By ED WHITE, Associated Press

For the first time in 20 years, rain could be an intruder at the Rose Parade in Southern California, a venerable New Year’s Day event that attracts thousands of spectators and is watched by millions more on TV.

Storms caused Christmas week flooding, mudslides and other miseries across the region. Now comes a 90% chance of rain Thursday in Pasadena, according to the National Weather Service.

“We try not to say that word around here,” joked Candy Carlson, a spokesperson for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the organization behind the 137th Rose Parade, which precedes the Rose Bowl college football playoff game.

It has rained only 10 times in the parade’s history, she said, and not since 2006.

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Wet weather is unlikely to keep floats, marching bands, entertainers and others from participating. Carlson said people riding on floats will have rain gear if necessary, and tow trucks will be standing by in case of mechanical problems.

Spectators will need to prepare, too. Umbrellas are not allowed in parade seating areas that require tickets, though the ban doesn’t cover people who simply line up along the nearly 6-mile route. Curbside camping — no tents — begins at noon Wednesday. Rain also is predicted that day.

“Last year’s parade theme was ‘Best Day Ever!’ and six days later it was the worst,” said Lisa Derderian, spokesperson for the city of Pasadena, referring to the devastating Eaton wildfire in Los Angeles County. “We want to start the new year on a high note. Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates with the weather.”

In New York City, meanwhile, forecasters are predicting temperatures in the low 30s, which is not unusual, when the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Light rain is possible that night in Las Vegas, where several casinos will be shooting fireworks from rooftops.

A Chisago City man was charged with murder after authorities in east-central Minnesota say he assaulted a security guard on Christmas Day while fleeing a hold in a Wyoming hospital emergency room.

Officials identified the guard as Andrea Merrell, 43. She worked at M Health Fairview Lakes Hospital in Wyoming.

Jonathan Chet Winch, 35, was charged Monday with one count of second-degree murder in Chisago County District Court in connection with her slaying.

The criminal complaint gave the following details:

About 5:24 p.m. Thursday, police were called to M Health Fairview Lakes Hospital after staff said a man who was on a medical hold in the emergency room pushed through the doors and was running away.

When a police officer arrived, he found Merrell lying unconscious near a security vehicle with its emergency lights on in the hospital parking lot. Winch, wearing sweatpants and no shirt, was allegedly trying to get into the vehicle.

When the officer stopped his squad car nearby, Winch jumped on the windshield of the squad. The officer got out and ordered Winch to the ground. Winch did not comply and continued to advance toward the officer saying multiple times, “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

The officer struggled with Winch for about five minutes while trying to detain him until backup officers arrived and took Winch into custody.

Surveillance cameras outside the hospital captured footage of Winch and Merrell on the ground near the security vehicle before the first officer arrived. The complaint said that Winch appeared to be striking or swinging at Merrell while sitting on top of her.

Merrell was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with severe head trauma. She died of her injuries on Saturday.

During his first court appearance on Monday in Chisago County District Court, Winch’s bail was set at $2 million. The court ordered a competency exam to be conducted while he is in custody.

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“Nearly 70 percent of New Yorkers with steam heat report being chronically overheated during the winter. Tenants are uncomfortable and landlords waste energy.”

(Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Winter is upon us, and with that comes the classic New York struggle: arctic temperatures outside and sweltering, 90-degree apartments that have all of us opening our windows. In fact, nearly 70 percent of New Yorkers with steam heat report being chronically overheated during the winter. Tenants are uncomfortable and landlords waste energy.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, buildings in many European countries also have older steam radiators, yet tenants in those apartments are able to easily keep their units comfortably temperate, but not tropical, during the winter. How? With a thermostatic radiator valve, a small plastic product that can be installed in under an hour and costs less than $25 on Amazon. 

My organization, Tenants for Healthy Homes, sees an opportunity to improve tenants’ lives while also helping the city meet our energy efficiency goals. A thermostatic radiator valve allows tenants to control the temperature more precisely, preventing overheating and providing dignity and comfort in our apartments (these are different from the valves on most New York City radiators, which only allow for on/off control).

These valves, alongside common-sense maintenance like repairing broken heating system elements and leaks, installing indoor and outdoor thermometers, and insulating exposed pipes, would have an overall impact of keeping our apartments at a pleasant and comfortable temperature all winter long. 

Luckily, landlords of rent-stabilized buildings are already required to make these upgrades under our city’s green buildings law, Local Law 97. Under Local Law 97, covered rent-stabilized landlords were required to have installed individual temperature controls, alongside other affordable changes, by August of 2025. All told, the low-cost suite of upgrades, which are not allowed to result in rent increases, would increase tenant comfort and reduce pollution from heating by 15 percent or more—while solving the problem of having to keep the windows open in February. 

The law says that landlords have to install common-sense upgrades like these valves, but in practice, it’s not yet happening. As the director of Tenants for Healthy Homes, I organize with rent-stabilized tenants across New York City, and I am aware of only a small handful of buildings where the valves have been installed and these upgrades have occurred.

When I talk to fellow tenants, most don’t even know that we’re entitled to control our own heat, and there’s no way for tenants to let the city know if their landlord hasn’t made the required fixes (instead, landlords report compliance directly to the city, with no tenant involvement whatsoever). Local Law 97 enforcement and discussion has focused on owner-occupied buildings like co-ops and condos; little attention has been paid to the millions of renters who deserve, and are entitled to, comfortable, efficient homes. 

Renters across New York City deserve homes that are comfortable, affordable, efficient, and safe. Radiator valves and comfortable winter temperatures are a small part of that, but when I talk with people across our neighborhoods, they are excited by the idea that their landlords and the city should deliver these fixes that allow us to live in homes that are more comfortable and more dignified, where we aren’t sweltering all winter long. 

Our apartments are too hot—and when they’re not, they’re too cold, too polluted, or too poorly maintained. The millions of New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilized housing deserve all the benefits of efficiency, alongside all the benefits of habitable, well-maintained homes.

With these relatively simple interventions—and a focus on enforcement from the city—we might soon be able to get there.

Arielle Swernoff is the director of Tenants for Healthy Homes, a group of tenants coming together to advocate for policies that ensure our homes are comfortable, safe, energy efficient, and affordable.

The post Opinion: Radiators, Tenants & NYC’s Green Buildings Law appeared first on City Limits.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The game couldn’t have started much better for the Chicago Bears after getting a pick-6 on the first play.

The ending couldn’t have been much more crushing with a potential game-winning pass from the 2-yard line falling short as the Bears couldn’t complete a record seventh late-game comeback.

Caleb Williams missed on a last-ditch pass to Jahdae Walker in the end zone Sunday night, sending the Bears to a 42-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers that cost them a chance to earn the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

“It’s frustrating,” Williams said. “You don’t want to lose a game ever. And then also, in that position, having a shot at the end is all you can ask for in this moment. But we’ve got to do better job overall.”

Williams and the Bears (11-5) had been at their best in those types of late-game situations with an NFL record six wins when trailing in the final two minutes of regulation, including a comeback win last week against the Green Bay Packers.

Williams moved Chicago 63 yards in 2:11, converting a fourth-and-5 and then getting the ball to the 2 with a hook-and-ladder pass to Colston Loveland, who lateraled to D’Andre Swift.

After a spike to stop the clock, the Bears struggled to line up properly on the final play. Williams was then flushed out of the pocket by Bryce Huff, and his throw to the end zone short-hopped Walker.

“We just had to try to make something out of nothing in that situation and then, like I said, we had a shot,” Williams said. “With all that going on, time winding down, we had a shot. I just have to give my guys a shot in that situation. I ended up dirting the ball, didn’t get my legs into it. Just put the ball in the end zone in that situation. I can’t dirt the ball.”

The loss ends the Bears’ hopes of earning the top seed and a first-round bye. Chicago, which went 1-1 against the Vikings this season, has clinched the NFC North and can earn the No. 2 seed by beating Detroit next Sunday or if Philadelphia loses to Washington.

Williams threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns, Swift ran for two scores, rookies Luther Burden and Loveland combined for 14 catches for 232 yards and two touchdowns, and T.J. Edwards scored on a 34-yard pick-6 on the first play from scrimmage.

But the defense struggled to get any stops, allowing Brock Purdy and the 49ers to score six touchdowns in the third game this season that Chicago has allowed at least 42 points.

For a franchise built on a history of stout defenses and inconsistent offenses, the manner in which the Bears lost was especially stunning. They became the second team in the Super Bowl era to lose a game in the regular season or playoffs when they scored at least 35 points, got a defensive touchdown and didn’t turn the ball over.

Teams had been 286-1 in that scenario with the only other team to lose being Denver in a 41-36 loss to the St. Louis Rams in the 2000 season opener.

“When you go against a dynamic offense like that, you talk about the possibilities as an offense of going tit-for-tat with them, and at times we may answer that call,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “They just ended up making more plays than us.”

San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, right, runs against Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker (9) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

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