CNN – National

By Jamiel Lynch, CNN Dollywood is temporarily closing its drop tower attraction after a boy fell to his death from a similar type of ride by the same manufacturer at a park in Orlando, a spokesman for Dolly Parton’s Tennessee theme park said. “We were deeply saddened to hear of the heartbreaking accident at ICON

By Zoe Sottile, CNN A Georgia high school senior has received acceptance letters from 49 colleges and over $1 million in scholarship offers. Makenzie Thompson, 18, didn’t originally plan to apply to over 50 universities. But after attending college fairs and receiving fee waivers, she ended up applying to 51 schools. So far, she has

By Hannah Sarisohn and Holly Yan, CNN Just one day after a wildfire spurred evacuation orders for 19,000 people in Colorado, the blaze is 35% contained as it nears the 24-hour mark, emergency management officials said Sunday afternoon. Saturday night’s evacuation order will be updated on Sunday evening, according to a spokesperson from Colorado’s Office

By Kaylene Chassie and Keith Allen, CNN Alcohol may have been a contributing factor when a motorist drove into an encampment of unhoused people early Sunday in Salem, Oregon, killing four, police said. A preliminary investigation suggests the driver plowed into the encampment around 2 a.m. (5 a.m. ET) after veering off the road, the

By Dakin Andone, CNN A woman died in Grand Canyon National Park on Thursday after falling into rapids on the Colorado River, according to the National Park Service. The woman — identified as 68-year-old Mary Kelley of Steamboat Springs, Colorado — was on the ninth day of a private boating trip when she “entered the

By Zoe Sottile, CNN After waiting more than 80 years, Merrill Pittman Cooper finally received his high school diploma. Cooper, 101, attended Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, from 1934 to 1938, but dropped out during his senior year when his family relocated to Philadelphia for financial reasons, Jefferson County Schools said in a

By Christina Maxouris, CNN David Lipson sat in his dining room talking on the phone with his son when he smelled the smoke. He grabbed his dog, his gun and a pair of guitars he bought in 1976 — the year he married his wife — and ran out of his home near Gorman, Texas.

By Leah Asmelash, CNN College students across the country are facing a crisis. It’s not just the basic cost of attending college, which has steadily been climbing. And it’s not the stress of getting into a post-secondary program. The problem is housing. For many college students across the country, especially those who are low-income or

By Mark Morales and Emma Tucker, CNN New York City is executing a plan to clear out encampments across the city where homeless people are known to live and connect those individuals with social services over the next two weeks, according to an official with Mayor Eric Adams’ office. City officials will work to eradicate

By Andy Rose, CNN A wildfire near Boulder, Colorado, prompted an evacuation warning for nearly 20,000 people Saturday evening. “Evacuation areas include 19,000 people and 8,000 homes,” the Boulder Office of Emergency Management tweeted. The NCAR Fire broke out Saturday afternoon. It was just 123 acres by Saturday evening, but not contained at all, officials

By Zoe Sottile, CNN A California man has been charged with smuggling more than a thousand reptiles, some endangered, into the United States. Jose Manuel Perez, 30, of Oxnard, also known as “Julio Rodriguez,” was charged with one count of conspiracy, nine counts of smuggling goods into the United States and two counts of wildlife

By Hannah Sarisohn, CNN A man who was allegedly manufacturing fentanyl in his New Jersey apartment faces almost 30 charges after his 12-year-old nephew died following exposure to paraphernalia containing the substance, the Camden County prosecutor’s office said. On March 21, prosecutors charged Troy Nokes, 35, of Blackwood, New Jersey, with first-degree aggravated manslaughter and

By Emma Tucker, CNN The Memphis Police Department and the New York State Police took a pledge this week to increase the representation of women in their ranks to 30%, joining a total of 150 law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada that have made the commitment in the past year. The 30×30 Initiative

By Sara Smart, CNN On Tuesday, a 9-year-old girl set up her drum kit outside of the Foo Fighters’ hotel in Paraguay, hoping to impress the band. Surrounded by other fans who cheered her on, her skills soon caught the ears of the late Taylor Hawkins, who came down to see the young drummer. Emma