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Vail’s “Happy Knees” Keenan rules age group at junior nationals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

Vail skiing phenom Ava “Happy Knees” Keenan continues to shine nationally in competitive moguls.Keenan, who was featured last fall in the annual Warren Miller ski film “Daymaker,” was the top female competitor for her age group at the U.S. junior national championships last week in Steamboat Springs.Related ArticlesOutdoors | Vail phenom Ava “Happy Knees” Keenan wants to be the first Black skier to win Olympic gold Keenan, 12, was the top under-13 competitor in individual moguls and in dual moguls. In individual moguls, skiers compete one at a time. In dual moguls, they compete head-to-head in a knockout format. In duals she finished ahead of the under-15 (13 and 14 years old) skiers as well. She turns 13 in two weeks.Ava Keenan of Vail, 12, was the top moguls skier in two events at junior national championships last week in Steamboat Springs. (Provided by Jim Keenan)“It was a lot of fun,” said Keenan, who says her goal...

Denver’s best spicy chicken sandwich: Vote now in the Final Four of our March Madness food bracket

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

With every March Madness competition, there are upsets and surprises. And no, we’re not talking about the state of your NCAA bracket after this past weekend.The Final Four in The Denver Post’s March Madness hot chicken sandwich bracket. (Brooke Eberle, The Denver Post)Rather, we’re referring to the results of our 2023 spicy chicken sandwich battle, which started at 32 of the Denver area’s favorite spots for hot chicken and is now down to the final four — and just like the college basketball tournament, there were some bracket busters.In this case, the biggest upset from our Elite Eight round has to be Blazing Bird edging out the top-seeded Music City Hot Chicken, Colorado’s first Nashville hot chicken restaurant.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | Feast on fowl and fire at Colorado’s original Nashville hot chicken joint Restaurants, Food and Drink | Denver’s best spicy chicken sandwich: Vote in the Elite 8 round of o...

Are Colorado hospitals acting like charities or Fortune 500 companies? Lawmakers want to know, too

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

Four years ago, Colorado lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill requiring hospitals to provide insight into their finances. It was the product of three years of work, the bill’s sponsor said, and the reports the legislation has produced have illuminated hospitals’ books and helped guide policymaking for state leaders focused on cutting the costs of care.But legislators still have some questions. In a bill introduced earlier this month, they’re proposing hospitals turn over more information about salaries, mergers and whether money spent on care in Colorado is being moved out of state and away from local facilities. The measure — HB23-1226 — would also require hospitals to provide more detail on patients’ bills.The goal is to fill in gaps from the 2019 law, said bill sponsors Reps. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, and Chris deGruy Kennedy, a Lakewood Democrat. The hospital and provider industry has continued to consolidate in the past four years, raisin...

How new SF Giants starter Ross Stripling developed his unique pitching method

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Standing an athletic 6-foot-3, Ross Stripling wants you to know that he can dunk. This is important because, as Stripling says with a chuckle, “I don’t have PTSD.” And wouldn’t you, if one attempt went so awry that it put your leg in a cast?There is one lingering effect of Stripling’s ill-fated dunk attempt, now nearly a decade and a half in the past: It’s what he credits as the origin of one of the majors’ most unique deliveries. Not only do batters barely know what’s coming with Stripling’s kitchen-sink repertoire (up to six pitches, with the addition of a second changeup), it’s coming at them from an angle they rarely see: directly over the top.“It’s definitely something that you don’t see a whole lot,” said Sean Hjelle, who despite his status (at 6-foot-11) as one of the two tallest men to throw a pitch in a major-league game releases the ball considerably lower than Stripling.With his right ha...

Downtown San Jose food hall will include kitchens, coffee bar, dining

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

SAN JOSE — A downtown San Jose food hall proposed by an Uber co-founder is slated to include a dining center, coffee bar and dozens of kitchens, city planning documents show.The unusual project is being built inside a historic building constructed around 1885 that has addresses ranging from 82 through 96 East Santa Clara Street in San Jose.Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former chief executive officer of Uber, a ride-hailing company, is leading the CloudKitchens firm that is developing the project in the former Odd Fellows Building at the corner of East Santa Clara Street and South Third Street.CloudKitchens typically rents out its kitchen space at its locations to local restaurants, with the food picked up and delivered through apps such as Doordash and Uber Eats.Historic building at 82 through 96 East Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose, June 2018. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)“With a growing residential population, more students in the area and workers ...

Editorial: Proposed MMA pension plan should be knocked out in Round 1

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

One key to good legislating is knowing when not to act.Unfortunately, Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, didn’t get the memo before he introduced a bill last month to create a state-administered pension plan for mixed martial arts fighters.We get it. His intentions were good. He says he wants to make sure the fighters “are protected and taken care of.”The language of his legislation, Assembly Bill 1136, accurately describes the fighters’ risk of “extraordinary disability in the normal course of their trade,” such as traumatic brain injuries, multiple concussions, eye injuries and other neurological impairments. Haney wants MMA fighters to have “support and protection when they retire.”But his bill will do little to achieve that.Fashioned after a four-decade-old program for boxers, Haney’s proposal would allow the California State Athletic Commission to require a fee on tickets or contributions by the fighters, their managers and the promoters of MMA events to fund the plan....

Opinion: Stanford needs more than words to protect free speech

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

In response to the shout down of Judge Kyle Duncan at Stanford Law School on March 9, the university must act decisively to restore a culture of free expression on its campus.Duncan, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit covering Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, was invited by the law school’s Federalist Society chapter for a discussion on “Guns, Covid and Twitter.” His lecture ended early because several dozen law students continually interrupted him. The  protesters objected to his position on laws involving women, immigrants and LGBTQ people.Stanford Law School Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach did not stop the heckling but rather questioned the worth of hearing different viewpoints and upbraided Judge Duncan for “tearing the fabric of this community.”So far, Stanford’s response has included an email from Law School Dean Jenny Martinez and an apology from Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Dean M...

Michigan couple accused of starving 2-year-old son to death

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

Sierra Zaitona (PHOTO — MACOMB COUNTY JAIL) The Michigan parents of a 2-year-old son are being held in the Macomb County Jail on a $1 million bond each after they were were charged Monday afternoon with the boy’s starvation death.Sierra Pearl Zaitona, 27, and Jonathan Matthew Cheek, 25, of Clinton Township were arraigned in 41B District Court on felony murder charges.Investigators said the death certificate listed the cause as starvation.“For the record, the child was healthy in foster care, and once it got into the care of these two individuals, it met its demise,” said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Molly Zappitell.Jonathan Cheek (PHOTO — MACOMB COUNTY JAIL) Zappitell asked Magistrate Ryan Zemke to set a high bond, arguing the couple posed a flight risk.“There is no reason for her to stay,” Zappitell said. “In fact, she had the baby in Ohio to avoid alerting CPS (Child Protective Services).”Zaitona responded: “That is not true” before she was advised by her defense l...

Barabak: What political shift in Colorado and West means for U.S.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

Kevin Priola was a Republican before he could even vote.Inspired by Ronald Reagan, he preregistered with the GOP at age 17. He joined the College Republicans at the University of Colorado in Boulder — a true act of faith in that liberal stronghold — and was elected to the Legislature in 2008, where he’s served ever since.But Priola slowly grew estranged from the GOP, seeing it as more authoritarian than conservative, and last August he became a Democrat.“I couldn’t stomach it,” Priola said of his old party, “and associate with that style and brand of politics.”He’s hardly alone.For much of its history, the West was Republican ground. Today, it’s a bastion of Democratic support, a shift that has transformed presidential politics nationwide.In the last two decades, the Republican ranks in Colorado have shrunk drastically, to just a quarter of registered voters, as the once reliably red state has turned a distinct shade of blue.The transformation is part of a larger political shift acr...

SVB’s Greg Becker was Silicon Valley’s money man for 30 years, until suddenly he wasn’t

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:51 GMT

By Lizette Chapman and Jennifer Surane | BloombergEarly on March 9, as SVB Financial Group’s stock began its death spiral, Chief Executive Officer Greg Becker picked up the phone.Becker started contacting friends, hoping that some of the goodwill he’d spent decades accruing as head of the startup community’s go-to bank could be repaid. Among the venture investors he spoke with was Alex Rampell, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Becker wanted Rampell’s firm to help shore up SVB, the company’s commercial bank, as depositors fled, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.Foremr Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group/File) Over the next 24 hours or so, A16Z and many other firms realized the bank’s precarious position, with some advising founders to pull money out. By the following afternoon, SVB was in the hands of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.SVB’s failure put an end to Becker’s 30-year career at the bank. Just over a week ...