Just northwest of Lake Tahoe, eight of the nine skiers that were still trapped under an avalanche were found dead on Wednesday afternoon. The search for the remaining person has turned into a recovery mission more than 24 hours after the collapse buried 15 backcountry skiers under the deadliest avalanche in modern California history. Meanwhile, public comments sent out by an AI-powered advocacy company might’ve led, in part, to a Southern California plan being scrapped that would’ve placed fees on new gas furnaces and water heaters in an effort to cut back on smog-forming pollution. And, it’s a day of celebration for Mikaela Shiffrin, who took gold in slalom. Shiffrin’s the most decorated skier in Olympic history, but failed to medal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. Mikaela Shiffrin is so back. In business, fire survivors in Altadena say connecting to Southern California Edison’s new underground power lines could cost $20,000 to $40,000 per home, and Rivian's shares jumped up after reporting a profitable year despite a broader slowdown in the EV industry. Read more at LATimes.com.
The Daily - ‘Thugs’: The Moderate Democrat Railing Against ICE
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is nobody’s idea of a partisan firebrand. She’s a moderate, swing-state Democrat with a résumé steeped in law enforcement — all of which makes her an unlikely leader of the Democratic-led shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which has now entered its sixth day.
But over the past few months, Senator Cortez Masto said she was horrified by the conduct of federal immigration enforcement agents in her own state and across the country. By last week, she and many of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate decided to act on their outrage.
In an interview with her on “The Daily,” Senator Cortez Masto talks about why she decided to support withholding homeland security funding, the political perils for her party in blocking that funding and why she believes most Americans support the strategy.
Guest: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada
Background reading:
- Democrats and the White House traded offers, but a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security remained elusive.
- A polling memo circulated among centrist senators urged Democrats to talk tougher on crime, while noting an opportunity for the party to appeal to voters with criticism of ICE.
Photo: Eric Lee for The New York Times
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Up First from NPR - Trump’s Board Of Peace, Former Prince Andrew Arrested, Zuckerberg Defends Meta
President Trump convenes the first meeting of his Board of Peace, touting $5 billion in reconstruction pledges for Gaza as Israel gives Hamas 60 days to disarm or face renewed war.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
And Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in the first-ever social media addiction trial, defending accusations that the company knew kids under 13 were using Instagram and built its platforms to hook young users early.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
And Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in the first-ever social media addiction trial, defending accusations that the company knew kids under 13 were using Instagram and built its platforms to hook young users early.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Robbie Griffiths, Miguel Macias, Tina Kraja, Brett Neely, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:56) Trump's Board of Peace
(06:10) Former Prince Andrew Arrested
(08:30) Zuckerberg Defends Meta
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Start Here - Police: Nine Dead in Avalanche
Police believe nine people have died after an avalanche in California. President Trump’s “Board of Peace” prepares to meet in Washington, despite being dismissed by European allies. And as artificial intelligence data centers sprout up in American towns, residents are taken aback by the consequences.
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The Daily Detail - The Daily Detail for 2.19.26
Alabama
- VP Vance endorses Barry Moore in Senate race
- Governor Ivey has bill on desk that reigns in state environmental laws
- AL House to consider bill on CDL requirement that drivers speak English
- AL House GOP caucus elects Paul Lee as next majority leader
- Mobile pastor Travis Johnson says Stadhagen was forced out of his position as majority leader
- A total of 5 arrests have been made in Aliceville re: child Pornography
- Woman of missing 2 year old in Enterprise is charged with false report
National
- President Trump reportedly preparing for US strikes on Iran
- Tucker Carlson detained in Israel after interview, says it was bizarre
- 8 skiers died in avalanche north of Lake Tahoe, CA while 6 were rescued
- ICE agents arrest a child sex predator released in sanctuary state
- Congresswoman Mace believes Jeffrey Epstein was CIA/Mossad agent
First Things Podcast - What Virgil Teaches America (ft. Spencer Klavan)
In this episode, Spencer A. Klavan joins R. R. Reno on The Editor's Desk to talk about his recent essay, “In the Footsteps of Aeneas” from the February 2026 issue of the magazine.
Ologies with Alie Ward - Zoohoplology (ANIMAL DEFENSES) with Ted Stankowich
Barbs. Spurs. Stinks. Scutes. Shrieks. Fashion. Drama. Animal behaviorist, evolutionary biologist, Cal State Long Beach professor, and your new favorite Zoohoplologist, Dr. Ted Stankowich, divulges about putting your dukes up or curling into a ball so you don’t die. Either/or, sometimes both. I went to his lab down at California State Long Beach, for a tour and a chat about armadillos, skunks, pangolins, horned lizards, wombats, coyotes, kit foxes, poodles, porcupines, tigers, deer and the will to keep living.
Visit Dr. Stankowich’s Mammal Lab and follow him on Instagram, Bluesky, and Google Scholar
A donation went to the Pangolin Crisis Fund
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Other episodes you may enjoy: Mammalogy (MAMMALS), Ornithorhynchology (PLATYPUSES), Erethizonology (PORCUPINES), Carnivore Ecology (LIONS, TIGERS, & BEARS), Cervidology (DEER), Myrmecology (ANTS), Paleohistology (WHY TEETH EXIST), Behavioral Ecology (REPRODUCTIVE TRADEOFFS), Screamology (LOUD VOCALIZATIONS), Fearology (FEAR), Vampirology (VAMPIRES)
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What A Day - Don’t Bank On Trump’s Tax Cuts
The IRS has lost tens of thousands of employees since President Donald Trump took office – the result of DOGE, policy differences, last year’s government shutdown, and layoffs. Now that we're in tax season, the agency is asking thousands of untrained employees from other departments to help with taxpayer services. Those job cuts and changes could, at best, slow down your refund. At worst, the IRS could be far less able to stop scammers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is insisting that taxpayers will be getting bigger refunds this year. The problem is, prices on basically everything are still super high – which gives people less of a chance to hold onto that money. And will anyone even remember their tax refunds when they head out to vote in November? For more, we spoke with Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and author of “The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History.”
And in headlines, Arizona Republicans want to send ICE officers to polling places, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in a case weighing if social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, and the Trump administration pushes back against a court order to restore an exhibit on people enslaved by George Washington in Philadelphia.
Show Notes:
- Check out Vanessa's book – brookings.edu/books/the-price-of-democracy/
- Call Congress – 202-224-3121
- Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8
- What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
- Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
- For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Stephen Colbert Vs. CBS
From the hundreds of Washington Post staffers fired, to Anderson Cooper leaving 60 Minutes, to Stephen Colbert and his own network fighting in public, Trump’s return to the White House is transforming legacy media into something less antagonistic to power—but also less capable of fulfilling its own self-described mission.
Guest: Oliver Darcy, journalist behind the Status substack.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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The Stack Overflow Podcast - Why Stack Overflow and Cloudflare launched a pay-per-crawl model
In this episode of Leaders of Code, Stack Overflow’s Janice Manningham and Josh Zhang sit down with Cloudflare VP Will Allen to discuss the innovative pay-per-crawl model co-launched by their organizations. They explore how the rise of AI has disrupted the traditional “open versus block” internet model, creating a need for platforms to protect their content and data from commercial exploitation while maintaining community access.
The discussion also:
- Explores the future of the bot ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of putting publishers back in the driver’s seat to decide how their content is accessed and monetized.
- Explains the technical implementation of the pay-per-crawl system, which uses Cloudflare’s bot categorization and WAF rules to serve a 402 “Payment Required” message to specific crawlers.
- Highlights the strategic value of data licensing, comparing comprehensive enterprise contracts with the more flexible, programmatic pay-per-use access enabled by the new model.
Notes
- Connect with Will Allen, Janice Manningham and Josh Zhang on LinkedIn.
- Learn more about Stack Overflow Data Licensing here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.