New CDOT facility aims to keep I-70 mountain corridor safer this winter

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

New CDOT facility aims to keep I-70 mountain corridor safer this winter SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — CDOT is unveiling a brand-new facility it says will make the Interstate 70 mountain corridor safer for drivers this winter.“There’s nothing more important than our highway systems,” said John Lorme, the Colorado Department of Transportation's director of maintenance and operations. Denver weather: Mild Friday, Saturday before big changes next week According to Lorme, closures on I-70’s mountain corridor can cost upward of $2 million per hour in economic impact. However, he said maintaining such a unique stretch of roadway presents unique challenges.“It’s hard to ask a guy or gal to come up here at 3 o’clock in the morning at 30 below zero with the wind blowing as much as it does up here, to pre-trip for 30 minutes outside, and then hop on the road for a 12 and a half hour shift,” he said.Boosting morale for CDOT tunnel staffParamount to building CDOT’s new operations center adjacent to the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, Lorme said, was boosting m...

9 displaced after fire ignites in Hialeah home; no injuries reported

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

9 displaced after fire ignites in Hialeah home; no injuries reported Crews have put out a fire that broke out inside a two-story house in a Hialeah neighborhood and left nine people without a place to call home. 7Skyforce hovered over the scene, located in the area of East Fifth Ave and 23rd Street, at around 5:45 p.m., Friday.Hialeah Fire Rescue officials said they received a call about the fire just after 5:20 p.m.Firefighters cut through a fence to gain access to the home and were seen attempting to put out the massive blaze.The power has gone out in several neighboring homes.There was one person home when the fire ignited, but no one was injured.Officials said the entire property has been deemed unsafe, and no one is allowed to reenter the house.Officials said the residents have declined any assistance from the Red Cross.The state fire marshal is investigating for the cause of the fire.

Car crashes into beauty salon in North Miami; 2 say they suffered minor injuries

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Car crashes into beauty salon in North Miami; 2 say they suffered minor injuries A car crashed into the front window of a beauty salon in North Miami, officials said.North Miami Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the scene, located at the intersection of Northwest Seventh Ave and 119th Street, just after 4:45 p.m., Friday.Surveillance video captured the moment of impact, as the vehicle pulled into a parking spot, then careened into the storefront.7Skyforce hovered above the scene where a sedan could be seen completely inside the business surrounded by broken glass from the storefront. Speaking with 7News Friday evening, the driver said he hit the accelerator by mistake.“I kind of blocked off, because before I came here, I took my hypertension pills, and then I don’t know what happened. Instead of hitting the brakes, I hit the gas,” he said.Two people who were inside the store at the time said they suffered minor injuries.Paramedics were seen wrapping up a woman’s leg around her ankle. The victim said some the glass from the wi...

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 96, in hospice care

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 96, in hospice care Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is in hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, joining former President Jimmy Carter, who has been receiving end-of-life care since February, their family announced Friday.The Carter family said they are “grateful for the outpouring of love and support” but asked for privacy. The Carters have been married for 77 years and are the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history.The family announced earlier this year that the 96-year-old former first lady is suffering from dementia. The former president, now 99, entered hospice care at home in February but remains alert, those close to him say.They have been together through Jimmy Carter’s rise from their Georgia farm to his election to the presidency in 1976. After his 1980 defeat, the couple established The Carter Center in Atlanta as a global center to advocate human rights, democracy and public health.“I loved politics,” Rosalynn Carter told The Associated Press in 2021. She said she had...

Auto strike: Stellantis-UAW deal has enough votes to ratify

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Auto strike: Stellantis-UAW deal has enough votes to ratify A majority of United Auto Workers members at Stellantis NV have cast enough “yes” votes to approve a new four-and-a-half year deal, the second of three with Detroit automakers, according to an analysis by The Detroit News.Passage of the deal has secured nearly 70% of votes from hourly workers at reporting locals, according to the UAW’s vote tracker, after totals from workers at Jefferson North and Mack assembly plants in Detroit were included. That leaves 10,902 votes between the yes and no totals, more than the total hourly employees at the remaining locals.Two sources familiar with the process confirmed the analysis. Representatives for the UAW and Stellantis declined to comment because members still are voting into the weekend.The UAW in a letter obtained by The News late Thursday showed final ratification results for its agreement with General Motors Co. had almost 55% hourly support. An agreement on Friday morning was passing at Ford Motor Co. with more than 6...

‘So much joy’: Forever families celebrate National Adoption Day in Boston

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

‘So much joy’: Forever families celebrate National Adoption Day in Boston As 2-year-old Kinslee waited inside Boston Juvenile Court to hear her name called, she rolled around on the ground and ran up a flight of stairs until her soon-to-be mother picked her up.Excitement flowed throughout the courthouse on National Adoption Day, with little Kinslee, decked out in a plaid red dress, white stockings and black shoes, as evidence.With the strike of the gavel, Kinslee officially became part of the Roper family, from Quincy. And though she looked a bit tired after the grand court appearance, her smile still shined.“My heart is bursting,” Kinslee’s mother Jodie Roper, told the Herald. “We are forever family now. We are a party of four. She has made our family complete, and our family has expanded because of her. We just have so much joy. I am overwhelmed with emotion right now.”Roper and her husband Michael started the journey to adopting Kinslee, who will be turning 3 on Nov. 28, more than two years ago. Foster children that the couple has had in the past...

Colorado judge keeps Trump on ballot, rejecting challenge under Constitution’s insurrection clause

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Colorado judge keeps Trump on ballot, rejecting challenge under Constitution’s insurrection clause By NICHOLAS RICCARDI (Associated Press)DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge on Friday rejected an effort to keep former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballot, the latest blow to groups seeking to block his run for another term using a Civil War-era Constitutional amendment that prevents anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.The lawsuit, brought by a left-leaning group on behalf of a group of Republican and independent Colorado voters, contended that Trump’s actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol ran afoul of the 14th Amendment.The decision by District Judge Sarah B. Wallace is the third ruling in a little over a week against lawsuits seeking to knock Trump off the ballot by citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The Minnesota Supreme Court last week said Trump could remain on the primary ballot because political parties have sole choice over who appears, while a Michigan judge ruled th...

Professor’s lawyer says video footage will clear his client charged in death of pro-Israel protester

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Professor’s lawyer says video footage will clear his client charged in death of pro-Israel protester By JOHN ANTCZAK and JULIE WATSON (Associated Press)LOS ANGELES (AP) — California authorities said Friday they have not ruled out that a hate crime was committed in the death of a pro-Israel demonstrator following a confrontation with a college professor, whose lawyer says video footage will clear his client. Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said his office charged Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 50, with involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of Paul Kessler, 69, after reviewing over 600 pieces of evidence and interviewing more than 60 witnesses. “We were not pre-committed to any specific outcome or even criminal culpability, and we never treated the fact that criminal charges would be a forgone conclusion,” he said.Alnaji pleaded not guilty Friday to the charges, each of which is accompanied by a special allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury, which means he could be eligible for prison if convicted. The two men got into a p...

Bill Cosby accuser files new lawsuit under expiring New York survivors law

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Bill Cosby accuser files new lawsuit under expiring New York survivors law A woman who said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her when she was a young comedy writer more than 50 years ago filed a lawsuit against the actor Thursday under a soon-to-expire New York law that gave victims of sexual abuse a one-year “window” for claims that would otherwise be barred by time limits.Joan Tarshis initially came forward with allegations against Cosby in 2014 that are repeated in the new lawsuit. Tarshis said Cosby drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him in 1969 or 1970, and then drugged and raped her during another encounter a year or two later.The New York resident was living in California at the time of the first assault and had met Cosby through a mutual friend while he was starring in “The Bill Cosby Show,” according to the lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in New York City.A spokesperson for Cosby did not address the specifics of Tarshis’s claims. “Diddy, LA Reid, Steven Tyler, and now they circle back to this,” spokesperso...

Blue Jays to non-tender Adam Cimber, reliever will become free agent

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:27 GMT

Blue Jays to non-tender Adam Cimber, reliever will become free agent The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to non-tender reliever Adam Cimber before Friday’s 8 p.m. ET deadline, which will make him a free agent, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.Major league teams have the option to non-tender arbitration-eligible players instead of agreeing on a salary for the new season. Cimber was projected to earn around $3.2 million for 2024.Once the move becomes official, the 33-year-old will be a free agent for the first time in his career. Cimber was acquired from the Miami Marlins in June 2021 along with outfielder Corey Dickerson for a prospect and infielder Joe Panik. He settled in as one of the Blue Jays’ most consistent relievers, pitching to a 1.69 ERA across 39 games.He followed up the success in 2022, appearing in a major-league-high 77 games out of the bullpen for Toronto and finishing with a 2.80 ERA and 58 strikeouts across 70 2/3 innings.Injuries greatly impacted Cimber this past season. He was limited to 22 games and str...