In this undated file photo, Mount Baldy is shown in the San Gabriel Mountains in California. Matthew Micah Wright/Getty Images, FILE
(SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif.) — A 19-year-old who fell while hiking on Southern California’s Mount Baldy and two others were found dead during the search and rescue effort for the teen, authorities said.
The recovery effort for the three deceased hikers is underway, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday.
Amid dangerous conditions, Mount Baldy is now closed until New Year’s Day to “protect natural resources and provide for public safety,” the sheriff’s department said Tuesday afternoon.
“The tragic loss of life on Mt. Baldy and repeated rescue responses highlight how dangerous current conditions are, even for experienced hikers,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a statement on the temporary closure of Mount Baldy. “Weather and terrain conditions remain extremely dangerous and unpredictable, posing a significant risk to both the public and Search and Rescue personnel.”
The search for the teen began midday Monday, when a search and rescue team responded to a request to rescue the hiker after he reportedly fell approximately 500 feet near the Devil’s Backbone trail, the sheriff’s department said.
A friend who was hiking with the teen “hiked to an area with cellular service and provided GPS coordinates to assist rescuers,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release.
During an aerial search, deputies found the teen as well as two unidentified individuals nearby, though the helicopter was unable to complete the rescue due to severe winds, authorities said.
Later Monday evening, an air medic who was hoisted down confirmed all three hikers were dead, authorities said. The helicopter was still unable to safely recover them at that time due to severe winds.
The recovery effort is still underway, the sheriff’s department said Tuesday.
The name of the teen has not been released. The two unidentified hikers found near him were in a separate group and were located by chance during the search for the teen, according to the sheriff’s department.
Mount Baldy is located in the San Gabriel Mountains, outside Los Angeles.
It will remain closed through 11:59 p.m. local time Wednesday, according to the sheriff’s department, which urged members of the public to comply with the order and avoid the area.
“The temporary closure of Mt. Baldy trails is necessary to prevent additional emergencies and protect lives,” Dicus said.
Those who violate the closure order could be fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to six months, the sheriff’s department said.
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
Doechii has a “life update” for her fans. In the only post on her Instagram, she announced the release of her new song, “girl, get up.,” featuring fellow Top Dawg Entertainment signee SZA.
“girl, get up.,” which samples “What Happened to That Boy” by Birdman and Clipse, finds Doechii unpacking her life, career and more. She addresses industry plant accusations, rumors about drug use and critics who doubt her talent, making it clear she’s earned her success through hard work.
“All that industry plant s*** whack/ I see it on the blogs, I see you in the chats,” she raps, later adding, “Y’all can’t fathom that I work this hard/ And y’all can’t fathom that I earned this chart/ Y’all can’t stand my vibe ’cause I’m anointed/ All y’all evil-a** h*** just annoyin’.”
Alongside the release, Doechii dropped a visualizer directed by James Mackel, the man behind the visual for her Grammy-nominated hit “Anxiety.”
“girl, get up.” marks Doechii’s final release of 2025 and the end to her Swamp Sessions series, a creative run where she challenged herself to write songs within one-hour sessions. The series produced tracks and visuals for “Nissan Altima,” “Bullfrog” and “Catfish.”
Doechii is nominated for five awards at the 2026 Grammy Awards: record of the year, song of the year, best rap performance, best rap song and best music video.
Ariana Grande started 2025 by attending the Golden Globes, where she was nominated for her role as Glinda in Wicked. She ended the year by being nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as Glinda — this time, in Wicked: For Good. In between, she proved that she hadn’t forgotten her day job as a pop star.
— In late March, Ari released the deluxe version of her hit 2024 album, Eternal Sunshine, called Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, with six previously unreleased additional tracks. The new version sent the album back to #1 on the Billboard 200.
–With the album came a short film, Brighter Days Ahead, which Ariana co-directed; it featured her reprising her role as Peaches from her previous video “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” The film, which featured a cameo from her father, Edward Butera, won three MTV VMAs, including video of the year.
–In May, it was announced that Ariana had joined the cast of Focker-In-Law, the fourth installment in the Meet the Parents film franchise. The movie, set to hit theaters in November 2026, has most of the original cast returning; Ariana plays the girlfriend of Ben Stiller‘s character’s son.
–In June, Ariana took part in the ultimate diva summit, joining Mariah Carey and Barbra Streisand to record the song “I Don’t Know Why (I Just Do)” for Babs’ album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two. The album received a Grammy nomination for best traditional pop vocal album.
— Also in June, Ariana’s beloved grandmother Marjorie Grande aka Nonna, who’d appeared on her album Eternal Sunshine, passed away at age 99.
–In July, it was announced that Ariana would be part of the cast of Jon M. Chu‘s animated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic Oh, the Places You’ll Go! It’s set to hit theaters March 17, 2028.
–In August, Ari announced her first tour in six years. The Eternal Sunshine Tour will visit North America and the U.K. in the summer of 2026 and will feature her playing multiple nights in every city. It launches June 6 in Oakland, California, and will wrap Sept. 1 in London.
–In October, Ariana was announced as a cast member of FX anthology series American Horror Story season 13. It’s set to air around Halloween 2026.
–In November, Ariana made multiple appearances to promote Wicked: For Good. Her performance received glowing reviews and a Golden Globe nod; she also received two Grammy nominations for the Wicked soundtrack.
–On Dec. 20, Ariana hosted the season finale of Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Cher. She described it ahead of time to Jimmy Fallon as “one of the gayest SNL episodes [ever].” The episode earned the show’s highest ratings since November of 2024.
Prince William County police seal the street in front of the home of suspected Jan. 6, 2021, pipe bomber on Dec. 4, 2025, in Woodbridge, Virginia. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal magistrate judge did not immediately rule Tuesday on whether the Virginia man charged with placing pipe bombs outside of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol will remain behind bars pending trial, after saying both prosecutors and the defendant’s attorneys raised important legal issues that he will have to take under further consideration.
During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones urged Judge Matthew Sharbaugh to reject arguments from suspect Brian Cole Jr.’s attorneys that he would pose no danger if released and remained under house arrest — noting such a setting was similar to where he had carried out his alleged planning to plant the pipe bombs in the first place.
Cole was arrested by federal authorities earlier this month following a massive probe that had stymied investigators for almost five years. He appeared in court on Dec. 5, where a judge detailed the two charges he currently faces. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years if he is convicted.
Cole’s attorneys had urged the judge to release him pending trial, arguing the government has presented no evidence that shows he poses a danger to the general public.
Cole, who has not entered a plea, allegedly told investigators in a lengthy confession that he wasn’t targeting the joint session of Congress that was convening to certify former President Joe Biden’s election win, according to previous court filing from the Department of Justice.
On Tuesday, Jones said that on the morning of his arrest, Cole allegedly wiped the memory from his phone for the 943rd time since December 2020, just days before he allegedly planted the devices.
“This is not a case that involves an isolated, impulsive act,” Jones said. “This is a case in which the government’s request for detention is based off of a pattern of concerning and disturbing conduct, including planned acts of extreme political violence, experimentation with explosive materials, destruction of evidence, persistent inclination and proclivity for hiding incriminating information from those around him, including his family.”
After Cole saw himself on the news in videos released by the FBI seeking tips on his identity, he said in the interview that he discarded all of his bomb-making materials at a nearby dump and said he never told anyone about his actions in the nearly five years since Jan. 6, according to the filing.
Cole’s attorney Mario Williams argued the tally of instances where he deleted his phone messages was being taken out of context and suggested it was more attributable to his diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum and having obsessive compulsive disorder.
Judge Sharbaugh said he did find it “concerning” the evidence put forward by the government that allegedly showed Cole continued to purchase bomb-making components even after he allegedly placed the bombs outside the RNC and DNC.
Sharbaugh also questioned whether the government had made any determination about what the impact or “blast radius” of the pipe bombs would have been had they detonated. Jones responded that it wasn’t entirely clear given the number of variables at play with pipe bombs, but that for anyone in near proximity it could be “life threatening.”
Throughout the arguments, Williams seemed to provide a partial roadmap for how they plan to present Cole’s defense should the case move forward to trial. Williams accused the government of overstating its evidence of Cole’s apparent radicalization leading up to Jan. 6, saying it had put forward no evidence similar to what prosecutors were able to gather in their investigations of the Capitol riot defendants who often had texts or social media activity that included fringe or even violent political rhetoric.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Sharbaugh did not provide a specific timeline on when he would expect to rule on Cole’s detention, but said he would seek to do so “expeditiously.”
A box of biles for Measles Vaccinations offered by Harris Public Health is photographed on Saturday, April 5, 2025 in Houston. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. has surpassed 2,000 measles cases for the first time in more than 30 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Dec. 23, a total of 2,012 cases have been reported in the U.S. Of those cases, 24 were reported among international visitors to the U.S.
States with confirmed cases include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The last time the U.S. recorded more than 2,000 cases occurred in 1992, when there were 2,126 confirmed infections over the course of a year, CDC data shows.
The CDC says 11% of measles patients in the U.S. this year have been hospitalized, over half of whom are under age 19.
Among the nationally confirmed cases, the CDC says about 93% are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Meanwhile, 3% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 4% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.
There have been 50 outbreaks reported across the U.S. in 2025, CDC data shows. By comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024.
South Carolinas department of public heath reports that 179 cases have been confirmed as of Dec. 30 with the most cases (176) around Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina.
Over the course of the outbreak, hundreds of students have been forced to quarantine at home due to outbreaks at their schools.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taylor Swift cheers while watching the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 15, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
When it comes to charities, Taylor Swift is the gift that keeps on giving.
After donating $1 million each to the American Heart Association and Feeding America prior to Christmas, Taylor has now made a donation of an undisclosed amount to Operation Breakthrough, a charity based in Kansas City, Missouri.
According to its website, the charity’s mission is to “provide a safe, loving and educational environment for children in poverty and to empower their families through advocacy, emergency aid and education.”
“Thank you @taylorswift for supporting Operation Breakthrough,” read the charity’s post on Instagram. “We are so grateful for your kindness and for championing creativity, education, and opportunity for our over 750 students!”
Operation Breakthrough is a charity that Taylor’s fiancé, Travis Kelce, works with via his own foundation, Eighty-Seven & Running. In particular, the foundation supports the charity’s Ignition Lab, which provides STEM educational resources for kids age 14 to 18.
In other Taylor Kansas City news, she can be seen very briefly in a video of the WAGS — wives and girlfriends — of Chiefs players at the team’s holiday party. Taylor is seen standing with a group that includes Ana Demmer, who dates Chiefs offensive lineman Creed Humphrey, as well as Brittany Mahomes.
Bruce Springsteen on Jimmy Kimmel Live!/(Disney/Randy Holmes)
A legendary Bruce Springsteen concert has just gotten an audio upgrade.
A newly remixed version of Bruce and The E Street Band’s 1975 New Year’s Eve performance at the Tower Theater near Philadelphia is now available on nugs.net. The recording was taken from the 16-track analog master tapes originally recorded by producer Jimmy Iovine. The show was the final night of a four-night stand at the venue.
The 18-song set features a slowed down version of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” along with performances of songs like “Thunder Road,” “Spirit in the Night,” “She’s the One,” “Backstreets,” “Jungleland,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” and “It’s Hard To Be a Saint in the City.”
It also features several covers, including “It’s My Life,” “Detroit Medley” and the show’s final song, “Twist and Shout.”
The release is part of Springsteen’s Archives Series on nugs.net, which launched in November 2014. Since then, 100 Springsteen concerts have been released on the site.
‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026′ performers (Courtesy DCP)
6lack is switching things up for 2026. Instead of ringing in the new year at his humble abode, he opted to spend it with ABC, Ryan Seacrest and the cast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.
“Normally I’m at the house keeping things predictable, and safe and cozy,” he told ABC’sOn the Red Carpet during rehearsals for the show. “But this is fun because it’s just the opposite and I love performing.”
A key reason for his appearance is to perform alongside Jessie Murph. The two have a song called “Forever,” which he says came together after her team reached out.
“I think we were mutually just fans of each other, and she had a song that she had in mind,” 6lack says. Though he’d been “prepping for a baby” at the time and “wasn’t out that much,” he says he heard the song and was on board.
“I found some time,” he adds. “I got it done and I love the song.”
6lack and Jessie Murph are just two of the artists slated to perform on the New Year’s Eve show, a star-studded countdown to 2026. 6lack says his new year is about “clarity and just learning from all my lessons and mistakes and not having to repeat anything that’s unnecessary.“
6lack also plans to take more initiative this go-round. He shares, “This time it feels like less manifestation for me and more doing because I can talk, but it’s just better to just like put some plans to it.”
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest will also feature a set from Diana Ross in New York’s Times Square, performances from Mariah Carey and more. It airs from 8 p.m. ET to 4 a.m. ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong, vocalists of Linkin Park, perform ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final 2025 at Munich Football Arena on May 31, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Linkin Park fulfilled an unusual fan request while on tour in 2025.
The “In the End” rockers have shared a video to Facebook showing vocalists Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong reading signs brought in by concertgoers during a recent show. One particular sign caught their eye, and they brought it up onstage to discover that it read, “Would you make my dream come true and reveal our baby’s gender?”
“This is a crazy sign, this is the first time we’ve seen this,” Shinoda remarked.
The sign was conveniently accompanied by an envelope that contained the gender reveal, and after a literal drumroll from Colin Brittain, Armstrong delivered the news.
“Girl!” Armstrong declared.
Linkin Park spent 2025 touring in support of their 2024 comeback album, From Zero, their first with Armstrong. They’ll return to the road in January starting with dates in the Middle East.
(WASHINGTON) — Several artists have cancelled their upcoming performances at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., publicly voicing their opposition to President Donald Trump’s name being added to the signage of the building last week.
Jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled his Christmas Eve event, while jazz group The Cookers announced on social media that they will be cancelling their New Year’s Eve performance at the cultural center.
On Monday evening, Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York dance company, announced in an Instagram post that it was canceling its scheduled April performances.
Posting an image of the official portrait of late President John F. Kennedy, Doug Varone and Dancers wrote that it was an “honor” to be invited to perform, but the group “totally disagreed with the takeover by the Trump Administration at the Kennedy Center.”
” … With the latest act of Donald J. Trump renaming the Center after himself, we can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution,” the statement said, in part.
“The Kennedy Center was named in honor of our 35th President who fervently believed that the arts were the beating heart of our nation, as well as an integral part of international diplomacy. We hope in three-year’s time, that the Center and its reputation will return to that glory,” the statement continued.
After the renaming last week, folk singer Kristy Lee announced in an Instagram post that she is canceling a free performance scheduled for Jan. 14 at the center.
“I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck,” Lee wrote in the post.
Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Trump-Kennedy Center, criticized the recent cancellations in a Monday evening X post, where he cast the musicians as “far left political activists.”
“The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” Grenell wrote.
“Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs. Boycotting the Arts to show you support the Arts is a form of derangement syndrome. The arts are for everyone and the left is mad about it,” he added.
Grenell also indicated in a letter addressed to Redd, who canceled his Christmas Eve show, that the center plans to file a $1 million lawsuit against the jazz musician and called the move a “political stunt.”
It is unclear if Redd has obtained legal representation. ABC News reached out to him for comment.
The cancellations came after the Trump administration announced on Dec. 18 that the board at the Kennedy Center, which Trump now chairs and is newly filled with his appointees, voted “unanimously” to rename the building the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” The signage was updated a day later.
The national cultural center, which is located on the banks of the Potomac River, was originally named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to honor the late president, and it first opened its doors on Sept. 8, 1971.
Trump, who was sworn in for his second term as president on Jan. 20, dismissed most of the Board of Trustees during his first weeks back in office and replaced them with his own appointees. In February 2025, the new board announced that they had elected Trump as chairman.
Several musicians also cancelled performances or engagements at the Center earlier this year after Trump was elected as chair.
The artists who cancelled shows over the past year include musician Rhiannon Giddens, rock band Low Cut Connie and actor Issa Rae. Meanwhile, musician Ben Folds resigned from his role as the adviser to the center’s National Symphony Orchestra and producer Shonda Rhimes resigned as treasurer of the Kennedy Center’s board.
Singer and actress Renée Fleming also resigned from her role as artistic advisor at large after Trump purged the Center’s leadership. Fleming is scheduled to perform at the Trump-Kennedy Center in May 2026.
Writer Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical “Hamilton,” which was scheduled for a run at the Kennedy Center in the spring of 2026, was canceled back in March.
“We have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed,” the show’s producer Jeffrey Seller wrote in a statement posted to Facebook.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post that the board voted to rename the center “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”
The post appears to refer to recent restorations and renovations that were touted by Trump during his speech at the Kennedy Center Honors dinner on Dec. 7.
House Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who serves as an ex officio member of the center’s board, sued Trump on Monday, arguing that the board’s vote to rename the building was illegal because an act of Congress is required for such an action.
Asked for comment on the lawsuit, White House spokesperson Liz Huston instead told ABC News in a statement on Monday that the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename it after Trump “stepped up and saved the old Kennedy Center.”
ABC News’ Chad Murray, Hannah Demissie, Isabella Murray, Michelle Stoddart, Karen Travers, Lauren Peller and Alex Ederson contributed to this report.
