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Aurora house fire kills 2 children, injures 7 others; 4 kids remain in critical condition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

Two children are dead and four other children remained hospitalized in critical condition Thursday morning after an overnight house fire in Aurora, authorities said.Nine people were inside a house in the 2800 block of South Oakland Circle that went up in flames at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Dawn Small with Aurora Fire Rescue.All nine were taken to area hospitals, and two of the children, a 1-year-old and 9-year-old, died at the hospital, Small said.One other child and two adults were treated at a hospital and released.The four children who were in critical condition as of Thursday morning were still in the hospital.Multiple fire rescue trucks responded to the fire due to the large number of people who were inside.Small said the agency is still still investigating the cause of the fire.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Aurora firefighters save person from basement fire

Former head of Colorado Behavioral Health Administration alleges she was fired due to racial discrimination

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

The former head of Colorado’s new Behavioral Health Administration has filed a federal complaint alleging she was fired due to racial discrimination, though some state lawmakers say she performed poorly in the job.Dr. Morgan Medlock was hired from the Washington, D.C., Department of Behavioral Health in January 2022 to head the Behavioral Health Administration, which was created to better coordinate Colorado’s mental health and addiction programs.But the agency has had a rocky start, with the legislature pushing back some deadlines this year to allow for more public comment and time to write the agency’s rules.Medlock was fired in April and replaced on an interim basis by Michelle Barnes, executive director of the Colorado Department of Human Services. At the time, Mental Health Colorado, Vail Behavioral Health and two members of the state’s behavioral health task force wrote letters to Gov. Jared Polis’ office supporting the decision to appoint Barnes,...

Denver’s toughest tickets: Good luck getting into these shows, restaurants or games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

As Denver’s population has exploded, so have its entertainment options. One might think that growth makes it easier to get into the best restaurants, concerts, and sporting events, given that there are more of them than ever.One would be wrong.Related ArticlesEntertainment | What to do this week in Denver: Festival of Horror, Latin Fashion Week, Chuck D on stage Entertainment | Paddleboarders dressed as witches will haunt Colorado lakes; here’s how to join them Entertainment | Southwestern Colorado’s best little beer festival takes IPA lovers straight to the source | Opinion Entertainment | Six can’t-miss Oktoberfest parties, from Denver to Longmont to Vail Entertainment | Denver Food & Wine Fest, “Dog Man” Musical, and more things to do in Denver this weekend The metro area and Front Range’s hottest events and venues are slathered in hype, but it’s jus...

“That can’t happen again”: Southwest Airlines CEO prepares for winter in Denver to avoid last year’s meltdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan says he is taking precautions months before winter storms blow through Denver International Airport to avoid repeating last year’s holiday meltdown.“That can’t happen again,” he said in a Wednesday interview. “But it’s made us a better company.”Jordan aims to learn from the carrier’s multi-day disruption in December, which resulted in thousands of canceled flights and stranded travelers. Looking forward, he’s preparing his Denver team with an increase in deicing pads from six to 10, a 60% boost in deicing trucks and more deicing staff, with thousands currently in training.That means “more of everything: more people, more trucks, more deicing pads,” Jordan said.Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan is pictured in 2017. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Southwest is experimenting with closed-bucket deicing trucks and trucks that will blow forced air to keep the ground clean, as “...

Xcel Energy plans to spend $15 billion to boost renewable energy by 2030. How much will it cost customers?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

Xcel Energy plans to spend $15 billion on renewable energy to provide electricity to its Colorado customers in the coming years, although its new proposal comes with a potential rate increase and criticism from environmentalists who want the utility to complete end its reliance on fossil fuels.The company filed a new clean energy plan Tuesday with the state Public Utilities Commission, which has until the end of this year to accept or reject it, said Katie O’Donnell, a PUC spokeswoman.Xcel said the plan would make 80% of its system in Colorado run on wind, solar and biomass energy by 2030 and would add 6,500 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid as it closes its last coal-fired power plant.“This is a very significant investment for our customers and our communities,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado. “It’s not just benefiting our environmental goals, but it will put us on our path to reduce carbon emissions.”The utility company ...

Want public records from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office? Better find a notary.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office recently mandated that anybody seeking public records from the agency must get a form notarized in order to obtain documents — a move a free speech expert called an unprecedented and unlawful burden.The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act and Colorado Open Records Act allow public agencies to ask members of the public to sign a statement affirming that the records “shall not be used for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain.”Nowhere in the statute does it say a public entity may require this form to be notarized.Law enforcement agencies are allowed to ask a requestor to show some form of identification when they seek public documents. The Colorado legislature this year passed a bill outlawing the ID requirement for other public bodies that do not fall under the criminal justice records law.Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, said he hasn’t seen another age...

New in Colorado skiing: Four resort improvements we can’t wait to try this winter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

The culmination of Steamboat Resort’s ambitious three-year redevelopment project tops the list of most exciting resort improvements in Colorado this winter with a new base-to-summit gondola that will dramatically increase uphill capacity and a 655-acre terrain expansion.There’s also a new lift at Keystone to serve above-timberline bowl skiing that previously was hike-to terrain, and a fancy new mid-mountain restaurant at Copper Mountain, but Steamboat’s $220-million transformation stands apart as the most significant upgrade in the resort’s 61-year history.Since 2021, Steamboat — which was pounded by snow last year — replaced an old gondola that ran from the base to mid-mountain at Thunderhead and demolished the old gondola building to make room for base area improvements that include an ice rink and a food hall. Last year, the first leg of a second gondola, the Wild Blue Gondola, opened from the base area to a new on-mountain learning center call...

Optimism grows over possible agreement in Hollywood writers' strike but picketing continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

Hollywood writers and studios will enter a second day of negotiations Thursday amid encouraging reports that the monthslong strike, which has shut down the entertainment industry, could be coming to an end. Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) will still be on the picket lines Thursday while union leaders meet with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and studios including Netflix, Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal Television.Wednesday's meeting was the first between the two sides since mid-August but it went so well that some believe a deal could be finalized as soon as Thursday, CNBC reported. The WGA began its strike on May 2 with the Screen Actors Guild joining them in striking on July 14, marking the first time in over 60 years both unions have been on strike at the same time.Striking writers say they are split with producers over issues such as higher residual pay, viewership transparency from streaming services, incr...

San Jose tech titan Adobe widens partnerships with SJSU, other schools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

SAN JOSE — Tech titan Adobe has widened its partnerships with San Jose State University and two other colleges, along with the schools’ students, with big grants to each of the educational institutions.As part of the company’s “Adobe for All” initiative, the tech firm has provided grants to SJSU, Bowie State University and Winston-Salem State University, Adobe said Thursday.Each of the three schools received $1 million from The Adobe Foundation, Adobe said. San Jose State is a Hispanic-Serving Institution, while both Bowie State University and Winston-Salem State University are designated as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the company added.With the latest rounds of grants from Adobe Foundation, the tech company has provided a total of $9 million to the schools in recent years, or $3 million total for each university over that time frame, according to Amy White, Adobe’s global head for corporate social responsibility.The three univer...

From the Roadshow archives: When Sunol Grade replaced Bay Bridge as worst traffic jam in Bay Area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:32 GMT

Editor’s note: Mr. Roadshow wanted to share some of his favorite columns and stories from more than 30 years of informing, entertaining and getting things changed for Bay Area (and beyond) drivers. He’ll be back on the road with new material soon. In the meantime, please keep sending Mr. Roadshow your comments or questions to [email protected] story originally was published on February 10, 1999. It’s now official. The thousands of Interstate 680 motorists who rise as early as 3:30 in the morning to beat the traffic jams over the Sunol Grade drive the region’s worst daily commute.For the first time since Caltrans began tracking congestion levels in 1981, the Bay Bridge has been toppled as the worst commute on state roads in the nine Bay Area counties.“Oh, wonderful,” said David Rodriquez, who commutes 95 miles from Delhi in Merced County to the East Bay on I-680 and must leave home in predawn hours to have any chance of getting into the...