The Daily Rundown - December 23, 2025
🏰 The National Park Service says it will resume public tours of historic Scotty's Castle in Death Valley National Park in January after a 10-year hiatus. The tours will be held on some Sundays through March of next year, led by a park ranger. The castle has been closed to the public since a flash flood in 2015 caused extensive damage, which was further exacerbated by a fire in 2021. A couple from Chicago built the structure in the 1920s as a vacation home. They later became friends with prospector Walter Scott, known as "Death Valley Scotty."
Take a virtual tour of Scotty's Castle here.
🔎 Per 8 News Now, Nevada Democratic Assemblywomen Venicia "Venise" Harris and Cinthia Moore have formally requested that District Attorney Steve Wolfson investigate Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. The lawmakers allege a $400,000 fine against Elon Musk's Boring Company was illegally erased from public records following a single call to the governor's office. The fine stemmed from an OSHA inspection involving chemical burns suffered by two firefighters at a Las Vegas site. In response to the allegation, the Nevada Department of Business and Industry office said the records related to the citations in question have been added back to the file. The office added there is no information suggesting they were removed in relation to a meeting with Boring Company representatives.
🎶 Dave Willat was just 11 years old, wearing cutoffs and a T-shirt on a warm September evening in 1965, when he showed up for what he thought would be a routine choir practice at his church in San Rafael, California, a small city about 20 miles north of San Francisco. His voice was on the cusp of changing, and he expected to rehearse the usual Sunday hymns. Instead, he and his fellow choristers were unexpectedly driven across the Golden Gate Bridge to a San Francisco recording studio, where he and his peers were handed the music to one of the most enduring songs of the holiday season. Hear from 72-year-old Dave Willat, one of the children who sang on "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
Read or listen to the full story here.
🅿️ An online petition asking the City of Las Vegas to reduce the number of paid parking spots in the Arts District has accrued nearly 2,500 signatures. The petition responds to the city's decision to take back a once-free parking lot north of Charleston, near the Arts Factory. As it stands, if anyone wants to park in the refreshed lot, they have to pay. The petition asks the city to reverse this decision. The Arts District is located within Ward 3, which City Councilwoman Olivia Diaz represents. Diaz is one of two people whose attention the petition aims to get. Many local businesses have previously cosigned a letter asking for the city to listen to their concerns.
🚁 Expect to see low-altitude helicopter flights over the Las Vegas Strip next week as part of the preparations for New Year's Eve festivities. The National Nuclear Security Administration says the flights between Dec. 29 and Dec. 31 will measure expected background radiation. It's something they do every year before an event that draws tens of thousands of people, such as the Super Bowl.
🎅 Santa Claus is everywhere this time of year. Millions of people take their kids to visit the jolly one in person, and now some are looking for events featuring Santas of different races as part of their annual holiday celebrations. NPR reporter Lesle Eiler Thompson met some Santas in Nashville to see how families around the country are looking to see themselves in the Christmas season.
Read or listen to the full story here.
🎵 When you think about music in New Orleans — you probably think of jazz or blues, or maybe funk and bounce. Christmas carols? Not so much. But many musicians in New Orleans have deep roots in the church. Since it's that time of year, Rosemary Westwood from member station WWNO asked a few of the city's favorite musicians about the songs they like to listen to around Christmas.
Part of these stories are taken from KNPR's daily newscast segment. To hear more daily updates like these, tune in to 88.9 KNPR FM.
