Author: reporter

by Aimee Ortiz and Misty White SidellLynn Ban, a celebrity jewelry designer and a star of Netflix’s “Bling Empire: New York,” died Monday, just weeks after she had emergency surgery for a brain bleed following a skiing accident in December.Her son Sebastian confirmed her death in an Instagram post Wednesday, noting that “she wanted to share her journey after her accident and brain surgery, so I thought she would appreciate one last post sharing the news to people who supported her.”Roughly three weeks earlier, Ban had posted on her Instagram account to reveal the news of her skiing accident. In…

Student-athletes at Colorado colleges and universities could soon be paid directly by their schools under a bill in the state legislature that would build on their ability to profit from their name, image and likeness.The proposal, House Bill 1041, reflects the seismic shifts running through college athletics since the NCAA’s authorization of name, image and likeness, or NIL, payments in 2021. That landmark decision, forced by a California law, allows college athletes to be paid after years of strict prohibitions on them profiting from their talents.But it also initially restricted the source of compensation to outside entities instead of schools…

Members of the McCartney family knew the day was coming.Bill McCartney died on Jan. 10 at the age of 84 after a long battle with dementia and his son, Mike, said this week, “I thought I was ready, because we knew he was dying.”Who can really be ready, though, to say goodbye to a man who meant so much?“It hit me a lot harder than I expected,” Mike said, “and I got really emotional for a few days. What I realized was, when my mom (Lyndi) died in 2013, I had my dad, and I had to worry about my…

Standing behind a lectern in the Colorado State Capitol building, State Rep. Naquetta Ricks reflected on the harrowing conflict that forced her to leave West Africa for Aurora. Her family escaped the civil war in Liberia after her mother’s fiance was murdered by a firing squad.“Behind every undocumented person is a human story: a parent striving to provide for their children, a person trying to flee violence,” Ricks, an Aurora Democrat, said Wednesday. “No person should face intolerance based on their immigration status.”Behind her, more than two dozen Coloradans — immigrants, advocates and elected officials — gathered on the steps…

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice invite fifth graders to participate in the National Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest to raise awareness and bring missing children home. The theme for the contest is “Bringing Our Missing Children Home,” and participants are encouraged to get creative to bring the theme to life.The grand prize winner will win a trip to Washington, D.C., for themselves, their parents or guardians and their teacher. Submissions must follow these guidelines: Posters must be 81⁄2 x 14 inches. The phrase “Bringing Our Missing Children Home” must be present somewhere on the…

A former Rock Canyon and Legend High School teacher and coach was arrested on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child and indecent exposure, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.Christen Cassic, 55, of Parker was arrested Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said in a post on X.Douglas County School District told families at Rock Canyon and Legend high schools about the arrest Wednesday, according to an email from Rock Canyon Principal Andy Abner.District officials have “no information or knowledge suggesting any DCSD student was involved in this matter,” Abner wrote.Cassic started working at Legend High School as an assistant coach…

BOULDER — If they handed out Heismans for selfless hearts, Archie Griffin would be eating Peach Pagano’s dust.“I was bawling down there,” Pagano told me Wednesday, not long after the last chords of the public memorial service to honor the late, great CU icon Bill McCartney had faded into the Events Center rafters.“I had no idea they were going to honor me. I was just like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I couldn’t even … and then I’m like, ‘I have to stand up?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m bawling.’”Dry eyes proved mighty hard to come by. Mark Johnson, the voice…

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and REBECCA SANTANA, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a deadline next week suspending America’s refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.Thousands of refugees who fled war and persecution and had gone through a sometimes yearslong process to start new lives in America are now stranded at various locations worldwide. That includes more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted America’s war effort, as well as relatives of active-duty U.S. military personnel.President Donald Trump paused the program this week as part of a series of executive orders cracking down…

A portion of the Regional Transportation District E and H lines in southeast Denver will be shut down Tuesday through Thursday next week for maintenance, but RTD officials said bus shuttles will carry passengers between the Southmoor and Broadway/I-25 stations. Maintenance crews need to grind down “rail-burn” bumps on tracks to help eliminate the 10-mile-per-hour slow zones along the Southeast Corridor,” agency officials announced Wednesday in a news release. RTD riders can catch the bus shuttles at multiple stations:  I-25/Broadway (gate A2); Louisiana/Pearl Station (northbound gate B, southbound gate A); University of Denver (gate B); Colorado (northbound gate E, southbound…

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, TIFFANY STANLEY and GARY FIELDS, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded an apology from the Episcopal bishop of Washington after she made a direct appeal to him during a prayer service marking his inauguration to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers who are in the United States illegally.Referencing Trump’s belief that he was saved by God from assassination, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde said, “You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”Rev.…