squad if he’s convicted and sentenced to death – and if the state cannot obtain the drugs necessary for a lethal injection. Latah County prosecutors will seek the death penalty

By Shawn Nottingham and Zoe Sottile, CNN (CNN) — A woman accused of fatally shooting her neighbor through a closed door earlier this month will not face murder charges, Florida officials said. The state will instead charge Susan Lorincz with one count of manslaughter with a firearm and one count of assault, State Attorney Bill

By Rob Frehse and Zenebou Sylla, CNN (CNN) — A man has been arrested and charged in connection with a triple homicide after three relatives were found dead inside a home in Newton, Massachusetts, on Sunday morning, including a couple celebrating their golden wedding anniversary, officials said. Newton resident Christopher Ferguson, 41, pleaded not guilty

By Sabrina Souza and Eric Levenson, CNN (CNN) — The Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooter acted irrationally due to mental health problems and had a history of psychotic symptoms consistent with schizophrenia, his defense attorneys said in the punishment phase of his death penalty trial Monday. “The structure and the function of Mr. (Robert) Bowers’ brain

By Andi Babineau, Holly Yan and Christina Maxouris, CNN Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN) — The suspect accused of using an AR-style rifle to terrorize a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub – killing five people and injuring 19 others – pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted murder. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23,

By Dakin Andone, CNN (CNN) — Federal jurors in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial will soon decide whether to sentence the convicted gunman to death or life in prison – two potential avenues for justice that in the years since the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history have found varying levels of support in an

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN (CNN) — A robot is combing the ocean floor for debris from the Titan submersible as authorities continue to investigate what caused the vessel to implode on its expedition to the Titanic. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. 1. Russia

By Michelle Krupa, CNN (CNN) — Checking the temperature reading during a heat wave won’t tell the whole sweltering story. It’s going to feel a lot hotter. Blame the heat index, also called “apparent temperature.” It’s a combination of air temperature and humidity, and it measures what the body actually feels, CNN meteorologist Haley Brink

By Dakin Andone and Denise Royal, CNN (CNN) — Jurors have ended their first day of deliberations in the trial of a former school resource officer who stayed outside during the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The jury is set to continue deliberating Tuesday morning. Earlier Monday, prosecutors urged the

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — A critical federal analysis of extreme rainfall is vastly underestimating the chances of flood events, with grave implications for everything from new roads and bridges to the rising cost of flood insurance, according to a new analysis. Intense rain events, like atmospheric rivers and torrential, training thunderstorms, are quickly

By Nouran Salahieh, Joe Sutton and Monica Garrett, CNN (CNN) — Severe tornado-spawning storms battered the Southeast and Ohio Valley, leaving at least two people dead and more than 400,000 homes and businesses without power as more storms Monday threaten from North Carolina to Philadelphia. One death was reported after severe storms Sunday slammed Martin

By Nouran Salahieh and Samantha Beech, CNN (CNN) — A robot is combing the sea floor for debris from the fatal implosion of the Titan submersible as authorities in both the US and Canada turn their attention from search and rescue to investigating what led up to the maritime disaster and whether any laws were

By Joe Sutton and Raja Razek, CNN (CNN) — A ground worker who was “ingested” into a plane’s engine at San Antonio International Airport Friday died by suicide, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office. The cause of death is listed as blunt and sharp force injuries. The manner of death is listed as

By Jean Casarez and Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN (CNN) — In a new court filing by an attorney for Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students last fall, attorney Jay Logsdon argues “there is no connection between Mr. Kohberger and the victims.” “There is no explanation for the total

By Raja Razek, CNN (CNN) — A man was killed and another was hospitalized after a 30-foot boat hit the Fisher Island Ferry near Miami early Sunday morning, the US Coast Guard said. The two men were on the boat, which sank after the accident, Coast Guard spokesperson Ryan Estrada said. The vessel has since

By Raja Razek, CNN (CNN) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other state leaders have spoken out against bigotry and hate after antisemitic demonstrations took place outside two synagogues in the state this weekend. Groups were observed yelling antisemitic messages outside a Macon temple Friday night and displaying swastikas and signs with neo-Nazi messages outside

By Michelle Watson and Keith Allen, CNN (CNN) — The cleanup has begun at the site of a train derailment in Montana that caused a bridge across the Yellowstone River to collapse, Montana Rail Link said in a statement Sunday. The company’s railcars left the tracks Saturday morning in Stillwater County, sending multiple cars into

By Melissa Alonso, CNN (CNN) — A dozen people – including seven children – in Houston were taken to the hospital for chemical exposure due to an apparent over-chlorination of a lazy river pool, authorities said. Houston fire officials received the initial call about the incident around 5 p.m. on Saturday, according to CNN affiliate

By Michelle Watson, CNN (CNN) — At least three people were killed – two men and one woman – and five others were injured after a Sunday morning shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, police said. Around 4:30 a.m. local time, police responded to the scene on 57th St. and Prospect Ave., where preliminary information indicated

By Christina Maxouris, Caitlin Kaiser and Michelle Watson, CNN (CNN) — More than 700,000 people across the Southeast and Ohio Valley are in the dark Sunday night as powerful storms ripped through the US, unleashing strong winds, hail and tornado threats. Thunderstorms battered parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and parts of the Ohio Valley Sunday

By Melissa Alonso, CNN (CNN) — Two people died Friday after hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas, the National Park Service said in a news release. A stepfather and his two stepsons from Florida were hiking the Marufo Vega Trail when temperatures were at 119 degrees, according to the

By Sabrina Souza, Jessica Xing and Maria Sole Campinoti, CNN (CNN) — Eleven sets of twins graduated from a New Jersey high school this week, but surprisingly, that’s not a record for the school. “We have a lot of twins here, I don’t know what’s going on here but something’s happening!” Joseph Occhino, principal of

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN (CNN) — Fourth of July celebrations are right around the corner. Time to light the grill and cook up some … lab-grown chicken? Yes, cell-based meat that is grown, or cultivated, in a lab is a thing now — although you can’t go buy it in stores just

By AJ Willingham, design by Ian Berry, CNN (CNN) — Flowers have their own vast language, communicating love, disdain and everything in between. Throughout history, LGBTQ communities have also used the subtle language of flowers to broadcast solidarity or personal identity, all through something as simple as a bloom pinned to a lapel. Many of