2 ski patrollers injured in avalanche while conducting avalanche mitigation work at California ski resort
Mountan bikers have replaced skiers in early August as a record-breaking ski season comes to a slushy end on August 6, 2023, in Mammoth Lakes, California. After a series of winter atmospheric rivers slammed into this high elevation Sierra Nevada resort, dropping 900 inches of snow at the top of Mammoth Mountain and nearly 700 inches in the village, the ski season was pushed into August for only the third time in Mammoth’s history. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
(CALIFORNIA) — Two ski patrollers performing avalanche mitigation work at a California ski resort were injured in an avalanche on Friday, the resort operator said.
The avalanche occurred at Mammoth Mountain at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time, prior to ski area operations. The two patrollers got caught in a slide and were transported to an area hospital, the resort said.
One person sustained serious injuries and was being transported out of the area for further care, while the other was evaluated for possible broken bones, the resort said.
The ski area was closed for the remainder of the day amid high avalanche danger, the resort said.
Mammoth Mountain, which is located in Mammoth Lakes in the Sierra Nevada mountains, has received more than 5 feet of snow since Tuesday, the resort said.
Tropical Development – Into the Weekend Map (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Melissa has formed in the Atlantic and may further strengthen into a hurricane.
Melissa will stay away from the mainland United States, and instead pose the biggest threat to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba. The storm might also impact Puerto Rico.
Here’s the latest forecast:
As Melissa churns over the Caribbean in the coming days, it will unleash heavy rain, strong winds and rough surf on the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba. A dangerous 5 to 10 inches of rainfall is possible by Friday, with more rain possibly coming over the weekend.
Puerto Rico may face heavy rain and gusty winds from Melissa’s outer bands on Thursday, Friday and this weekend. But so far, the forecast shows that the worst of the storm will avoid Puerto Rico.
Water temperatures in the Caribbean are 3 to 4 degrees above average for this time of year, which will help fuel this system.
The Atlantic hurricane season lasts until Nov. 30.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket carrying astronauts Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyn, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, and Lauren Sánchez lifts off from Launch Site One on April 14, 2025 in Van Horn, Texas. Blue Origin’s Mission NS-31 is the first all-female astronaut crew since 1963. (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Blue Origin will make history when it sends the first person who uses a wheelchair past the Kármán line, an internationally recognized boundary of space that’s 62 miles above Earth, on its next mission.
On Thursday, a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket will take Michaela ‘Michi’ Benthaus, an aerospace and mechatronics engineer who suffered a spinal cord injury after a mountain biking accident, along with five others, on a journey past the Kármán line. New Shepard rockets are fully reusable spacecraft that Blue Origin says require less maintenance between flights, saving money and reducing waste.
The NS-37 mission will be the 16th human flight for Blue Origin, which has taken 86 people — 80 individuals — above the Kármán line.
Benthaus, who works for the European Space Agency, has dedicated her career to scientific collaboration to advance interplanetary exploration, according to Blue Origin. Since her 2018 accident, she has advocated for greater access to space.
Benthaus flew aboard a Zero-G research flight in 2022 — also known as the “Vomit Comet” — and completed an analog astronaut mission, simulating space activities on Earth. She continues to pursue sporting activities outside of work, including wheelchair tennis, according to Blue Origin.
The other five members of the team include:
Joel Hyde is a physicist and quantitative investor, and a retired hedge fund partner. He resides in Florida with his wife and five children. Blue Origin says his passion for space was ignited in 1988 during a visit to the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center, leading him to earn a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.
Hans Koenigsmann is a German-American aerospace engineer known for his efforts in developing reusable spacecraft and launch vehicles. He spent two decades at SpaceX and remains influential in the aerospace community, serving in advisory roles across different companies, including Blue Origin.
Neal Milch is a business executive and entrepreneur who is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Jackson Laboratory, where he champions genetic research to enhance human health.
Adonis Pouroulis is an entrepreneur and mining engineer with over 30 years of experience in natural resources and energy. He leads several companies, including Pella Resources and Chariot Limited, focusing on innovative energy technologies.
Jason Stansell is a space enthusiast from West Texas with a computer science degree from Tulane University. Blue Origin says his flight is in honor of his brother, Kevin, who passed away from brain cancer in 2016, by dedicating his upcoming flight to him.
Unlike recent orbital missions flown by SpaceX or NASA, New Shepard flights are suborbital, designed for brief human spaceflight experiences that cross the Kármán line before returning to Earth.
During the 10 to 12-minute flight, the group will experience several minutes of microgravity before returning to Earth.
The flight is scheduled to take off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump said Friday evening he has signed a commutation releasing scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos from prison “immediately.”
Santos, 37, was less than three months into serving a seven-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The ex-lawmaker was released from prison just before 11 p.m. on Friday night and was picked up by his family, according to a statement from his lawyer, Joe Murray.
“Once they arrived, [Santos] walked right out and hopped into their car and drove home,” Murray said.
In a social media post, Trump said Santos, whom he called “somewhat of a ‘rogue,'” had the “Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”
“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which successfully prosecuted Santos, had no comment.
According to the clemency grant, a photo of which was posted on X by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, Trump granted Santos an “immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions.”
An attorney for Santos told ABC News while en route to the federal prison that they expect he will be released Friday night but are waiting for official word.
The attorney said that Martin and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were extremely helpful in getting the commutation across the finish line, and noted that several members of Congress, including Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Tim Burchett, were very aggressive in campaigning for his release.
Santos pleaded guilty to a series of fraud crimes and was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison — the maximum he faced — and two years of supervised release.
The commutation comes days after the South Shore Press published a “passionate plea” from Santos to Trump, in which he expressed his support and asked that the president “allow me the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”
“During my short tenure in Congress, I stood firmly behind your agenda — 100% of the time,” Santos wrote in the letter, published Monday. “I championed policies that strengthened our economy, defended our borders, and restored America’s standing on the world stage. I did it proudly, Sir, because I believed — and still believe — in the mission you set out to accomplish for the American people.”
Santos said in the letter that he was being held in “complete isolation” following an alleged death threat.
“Mr. President, I have nowhere else to turn. You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal. I am asking you now, from the depths of my heart, to extend that same belief to me,” he wrote.
Rep. Greene, who had recently called on Trump to commute Santos’ sentence, thanked the president for doing so on Friday, saying on X that the former congressman was “unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!”
Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024, in which he admitted to claiming relatives had made contributions to his campaign when, in fact, they had not. Santos conceded he was trying to meet the fundraising threshold to qualify for financial help from the National Republican Congressional Committee.
He also stipulated that he committed other fraud, including charging donor credit cards without authorization and convincing donors to give money by falsely stating the money would be used for TV ads. He also stipulated he stole public money by applying for and receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic to which he was not entitled.
As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture.
Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023, just under a year after assuming office to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
His expulsion from Congress followed accusations of ethics violations and other wrongdoing in a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee that claimed he was a fabulist and fraudster who used the prestige of political office to bilk tens of thousands of dollars out of other people.
Several New York House Republicans — who led the charge to expel George Santos from the House — criticized Trump’s commutation.
“George Santos didn’t merely lie — he stole millions, defrauded an election, and his crimes (for which he pled guilty) warrant more than a three-month sentence. He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged,” New York GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents a district on Long Island, said in a post on X.
New York GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who is the current chair of the Homeland Security Committee and sat on the committee that investigated Santos, said in a statement that “less than three months” in prison is “not justice.”
Several House Democrats also condemned Trump’s move.
“Donald Trump has time to free serial fraudster George Santos from prison. But he can’t be bothered to address the Republican healthcare crisis crushing working class Americans. The extremists are insulting you every single day,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a post on X.
