Author: reporter

A federal grand jury indicted a Parker man this week on suspicion of fraudulently applying for and receiving nearly $2 million from COVID-19 relief programs over a three-year period and using the money for his “personal benefit.” Tarek Kassem, 63, is alleged to have received more than $1.4 million in Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the Small Business Administration and more than $300,000 in Payroll Protection Program monies using three business names, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado announced Wednesday. The grand jury indicted Kassem for wire fraud and money laundering on Tuesday. It determined the ill-gotten benefits were obtained…

A Castle Rock man will not go to prison for embezzling millions of dollars from his best friend’s company, despite the desires of his godsons and a judge for a harsher sentence. “He walked,” said Greg Smith, a godson and victim. “He skated out of this pretty unscathed.” Harold Gorden, 81, will instead spend 10 years on probation and be required to repay $271,000 that he stole, though there is reason to doubt that money will ever reach his victims. “Given that Mr. Gorden isn’t really accepting any responsibility for what he did to all of you, if there was more of…

By JOSH DUBOW (AP Pro Football Writer) NFL owners were busy this week, approving a series of rule changes that address player safety, overhaul the kickoff and expand the use of instant replay. While the changes were all overwhelmingly approved they don’t come without some level of controversy, with many players opposing the ban on the use of the “ swivel hip-drop” tackle and many questions about how the rules will be enforced and the impact they will have on games. The most significant change revolves around the kickoff that has gone from one of the more exciting plays with…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Rockies figure they hit the jackpot with shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. On Tuesday, they rewarded him with a life-changing contract. “It’s a blessing and I’m so excited that the Rockies believed in me, and I’m excited to be here for a long time,” the 22-year-old said after officially signing a $63.5 million, seven-year contract extension. The deal includes a team option for 2031 that could boost the agreement to $84 million over eight seasons. The Rockies have known about Tovar since he was a 13-year-old kid in Maracay, Venezuela. He first grabbed the attention of Frank Roa,…

A 24-year-old Colorado woman accused of fatally crashing into a cyclist in Eagle County and fleeing the scene was arrested Thursday in Arkansas, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Sidney Rayne Whitmarsh is suspected of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, tampering with evidence, careless driving resulting in death and failing to report an accident, according to court records. Whitmarsh was arrested Thursday in Clarendon, Ark., on a Colorado State Patrol arrest warrant. The body of 43-year-old Mario Vildozola Romero was found on an embankment off the north side of U.S. 6 in Edwards the…

BOULDER — Caitlin Clark wears your heart on her sleeve. Her game is three-fifths Steph Curry, one-fifth Hermione Grainger, one-fifth John Cena. She’s LeBron with a ponytail, Taylor Swift with a better jumper, the smoke and the inevitable. “It’d be hard to get into her head,” CU Buffs guard Tameiya Sadler told me Tuesday just before practice for the Sweet 16 at the Events Center. “But we’re going to try it. “We’re going to keep going. We’re going to give her our best fight, for sure. Give her anything that we have to throw her off her game and get…

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AMANDA SEITZ and CHRISTINE FERNANDO (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday did not appear ready to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, in a case that could have far-reaching implications for millions of American women and for scores of drugs regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. It’s the first abortion-related case the court has taken since a majority of the current justices struck down the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. A group of anti-abortion doctors had asked the court to restrict access to mifepristone and to limit when in…

Eastbound Interstate 70 reopened in the Eisenhower Johnson Tunnel after closing for a crash, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.  Related Articles Transportation | Two road workers injured in Interstate 70 crash near Wheat Ridge Transportation | Eastbound Interstate 70 reopens near Colorado border with Kansas Transportation | Westbound I-70 reopens near Wheat Ridge after crash Transportation | After big projects divided north Denver neighborhoods, federal money will pay for street, pedestrian crossings Transportation | Teen who shot and killed man driving on I-70 in road rage killing sentenced to prison The interstate reopened at 2:10 p.m. after closing…

By MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge Tuesday issued a gag order barring Donald Trump from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial, citing the former president’s history of “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” remarks about people involved in his legal cases. Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision, echoing a gag order in Trump’s Washington, D.C., election interference criminal case, came a day after he rejected the defense’s push to delay the Manhattan trial until summer and ordered it to begin April 15. If the date holds, it…

By TARA COPP (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — A controversial military policy that allows service members to be reimbursed for travel if they or a family member have to go out of state for reproductive health care — including abortions — was used just 12 times from June to December last year, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin instituted the policy after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 to ensure that troops who were assigned to states where abortions or other types of health care such as IVF treatment were no longer provided could still…