Author: reporter

Problems with sterilizing medical instruments, like the Aurora VA hospital recently acknowledged, are relatively common in Colorado, but the decision to halt procedures isn’t so ordinary.The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center has stopped all surgical procedures involving reusable instruments while staff tries to figure out why an unidentified residue has been appearing on sterilized equipment. Procedures with disposable instruments have continued, while the VA is sending patients who need emergency surgery to other hospitals.VA officials said no patients underwent procedures with contaminated instruments.State and federal inspection records show at least 16 Colorado hospitals have been cited for improper sterilization since…

The lasting image from one of the most hectic Game 7 endings in NBA history was of two young guards embracing in mutual admiration.Donovan Mitchell had collapsed to the floor, devastated, after Utah’s final 3-point attempt spun out of the cylinder as time expired, leaving Mitchell with only an 80-78 loss to show for his Herculean effort in the bubble: 36.3 points per game on 52% outside shooting in a seven-game saga. On the floor of the mostly empty gymnasium he remained, until Nuggets guard Jamal Murray found him there and helped him up. The two 23-year-olds had traded 50-point…

Dear Amy: My mother recently died, and I’m expecting a relatively substantial inheritance from her (my dad died several years ago).My younger brother, also not living, has two adult children.My mother (who was a difficult person) originally told me she intended to halve the inheritance between my brother and me when he was still alive, but after he died, she then decided to pass her entire inheritance to me, giving nothing to her grandchildren (who are my brother’s children).These granddaughters were good to her.My beloved brother always believed in fairness, and to me my mother’s favoritism is unacceptable.I would like…

The way Jeffery Kytle tells it, he came to Colorado for vacation and left on probation.Twenty-one years ago, the Iowa resident bolted out the back of a Keystone condo when police busted in the front.He was in town for a ski vacation, to blow his buddy’s recent $20,000 casino jackpot, the now-66-year-old said this month. But there were drugs in their rented room — about two ounces of methamphetamine — and supplies that made the police think they were dealing.Kytle didn’t make it far. He was arrested on a slew of charges and eventually pleaded guilty to a single count…

No one with a heart so heavy should be that fast. After winning the 100-meter hurdles, Gabriella Cunningham, still in the clear, got about nine strides past the finish line, cocked her head and shrugged, the way Michael Jordan did during the 1992 NBA Finals.Dad would’ve loved that.“My dad taught me so much more than I could ever imagine,” the Grandview track star and Class 5A state champ in the 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles, said Saturday at Jeffco Stadium after her second medal of the day. “And he tells me things every day.”“What was he saying on Saturday?” I…

LAKEWOOD — Chris Faust needs another tattoo.The Cherokee Trail boys repeated as the Class 5A track state champions on Saturday at Jeffco Stadium, blowing away the field with 111 points, nearly double the tally of second-place Mountain Vista.For that feat, Faust will add some more ink, as he gets a tattoo for each of the Cougars’ state titles. CT’s now won four championships on the boys side to go along with a pair on the girls side.“I’ve never experienced anything like this, where we’ve scored so many more points than what we were seeded against,” said Faust, in his 21st…

Scottie Vines and his family have a West Coast road trip planned next month that figures to be a lot more exciting than most summer vacations.Having breezed to his third Class 1A high jump title on a windy Saturday at Jeffco Stadium with a jump of seven feet — 10 inches higher than second place in 1A, three inches higher than the next best jump across all classifications — the De Beque phenom is headed to Eugene, Ore., “Track Town, USA.” There he will compete in the U.S. under-20 championships on June 13, followed by the Olympic Trials there two…

Hoosier Pass is closed in both directions until further notice after several Colorado law enforcement agencies pursued a wanted suspect in a car chase, which ended in a crash.On Saturday afternoon, the Park County Sheriff’s Office, the Fairplay Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol followed the “armed and dangerous” suspect wanted out of Teller County, according to an alert posted on Facebook.The chase occurred outside of Fairplay, with the suspect speeding north on Colorado 9 up the pass. The individual posed “a significant danger by nearly causing head-on collisions and forcing other vehicles off the road,” police report.Law enforcement…

Aaron Gordon remains a beautiful contradiction.He is a vibe off the court, but a dog on it. He is chill, but leaves defenders running hot. He brings all eyes to him when he walks into a room, but humility defines him.As the Nuggets face the Timberwolves in Game 7, the focus on Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray is on sharp display. Denver cannot win without the pair playing well, so it should surprise no one that Murray was the last player on the court Saturday practicing floaters.But success is impossible without multipliers. Murray has to shoot better, and that is…

Dear Amy: I am a single woman in my mid-50s. I never married or had children and like it this way.I enjoy people, but am a classic introvert who recuperates her energy by being alone.I enjoy going to museums and restaurants on my own. There is a restaurant/bar right down the street from me that I enjoy going to.Recently, I went to this restaurant by myself and sat at the bar to have a drink and maybe eat something.I wasn’t there for long when a man came up beside me, saddled up, and took up conversation with me. I really…