Another storm hitting Midwest, East Coast as Mid-Atlantic digs out from major snowfall
ABC News Illustration
(NEW YORK) — As the Mid-Atlantic digs out from a significant snowstorm, a new winter storm is underway in the Plains that will move through the Midwest before reaching the East Coast.
On Wednesday morning, the second storm is hitting Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.
The storm will reach Chicago later in the morning, dropping 4 to 6 inches of snow.
An ice storm warning has been issued for Toledo, Ohio, where ice accumulation could cause power outages.
The storm will move into the Northeast on Wednesday evening, bringing mostly rain to the Interstate 95 corridor and an icy mix to New England and upstate New York.
On the southern end of the storm, heavy rain could bring flash flooding from Louisiana to North Carolina.
Strong tornadoes are possible in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
This comes after another snowstorm walloped the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday.
Virginia recorded more than 14 inches of snow and West Virginia recorded 13 inches. Trees are toppling in Virginia due to the coating of snow and ice and over 170,000 customers in the state are without power on Wednesday morning.
Public schools are closed on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., where there’s more than 6 inches of snow on the ground.
Philadelphia saw 2.6 inches of snow and New York City saw 1.4 inches.
Washington D.C. police search a car outside the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, Jan. 27, 2025. (Briana Stewart/ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — A person claiming to have a Molotov cocktail and a knife was stopped on the East Plaza outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday, according to Capitol Police.
The individual is in custody for unlawful activities, police said.
About a dozen Capitol Police vehicles, including armored vehicles, swarmed the scene. Officers from the Capitol Police and bomb squad are also outside the nearby Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building.
This incident comes one week after a security breach at the Capitol. Last week, a Massachusetts man was found to be carrying a gun after attending a tour of the Capitol as he left the nearby Library of Congress, according to police.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEWPORT, Ore.) — Several officials in Lincoln County, Oregon have received an anonymous letter urging people to report “brown folks” they suspect are undocumented immigrants, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office recently learned about a letter being circulated throughout Lincoln County which encourages community members to track and report information regarding people of color, specifically community members that are believed to be undocumented,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook.
“We want to be unequivocal in our stance: this type of behavior is harmful, divisive, and inconsistent with the values we uphold as public servants and community members,” continued the post, signed by Sheriff Curtis Landers. “Targeting individuals in this manner erodes trust and undermines the sense of safety and inclusion that we strive to maintain in Lincoln County.”
The anonymous letter, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, is riddled with typos and makes various threats against undocumented immigrants.
State and local officials have condemned the letter.
“Attempts to intimidate our communities and their leaders through racist letter-writing campaigns has no place in Oregon, and we will continue to stand together in opposition to those who seek to divide us,” said Oregon State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum in a statement, adding that the state is an “open, welcoming, and safe for all individuals.”
“It is time to rise above these despicable tactics and demonstrate the true spirit of inclusivity and compassion that defines the Oregon way,” Rosenblum continued.
Toledo, Oregon Mayor Rod Cross announced at a Dec. 18 city council meeting that he had received the letter, bearing an invalid return address, a few days prior. That letter, obtained by ABC News, warns that in the latter part of January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security will begin “the largest round-up of brown illegals in our history.”
“I am livid because I don’t know if history is just not getting taught anymore or if the memories of my father and his generation have just been wiped out of existed but this is not America,” Mayor Cross said at the city council meeting. “This is not who we are.”
President-elect Donald Trump made campaign statements in which he vowed to conduct a large-scale deportation operation of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission. Though the anonymous letter refers to a “round-up of brown illegals,” it does not reference Trump or his past statements.
Sheriff Landers told ABC News he also received a copy of the letter in his personal PO box. He added that although the speech in the letter may not constitute a crime, he has notified the FBI for awareness. He said the mayor of Lincoln City, as well as several city council members. also received the letter.
In his Facebook statement, Sheriff Landers also stated that “Oregon law generally prohibits the inquiry or collection of an individual’s immigration or citizenship status, or country of birth, with few specific exceptions” defined by law.
“Consistent with this, the Sheriff’s Office does not inquire about, document, or share such information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” Landers’ statement continued. “These provisions are embedded in our policy manual and are essential to ensuring that our practices respect the rights and dignity of all individuals.”
According to the Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon became the first in the country to pass a statewide sanctuary law in 1987, which in part prohibits state and local law enforcement and government offices from “[participating] directly or indirectly in immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.”
Emergency units respond to airplane wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided with a helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Fourteen figure skaters — including some young athletes called the “rising stars” of the sport — are among the victims of the first major commercial plane crash in the United States since 2009, officials said.
The Skating Club of Boston was devastated by the crash, according to Doug Zeghibe, the club’s CEO and executive director, who said six of the victims were from the Boston club, including two coaches, two teenage athletes and two moms of athletes.
“Our sport and this club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” Zeghibe said. “Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together six or seven days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family. We are devastated and completely at a loss for words.”
Zeghibe identified the skaters from the Skating Club of Boston as Jinna Ha and Spencer Lane. Ha’s mother, Jin Han, and Lane’s mother, Christine Lane, were also on board.
He identified the two coaches as Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. The two were 1994 World Pair Champions who joined the club in 2017, Zeghibe said.
“Six is a horrific number for us but we’re fortunate and grateful it wasn’t more than six,” Zeghibe said. “This will have long reaching impacts for our skating community.”
The figure skaters and coaches were returning from a training camp held in conjunction with the recent U.S. national championships in Wichita, Kansas. They were aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening, officials said. No survivors were expected in the crash, officials said Thursday. There were 64 people aboard the plane and three in the helicopter, according to officials.
Natalya Gudin, the wife of Alexandr Kirsanov, a coach of two youth ice skaters on board the flight, said she has “lost everything” in the crash. Gudin, also a skating coach, decided to stay home in Delaware while Kirsanov flew to Kansas for the development camp. She says she spoke with her husband as he boarded the flight on Wednesday.
“I lost my husband, I lost my students, I lost my friends,” Gudin told ABC News. “I need my husband back. I need his body back.”
The University of Delaware said Sasha Kirsanov, a former figure skating club coach, was also on the airplane, along with two young skaters who were also members of the club.
“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all of the victims of this horrible tragedy,” said President of the University of Delaware Dennis Assanis.
The U.S. Figure Skating community has been struck by tragedy in a plane crash before. An entire U.S. figure skating team died in a plane crash on Feb. 15, 1961. The plane, Sabena Flight 548, was carrying the team to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Along with the team, 16 family members, coaches and friends of the skaters died in the crash.
“Like today, 1961 was a tragic moment, it was the day the music stopped, very much like this,” said longtime member of the Skating Club of Boston Paul George during a Thursday press conference. “It was a very vivid reminder of 1961. My wife tapped me on the shoulder at 6:30 (a.m.) and told me, much as my father had done 64 years ago at about the same time of day.”
Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano told ABC News he knew the two Russian skating coaches, Naumov and Shishkova, and had handed the fourth-place award to the pair’s son at the U.S. championships in Wichita last weekend.
“We are a really close-knit community. The skaters — we are all connected. So when something happens to one of us, it reverberates through everyone.”
The U.S. figure skating world has emerged from the shadows of tragedy before, he said.
“From the 1961 plane crash, we did rise from that,” Boitano said, adding “It took years to build.”
During a press conference Thursday, Olympic medalist and renowned figure skater Nancy Kerrigan fought back tears as she explained the impact of the crash on the skating community, urging others to “tell people around you that you love them, because you just never know.”
“Skating teaches you the main lesson in life: You get back up,” Kerrigan said. “Even when it’s hard, even when you’re crying, even when you’re hurt. And that’s what we all have to do now — together.”
Oklahoma City figure skating coach Jackie Brenner was in Wichita with the skaters, coaches and officials who later boarded the flight.
“I was there on Sunday at a coaching workshop, which was the first day of U.S. figure skating development camp as they were coming into their two days of training,” Brenner said. The camp draws the sport’s “rising stars,” she said.
“That’s our next generation for U.S. figure skating,” she told ABC News, adding, “You can just imagine how devastated U.S. figure skating community is.”
CEO of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sarah Hirshland said the young skaters who were lost “represented the bright future of Team USA, embodying the very essence of what it means to represent our country — perseverance, resilience and hope.”
“They were remarkable young people and talents, passionately pursuing their dreams, and they will forever hold a cherished place in the Team USA family,” Hirshland said in a statement. “We extend our sincerest condolences during this unimaginable time.”
The last commercial plane crash in the U.S. happened on Feb. 12, 2009, when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed during landing near Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 people onboard.
