News

News

February 18th, 2026

Mom fatally shoots daughter before taking her own life in Las Vegas hotel after missing cheer competition: cops

A troubled “dance mom” from Utah who was embroiled in a messy custody battle with her ex-husband killed her cheerleader daughter in a Las Vegas hotel room and then turned the gun on herself in a tragic murder-suicide, according to cops.

Addi Smith, 11, was found shot dead alongside her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, 38, at the Rio Hotel & Casino on Sunday with an apparent suicide note after the pair failed to show up for a cheer competition, authorities said.

Police confirmed the mom and daughter were in town for the cheer meet, without giving their names or divulging the contents of the note.

However, Utah Xtreme Cheer later announced that the pre-teen, who lived in Salt Lake City, had “passed away” soon after cops made the grim hotel room discovery.

“With the heaviest hearts, we share the devastating news that our sweet athlete Addi has passed away,” the cheer team said in a statement.

“We are completely heartbroken. No words do the situation justice. She was so beyond loved, and she will always be a part of the UXC family.”

Police believe McGeehan, 38, killed her daughter sometime late Saturday before turning the gun on herself.

Officers and hotel security first went to the mom and daughter’s room at about 10:45 a.m. Sunday, after someone requested a welfare check.

Cause of Death for Viral Activist Shirley Raines, 58, Revealed (Exclusive)

A cause of death has been released for viral activist Shirley Raines.

On Jan. 27, Raines — who was known by millions of followers on social media for distributing food and supplies to the homeless community on Skid Row — was discovered by police “unresponsive” in her home in Henderson, Nev., her twin sister Shelia previously told PEOPLE. Her death was confirmed by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

Raines’s cause of death was hypertensive heart disease, Raines’s daughter Danielle Williams exclusively tells PEOPLE.

Shirley was the founder of Beauty 2 The Streetz, a nonprofit organization that distributes resources to homeless people who live on Skid Row, a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, the size of 50 city blocks, with one of the largest homeless populations in the United States.

8 backcountry skiers found dead and 1 still missing after California avalanche

NEVADA CITY, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say the bodies of eight backcountry skiers have been found and one remains missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reporting an avalanche Tuesday morning. Six others were found alive. Heavy snow and the threat of additional avalanches slowed the rescue effort in the mountains near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe. Authorities have told the families the mission has moved from rescue to recovery. They say the eight victims were found fairly close together, and that three of them were discovered by the skiers who survived.

Transportation Department says more than 550 driving schools must close over safety failures

The federal Transportation Department says more than 550 commercial driving schools in the U.S. that train truckers and bus drivers must close after investigators found they employed unqualified instructors, failed to adequately test students and had other safety issues. The department announced its latest move to improve safety in the trucking industry on Wednesday. Unlike a previous action last fall to decertify up to 7,500 schools that included many defunct operations, this one focused on active schools it said had significant shortcomings. The department has been aggressively going after states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants who shouldn’t have qualified for them ever since a fatal crash in Florida in August.

Billionaire Les Wexner says he was ‘duped’ by adviser Jeffrey Epstein, ‘a world-class con man’

NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) — The billionaire behind the retail empire that once blanketed shopping malls with names such as Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch is telling members of Congress that he was “duped by a world-class con man” — his close financial adviser Jeffrey Epstein. Les Wexner also denies knowing about the convicted sex offender’s crimes or participating in Epstein’s abuse of girls and young women. Wexner’s comments come in a statement submitted to members of the House Oversight Committee. They had subpoenaed him after the latest release of Justice Department documents raised new questions about the relationship. Wexner says that he’s “done nothing wrong” and has “nothing to hide.”

Trump wants his Board of Peace to solve world conflicts. It still has a lot of work to do in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is set to meet for the first time on Thursday in Washington. It’s an early test of whether one of his marquee foreign policy initiatives can gain broad support or advance the shaky ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. Trump’s ballooning ambitions for the board extend from governing and rebuilding Gaza as a futuristic metropolis to challenging the United Nations Security Council’s role in solving conflicts. But they could be tempered by the realities in Gaza, where there has so far been limited progress in achieving the narrower aims of the ceasefire.

Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential run inspired generations to carry his message

The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s two presidential runs and his life of activism inspired leaders across generations. Politicians and activists shared tributes after Jackson’s death Tuesday and said his message still guides their work. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock says Jackson showed him what was possible and pushed him to fight for justice. Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns led Democrats to open up their primary system. That shift helped former President Barack Obama win two decades later. Jackson also mentored young leaders through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Scores of activists, political operatives and members of Congress credited their careers to Jackson.

New Jersey Catholic diocese agrees to $180 million settlement of clergy sexual abuse allegations

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey Catholic diocese this week agreed to a $180 million settlement to resolve allegations of clergy sexual abuse, a figure far exceeding agreements in some large dioceses though still dwarfed by other massive settlements. Bishop Joseph Williams of the Diocese of Camden, covering southern New Jersey and its Philadelphia suburbs, announced the settlement Tuesday in a letter. Greg Gianforcaro, one of the attorneys representing victims suing the diocese, credited survivors’ persistence in reaching the agreement. The New Jersey settlement agreement is more than the roughly $80 million settlements in Boston and Philadelphia. In 2024, the Los Angeles Archdiocese agreed to an $880 million payment.

Envoys signal no breakthrough on bridging Russia and Ukraine’s political and military differences

GENEVA (AP) — The latest U.S.-brokered talks between envoys from Moscow and Kyiv over Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine have ended with no sign of a breakthrough. Both sides said Wednesday the talks were “difficult,” as the war’s fourth anniversary approaches next week. The negotiations in Switzerland were the third round of direct talks organized by the U.S., after meetings earlier this year in Abu Dhabi that officials described as constructive but which also made no major headway. Expectations for significant progress in Geneva were low. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “trying to drag out negotiations” while it presses on with its invasion.

Zuckerberg testifies at trial accusing social media firms of addicting kids to their platforms

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mark Zuckerberg and opposing lawyers dueled in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, where the Meta CEO answered questions about young people’s use of Instagram, his congressional testimony and internal advice he’s received to be “authentic” and not “robotic.” The plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman, is seeking to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap settled.

Shiffrin wins slalom at Olympics, Klaebo takes a record 10th gold and Canada gets OT victory

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin has put in two dominant runs to win the women’s slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds. It ended a run of eight straight Olympic races without a medal for arguably the greatest Alpine skier of all time. Canada avoided what would have been a stunning quarterfinal exit at the Olympics by rallying to beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s golden run continued as the Norwegian cross-country star secured his fifth gold at these Games and a record 10th overall by winning the men’s team sprint. Su Yiming of China won the gold medal in men’s slopestyle snowboarding.

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