NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. The northeastern U.S. is being pummeled by snow tonight in upstate New York. Many areas have gotten eight inches of snow or more. New York Governor Kathy Hochel has declared an emergency in the affected areas, but she says advanced planning gave crews a headstarts. We are very aggressive about deploying utility crews before a storm hits, so they're pre-positioned, and if they need to activate, they can make sure that we get the power on as soon as humanly possible.

Thousands of flights were canceled, meanwhile, or delayed on Friday because of the storm. In California, meanwhile, the rain is finally slowed, but emergency officials say floodwaters are still rising in some areas, and heavily saturated ground means more landslides are likely. The Tell Your Ride Ski Resort in southwest Colorado will be closing on Saturday less than one month after opening for the winter season. That's because of failed contract negotiations between the ski resort and the local ski patrol union. KOTO's Julia Caulfield has more.

The Telluride Ski Resort, known as TELSki, will be closing just in time for the small mountain community's busiest week of the winter when an estimated 9 to 10,000 visitors are in town per day between Christmas and the new year. The privately owned ski company has been in contract negotiations with the local ski patrol union since June. Telski says their contract offer is, quote, generous and market leading. Ski Patrol, on the other hand, argues it doesn't provide a livable wage. the expensive resort town. While Telski's owner is placing the blame for the shutdown on ski patrol, union representatives say the ski company would rather close the mountain than give them

a fair contract. For NPR news, I'm Julia Culfield in Telluride. More people have died in ice custody this year than in any year since 2005. But as NPR's Martin Costi reports, the cause of that increase isn't clear. The number of people held by ice at any one time has ballooned. Right now, it's about 66,000. That's 70% higher than when President Trump. took office. But deaths have gone up more to about 30 for the year compared to 11 in 2024. At Syracuse University, Austin Coker studies the immigration enforcement system and he's troubled by some clusters of deaths. I'm concerned that the rapid increase in the detained population at specific detention centers is creating the preconditions for more immigrants

to have medical emergencies and ultimately to die while they're in ICE custody. ICE says in custody deaths this year, quote, average less than 1 percent. This is the lowest in history, unquote, but it does not explain how that figure was calculated. Martin Costi, NPR News. Stocks closed slightly lower on Friday as investors returned from their Christmas holidays. The S&P 500, the Dow and the NASDAQ, all fell less than one-tenth of a percent in light trading. Treasury yields held steady, while U.S. crude oil fell 2.8%. Golden silver prices, meanwhile, continued to rise with silver finishing the day up almost 8%.

This is NPR News. Police say at least two people have been killed in northern Israel and two others wounded in a car-ramming and stabbing attack. Officials say a Palestinian man first crashed his vehicle into people in the northern city of Bayet-Shin and killed a 68-year-old man. He then fled onto a highway where he stabbed a teenage woman to death and injured one other person. The alleged attacker has been hospitalized with injuries. Musician Perry Bumante has died. For decades, he played bass, guitar, and killed. keyboard in the seminal goth band, The Cure. NPR's, and Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has this remembrance.

Perry Bimante was a rowdy and guitar tech for The Cure for years before he became a full-time member of the band in 1990. He played keyboard and six-string bass on several albums, including the 1992 commercial hit, Wish. Bimante parted ways with The Cure in 2005, but he reunited with his bandmates in recent years. He performed his last concert with the group in the fall of 2024. The cure shared the news of Bimante's death on its website, writing that he was, quote, quiet, intense, intuitive, constant, and hugely creative. Isabella Gomez-Armiento and PR News.

The traditional ball drop on New Year's Eve will also mark the start of the nation's 250th birthday year. Once the ball hits the bottom, marking the start of the new year, it will rise again, but this time sparkling in red, white, and blue. Officials say there will also be a second confetti drop. Another ball drop is planned for July 3rd, the first one not on New Year's Eve in 120 years. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com.

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