Category: Sacramento, California Local News

WASHINGTON — Actor Eric Dane, known for his roles in “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria,” has died less than a year after announcing his ALS diagnosis. He was 53 years old.

His representatives said Dane died Thursday from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known also as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world,” said a statement that requested privacy for his family. “Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight. He will be deeply missed, and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he’s received.”

Dane was known for his “Grey’s Anatomy” role as Mark “McSteamy” Sloan, the role of Cal Jacobs in “Euphoria” and the lead role in Max’s “The Last Ship.” 

He was diagnosed with ALS in April 2025. He told People at the time, “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”

Dane was born on Nov. 9, 1972, and raised in California. His father, a Navy man, died of a gunshot wound when he was 7. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles to purse acting, landing guest roles on shows like “Saved by the Bell,” “Married … With Children,” “Charmed” and “X-Men: the Last Stand,” and one season of the short-lived medical drama “Gideon’s Crossing.”

His big break arrived in the mid-2000s, when he was cast as Dr. Mark Sloan, a.k.a. McSteamy, on the ABC medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” a role he would play from 2006 until 2012 and reprise in 2021. In 2019, he did a complete 180 and became Cal Jacobs, a troubled married man, in HBO’s provocative drama, “Euphoria,” a role he continued in up until his death.

Dane also starred as Tom Chandler, the captain of a U.S. Navy destroyer at sea after a global catastrophe wiped out most of the world’s population, in the TNT drama “The Last Ship.” In 2017, production was halted as Dane battled depression.

Dane is survived by his wife, actor Rebecca Gayheart, and their two teen daughters, Billie Beatrice and Georgia Geraldine. Gayheart and Dane wed in 2004 and separated in September 2017. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018, but later filed to dismiss the petition. In a December essay for New York magazine’s The Cut reflecting on Dane’s diagnosis, Gayheart called their dynamic “a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people.” She said they never got a divorce, but dated other people and lived separately.

ALS is a disease with no cure that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to the Mayo Clinic. ALS causes loss of muscle control and gets worse with time. When voluntary muscle action is impacted, “people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe,” according to the ALS Association. 

Its exact cause is still not known and anyone at any age can be diagnosed with ALS.

Other notable people who have been diagnosed with ALS include Stephen Hawking, American professional baseball player Lou Gehrig, American football player Eric Stevens, musician Roberta Cleopatra Flack and more. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OXFORD, UK — The former Prince Andrew has been released after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The Thames Valley Police force said the former prince was released Thursday evening. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed in a car leaving the station near his home in eastern England about 11 hours after his arrest.

He was released under investigation, meaning he has neither been charged nor exonerated.

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested early Thursday at his home by detectives investigating his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein. Police said they had finished searching Mountbatten-Windsor’s home but were still searching another property.

It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years.

King Charles III, whose late mother lived by the motto “never complain, never explain,” took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the arrest of his brother.

“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,’’ the king said. “As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.’’

Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, moved to the king’s private estate in Norfolk after he was evicted from his longtime home near Windsor Castle earlier this month.

Police previously said they were “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent trade information to Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender, in 2010, when the former prince was Britain’s special envoy for international trade. Correspondence between the two men was released by the U.S. Justice Department late last month along with millions of pages of documents from the American investigation into Epstein.

“Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,’’ Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in a statement.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time,” he added.

Police also said they were searching two properties.

Earlier in the day, pictures circulated online that appeared to show unmarked police cars at Wood Farm, Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, with plainclothes officers gathering outside.

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his association with Epstein.

The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the prince in 2001, when she was just 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.

Still, Giuffre’s family praised the arrest, saying that their “broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.”

The family added: “He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”

“This is the most spectacular fall from grace for a member of the royal family in modern times,” said Craig Prescott, a royal expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, who compared it in severity to the crisis sparked by Edward VIII’s abdication to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

“And it may not be over yet,’’ Prescott added.

Thursday’s arrest came a day after the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it had created a coordination group to assist forces across the U.K. that are assessing whether Epstein and his associates committed crimes in Britain. In addition to the concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor ’s correspondence, documents released by the U.S. suggest Epstein may have used his private jet to traffic women to and from Britain.

The documents also rocked British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to fight off questions about his judgment after the papers revealed that Peter Mandelson, the man he appointed ambassador to the U.S., had a longer and closer relationship with Epstein than was previously disclosed.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service has said it is investigating allegations of misconduct in public office related to Mandelson’s own correspondence with Epstein. Mandelson was fired as ambassador to the U.S. in September.

But it is Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Epstein that brought the scandal to the doors of Buckingham Palace and threatened to undermine support for the monarchy.

The last time a senior British royal was arrested was almost 400 years ago during the reign of King Charles I that saw a growing power struggle between the crown and Parliament.

After the king attempted to arrest lawmakers in the House of Commons in 1642, hostilities erupted into the English Civil War, which ended with victory for the parliamentary forces of Oliver Cromwell.

Charles I was arrested, tried, convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1649.

Modern concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Epstein have dogged the royal family for more than a decade.

The late Queen Elizabeth II forced her second son to give up royal duties and end his charitable work in 2019 after he tried to explain away his friendship with Epstein during a catastrophic interview with the BBC.

But as concern mounted about what the Epstein files might reveal, the king moved aggressively to insulate the royal family from the fallout.

Since October, Charles has stripped his younger brother of the right to be called prince, forced him to move out of the royal estate he occupied for more than 20 years and issued a public statement supporting the women and girls abused by Epstein.

Last week, the palace said it was ready to cooperate with police investigating Mountbatten-Windsor.

Charles was forced to act after Mountbatten-Windsor’s correspondence with Epstein torpedoed the former prince’s claims that he severed ties with the financier after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Instead, emails between the two men show Epstein offering to arrange a date between Mountbatten-Windsor and a young Russian woman in 2010, and the then-prince inviting Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace.

Additional correspondence appears to show Mountbatten-Windsor sending Epstein reports from a two-week tour of Southeast Asia that he undertook in 2010 as Britain’s trade envoy.

CALIFORNIA, USA — With the winter storm that began over the weekend, Northern California faces school closures Thursday in addition to road closures, traffic delays, chain controls and more.

According to the transportation department of Black Oak Mine Unified School District, they say they cannot get buses out on Thursday due to the winter storm. Classes and school will be closed on Thursday. 

Bret Harte Union High School announced all transportation services through the school will not be offered due to the unsafe travel conditions above Murphys and including Forest Meadows. 

Students who cannot make it to school will be excused if their parents contact the attendance office according to Bret Harte Transportation. 

The Calaveras Unified School District said Thursday there will be no school for West Point Elementary and Mokelumne Hill Elementary. 

There are also multiple bus cancellations for routes 13, 14, 16, 17, and 35, as well as the 8th-grade CHS field trip and parent night. 

The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District said Thursday will be a snow day for all of its district schools.

The Nevada County Office of Emergency Services said the following schools will have an early release Tuesday due to weather conditions:

• Chicago Park: 11:00 a.m.
• Penn Valley: Noon
• Nevada City Schools: 12:10 p.m. 
• Union Hill: 12:30 p.m.
• Grass Valley Schools: 12:30 p.m.
• Nevada Union High School District: 12:45 p.m.

The Grass Valley School District wrote in Facebook post on Tuesday that it had made the decision to close early, timing the early closure with the forecasted break in the weather to maximize safety.

“Apologies to everyone for the call this morning as weather forecasting at 5:30a.m., when we make the call to have school or not, was much different,” GVSD officials said in the post. “We are closing all programs and activities scheduled for today after school as well and this includes after school care.”

The Gold Oak Union School District’s schools will be closed on Tuesday due to “snow arriving earlier than expected,” the district shared on social media. 

Unsafe travel and power outages in the area caused district leaders to close the schools for the day.

As the weather develops, it is unclear whether school will resume on Wednesday.

Schools in the Camino Union Elementary School District are closed Tuesday due to significant snowfall, the district shared on social media.

The Pollock Pines Elementary School District will close on Thursday and reopen on Monday, Feb. 23, welcoming kids back to school. 

The Pollock Pines district cited harsh weather as the reason, stating that student safety was its top priority. 

Pioneer Union School District also announced the closure of all schools on Thursday due to widespread snow and difficult travel conditions.  

Twain Harte School, part of the Twain Harte School District in Tuolumne County, announced it will close its campus on Thursday, Superintendent and Principal Gabe Wingo said. 

According to Don Pedro’s High School principal, the school has decided to delay the start time by two hours due to widespread snow in the area.

ABC10’s Weather Teams says the Weather Impact Alert remains in effect through Thursday, with periods of heavy rain and low Sierra snow.

ABC10 will continue providing updates. 

Watch more on ABC10: Low-elevation snow expected in Auburn, Colfax; outages reported near Colfax

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One final push of moisture comes in Thursday morning, meaning we’ve got one more day with wet weather conditions forecast for the Sacramento region.

This will be the coldest part of the storm, with heavy rain and strong wind gusts in the valley. In the Sierra, foothills, and upper Sacramento Valley, heavy snow will fall with flurries at the low elevations down towards 1000 ft. A dusting is possible up in Redding as even Shasta and Tehama counties are in the Winter Storm Warning. Interstate 5 travel will be impacted with chain controls.

Continue to avoid Sierra travel. Chain controls will remain through the duration of this storm, and more traffic holds are possible on Thursday. Better driving returns on Friday.

A stronger, final push of moisture arrives Thursday morning. This will be the coldest part of the storm. Snow levels drop back towards 1000 ft on Thursday morning, where a dusting of snow is possible at places like Colfax and Placerville.

In the valley, the heaviest rain we’ve had since Monday with a few thunderstorms are possible through the morning hours.

Wind gusts will accompany the heavy rain. In the valley, gusts are likely to be between 40 and 50 mph on Thursday morning as the center of the system moves inland. It’ll remain gusty in the valley for much of Thursday, but the strongest winds will be in the morning.

Scattered rain and a few thunderstorms are possible into the afternoon for the valley. Snow will continue in the high country into the evening, before it starts to wind down after sunset.

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Sierra roads will continue to be greatly impacted. Interstate 80 and Highway 50 will be under chain controls all day Thursday, and more traffic holds are likely as another 2 feet of snow is expected at the high passes, with very low snow down to 1000 feet.

We’ll also see snow on Interstate 5 in far Northern California Shasta. A dusting of snow is possible on the valley floor near Redding, with up to 6-10″ of snowfall on I-5 north of Shasta Lake where I-5 elevation ranges from 2000 to 3000 feet.

It’s very unlikely to get even a dusting of snow below 1000 ft in elevation; however, some mixed precip – rain with a few flurries – isn’t entirely out of the question below 1000 ft. Nothing would stick.

Strong valley wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible Thursday morning. These winds could lead to power outages as the ground is already so wet that trees and poles can more easily get blown over.

Rain will cause localized flooding issues in the valley. In other words, widespread flooding is not forecast, but flooding on some roads, in urban areas, and in small creeks and streams is possible.

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Continue to avoid travel in Sierra until the storm passes. There won’t be a good time to travel until Friday, when the snow has stopped. In addition, be mindful of the weather in the Northstate as Interstate 5 will likely have several inches of snow on it from Thursday morning through the afternoon.

In the valley, avoid flooded roads if they occur. Mainly, this is about allowing extra time to get where you’re going due to the rain, and bringing a rain jacket and/or umbrella.

With power outages possible, charge devices! Widespread power outages aren’t likely, but with the strong winds, localized outages are possible.

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GO DEEPER:  The ABC10 Weather Impact Team investigates algae and bacterial threats to some of California’s largest natural lakes.

MILAN, Italy — The men’s hockey quarterfinals featured a tense matchup between two medal favorites, the United States and Sweden, as the two teams fought for a place in the semifinals.

Team USA, led by Quinn Hughes, beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime.

The United States opened the scoring when Dylan Larkin redirected a shot from the point in the second period. That goal held until just under two minutes remained in the game, when Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad slammed home a shot off a great pass from Lucas Raymond.

Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie, setting up 10 minutes of 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime hockey.

The overtime period was filled with “U-S-A” chants from the crowd.

Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in overtime, but no one was able to cash in until a Hughes’ shot clanged off the right post and behind the Swedish goalie.

Sweden had won three of its four games in Milan and was a formidable opponent on Wednesday for the unbeaten second-seeded Americans to begin the single-elimination knockout round. Sweden is the only European team at the Olympics with a full roster of NHL players.

The semifinals are Friday, and the gold medal game is Sunday.

Canada played against Czechia, and won 4-3 in overtime. Canada won gold in both the 2014 and 2010 Olympics with NHL players. This year is the first time since 2014 that the NHL has given the green light for hockey players to attend the Olympics.

Slovakia and Germany faced off earlier Wednesday, with Slovakia securing a spot in the semifinals. Finland and Switzerland also competed in the quarterfinals and Finland won 3-2, also in overtime, advancing to the next stage.

After Wednesday, it is looking more probable that the United States and Canada will face off in the final on Sunday.

WASHINGTON — A surprise four-legged competitor became an instant fan-favorite Wednesday at a cross-country ski competition at the Winter Olympics. 

During qualifications for the women’s team sprint, a dog suddenly appeared toward the end of the course and even raced a couple of skiers to the line. 

“We have a visitor. Maybe not a streaker, but we certainly have somebody who wants to be part of the Olympic action,” one of the broadcasters commented. 

“The biggest cheer of the day is not for any of the skiers so far,” they added.  

The dog, which had a collar around its neck, didn’t seem to impact any of the competitors, and it casually walked off the course after crossing the line. The event’s chief of competition later came over to wrangle the guest. 

The broadcasters had a lot of fun with the moment, even showing a slow-motion replay and the photo finish image. 

According to NPR, the dog was later identified as two-year-old Nazgul, who was staying with his owner at a nearby bed-and-breakfast. The owner told NPR Nazgul is a “stubborn, but very sweet” Czechoslovakian wolfdog. 

Plus, the puns wrote themselves. 

“It’s not a canine calamity,” a broadcaster remarked. 

“This is a real photo from the Winter Olympics,” one social media user wrote, alongside the dog’s photo finish image. 

“It was so fun. I like dogs, we have a dog at home,” said Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, who went on to win gold with teammate Maja Dahlqvist, according to Reuters.  

But not all of the skiers were as excited by the new medal hopeful. 

“I was cooling down on the bike, and I saw the dog, and I was like, ‘That’s crazy,’” Nadja Kaelin of Switzerland said. “I was just happy I wasn’t skiing next to the dog because I’m a bit afraid of dogs. I was happy I was already at the finish.”