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What to expect on I-70 in the mountains as five years of major construction begins

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

Colorado’s next major highway undertaking kicks off this week as crews begin work on the $700 million reconstruction of Interstate 70 in the mountains — a project aimed at eliminating the Floyd Hill bottleneck and improving safety through a notorious eight-mile stretch.Much of the most intensive work over the next five years or so will occur off the highway. But the Colorado Department of Transporation says drivers traveling I-70 between the top of Floyd Hill and Idaho Springs still can expect lower speed limits, narrowed lanes and traffic shifts, along with some daytime traffic holds and overnight closures.The project technically broke ground last fall with the start of several associated off-highway projects, including the first of two wildlife crossings outside the project zone and new roundabouts on a frontage road.But now comes the main event. Soon CDOT’s contractors will begin rock blasting to make more room, and in coming years they’ll construct a 7,00...

3 years after Colorado’s landmark police accountability bill, what’s changed? And has push for further reform slowed?

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

Three years after the passage of Colorado’s landmark police accountability bill, officers have been convicted under new laws, a statewide database of officers’ misconduct is publicly available and body camera footage is more readily accessible.The bill’s final implementation deadline passed Saturday, and lawmakers, law enforcement and advocates are now grappling with a changed political ecosystem around police and criminal justice reform and deciding what’s next.“We know we haven’t solved all ills with one bill or two bills,” said Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat who co-sponsored the bill in 2020. “And we never will, to be honest with you. But we have to keep moving forward on the progress.”Lawmakers who worked on the bill praised it as instrumental in reforming policing in Colorado while serving as a foundation for subsequent policy changes. Law enforcement leaders, meanwhile, contend the bill has made it more difficult to recruit and retain officers amid an increase in s...

Love jazz all over again with new boxed sets by Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

Just about everything in the music business comes back around at some point. Repackaging and reissues are profitable for the industry, particularly when record labels own the recordings from an artist’s catalog. It’s safe to assume landmark albums from the giants of jazz will reappear over and over, presenting sounds to new generations.Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums (Craft Recordings)And I’m thankful for that. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reacquainted with some of the recordings that led me down this endlessly joyous path of music appreciation.The 1957 Sonny Rollins release “Way Out West” was one of the first jazz albums I ever shelled out for from my hard-earned Burger King money as an teenager in the ’80s. The cover image of tenor saxophonist Rollins standing in the desert, wearing a ten-gallon cowboy hat, impressed me enough to take the leap. The music on the LP was exciting, inspired and seemingly limitless in its invention. I’ve gifted copies of the a...

Finally, Highway 87 to get smoother pavement, other upgrades: Roadshow

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

Q: When is Caltrans going to do something about Highway 87?Gene CogornoA: And…Q: Highway 87, especially from Interstate 280 to Highway 85, has to be the worst highway.We drive a KIA Soul, which has a short wheelbase and stiff suspension, and on 87, we rock and roll.Tom Dunbar, San JoseA: Caltrans is beginning a Highway 87 pavement improvement project this month. The work will require intermittent daytime and overnight lane closures and ramp closures along 87 between the Julian Street undercrossing and 85 in San Jose.Pavement will be replaced, 28 curb ramps at six intersections will be upgraded and 2.9 miles of bikeways that run parallel to the road will be resurfaced. Median concrete barriers and guardrails will be replaced and enhanced wet/night visibility stripping and shoulder rumble strips will be placed. The project is scheduled to be complete in the summer of 2025.Q: The absolute worst pothole near my house was filled in, but there seems to be no progress on the El Camin...

Tesla: The cars that racism built? Black workers claim lawsuits have not stopped discrimination

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

Complaint after complaint alleging anti-Black racism at Tesla’s factory in Fremont has not stopped such abuse and discrimination, with Black workers segregated into the hardest, most dangerous, lowest-paid jobs and subjected to a barrage of racist treatment, language and images, according to claims in recent court filings and employee interviews.Black workers at the plant — Tesla’s biggest California facility, which employs thousands to build its four electric car models — alleged such abuse often began soon after they started, excited at landing a job at the famed automotive pioneer. In declarations filed by more than 200 current and former workers at the factory in connection with an Alameda County lawsuit against Tesla that now seeks class-action status, workers said they quickly learned that working for Tesla meant facing rampant, extreme racism.The company’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit against Tesla. In interviews, howe...

Draymond Green comes with controversy, but the Warriors would have been dumb to let him walk

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

One minute after NBA free agency kicked off on Thursday, Draymond Green and the Warriors agreed to terms on a contract. Yes, it was that urgent for Green to lock in at least three more years to keep alive the dynasty he helped create.Immediately, Green’s four-year, $100 million deal with a final year player option furrowed brows for some valid reasons. He’s 33 now and will be 37 when he reaches unrestricted free agency. It’s fair to wonder how an undersized player who has 12 years of wear and tear playing uniquely physical defense will stay healthy and competitive late into his 30s.And for the cynical, one has to wonder how Green could be rewarded after throwing a literal devastating blow last season. The team’s main guys linked their derailed title defense season to Green punching Jordan Poole in the face before the season even began. Now 24-year-old Poole has been shipped to Washington for 38-year-old Chris Paul as Green re-established his domain with a big...

July 4 plans? Thousands of skiers head to the slopes

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

ALPINE MEADOWS — The Giants are playing ball. Lawnmowers are humming. We’re eating corn dogs at county fairs and drinking beer at Sousa concerts in the park. All signs say it is summer.But in the mountains, it’s still winter.“Best day ever,” said skier Patty Robbins of Truckee, under cobalt blue skies on Saturday, her 197th day of skiing during a record-breaking snow season. “But every day feels like the best day. This has been a fabulous year.”In tutus and bikinis, shorts and sunscreen, crowds trudged across gravel and grass to reach lifts that take them to the resort’s highest peaks, still graced by pockets of 12 feet of snow. This was one of the whitest winters on record, with statewide Sierra snowpack more than double, or 256%, of average.A skier heads down the Alpine Bowl run at Alpine Meadows ski area in Alpine Meadows, Calif., on Saturday, July 1, 2023. Part of Palisades Tahoe, the area held their Freedom Fest event this weekend with skiing and s...

U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach: The meteoric rise of Stanford prodigy Rose Zhang

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

It was at Pebble Beach, the storied golf course on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, that 20-year-old Rose Zhang set the women’s course record with a nine-under-par 63 last fall.She was a sophomore at Stanford and just beginning a historic year in which she became the first women’s golfer to win multiple NCAA titles.This week, she’s returning to the scene for the U.S. Women’s Open, her third tournament since turning pro in May. Four weeks ago, she became the first woman in 72 years to win her pro debut. Last weekend at the Women’s PGA Championship, one of the five major tournaments on the LPGA tour, she was one stroke off the lead with three holes to play.Even as former prodigy Michelle Wie West comes to Pebble to play her final tournament and the legendary Annika Sorenstam steps out of retirement at 52 to see if she’s still got it, all eyes should be on Zhang as she attempts to capture her first major in just her third tournament as a pro.“If she comes in and is a scene-steale...

Are you confronting a big medical bill? Attack it with a plan — and these tips

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

An enormous medical bill can trigger a wave of panic, but try to resist.That startling invoice that arrived in the mail may not be what you wind up paying. Errors or slow insurance payments may have inflated the total. Even if it’s accurate, financial aid or other assistance might help pare it.Sometimes a simple phone call clears up a problem. Other times, reinforcements are necessary. Debt experts say patients should attack medical bills with a plan. Here are key steps to take.CHECK THE NUMBERSDon’t stash the bill in a pile of mail and hope it goes away, but don’t rush to pay it without first understanding the amount.“Especially if it’s a really high bill, consider it like an opening offer,” says Caitlin Donovan, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation, which helps critically or chronically ill patients deal with debt and insurance problems.Medical bills can be rife with errors. They also may have been sent before insurance coverage was sorted out. Donovan reco...

Report offers glimpse of what it will take for state to reach ambitious climate goals

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:03:58 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Maryland is halfway toward meeting its ambitious climate goals, and a path exists for the state to reach net-zero emissions by 2045.That’s the conclusion of a preliminary report issued Friday by the Maryland Department of the Environment. The analysis, “Maryland’s Climate Pathway,” lays out policy, regulatory and lifestyle changes that the state needs to embrace to meet the carbon-reduction goals mandated by the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022.State law seeks a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2031 and requires the state to hit net-zero emissions 14 years after that.“The rapid, clean, affordable, and just energy and economic transition needed to achieve these goals will be challenging, but it is possible,” the report, assembled by the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy...