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State evaluation finds no systemic problems with Arapahoe County child services

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo (KDVR) --- A yearlong state investigation into Arapahoe County Department of Human Services found no systemic problems with the county’s child protective agency.  The report, released by the Colorado Department of Human Services, “found no pervasive agencywide practice issues that indicate systemic lapses to protect children or serve families” and “no evidence of systemic concerns of falsification of contacts.” This comes after former child caseworker, Robin Niceta, allegedly made false child abuse accusations about Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky.  Niceta has been charged with felony attempt to influence a public servant and misdemeanor false reporting of child abuse.  Lawsuit: 40 come forward about child caseworker A statewide audit looking into Niceta and her casework was launched back in September and recommended an additional level of review of Arapahoe County’s entire child-protective system. While the report released on Friday foun...

9 men arrested in child prostitution stings

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested nine men in an undercover child prostitution sting late last month. The operation was conducted over two days using online forums with men soliciting sexual services from who they thought were underage sex workers but were actually undercover investigators. When the men showed up at the location that was set, they were arrested for soliciting child prostitution. Five men were arrested during the operation and four others had charges filed by the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office after the sting. Caregiver for disabled people charged with sexual assault, police seeking other victims “Protecting children from such unthinkable abuse is important on many levels,” Sheriff John Feyen said. “Darkness finds its way into every community, and Larimer County is no exception. We’ll continue to fight for victims, stop the exploitation of vulnerable youth, and proactively prevent predators from causing further harm.”The s...

3 injured in separate hot-air balloon crashes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Emergency crews responded to hot-air balloon crashes in Erie and Lafayette that sent three people to the hospital.Erie hot air balloon crashAround 7 a.m. Friday morning, Mountain View Fire Rescue was called to Weld County Road 5 and Colliers Parkway. A gust of wind came in and pushed a couple of balloon canopies over.MVFR said that one balloon started to lift off and pulled free from its crew member's grasp. The person fell about 10 feet and sustained minor injuries.One person was injured in a hot air balloon crash in Erie. (Mountain View Fire Rescue)One person was injured in a hot air balloon crash in Erie. (Mountain View Fire Rescue)A MVFR medic took the crew member to a local hospital where she is being treated for her injuries. Lafayette hot air balloon crashAround the same time as the Erie incident, Lafayette Police received a call at 7:18 p.m. about a hot-air balloon incident.A total of five people were in the balloon including the pilot.A hot-air balloon was b...

Girls tennis All-Scholastics and league All-Stars

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

GIRLS TENNIS ALL-SCHOLASTICSOlivia Chen (Weston)Jessica Dai (Lexington)Skylar Jara (Hamilton-Wenham)Hailey Kornbluth (Foxboro)Christine Maher (Boston Latin)Nicole Makarewicz (Pembroke)Kyra McCandless (Lexington)Maya Muhunthan (Acton-Boxboro)Emily Naum (Lincoln-Sudbury)Halina Nguyen (Boston Latin)Lillian Nguyen (Boston Latin)Diya Pachamuthu (Lexington)Molly Plenge (Wellesley)Ananya Rao (Acton-Boxboro)Kiki Reddy (Lexington)Caroline Schulson (Newburyport)Kendall Skulley (Masconomet)Caroline Sutliffe (Duxbury)Lia Swire (Lincoln-Sudbury)Kaitlan Tan (Winchester)Vanessa Vu (Boston Latin)Shannon Welburn (Wellesley)OLIVIA CHENWESTONThe Dual County League Player of the Year went 14-4 for a team that made the Div. 3 state finals. The two-time DCL All-Star went 40-9 in her career. The National Honor Society member will study biomedical engineering at Cornell University.JESSICA DAILEXINGTONThe senior captain went 21-2 at first doubles for the Div. 1 state champs. The three-time Middlesex League ...

Lowry: Biden’s next stumble waiting to happen

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

Mika Brzezinski, co-host of the MSNBC program “Morning Joe,” is very cross with the White House staff.It isn’t, she believes, doing a good enough job protecting Joe Biden from the effects of being 80 years old and increasingly frail.She insists that it needs “to clear a pathway” whenever he is walking somewhere, and make sure it is “there and telling him what’s next” when he’s at an event and going from Point A to Point B.It’s not clear what presidency Brzezinski has been watching, because it’s not as though the White House staff is working Biden like a dog, or as though there isn’t plenty of pointing and directing whenever Biden is out in public.Axios reported a couple of months ago that “some White House officials say it’s difficult to schedule public or private events with the president in the morning, in the evening, or on weekends.” That does leave weekdays between about noon and 4 p.m., w...

Franks: Low unemployment only half the picture

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

Is the media trying to make President Joe Biden “look good” instead of reporting the news as news, along with analysis?For example, are we being misled about the condition of our economy? Does anyone not understand the following: If you are not working, you are unemployed?Biden’s claim that the unemployment numbers are some of the best has been an enigma for me. The fact that the vast majority of Americans seem not to be “feeling” all this good news per the direction of the country in polling is not surprising, however.The labor force participation rate indicates the percentage of all people of working age who are employed or are actively seeking work. In conjunction with the unemployment numbers, it can offer some perspective into the state of the economy. This is a standard definition of labor force participation used by experts.The truth is we have altered what the truth is. Back in the 1950s we had a labor force participation rate of over 85% for males. Today that figure has dro...

Lauren Monroe & Rick Allen bring healing music to City Winery

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

If Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen aren’t the oddest musical couple you’ve seen, they would have to be up there. She’s a singer-songwriter, physical therapist and mental health counselor who writes songs to assist in healing. He’s her husband, a former client…and the drummer in arena rock mainstays Def Leppard.Don’t expect an arena show when the pair plays City Winery (www.citywinery.com) this weekend — but if you come in as a Leppard fan, that’s alright with them. “I personally love that because if people come into the room, they’re here to receive what we’re giving,” Monroe said in a Zoom interview this week. “Some people come because they know Rick, and I’m always happy to have a hard-sell room to start with, Once they get into what we’re doing, they open their hearts to our work. And helping other people is part of our mission as a couple.”Playing the back room at the Winery will certainly be a different experience for Allen, whose last Boston show was at Fenway Park wi...

Editorial: Teachers unions balk at fixing COVID shutdown learning loss

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

Apologists for the nation’s teacher unions have been busy rewriting history on school closures. Now, in some places, they’re opposing efforts to bring struggling students up to speed.The disaster of remote schooling during the pandemic has been well-documented. The Nation’s Report Card recently revealed that eighth-grade reading and math test results hit their lowest levels in decades. Kids from disadvantaged backgrounds suffered the most.It is against this backdrop that national teacher union leaders have embarked on a shameful effort to sanitize the indefensible.Despite their aggressive crusade to keep schools closed far longer than necessary, despite outrageous rhetoric warning of mass deaths and body bags, they now claim no responsibility for shuttered classrooms and the calamity that followed.It’s a crock. But it gets worse.In its June 26 edition, The New Yorker features an essay revealing the hurdles that the education establishment in Richmond, Virginia, erected to plans for ...

Dear Abby: Man lashes out after learning truth about past

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

Dear Abby: A friend of many years, “Adam,” no longer speaks to me. We met in high school and were involved in band, debate club and other activities together. He recently discovered through a genealogy site that he was adopted and neither of his parents were his birth parents. The site led him to clues about other biological relatives, and he eventually reached his birth mother, who rejected his efforts to talk to her.I recently learned about this from another high school friend. When I contacted Adam, he responded with hostility, stating that I am no longer his friend because I didn’t reach out when he was going through all this. But I didn’t KNOW at the time. I cannot locate any voice messages, emails, texts, etc. showing that he shared with me the details of what happened.I live in a different part of the country now. I have offered to travel to visit him. I also offered to talk on the phone, but I’ve received only aggressive and bitter responses. Ho...

Truck carrying oil overturns on I-15

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A truck carrying oil overturned on Friday afternoon, causing the temporary closure of several lanes on Interstate 15 through Miramar, traffic officials said.Around 4:30 p.m., SkyFOX was over southbound I-15 at Miramar Road, where the truck was seen on its side with oil spillage right beside the vehicle. Gas leak prompts evacuation order in Poway Four lanes were shut down for several hours due to the crash, but have since reopened, according to California Highway Patrol.No other information has been released about how the collision occurred or if there were any injuries.