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Dramatic nighttime evacuation from backcountry ski hut highlights threat of altitude sickness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

In a backcountry ski hut, 40 miles from civilization in the middle of the night, Julianne Boylan knew something was seriously wrong with her 8-year-old son, Evan. When he tried to put into words what he was feeling, she realized the worsening wet cough he had developed that night wasn’t from a cold or the flu.“About 2 in the morning, he said, ‘Mom, I feel like I have snot in my head, it’s coming down my throat, and it’s clogging the holes in my lungs and heart,'” Boylan said. “When he told us that, that was our, ‘All right, it’s going downhill.’ ”In the Betty Bear Hut at 11,100 feet near Hagerman Pass, in the Sawatch Range 34 miles east of Basalt, Evan was experiencing symptoms of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), a form of altitude sickness that can be fatal if victims don’t descend in elevation. The Boylan family was in a party of nine adults and five children from Boulder, including Evan’s 10-year-old sister, Eva. Their dream ski trip...

Colorado’s nonprofit hospitals would be required to spend more on “community benefit” under new bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

Nonprofit hospitals are required to show they spend money on “community benefit,” but a bill in the Colorado legislature would require them to invest more and focus on different priorities.The Internal Revenue Service doesn’t require hospitals to spend a specific amount on community benefit, though it does verify whether they met related requirements, like conducting a community needs assessment every three years.Community benefit is loosely defined, and can include free and discounted care; the difference between the cost of care and what Medicare or Medicaid pays; medical research; classes to help patients manage their chronic conditions; staff training; and spending to help meet patients’ social needs, like food and housing.Colorado House Bill 23-1243 would set that each nonprofit hospital spend at least 3% of its revenue from treating patients on community benefit, unless its federal and state tax exemptions are worth less than that. The target would rise...

Colorado — a national hub for eating disorder treatment — hopes to slow surging rate of stigmatized illness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

Two weeks after a routine trip to a health clinic turned into a psychiatric hospitalization, Emma Troughton was on a plane to Denver.The intervention had been building: By early 2017, Troughton had struggled with body image and eating for years, first as a high schooler in Indiana piecing through their gender identity (Troughton is nonbinary) and then as a college student in California processing personal trauma. School-issued laptops sent Troughton down social media rabbit holes of unhealthy weight loss strategies. A password-protected blog became a repository for body measurements and bad information.Troughton crashed their car because of the brain fog and cognitive decline caused by their malnourishment. Providers at a campus health clinic were so alarmed they wouldn’t allow Troughton to return to class. After two weeks in a psychiatric unit, Troughton left for Denver. The city, they had learned, was a national hub for eating disorder treatment.“I felt this existentia...

Cutting outdoor water use in Commerce City stymied by “legacy” landscape code

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

COMMERCE CITY — Derek Rinehart wants to disrupt the cohesion in his neighborhood — and he wants to save hundreds of gallons of water doing it.But Rinehart’s desire to rip out the grass in front of his home, a ubiquitous feature lining the quiet streets in Commerce City’s Reunion neighborhood, and replace it with drought-tolerant vegetation is running up against a formidable obstacle: city regulations.Commerce City’s landscape standards say that the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street, also known as the tree lawn, “shall consist of turf grass and automatic irrigation system.” That means Rinehart’s plan to plant Delosperma Table Mountain — a drought-resistant, purple-flowered ground cover — across 130 feet of tree lawn on two sides of his house is on hold.“I see a lot of towns spending a lot of money on xeriscaping and we’re fighting it for some reason,” Rinehart said, referring to the practic...

1 critically injured in crash after LAPD pursuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

One person was critically injured in a crash following a police pursuit in South Los Angeles late Sunday, officials said.The crash was reported around 11:35 p.m. in the 1200 block of East Washington Boulevard in Historic South Central, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.Firefighters responded to the scene, which officials said occurred at the end of a Los Angeles Police Department chase.A trapped person was rescued and taken to a hospital in critical condition.At least two other people were evaluated at the scene and only had minor injuries, fire officials said.Video from the scene showed a red vehicle with significant damage, and another with some front-end damage.No further details about the crash have been released.

What were those mysterious streaks of light seen in the sky over Northern California?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT | Associated PressMysterious streaks of light were seen in the sky in the Sacramento area Friday night, shocking St. Patrick’s Day revelers who then posted videos on social media of the surprising sight.Jaime Hernandez was at the King Cong Brewing Company in Sacramento for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration when some among the group noticed the lights. Hernandez quickly began filming. It was over in about 40 seconds, he said Saturday.“Mainly, we were in shock, but amazed that we got to witness it,” Hernandez said in an email. “None of us had ever seen anything like it.”The brewery owner posted Hernandez’s video to Instagram, asking if anyone could solve the mystery.Jonathan McDowell says he can. McDowell is an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. McDowell said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press that he’s 99.9% confident the streaks of light were from burning space debris.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | Astrona...

PG&E connection delays add to California’s housing woes, advocates say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

Add waiting for the lights to turn on to the laundry list of delays holding up urgently needed housing in California.Newly constructed apartment buildings across the northern half of the state are sitting empty for months as Pacific Gas & Electric Co. drags its feet connecting them to the power grid, according to developers and housing advocates. They say they utility’s increasingly slow pace is also driving up building costs, creating yet another challenge to solving the state’s worsening housing crisis.This month, Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator from San Francisco, crafted a bill to force PG&E and other utilities to install power hookups at residential and commercial construction sites no more than eight weeks after projects receive the necessary permits. Otherwise, utilities would be required to pay developers to compensate for the wait.“We want to send a strong message that the lights need to go on fast,” Wiener said at a news conference ...

Court finds against singer Jackson Browne in Santa Cruz County land dispute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — A civil land dispute between Aptos neighbors was resolved this week, with a judge’s ruling largely preventing singer-songwriter Jackson Browne from blocking off access to a shared road.Jackson Browne performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa in 2019. (Kelly A. Swift — Orange County Register Contributing Photographer) The Southern California-based Browne has owned his Porter Gulch Road property since 1982 and his son Ethan Browne lived on-site for a time, according to court documents.Meanwhile, plaintiffs Sarah Claus and Christopher Wheeler purchased two lots next door to Browne in 2018 and sought to build a home on the undeveloped property. To do so, particularly while contracting with a construction crew, Claus and Wheeler would need to utilize a paved road crossing their neighbor’s land.According to Browne’s court filings, the Brownes were unaware of any easement guaranteeing shared use of their private driveway and were seeking to avoid loss of privacy.“Gra...

Downtown San Jose hotel tower seen as prime real estate is up for sale

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

SAN JOSE — A landmark downtown San Jose hotel tower is up for sale, a potential deal that has attracted numerous prospective buyers and could lead to a shift in uses at the property, which is deemed to be prime real estate.One of the two towers of the 805-room Signia by Hilton San Jose, a double-highrise lodging in the city’s downtown district, is being offered for sale, according to Sam Hirbod, the principal owner of the hotel.The hotel highrise that is being offered for sale is the 264-room southern tower which is a newer annex to the original main tower that totals 541 rooms, Hirbod said.If the sale goes through, the current hotel operation would be completely focused in the northern tower of the Signia by Hilton San Jose.“All of the amenities are in the north tower,” Hirbod said. “Restaurants, the lounge, swimming pool, fitness center, the conference center, are all in that tower.”The north tower, the older of the two highrises, is undergoing a comp...

Big lodging chain takes over historic Bay Area hotel’s delinquent loan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:18 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — A historic hotel nestled atop ritzy Nob Hill in San Francisco that is burdened by a delinquent real estate loan is a crucial step closer to landing a new owner, public records indicate.The Huntington Hotel could be edging near to gaining a new owner now that its delinquent loan has been taken over by an affiliate controlled by Highgate, a New York City-based hotel company.Highgate’s expertise includes working with lenders to take control of hotels that are in financial distress, such as the Huntington Hotel at 1075 California Street on Nob Hill.In August 2022, a $56.2 million loan from Deutsche Bank New York Branch that was provided to the Huntington Hotel’s owner, flopped into default, documents on file with the San Francisco Recorder’s Office show.Deutsche Bank scheduled several auctions whereby it might seize the hotel through foreclosure of the loan or sell the property to an outside bidder. None of the auctions transpired, with the most r...