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Colorado logs a second straight month of employment gains on strong government hiring

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

Since last fall, Colorado employers have gone from adding jobs one month to shedding them the next, resulting in an economy that has behaved more like a sputtering lawn mower than a finely tuned engine that fires up on the first pull of the cord.But that changed in May, when the state finally strung together two consecutive months of respectable job gains, according to an update Friday from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Despite that, 2023 still appears to be lagging.“After five months it seems the Colorado labor market is underperforming the U.S., assuming there will be no major revisions in the future. It is easy to look at the data and see where changes are occurring. It is more difficult to understand the structural changes in the economy that are causing these changes,” said Broomfield economist Gary Horvath in an email.“In other words, why is the Colorado economy struggling more than other states?” he asked.Colorado employers added 3,9...

A Colorado man saved a dog’s life. When the story went viral, it changed his life.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

When Breckenridge resident Zach Hackett first rescued Riley — a 9-year-old sheltie dog who had run away five weeks earlier — in May, nothing happened for about 10 days.Then the story swept across the country. After Summit Daily News and KDVR reported the story, Hackett received congratulations from Congressman Joe Neguse’s office, and the national nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) honored him with a compassion award. Soon, The Washington Post, The Dodo, Fox Weather and other major news outlets were reaching out to interview Hackett.But before all that attention, Hackett said he had been struggling. The days between when Hackett first heard Riley’s faint “yip” while exploring the trails near Peak 4 behind his new apartment and when the media caught wind of the story had been difficult ones, he said.The uplifting story of the rescue, though, has helped Hackett connect with a wider community and find happiness and hope for the future. It also inspired him to ...

Electronic dance music has become one of Colorado’s defining genres, and it’s only getting bigger

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

When Denver-based artist Illenium climbs on stage at Empower Field at Mile High on June 17, it will be not only the single biggest electronic-dance music concert in Colorado history, but one of the biggest-ever headlining events by a Colorado artist.“The next largest venue on my (fall) tour is probably 25,000 capacity,” said Illenium, a.k.a. platinum-selling DJ, producer and songwriter Nick Miller. “Most of the venues are like 8,000 to 15,000, and I think in Chicago I’m playing a soccer stadium.”The show tops a week that saw Colorado EDM artists GRiZ (based out of Denver) and Big Gigantic (Boulder) perform at June 15’s Denver Nuggets victory parade, adding a sheen of city approval for the roughly 1 million Denverites in attendance.Denver mega-DJ and producer Illenium credited Colorado’s EDM scene for allowing him to rise to a headliner at Empower Field at Mile High, where he plays his Trilogy show on June 17. (Lindsey Byrnes, Warner Records)...

Law firm Springer & Steinberg departs downtown after 40 years

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

This building at 1400 S. Colorado was the headquarters of Lewan Technology until it moved to the Denver Tech Center in 2021. (Courtesy Avison Young)After four decades along Broadway in downtown Denver, the law firm Springer & Steinberg is moving south.The firm, known for its high-profile criminal defense and personal injury work, will pick up and relocate to 1400 S. Colorado Blvd. at the end of the month, Jeff Springer said.“We are going to be real close to Glendale and I am the Glendale city attorney, so it makes some sense for us to do that,” the firm’s co-founder explained.Jeff Springer“We’re excited to be close to Glendale and everything that’s going on there, and give our firm what we think is going to be a beautiful space. We’re going to have our name on the north and south sides of the building. We think it’s a great opportunity for us,” he said.The firm is currently at 1600 N. Broadway, a 26-story high-rise that was called the Colorado State Bank Building when Springer &...

Colorado electric utilities gird for impact on grid if weather turns hot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

With Colorado’s current wet, cool weather, the prospect of rolling blackouts because of power plants straining under hot, dry weather seems as unreal as a desert mirage. But a national watchdog agency says the risk of electric outages is high in case of extreme weather this summer and Colorado utilities say they are preparing.While power supplies are sufficient in all regions, the West and much of the rest of the country will face an elevated risk of power shortfalls in the face of heat waves and wildfires, said the North American Electric Reliability Corp. The regulatory authority, which oversees the national electric grid’s reliability, noted in its 2023 Summer Reliability Assessment that there’s a 50% to 70% likelihood of higher-than-average temperatures through September in most parts of the country.The report also notes that heavy snows and rain have alleviated drought in big parts of the West, including Colorado, which could boost hydropower generation. And N...

Englewood officers cleared in fatal police shooting according to DA’s review

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

Two Englewood police officers who fired rifle shots, one of which killed a man inside a home from where a gun was fired at police outside, were justified under Colorado law in their use of lethal force, according to an investigative review of the police shooting that was released Friday.On the night of July 24, 2022, police responded to a home in the 5000 block of South Grove Street on a report of a man who was intoxicated and firing a gun inside the residence, according to the review. Multiple officers arrived, including Dirk Smith and Aaron Jarrett, who fired at Matthew Mitchell and Phillip Blankenship, brothers who were inside the home. Mitchell, 22 at the time, was hit in the chest by gunfire and died at the scene.Blankenship, who allegedly was intoxicated and had fired a gun inside his home prompting a 911 call to police, was arrested on investigation of attempted first-degree murder after he eventually walked out of the home and surrendered to police.Blankenship, according to ...

Harry Edwards, iconic Bay Area athlete and activist, facing the ultimate fight

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

Harry Edwards, a towering figure in Bay Area sports history known for promoting athlete activism, has no plans to stop fighting against racism and injustice despite suffering from bone cancer.“I am very much aware of the severity of the situation I am in and the reality of the circumstance,” he said in an hour-long conversation with the Bay Area News Group. “So you don’t spend a lot of time focused on the condition. You try to focus on the time you have remaining, realizing you are on the clock.”Best known for his role in the 1968 Olympic protests by San Jose State sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, ​Edwards​ also has collaborated over the years with some of the biggest names in pro sports​, including Colin Kaepernick, to give athletes of color a voice.Harry Edwards, a former SJSU sociology professor, speaks at San Jose State University as the school announces the return of the track and field program Monday morning, Aug. 1, 2016. The announcement was made next to the 24-foot-t...

Pristine Bay Area beach on clean-water ‘honor roll,’ but region has five of the grungiest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

Lapping waves. Sand castles. Colorful umbrellas. Water with poop in it.You might get more than you bargained for at some Bay Area beaches.The annual Heal the Bay report is out this week, and five San Mateo County beaches made the “Beach Bummer” list for having ocean water heavily contaminated with fecal matter. Three were in Foster City, at Erckenbrack Park, Marlin Park and Gull Park. One was in Half Moon Bay, in Pillar Point Harbor at Capistrano Avenue. And one was on the open ocean: Pacifica’s main strand, Linda Mar Beach.“This marks the fifth consecutive report where San Mateo County has multiple Beach Bummers,” according to the report by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has been issuing the yearly water-quality Beach Report Cards for more than 30 years.Grades are based on water sampling at more than 500 West Coast beaches by county, state and tribal agencies, sanitation departments and effluent dischargers. For the Beach Bummer list, the water w...

Opinion: Cannabis industry is poisoning our kids just like tobacco has

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

When California voters in 2016 supported the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis, we did not anticipate children would become collateral damage from an improperly regulated industry that prioritizes profit over children’s health.What we now know is the marketing practices of the cannabis industry, which take a page from tobacco companies’ playbook by targeting children, are causing a direct threat to kids’ safety, wellbeing and overall health.Since the passage of Proposition 64, I have seen hundreds of young children become ill because they accidentally ate a product that contained cannabis. One in 10 children who consume cannabis end up in the intensive care unit. Eighty-seven percent of children under the age of 5 who are hospitalized due to cannabis toxicity have consumed the drug in the form of candy.The number of children hospitalized for cannabis toxicity in San Diego, where I practice, has quadrupled since the recreational legalization of cannabis products. E...

On the road again! Maryland’s MVA to resume normal operations for driving tests Tuesday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:31:15 GMT

In another sign of putting COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, the Maryland Department of Transportation announced that it’s going back to its pre-pandemic policy for driving tests on Tuesday.The state’s Motor Vehicle Administration will be reopening its normal operations for driving tests on June 20.After the agency finishes observing the Juneteenth federal holiday, drivers taking an exam will have a driving instructor sitting in the passenger seat, the agency said Friday.Test takers will also be driving on an open road with an instructor — a shift from the pandemic-era closed-course driving that Marylanders may have gotten used to.The state’s transportation department previously stationed instructors outside vehicles on those closed courses to test drivers.Source