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(LOS ANGELES) — Search and rescue crews are battling severe weather as they are hunting for a man last seen on Christmas Day at a California ski resort, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

Rory Angelotta, 43, was reported missing to police around 10 p.m. on Dec. 25 after he failed to show up for Christmas dinner with friends, authorities said.

Police said Angelotta’s ski pass was last scanned at 11:30 a.m. that day at the Northstar Ski Resort in Truckee. An emergency ping from his cell phone was sent just five minutes before his pass was scanned, which showed him making a short call from the area before being turned off. His vehicle was also discovered by police parked in the Northstar parking lot, officials said.

Severe weather has hampered search and rescue efforts, according to the sheriff’s office. After being suspended Sunday night due to weather, the search continued Monday amid whiteout conditions.

To make matters more challenging, heavy snow has the area under an avalanche warning, according to the U.S. Forest Service Sierra Avalanche Center, which officials said has limited the search to established areas of the resort and along the edges.

“The hope is that if the weather clears up today, searchers will be able to get to more of the remote areas he may have gone,” Mike Powers, a public information officer with the sheriff’s office, told ABC News.

The Avalanche Center said “large natural avalanches and human-triggered avalanches are expected” through Tuesday morning in the mountains.

Angelotta moved to the Truckee area from Colorado in October, according to the sheriff’s office, and was the general manager of the Surefoot ski shop at the Northstar Ski Resort. A post from Surefoot’s Instagram account described Angelotta as an “experienced backcountry skier.”

“We are hopeful that he has been able to hunker down and stay warm,” the shop wrote.

Northstar tweeted Monday that its mountains would be closed for the second day in a row, citing blizzard conditions and “a large overnight snowfall.”

California has seen an abundance of snow this month, with the U.C. Berkley Sierra Snow Lab reporting a record-breaking 193.7 inches in December on Monday, smashing the previous record of 179 inches set in 1970.

The lab reported heavy snow continuing into Monday. It’s possible that measurements could surpass 200 inches for the month by the end of the day.

The Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, Nevada County Search and Rescue and Northstar Ski Patrol are working with the sheriff’s office to find Angelotta.

Anyone that has seen or spoken with Angelotta since Christmas Day can contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Office at 530-886-5375. Police said he was believed to be wearing a navy blue Fly Low jacket, blue helmet and black goggles.

 

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(NEW YORK) — The city of Santa Monica, California, will start offering priority placement for its coveted affordable housing program to families and their descendants who were displaced by urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 60s.

The new effort aims to repair some of the historical actions that predominantly hurt Black and brown communities, as aggressive construction projects and highway-building some 70 years ago resulted in hundreds of families being evicted from their homes in the southern California coastal city.

“The city of Santa Monica is eager to share the new affordable housing priority for historically displaced households with families who were displaced from Santa Monica in the 1950s,” Constance Farrell, the public information officer for the city of Santa Monica, told ABC News on Monday.

“We encourage our former residents and their descendants to learn more about the program and we look forward to working with you to access this new opportunity,” Farrell said.

The pilot program will provide priority in city-funded and inclusionary housing for up to 100 applicants from households (including their children or grandchildren) that were displaced by the development of the Civic Auditorium in the Belmar Triangle neighborhood or the construction of the I-10 Highway in the Pico neighborhood. Inclusionary housing refers to residential developments in which rents are capped at affordable levels for income-qualifying households, according to the city’s website.

Farrell said applications will open on Jan. 18, 2022, and further information on the application process can be found at the city’s website.

About 600 predominantly Black families in Santa Monica’s Pico neighborhood lost their homes due to freeway construction, The Los Angeles Times reported. Among them were the grandparents of Nichelle Monroe, who told the Los Angeles Times that the impact of this displacement is still painful and palpable for her family today.

“If you had something and you lost it due to eminent domain, due to racism, you’re thinking about it and it affects your every move thereafter,” Monroe told the local newspaper. “It’s almost like PTSD. It affects how you think of yourself in society, what you believe is possible in that society.”

City officials, meanwhile, told the outlet that they hope the program can be a model for the nation and that they hope other communities will follow suit.

The police-murder of George Floyd in 2020 has been linked to a national reckoning on the lingering impacts of decades of racially unjust policies in the U.S. — from Jim Crow laws to redlining — and how policymakers and beyond can offer repair for the historical wrongdoings.

In a high-profile case earlier this year, Los Angeles officials voted to return a stretch of beachfront land that was seized by the city from a Black family 97 years ago, to their descendants.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors filed a motion earlier this month asking for a reduced sentence for Rogel Aguilera Mederos, the truck driver who was sentenced to 110 years in prison for a 2019 fatal crash on I-70, outside Denver, that killed four people and injured several others.

In a hearing on Monday morning, District Attorney Alexis King asked the court to reconsider Mederos’ original sentence and suggested a range of 20-30 years behind bars instead. The judge scheduled a hearing on Jan. 13, 2022 and requested more information from prosecutors and the defense, asking them to file additional memos by Jan. 10.

“You know this is an exceptional case and requires an exceptional process,” King said in brief remarks to the media following the hearing on Monday afternoon. “In finding its verdict, the jury recognized the extreme nature of the defendant’s conduct, which warrants a prison sentence. The defendant caused the death of four people, serious bodily injury to two others and the impact of his truck caused damage to many more in our community.”

Judge A. Bruce Jones, who was the judge in this case, questioned during the hearing whether he has jurisdiction to act based on the DA’s motion and said that if Mederos appeals or requests a new sentence through a separate motion, he may no longer have jurisdiction over this case.

Jones also questioned how re-sentencing could impact Mederos’ ability to file an appeal or his right to request a re-sentencing through what is known as Rule 35b. Following input from Mederos’ attorneys, who spoke during the hearing, Jones asked that the next hearing take place before Mederos’ time to appeal runs out.

The motion to reconsider the sentence comes after the case garnered national attention. A Change.org petition advocated for a commutation for Mederos, saying the crash was “not intentional.” Nearly 5 million people have signed the online petition.

Mederos’ attorney, James Colgan, told ABC News in a phone interview Monday that efforts to reconsider the sentence are “disingenuous.”

“I find it interesting that two weeks ago they were fine with 110 years and only now that public outcry has blown in their face do they not want 110 years,” Colgan said. “It’s just politics.”

Mederos was charged with 42 counts — the most serious of which was first-degree assault, a class-three felony, and was found guilty by a Jefferson County jury of 27 counts.

Police said Mederos was driving at least 85 mph before the crash on a stretch of the highway with a 45 mph speed limit for commercial vehicles.

After his brakes failed, Mederos drove past a runaway truck ramp and crashed into stopped traffic, police said.
Crash victims speak out amid push for governor to commute truck driver’s 110-year sentence

A runaway truck ramp is essentially an escape lane or exit that allows a vehicle that is experiencing brake problems to stop safely.

Prosecutors argued that after the brakes failed, Mederos intentionally passed the ramp — one of the reasons that some crash victims and families of those who died argued Mederos should serve time in prison.

Colgan told ABC News that Mederos’ defense team “never agreed with prosecutors that he intentionally avoided the ramp” during the trial.

“By the time he realized it was there, he was past it,” Colgan said, adding that Mederos was “under a lot of stress” as he attempted to get his truck into gear to attempt to brake.

Mederos, who was not intoxicated at the time, testified that after his brakes failed, he crashed into vehicles that had stopped on the highway due to backed up traffic.

Prosecutors sought the minimum penalties for each of the charges — the highest of which is 10 years, but the number of the charges and a law that says that some have to be served consecutively resulted in the lengthy sentence.

Jones, who was the judge in the case, said that he would not have chosen the lengthy sentence if he had the discretion.

The deadline for Mederos and his legal team to appeal is 49 days following sentencing, which would be Jan. 31, 2022. Mederos also has up to a year from the Dec. 13 sentencing to file a motion under Rule 35b for the judge to reconsider his sentence.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is considering an application of clemency for Mederos that asks for a commutation.

ABC News’ Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.

 

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(NEW YORK) — The end of the holiday weekend continued to be anything but merry for thousands of air travelers across the country.

There have been more than 2,000 flight cancellations since Christmas Eve as the recent COVID-19 surge has resulted in crew shortages and disrupted several airlines.

This came on the day after Christmas, which had been forecasted to be the third busiest air travel day for return flights.

As of 4:30 p. m. Sunday, 1,016 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.

On Christmas Day, 997 flights were canceled and another 689 flights were canceled on Christmas Eve, FlightAware data showed.

There are already cancellations for the start of the week. FlightAware has noted 114 cancellations for Monday, with United Airlines reporting 49 cancellations.

Delta and JetBlue have called on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shorten the quarantine period for vaccinated individuals to five days, to ease the crew shortage.

Passengers are urged to check with their airlines and airports for up-to-date information on their flights.

Despite the disruptions, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1,533,398 people at airport checkpoints nationwide on Christmas. This is the lowest number of travelers we’ve seen since Dec. 14.

The agency said between Dec. 20 and Dec. 25 it screened over 11,589,000 passengers. It expects 30 million people to take to the skies between Dec. 20 and New Year’s Day.

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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 816,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.7% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-Biden says ‘we have to do better’ on COVID testing shortages
-Fauci says vaccine requirement for US flights should be ‘considered’
-NYC administers 180,000 booster shots in less than a week
-4 cruise ships report COVID outbreaks
-Surge in omicron cases will ‘get worse,’ Fauci says

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Dec 27, 2:30 pm
France to require employees to work from home 3 days a week

French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Health Minister Olivier Véran announced a host of new measures Monday to combat the rising COVID-19 cases.

The country has recorded 30,383 cases in the last 24 hours, according to officials.

Starting Jan. 3, all companies will be required to have their employees work from home at least three days a week, when possible.

France will also limit large indoor gatherings 2,000 people and outdoor gatherings to 5,000.

Officials also announced a ban on eating and drinking in movie theaters and on public transportation. The new measures will be in effect for at least three weeks, officials said.

ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud

Dec 27, 1:40 pm
Pediatric hospitalizations in US rising to highest levels since fall

Pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the U.S. are surging to their highest levels since early September.

Across the country, almost 2,000 children are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus, according to federal data.

This is a roughly 60% from one month ago.

On average, about 260 children are being admitted to the hospital each day.

On a state level, more children are hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York than in any other state in the U.S.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 27, 12:56 pm
Biden says ‘we have to do better’ on COVID testing shortages

President Joe Biden said his administration has “to do better” to meet COVID-19 testing demands.

During the White House COVID-19 Response Team’s call with the National Governors Association Monday, the president directly addressed the shortages of kits being reported across the nation.

He said the steps the government had taken so far to make more COVID tests available is “not enough.”

“If I had known, we would have gone harder, quicker if we could have,” Biden said on the call.

He went on, “Seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows we have more work to do and we’re doing it. We have to do more, we have to do better, and we will.”

Dec 27, 11:42 am
Fauci says vaccine requirement for US flights should be ‘considered’

Dr. Anthony Fauci said a COVID vaccine requirement for domestic air travel should be “seriously” considered.

“If you’re talking about requiring vaccination to get on a plane domestically, that is just another one of the requirements that I think is reasonable to consider,” he said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“When you make vaccination a requirement, that’s another incentive to get more people vaccinated. If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think that’s something that seriously should be considered,” he said.

This is not the first time that Fauci has argued for vaccine mandates domestic flights.

On Sunday, Fauci told ABC’s Jon Karl that “anything that could get people more vaccinated would be welcome.”

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

 

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(NEW YORK) — More than $150,000 has been raised to help find a missing 3-year-old girl in San Antonio, Texas, who local officials say may be in “grave, immediate danger.”

Lina Sadar Khil was last seen on Monday, Dec. 20 between 4 and 5 p.m. at a park on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio, according to police. She was reported by her family as missing when she disappeared from a park near their home.

The Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $100,000 reward, and the Crime Stoppers of San Antonio has offered $50,000 for information resulting in the arrest or indictment of a suspect accused of any involvement in the disappearance of Lina.

The FBI has joined the San Antonio Police Department in the search for the young girl. They are accepting any tips, video footage or insight concerning her potential whereabouts.

A vigil was held for Lina on Dec. 24 at the St. Francis Episcopal Church, where SAPD Chief William McManus asked attendees for help in their search.

“We need your assistance, you know anything, even if you think it may not help. We want you to call us and give you any give us any information that you may have,” McManus said.

There have not been any substantial updates in the case, according to SAPD.

On Facebook, the department stated, “We continue to deploy an all hands on deck approach to ensure no evidence, witness statement or clues are left undiscovered.”

Lina is white, about 4-feet tall, and weighs 55 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Police said Lina has straight, shoulder-length hair and was last seen wearing it in a ponytail with a black jacket, red dress and black shoes.

“Unfortunately, I have to say that the longer the time lapses, the less hopeful we become,” McManus said in a Dec. 22 press conference.

Authorities are asking anyone who has information on the case to call SAPD Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.

 

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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 816,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.7% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Dec 27, 7:23 am
Israel begins testing 4th vaccine dose

Medical staffers at Tel HaShomer hospital near Tel Aviv, Israel, have begun receiving a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose.

About 150 staffers were taking part in the trial, which began on Monday morning. They’ll be monitored for a week.

The Ministry of Health has yet to announce a final decision on a fourth jab. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office last week said on Twitter that it had instructed the government to “prepare for an extensive operation.”

“This is wonderful news that will assist us in getting through the Omicron wave that is engulfing the world,” Bennett said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota

Dec 27, 7:27 am
New York subway scales back service amid COVID surge

Subway trains in New York City will run less frequently than usual this week amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

“Like everyone in New York, we’ve been affected by the COVID surge,” New York City Transit Authority officials wrote on Twitter.

Officials said the subway was dealing with staff shortages and service would be scaled back until Thursday.

“We’re taking proactive steps to provide the best, most consistent service we can,” officials said on Twitter. “That means you may wait a little longer for your train.”

Dec 27, 2:58 am
Australia records first omicron death, as daily cases top 10,000

A man in his 80s who died near Sydney, Australia, was the country’s first known death linked to the omicron variant, health officials said on Monday.

“The man was a resident of the Uniting Lilian Wells aged care facility in North Parramatta, where he acquired his infection,” New South Wales health officials said in a news release. “He had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and had underlying health conditions.”

The country’s new daily cases topped 10,000 on Sunday, local media reported on Monday.

In New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, new coronavirus infections dipped to 6,324 on Sunday, down from a record 6,394 new cases on Christmas Day, according to health officials.

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(NEW YORK) — The parents of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man killed by police during a chaotic traffic stop in Minnesota earlier this year, spoke out after a former officer was convicted of manslaughter in his death.

Katie Bryant, Wright’s mother, said she could “never forgive” former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter charges Thursday.

“When they read first guilty my heart dropped and I let out a wail and buried my head in his chest. Tears of joy,” said Bryant.

Potter, who was a 26-year veteran on the force and training officer, claimed that she mistook her service weapon for her Taser during a traffic stop on April 11, 2021.

The 49-year-old had pleaded not guilty to both manslaughter charges. During the trial, Potter delivered emotional testimony in her own defense, saying that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody.”

“Never. I could never forgive that woman. She took my son away from me,” said Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, on “Good Morning America.”

The mostly white Minnesota jury, which was composed of six men and six women, deliberated for nearly 27 hours over the course of four days to reach both guilty verdicts.

The trial took place at the Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis which is the same courthouse where former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the murder of George Floyd.

Dozens of people had gathered outside of the courthouse on Thursday to support Wright and his family. Bryant said that the verdict is a small step toward justice.

“For us, as a family, it gives us a sense of hope that police in America won’t be able to pull a gun instead of Taser and there hopefully will be no other Dauntes,” said Bryant.

Potter was immediately taken into custody on Thursday without bail.

The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine, and for second-degree manslaughter, it’s 10 years and a $20,000 fine.

Potter’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 18.

ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 815,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.7% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Dec 24, 1:25 pm
Another outbreak reported on cruise ship

A COVID-19 outbreak has been reported on the South Florida-based cruise ship Carnival Freedom as Florida sees a massive surge in cases.

Carnival said a “small number” of people tested positive and are in isolation, but the cruise line did not disclose how many.

All passengers were vaccinated and tested ahead of the trip, Carnival said.

Carnival Freedom left Miami on Dec. 18 and stopped in Curacao on Dec. 21. Stops in Bonaire and Aruba were canceled but instead the ship will visit Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic on Friday, Carnival said.

The ship will return as planned to Miami on Dec. 26, Carnival said.

This is the third cruise ship outbreak this week. On Thursday, Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas ship reported 55 positive cases, days after setting sail from Florida. On Saturday, Royal Caribbean’s arrived in Miami with at least 48 confirmed cases, according to The Miami Herald.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Mina Kaji

Dec 24, 12:44 pm
UK breaks case record for 3rd day in a row

The United Kingdom recorded 122,186 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to official government data, setting a new record high for the third day in a row.

The U.K. has recorded 707,306 cases in the last week — a 48.2% jump from the previous week.

London has the highest proportion of cases for any region in England, with one in 20 people testing positive last week, according to new interim data from the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics.

ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud

Dec 24, 11:36 am
New York sees record-smashing 44,431 cases in 1 day

New York state has set yet another daily case record with 44,431 new positive COVID-19 cases, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday. This comes as New Yorkers seek testing in record numbers ahead of the holidays.

This breaks Thursday’s record high of 38,835 cases.

The governor on Friday also announced new return-to-work guidelines for critical workers who test positive. If a critical worker has tested positive but is vaccinated, they can return to work after five days if they are asymptomatic or no longer have symptoms.

In New York state 95% of adults have had at least one vaccine dose, Hochul said, but she stressed that one dose isn’t enough.

ABC News’ Alexandra Faul, Will McDuffie

Dec 24, 11:18 am
Delta cancellations continue into the weekend 

Delta’s flight cancellations are continuing into the weekend, with the airline citing “a combination of issues,” including weather and omicron.

“Up to 200 of 3,004 flights on Saturday may be canceled, and up to 150 are expected for Sunday,” Delta said.

So far on Christmas Eve there are 331 canceled flights between Delta, United and Alaska Airlines.

ABC News’ Mina Kaji

Dec 24, 9:39 am
White House to lift travel restrictions on southern African countries

The travel restrictions on eight southern African countries, put in place by the White House when omicron emerged, will be lifted on Dec. 31, according to a senior administration official.

This decision was recommended by the CDC for two reasons, the official said: vaccines and boosters have been determined to help prevent severe disease from omicron; and omicron is already prevalent in the U.S. and around the world so travel from those eight countries won’t have a major impact on U.S. cases.

Dec 24, 8:43 am
New record highs set in Illinois, Ohio, New York, New Jersey

New York and New Jersey set record case highs again on Thursday with 38,835 and 18,660 new daily cases respectively.

The new high came as New York saw a record high for testing as people check their status before seeing relatives for the holidays.

Illinois and Ohio also shattered pandemic case records Thursday with 18,942 and 15,989 new cases respectively, according to ABC Chicago station WLS and ABC Cincinnati affiliate WCPO.

Until this week, Ohio hadn’t seen over 12,000 daily cases since January, WCPO reported.

In response to the case surge in Cook County, Illinois, which encompasses Chicago, customers must show proof of vaccine inside restaurants, bars, gyms and entertainment venues beginning Jan. 3.

Dec 24, 8:19 am
Hawaii Bowl canceled

Friday’s Hawaii Bowl has been canceled after the University of Hawaii pulled out.

“The recent surge in COVID-19 cases has forced us to not participate in the game,” the university’s athletics director, David Matlin, said in a statement.

The team in a statement cited “COVID issues within the program” as well as “season-ending injuries and transfers.”

Friday’s game was supposed to be against the University of Memphis.

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(NEW YORK) — Gabby Petito’s parents and stepparents have established a foundation in her name aimed at fighting domestic violence and finding missing people.

The 22-year-old Petito went missing during a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, and was later found killed in Wyoming. Laundrie, who was named a person of interest in the case, but never charged with her death, disappeared three days after Petito was reported missing by her family and was later found dead. His death was ruled a suicide.

Petito’s disappearance and death due to strangulation started a nationwide conversation on domestic violence.

“I don’t want to see this happen to another person. I know that we can’t save everybody, but I think that this — just awareness alone is giving people the strength,” Petito’s mother Nichole Schmidt said in an interview that aired on “Good Morning America.”

The foundation said it has already donated $50,000 to the Aware Foundation, Safe Space and the National Domestic Violence Hotline, all foundations with similar missions to fight domestic violence and help find missing persons.

The hotline said in a news release that in just over two months, it has been able to help more 300 people who contacted them after visiting the Petito Foundation website.

“If we can even be a small piece of support network for somebody else in a similar situation and try to just help them get through it, that’s it goes a long way,” said Jim Schmidt, Petito’s stepfather.

Despite saying they will never get closure in the case of Petito’s tragic death, they said their foundation’s work gives them hope.

“She’s doing a lot of good and she’s touched a lot of people,” said Joe Petito, Gabby Petito’s father.

On the eve of their first Christmas without their daughter, Gabby Petito’s mother said some days can be harder than others.

“We have our days where we just need to shut down and take a moment. But … the whole goal is prevention and helping other young people,” Nichole Schmidt said. “We hope that we save lives and in Gabby’s name and because of what happened to her, that that gives us a lot of hope.”

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