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Scathing audit finds Colorado failed to properly regulate gas pipelines, penalize providers after explosions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

The program charged with overseeing Colorado’s natural gas pipelines has been plagued with “pervasive” problems that repeatedly violated both state and federal regulations, state auditors found, with deficiencies ranging from inadequate inspections to a lack of documented action against repeat-offender gas operators, even after explosions that killed and injured people.The 121-page report, presented to legislators Monday by the Office of the State Auditor, cast the state’s Gas Pipeline Safety Program as an entity riddled with issues and lacking the oversight necessary to ensure it protects public safety. The findings touch on virtually all areas of the program, and the state legislator who requested the audit nearly two years ago said it was worse than she had anticipated.The audit found that state inspectors rarely issued written notices that pipeline operators were out of compliance with state and federal law, despite finding thousands of violations. Severa...

Metro Denver’s inflation rate continues to run hotter than rest of country

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

The gap between consumer inflation in metro Denver and the rest of the country widened even further last month, according to an update Tuesday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers ran at an annual rate of 4% nationally last month, while the annual CPI change for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area came in at 5.1%. Denver’s annual inflation rate, which is measured every two months, was 5.7% in March and 6.4% in January.“The primary causes of this change were a decrease in the price of energy which includes oil and gas, and slower rates of growth of prices of medical care and transportation,” said Cole Anderson, a research analyst with the Common Sense Institute, in an analysis of the CPI report.But the declines aren’t matching what is happening elsewhere. By comparison, U.S. consumer inflation went from a 6% pace in February to a 5% rate in March to a 4.9% pace in April and then 4% in May. The Federal Reserve ha...

Industry stabbing leaves 1 man dead, another wounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

An early-morning stabbing that left one man dead and a second person wounded is under investigation in Industry Wednesday. The incident occurred shortly before 2 a.m. in the 100 block of South 6th Avenue, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Arriving deputies located two men suffering from multiple stab wounds. One of the unidentified victims was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.The second victim was in unknown condition, according to the news release.A man was in custody but the relationship between the suspect and victims was unknown.There was also no word on what may have led up to the stabbing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 323-890-5500. Those who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Arson eyed in fire that torched 5 Los Angeles County vehicles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

Police are searching for an arson suspect who set five Los Angeles County vehicles on fire Monday morning.The incident occurred around 1 a.m. on the third floor of a downtown Los Angeles parking structure in the 200 block of Spring Street. Fire crews quickly responded to douse the five burning vehicles but all suffered major damage, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson. It was unclear what the vehicles were used for but the parking fees were being paid by the County. No injuries were reported as a result of the fires. Police are searching for a possibly unhoused male suspect who was riding a bike. Officers are looking at surveillance video that may help in the investigation.

San Jose: Mayor Matt Mahan’s controversial housing plan to reallocate Measure E dollars goes down amid budget hearings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

Following a monthslong salvo over how to best spend tens of millions of dollars on the city’s homelessness crisis, San Jose has decided to move roughly $8 million away from affordable housing to support interim solutions — millions less than Mayor Matt Mahan initially hoped.The debate came to a head Tuesday evening in the midst of budget discussions, with Councilmembers Dev Davis and David Cohen leading the charge to help all sides reach a compromise.Since taking office earlier this year, Mahan has focused on creating 1,439 temporary beds by 2030 for the city’s unhoused population to live in until they find more permanent housing. Last month, the mayor unveiled a controversial plan that would take $38 million of Measure E money away from affordable housing and diver it to interim solutions like tiny homes, hotel rooms and safe parking sites.The 2020 ballot initiative was passed by voters in 2020 and taxes real estate purchases over $2 million with the goal of creat...

Watching the Oakland A’s ‘reverse boycott’ with its originator, Stu Clary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

OAKLAND — Every one of the 27,759 fans at the A’s reverse boycott was on the same page. Literally.A cheer card created by grassroots organizers and passed out to fans roaming the Oakland Coliseum gave directions for how the night’s protest would go. A “sell the team” chant when the first batter steps up to the plate in the top of an inning and a “stay in Oakland” one for the first batter of the bottom inning.In the fifth inning, everyone was to stand up in silence to honor the 55 years the A’s have been in Oakland before erupting into another “sell the team” chorus. That’s when Stu Clary, standing up from his seat in the sixth row of Section 230, couldn’t help but smile.Clary, after all, started all this.“I am,” he said. “I am kind of proud.”The idea of a reverse boycott came to him months ago. He and his fellow A’s fans online were incensed by the commissioner, team owner John Fish...

Photos: Nearly 28,000 Oakland Athletics fans show support for the team during the “Reverse Boycott” at the Coliseum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

Oakland Athletics fans turned out in thousands for the reverse boycott event on Tuesday night, bringing with them an energy not seen in years.In one last act of desperation, A’s fans flocked to the Coliseum on Tuesday night for the much-anticipated reverse boycott of the team’s expected move to Las Vegas. The announced attendance of 27,759 was a season-high, and the A’s largest home crowd since last August, as the A’s beat the Rays, 2-1, in a game that had a playoff atmosphere thanks entirely to the A’s angry fanbase.In choreographed rhythm, A’s fans chanted at billionaire owner John Fisher to “sell the team” for most of the 2 hours, 19 minutes, taking frequent breaks to throw their support behind the home team, the worst team in baseball 10 days ago that has since rattled off seven straight wins.“The energy, the atmosphere, tonight was everything that this stadium can be,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said after the game.Jason Mastrodonato contributed to this report.Oakland Athletics fa...

Walters: Legislators will pass sham budget to protect their paychecks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

Let’s say you want a promotion to a higher-ranking position that will also mean a hefty increase in pay, but to be considered you need a master’s degree in your field, and you only have a bachelor’s degree.You have three choices: Be satisfied with the job you have, go back to school to get that advanced degree, or lie about having it already. You might get away with the latter, but if you get caught, you probably will be fired.Something like that is occurring this week when the Legislature pretends to have a state budget, but it’s really a sham to protect lawmakers’ paychecks.The stage was set for this political charade 13 years ago when voters passed Proposition 25, which lowered the legislative vote requirement for budgets from two-thirds to a simple majority.Democrats and their political allies placed the measure on the ballot to block Republicans from having any say over the budget, thus ending decades of often convoluted dealmaking that sometimes delayed budget enactment for we...

College World Series: Stanford’s South Bay stars lead Cardinal into Omaha

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

STANFORD – Eddie Park and Tommy Troy played their high school careers as rivals at Valley Christian and Los Gatos competing for section titles.Three years later, the duo is leading Stanford to its third consecutive men’s College World Series in Omaha as best friends and faces of a team that boasts a healthy amount of local talent.“He’s the one guy I’ve played the most games with and against,” Park said after Stanford clinched a CWS berth with a wild walkoff victory over Texas on Monday night. “I love that guy.”“We’ve been best friends for a really long time, and it’s just really cool to be able to share an experience like that with him,” Troy said.The Cardinal stars will face Wake Forest on Saturday at 11 a.m., a team that was last seen rolling Alabama 22-5 in the Winston-Salem Super Regionals.The Demon Deacons (52-10) have scored 18 or more runs in 10 games. Brock Wilken has hit 30 homers for Wake Forest, and Nick Kurtz has slugged 24.The pitching staff is anchored by R...

What to know about mint and other highly invasive plants in your garden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:12 GMT

Q. Several years ago, I purchased a small container of “living mint” at my local grocery. When I finished using it in a recipe, I planted the remaining 1/2 package in my yard. Recently, I had fresh soil delivered for the plant beds. Well, fast forward to the present day and my flower bed has been overrun with mint! It is now knee-high. Apparently, the mint loved the new soil, not to mention all the moisture from recent rains. What can I do to control the growth?To the ancient Greeks, mint signified hospitality. Somehow, I think you know why – once it’s planted you can never get rid of it.Mint (and many of its relatives) are notoriously invasive. We’ve planted it in large pots, but it requires constant vigilance because it keeps trying to escape. It easily roots along its stem, so as it grows and sprawls, it will set roots into any soil it touches. The soil doesn’t have to be very good, either. We had a catnip plant (another mint family member) that seeded itself on our brick pathway...