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Colorado’s wet start to 2023 brings a surge in mosquitoes — but that doesn’t guarantee a spike in West Nile virus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

The warm and wet start to the year has created the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes in Colorado, but experts say that won’t necessarily translate into a corresponding explosion in cases of the insect-borne West Nile virus in 2023.So far this year, Denver has seen 13.67 inches of precipitation from rain and snow — more than double the city’s total this time in 2022, according to meteorologist Ayesha Wilkinson at the National Weather Service in Boulder. In all of 2022, Denver received just under 12 inches of precipitation.Rebekah Kading, a medical entomologist at Colorado State University and an expert on mosquito-transmitted diseases, said increased rain levels can raise water into areas where mosquitoes already have laid eggs and create new areas for them to do so.“If an increase in rain translates into more sitting water, then we end up seeing more mosquitoes,” Kading said.While the rain increases the number of mosquitoes that can carry the virus...

Apocalypse is Colorado’s best socially-conscious secondhand clothing store | Opinion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s new series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).On the west end of Boulder’s Pearl Street, the city’s most famous restaurants and stores attract pedestrians strolling the brick-laden streets. On the other end, however, is where some of Boulder’s best-hidden gems lie, like Paradise Found Records & Music, Boxcar Coffee & Bakery and, most notably, Apocalypse, the gold standard for Front Range vintage clothing.Apocalypse has been a center of gravity for fashion in Boulder since it replaced the old Buffalo Exchange storefront after the disgraced chain’s 2020 closure. If you see a cool twenty-something sporting a pair of ’60s-inspired platform heels or a print dress that looks like it transported directly from the year 2000, chances are they got it at Apocalypse....

Historic Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park to open for summer travel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Historic Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, a narrow and winding unpaved road from the Endovalley picnic area to Fall River Pass near the Alpine Visitor Center on Trail Ridge Road, will open for the season on Saturday.The scenic, one-way, 9.4-mile road climbs from 9,000 feet to the pass at 11,796 feet. Park crews typically try to get the road opened by the Fourth of July. Vehicles longer than 25 feet and those pulling trailers are prohibited.Related ArticlesOutdoors | Reservation requirements for Rocky Mountain National Park, other popular destinations going into effect Outdoors | Campground closure at Rocky Mountain National Park could have ripple effect across Colorado forests Outdoors | Which national park is most popular for hikers? Conde Nast says Rocky Mountain is No. 2 Timed-entry reservations are required from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. There are two reservation levels for the park, and the one excluding the Bear Lak...

“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is a little waterlogged, but its namesake is seaworthy | Movie review

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Early on in the development of the digitally animated, theater-bound film “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” the story is said to have centered more on the titular character’s family, all of whom are secretly krakens.The pivot to an emphasis on Ruby — a 16-year-old high school student having to hide the fact she is, in fact, of the sea while navigating the highs and lows of adolescence — was a wise one. Although that focus isn’t sharp enough, the movie spending too much time on side characters, Ruby is the biggest reason this saltwater-flavored coming-of-age story stays afloat.Residing in the self-explanatory town of Oceanside, the Gillmans seem a little odd but attempt to chalk that up to their cover story: that they’re originally from Canada. (We’re pretty sure Canadians don’t have fin-like ears, but whatever.)Sam Gillman, voiced by Blue Chapman, Agatha Gillman, center, voiced by Toni Collette, and Ruby Gillman, voiced by Lana Condor, are in the midst of a busy morning in a sce...

Cherry Creek Arts Festival is an outdoor fair that showcases small, creative businesses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

The painters, potters, glassblowers, metalsmiths and other exhibitors who bring their goods to Cherry Creek each year are, without a doubt, the hardest working people in the art business.Not only do they make their own wares, spending countless hours standing over kilns, canvases, looms, blow torches and saws, they also load up their products, assemble their booths and peddle their goods, often with little outside help.In a sense they are fabricators, shippers, merchandisers, shopkeepers and accountants all at once. And getting a spot in the Cherry Creek Arts Festival is not easy: The 255 presenters set to show this year were selected from more than 1,800 applicants.There are rewards for all that effort. The outdoor fair, always held over Independence Day weekend, is the biggest visual arts event on the region’s cultural calendar, and can attract more than 300,000 attendees over its three-day run.That equates to high visibility for any artist or craftsperson — along with a financial...

Woman, young child killed in head-on collision in Van Nuys

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

A woman and a young child were killed and several others were hospitalized after a violent head-on collision in Van Nuys Thursday night.The two-car crash occurred on Woodley Avenue between Victory and Burbank boulevards around 9 p.m.Investigators believe a white Honda Accord was traveling northbound on Woodley Avenue and for unknown reasons went into the southbound lanes where it collided with a dark-colored Honda Civic. Two people were killed and several others were hospitalized after a violent head-on crash in Van Nuys on June 29, 2023. (KTLA)A woman in her 60s who was inside the Civic was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed. A child around the age of 5 who was in a car seat was transported in critical condition but was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The remaining occupants were transported with unknown injuries. Two people in the Accord were also hospitalized. The driver was believed to be in critical condition. A child and...

California researcher gunned down in Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

For four years, Gabriel Trujillo trekked the breadth of the United States and south into Mexico in search of a flowering shrub called the common buttonbush. The plant is native to the varied climates of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Trujillo, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to know why it thrived in such a range of places, and whether the evolution of the species held possibilities for future habitat conservation and restoration efforts.The research was tragically cut short last week in Mexico, where Trujillo’s father said he was shot seven times. Authorities discovered his body on June 22 in the state of Sonora, in northwest Mexico, days after his fiancée reported him missing.The killing has left the family reeling and searching for answers in a case that has yet again highlighted the rampant violence that plagues Mexico locations controlled by drug cartels.‘THE WRONG PLACE’Trujillo drove across the Arizona border into Nogales on June 17...

After 100 years, Sarah Winchester’s house still mystifies millions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

It was never supposed to be about the house.When Winchester Park opened to the public 100 years ago today, it promised dancing and bands on acres of pastoral land that were meant to become an amusement park. But what everyone really wanted to do was walk through Sarah Winchester’s house on the grounds, a sprawling Victorian mansion that many in San Jose had heard about but had never seen up close.As the Winchester Mystery House celebrates its centennial, San Jose’s most enduring and famous landmark continues to draw the curious not only from the Bay Area but from around the world.“We’re just so honored that 100 years on, this story still resonates,” said Walter Magnuson, executive director of the Winchester Mystery House since 2015. “It’s a little different for us celebrating this milestone, because typically we’re celebrating Sarah Winchester and we’re telling the stories and legends and lore associated with her, but for the centennial we’re really cel...

Gas isn’t as pricey as last year, but starting this weekend, you’ll pay a little more at the pump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

The record gasoline prices that hammered motorists a year ago haven’t returned, but it’s going to cost you a little more to fuel up starting this weekend when the state’s gas tax goes up.California’s gas tax — already one of the country’s highest — will climb 8% July 1, or about 4 cents a gallon or 56 cents per 14-gallon fill-up. The increase will bump the total gas tax on a gallon of petrol to 57.9 cents.In a state with the country’s second-highest gasoline prices, averaging $4.80 on GasBuddy and $4.83 at AAA, that’s going to pinch a bit more.But it’s not expected to change driving habits much heading into the weekend before the Independence Day holiday. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said for the most part, motorists will just “grumble and take it.”The fuel-savings platform says gas prices nationally are averaging $1 less than a year ago in California and most other states, offsetting...

Bear breaks into Colorado home Tuesday, comes back Wednesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Tuesday night, a black bear entered a Granby home through an unlocked door. Hours later, it came back for seconds.The most recent break-in occurred sometime between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Wednesday, said Rachel Gonzales, spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. No one was home at the time.“Bears usually have a hard time with knob-style doors, but this bear figured out how to open them,” Gonzales said. “That’s why we’re always telling people who live in bear country to lock your windows, lock your doors because once a bear figures it out, they can do it again and they will come back.”RELATED: How to survive a bear attack – or better yet, avoid one altogetherGonzales said no one was injured and the damage was relatively minimal, likely caused by the bear searching for food.“I asked the district wildlife officer to rate the damage on a scale of one to five,” Gonzales said. “She gave it a three and said it looked like someone threw a really good party.”To keep bears out of your ...