Author: reporter

Maple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of maple trees, primarily sugar maples, by boiling the sap to concentrate the sugar. According to the “Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America,” Native Americans are generally thought to have been the first to tap maple trees and to turn the sap into syrup. The sap is less than 3% sugar; 32 to 40 gallons of sap boil down to just one gallon of syrup. Maple syrup tastes sweet with a distinct, rich flavor accented with a blend of caramel, vanilla, with a hint of woodiness. Don’t think of it…

By LEE ANN ANDERSON and LORENZO GOMEZ/News21 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — When Juan and Madison Pestana went on their first date in 2023, Juan vowed to always keep a bouquet of fresh flowers on the kitchen table. For nearly two years, he did exactly that. Their love story was a whirlwind: She was an introverted medical student who grew up in Wendell, North Carolina, and he was a charismatic construction business owner from Caracas, Venezuela. When they first met at a sushi bar, Madison didn’t expect much. That changed when she found herself in her car at 2 a.m., still…

Sean Payton does not go on vacation much, he proclaimed. So when Tom Brady texted the Broncos head coach recently to ask if he’d coach in a three-team flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia in 2026, Payton looked at his calendar. It was a vacation week in March. Payton accepted, on one seeming condition: Brady had to be on his squad. “It’s significant when it comes to growing our game, with the Olympics not far around the corner,” Payton said of Brady’s recently announced event, which will include other NFL stars and head coaches Pete Carroll and Kyle Shanahan. They…

Matthew Silverstone, 18, was one of two students wounded in the shooting at Evergreen High School. (Photo courtesy of Silverstone family via Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office) The 18-year-old Evergreen High School student who was wounded during a shooting at the school last week warned fellow students about the attack as it unfolded, his uncle said in a video statement released Wednesday by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Matthew Silverstone remains in critical condition after the shooting and may be facing a “lifelong recovery,” his uncle, Kris Koehler, said in the statement. He read get-well cards from Silverstone’s schoolmates that praised…

A former investment fund adviser from Centennial and his Greenwood Village-based real estate firms have agreed to pay $9.7 million to settle accusations that he misled investors. Tom Vukota, who now lives in the Bahamas, founded Vukota Capital Management and VCM Global Asset Management in 2010. They acquired dozens of apartment buildings and hotels, including the Miramar Apartments and Stratford at Lowry buildings in Denver. Vukota, 52, and his companies controlled each property through a fund and sold interests in the funds to investors. In 2021, Vukota and VCM had 14 such funds, each of which controlled one apartment building,…

Mickey Moniak has been the disappointment. Now he wants to keep being the pleasant surprise. The first overall pick by the Phillies in 2016, the outfielder never stuck with Philadelphia, where he spent parts of three seasons before being released. It was the same story with the Angels, where a breakout campaign in 2023 was followed by a fall-off in ’24 and then his release at the end of this year’s spring training. That’s when the Rockies signed Moniak, and he’s played well enough in ’25 to warrant consideration to be part of the team’s rebuild going forward. “I hope…

CLASS 5A Castle View (2-1) vs. Douglas County (2-1) When/where: 6 p.m. Thursday at Echo Park Stadium Last meeting: Castle View 37, vs. Douglas County 16, Sept. 19, 2024 Streaming: NFHS Network The Battle of the Rock gets renewed for the 14th straight year, with both teams looking for a critical nonconference win. Castle View has won two straight in this rivalry and eight of the last 10, but the schools have split the last four. Douglas County is coming off a humbling 42-21 loss at Rock Canyon, but features an explosive offense averaging 35.3 points per game. Castle View…

Redevelopment is coming for a former industrial site in the Cole neighborhood of Denver after the City Council this week approved a tax incentive for the blighted area. The former Denver Rock Drill Manufacturing Co. facility, a nearly 7-acre property about two miles northeast of downtown, was used to produce mining rock drills throughout much of the 20th century and has sat mostly vacant for more than a decade. With the new approvals granted by the council on Monday, OliverBuchananGroup will build a mixed-use development there, with plans that include the preservation of some of the historic buildings. New zoning and…

Not everyone is ready to climb a 14er this weekend. Whether it’s because of fitness, preparation, altitude readiness, improper footwear, poor hydration, strength or stamina. The same is true for dogs. But as the number of people in Colorado’s wilderness grows, so does the number of pets who accompany their owners onto trails. The result is that search-and-rescue operations around the state have seen a spike in dog rescues from 14,000-foot peaks and other trails this year. The Chalk Cliffs, on the southeastern side of Mount Princeton as seen off Highway 285 near Salida on July 24, 2022. (Photo by…

By PETER SMITH, Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — A suspect was in custody after a driver rammed a car into a staffed security gate at the FBI building in Pittsburgh early Wednesday, then removed an American flag from the back seat and threw it over the gate before leaving, authorities said. “This was a targeted attack on this building,” Christopher Giordano, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI in Pittsburgh, told reporters. No personnel were injured. The suspect, identified as Donald Henson of nearby Penn Hills, was taken into custody after 10 a.m., more than seven hours after the…