Author: reporter

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — The longtime head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, misspent millions of dollars of the organization’s money, using the funds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle that included exotic getaways and trips on private planes and superyachts, a New York jury determined Friday. The jury ordered LaPierre, 74, to repay almost $4.4 million to the powerful gun rights group that he led for three decades. It also ordered the NRA’s retired finance chief, Wilson Phillips, to pay back the group $2 million. Jurors additionally found that the NRA omitted or…

Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 0 Friday at Salt River Fields On the mound: Lefty prospect Carson Palmquist, a non-roster invitee, got the first start of spring and looked sharp. He pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four. Manager Bud Black liked how Palmquist worked the strike zone and threw first-pitch strikes. … Hard-throwing right-hander Riley Pint, cranking his fastball up to 97.6 mph and displaying good movement on his slider, allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth inning. All told, Rockies pitchers struck out 16. At the plate: Backup first baseman and designated hitter Elehuris Montero blasted a 449-foot solo…

In a scene from the 2022 documentary “Navalny,” Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s oldest daughter, Dasha, recalls that when she was 13, she began thinking about her father dying. As she speaks, she apologizes for getting teary. She was 19 at the time of the on-camera interview and had been living far too long with the sense that her father’s anti-corruption work made him a target of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin. Amid international responses to news of Navalny’s death on Feb.16 at an Arctic penal colony, it’s easy to forget that in addition to international expressions of outrage and despair, there is…

A driver fleeing Aurora police officers hit and killed a pedestrian in the intersection of East Colfax Avenue and Havana Street early Friday morning, closing down the intersection for several hours. While speeding west down Colfax away from a traffic stop, the driver ran a red light and collided with a pedestrian crossing Colfax, according to a Friday news release from the police department. This crash marks Aurora’s sixth traffic-related death of 2024, the release stated. Around 5 a.m. Friday, Aurora police officers performed a traffic stop on a 2008 Hyundai sedan with no license plates near the intersection of…

Cultural icons including Nobel Prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov and ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov have released videos calling on Russian authorities to return the body of opposition leader Alexei Navalny to his family, a week after his death in an Arctic penal colony. Navalny’s mother said Thursday that she has seen her son’s body and that she is resisting heavy pressure to agree to a secret burial away from the public eye. Lyudmila Navalnaya said investigators allowed her to see her son’s body in the city morgue. She said she repeated her demand to have Navalny’s body returned to her and…

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The prime ministers of Hungary and Sweden concluded a defense industry agreement on Friday that will expand Budapest’s fleet of Swedish-built fighter jets, paving the way for Hungary’s likely ratification of Sweden’s long-delayed NATO bid. The meeting in Budapest between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, came after months of heightened tensions between the two countries over Hungary’s refusal to give its backing for Sweden to join NATO. Kristersson made the trip to Hungary after repeated invitations to do so by the Hungarian government, something Orbán had hinted would be a precondition…

Emmanuel Gil-Gonzalez’s parents immigrated from Mexico with the hope of giving their children a better life. Gil-Gonzalez, 17, studied automotive technology at Denver’s Fred N. Thomas Career Education Center Early College and almost scrapped applying to college to dive straight into working on cars. But with guidance from his school, he decided he wanted to learn how to build engines instead of just repairing them. The teen set his sights on studying mechanical engineering at the University of Denver and worked hard to become a finalist for the prestigious Boettcher Foundation and Daniels Fund scholarships. Now, though, he worries he…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A bill to create one of the nation’s most restrictive bans on minors’ use of social media is heading to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has expressed concerns about the legislation to keep children under the age of 16 off popular platforms regardless of parental approval. The House passed the bill on a 108-7 vote Thursday just hours after the Senate approved it 23-14. The Senate made changes to the original House bill, which Republican Speaker Paul Renner said he hopes will address DeSantis’ questions about privacy. The bill targets any social media site that tracks…

Arapahoe County deputies are urgently searching for a woman last seen Dec. 12, 2023. Sara Astatke, 24, was last seen leaving her home in the 2100 block of South Beeler Way about 5:45 p.m. Dec. 12. Sara Astatke ”There is an urgency to this case as investigators have received information that other people may be responsible for (Astatke’s) disappearance,” the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office stated Thursday on X. Sara was last seen wearing a black coat, blue jeans, black shoes and a scarf. She is a 5-foot-7-inch, 120-pound woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She had a Mohawk hairstyle…

Justus Annunen had the best start of his young NHL career, but the Colorado Avalanche couldn’t provide enough offensive support to get the rookie his second win. Patrick Kane scored in overtime and Dylan Larkin factored into both goals as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Avalanche for the first time in 11 tries with a 2-1 overtime triumph Thursday night at Little Caesar’s Arena. Annunen stopped 28 of 30 shots, including all 22 at 5-on-5. Larkin scored on the power play midway through the third period, and Kane scored on a feed from the Detroit captain with 1:18 remaining…