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Friends Community Shiawassee Breaking News, 2910 W M-21, Owosso, MI (2026)

09/17/2026

Two Iowa Republicans Break With Trump, Vote to Rein In Iran War Powers

By: Tom Manke
September 17, 2026

WASHINGTON — Two Republican members of Congress from closely contested Iowa districts have reversed their positions and voted to restrict President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military operations against Iran without congressional authorization.

U.S. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks joined every House Democrat and five other Republicans in supporting the war powers resolution Tuesday. The measure passed 220-204 and directs the president to withdraw American forces from unauthorized hostilities involving Iran. Both Iowa lawmakers had opposed earlier versions of the resolution. The Associated Press⁠

“With the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization,” said Nunn, an Air Force veteran. “I will not support another open-ended war.” Nunn’s reversal came one month after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared with him at an Iowa State Fair campaign fundraiser.

Miller-Meeks, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said Trump must give Congress and the American people a clear plan for ending the conflict. “Americans do not want another forever war,” she said. “I will not vote to keep our soldiers in an open-ended war, with Iowans paying too much at the pump.”

The Iowa Republicans joined GOP Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Barrett, an Army veteran, said more Republican lawmakers are privately voicing concerns about the expanding conflict and the absence of congressional approval.

The vote marked the third time the House has approved a resolution seeking to end unauthorized U.S. military action against Iran. None of the measures has reached Trump’s desk, and the president would almost certainly veto one if it did. The White House said it has kept lawmakers informed through more than 30 congressional briefings since February and maintains that its objective is preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The Wall Street Journal⁠

The political pressure has increased as the war continues to affect military families and household expenses. Eighteen American service members have died, including two Iowans, while gasoline and diesel prices have climbed sharply. A July AP-NORC survey found only about three in 10 American adults approved of Trump’s handling of Iran, adding the conflict to the major issues facing both parties before November’s congressional elections. The Associated Press

09/17/2026

Five Dead After News Helicopter Crashes While Covering Fatal Los Angeles Bus Collision

LOS ANGELES — Friends Community News Group, Sept. 17, 2026, 9 p.m. ET — A television news helicopter crashed and burst into flames while covering a deadly bus collision in Los Angeles, bringing the combined death toll from the two related tragedies to five.

The helicopter went down Tuesday evening in the Chatsworth neighborhood while gathering aerial footage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52. Aerial journalist Eliana Moreno and veteran pilot George Marciniw were killed, along with Edy Gutierrez Mejia, who was on the ground when the aircraft crashed. Two additional people were hospitalized.

The helicopter had been covering an earlier collision involving an SUV and a Los Angeles Metro bus. Police allege 36-year-old Bailee Lynn Rios drove the wrong way, ran a red light and struck several vehicles before crashing into the bus. Bus passengers Daniel Castillo and Gage Weida were killed, while six other people were injured.

Authorities have arrested Rios on suspicion of murder. Prosecutors will determine the formal charges, and the allegations against her have not been proven in court. Her bail was reportedly set at $4 million.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the helicopter crash. Video from the aircraft’s final flight reportedly captured warning alarms and showed the helicopter shaking and rapidly losing altitude shortly before the recording ended.
Some aviation experts who reviewed the footage said it appeared consistent with a loss of engine power and declining rotor speed. However, investigators have not announced an official cause, and those early assessments remain preliminary.

More than 70 firefighters responded after the helicopter struck a parking area between commercial buildings, setting several vehicles and other property on fire. California Gov. Gavin Newsom offered condolences to the victims’ families and the NBC4 news operation as colleagues mourned the loss of the two longtime members of the Los Angeles television-news community.

By: Tom Manke

09/16/2026

Search Crews Rescue two 65-year-old Flint Women Hikers in the UP

Marquette County, MI - Friends Community News Group, September 16, 2026 — 6:30 p.m. ET — Two 65-year-old women from the Flint area were found safe early Tuesday after rough trail conditions and rain delayed their planned 20-mile hike through northern Marquette County.

The women were dropped off near Mulligan Plains at approximately 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14, and planned to hike along the North Country Trail to the McCormick Wilderness tract. They were expected to meet their driver at 7 p.m. along County Road 607 in Michigamme Township.

When the hikers had not arrived by 9 p.m., their driver contacted authorities. The Marquette County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team entered the area and began looking for the women.

Search crews located both hikers shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday—about six hours after they were reported overdue. Authorities said the women were in good health and transported them to their waiting ride.

The hikers told rescuers that the trail was rougher than they expected and that rain further slowed their progress. Their names were not released. As of 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities had announced no injuries or additional developments in the case.

By: Tom Manke
Google Maps

09/16/2026

Judge Stewart Gives Convicted Child Predator Consecutive Sentences

CORUNNA, Mich. — Eric M. Balma, who was convicted by a Shiawassee County jury in July on four felony counts involving child sexually abusive material, has been sentenced to decades behind bars.

Shiawassee County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Stewart imposed the maximum sentences allowed and ordered Balma to serve portions of them consecutively rather than allowing all four sentences to run at the same time.

Balma will serve a minimum of 12½ years in prison and could remain incarcerated for as long as 43 years for possessing and distributing sexually abusive images and videos depicting children between the ages of 4 and 12.

Prosecutors said Balma used the online name “Secret4YouAndMe.” During the trial, jurors were required to view videos and photographs found in Balma’s possession. One court employee described the videos as “incredibly sick”

Balma’s attorney argued that the videos were created using artificial intelligence and did not depict real children. However, the defense presented no evidence supporting that claim.

The jury rejected the defense’s argument and convicted Balma on all four felony counts.

By: Tom Manke

09/16/2026

Macklemore has not accepted Dearborn concert offer as tour fallout grows

DEARBORN, Mich. — Rapper Macklemore has not publicly accepted Mayor Abdullah Hammoud’s offer of a free, city-sponsored Dearborn concert, and city officials have not announced a date, venue, cost, or funding plan.

Hammoud invited the artist Monday after Macklemore was removed from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour following his pro-Palestinian remarks at MetLife Stadium. “We’ll make it a free concert, sponsored by the City,” the mayor wrote, adding, “We stand with you and for a free Palestine.”

The broader controversy has intensified: Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Irish band Beoga have now withdrawn from Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore. Sheeran said the promoter and venues—not Sheeran personally—decided to remove the rapper.

The Anti-Defamation League and Israeli American Council criticized Macklemore’s stage messaging. Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft said support for Palestinians should not come at the expense of Jewish communities and offered to discuss the dispute with the artist. Macklemore maintains that criticism of Israeli policy is being improperly treated as antisemitism.

What changed: The invitation has drawn national attention while the tour dispute has expanded to include the departure of every other announced supporting act. But the Dearborn portion remains only an offer; no concert agreement, expenditure, contract or City Council action has been made public.

As of 2:32 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.

By: Tom Manke

09/16/2026

BREAKING - Man Found Dead, Wedged in Vent Above Atlanta Soul Food Restaurant Kitchen

ATLANTA — Friends Community News Group, Sept. 16, 2026, 1 p.m. ET — Authorities have identified the man found dead inside the ventilation system of an Atlanta soul food restaurant as 37-year-old Terrika Myers.

Atlanta police were called to Walter’s Soul Food Cafe at 394 Cleveland Ave. SW shortly before 9 a.m. Monday, after an employee discovered Myers wedged inside an HVAC vent above the kitchen. Atlanta Fire Rescue pronounced him dead at the scene.

Restaurant employees told WSB-TV⁠ that Myers’ head, arms, and torso were extending through the kitchen opening while his legs remained outside the HVAC unit on the roof. A female employee reportedly discovered him while preparing to begin the workday.

Police said there were no apparent signs of foul play. Investigators have not

By: Tom Manke

09/16/2026

Breaking - Miami Elementary Teacher Accused of Showing Girls N**e Photo, Attempting to Kiss Student

MIAMI — A former Miami-Dade County elementary school teacher is being held without bond after police accused him of showing pornography—including a naked photograph of himself—to young girls and touching several students inappropriately.
Cesar Oriol Cardoso, 53, was arrested Sept. 11 on charges that include offenses against students by an authority figure, displaying obscene material to a minor and lewd or lascivious conduct involving a child younger than 16. He taught third and fourth grades at Sunset Park Elementary School.

An arrest report says Cardoso sometimes called girls to his classroom during lunch or physical-education periods, purportedly so they could complete schoolwork. One student told investigators he showed her a photograph of himself naked in front of a mirror, along with sexually explicit videos. Authorities allege some of the material was shown more than once during the 2024-25 school year.

Five students were interviewed during the investigation. Their allegations included Cardoso touching or slapping girls on the buttocks or thighs, stroking their hair and telling them they were beautiful. One girl said she told him to stop touching her hair, but he allegedly continued similar behavior with other students.

Another student told detectives that Cardoso said he wanted to kiss her and leaned toward her, but she turned her head. Police allege some of the conduct continued into the 2025-26 school year.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools said administrators learned of the allegations in April and removed Cardoso from the school the next business day. Miami-Dade Schools Police then opened a formal investigation. Cardoso separated from the district in May and is permanently barred from working for it again.

Cardoso remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond when the reports were published. Court records did not immediately identify an attorney authorized to comment for him.

By: Tom Manke

09/16/2026

U.S. Reveals It Has Weapons in Orbit as Russia, China Expand Space Threats

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The United States has acknowledged for the first time that it possesses weapons deployed in orbit, revealing a previously classified capability as Russia and China expand their ability to threaten American satellites.

“We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said Monday at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Maryland. Meink offered no information about the weapons’ number, design or destructive capabilities, according to the Department of the Air Force⁠.

A Space Force representative told The Associated Press that “space control” can include kinetic and non-kinetic systems used defensively or offensively. Non-kinetic weapons could interfere with an enemy satellite through electronic jamming, cyber operations, or directed energy without physically destroying it. The Pentagon has previously disclosed ground-based systems capable of disrupting satellite communications, but Meink’s statement marked its first public confirmation of weapons already operating in space.

The announcement follows the White House’s 2024 disclosure that Russia was developing a space-based anti-satellite capability reportedly involving a nuclear weapon. Officials said then that Russia had not deployed the system and that it posed no immediate danger to people on Earth.

The Space Force’s July 2026 threat assessment⁠ says Russia continues developing a satellite intended to carry a nuclear weapon, while China and Russia are pursuing multiple ways to disrupt or destroy U.S. space systems.

A nuclear weapon in orbit would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit. The treaty does not impose the same blanket ban on conventional weapons.

Russia criticized Meink’s disclosure Tuesday, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warning that conflict in space could damage satellite systems supporting communications, navigation and other services on Earth.

The Pentagon has not identified the satellites involved or explained how the weapons would respond to an attack. That secrecy leaves unresolved whether the systems can physically disable another spacecraft or instead rely on reversible measures such as jamming—but Meink’s statement confirms that the United States has moved beyond developing orbital weapons and now considers at least some of them fielded and ready to protect American forces.

By: Tom Manke

09/15/2026

Mother, Daughter Sentenced in Puerto Rico Teen’s Stabbing Death

AIBONITO, Puerto Rico — Sept. 15, 2026 — Anthonieska Avilés Cabrera was sentenced Tuesday to more than 38 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2025 stabbing death of 16-year-old Gabriela Nicole Pratts Rosario.

Avilés Cabrera, now 18, accepted a plea agreement as her jury trial was scheduled to begin in Aibonito Superior Court. Prosecutors reduced the original first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder. She also pleaded guilty to illegally carrying and using a bladed weapon.

Judge Juan A. Reyes Colón imposed 37½ years for murder and an additional six months and one day for the weapons offense, to be served consecutively—a total of 38 years, six months and one day.

Avilés Cabrera had faced a possible 99-year sentence if convicted of first-degree murder.

Pratts Rosario was killed shortly after midnight Aug. 11, 2025, along the Roberto Colón bypass in Aibonito. The violence followed a municipal end-of-summer celebration and erupted amid several fights involving teenagers and adults. Although early reports said Pratts suffered eight stab wounds, later sworn forensic testimony established that she sustained 11 sharp-force wounds, including one that pierced her heart and proved fatal. She would have turned 17 the following day.

Avilés Cabrera was 17 at the time but was prosecuted as an adult. In court Tuesday, she acknowledged committing the offenses without requiring prosecutors to present their evidence. She continued to insist that her mother, Elvia Cabrera Rivera, was innocent, while making no similar claim about herself.

A jury convicted Cabrera Rivera in July after prosecutors presented evidence that she produced a sharp object from her purse and handed it to her daughter during the attack.
Cabrera Rivera was sentenced Sept. 10 to 102 years in prison for her role in Pratts Rosario’s death.

The guilty plea brings the principal criminal prosecution to an end more than a year after a late-night fight took the life of a teenager and shocked communities across Puerto Rico. Pratts Rosario’s mother and older sister attended Tuesday’s proceeding, where the judge said he hoped the resolution would bring some measure of peace after what he described as a tragedy for the entire island.

By: Tom Manke

09/15/2026

Bay City Civic Leader Begins Prison Term — Money Went Into Wenonah Park, Not His Pocket

BAY CITY, Mich. — Former Bay City civic leader Michael Bacigalupo has begun serving a two-year federal prison sentence for illegally directing more than $750,000 from two nonprofit organizations into improvements at Wenonah Park.

While the methods he used were fraudulent and unauthorized, court records show Bacigalupo did not pocket the money or receive any personal financial benefit.

Bacigalupo, 64, of Essexville, reported Sept. 11 to a minimum-security federal prison camp in West Virginia.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson sentenced him in April to 24 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

Between 2020 and 2023, Bacigalupo simultaneously held leadership positions with the Bay City Downtown Development Authority, Bay City State Theatre and Bay County Historical Society. He used those positions to move money into the renovation of the Wenonah Park Bandshell without receiving approval from the governing boards.

Federal prosecutors said Bacigalupo obtained an $800,000 loan by using the State Theatre as collateral and falsely claiming its board had authorized the transaction. He also diverted $231,541 from the Historical Society through altered accounting records and fabricated contractor invoices.

The State Theatre was left with substantial debt and eventually entered bankruptcy, while the Historical Society was forced to postpone museum improvements and lay off employees.

However, the money was put into the community’s bandshell project—not into Bacigalupo’s bank account. His attorneys emphasized that he received no personal benefit, did not place his name on the renovated venue and helped substantially improve a public gathering place used for concerts and community events. The completed improvements remain in Wenonah Park for Bay City residents and visitors to enjoy.

The judge said Bacigalupo’s lack of a previous criminal record and 39 letters submitted in his support were among the factors considered at sentencing. Prosecutors had recommended 54 months in prison, but Lawson imposed a shorter term that he described as reflecting “well-reasoned leniency.”
Bacigalupo was also ordered to pay $196,641.17 in restitution to the Bay County Historical Society and $151,000 to the State Theatre or its successor.

His case leaves Bay City with a complicated hometown legacy: serious financial misconduct that harmed two respected organizations, but money that was used to help restore a public park venue rather than enrich the man now serving time for obtaining it illegally.

By: Tom Manke

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