Top officials in the administration of President Donald Trump are directing more federal law enforcement resources to investigate allegations of rampant government fraud in Minnesota — a move that comes in the wake of a viral video claiming significant abuse in Somali-run day care programs.

A video posted to social media platforms on Friday by YouTuber Nick Shirley shows what appear to be empty day care centers in Minneapolis and claims to expose millions of dollars in fraud in the state’s federally funded child care program. The video has more than 100 million views on X.

The video is based on existing allegations about fraud in Minnesota’s child care program, which until recently was run by the state’s Department of Human Services and is now under the authority of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, a spin-off agency.

In the video, Shirley visits several day cares, including Quality Learning Center, which had already been under investigation by state officials for various violations and had collected $7.8 million from the state since 2019, according to a January report by KSTP-TV.

The video drew praise from Vice President JD Vance, who reposted the video on X.

“This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 (Pulitzer Center) prizes,” he wrote.

In response to the video, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced boosts to federal law enforcement resources in the state. Social media posts Monday showed federal law enforcement agents visiting businesses in the Twin Cities area, including some shown in the video.

State response

At a Monday news conference addressing Shirley’s video, the Department of Children, Youth and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown said children were present at the day cares shown in the video during unannounced inspection visits in 2025. Still, the video warrants more scrutiny on fraud, she said.

“While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously,” Brown told reporters. “Each of the facilities mentioned in the video has been visited at least once in the last six months as part of our typical licensing process.”

Brown said she had questions about when Shirley visited day cares, as some centers could have been closed, and said her department was making additional unannounced visits to businesses shown in the video to confirm whether children are present.

Two of the seven day cares Shirley visited in the video — Quality Learning Center and Mako Childcare — are no longer open. Quality Learning Center closed “just over a week ago,” Brown said. Mako “closed maybe even several years ago.”

Allegations of fraud

Allegations of fraud in federally funded state-administered programs, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson recently said could potentially top $9 billion since 2018, have drawn significant attention and scrutiny on the record of second-term Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz, who is seeking a third term.

Walz and officials in his administration continue to press back against claims by Republican critics and the Trump administration that they hadn’t done enough to address fraud in recent years.

Earlier in December, Walz announced the hiring of former Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension head Tim O’Malley as fraud czar.

In October, DHS, which oversees the Medicaid-funded programs that have seen significant fraud, ordered a third-party audit of 14 “high-risk” programs.

They also moved to shut down a Medicaid-funded housing-stabilization program beset by fraud after news emerged in July of a federal investigation into several providers.

Minnesota House Republicans on Monday told reporters that allegations of fraud in Minnesota’s day care program, including at Quality Learning Center, had come up at a hearing of the GOP-led Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight committee earlier this year,

“If DHS or the Walz administration had been serious about wanting to root up fraud, they would have already been taking care of these things much before we brought it up in February,” said House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2026.

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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.