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Sweetwater Lake is gorgeous, but it can’t handle large crowds, and maybe never will

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

GARFIELD COUNTY — When a visitor pulls up to idyllic Sweetwater Lake, a remote gem on Colorado’s Western Slope that harkens back to a bygone era, its rustic charms are immediately apparent. The lake is framed by enchanting limestone cliffs on two sides. A bald eagle circles above one of the cliffs. There is a quaint lodge with faux-antique signs that say things like, “Real cowboys don’t ride ponies,” and “Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy.”But the recreational limitations of the property — which White River National Forest officials want to turn over to Colorado Parks and Wildlife to manage as Colorado’s 43rd state park — soon come into focus.The aging lodge building, which used to have a popular restaurant, is closed because the roof is failing. Parking is scarce. The lake is very small and the nearby wetlands are off limits. Hikers have few options, and mountain bikers have none. There is no t...

Not enough drivers use C-470’s express lanes, so CDOT is loaning $4 million to cover toll revenue gap

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

The Colorado Department of Transportation plans to float its tolling oversight arm a $4 million loan to cover revenue shortfalls in the next year from lower-than-expected use of C-470’s express lanes.The money will cover a projected $3.7 million in excess costs to operate and maintain the express lanes through June 2024, according to documents prepared ahead of a Transportation Commission vote later this week to finalize the arrangement. Those toll lanes opened west of Interstate 25 nearly three years ago — early in the pandemic — as part of a $276 million expansion of C-470 through south suburban Denver communities.Changes in traffic and commuting patterns, especially among office workers who now are more likely to work from home, have kept the C-470 express lanes from hitting usage and revenue projections.The Denver Post reported last year that C-470’s express lanes were among those most heavily affected by the pandemic, while traffic — and toll reven...

Aurora to consider reversal of water surcharge after weeks of rainy weather in the region

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

Following weeks of heavy rainfall, Aurora city leaders expect to roll back drought restrictions that called for a surcharge on residents’ and business owners’ water bills if they watered their lawns more than twice per week.Water officials cautioned though that the situation is constantly evolving, citing the way Aurora’s reservoirs are replenished outside of city limits.“While we are not at our needed 75% of storage quite yet, both the weather and runoff projections are looking positive for the next couple of weeks and odds of needing to continue drought restrictions into July are minimal,” Aurora Water General Manager Marshall Brown told them in an email.As of June 6, Aurora’s reservoirs were filled to 68% capacity, and the City Council will consider a resolution June 28 to remove the city’s “Stage 1 Drought” restrictions on outdoor water use.The restrictions limited residents, multifamily units and commercial properties to wat...

A new brewery will take Black Project’s space on South Broadway

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

As the head brewer at Little Brother Brewing in Greensboro, N.C., Stephen Monahan always had his eye out for what other beer makers were working on. Although it was two-thirds of the way across the country, Colorado held particular interest since Monahan had first started homebrewing here as a business administration student at the University of Denver.In particular, he was fascinated by the sour beers produced by the nationally acclaimed Black Project Wild & Spontaneous Ales, which he could buy at a nearby bottleshop. So after moving back to Colorado in 2022 and hearing that Black Project had closed, Monahan asked about the now-vacant space, hoping to start his own operation.This fall, Monahan plans to open Monolith Brewing, at 1290 S. Broadway, serving a wide range of beer styles, like IPAs, lagers and barrel-aged stouts, as well as sour ales.“What an incredible legacy to take over,” he said. “I hope I can follow in their footsteps.”That path will be easier to find since Black...

Aurora Police Department reforms are a “paper change” so far, but leaders say substantial payoff will come

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

State-mandated reform in the Aurora Police Department is coming — albeit slowly — more than a year after the city entered into a consent decree with the Colorado attorney general.In the first year, the department changed its policies surrounding the use of force, biased policing and hiring. But police, community leaders and the monitor hired to oversee the five-year deal cautioned that it will take years before significant change is felt by the community as a whole.“It’s paper change more than anything at the moment,” said Reid Hettich, lead pastor of Mosaic Church of Aurora and a co-chair of the consent-decree monitor’s Community Advisory Council. “You don’t get that payoff for a couple more years.”The consent decree implemented by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser mandates reform in policy, training, hiring, use of force, accountability and transparency for Aurora’s police and fire departments.The city entered into the agreement with the attorney ...

Woman left to die in street after Rialto hit-and-run

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck a woman and left her to die on a Rialto street late Monday night.The crash occurred around 11:15 p.m. near the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Santa Ana Avenue, a Rialto Police Department spokesperson said.Arriving officers found a woman in the roadway who had apparently been struck by a vehicle.Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck a woman and left her to die on a Rialto street on June 12, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The woman, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver involved in the crash had fled, the spokesperson said. Investigators did not provide a description of the hit-and-run vehicle or the driver.The department's Major Traffic Collision Team is taking over the investigation and is searching for any surveillance video.

Trump to appear in court over charges he mishandled secret documents

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

Donald Trump was set to make his first court appearance Tuesday in a historic criminal case charging the former president with hoarding top secret government documents, boastfully displaying them to visitors and trying to hide them from investigators who demanded them back.Trump approached his Miami court date with characteristic bravado, insisting as he has done through years of legal woes that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But the gravity of the moment is unmistakable as he answers to 37 felony counts that accuse him of willfully retaining classified records that prosecutors say could have jeopardized national security if exposed.The case is laden with political implications for Trump, who currently holds the dominant spot in the early days of the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it also poses profound legal consequences given the prospect of a years-long prison sentence. Even for a defendant whose post-president...

Writer behind plagiarized $1 million county history book was privately accused of misreporting pay invoices

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

The cancellation of a heavily plagiarized Santa Clara County-commissioned history book appeared to be the final chapter in a breathtaking scandal that brought major scrutiny to local government’s contracting practices.But apparently there was more to this saga.Months before the project was officially nixed this spring due to widely known plagiarism concerns, the county privately accused writer Jean McCorquodale of misreporting invoices she submitted for the project that ultimately cost the county over $1 million.County Counsel James Williams told McCorquodale — the wife of former longtime South Bay politician Dan McCorquodale — he was troubled that meetings and interviews for which she had submitted invoices did not appear in the draft of the book McCorquodale turned in last year, according to a January letter obtained this month through a public records request.Despite the twin allegations of plagiarism and distorting her invoices, Williams dropped all potential l...

Mall operator Westfield gives up downtown San Francisco shopping center, latest business to pull back from city

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

By Samantha Delouya | CNNShopping mall operator Westfield said it plans to give up control of the San Francisco Centre mall after more than 20 years of operation in another sign of San Francisco’s economic struggles.The company attributed its decision to the “challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic.”The mall operator’s decision to surrender its San Francisco space comes after several of the mall’s major stores announced closures, including Nordstrom and Banana Republic.Last month, a Westfield spokesperson attributed Nordstrom’s closing to “unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees.”Once a bustling retail center in the heart of San Francisco, the San Francisco Centre has taken a significant hit in the past few years. Total sales have fallen from $455 million in 2019 to $298 million in 2022, and foot traffic has plunged from 9.7 million visits in 2019 to 5.6 million in 2022, according t...

Here are the 30+ Disney characters appearing at Disneyland’s first Pride Nite

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:24:54 GMT

More than 30 Disney characters along with a pair of openly gay superheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will make meet-and-greet appearances this week during the first Pride Nite at Disneyland.The first-ever after-hours Pride Nite events will be held at the Anaheim theme park on Tuesday, June 13 and Thursday, June 15.The sold-out, separate-admission Pride Nites are the first time Disneyland has hosted an official LGBTQ special event. Unofficial Gay Days Anaheim mix-in events with theme park meet-ups, trivia games, scavenger hunts and parties have been a regular fixture at Disneyland for more than two decades.Here’s a round-up of the meet-and-greet characters, entertainment, dance parties, photo op locations and specialty food that will be available during Pride Nites at Disneyland, according to Blog Mickey.Pride Nite CharactersMain Street USACruella de Vil from “101 Dalmations”AdventurelandJane Porter and Terk from “Tarzan”New Orleans SquareGoofyPrincess Tiana and Prince Navee...