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Girl who survived Thornton Walmart shooting to release new song about gun violence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Denver child hip-hop artist London Monroe witnessed a tragedy when she was younger. Now, she’s using the experience to spread awareness about the nationwide epidemic of gun violence.The 9-year-old’s new track “Dance and Live” draws upon her experience during the 2017 mass shooting in a Thornton Walmart Supercenter. London and her father, Marcus Smith, were inside the store that night when the gunman opened fire and killed three, but neither was injured.“That incident we went through, it’s always been in the back of both of our minds,” Smith said on a phone call Dec. 14. “That had a huge impact on both of our lives, given the situation and the circumstances we were put in.”Smith, a hip-hop artist who performs under the name M6, noted that he writes, records, engineers and masters all of London’s music by himself. Additionally, Smith added, he also does the graphics, web design, photography and video editing for his daughter&...

Five Colorado synagogues subject to “hoax” bomb threats

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Five Colorado synagogues were among the hundreds of Jewish institutions across the United States that received “hoax” bomb threats over the weekend, according to the Anti-Defamation League and Secure Community Network.Synagogues in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Morrison received threats, ADL Mountain States Regional Director Scott Levin said Wednesday.The organization has seen reports of antisemitism triple since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, Levin said.“The bomb threats take away from the work of law enforcement and come at a time when the Jewish community is already feeling beleaguered and anxious,” Levin said in a statement. “These hateful antisemitic swatting attacks and bomb threats against our religious and cultural institutions, which are the mainstays of Jewish life in America, are particularly painful.”The Anti-Defamation League reported about 400 false threats in the United States, according to CNN, while Jewish security group Secure Community Network annou...

6 new Colorado laws that go into effect on Jan. 1

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Two dozen new Colorado laws — concerning issues including how tractors are repaired, how evictions are handled and how elections are run — go into effect on New Year’s Day, shortly before state legislators return to the Capitol and begin the lawmaking process all over again.The bills that are set to kick in next year touch on some of the most pressing issues legislators debated last year. One measure allows tenants facing eviction to participate in the court process remotely. Another addresses a loophole in state law that had been exploited by predatory lenders.Others address health care costs, treatment for eating disorders and how doctors treat patients while those they are unconscious.Here’s a look at six of the new laws taking effect Jan. 1.Right to RepairIn April, Colorado became the first state to pass a law giving farmers and agricultural workers the legal ability to repair their own tractors and equipment. Sponsored by Democrats Rep. Brianna Titone an...

With Alma Fonda Fina, Denver chef elevates Guadalajara specialties he grew up eating

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Johnny Curiel grew up in his parents’ “fonda” – “a mom-and-pop place, where blue-collar workers go for lunch” – in downtown Guadalajara, Mexico.“I was inspired by what they did, but not necessarily the lifestyle,” Curiel added. “But the more I started growing up, the more I fell in love with hospitality.”Curiel’s parents still own their fonda in Guadalajara. And after years of working for notable restaurateurs in Denver, including Troy Guard, Richard Sandoval and Dave Query, Curiel and his wife, Kasie, have opened their own mom-and-pop spot here.Alma Fonda Fina debuted earlier this month at 2556 15th St., in the former Truffle Table space, which closed in October after 10 years. The contemporary Mexican restaurant elevates what Curiel called the typical “scoop-and-serve” fonda you would find in Mexico.“It’s the food I grew up eating presented differently, but it’s not pretentious,” Curiel said. “I wanted people to understand the way that I eat and what I enjo...

Aurora’s new effort to stop gun violence targets the small number of individuals who drive that violence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Officials in Aurora launched a new violence reduction program this fall that aims to decrease shootings by focusing attention on the tiny slice of the city’s residents who are the most involved in gun violence: gang members.People associated with gangs make up fewer than 1% of Aurora residents but were involved in at least 36% of the city’s homicides between January 2022 and April and 28% of its non-fatal shootings between December 2022 and April, according to a July report the city commissioned from the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College, a research center that scores of cities across the U.S. have hired to help set up similar efforts to reduce gun violence.Aurora’s program, dubbed Standing Against Violence Every Day, or SAVE, started in earnest in September and is a joint effort — led by the Aurora Police Department — between a slew of city and regional agencies.The program aims to identify the young people in Aurora — mos...

“The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical” launches Golden’s new arts center | Theater review

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Theatergoers would be wise to take note of the bright red sweater that a character in “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” sports. In bedazzled script, it reads: “NAUGHTY.”Consider that a celebratory declaration but also a caveat to the profane and merry mischief to follow.Composer and lyricist David Nehls (a local light) and writer Betsy Kelso return to the North Florida double-wide community of their show, “The Great American Trailer Park.” That musical was a hit for Miners Alley Playhouse earlier in the year. This new work christens Golden’s gem of a cultural space, the Miners Alley Performing Arts Center. It runs through New Year’s Eve.Betty (Julia Tobey), Lin (Preston “P-Jay” Adams) and Pickles (Jenna Molls Reyes), along with Rufus Jeter (Nick Rigg Johnson), are hoping to break the Armadillo Acres’ Christmas Curse by winning the “Mobile Homes & Gardens” prize for best-decorated trailer park.They have their work cut out for them. As the show opens, the stage captures th...

Competition between Colorado’s hot springs resorts is getting steamy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Hot springs have long been a major draw to Pagosa Springs, a small southwestern town in the shadow of the San Juan Mountains. Hundreds of years ago, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe uncovered the bubbling waters of the Mother Spring — now recognized as the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring — and its medicinal powers.Today, that harbinger of heat feeds the 25 hot springs pools that comprise The Springs Resort, which also encompasses a hotel, spa and wellness studio.But there will soon be a lot more to enjoy on the property: Owner David Dronet plans to add 27 geothermal pools, a hydro-thermal spa with saunas and mud bathing rooms and a farm-to-table restaurant, as well as nearly double the number of hotel rooms. Guests will also have access to sleep programming and “active recovery activities” like guided hikes and forest bathing for days off from skiing and rafting. “The desire is for this to be a walkable health and wellness village in the heart of a Colorado mountain t...

Letters: How can Xcel, a public utility, justify such lavish digs in Denver?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Lavish digs for public utilityRe: “Why Xcel’s new HQ stings so bad,” Dec. 17 editorialBravo to the editorial board for this piece. Wearing my RiNo landlord hat, this is great news for the neighborhood and will likely serve as a catalyst for continued momentum and growth. However, when switching to my Xcel ratepayer hat, one must question this decision. The T3 building may be the best-in-class building in RiNo and likely in the entire downtown sub-market. It is incomprehensible that a public utility can justify the need or expense for such a high-caliber building.Certainly their workforce should occupy a building with appropriate amenities and a work environment commensurate with similar types of entities, but it’s hard for me to imagine there is justification for best in class. Given the plethora of vacant and bargain office space currently on the market, one would think there are far more economical options.This decision on its own is bad enough, but in light of Xcel’s ...

Americana gets wild-eyed when Colorado’s Gasoline Lollipops play NYE

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

Gasoline Lollipops’ New Years Eve show is taking a hard turn this year.The rough-and-tumble Boulder quintet, which suffuses rootsy Americana with cold-steel precision and wild-eyed energy, won’t perform its Fox Theatre set on Dec. 31 under the guise of another band. Instead of covering Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers,” for example, it’s presenting its own music after a year of intense vulnerability that included a world premiere ballet score and expansion of its sound.The band is also collaborating like never before, with Nashville-based songwriter and fiddle player Phoebe Hunt flying in, and Boulder openers Bonnie and Taylor Sims sitting in on-stage with the band. The “family” arrangement, as Gas Pops singer Clay Rose called it, will be laid over a batch of new songs that the band will debut before recording them in-studio next year.“We’re going to be doing originals this year, so we’ll all be jamming together,” Rose ...

The holiday rush to airports and highways is underway

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:18 GMT

It's beginning to look a lot like a hectic holiday travel season, but it might go relatively smoothly if the weather cooperates.Travel over Christmas and New Year's tends to spread out over many days, so the peaks in the U.S. are likely to be lower than they were during the Thanksgiving holiday. That is making airlines and federal officials optimistic.But the debacle at Southwest Airlines over Christmas last year should guard against overconfidence. Just this week, the Transportation Department announced a settlement in which Southwest will pay $140 million for that meltdown, which stranded more than 2 million travelers.Travelers arrive at LAX around 5 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2023. (KTLA)So far this year, airlines have canceled 1.2% of U.S. flights, down nearly half from 2.1% over the same period last year. Cancellations were well below 1% during Thanksgiving, according to FlightAware.“I don't want to jinx us, but so far 2023 has seen the lowest cancellation rate in the last five years,” T...