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10 must-see holiday light displays in metro Denver

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

It’s suddenly tree-lighting, house-decorating, parade-having time of year, and the metro area has no shortage of ways to celebrate the holidays.Walk-through lighting displays are, of course, one of the lowest-effort activities with the highest return on wonder and kid friendliness — provided you don’t mind the prices. They’re not up too much this year from last — just $2 on average, according to a Denver Post survey — although many nonprofits and commercial installations are still trying to make up for vastly lower attendance the last couple years, so it’s understandable.Most events are, as you’ll quickly notice, limited in hours, timed and ticketed, and optional in their masking policies. Some do not offer on-site ticket sales, and the biggest ones are likely to sell out in the coming weeks (some, such as Blossoms of Light and Zoo Lights, are being snatched up predictably fast).Check each event’s website before attending, and br...

Denver’s renovation of largest city office building aims to keep workers downtown — with some new costs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

The Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building is the workhorse of Denver’s real estate portfolio, providing space for 2,100 employees across departments from the Clerk and Recorder’s Office to city planning to parks and recreation.Now, more than 20 years after it was built at 201 W. Colfax Ave., work is underway on a $133.5 million overhaul. The renovation will touch all 12 floors of the gray, oval-shaped office tower north of Civic Center park over the next two years.And even while it’s under construction, the Webb building is playing a part in Mayor Mike Johnston’s economic plans for downtown Denver. Displaced employees won’t be working from home — while their typical office spaces are being painted, carpeted and furnished with new equipment and gear, they will simply shift a block or two away.Thanks to some carefully planned phasing and a $4.9 million lease for space in nearby Republic Plaza, city workers will remain on hybrid work schedules...

Denver’s first permanent food truck park rolls out on West Colfax

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

Danny Newman doesn’t like to let a good thing go to waste. When the local entrepreneur purchased a large lot with a former tire shop five years ago, he had plans to open Denver’s tiniest motel with one room and a swimming pool.But when the pandemic hit, construction prices nearly doubled, so he decided to scrap the idea for what he called Colfax Country Club altogether. Newman couldn’t watch the 0.22-acre lot sit empty, though. “It was too much of an ordeal for a fun, silly motel concept,” he said. “But it was more financially frustrating to have it just sitting there.”Inspired by food truck parks in Austin and Portland, Newman decided instead to create Full Tank Food Park at 4200 W. Colfax Ave. this month. “The only thing that worked in that space while we figured out what to do with it was food trucks,” he said.There is enough room for seven food trucks to rent a space in the lot. Newman hopes to have three permanent vendors and four rotating ones at all times. “We want to make su...

Why New Zealand greenstone is the perfect holiday gift

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s 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).Travelers flock to New Zealand to experience its lush mountainscapes, jaw-droppingly blue waters and world-renowned wines. Even if the Instagrammable landscapes are the impetus for a trip, those who visit receive complimentary schooling on the country’s native Māori culture, which shows up prominently in language and local traditions notwithstanding the history of colonialism there.As far back as the late 1300s, Polynesian settlers inhabited the islands that comprise New Zealand and formed that distinct Māori culture. When British colonialists arrived in the 1800s, they signed an agreement with the Indigenous people known as the Treaty of Waitangi setting the stage for the Māori to maintain sovereignty over their lands and villages.B...

What's the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is “authentic.”Authentic cuisine. Authentic voice. Authentic self. Authenticity as artifice. Lookups for the word are routinely heavy on the dictionary company's site but were boosted to new heights throughout the year, editor at large Peter Sokolowski told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.“We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity,” he said ahead of Monday's announcement of this year's word. “What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”Sokolowski and his team don't delve into the reasons people head for dictionaries and websites in search of specific words. Rather, they chase the data on lookup spikes and world events that correlate. This time around, there was no particularly huge boost at any given time but a constancy to the increased inte...

Boys soccer preview 2023-24: Rankings, players to watch, more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

WHO IS NO. 1?Mountain View is our pick for No. 1. The Spartans had a thrilling run through the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs last season, beating second-seeded St. Francis in the first round, third-seeded Sacred Heart Prep in the semifinals and top-seeded Alisal in the championship match. It was the program’s first CCS title. Mountain View returns its best player from last season, midfielder Sola Nishimura, who shared MVP honors in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division with Palo Alto senior Dinu Deshpande. Mountain View opens the new season on Tuesday at Milpitas. STORYLINESBellarmine, which won CCS Division I and NorCal Division II championships last winter, had three players make the West Catholic Athletic League’s first team and two make the second team. All were seniors. The Bells typically reload, which we suspect will happen again this winter. The Bells open at No. 7 in our rankings. … Monte Vista won its fourth NCS championship last season a...

With mortgage rates near 8%, October home purchases slow, but prices stay high

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

Bay Area home sales remained sluggish in October as the supply dwindled and high interest rates kept potential sellers from listing.Sales of existing homes in California fell nearly 12% from last year, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors. That comes as interest rates hit a peak of 7.79% in the last week of October — the highest rate in two decades. Since then, rates have declined, but only modestly, to 7.44%.Even with slowing sales, most buyers aren’t withdrawing from the market solely because of interest rates. Real estate agents say flagging sales reflect a lack of inventory more than waning buyer interest.Jim Hamilton, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, said buyers “are getting accustomed to those higher interest rates.”“It’s a pretty dramatic jump, but it didn’t happen overnight either,” Hamilton said. Since last year, the Federal Reserve has repeatedly raised its key interest rate in a...

Girls soccer preview 2023-24: Rankings, players to watch, more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

WHO IS OUR PRESEASON No. 1?St. Francis dominated last season en-route to the CCS Open Division title and a NorCal Division I championship, allowing just eight goals and winning 15 matches by at least two goals. While the Lancers graduated the 2022-23 Gatorade California player of the year Charlotte Kohler and a slew of other contributors, the cupboard is far from bare in Mountain View. Kamryn Rosa and Sophie Murdock bring back all-WCAL talent in midfield and defense. Further bolstering that back-line are a pair of juniors, Gianna Nurisso and Natalie Chan, who both made second-team all-WCAL a year ago. Carondelet and Mountain View are set to challenge St. Francis, but the Lancers should once again be the class of the WCAL and challenge for another NorCal title. STORYLINESCarondelet was a few minutes away from taking St. Francis to extra-time in the NorCal Open Division title game, and brings back Joy Casselman, Victoria Alessandrini and Kaya Durkee. The Cougars will start their seaso...

Salmon have returned to the East Bay’s water source in record numbers. What does it mean?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

The Mokelumne River, a 95-mile waterway that supplies a majority of drinking water to the East Bay, earned its name because of the abundance of salmon in its waters. Local legend has it that, many years ago, the rivers were so packed with salmon you could walk from shore to shore along their backs.Today, after 100 years of industrialization, the Mokelumne (pronounced muh-kaa-luh-mee), which flows from the Sierra Nevada to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, is a much different river. Salmon now exist there primarily because of human intervention — hatcheries raise many of the salmon that return to its waters.Related ArticlesEnvironment | There’s good news and bad news about the gray whale migration Environment | See the regrowth: Big Basin time-lapse video shows remarkable recovery of redwood forest from massive wildfire Environment | When people move out, wildlife moves in: 10 abandoned places reclaimed by nature Environment | ...

Fairfield police arrest man after brief chase for allegedly having gun in car

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:15 GMT

(BCN) -- After a short chase, Fairfield police arrested a man who allegedly had a gun in his car early Saturday morning. About 3 a.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop at Pacific and Tabor avenues. AR pistol found in 21-year-old Vallejo resident’s truck in American Canyon The driver, 21-year-old Fairfield resident Davion Donegan, was removed from the vehicle and detained after the officer allegedly saw an open container of marijuana. As he was about to search the vehicle, Donegan allegedly fled. After a foot chase of about 200 yards, though, Donegan was taken into custody, police said. Officers said a loaded firearm was located in the glove box. Donegan was arrested and booked into Solano County Jail. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.