diff --git a/e107_handlers/e_parse_class.php b/e107_handlers/e_parse_class.php
index 9c261d5e0..80fb8bc2a 100644
--- a/e107_handlers/e_parse_class.php
+++ b/e107_handlers/e_parse_class.php
@@ -4564,7 +4564,7 @@ class e_parse
 		{
 			$path = $tp->replaceConstants($file, 'abs');
 		}
-		elseif (!empty($parm['legacy'])) // Search legacy path for image in a specific folder. No path, only file name provided.
+		elseif(!empty($parm['legacy']) && !empty($file)) // Search legacy path for image in a specific folder. No path, only file name provided.
 		{
 
 			$legacyPath = rtrim($parm['legacy'], '/') . '/' . $file;
diff --git a/e107_plugins/news/templates/news_grid_template.php b/e107_plugins/news/templates/news_grid_template.php
index 1258eb2e1..f39ac00ed 100644
--- a/e107_plugins/news/templates/news_grid_template.php
+++ b/e107_plugins/news/templates/news_grid_template.php
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 	 */
 
 
-	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['start'] = '<div class="row news-grid-default news-menu-grid">';
+	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['start'] = '<div class="row news-grid-default news-menu-grid gx-3">';
 
 	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['featured'] = '<div class="row featured">
 													<div class="col-sm-12">
@@ -67,7 +67,35 @@
 	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-3']['end']      = $NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['end'];
 
 
+//  ---------------- col-lg-4 Bootstrap 5 only ---------------
 
+	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-lg-4']['start']    = $NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['start'];
+	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-lg-4']['featured'] = $NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['featured'];
+	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-lg-4']['end']      = $NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-md-6']['end'];
+	$NEWS_GRID_TEMPLATE['col-lg-4']['item']     = '{SETIMAGE: w=412&h=250&crop=1}
+						<div class="item col-lg-4 mb-5">
+                            <div class="card h-100 shadow border-0">
+                                 {NEWS_IMAGE: type=tag&class=card-img-top&placeholder=1}
+                                <div class="card-body p-4">
+                                    <div class="badge bg-primary bg-gradient rounded-pill mb-2">{NEWS_CATEGORY_NAME}</div>
+                                    <a class="text-decoration-none link-dark stretched-link" href="{NEWS_URL}">
+                                    <h5 class="card-title mb-3">{NEWS_TITLE}</h5></a>
+                                    <p class="card-text mb-0">{NEWS_SUMMARY}</p>
+                                </div>
+                                <div class="card-footer p-4 pt-0 bg-transparent border-top-0">
+                                    <div class="d-flex align-items-end justify-content-between">
+                                        <div class="d-flex align-items-center">
+                                        	{NEWS_AUTHOR_AVATAR: class=rounded-circle me-3&w=40&h=40&crop=1}
+                                            <div class="small">
+                                                <div class="fw-bold">{NEWS_AUTHOR}</div>
+                                                <div class="text-muted">{NEWS_DATE=short}</div>
+                                            </div>
+                                        </div>
+                                    </div>
+                                </div>
+                            </div>
+                        </div>
+	';
 
 // ------------------ media-list -----------------
 
@@ -109,6 +137,3 @@
 
 
 
-
-
-
diff --git a/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parseTest.php b/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parseTest.php
index 1c934f27a..b4b402a0f 100644
--- a/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parseTest.php
+++ b/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parseTest.php
@@ -2446,6 +2446,21 @@ EXPECTED;
 		}
 
 
+		// news image scenario with empty value.
+		$srcPath = '';
+		$imgParms = array(
+			'class'         => 'news-image',
+			'alt'           => 'placeholder image',
+			'style'         => 'display:block',
+			'placeholder'   => 1,
+			'legacy'        => '{e_IMAGE}newspost_images',
+			'w'             => 400,
+			'h'             => 325
+		);
+
+		$result = $this->tp->toImage($srcPath, $imgParms);
+		$expected = '<img class="news-image" src="/thumb.php?src=&amp;w=400&amp;h=325" alt="placeholder image" width="400" height="325" style="display:block"  />';
+		$this->assertSame($expected, $result);
 	}
 
 	public function testThumbSrcSet()
diff --git a/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parse_shortcodeTest.php b/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parse_shortcodeTest.php
index 34264e8e9..3ff1e9462 100644
--- a/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parse_shortcodeTest.php
+++ b/e107_tests/tests/unit/e_parse_shortcodeTest.php
@@ -1839,6 +1839,7 @@ class e_parse_shortcodeTest extends \Codeception\Test\Unit
 
 			try
 			{
+				/** @var e_shortcode $sc */
 				$sc = $this->make($plug.'_shortcodes');
 			}
 			catch (Exception $e)