On their way to a ranger-led Winter Ecology field trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, a group of 17 sixth graders from Boulder’s Shining Mountain Waldorf School delivered hand-made cards of appreciation to park rangers.

The students’ gesture comes on the heels of federal employees across the country, including National Park Service employees, being laid off and having funding cut in an attempt to reduce federal spending, led by the recently formed Department of Government Efficiency.

One card, written by twelve-year-old Annalise Sturgis, read “What you do is really important and I want you to know that we are very grateful for all the effort you put into the work that we need so much.”

After stopping by the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, delivering the cards and visiting with park staff, the students strapped on snowshoes and embarked on their multi-hour trip where park rangers Belen del Valle Coello and Caden Wilson led them up Bear Lake Trail. Along the way students learned about plants and animal identification, how they survive the high-alpine winter conditions, as well as how to safely navigate and minimize their impact on the landscape.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stars are having fun on their way into the Oscars.

Best supporting actress nominee Ariana Grande, dressed in a baby pink gown with a tulle skirt, and Elle Fanning, in lacy white, held hands and laughed as they arrived.

Grande’s “Wicked” castmate Bowen Yang and his “Las Culturistas” podcast co-host Matt Rogers were all smiles, posing with lucky fans who secured seats in bleachers through lotteries. Dressed in florals, Jeff Goldblum — the Wizard of Oz himself — and his wife Emilie Livingston stopped to pose with U.S. Army members there to celebrate their 250th anniversary.

It wasn’t just human stars making their way through the sea of celebrities and photographers on the carpet: Filmmakers Nick Park, Richard Beek and Merlin Crossingham carried the Claymation stars of “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” nominated for best animated feature. Animation director Nicolas Keppens wore a figurine of the character Bart from his nominated short “Beautiful Men” in a pink baby carrier on his chest.

Diane Warren, nominated for her 16th Oscar for her song “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” wore a jacket adorned with glittery music notes. She lifted up her collar to reveal a phrase printed on the inside: “Make it (expletive) Happen.”

AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ariana Grande did her Glinda proud in a pale pink stunner, and her “Wicked” bestie Cynthia Erivo did Elphaba proud in deep forest green on the Oscars carpet as high glam took over Sunday. Others went for bold red, classic black and pops of pink.

Grande wore a look from the Schiaparelli spring-summer 2025 collection. It was a perfect Glinda ode with no straps and a structured skirt that fell into airy pleats. Erivo, always a fashion darling, wore custom Louis Vuitton with a high triangular collar and huge shoulders, her signature long nails the usual on-point complement.

Metallics also had a strong showing in body-con looks: Demi Moore in sexy silver custom Giorgio Armani Privé and Mindy Kaling in a silver gown with chunky embellishment among them. Emma Stone also went for slinky silver. Felicity Jones was in steel gray worthy of her film, “The Brutalist.” And Selena Gomez was a bombshell in a Ralph Lauren look of full crystals in metallic pink.

Lupita Nyong’o, a fashion “it” girl from her start, wore white custom Chanel with more than 22,000 pearls.

And the men? It was a custom Givenchy soft yellow trouser and short jacket leather combo for Timothée Chalamet, never afraid to go in his own fashion direction. Jeff Goldblum added a floral arrangement to his off-white tuxedo jacket lapel. Orchids adorned the “Wicked” star’s Prada look. Goldblum walked the Prada runway in 2022.

Color trends: Red, red and more red

Red endured at the Oscars as a strong trend. Among walkers wearing the hue: Zoe Saldaña chose a deep burgundy strapless tiered look by Saint Laurent and Storm Reid wore a bright shortie dress with a long cape.

Others stuck to black, including Marlee Matlin in Yara Shoemaker Couture and Coco Jones in sexy Coach, a custom look using vintage fabric. Yasmin Finney also chose black, peaking out from tall black feathers attached to the top of her dress. Fernanda Torres, the “I’m Still Here” star, stood out in body-skimming black feathers. The look was Chanel Haute Couture.

Elle Fanning, meanwhile, was the first person to don Sarah Burton’s Givenchy. It was a classic Hollywood white gown with a sweetheart neckline and black belt with long tails.

Julianne Hough kicked things off in an elegant light beige ethereal look straight off the Christian Dior spring 2025 runway. Joan Chen also went fairy-like in green chartreuse, an off-shoulder number from the Elie Saab resort 2025 collection.

Some celebs added messaging to ensembles

Swedish singer and actor Kayo Shekoni lifted up her black heel to reveal the words “free Congo” on the red carpet, advocating for the conflict-ridden African nation.

“Conclave” writer Peter Straughan showed his support for Ukraine with a Ukrainian flag pin accent on his tuxedo.

“Just to say, let’s not turn our backs on Ukraine,” he told Variety’s Marc Malkin.

The pin carries extra significance after a tense meeting unfolded between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Friday.

The team behind best documentary nominee “Porcelain War,” the story of Ukrainian artists who trade their paintbrushes for guns to fight against the Russian invasion, also sported Ukrainian flag pins.

“The Brutalist” actor Guy Pearce showed up wearing a “FREE PALESTINE” pin featuring a white dove and a gold branch. The award show comes as Israel stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday. Pearce, who has expressed his support throughout the awards season with various pins, said “it’s the least we can do.”“I’m just always on the case of trying to recognize Palestine and it having as much support as it possibly can because it’s what it absolutely needs.

Frigid weather moved Trump’s swearing-in indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, the first such move in 40 years. The inaugural parade was replaced by an event in a downtown arena.

Trump began Monday with a prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Then he and his wife Melania were greeted at the executive mansion by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for the customary tea. Trump took the oath of office at noon.

Northern California has seen a relatively normal rainy season this winter, while Southern California has remained record dry, experts noted Wednesday. Since Oct. 1, San Francisco’s rainfall is at 112% of its historical average, with 10.4 inches — while downtown Los Angeles is at a staggering 3% of normal, with 0.16 inches over the same time.

Adding to the parched brush and soils were the worst Santa Ana winds since 2011, according to the National Weather Service, which sent hot-dry gusts of up to 85 mph Wednesday into the Los Angeles Basin. The inferno was unstoppable.

“It’s a disaster, a pure disaster,” said Scott Stephens, a veteran professor of fire science at UC Berkeley.  “It really is a tragedy. The costs are going to be phenomenally high. It’s a sad day.”

As of late Wednesday, there were three major fires burning in the Los Angeles area: The Palisades Fire, which had burned 15,832 acres on the city’s westside from expensive hillside neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades to the ocean along the Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu; the Eaton Fire, which burned 10,600 acres in the hills northeast of Pasadena, not far from the Rose Bowl, killing five people; and the Hurst Fire, which had burned 505 acres in the Sylmar neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

All began on Tuesday, and were 0% contained late Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

About 1,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in the fires, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a Wednesday morning news conference. At least 70,000 people were ordered to evacuate, and more than 100 schools across the affected areas cancelled classes.

The Palisades Fire drew international attention, as roaring flames consumed hillside homes worth $5 million and more, sending fearsome columns of black smoke above palm trees and sandy beaches. Multiple celebrities said they evacuated, including Mark Hamill, Jamie Lee Curtis and James Woods.

Vegetation burned on the grounds of the Getty Villa, a famed art museum, in Pacific Palisades, but the buildings and collection were intact, museum officials said Wednesday.

Stephens, the Berkeley professor, said the Palisades Fire reminded him of one of Northern California’s worst wildfires, the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire. That fire, which started in late October, also came during extremely dry conditions — in the fourth year of a brutal drought — and was driven by 50 mph winds blowing from the land toward the ocean.

It killed 25 people, making it the third deadliest fire in California’s recorded history, after the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County which killed 85 people, and the Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles in October 1933, which took 29 lives. Overall, 2,843 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment units were destroyed in the Upper Rockridge, Forest Park, Montclair and other neighborhoods. Panicked residents raced cars down narrow streets, in some cases crashing or running for their lives.

On Tuesday, the same chaotic scene played out in the Palisades area, as people abandoned Mercedes, Porsches and Bentleys in narrow, winding roads, causing fire crews with bulldozers to push the vehicles out of the way so engines could get through.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings, citing “extremely critical fire weather,” through Thursday for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Craig Clements, director of San Jose State University’s Fire Weather Research Lab, said Northern California is not facing the same fire risk as Southern California.

“We have a lot of winds right now. But we’ve had rain,” Clements said. “We are in low fire danger in Northern California. Southern California hasn’t had any rain this winter. Their vegetation is critically dry. Add hurricane force winds, and it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Numerous Bay Area agencies helped fight the fires. Cal Fire sent three fire engines and a battalion chief from its San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit and two engines and a strike team from its Santa Clara Unit. Alameda County Fire, Oakland Fire, Hayward Fire and Fremont Fire sent firefighters as part of a strike team that left Wednesday. Contra Costa County Fire Protection District sent two engines, and San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View fire departments also provided 22 firefighters and five engines.

“Every person on this team has volunteered to do this,” said San Jose Fire Department Battalion Chief Javier Ascencio.

President Biden appeared at a briefing Wednesday at a Santa Monica fire station with Gov. Gavin Newsom, promising federal help.

Biden and Newsom had arrived in Los Angeles Tuesday, planning to travel to Coachella Valley for the dedication of the new Chuckwalla National Monument. But because of the dangerously high winds, that visit was canceled. Newsom also on Wednesday canceled plans to leave California to attend former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington D.C on Thursday.

Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California, allowing federal aid from FEMA and other agencies to flow quickly. He also provided five air tankers, 10 Navy helicopters with water buckets, and dozens of fire engines from the Forest Service and other agencies to the firefighting effort.

Nathaniel Percy of the Southern California News Group and Rick Hurd of the Bay Area News Group contributed to this story.

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