Author: reporter

Broncos! Nuggets! Santa! Same day! Well, same night, at least. Team Grading The Week (GTW) loves marathons of “A Christmas Story” as much as the next leg lamp, but American TV options on Christmas Day could use a good kick in the backside after mid-afternoon. At which point, if your family is even remotely like the goofballs in the GTW offices, you’ve already opened all your presents, drank most of the eggnog and are starting to get sick of looking at one another. In other words, we need more things to talk about, more things to rally around — other…

Scattered rain and slightly cooler temperatures limited the spread of wildfires burning across Colorado’s Western Slope on Saturday, allowing firefighters to increase containment and lifting some evacuation orders. Containment on the 133,954-acre Lee fire burning between Meeker and Rifle in Rio Blanco County grew to 31% as crews marked a “very successful” day of keeping the flames in check, operations section chief Jeramy Dietz said in a morning briefing. County officials reopened Colorado 13 for the first time since Aug. 2 and lifted some mandatory evacuations along the highway on Saturday, although some areas west of the highway and near…

By NICOLE WINFIELD VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Leo XIV surprised tens of thousands of young people at a recent Holy Year celebration with an impromptu popemobile romp around St. Peter’s Square, it almost seemed as if some of the informal spontaneity that characterized Pope Francis’ 12-year papacy had returned to the Vatican. But the message Leo delivered that night was all his own: In seamless English, Spanish and Italian, Leo told the young people that they were the “salt of the Earth, the light of the world.” He urged them to spread their hope, faith in Christ and…

Dear Eric: Several months ago, I discovered my husband was having an emotional affair with a coworker. He shared significant things with her he didn’t share with me, sought her advice on how to hide his alcohol abuse from me and talked to her about our arguments, while she fueled the negativity against me and trashed me. He also discussed intimate details of our sex life with her which I never consented to being shared. After several painful conversations about it, we recommitted to our relationship. I asked him to end contact with her. Not out of control, but because…

At the top of Phil Anschutz’s wish list for his brand new soccer team in 1996 was “the guy who did a funny overhead kick” in the 1994 World Cup. What he got was the face of Colorado soccer for a generation. Three decades later, Marcelo Balboa’s No. 17 jersey will be immortalized at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park — a tribute to the defender who helped launch the Rapids and give a new league one of its first stars. “As a kid, I didn’t play this game because I was looking to have my number retired. I wasn’t playing this…

The Mountain Vista Golden Eagles are planning an encore performance. It’s a big ask. How do they top what they did last fall? In the first CHSAA-sanctioned Class 5A girls flag football season, the Golden Eagles won the state championship with a thrilling 32-21 victory over Arvada West. Mountain Vista was a perfect 19-0. “It was so cool because it set the precedent by winning the first state championship, so now it’s like, ‘How many more can we get?’ ” senior center/receiver Braelynn Looney said. “If we put in the work, I think it’s definitely a possibility. We have an…

When rookie right-hander Chase Dollander was unceremoniously demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque on July 7, he wasn’t wounded or embarrassed. He says his confidence wasn’t shaken. He was ticked off. Or words to that effect. Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer was pleased to hear that. “It should make him mad,” Schaeffer said. “I like that he said that because that’s a competitive nature, and I know Chase Dollander has that. So that doesn’t surprise me at all. If guys aren’t mad when they get sent out, that’s a problem. “Because what else would you be? If you get sent down at…

Suncor Energy is planning to spend more than $57 million to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions at its Commerce City oil refinery, but still expects to miss its 2030 deadline to eliminate enough pollution to meet Colorado’s benchmark for industrial polluters. Not only will the company miss its 2030 greenhouse-gas emissions deadline, which is required by state law, but Suncor says its Commerce City refinery never will meet Colorado’s reduction demands unless the state creates a fund to help companies finance projects that would lower emissions, according to a new report the company filed with the Colorado Department of Public Health and…

Jim Harbaugh on what it means to be a Michigan Man: “You don’t lie. You don’t cheat. You don’t steal.” The NCAA on what it means for Jim Harbaugh to be a Michigan Man: “You lie. You cheat. You steal (signs).” The NCAA infractions committee disciplined Michigan on Friday, announcing penalties for the school’s sign-stealing, including a $20 million fine and an additional game suspension for head coach Sherrone Moore. Connor Stalions’ advanced KGB scheme — sign stealing via television or replay video is permitted, but in-person scouting of opponents is not — drew scrutiny in 2023, but began two…

Colorado employers added 3,700 jobs in July, helping to compensate for the revised loss of 2,700 jobs in June, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Construction hiring, which has been sluggish the past year, was especially strong in July with 3,800 jobs added. It was followed by trade, transportation and utilities, which gained 2,800 positions, according to a survey of employers. Manufacturing and the natural resources employment stayed flat, while leisure and hospitality lost 1,800 jobs and private educational and health services lost 1,100 jobs. Over the past year, employers in the state…