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Ex-Aurora police officer found guilty of failing to stop partner’s excessive force under new state law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

An Arapahoe County jury found a former Aurora police officer guilty of a misdemeanor Friday for failing to stop another officer from pistol-whipping and choking an unarmed man.Francine Martinez was convicted of failure to intervene — the first law enforcement officer to be convicted by a jury of the charge created under the landmark police accountability bill passed after the 2020 George Floyd protests.Martinez did not stop fellow former officer, John Haubert, from beating Kyle Vinson with his duty pistol, choking him and threatening to kill him, even though the man never attempted to hurt or threaten the officer.Haubert and Martinez were dispatched to a trespassing call on July 23, 2021, and contacted three men. Two of the men fled when the officers tried to arrest them on warrants, but Vinson stayed put, body camera footage of the incident shows.The man “was not striking, punching or kicking Officer Haubert” and was not making any life-threatening actions toward the officers...

Colorado Democrats weaken oil and gas permitting bill after facing opposition from Gov. Jared Polis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

Colorado Democrats stripped a massive oil and gas permitting bill of its most stringent measures late Thursday night in an effort to garner support from Gov. Jared Polis and to improve its chances of making it through a legislative session that is swiftly nearing its end.Almost all of the air-quality provisions of HB23-1294 that would have made it more difficult for oil and gas companies to receive new drilling permits were removed by the bill’s sponsors during a House committee meeting that ended after 10:30 p.m. and drew comments from nearly 140 supporters and opponents, the latter of which were led by the oil and gas industry.The new version of the bill was approved by the House Energy and Environment Committee on an 8-3 vote, with the three dissenting votes coming from Republicans.A provision that would have required state regulators to perform a modeling analysis of potential air pollution before companies applied for a permit with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Co...

Rapids Notebook: Max Alves continues to grow in confidence; Pádraig Smith issues statement on Yaya Toure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

COMMERCE CITY — When Max Alves scored his first MLS regular-season goal last weekend at Charlotte, it felt like a weight lifted off his and the Colorado Rapids’ shoulder.It’s been 15 months since he first arrived in Colorado, but the Brazilian playmaker is finally finding his groove. Alves has routinely been getting in promising positions and it paid off last weekend with his second career goal for Colorado. Now, he’s looking to build on it as the Rapids (1-3-4, 7 points) go up against MLS’ newcomers and top-of-the West St. Louis City (6-2-0, 18 points) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (TV: Apple TV) inside DSGP .“I’ve been working very hard,” Max told The Post via a team translator after practice Thursday. “Coach Robin (Fraser), Chris Little has been helping me a lot during the practice sessions. What you do in practice, that’s what you do in the games. … They’ve been asking me to play a lot of roles, I’ve been watching videos and continue...

Final defendants plead guilty to 2021 crime spree that included fatal shooting outside Jewish school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

All five defendants have entered guilty pleas in connection to a metro area crime spree that including the shooting death of 18-year-old Shmuel Silverberg in Denver.On Friday Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced that the last two defendants in the case entered guilty pleas for felony crimes that spanned Denver, Aurora and Lakewood in August 2021.Isaiah Freeman, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery and Samuel Fussell, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree burglary, according to a DA’s office news release. Both men pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault involving multiple victims.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Ex-Aurora police officer found guilty of failing to stop partner’s excessive force under new state law Crime and Public Safety | Reward offered for information on rock-throwing attacks that killed Colorado woman Crime and Public Safety | Letters: At this point Just...

Lyft plans ‘significant’ staff reductions under new CEO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

By Michael Liedtke | Associated PressSAN FRANCISCO — Lyft is preparing to lay off hundreds of employees just days after new CEO David Risher began steering the ride-hailing service with a eye of driving down costs to help bring its fares more in line with its biggest rival, Uber.Risher, a former Amazon executive, informed Lyft’s workforce of more than 4,000 employees in an email posted online Friday that a “significant” number of them will lose their jobs. It came at end of his first week as Lyft’s CEO.The note didn’t specify how many people would be jettisoned, but The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 1,200 employees will be laid off. The report cited unidentified people familiar with the cost-cutting plans.San Francisco-based Lyft declined to provide additional details Friday, but said more information will be released next week.Risher, who had been a Lyft board member before being recruited to replace co-founder Logan Green, cited expense c...

Detached house sells for $3.9 million in Piedmont

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

31 La Salle Avenue – Google Street ViewA 3,009-square-foot house built in 1928 has changed hands. The spacious historic property located in the first block of La Salle Avenue in Piedmont was sold on March 8, 2023, for $3,850,000, or $1,279 per square foot. The property features five bedrooms, four baths, a garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on a 5,858-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:A 2,546-square-foot home on the first block of Sotelo Avenue in Piedmont sold in September 2022, for $2,584,000, a price per square foot of $1,015. The home has 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Sandringham Road, Piedmont, in November 2022, a 3,273-square-foot home was sold for $3,285,000, a price per square foot of $1,004. The home has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.In December 2022, a 2,739-square-foot home on Marlborough Court in Piedmont sold for $3,275,000, a price per square foot of $1,196. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. 

Letters: Unconvincing arguments | Ban pesticide | Oakland guns | Bullfighting ban | Racism and guns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Arguments againstsingle-payer fail to swayRe: “California single-payer bill is incremental step to disaster” (Page A6, April 19).Sally Pipes’ promotion of her book, with the assistance of the East Bay Times, continues the attempt to equate California’s nonexistent single-payer health care system with those of Canada and the U.K. Her negative adjectives (subpar care, failing) lead the way. At one point she says “other countries,” which California is not.Canada’s health care system is separately administered by provinces, so results are unequal across Canada. But more telling is that Pipes does not name any country where universal health care disputes her narrative.Germany, Netherlands, Taiwan, Sweden and many others have universal health care systems with differing rules and levels of coverage. Legislators need only determine which rules and coverage work best for...

Pac-12 recruiting: Big weekends for Utah, Colorado, OSU and Washington as prospects attend spring games

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a weekly dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports.The following information, in his words, was provided to the Hotline on April 20 …Four schools are hosting spring games this weekend, which means they are hosting recruits.Utah and Washington will have official visitors on campus; in the case of Oregon State and Colorado, a number of unofficial visits are lined up. All told, the prospects are signees from the high school class of 2023 and top targets from the class of 2024.And we should note that Oregon State is also hosting its Junior Day this weekend, so there is a lot happening in Corvallis.*** Let’s start with the defending conference champions, Utah.The Utes have two significant in-state official visitors, edge rusher Kash Dillon and quarterback Isaac Wilson, the younger brother of former Brigham Young quarterback Zach Wilson.Dylan...

Letters: Feinstein sham | Failing our youth | Constituents first | Habitable planet | Follow the science

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Pushing out Feinsteinfor Lee is a shamOstensibly, Rep. Ro Khanna wants Sen. Dianne Feinstein to resign claiming she is not fit to perform her duties (while extolling her service to California).Really? He has endorsed Rep. Barbara Lee who is running for Feinstein’s seat. Gov. Newsom has already stated he will appoint a Black female to the seat should Feinstein resign.It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect these dots. Our governor will then have appointed both our U.S. senators whose reelection chances are virtually guaranteed in the future.Kudos to Feinstein for asking party leadership to appoint someone to fill her committee seat(s) and let the voters, rather than politicians, decide who represents us. Shame on Khanna and others complicit in this pretty obvious sham — or should it be scam?Killian ByrneSan JoseIn California, arewe failing our youth?Yesterday I pulled up at the gas stati...

'Can't blame the A's,' Alameda County supervisor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:40 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – Alameda County Supervisors Board President Nate Miley does not blame the team for possibly bolting to Las Vegas now that the A’s have entered into a binding agreement to purchase land there.Miley says months went by without him talking with Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval as Miley attended to other pressing county matters. ‘RIP Oakland A’s’: Fans react to news of A’s leaving for Vegas “I actually had called Dave a couple of days ago, just to kind of check in with him perchance, and I did not realize what the news was gonna be in another day or two,” Miley told KRON4.He says it does not come as a complete shock, adding that he believes the A’s negotiated in good faith with the city to build a new ballpark at Howard Terminal.“There’s just been so many false starts to achieve that goal for different reasons that I can’t at the moment blame the A’s for moving on. I really can’t,” he said.Miley, who has had a decades-long relationship with the A’s dating...