Happy New Year from KSAT 12.

It’s an annual end-of-year exercise in futility for many.

New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York’s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe.

A cold front may bring some gusty winds as we ring in the new year.

New Year’s Eve could take the cake for the busiest wedding day in Las Vegas thanks to the date’s repeating pattern of 1-2-3, 1-2-3.

Here comes the boom! New Year’s Eve is right around the corner, meaning several places around San Antonio are planning their big dinners, parties and fireworks celebrations.

The San Antonio Parks Foundation says Celebrate SA will take place at Hemisfair, on the River Walk and the streets of downtown. The party will start at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and continue with fireworks at midnight. It is free and open to the public.

San Antonians celebrated the new year with a boom! Many shared videos of fireworks being popped across the Alamo City.

A stray bullet pierced a home’s roof before getting stuck in the living room ceiling, and the family who lives there believes it was due to celebratory gunfire by someone ringing in the new year.

Residents in California's vast Central Valley region are bracing for another round of powerful storms.

Revelers are celebrating the traditional ball drop in New York City’s Times Square, ushering in 2023 in the largest New Year’s celebration in the United States.

Rideshare companies are gearing up for New Year’s Eve celebrations, with drivers preparing for a surge of requests.

As one of the limited windows of time the state of Texas allows for firework sales, New Year’s Eve in Bexar County is traditionally a lively and loud night, filled with the bangs and booms of fireworks.

Many of us celebrate New Year’s Eve with a glass or two of champagne. One study found that 39% of men drank more than four alcoholic drinks on New Year’s Eve, and 24% percent of women downed just as many. This leads to hefty hangovers and many myths on how to cure them.

Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies are hitting the streets as they work to keep drunk drivers off the road.

Several places around San Antonio are planning on starting the new year off with a bang — and that’s not just because of the fireworks.

Celebrate SA will take place on S. Alamo Street between Market Street and César E Chávez Blvd, along Villita Street and at the Arneson River Theatre with live music and a fireworks show at midnight.

After a one-year hiatus, San Antonio’s New Year’s Eve party Celebrate SA is back on and in-person.

If you needed another reason to curb the New Year’s Eve celebrations this year, here’s one — AAA won’t be providing free rides home for those who may have had too much to drink.

Boisterous New Year’s Eve celebrations have kicked off in Serbia’s capital of Belgrade, where mass gatherings have been allowed despite fears of the fast-spreading omicron variant.

COVID hospitalizations in Bexar County have increased by more than 75% from just one week ago.

Muted New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world ushered in the fourth calendar year framed by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The annual New Year's Eve ball drop in New York City's Times Square has arrived just as the year prior began, with the pandemic clouding an already uncertain future.

People who are only mildly to moderately ill with COVID-like symptoms are urged to monitor and manage their symptoms at home so emergency room doctors can manage the most critically ill patients.

You might think you know everything there is to know about New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, but there’s actually some cool history behind the big days.

New Year celebrations are approaching and across the world there is an urge to party.

Revelers will still ring in the new year in New York’s Times Square next week, there just won’t be as many as usual under new COVID-19 restrictions.

Celebrate SA will take place on Alamo Street, La Villita and Hemisfair between Market Street and Cesar Chavez Blvd with live music and a fireworks show at midnight.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says crowds will once again fill Times Square this New Year’s Eve.

State health officials say the rates of COVID-19 new cases, hospitalizations and deaths are showing steeper increases than past surges.

Two workers for the only palladium and platinum mining operation in the U.S. have died in an underground accident at a Montana mine.

(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)AUSTIN, Texas – State health officials have reported more than 300 deaths from the new coronavirus. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 301 deaths Tuesday from COVID-19, the illness the coronavirus causes, raising the state’s coronavirus death toll for the pandemic to 39,001. The state also reported 12,966 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the number of Texas cases to just over 2.5 million since the pandemic began. Texas COVID-19 hospitalizations held steady at 9,401, department spokesman Chris Van Deusen said Tuesday. It was updated on Feb. 12 to remove a reference to the 300 new deaths being the most in Texas since mid-January.

NBC was the highest-rated broadcast network last week, averaging 4.6 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 1.7 million viewers, CNN had 1.6 million, Hallmark had 1.42 million, MSNBC had 1.4 million, HGTV had 1.3 million and TNT had 1.2 million. ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.75 million viewers. College Football Bowl Studio, ESPN, 16.1 million. College Football Playoffs Semifinal, ESPN, 13.4 millionCollege Football Bowl Studio, ESPN, 13.5 million.

(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)SAN ANTONIO – Even as more San Antonio residents get vaccinated, COVID-19 trends have continued at alarming rates, with virus-related hospitalizations hitting an all-time high at area hospitals on Tuesday. During the county’s daily COVID-19 update, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg confirmed the grim news about the hospitalization record. With more than 180 new COVID-19 hospital admissions reported, officials said area hospitals are currently caring for 1,318 people afflicted with the virus, the most since the pandemic began last year. The worsening situation will likely result in a greater number of deaths related to COVID-19, San Antonio Metro Health Medical Director Dr. Junda Woo said. The peak in hospitalizations comes amid rising new COVID-19 infections, although reporting dates have been staggered due to the holidays.

A quiet Wardour Street in London, as the New Year's Eve fireworks display has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)LONDON – British hospitals around the country face a perilous situation in January, medical workers warned Friday amid surging coronavirus infections blamed on a new virus variant. “In the short term, the additional increase of vaccine efficacy from the second dose is likely to be modest. The U.K.'s main union for doctors warned that delaying the second dose causes huge scheduling problems for thousands of partially vaccinated elderly and vulnerable people. ___Follow AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccines and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

BEIJING – Thailand's capital is shutting down venues including schools and entertainment areas as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Seven provinces including Bangkok have been designated red zones where places including entertainment venues, boxing rings, gyms and flea markets are ordered closed. Bangkok reported 180 cases in the last 24 hours. The requirements by the Shenyang and Dalian airports come amid a small but persistent growth in cases in the two cities located in Liaoning province just north of the capital Beijing. China on Friday reported a total of 19 new virus cases, including 10 that were brought from outside the country.

Many South Africans will swap firecrackers for candles to mark New Year's Eve amid COVID-19 restrictions including a nighttime curfew responding to President Cyril Ramaphosa's call to light a candle to honor those who have died in the COVID-19 pandemic and the health workers who are on the frontline of battling the disease. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)JOHANNESBURG – Many South Africans swapped firecrackers for candles to mark New Year’s Eve amid COVID-19 restrictions including a nighttime curfew. Urging all South Africans to battle the virus, Ramaphosa called on the nation to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a different way. Instead, the mayor of South Africa's largest city will light a candle on the landmark Nelson Mandela Bridge. At midnight he will light a candle with his family and pray for everybody who has suffered from the pandemic.

A man wears a protective mask during the coronavirus pandemic in Times Square Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in New York. Small groups of revelers, some wearing glittery hats, filmed their distant view of Times Square on their phones and broke out in cheers at midnight. Preparing for the worst, the New York Police Department deployed its bomb-sniffing dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks intended to guard against explosions. “It’s dead,” said Ali Jameel early Thursday, who owns a store a block from Times Square. “Coming to Times Square is a family tradition for some.

A different U.K.-EU trade deal will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British Brexit supporters, it means reclaiming national independence from the EU and its web of rules. Hundreds of millions of individuals in Britain and the bloc also face changes to their daily lives. Britons and EU citizens have lost the automatic right to live and work in the other’s territory. For some in Britain, including the prime minister, it’s a moment of pride and a chance for the U.K. to set new diplomatic and economic priorities. In Scotland, which voted strongly in 2016 to remain, Brexit has bolstered support for separation from the U.K.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)LAS VEGAS — Tens of thousands of people were walking on the casino-lined Las Vegas Strip on New Year’s Eve by early evening despite a plea from Nevada Gov. China on Friday reported a total of 19 new virus cases, including 10 that were brought from outside the country. ___LONDON — The coronavirus pandemic canceled London’s annual New Years’ Eve fireworks display, which usually draws tens of thousands of spectators. The nation’s most populated county has about 40% of California’s virus deaths. ___NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee ends the year ranked first in coronavirus cases per capita.

Fireworks and drones illuminate the night sky over London as they form a light display as London's normal New Year's Eve fireworks display was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic Thursday Dec. 31, 2020. As midnight rolled from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some countries and cities canceled or scaled back their festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year. In Chinese societies, the virus ensured more muted celebrations of the solar New Year, which is less widely observed than the Lunar New Year that in 2021 will fall in February. Initial reports about a mystery respiratory illness sickening people in the Chinese city of Wuhan emerged exactly a year ago.

So let’s take a trip down memory lane and see what the 2020 celebrations looked like a year ago. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images) (2020 Bryan Steffy)Confetti fills the air over top of revelers during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square on Ja. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images) (2020 Gary Hershorn)The Quadriga statue stands on the Brandenburg Gate during New Year's Eve fireworks on Jan. 1, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (2020 Getty Images)A lighting display at the Burj Khalifa on New Year's Eve 2019 on Dec. 31, 2019 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images) (2019 Gene Wang)A general view of the Burj Khalifa at New Year's Eve 2019 on Dec. 31, 2019 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The NYE forecast for the San Antonio areaSAN ANTONIO – On this last day of 2020, the weather forecast is a bit busy! WATCH: Meteorologist Sarah Spivey shows snowfall near RockspringsHealthy Rainfall LikelyThis December, we’ve only seen 0.05″ of rainfall and drought is intensifying around San Antonio. Wintry Mix PossibilityThrough Thursday evening, some wintry precipitation will be possible well northwest of San Antonio. Any precipitation in the San Antonio area is expected to remain a cold rain. Chances of snow are higher well west of San Antonio on Thursday (Copyright 2020 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2020, file photo, confetti falls at midnight on the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration in New York. If ever a year's end seemed like cause for celebration, 2020 might be it. (Photo by Ben Hider/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – If ever a year's end seemed like cause for celebration, 2020 might be it. From New York's Times Square to Sydney Harbor, big public blowouts are being turned into TV-only shows and digital events. The occasion stirs mixed feelings for people like Cesar Soltero, who was taking photos, and taking stock, in Times Square this week.

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – COVID-19 cases are surging in parts of our area, including Comal County, where health officials are reporting an all-time total of 5,576 cases. “We’re making sure that we’re always in compliance and doing the best that we can to keep everybody safe,” Liker said. Despite the safety efforts, there is still cause for concern as Comal County health officials release the latest positivity rate. Still, county officials say they’re not planning any major shutdowns. Pearson and Liker say they plan to enforce those guidelines heading into 2021.

Last New Year's Eve, Billy Porter was working in New Orleans. This year he'll still be working — but in New York City. The “Pose” star will join Ryan Seacrest and Lucy Hale on ABC in Times Square on Dec. 31 for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2020.” The broadcast is closed to the public due to the pandemic. “2020 has been a trying year for the world and I’m thrilled to have Billy and Lucy join me in ushering in a new year with fresh beginnings,” said Seacrest in a statement. As with last year, Ciara will once again oversee the Los Angeles festivities.

SAN ANTONIO – A woman killed in crash on the far Northwest Side on New Year's Eve was identified Thursday as Jesamie Friend, 20. San Antonio police said Friend was speeding along NW Loop 410 near Highway 151 around 5 a.m. Tuesday when she lost control of her vehicle, which flipped and hit a median. Man, 18, arrested in New Year’s Day crash that left man, teen dead on West SideFriend was ejected from the vehicle, police said. She died at the scene.

TEXAS CITY, Texas – "She's my grandma and the most selfless human on Earth," said Lee Sumrall. Her family and friends gathered for a little celebration for her birthday where she received a Watt jersey and a Watt doll. Family friend Clint Jenkins said her only birthday wish is to meet the Texans defensive end. I'm 99 years old, and I love little JJ (referring to her Watt doll), but I'd love to hug the big one," Poole said in the video. Help us make Mimi's birthday wish come true by sharing this story in hopes of getting Watt's attention.