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Wet, cooler start to summer helped reduce air pollution across Colorado’s Front Range

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

Colorado’s Front Range recorded fewer days with high levels of ozone pollution over the summer than in recent years, but environmentalists warn the region can’t rely on favorable weather conditions to help with air quality as much as they did in 2023.The region recorded 26 days of ozone levels that exceeded the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards between June 1 and Aug. 31, which is considered the summer ozone season. That is the lowest total of days with high ozone since 2019, when the region recorded 22 days, according to Regional Air Quality Council data.The Front Range’s air quality benefitted from an unusually wet and cool start to summer, said Scott Landes, air quality meteorologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.“Ozone really thrives in hot and dry conditions, which we really didn’t have in the first half of the summer,” Landes said.On top of the cooler start to summer, wildfires were kept to a minimum ...

8 “made-in-Colorado” tours to take this fall

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

You shouldn’t stop taking field trips just because you’re an adult. Throughout Colorado, companies that make goods in the state open their doors to give visitors a peek at the process. You can see how they craft high-performance mountain bikes, learn why snowmelt makes whiskey taste good, and see how money is made.Here are seven Colorado places – and an entire industry (brewery tours, anyone?) — where you can go behind the scenes and get the inside scoop on the creative process.U.S. MintIn 1862, not long after miners struck it rich in Colorado, Congress established the Denver Mint to convert gold into coins. Today, Denver’s mint creates commemorative coins and coin dies and stores gold and silver. The mint’s machinery can churn out as many as 50 million coins a day. The historic building on Cherokee Street near Colfax Avenue was designed to mimic the Riccardi Medici Palace in Florence, Italy.Tours are free, but tickets are required and given out on a first-come, first-se...

Denver moves to permanently close some streets to traffic

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

Denver is taking steps to permanently close three streets that became pedestrian-only during the pandemic, part of a broader effort to make the city more friendly to those walking and biking, but has decided to reopen a segment of Seventh Avenue.Two stretches along Larimer Street and one on Glenarm Place in the heart of downtown have entered a city process to stay closed for another five years. After 2028, those closures — backed by business owners and economic development groups — would become permanent if nobody objects.Meanwhile, in neighborhoods, a re-launch of the city’s COVID-19 pandemic partial closure of streets, where road crews placed barriers to slow and deter cars, will bring at least five new pedestrian-friendly streets before 2030 combined with greenspace landscaping and narrowing of lanes, city planners told the Denver Post.Street closures fit into a citywide long-term overhaul, costing up to $800 million a year, to enable more car-free transportatio...

A Denver father dreamed of a home for his family. Medical debt nearly pushed them onto the streets.

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

By Noam N. Levey, KFF Health NewsKayce Atencio used to be haunted by a thought while working at a homeless shelter in downtown Denver. “It could have been me,” said Atencio, 30, who lives in a small apartment with his son and daughter not far from the shelter.It nearly was. Atencio and his children for years slept on friends’ couches or stayed with family, unable to rent an apartment because of poor credit. A big reason, he said, was medical debt.Atencio had a heart attack at 19, triggered by an undiagnosed congenital condition. The debts from his care devastated his credit score. “It always felt like I just couldn’t get a leg up,” he said, recalling a life of dead-end jobs and high-interest loans as he tried to stay ahead of debt collectors. By 25, he’d declared bankruptcy.Across the country, medical debt forces legions of Americans to make painful sacrifices. Many cut back on food, take on extra work, or drain retirement savings. For millions like Atencio, the health care system i...

Here’s how to visit Sweetwater County, Wyoming

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

By Irene Middleman ThomasSpecial to The Denver PostIf you were around in the ‘70s and ‘80s, you can now forget what you heard about Rock Springs and Green River, Wyo. They no longer deserve the notoriety of Wild West oil boom “Sin City” towns with more prostitutes than New York’s Lexington Avenue, and more bars than Las Vegas.Recently, while visiting both cities in Wyoming’s largest county, Sweetwater, I was pleasantly astonished to find swanky bistros with yes, even vegan offerings. At Sidekicks, a poshy coffee/wine bar bookshop, well-dressed women gathered to sip on pinot noirs while discussing the latest bestsellers.This enormous region, in the southwest corner of the state, boasts much of the same spectacular red rock ridges and towering formations that draw throngs in neighboring Utah’s national parks, but without the daunting crowds or entrance fees. Frankly, this might just be the most under-discovered and underrated place in Wyoming.Sweetwater County is home to d...

Denver immigrant families left out of past pandemic aid can now apply for basic cash assistance

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

Denver immigrant families that were left out of past pandemic recovery aid programs can apply for new cash assistance through the city beginning Tuesday.Households that qualify will receive $1,000 to $1,500 under the city’s Basic Cash Assistance for Households Program. The city is using $3 million in one-time federal COVID-19 recovery dollars for the program, which is expected to help 1,800 to 2,200 families, according to Denver’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.Within those families, the money will help support about 4,200 children, including about 1,200 who are under the age of 5, said Atim Otii, the office’s director.City officials designed the program for families who typically aren’t eligible for public assistance, often due to the parents’ immigration status. Many immigrant families who otherwise would have qualified based on their incomes were left out of earlier pandemic assistance programs. The Denver City Council approved the program e...

Paddleboarders dressed as witches will haunt Colorado lakes; here’s how to join them

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

A chill in the Colorado air and the promise of changing leaves means spooky season is officially on its way. That will be evident at lakes and reservoirs in September and October when costumed groups of locals take to the water for their annual witch paddles.Witch paddles — events in which people dress in costumes to paddleboard, kayak and canoe — have become a hallmark of fall and a fun excuse to enjoy the outdoors before winter sets in.The concept is simple: Don a Halloween-inspired witch or warlock outfit and launch your boat alongside other bewitching characters for a casual paddle. Some organizers suggest tying your witch hat to your head so it doesn’t blow into the water.Here are three events where you can join the gaggle of witches on the water and have a few cackles along the way.Brittany Long and her dog Pepper, left, joined other members of the SUP Sisters paddling group and dressed up as a witch to celebrate Halloween at Chatfield State Park in Littleton on Oct. 3, ...

Gardening: How to preserve your late-summer harvest in Colorado

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

Even though summer heat is slowly fading, we won’t easily forget this past spring and summer, which brought abundant moisture along with hail, tornadoes and plant havoc. The good news is that fall is the time to wind down, reflect on the summer growing season, enjoy the harvest and transition to fall.Let’s not mention frost — but keep it in the back of your mind.This month focuses on vegetable harvesting and preserving what you can for fall and winter eats. There’s still time to put in new perennials and divide plants for next season’s blooms. Shop for deals on trees and shrubs but get them in the ground yesterday, without delay.Preserve the harvestPlanning a well-stocked freezer and pantry of home-grown fruits and vegetables means some work now, but oh how happy you’ll be enjoying home-preserved peaches, herbs or tomatoes later when a foot of snow arrives and you don’t have to drive to the store. If your crops got hailed out or were less bountiful, purchase locally grow...

World steps up fight to guarantee food security

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

Everything from famine and war to climate change and land use all usually have one thing in common – food security.The problems of food security have increasingly come to the fore in recent years, usually impacting people in the poorest countries in developing nations.But the conflict in Ukraine, and the subsequent spin off effects for spiralling food prices and the cost of living, has also made rich Europeans ever more aware of potential food security problems.The issue was highlighted just last week by EU Council president Charles Michel at the G20 summit in India – the meeting of the world’s richest countries - where he spoke of “the global consequences” of current conflicts, “especially the food (and energy) security.”His message is partly echoed by Left MEP Mick Wallace (Independents for Change, Ireland) who says, “The science is absolutely clear, the biggest threats to our food security and to the future of agriculture are the climate and bio...

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Celebrates Her Birthday

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:55:42 GMT

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Celebrates Her Birthday: Bronx rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has released a new single and video called “Her Birthday.”The song is taken form his B4 BOA EP which is also out now. It tells the story of misplaced love, a bad relationship. The video, meanwhile, sees the rapper peppered with arrows. That is mixed in with images of Boogie out to dinner with the birthday girl. It’s a sad tale.“Multi-platinum global superstar, A Boogie wit da Hoodie has been a force to be reckoned with since arriving on the scene in 2016,” reads this bio. “Credited for bringing the new sound of New York City to the masses, the Bronx, NY-native has been proclaimed ‘the most promising young rapper the city has produced in some time’ by The New York Times, while boasting nearly 18B global streams and over 50 RIAA platinum and gold certifications to date. With a dynamic catalog of world-renowned hit songs (‘My Shit,’ ‘Drow...