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Denver Museum of Nature & Science ends COVID-era reservation policy for members

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has ended one of the last vestiges of the COVID-19-era restrictions that were put in place three years ago in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.As of Monday, members of the museum are no longer required to reserve advance, timed tickets to gain entry to the general admission exhibits (advanced tickets are still recommended for the Infinity Theater, the Gates Planetarium and surcharged exhibitions like the current “Bugs”), according to a member newsletter distributed this week.Prior to the pandemic, members of most Denver cultural facilities, like the museum, the Denver Zoo and the Denver Botanic Gardens, could show up whenever they wanted. To help control crowds during social-distancing restrictions, however, most of these institutions required members to reserve timed tickets — typically at no charge — so as to limit the crowds.Related ArticlesThings To Do | Colorado — a national hub for eati...

How Colorado banks compare to the financial institutions that just failed 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

The government takeover of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has bank customers large and small on edge. And while the banks failed for different reasons, the combination of a rapid rise in interest rates and high levels of uninsured deposits has also put stress on banks in Colorado and everywhere else.“The recent bank closures in California and New York appear to be outliers and not reflective of the norm for banks across the United States and Colorado. The California bank had significant concentrations of tech and venture capital clients while the N.Y. bank had a significant concentration of cryptocurrency clients,” the Colorado Bankers Association said last week in a statement.A research paper by finance professors Erica Jiang, Gregor Matvos, Tomasz Piskorski and Amit Seru, however, estimates that the nation’s banks are sitting on $2 trillion in unrealized losses in their investment portfolios because of higher interest rates and that 186 more banks could f...

Denver car dealers still able to command a premium on new vehicles

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

Before the pandemic, the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price or MSRP pasted on the windows of new cars and trucks was more of a suggested price, a ceiling a buyer would negotiate lower with the dealer. For many models, it has now become the ground floor entrance to an elevator that goes higher.The online car shopping portal iSeeCars studied over 12 million new car listings from February 2022 through February 2023, comparing the MSRP to the average list price of new cars to see what premium, if any, dealers were demanding.In metro Denver, it found that new cars were selling for 9.5% more on average than the sticker price on the window, a bit higher than the 8.8% premium averaged nationally. In dollar terms, Denver buyers pay on average $4,117 more than the MSRP.“The manufacturers keep raising their prices and then the dealers raise them again, to the point where the average new car is priced above $45,000,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars, in comments in...

Vail’s “Happy Knees” Keenan rules age group at junior nationals

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

Vail skiing phenom Ava “Happy Knees” Keenan continues to shine nationally in competitive moguls.Keenan, who was featured last fall in the annual Warren Miller ski film “Daymaker,” was the top female competitor for her age group at the U.S. junior national championships last week in Steamboat Springs.Related ArticlesOutdoors | Vail phenom Ava “Happy Knees” Keenan wants to be the first Black skier to win Olympic gold Keenan, 12, was the top under-13 competitor in individual moguls and in dual moguls. In individual moguls, skiers compete one at a time. In dual moguls, they compete head-to-head in a knockout format. In duals she finished ahead of the under-15 (13 and 14 years old) skiers as well. She turns 13 in two weeks.Ava Keenan of Vail, 12, was the top moguls skier in two events at junior national championships last week in Steamboat Springs. (Provided by Jim Keenan)“It was a lot of fun,” said Keenan, who says her goal...

Denver’s best spicy chicken sandwich: Vote now in the Final Four of our March Madness food bracket

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

With every March Madness competition, there are upsets and surprises. And no, we’re not talking about the state of your NCAA bracket after this past weekend.The Final Four in The Denver Post’s March Madness hot chicken sandwich bracket. (Brooke Eberle, The Denver Post)Rather, we’re referring to the results of our 2023 spicy chicken sandwich battle, which started at 32 of the Denver area’s favorite spots for hot chicken and is now down to the final four — and just like the college basketball tournament, there were some bracket busters.In this case, the biggest upset from our Elite Eight round has to be Blazing Bird edging out the top-seeded Music City Hot Chicken, Colorado’s first Nashville hot chicken restaurant.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | Feast on fowl and fire at Colorado’s original Nashville hot chicken joint Restaurants, Food and Drink | Denver’s best spicy chicken sandwich: Vote in the Elite 8 round of o...

Are Colorado hospitals acting like charities or Fortune 500 companies? Lawmakers want to know, too

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

Four years ago, Colorado lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill requiring hospitals to provide insight into their finances. It was the product of three years of work, the bill’s sponsor said, and the reports the legislation has produced have illuminated hospitals’ books and helped guide policymaking for state leaders focused on cutting the costs of care.But legislators still have some questions. In a bill introduced earlier this month, they’re proposing hospitals turn over more information about salaries, mergers and whether money spent on care in Colorado is being moved out of state and away from local facilities. The measure — HB23-1226 — would also require hospitals to provide more detail on patients’ bills.The goal is to fill in gaps from the 2019 law, said bill sponsors Reps. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, and Chris deGruy Kennedy, a Lakewood Democrat. The hospital and provider industry has continued to consolidate in the past four years, raisin...

How new SF Giants starter Ross Stripling developed his unique pitching method

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Standing an athletic 6-foot-3, Ross Stripling wants you to know that he can dunk. This is important because, as Stripling says with a chuckle, “I don’t have PTSD.” And wouldn’t you, if one attempt went so awry that it put your leg in a cast?There is one lingering effect of Stripling’s ill-fated dunk attempt, now nearly a decade and a half in the past: It’s what he credits as the origin of one of the majors’ most unique deliveries. Not only do batters barely know what’s coming with Stripling’s kitchen-sink repertoire (up to six pitches, with the addition of a second changeup), it’s coming at them from an angle they rarely see: directly over the top.“It’s definitely something that you don’t see a whole lot,” said Sean Hjelle, who despite his status (at 6-foot-11) as one of the two tallest men to throw a pitch in a major-league game releases the ball considerably lower than Stripling.With his right ha...

Downtown San Jose food hall will include kitchens, coffee bar, dining

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

SAN JOSE — A downtown San Jose food hall proposed by an Uber co-founder is slated to include a dining center, coffee bar and dozens of kitchens, city planning documents show.The unusual project is being built inside a historic building constructed around 1885 that has addresses ranging from 82 through 96 East Santa Clara Street in San Jose.Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former chief executive officer of Uber, a ride-hailing company, is leading the CloudKitchens firm that is developing the project in the former Odd Fellows Building at the corner of East Santa Clara Street and South Third Street.CloudKitchens typically rents out its kitchen space at its locations to local restaurants, with the food picked up and delivered through apps such as Doordash and Uber Eats.Historic building at 82 through 96 East Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose, June 2018. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)“With a growing residential population, more students in the area and workers ...

Editorial: Proposed MMA pension plan should be knocked out in Round 1

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

One key to good legislating is knowing when not to act.Unfortunately, Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, didn’t get the memo before he introduced a bill last month to create a state-administered pension plan for mixed martial arts fighters.We get it. His intentions were good. He says he wants to make sure the fighters “are protected and taken care of.”The language of his legislation, Assembly Bill 1136, accurately describes the fighters’ risk of “extraordinary disability in the normal course of their trade,” such as traumatic brain injuries, multiple concussions, eye injuries and other neurological impairments. Haney wants MMA fighters to have “support and protection when they retire.”But his bill will do little to achieve that.Fashioned after a four-decade-old program for boxers, Haney’s proposal would allow the California State Athletic Commission to require a fee on tickets or contributions by the fighters, their managers and the promoters of MMA events to fund the plan....

Opinion: Stanford needs more than words to protect free speech

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:47 GMT

In response to the shout down of Judge Kyle Duncan at Stanford Law School on March 9, the university must act decisively to restore a culture of free expression on its campus.Duncan, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit covering Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, was invited by the law school’s Federalist Society chapter for a discussion on “Guns, Covid and Twitter.” His lecture ended early because several dozen law students continually interrupted him. The  protesters objected to his position on laws involving women, immigrants and LGBTQ people.Stanford Law School Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach did not stop the heckling but rather questioned the worth of hearing different viewpoints and upbraided Judge Duncan for “tearing the fabric of this community.”So far, Stanford’s response has included an email from Law School Dean Jenny Martinez and an apology from Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Dean M...