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Police hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO's masked killer after 'brazen, targeted' attack on NYC street

PALISADES TAHOE SKI RESORT — At midnight, a slender moon hangs above the snowy Sierra Nevada, casting only a faint glow on a sheer cliff and the dark canyon below. But snowcat operator “Bandit” Ferrante has laser-guided vision, measuring snow depth 150 feet ahead and to each side to sculpt the slopes with precision. By dawn, crowds will start arriving to ski and ride the weekend’s fresh powder. “These advancements are changing the way we do things,” said Ferrante, 36, who drives a new $400,000 German-made PistenBully rig with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to prepare the trails. “I see exactly where we’re going, and what’s going on.” After two winters of heavy snow, the snowfall so far this winter has been sporadic. While Mother Nature is always fickle, climate change could create less reliable snow, spelling hardship for the businesses and mountain communities that depend on storms for their economic survival. So resorts seek to make and protect each precious flake. Big corporations running Palisades, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Mammoth Mountain have made major investments, worth many millions of dollars, in what’s dubbed “snow management.” With some daily lift tickets exceeding $250, the resorts seek to deliver a dependable high-end experience. Initially just farm tractors on tracks, snowcats have evolved into machines of design, detailed craftsmanship and computer-driven tools. Inside the warmth of his cab, with a chatty podcast for company, Ferrante monitors a computer screen with color-coded snow depths, guiding him on where to push and pull snow for the best coverage. Its SNOWsat LiDAR remote sensing technology uses laser pulses to measure snow depth. With accuracy to within an inch, it can construct perfect snowboard half-pipes or World Cup ski race terrain. The joystick that directs the 12-ton machine is smooth, responsive and comfortable to grasp. The blade shifts in 17 different directions, with wings to shovel the snow. With a sensor that detects incline, the powerful tiller automatically rises and falls when routes get steep. It’s turned a once lonely and tedious task into a skill-driven profession. “You keep learning new things,” said Ferrante, a South Lake Tahoe native with nearly 20 years of resort experience. A tidy tattoo — a snowcat control stick — adorns his neck. At competitive “Groomer Games” every spring, representatives of all California ski resorts gather to test their expertise by pushing a golf ball through a maze. Innovations in snow-making tools — such as the $40,000 Super PoleCat — perform alchemy, mixing massive drafts of water, air and electricity to cover miles of runs. Some have built-in automated weather stations. Snowcats maximize the efficiency of snowmaking. Some are simple utility vehicles, hauling things around the mountain. Others are “trooper carriers,” moving ski patrollers. “Dig rigs” have backhoes to excavate buried equipment. A few have forks, for installing fences and seats on race days. The smallest cats are adroit at digging out chairlifts and clearing sidewalks. “You use the right tool for the right job,” said Brendan Gibbons, director of snow surface at Palisades Tahoe. The most prized snowcats at Palisades are the new LiDAR-equipped machines. They are leading the fleets that are racing across the resort this weekend to groom freshly fallen powder, sending information by cell signal to the less well-equipped machines. Until recently, snowcats relied on GPS to measure snow depth; the technology knows how high the machine is sitting above the ground. But this tool offers a limited view of what’s directly under the rig and front blade, not what lies ahead. “It was a great start to this technology, but it only allowed us to see how deep the snow is where we’ve been, and where we are,” said Gibbons. “LIDAR shows us what the snow is before we get to it.” LiDAR also measures the volume of piles of manmade snow, helping guide its use. The tool is already in use in research and government agencies to study snow from the air. It helps water districts measure future water reserves. It can identify avalanche danger. Related Articles Mexico study’s surprising finding: Killer heat hit harder for the young than the elderly World’s oldest-known wild bird lays an egg in Hawaii at age 74 Blue states prepare for battle over Trump’s environmental rollbacks Seven states’ Colorado River negotiators, all at same conference, didn’t meet together: “Tensions are extremely high” EPA hails ‘revitalized’ enforcement efforts as Biden administration heads to exit It works by sending out up to 200,000 laser pulses per second. Then it measures the time of flight — how long it takes the laser to hit the snow and bounce back to the instrument. It calculates distance by using the known speed of light and the time it takes the laser to travel. In the summer, LiDAR builds a digital model of the bare terrain. In the winter, Bandit and other “night crawlers” creep along the mountain’s cold contours, taking snow measurements. Managers study the freshly updated maps on their phones, then strategize a nighttime plan based on weather, wind, melting and skier traffic. After a long day of wear and tear, LiDAR helps “clean up the holes, remove the moguls and return the slope back to a nice, perfect skiing surface,” said Brian Demarest, SNOWsat manager for Kassbohrer All Terrain Vehicles in Reno, which sells PistenBully (“trail worker,” loosely translated, in German). Snowcats no longer lurch and rock. An eight-hour shift “is like driving to L.A.,” said Gibbons. The snowcat’s taco-shaped blade can turn in 17 different directions. On each side of the blade is a wing that shoves the snow left or right. Its weight compresses the snow as it rolls, squeezing out dangerous air pockets and creating a more firm surface. Each track works independently, so the rig can pivot. Cleats add traction. In the back is a spinning barrel with teeth, which chews up the snow. The barrel’s spin speed is adjustable, influencing how much the flakes heat up and bind to each other. A comb, also adjustable, drags behind to deposit rows of perfect corduroy. Grooming is still dangerous, with peril on slippery and avalanche-prone slopes. One recent winter, when winds hit 192 mph gusts, machines skidded on ice. Ferrante arrives at Palisades in mid-afternoon from his home in Garnerville, Nevada, to get his assignment for the night’s “swing shift.” When he’s done, he’ll hand it off to a colleague on the graveyard shift that grooms until the lifts open. By 5 a.m., he’s in bed. “I don’t get lonely,” said Ferrante, who drinks a thermos of black tea to stay alert. Food can be heated by the exhaust pipe. Throughout the long night hours, operators coordinate with each other, traveling together when there’s avalanche danger. A winch can help secure a machine, allowing it to work on steep slopes. Ferrante sees coyotes, deer, porcupines, and occasional bear. One crew saw migrating ducks fall from the sky, lost in a storm. His crew started the season with “track packing” to compress November’s snow. Now, with the arrival of a new storm, he’ll push snow into rigid “wind rows,” like fences, to catch blowing drifts; later teams will smooth them out. Post-storm priorities are roads, then ramps, then runs. His discipline, largely unrecognized by resort visitors, is building the foundation for a whole season of sport. “There is a ‘skill ceiling’ that’s infinite,” said Ferrante. “You’re never going to be the very best. You’re never going to figure it all out.”

Lisa Wareham is a photographer whose “time travel” photos are the perfect combination of historic Butte scenes intertwined with present day. She produces these contrasting images “because the beating heart of the people and the places are the same,” the photographer said on her website. A folk artist, Peg Amtzis spends her days with her brushes and bright-colored acrylic paints to bring Butte’s past and present unique architecture and landmarks to light. Amtzis has yet to run out of subjects to put on canvas. “There’s such a variety of Butte architecture,” said Amtzis. “All the older neighborhoods are all different.” Her work includes original paintings and canvases, along with vivid Butte postcards. Peg Amtzis, left, and Lisa Wareham sit for a portrait inside of Wareham's photography studio on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Uptown Butte. The women decided to band together for the Uptown Butte Christmas Stroll this coming Friday, and the two are gearing up for a fun and festive night. Wareham’s gallery at 102 W. Granite St., will be the backdrop where the two women will showcase their individual talents. With art deco Christmas décor set up throughout the store, along with food and beverages being served, the women are looking forward to the event. “Let’s have a party,” said Amtzis. “It’s going to be fun.” Despite their chosen professions, the women didn’t meet until a year ago, when both were invited to feature their works at the Gold Rush Art Gallery in Huntsville, Utah. That’s not to say they hadn’t heard about each other. The two were both featured in Montana Technological University’s M News in the spring of 2022. Amtzis was commissioned in 2021 to create a collage of the Montana Tech campus, which included the statue of Marcus Daly, Alumni Coliseum, and the Big M, just to name a few. The finished product was displayed on the front cover of M News magazine. Peg Amtzis, left, and Lisa Wareham stand for a portrait outside of Wareham's photography studio on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Uptown Butte. Inside the magazine, Wareham’s work, “Montana Tech Main Hall and Band —Butte, Montana” was unveiled. Besides a band of musicians from the past, female students from decades ago stand on nearby steps, and a photograph of Montana Tech is never complete without an image of the Big M. At the Utah gallery, Wareham and Amtzis hit it off immediately and as the professional artists got to know each other better, they realized they had much in common. Neither was born and raised in Butte, and yet both chose the mining town as their home. Wareham spent her formative years in Spearfish, South Dakota, and moved with her family to the Butte area when she was 12. Lisa Wareham melds modern day Uptown Butte with the gigantic elk that once stood at Main and Broadway. The 62-foot statue was courtesy of the Butte Elks and was erected in 1916, just in time for the Montana State Elks Convention. As she headed off to college at the University of Idaho, the photographer recalled making the conscious decision to never move back. She had big plans and would complete her education at Missoula’s Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Well, even the best-laid plans can veer off in another direction. Wareham met her future husband, Robert Edwards, who convinced her to move back to Butte. It was Edwards, Wareham said, who convinced her to start her own photography studio. The photographer, who also specializes in studio photography and scenery shots, has zero regrets about coming back to Butte. She got the guy and found her niche. And, although it would take several years, she eventually succeeded in her chosen profession. Years ago, the Butte-Silver Bow Archives housed not historic records and artifacts, but the crew of the Butte Fire Department. In this "time travel" photograph, Lisa Wareham included past and present firemen, along with their trucks. In 2017, the Butte-Silver Bow Archives commissioned artists to use photographs from the C. Owen Smithers collection to create their own unique piece of work. Using her “time travel” theme for only the second time, Wareham submitted “Main Street: Layers of Time.” Amtzis, who grew up in the agricultural town of Belfry, Montana, lived most of her adult life with Howard, her husband of 43 years, in the mountains near Helena. Although she got a full-ride scholarship to Northwest Community College in Powell, Wyoming, where she earned her art degree, she spent much of her adult life as a hairdresser and later, a home health aide. Using vivid colors, Peg Amtzis captured the detailed architecture of the Carpenters Union Hall, which was erected in 1904. It wasn’t until she was in her 50s that she would resume her passion for painting, and she has not looked back. Years later, when it was time to retire, Amtzis and her husband decided to head down to Arizona and enjoy the warmer weather. They quickly realized that Arizona was not for them. “We did not fit in,” laughed Amtzis. Like Wareham, Amtzis veered in a new direction as she and her husband packed their bags, left Arizona, and decided to retire to Butte. The Mother Lode Theatre celebrated 100 years of entertainment this past September. The colorful artwork by Peg Amtzis also featured vintage automobiles, along with the trolley car. Amtzis has no regrets, either. For the artists, banding together for the Christmas stroll seemed to be a natural progression of their friendship. “My art complements her work and hers complements mine,” said Amtzis. Peg Amtzis, left, and Lisa Wareham stand for a portrait outside of Wareham's photography studio on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Uptown Butte. The Uptown Butte Christmas Stroll begins at 5 p.m. on Friday. The evening includes the tree lighting ceremony at 6:30 p.m. at the Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse, 155 W. Granite St., followed by the Children's Light Parade at 6:45 p.m. Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

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The Gophers football program has added a second receiver commitment in two days via the NCAA transfer portal. Nebraska transfer Malachi Coleman pledged to Minnesota on Tuesday and will have three years of eligibility at the U. “Let’s rock,” he posted on social media. Coleman was a top 70 recruit in the nation out of Lincoln (Neb.) East in the class of 2023, but didn’t play much in 2024. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Coleman played in only one game in 2024, using his redshirt season. As a true freshman in 2023, Coleman had eight receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown. In 2023, he received an average grade out 58.0 by Pro Football Focus and was primarily a split receiver for 332 out of 335 total offensive snaps. Coleman follows two other wideouts to Minnesota: Logan Loya (UCLA) on Monday and Jaovn Tracy (Miami of Ohio) on Dec. 15.Blome inaugurates Lincoln Corner in Lahore Envoy says Lincoln Corner at Quaid-e-Azam Library signifies commitment to mutual respect between people of US and Pakistan LAHORE: US Ambassador Donald Blome, alongside Consul General Kristin Hawkins, inaugurated Pakistan’s newest Lincoln Corner at the historic Quaid-e-Azam Library in Lahore. This space marks a new chapter in the US Mission’s ongoing efforts to strengthen ties between the United States and Pakistan, with a focus on youth empowerment and educational exchange. The Lincoln Corners, established in collaboration between the US Mission to Pakistan and select local institutions, serve as dynamic hubs for learning, innovation, and cultural exchange. They offer young Pakistanis access to invaluable resources that foster leadership skills, cross-cultural understanding, and the knowledge to address both local and global challenges. The Lincoln Corner at Quaid-e-Azam Library is poised to become a beacon of opportunity for students, educators, and aspiring leaders in Lahore and beyond. Ambassador Blome, during his inaugural remarks, emphasised the significance of the new facility in promoting mutual respect and understanding between the two nations. “This dynamic Lincoln Corner at Quaid-e-Azam Library signifies a continued commitment to fostering understanding and mutual respect between the people of the United States and Pakistan,” said Ambassador Blome. “It is an investment in Pakistan’s bright and talented youth.” The new centre is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including 3D printing tools, as well as access to more than 40,000 academic journals and periodicals through the eLibraryUSA research databases. The facility also boasts an extensive collection of books and a wide range of digital resources, ensuring students have access to the latest materials in education and innovation. The Lincoln Corner will provide students with vital information on US study-abroad opportunities, helping them navigate the complex world of international higher education. It will also host a variety of workshops, seminars, and events aimed at building skills and expanding global networks. The US Mission worked closely with the Punjab Public Libraries, including Director General Kashif Manzoor, to bring this project to fruition. With this new Lincoln Corner, the US Mission continues its commitment to fostering educational exchanges and providing young Pakistanis with the tools they need to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world.

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Daniel Clancy, CEO of Twitch, has addressed growing concerns from streamers about declining ad revenue on their channels, shedding light on the platform's approach to advertisers and content. Clancy responded during the December 4 Patch Notes broadcast to a viewer’s query about reduced ad revenue on channels they moderate, particularly during the holiday season. His explanation highlighted recent updates to Twitch’s advertising policies. In November, Twitch implemented new labels for political content and streams addressing sensitive social issues, a topic Clancy elaborated on in his remarks. “There’s been a lot of confusion around this recently... a big thing that we need to do with advertisements is make sure we’re running ads against content that the advertisers want their content run against.” He explained that some advertisers had expressed concerns about being associated with sensitive or political content, which led to adjustments in how ads were placed. “For a period of time, there were a number [of advertisers] that were expressing concerns around being shown up near sensitive subjects in politics, and so we had reduced the ads there.” “Some people that were doing stuff around politics and sensitive social issues may have seen a reduction, because some advertisers weren’t running ads there.”

All three major US stock indexes scored record closing highs on Wednesday as technology shares rallied after upbeat results from Salesforce and as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave a late boost to the market. or signup to continue reading The economy is stronger than it appeared in September when the central bank began cutting interest rates, allowing policymakers to potentially be a little more cautious in reducing rates further, Powell said at a New York Times event. Powell's comments overall along with a Fed economic activity report added to the upbeat tone in the market, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. The Fed said in a summary of surveys and interviews from across the country known as the "Beige Book" that US economic activity has expanded slightly in most regions since early October. Powell "was very upbeat about economy, and he said we're making progress on inflation ... that's good news for stocks in general," Cardillo said. Investors expect a third consecutive interest-rate cut at the central bank's December 17-18 meeting. Salesforce jumped 11 per cent and hit an all-time high after the enterprise cloud company beat analyst estimates for third-quarter revenue and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast. Other cloud companies also advanced. The S&P 500 technology index hit a record closing high, along with the communication services and consumer discretionary indexes. Also in the tech space, Marvell Technology rallied 23.2 per cent and also hit a record high after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analyst estimates. An index of semiconductors rose 1.7 per cent, while Nvidia was up 3.5 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308.91 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 45,014.44, the S&P 500 gained 36.59 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 6,086.47 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 254.21 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 19,735.12. Investors eagerly await monthly US jobs data due on Friday and jobless claims data on Thursday. Earlier Wednesday, US private payrolls data showed a modest increase in November. Separately, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed US services sector activity slowed in November after big gains in recent months. The final reading of the S&P services survey was revised lower to 56.1. "Recent economic data has pretty much confirmed the Fed will cut rates in December," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York. Friday's jobs report is "like the granddaddy of employment reports this week," he said. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 367 new highs and 79 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,372 stocks rose and 1,930 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.23-to-1 ratio. Volume on US exchanges was 13.06 billion shares, compared with the 14.89 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement

Sen Schmitt: Hegseth denied misconduct allegations