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She killed her husband 14 years ago. In an unusual move, a Colorado judge just exonerated her.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

Traci Housman appears at a bond hearing at the Boulder County Jail in Boulder, Colorado, on Aug. 3, 2009. (Photo by Mark Leffingwell/Daily Camera)Traci Housman picked glass from her hair as she told a Boulder police detective that she’d just stabbed her husband, sticking him once with a knife in their kitchen after he’d slammed her head into the wall, into a picture frame that shattered and showered glass.Officers took her to the hospital before they transported her to jail on that August night 14 years ago, said Chuck Heidel, then the Boulder police detective on the case and now a senior investigator at the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.She was charged with the second-degree murder of her husband, John Housman, a count that carried between 16 and 48 years in prison. But prosecutors, recognizing her self-defense claim, went on to offer her a deal: She could plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide, a low-level felony, and serve only probation.̶...

Here’s how to put your Colorado garden to bed for the winter

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

Wouldn’t you know that the lovely Colorado fall season was interrupted with a blast of chill and measurable snow — truly a preview of winter to come. This is not unexpected where weather changes can arrive without invitation and impolitely ruin what otherwise was a perfect autumn.Good days are ahead; get outside on mild November days to tidy up the landscape. Check off these important fall garden chores. A garden put in order this fall is an accomplishment to hang your hat on over the long winter’s nap.Leaves and lawnsLocal independent garden centers sell seed mixes that grow well in Colorado. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)Fallen leaves are nature’s free gifts to gardeners, so take full advantage of them. Spread them around beds, borders and new plantings for added insulation. Also, add leaves to the compost pile.One easy way to make a leaf puree is to line a large trash can with a bag and fill it with dry leaves (no branches or sticks). Use a string trimmer to shred the...

Police in pursuit of 35-foot RV in Los Angeles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

Police officers are currently in pursuit of a large RV in Los Angeles.The driver of the RV is reportedly being pursued for domestic violence, according to preliminary information from the Los Angeles Police Department.The pursuit began around 4:30 a.m. Monday morning in West L.A. When LAPD initially went to conduct a traffic stop, the RV kept going and a pursuit was initiated.LAPD in pursuit of an RV in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2023. LAPD in pursuit of an RV in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2023. LAPD in pursuit of an RV in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2023. LAPD in pursuit of an RV in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2023. The RV drove onto the southbound span of the 405 Freeway and was going towards Carson and made its way down to Long Beach before exiting the freeway, navigating on surface streets and getting back on the 405, this time heading north. Driver caught on dashcam video striking bicyclist, fleeing scene in Orange County Two people were originally in the RV, but one person jumped out of it ...

Officials: Highland Fire in Riverside County completely contained 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

The Highland Fire has been fully contained a week after the blaze broke out, fire officials said. Reports of the fire first came in on Oct. 30 near Aguanga, located east of Temecula, and quickly exploded due to high Santa Ana wind gusts. No civilians were injured in the blaze, which burned 2,487 acres, but two firefighters sustained injuries, according to CalFire officials. Crews battle the wind-driven Highland Fire in Riverside County on Oct. 30, 2023. (RMG News)Crews battle the wind-driven Highland Fire in Riverside County on Oct. 30, 2023. (OnScene.TV)Firefighter seen working to extinguish several mobile home ablaze during the Highland Fire in Riverside County on Oct. 30, 2023. (Firewatch Photography)Crews battle the wind-driven Highland Fire in Riverside County on Oct. 30, 2023. (OnScene.TV)Crews battle the wind-driven Highland Fire in Riverside County. Oct. 30, 2023. (RMG News)Crews battle the wind-driven Highland Fire in Riverside County. Oct. 30, 2023. (OnScene...

Warriors: Will James Wiseman play against his former team?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

CLEVELAND — The Warriors face the Detroit Pistons tonight at Little Caesars Arena for a reunion with 2020 first-round draft pick James Wiseman.Odds are Wiseman won’t even touch the court against his former team.Wiseman hasn’t been playing much in Detroit, with just one appearance in seven games, in what’s been his second chance at a spot in the regular rotation. All the reasons the Warriors couldn’t find a fit for him last season now apply to his role with the Pistons.It makes the reunion less awkward for the Warriors. Any team that trades away a second overall selection runs a tremendous risk of watching that player develop into a superstar.  Truth is, Wiseman’s time in Detroit probably won’t be eliciting any trade remorse from the Warriors’ front office.In February, when the last-place Pistons acquired Wiseman, they gave him the opportunity to play he wasn’t afforded in Golden State. This season, under new coach Monty Williams,...

Dream home or paving paradise? Open space agency moves to force property sale to preserve Coyote Valley

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

Coyote Valley, a sweeping expanse of farmland and scenic open space between San Jose and Morgan Hill, has been at the center of huge development battles with some of Silicon Valley’s legendary companies over the past 40 years. And now it’s gearing up for another fight — on a much smaller scale.The new showdown, over a stately family compound proposed for a 4.6-acre lot flanked by farm fields and open space preserves, highlights a long-running debate in California over how to balance wildlife and land preservation with concerns about housing and private property rights.Environmental groups fought back plans by Apple and Cisco in the 1980s and 1990s to build corporate headquarters in Coyote Valley. Proposals for giant warehouses and distribution centers have risen and fallen. But the latest standoff could mark one of the rare times that the county chooses to use eminent domain to force a sale of private property to preserve open space.Two years ago, Edgar Andrade, a 33-yea...

Antioch police union president, acting chief found officers’ violence was justified before FBI deemed it criminal, new records show

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

ANTIOCH — Time and time again, Antioch police supervisors reviewed reports detailing the use of a less-lethal gun and K9 deployments on civilians and reached the same conclusion: The violence conformed with department guidelines and no discipline nor extra training was needed.The FBI and a federal grand jury reached a markedly different conclusion: that those same acts violated policies, constituted violent crimes that carry prison terms and were part of a years-long scheme to violate the civil rights of citizens. The officers who OK’d these use-of-force incidents include the city’s police union president and the current and former acting police chiefs, according to new records released by the city of Antioch.“Force appears to be within policy,” Sgt. Rick Hoffman wrote after Officer Eric Rombough fired a less-lethal projectile at a man who was backing toward officers with his hands on his head. The indictment against Rombough and officers Morteza Amiri and De...

Stanford men’s basketball preview: Cardinal likes its chances

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

STANFORD — Spencer Jones returned for a fifth year at Stanford because he believes the Cardinal can be an NCAA Tournament team come spring.The team is more experienced going into the 2023-24 season with several key newcomers such as highly touted freshman guard Andrej Stojakovic, the son of former Sacramento Kings star Peja Stojakovic.“That’s the reason I came back. I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t have full confidence that we have the talent and we have everything we need to get that done,” Jones said. “For me coming back, it was almost purely a basketball decision. I’ve done my schoolwork and all that. I’ve still got a little bit of work to do, but it was all basketball.”Stanford has more go-to shooting options entering coach Jerod Haase’s eighth season.Stanford went 14-19 overall last season and 7-13 in Pac-12 play.On his desk, Haase is keeping a special photo from his team’s preseason trip to France and Greece — one from the family home of 7-foot-1 junior forward Maxi...

Cal Bears basketball preview: Mark Madsen has “lofty goals”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

BERKELEY — New coach Mark Madsen recognizes all that went wrong for California men’s basketball last season, and he also insists that from those struggles has been tremendous growth.He’s counting on that as Cal tries to bounce back with a new-look roster and new leader.Even if the loyal fan base in Berkeley might not have seen the development watching the Golden Bears last season. Madsen also realizes he has quite a task at hand to turn over a proud program that is reeling from the embarrassment of so much losing.Madsen is guiding the Bears following a 3-29 season — worst in school history — that led to the firing of coach Mark Fox and cleared the way for the former Stanford star.“It was a tough year last year for Cal, but it’s not like there wasn’t a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We’re probably benefiting right now from a lot of the work, just even in terms of infrastructure,” Madsen said. “I’ve never been more optimistic, and I love our team. I love all the changes...

Ohtani? Yamamoto? Chapman? Assessing the best free agent fits for the San Francisco Giants

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:30 GMT

In Farhan Zaidi’s eyes, it seems, there is one statistic that sums up the San Francisco Giants’ shortcomings in 2023 better than any other. You don’t need to know what WAR, wOBA or VORP stand for to understand it. But it’s something the club’s top baseball boss has cited multiple times.“One thing that I don’t really think there are two sides of the coin in explaining,” Zaidi said most recently, to a scrum of reporters after introducing new manager Bob Melvin earlier this month, “is we were last in the league in stolen bases. That just can’t happen. To be that much of an outlier shows it was a real deficiency.”It’s not just that they swiped 15 fewer bags than the next-closest team, fewer than two individual players, that after Thairo Estrada (23) they didn’t have a single player with more than four, a number equaled or eclipsed by 251 players league-wide — it’s what it said about team.The league introduced new ru...