Nine backcountry skiers remain missing after a powerful avalanche near Lake Tahoe, as crews race against blizzard conditions. Plus, Capitol Police confronted a man who ran toward the U.S. Capitol with a shotgun after pulling up in a Mercedes. More concerning items were found in his car. And researchers document what appears to be the […]
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Nine backcountry skiers remain missing after a powerful avalanche near Lake Tahoe, as crews race against blizzard conditions.
Plus, Capitol Police confronted a man who ran toward the U.S. Capitol with a shotgun after pulling up in a Mercedes. More concerning items were found in his car.
And researchers document what appears to be the first-ever shark sighting on the Antarctic ocean floor — in near-freezing water more than 1,600 feet deep.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
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9 skiers missing in avalanche near Lake Tahoe as rescue crews battle blizzard conditions
Nine backcountry skiers are missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe. The slide hit near Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, a well-known backcountry destination.
Officials said the region had already seen two to three feet of new snow in recent days, with snowfall at two to four inches per hour when the avalanche struck.
Rescue crews fought whiteout conditions for several hours on Tuesday. Six people were pulled out alive. Two were taken to a local hospital, according Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
Blackbird Mountain guides confirmed the group included both clients and guides.
Search and rescue crews are continuing efforts near Castle Peak in Northern California’s Nevada County after an avalanche was reported late Tuesday morning. Six backcountry skiers survived but 10 remain unaccounted for, authorities said.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said… pic.twitter.com/2uxdPkaADb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 18, 2026
They were headed back to the trailhead after a three-day trip when the slope gave way.
All of this as a major winter storm slams California. The National Weather Service says parts of the Sierra could see up to eight feet of snow over the next 48 hours, with wind gusts near 55 miles per hour.
The sheriff’s office said it will give another update later Wednesday morning.
Armed man in tactical gear arrested near US Capitol
Capitol police have arrested a man they said ran toward the U.S. Capitol with a loaded shotgun. Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Carter Camacho of Georgia.
Officers said Camacho was wearing tactical gear and carrying extra ammunition when they spotted him running toward the Capitol just before noon on Tuesday.
Police moved in quickly, surrounded him and ordered him to drop the weapon.
Chief Michael Sullivan said Camacho complied immediately, and officers took him into custody. They later searched his car, parked nearby, and said they found a Kevlar helmet and a gas mask inside.
Authorities have not identified a motive.
Camacho now faces multiple charges as the investigation continues.
Geneva talks end without deal as Russia and Ukraine remain divided over land and security guarantees
Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. officials wrapped two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Geneva aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Russia’s chief negotiator called the discussions “difficult but businesslike.”
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said there was “meaningful progress” under President Donald Trump’s leadership to “stop the killing.”
The sides met in multiple formats on Tuesday and again on Wednesday for about two hours before concluding this round.
Another round is expected soon.
Kyiv’s tone was more guarded.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the talks as “difficult” and accused Moscow of dragging out negotiations while it continues to occupy roughly 20% of Ukraine.
The core disputes haven’t moved. Russia wants Ukraine to cede the remaining parts of the Donbas region in the east. It’s a demand Kyiv has flatly rejected.
Zelenskyy has said any territorial compromise would require firm Western security guarantees to prevent future invasions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia delegates remain focused on what he called the “main issues” of territory and the demand Moscow has put forward.
Georgia county challenges FBI’s ballot seizure, citing affidavit of routine election errors
Fulton County, Georgia, has accused the Justice Department of misleading a judge to obtain a search warrant for 2020 election ballots seized last month.
In a new court filing, county officials say the FBI omitted key context, including that the claims used to justify the raid had already been investigated. The filing argues that the FBI’s affidavit failed to establish probable cause and “does nothing more than describe the types of human errors that its own sources confirm occur in almost every election — without any intentional wrongdoing whatsoever.”
It also notes that the investigation began with a referral from Kurt Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer now serving in the White House, and has been sanctioned by multiple courts over past election claims.
County officials said the affidavit omitted that history and relied on witnesses they argue lacked election expertise.
The FBI seized the ballots and records in an unannounced raid last month.
A federal judge has already unsealed the warrant material and will hold a hearing next week on the county’s request to have the records returned.
Air Force One gets Trump redesign
Air Force One’s classic Kennedy-era robin’s-egg blue paint scheme is being replaced with a new design in President Trump’s preferred palette: dark navy, deep red and gold.
The distinctive blue and white exterior has characterized the presidential fleet for over 60 years. However, officials have informed CBS News that aircraft undergoing maintenance are now being repainted in the new design.
During his first term, Trump unveiled a model of Air Force One with this exact look. That design was later scrapped under former President Joe Biden.
Now it’s back, sitting in the Oval Office.
The new paint will be applied to the 747-8 jet donated by Qatar, which the air force is refurbishing for presidential use, as well as the two Boeing 747-8s currently being transformed into the next generation of Air Force One under a 2018 contract. This Qatari jet could be ready by this summer.
Straight Arrow News contacted the U.S. Air Force for comment.
Shark spotted in Antarctic waters
A rare sight in one of the coldest places on Earth: a shark swimming in Antarctica.
Researcher Alan Jamieson just released an image he took last year of a sleeper shark, about 10 to 13 feet long, moving along the Antarctic seafloor. That’s highly unusual, as sharks aren’t known to live in waters that cold.
The footage was captured about 1,600 feet below the surface, where the temperature was around 34 degrees.
A shark was caught on camera for the first time in Antarctica’s near-freezing deep, surprising many experts who had thought sharks didn’t exist in the frigid waters. Read more here: pic.twitter.com/EL9ixDXWW0
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 18, 2026
Jamieson, who directs a deep-sea research center in Australia, said he could find no record of a shark ever being documented in the Antarctic Ocean.
One conservation biologist told The Associated Press that warming oceans may be driving some species farther south and that sleeper sharks can survive by feeding on carcasses that sink to the ocean floor, along with squid and other deep-sea life.
More from Straight Arrow News:
What it feels like for Iranian Americans to watch a revolution
Justin Haubrich was born in Oklahoma. But like many first-generation Iranian-Americans, he has kept a watchful eye on the situation unfolding in Iran.
“Because of the political situation and the hostility of the Islamic regime toward religious minorities and dissidents, I have never travelled to Iran,” said Haubrich, a U.S.-based software engineer who has Iranian Zoroastrian heritage. “However, I still feel very connected to my Iranian heritage, and I am saddened by the plight of my people in Iran.”
Protests in Iran have driven Iranian Americans to seek help from U.S. officials in mediating the situation abroad. Iranian Americans told Straight Arrow News they feel a strong connection to their ancestral homeland, even among members of the diaspora who, like Haubrich, were not born in Iran.
Haubrich told SAN that his family, along with many other Iranians, sees the Islamic regime as stripping Iranians of their ancient culture and heritage, such as the right to practice traditional religions.
“The current Islamic regime does not represent Iran or the Iranian people; that is why I do not refer to it as an Iranian regime,” Haubrich said. “The Islamic regime represents a foreign ideology that uses Iran as a resource to fund foreign terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. Iranians are hostages of this regime.” Read the full story now>
