Cold snaps, on average, are also becoming shorter. Winter in the lower 48 states warmed more than 4 1/2 times faster between 1970 and 2017 than it did over the past 100 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center.

Confusion over winter storms on a warming planet usually comes down to misunderstanding weather versus climate.

One way to think about the difference is to remember that “climate is what you expect and weather is what you get,” said Adam Terando, a research ecologist with the United States Geological Survey.

While weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions, climate considers the average weather of a specific region over a longer period.

The average amount of snow, for example, is declining in many parts of the country, while the amount of snow that falls during a snowstorm is increasing, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

Along those lines, weather patterns since the 1950s show that the cold temperatures Chicagoans have been experiencing this week used to be much more common, Terando said.

“Overall, we're still driving the Earth's climate to a warmer place over time … but around the averages, you can still have cold weather extremes like we're experiencing now,” he said.

Imagine walking a dog. Although you’re instructing the dog where to walk and it may be staying on the path, the animal will still wobble or sway from one side of the sidewalk to the other, Terando explained.

“Those are the day-to-day fluctuations in the weather that we talked about,” he said.

The polar vortex — strong winds in the Arctic Circle that trap cold air above the North Pole — could also play a role. If that vortex weakens, cold air can move south.  

El Nino events in the fall and winter can also cause wetter-than-average conditions from Southern California to along the Gulf Coast and drier-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley, according to the NOAA. El Nino winters increase the likelihood of warmer-than-average temperatures across the northern part of the U.S.

“Overall, we're adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere,” Terando said. “That causes less warmth and heat to escape out to space, and that means the planet will get warmer. That's what we're experiencing.”

The passes will go on sale Monday at 12 p.m. EST, and there is only a limited number available, according to the restaurant.

The Date Night Pass gives up to a $30 discount on food and non-alcoholic drinks 52 times between Feb. 1, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025. The pass can only be used once per 24-hour period.

"Simply present your Applebee's Date Night Pass to your server when placing your order for dine-in at participating Applebee's Grill + Bar locations in the United States," the website reads.

Passes can also be redeemed for online orders using a promo code on the back of the pass; however, the code can't be used on third-party delivery orders.

The pass can be redeemed at Applebee's locations nationwide, except for 16 stores.

Applebee's says the Date Night Pass has a value of up to $1,500. For more information, visit the Applebee's website.

By early afternoon in the East, more than 1,000 U.S. flights had been canceled and 4,000 others were delayed, according to FlightAware. The brunt of cancellations stretched from Denver to Chicago, down to Nashville and east to Buffalo, New York.

Airlines can’t control the weather, but they are still required to provide refunds for customers whose flights are canceled. Here’s what to know about your rights, and what to know when cancellations start piling up.

Watch the weather forecast

When airlines expect bad weather to create problems for flights, they often give travelers a chance to reschedule their trip by a few days at no extra fee. Google your airline and “travel alerts” or similar phrases to see the offers.

Check before going to the airport

It’s better to be stuck at home or in a hotel than to be stranded in an airport terminal, so use the airline’s app or flight websites to make sure that your flight is still on before heading out to the airport. Airlines usually cancel flights hours or even days before departure time.

My flight is canceled. Now what?

If you’re already at the airport, it’s time to multi-task to find another flight. Get in line to speak to an airline representative, and call or go online to connect to the airline’s reservations staff. It also helps to reach out on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

Most airlines will rebook you on a later flight for no additional charge. That depends, however, on the airline having empty seats. The good news for travelers this week is that they stand a better chance of finding space in January than during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods, when passengers can wait days for an open seat.

Can I ask to be booked on another airline?

You can, but airlines aren’t required to put you on another carrier’s flight. Some airlines, including the biggest ones except Southwest, say they can put you on a partner airline, but even then it’s often hit or miss. Jeff Klee, CEO of CheapAir.com, recommends researching alternate flights while you wait to talk to an agent.

Am I owed a refund?

If you no longer want to take the trip, or found alternative means of getting where you're going, the airline is legally required to pay a refund, even if you bought a non-refundable ticket. It doesn't matter why the flight was canceled.

“They can’t stick you with a voucher, you can get your money back,” says Kyle Potter, executive editor of Thrifty Traveler. “That means you have to cancel your entire reservation, but that could be an easy option for some travelers — especially if you wind up booking a flight on another carrier.”

You are also entitled to a refund of any bag fees, seat upgrades or other extras that you didn't get to use.

Can I get compensation?

U.S. airlines are not required to pay compensation, even if the cancellation is their fault — such as the lack of a crew, a mechanical problem that grounds the plane, or a computer outage that brings the airline to a halt. However, the Transportation Department is working on a proposal to change that when the airline is at fault.

“I know how frustrated many of you are with the service you get from your U.S. airlines,” President Joe Biden said. “That’s why our top priority has been to get American air travelers a better deal.”

What else will airlines cover?

There is no federal requirement that airlines pick up the costs of hotel rooms or meals for stranded passengers. Each airline has its own policy.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has a site that lets consumers see the commitments that each airline makes for refunds and covering other expenses when flights are canceled or significantly delayed.

Other tips

If the weather forecast is troubling, consider booking a backup flight, says Potter, the Thrifty Traveler editor. He says Southwest and Delta stand out as potential backups because they let customers cancel for a full refund as long as they cancel within 24 hours of booking. “Others only allow that when you book at least two or even seven days in advance,” he says.

If you are in a group and one person belongs to a higher level of the airline's frequent-flyer program, use the number associated with that person to call the airline, says Kurt Ebenhoch, a travel consumer advocate and former airline spokesman.

If lots of flights are canceled, airline agents will soon be swamped. Try calling your airline's international help number — usually available online — those agents can make changes in your itinerary too.

Be nice. The agent you're talking to is probably dealing with lots of other frustrated travelers too, and screaming at the agent won't make them want to help you. The cancellation isn't their fault.

Brittany Pietsch, 27, told the Wall Street Journal she has no regrets about posting the video and has been flooded with responses congratulating her on sticking up for herself.

Cloudflare is a networking and cybersecurity firm. Pietsch started working there last August and says she's received high marks from her boss.

Nevertheless, she was contacted at her Atlanta home recently by a pair of Cloudflare HR employees, who broke the bad news that she was being handed her hat because she didn't meet expectations.

Pietsch didn't just roll over.

"Every single one-on-one I've had with my manager, every conversation I've had with him, he has been giving me nothing but I am doing a great job," she told the HR reps, and asked to hear the real reason she was being let go.

She speculated that Cloudflare, like many tech companies, had overhired and now couldn't afford its payroll.

"If that's the real answer, I would rather just you tell me that instead of making up some (expletive) and telling me that right before I lose my job from someone that I've never met before," she said.

The HR duo declined to go into specifics.

"To be let go for no reason is like a huge slap in the face," Pietsch said. She was equally miffed that her manager wasn't willing to do the dirty work himself, outsourcing the task instead to HR.

After the video went viral, Cloudflare's CEO, Matthew Prince, weighed in on X, formerly Twitter.

"The video is painful for me to watch," he admitted. "Managers should always be involved. HR should be involved, but it shouldn’t be outsourced to them."

Prince said employees should never be blindsided with a verdict that they're underperforming. "We don’t always get it right," he said.

The video has been viewed millions of times — and has drawn mixed reactions on social media. Some see it as a breach of trust between an employee and her employer.

But most viewers responded with you-go-girl enthusiasm for how Pietsch defended herself.

"Reputable companies have reached out to me and told me, 'I want someone like you on my sales team,'" she told the Journal.

Proving that a little gumption can go a long way.

That's at least the case in one Italian province, according to the Guardian.

Dog owners in Bolzano are now being ordered to submit their dog's DNA so that authorities can match them up with any feces left on city streets.

As required by law, owners are required to pay for the DNA tests, which cost about $70, so that that evidence can be collected as part of a large dog doodoo database.

Fines for failure to pick up after Fido range from $315 to a whopping $1,100 (the equivalent in Euros, of course). Additional fines exist for owners who neglect to get their dogs registered.

Bolzano is located in the mountainous Trentino-Alto Adige region of North Italy and is home to some 45,000 dogs, the Guardian says.

Dog owners had a New Year's Day deadline and fines were supposed to start being levied in March. But so far, only 5,000 samples have been compiled, the publication says, citing Italian media.

Responsible dog owners say it's unfair that they have to pay to get their dog registered and others have voiced concerns about stray dogs and tourists making a mess of the streets with no repercussions.

Others have questioned how expansive and expensive a program like this could be and whether or not it's the best use of the government's time.

Local government officials say the program will have other uses like identifying animals that have attacked other animals or people, or informing owners if their pets have been killed in traffic collisions.

Despite those that say the new law stinks, that same Italian official claimed other unnamed regions are considering similar measures.

The crash happened around 5:30 p.m. near Scott Township along Interstate 81 when a minivan carrying four women lost control and hit the median, Pennsylvania State Police said in a press release Wednesday.

Two additional relatives in a second car parked on the right shoulder shortly after the crash and crossed two lanes of traffic to help those in the minivan.

Moments later, a tractor-trailer struck the driver’s side of the minivan, according to authorities. Two people inside the minivan at the time of impact died. Three others, who were standing in the left lane when the crash happened, were also pronounced dead at the scene.

The 22-year-old driver of the second vehicle, who was also standing on the roadway, suffered moderate injuries, while truck driver had minor injuries.

Police identified the deceased victims as 42-year-old Harvrist Zebari, 71-year-old Fatma Ahmed, 56-year-old Shahzinaz Mizouri, 19-year-old Aleen Ameen, and 43-year-old Berivan Zebara. All five were residents of New York, according to Nexstar's WIVT.

State police are still investigating the crash.

But after wearing a Fitbit Charge 6 for a few weeks, I can see the appeal if you want distraction-free tracking - especially for fitness and sleep.

It's a slim and lightweight tracker that fits easily on your wrist.

And, while the display and navigation seem dated compared to a smartwatch, this device is all about the stats.

New features include YouTube music controls, Google Maps and Google Wallet. Yeah, you might remember Google purchased Fitbit for a cool $2 billion dollars.

My favorite features include 24/7 heart rate tracking, which happens every 5 seconds, or every second when you’re actively exercising. Also, the built-in GPS and long battery life. It can last up to a week between charges.

The device uses a proprietary charging cable with a short cord.

While I take my smartwatch off for bed, I didn't mind leaving the Fitbit on for sleep since it nearly disappears on your wrist.

I love and hate seeing my sleep stats, but the metrics are easy to understand and you get a daily sleep score, too.

The device tracks more than 40 exercise modes and when I compared it against the Apple Watch, the numbers were very similar.

I like how Fitbit breaks down the time in each zone in an easy-to-understand way - light, moderate, vigorous, and peak.

It’s not fancy, but it is full-featured. If you’re looking for a simple way to track your fitness and sleep without having a small computer on your wrist, the Fitbit Charge 6 is a less connected alternative to a smartwatch.

It retails for $160 dollars, but is often cheaper.

The Fitbit Charge 6 also has notifications for high and low heart rate. You don’t need a subscription to use it, but for $10 dollars a month for Fitbit Premium, you can get extra features like a daily readiness score.

Rescuers shared pictures and videos that underscored the disturbing conditions they encountered at the home in St. Clair, about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said it started as a welfare check around 1 p.m. Sunday.

The deputy was able to escort the homeowner to his patrol unit to be transported to a warming station set up at St. Clair City Hall. That’s when first responders discovered the animals living in what they described as deplorable conditions.

Deputies called on animal rescue volunteers for the rescue. Some of those volunteers from various local shelters, including Shannon Reed and James Smith, described the conditions as the worst they’d ever seen.

"Dogs everywhere, dogs living in their own feces, locked in RVs. Dogs living with decomposing dogs,” Reed said.

Smith, an exotic animal expert at nearby Wild Animal Adventure, said the things they saw were traumatic and heartbreaking.

“Nothing prepares you for seeing it in person. It's the stuff nightmares are made out of,” Smith said.

They were able to seize 19 dogs, 18 goats, three turkeys, two chickens, one duck, one rabbit, one cow, and one monkey.

KTVI stopped by the house Tuesday to try to speak with the owner. A dog was heard barking and cat was seen, but no one came outside.

Nola Wilkins, a spokesperson for Paws SOS Franklin County, helped lead the rescue effort.

“I can’t really think about what I saw too much because I start crying,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins also called for those involved in situations like these to face harsher penalties.

“You can have video and you can know the person that did it and have all the information and nothing is done. They won't charge anybody. We need stronger laws,” she said.

Wilkins said the community has rallied around these rescue efforts, paying off $5,000 in medical bills for the animals. She encourages people to donate and volunteer at their local shelters.

Brittany Pietsch, 27, told the Wall Street Journal she has no regrets about posting the video and has been flooded with responses congratulating her on sticking up for herself.

Cloudflare is a networking and cybersecurity firm. Pietsch started working there last August and says she's received high marks from her boss.

Nevertheless, she was contacted at her Atlanta home recently by a pair of Cloudflare HR employees, who broke the bad news that she was being handed her hat because she didn't meet expectations.

Pietsch didn't just roll over.

"Every single one-on-one I've had with my manager, every conversation I've had with him, he has been giving me nothing but I am doing a great job," she told the HR reps, and asked to hear the real reason she was being let go.

She speculated that Cloudflare, like many tech companies, had overhired and now couldn't afford its payroll.

"If that's the real answer, I would rather just you tell me that instead of making up some bull**** and telling me that right before I lose my job from someone that I've never met before," she said.

The HR duo declined to go into specifics.

"To be let go for no reason is like a huge slap in the face," Pietsch said. She was equally miffed that her manager wasn't willing to do the dirty work himself, outsourcing the task instead to HR.

After the video went viral, Cloudflare's CEO, Matthew Prince, weighed in via Twitter (aka X).

"The video is painful for me to watch," he admitted. "Managers should always be involved. HR should be involved, but it shouldn’t be outsourced to them."

Prince said employees should never be blindsided with a verdict that they're underperforming. "We don’t always get it right," he said.

The video has been viewed millions of times -- and has drawn mixed reactions on social media. Some see it as a breach of trust between an employee and her employer.

But most viewers responded with you-go-girl enthusiasm for how Pietsch defended herself.

"Reputable companies have reached out to me and told me, 'I want someone like you on my sales team,'" she told the Journal.

Proving that a little gumption can go a long way.

The analysis, published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics, examined 42 studies looking into the association between drinking fruit juice, the body mass index (BMI) and weight gain.

It found that drinking 100 percent fruit juice was tied to a higher BMI in children as well as weight gain in adults.

The study found that children younger than 11 have a “greater” BMI than older children when looking at the relationship between fruit juice consumption and BMI. The youngest group, which was 8 years or younger, had the largest BMI gains, according to the study.

“An 8-oz serving of 100% fruit juice, or a typical glass, would contribute to a larger proportion of daily energy in younger children than it would in older children. Our findings are in line with American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines that children younger than 6 years should consume less than a glass of fruit juice per day,” according to the analysis.

The analysis defined 100 percent fruit juice as having no added sugars. The BMI is a common health indicator that measures body fat based on height and weight.

The researchers went on to recommend the delaying of the introduction of 100 percent fruit juice to young children, keeping an eye on serving sizes and having children eat whole fruit instead. The research said an early introduction to fruit juice could lead to increased risk of being overweight and obese due to favoring sweeter foods.

“Although the effect sizes are modest, small gains in BMI over time may substantiate over the life course; therefore, limiting intake of fruit juice among children is an important strategy for them to develop healthy weight trajectories,” the study reads.

The analysis also noted that there was an association between consumption of the 100 percent fruit juice in adults and weight gain but added that it was “likely mediated in part by energy.”

“Our findings are in support of public health guidance to limit consumption of 100% fruit juice to prevent overweight and obesity,” the researchers concluded.

Congress, who approves the money for these missions, wants to know more about what caused the delay and its potential impacts.

"We have adjusted the Artemis II schedule based on crew safety," Catherine Koerner, a NASA associate administrator, told a House committee Wednesday.

Koerner said some of the main issues stem from the spacecraft's heat shield and life support system.

"We want to fully understand that before we put Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy on Artemis II," she said.

The crew planned to fly to the moon later this year, but NASA pushed the flight to September 2025. Artemis III, the first human moon landing in more than 50 years, is also now delayed to September 2026, which former NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin said is still too soon.

"I don't think the Artemis III, the landing mission, is at all realistically scheduled," Griffin said.

U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, (D-Calif.), noted NASA relies heavily on private companies for the rocket, moonwalking suits and other equipment.

"If one of these elements is delayed, what happens to the whole program?," Lofgren asked.

Koerner said all of NASA’s industry partners have signed on to the new launch date, but lawmakers worry the U.S. may be losing the space race, which they said is a matter of national security.

"Whoever controls space will control the destiny of this earth," said U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, (R-Fla).

Posey stressed China is working to put astronauts on the moon by 2030.

"We are not on a path to recognize that," Griffin said.

NASA has repeatedly delayed these efforts over the past decade, which makes the Artemis program more expensive. Government audits estimate it will cost more than $90 billion through 2025.

Lawmakers haven't passed a comprehensive NASA funding bill in nearly a decade but plan to consider one this spring.

"We are absolutely devastated by Dejan's sudden passing," said Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr. "This is a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors and an incredibly difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure to work with him. In addition to being a terrific basketball coach, Dejan was one of the most positive and beautiful human beings I have ever known."

The Warriors were in Salt Lake ahead of their Wednesday night game against the Utah Jazz. The NBA has already postponed that game.

Milojević was at dinner with multiple players and coaches Wednesday night when he was transported to a Salt Lake City area hospital, Nexstar's KTVX reports.

Despite life-saving efforts, the 46-year-old coach passed away late Wednesday morning.

"We grieve with and for his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa," said the Warriors in a post to X, formerly Twitter.

Milojević was in his third season as an assistant coach with the Warriors. He was a member of the team's coaching staff during the run to the 2022 NBA Championship. Milojević is from Belgrade, Serbia. He played professional baseball internationally for 14 years prior to becoming a coach.

The news of Milojević's passing was first reported by TMZ and in a tweet from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

“The NBA mourns the sudden passing of Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojević, a beloved colleague and dear friend to so many in the global basketball community,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “In addition to winning the 2022 NBA championship in his first season with the Warriors and mentoring some of the best players in the world, Dejan had a decorated international playing career and was a distinguished head coach in his native Serbia.”

Milojević won three consecutive MVP awards in the Adriatic League, taking those trophies in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when the 6-foot-7, 240-pound power forward was at the peak of his playing career.

No player has more Adriatic MVPs than Milojević, and the stories of some games in his youth were legendary. Among them: how he scored 141 points as a 14-year-old in 1991, 83 of those points coming in the second half after his coach ordered he take all the shots.

“I teach all my players that basketball is not a job, but that they should enjoy the game,” Milojević told Bosnian radio-television outlet RTV in a 2018 interview. “Because if you want to do something for the next 20 years, then you have to love it a lot. It’s not easy to endure all these efforts if you don’t like something. Only those who have a sincere love for the game can handle everything with great success.”

Before joining the Warriors, Milojević had prior NBA experience through Summer League assistant-coach stints with Atlanta, San Antonio and Houston.

A date for the rescheduled game will be announced at a later date, the NBA said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The German newspaper BILD reported that Schwarzenegger, 76, was heading to the World Climate Summit in Kitzbühel with a luxury watch he planned to auction off for charity at a dinner on Thursday night.

BILD and TMZ have reported that the actor was stopped by customs agents for a "suspicion-free" bag check, which is when the luxury watch was discovered.

The watch, which Schwarzenegger reportedly said is worth 20,000 euros (slightly more than $21,700), was produced by Swiss manufacturer Audemars Piguet especially for Schwarzenegger's private collection, according to BILD.

Thomas Meister, spokesman for the Munich Main Customs Office, told the newspaper the watch should have been registered as an import and that criminal proceedings under tax law have been initiated.

“This is the problem that Germany is suffering from. You can no longer see the forest for the trees,” Schwarzenegger told BILD, explaining that he told officials the watch was being auctioned off but was still fined 35,000 euros (roughly $38,000), half of which had to be paid in cash.

Sources told TMZ that Schwarzenegger was detained for three hours and had to be taken to a nearby bank so he could withdraw the cash for the fine. When the ATM didn't have enough funds, a working credit card machine was brought in by an airport officer.

It's unclear if Schwarzenegger will face any additional consequences, but his spokesperson, Daniel Ketchell, tells The Washington Post that "lawyers are dealing with it" and that they "don't expect any issues because Arnold always pays his taxes."

Executives of some of the largest and most powerful companies in the world are not being shy about their excitement over AI and their plans to utilize the new technology to save on their bottom line.

In a recent poll conducted by PwC, a multinational professional services and consulting firm, CEOs were asked about AI as they attended the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The firm asked specifically about generative AI, which, as the name implies, generates new content like text, images or audio, based on prompts provided by the user.

If you're active on social media, you've probably seen some version of generative AI, either in the form of a fantastic '90s-era Lisa Frank-esque illustration, a real song performed by fake versions of Drake and The Weeknd, your friends or acquaintances suddenly having 1980s yearbook photos or new professional headshots, or maybe you fell for those fake images of former President Donald Trump being arrested by armed police last March.

That's generative AI.

Now a bunch of high-level executives think that there's untapped potential in generative AI, including potential for cost-cutting, aka layoffs.

A majority of CEOs polled all expressed interest in generative AI, with many saying they believed it would lead to innovation and competition in their respective industries.

But as many as 25% of those CEOs polled also said they expected AI to provide other new benefits for their company, including allowing for "headcount reduction."

"One-quarter of CEOs [are] expecting to reduce headcount by at least 5% in 2024 due to generative AI," PwC said in a news release.

The industry where AI could have the biggest impact? Entertainment.

More than 30% of CEOs for media and entertainment companies were among those who said they expected AI would lead to layoffs.

If you recall, much of the entertainment industry was at a standstill in 2023 due to contract disputes between the major film studios and the unions representing writers and actors — a crucial sticking point was the use of artificial intelligence in future productions.

While both strikes were resolved with some protections put into place, others in the industry including editors, VFX artists, storyboardists and post-production artists have voiced their own concerns about the possibility of losing their jobs to AI.

Earlier this month, Matthew Loeb, the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents nearly 170,000 workers in the industry, said the union was prepared to strike in the coming year when several of its contracts with the studios begin to expire.

AI is once again expected to be a major point of emphasis in future discussions between the studios and the hundreds of thousands of workers that keep the industry rolling.

Other industries where CEOs say layoffs might be on the horizon include insurance, banking, transportation and logistics, telecommunications and, of course, retail.

As Futurism.com suggests, executives might want to lay off the gas pedal when trudging head-first into the world of artificial intelligence, lest they end up sowing the seeds of their own demise. The website was the first to catch Sports Illustrated in the act for using AI to populate articles on its website. The CEO of the once-illustrious publication was later fired.

Frost, a freshman legislator, read part of the poem “The New Colossus,” which was cast and mounted onto the lower level of the Statue of Liberty as a message to immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the 1800s.

While at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Wednesday, Frost called out his GOP colleagues, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) specifically, for their treatment of immigrants and their sweeping bill, H.R. 2, that would dramatically restrict the asylum process and create stricter policies and surveillance on regional migration and undocumented immigrants.

Frost said immigrants deserve better than what they are being offered.

“Don’t welcome them if you plan to reject them. If you keep pushing your bigoted H.R. 2 bill, then also pass this bill. I’ve taken the liberty of drafting it for you,” Frost said, holding up a piece of paper. “It removes the Statue of Liberty, our largest symbol that tells people to come here.”

“This is who you are, removing the fabric of America. So, I want to know which Republican, who supports and voted for H.R.2, will introduce this bill,” he continued. “If you’re gonna support H.R.2 and these bigoted measures, the least you can do is not be a damn liar."

Frost accused GOP lawmakers of being more interested in “peddling hate” than finding solutions that will fix the immigration system.

Republicans say that the bill, which passed the House last year with no support from Democrats, is necessary to stop the thousands of migrants who are arriving at the southern border.

Heating issues keep those in the HVAC business busy during an arctic blast. A majority of calls are related to the need to manually turn on emergency, or "EM" heat, said Beau Rickman, co-owner of DR Mechanical, LLC in Webb City, Missouri.

"A lot of our service calls over the last few days have been related to the emergency heat or auxiliary heat setting," said Rickman.

According to Rickman, emergency heat is a setting that controls your home’s backup heating system. It's a secondary heating mode found on some, but not all, thermostats, particularly those used in heat pump systems.

In normal conditions, your heat pump is the primary worker. But in below-freezing temperatures, or when a unit's heat pump malfunctions, this is where the EM heat setting kicks in.

"In general, people usually don't have to activate emergency heat on their thermostat," Rickamn Rickman explained. The emergency setting will usually take over automatically.

In fact, switching over to emergency heat manually can have some downsides.

"When you turn on your EM heat, you’re telling your heating system to stop using your heat pump and only use this supplemental source," explained Valley Service, a North Dakota HVAC company, in a 2021 post.

"Now, instead of working with your main heat pump, your backup is working solo," the post continued. "This is way less efficient than your primary heating system, so you should only use it in real emergencies unless you want to pay exorbitant heating bills."

If you're unsure when to use emergency heat, look to the setting's name for inspiration: It should only be for emergencies, Rickman said.

You can turn on emergency heat while you wait for a service technician to come take a look, or while you wait for your heat pump to defrost.

"When it's as cold as we've seen it get over the last few days, with temperatures near zero, and you're just turning on the heat on your thermostat, you're likely not going to reach the desired temperature you have your unit set to. It's just going to continuously run 24/7 until it starts to warm back up outside," says Rickman. "This is the ideal time to go ahead and switch your thermostat from heat to emergency heat. When the outside temperature gets above 25 degrees (Fahrenheit), that's when you should turn off emergency heat and go back to the normal heat setting, which uses that heat pump."

If this option doesn't solve your home heating needs, it's recommended that you contact an HVAC repair specialist.

"If there is a problem with your HVAC and you let it go for any length of time, it can cost you a lot more in the long run, versus a regular service call," said Rickman.

It's known as a frostweed plant, and it's certainly been living up to its name as the area deals with colder temperatures.

After a Central Texas freeze in 2022, KXAN viewer Seth Willis sent in multiple photos of frostweed, also known as Verbesina virginica. This plant is capable of producing strange ice sculptures under the right conditions.

Also called frost flowers or iceweed, frostweed forms when air temperatures are below freezing but the ground still is warm enough for the plant’s root system to be active. Frostweed also requires high humidity.

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, moisture in the plant flows from these roots up into the stem, where the cold air freezes them. As the moisture in the plant freezes, it expands, and the ice crystals push out through the stem. You can see more photos of the plant below.

Trees and stemmed plants are covered with tiny tubes filled with water that act sort of like veins. When the air is really humid and just below freezing, the water that’s at the end of these tubes freezes and expands, turning into ice. 

The ice may emerge from a small slit in the plant to form thin ribbon-like strands, or they may split open a whole section of the stem and push out in a thin, curling sheet. Sometimes, several ribbons of ice push out to create a flower-like petal effect.

KXAN viewer Adam Booker also sent in photos of the unique plant.

According to the University of Texas at Austin's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, frostweed can also be found in Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The VA announced Wednesday that 49,714 veterans and former service members took advantage of a new benefit that allowed them to go to any VA or non-VA health facility to get free emergency care if they were experiencing an acute suicidal crisis.

The department said the benefit not only offered potentially life-saving health care, it saved more than $64 million in health care costs.

“There is nothing more important to VA than preventing Veteran suicide — and this expansion of no-cost care has likely saved thousands of lives this year,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “We want all Veterans to know they can get the care they need, when they need it, no matter where they are.”

The department said the new policy allowed those experiencing a suicidal crisis to get necessary care, including emergency room visits, up to 30 days of inpatient or crisis residential care, up to 90 days of outpatient care and transportation costs.

The VA also said that the policy expanded no-cost care to 9 million veterans with its inaugural launch last year.

Veterans are 57 percent more likely to commit suicide than those who have not served, and suicide is the second-leading cause of death among veterans under the age of 45, according to the organization Stop Soldier Suicide.

The most recent report from the VA found that there were 6,392 veteran suicide deaths in 2021 — up 114 deaths from the year prior.

The report also said that suicide was the 13th leading cause of death among all veterans in 2021, with the most occurring among those aged 18 to 34.

AAA’s Oregon/Idaho Division recently pointed Nexstar's KOIN to a 2019 study in which the company tested multiple EVs — a 2018 BMW i3s, a 2018 Chevrolet Bolt, a 2018 Nissan Leaf, a 2017 Tesla Model S 75D, and a 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf — to determine the average EV driving range in severe weather.

AAA found that, when temperatures drop below 20 degrees, the EVs' driving range could be reduced by 41%. AAA said the HVAC system used to heat a vehicle's interior is largely to blame.

As a result, researchers discovered that EV owners spend an additional $25 on charging for every 1,000 miles that they drive.

To avoid the extra strain on your EV's battery, AAA recommends warming your vehicle up while it's still charging, and building in pit stops for recharging into your trip. If possible, the company also recommends keeping your EV in a garage, which will allow its temperature to stabilize.

You could also avoid using the heat at all in your EV: According to AAA's report, when the HVAC was not deployed in the vehicles tested, the driving range in cold conditions dropped by only 12%.

But in dangerously cold weather, leaving the heater off isn't an option. Planning ahead can help offset the hit your battery takes.

“Electric vehicles continue to become more popular, and there are more designs and options on the market than ever before,” Marie Dodds, public affairs director for AAA Oregon/Idaho, added in a statement. “As long as drivers understand that there are limitations when operating electric vehicles in more extreme climates, they’re less likely to be caught off guard by a drop in driving range.”

EV drivers across the country have been struggling to keep their vehicle batteries charged amid freezing temperatures. In Skokie, Illinois, on Monday, a station with 20 Tesla Superchargers remained full nearly all day.

One driver told Nexstar's WGN he had to have his Tesla towed to a charger after the battery died while he searched for a charging station. Drivers who were able to reach a charger found themselves waiting longer than normal to "fill up."

"Let the navigation know you’re going to a charger so the car can pre-condition the battery to accept a charge a lot faster ," Eddie Zipperstein, the owner of Richards Body Shop, offered as advice to EV drivers. He also told WGN it's helpful to start charging before your battery reaches 30%.

All vehicle batteries, EVs or otherwise, can struggle in winter. When temperatures drop, the cold can slow the chemical reactions in your vehicle's battery, leading to a lower output, Ryan Farrell, the light service manager at Action Towing in Rochester, New York, previously explained to Nexstar's WROC.

In fact, the public affairs director for AAA's Oregon/Idaho Division said they haven't seen a significant increase in EV drivers requesting roadside assistance throughout the winter storm impacting the region. She reported that the association has actually received more requests from drivers of gas-powered passenger cars with dead batteries.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told the former president that his right to be present at the trial will be revoked if he remains disruptive. After an initial warning, Carroll's lawyer said Trump could still be heard making remarks to his lawyers, including “it is a witch hunt” and “it really is a con job.”

“Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial,” Kaplan said in an exchange after the jury was excused for lunch, adding: “I understand you're probably eager for me to do that.”

“I would love it,” Trump shot back, shrugging as he sat between lawyers Alina Habba and Michael Madaio at the defense table.

“I know you would like it. You just can't control yourself in this circumstance, apparently,” Kaplan responded.

“You can't either,” Trump muttered.

Kaplan cracked down after Carroll lawyer Shawn Crowley complained for a second time that Trump could be heard “loudly saying things that are false” as he sat at the defense table, frequently tilting back in his chair and leaning over to speak with his lawyer.

Among his comments, Crowley said, were that the longtime Elle magazine advice columnist was lying about the assault and that she seemed to have “gotten her memory back.” Crowley suggested that if Carroll’s lawyers could hear Trump from where they were sitting, about 12 feet (3.7 meters) from him, jurors might’ve been able to hear him too.

“I’m just going to ask that Mr. Trump take special care to keep his voice down when conferring with counsel to make sure the jury does not hear it," Kaplan said before jurors returned to the courtroom after a morning break.

Earlier, without the jury in the courtroom, Trump could be seen slamming his hand on the defense table and uttering the word, “man,” when the judge again refused his lawyer's request that the trial be suspended on Thursday so he could attend his mother-in-law's funeral in Florida.

Carroll, 80, was the first witness in a Manhattan federal court trial to determine damages, if any, that Trump owes her for remarks he made while he was president in June 2019 as he vehemently denied ever attacking her or knowing her. A jury last year already found that Trump sexually abused her in 1996 and defamed her when he made a round of denials in October 2022.

Carroll's appearance, which continues Wednesday afternoon, was somewhat of a tight rope walk because of limitations the judge has posed on the trial in light of the previous verdict and prior rulings he's made restricting the infusion of political talk into the proceedings. Habba lobbed multiple objections seeking to prevent the jury from hearing details of Carroll's sexual assault allegations.

“I’ve paid just about as dearly as it’s possible to pay,” Carroll said, referencing the damage she said Trump had caused to her reputation.

She said that Trump's vitriol toward her has not ceased, pointing to multiple social media posts he made about her in recent days, and that his rhetoric continues to inspire venom against her from strangers because she claimed he sexually abused her decades ago.

“He lied last month. He lied on Sunday. He lied yesterday. And I am here to get my reputation back,” Carroll said.

She said she opened a social media website on Tuesday and saw a post that said: “Hey lady, you’re a fraud.”

Carroll said her worries about her personal safety after a stream of death threats led her to buy bullets for a gun she inherited from her father, install an electronic fence, warn her neighbors of threats and unleash her pit bull to roam freely on the property of the small cabin in the mountains of upstate New York where she lives alone.

She also brought security along for the trial this week and last May and said she'd thought often about hiring security more often to accompany her.

“Why don't you?” her attorney, Roberta Kaplan — no relation to the judge — asked.

“Can't afford it,” Carroll answered.

She took the stand after a hostile encounter between Habba and Kaplan — culminating in Trump's desk slam —- over the judge's refusal to adjourn the trial on Thursday so Trump could attend the funeral for former first lady Melania Trump's mother, Amalija Knavs, who died last week.

Habba called the judge's ruling “insanely prejudicial" and the judge soon afterward cut her off, saying he would “hear no further argument on it.”

Habba told the judge: “I will not be spoken to that way, your honor.” When she mentioned the funeral again, the judge responded: “It's denied. Sit down. Bring in the jury.”

Carroll's testimony came nine months after she was in the same chair convincing a jury in the hopes that Trump could be held accountable in a way that would stop him from frequent verbal attacks against her as he campaigns for the presidency. He is the front-runner on the Republican ticket and won the Iowa caucuses on Monday.

“I'm here because Donald Trump assaulted me and when I wrote about it, he said it never happened. He lied and shattered my reputation,” she said.

Once, Carroll testified, she was a respected advice columnist. “Now, I'm known as the liar, the fraud and the whack job.”

Because the first jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in the 1990s and then defamed her in 2022, the new trial concerns only how much more — if anything — he'll be ordered to pay her for other remarks he made in 2019 while he was president.

Trump, who is juggling court appearances with campaign stops, sat in on jury selection Tuesday. Before opening statements began, he left for a New Hampshire rally.

He declared on social media Tuesday that the case was nothing but “fabricated lies and political shenanigans" that had garnered his accuser money and fame.

“I am the only one injured by this attempted EXTORTION,” read a post on his Truth Social platform.

Carroll, an advice columnist and magazine writer, has said that Trump harmed her deeply. First, she claims, he forced himself on her in a dressing room after a chance meeting at a luxury department store in 1996. Then he publicly impugned her honesty, her motives and even her sanity after she told the story publicly in a 2019 memoir.

Carroll has maintained she lost millions of readers and her longtime post at Elle magazine, where her “Ask E. Jean” advice column ran for over a quarter-century, because of her allegations and Trump's reaction to them. Elle has said her contract wasn’t renewed for unrelated reasons.

Trump asserts that nothing ever happened between him and Carroll and that he never met her. He says a 1987 party photo of them and their then-spouses “doesn't count” because it was a momentary greeting.

Trump did not attend the previous trial in the case last May, when a jury found he had sexually abused and defamed Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. The jury said, however, that Carroll hadn’t proven her claim that Trump raped her.

Carroll is now seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.