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Opinion: Preserve the splendor, with a Dolores River Canyon Country National Monument

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

As the mayor of Grand Junction, I have the privilege of representing the largest community on Colorado’s Western Slope. Our city, the place I grew up in, is surrounded by awe-inspiring beauty defined by public lands.Our neighbors have long been the stewards of these lands, which are as diverse as they are breathtaking and which hold a tapestry of natural wonders, cultural treasures, and a rich historical legacy. Grand Junction is a gateway to these special lands and we welcome visitors from the world over.Today, I write to you, my fellow Coloradans, and to our statewide elected leaders with an impassioned plea to support protecting the northern portion of the Dolores River Canyon Country as a national monument. Taking this step will preserve a magnificent place, it will bolster rural economies of western Colorado, and it will conserve a trove of cultural, historical, and natural treasures for generations to come.The Dolores River Canyon Country, which includes public lands in ...

43-year-old Ethiopian restaurant on East Colfax seized for unpaid taxes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

Africana Restaurant & Cafe has closed after 43 years, as a result of unpaid taxes and is now in the possession of the state of Colorado, according to a notice hanging on its door this week.A notice of public sale by the order of the Executive Director Colorado Department of Revenue states that the restaurant owes $24,734 worth of unpaid taxes. When properties are seized, they are typically auctioned off to recover the amount due. Josh Rosenblum with the city’s Department of Finance previously told The Denver Post that this process is usually a last resort.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | Colorado restaurateur opening four dim sum and dumpling spots Restaurants, Food and Drink | Spinelli’s opening 2nd deli in longtime Congress Park market Restaurants, Food and Drink | Spam Musabi, Loco Moco: Hawaiian BBQ chain opens 5th Colorado location Restaurants, Food and Drink | Ex-Burger King in Five Points availa...

Arrest made in South L.A. hit-and-run that killed bicyclist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a gruesome hit-and-run that killed a man who was riding a bicycle in South Los Angeles on Tuesday.Felipe Avalos, 66, was taken into custody in Compton and booked on a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter, according to LAPD.The collision happened at about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning in the area of Broadway and 117th Street.Investigators say the driver of an older model Chevy van ran over the bicyclist and dragged him for approximately one mile before the victim became dislodged at the intersection of Broadway and El Segundo Boulevard. The driver of the van kept going.The crime scene at 117th & Broadway after the fatal collision. Oct. 24, 2023. The victim became dislodged from the van at El Segundo Boulevard and Broadway, LAPD said. Oct. 24, 2023. The LAPD provided this photo of a van believed to be involved in an Oct. 24, 2023, hit-and-run.The crime scene at 117th & Broadway after the fatal collision. Oct. 24, 2023. The LAPD prov...

Study: 3 SoCal cities among top 10 for most self-employed women

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

Although the growing trend of women joining the labor force was stifled during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study shows that the number of self-employed women has grown significantly. According to a study by business research firm ChamberofCommerce.org, more than 6 million women across the U.S. are self-employed, and several of the nation's 170 most populous cities – including three in Southern California – are now emerging as hotspots for independent female workers. The top four locations for self-employed women are all in South Florida, the study showed. Coming in at number one is Miami, followed by Fort Lauderdale and the cities of Pembroke Pines and Hialeah.Over 15% of female workers in those cities are self-employed, data shows. Actors strike continues, but resumed talks bring hope of deal America’s second most populated city landed seventh on the list; out of the 913,185 employed women in Los Angeles, 128,713 of them – or 14.1% – are self-employed, according to U.S. Census B...

Disneyland announces opening date for Adventureland Treehouse after extensive refurbishment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

The Adventureland Treehouse, formally known as Tarzan’s Treehouse, will be open to guests beginning on Nov. 10, Disneyland announced Wednesday.The reimagined attraction pays homage to the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, the original theming of the treehouse, and will include new rooms based on different family members. Disneyland announces opening date for new Pixar-themed hotel The new areas will be the “mother’s music den, the young sons’ nature room, the teenage daughter’s astronomer’s loft, the father’s art studio, and an ingenious kitchen and dining room,” Disneyland officials previously announced.The Adventureland Treehouse inspired by Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson will return in a fresh, new way in 2023. (Artist Concept/Disneyland Resort)The reimagined attraction pays homage to The Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, the original theming of the treehouse, and will include new rooms based on different family members. (Disneyland) While exploring the attraction, guests wi...

Austin Buckley Dead, Ruben Ysasi Arrested after DUI Accident on East State Highway 1 [Austin, TX]

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

27-Year-Old Driver Pronounced Dead after DUI Collision near Highway 183AUSTIN, TX (October 25, 2023) – Austin Buckley lost his life in a fatal collision early Thursday morning, caused by DUI on East State Highway 1. Around 4:44 a.m., law enforcement arrived at the 1500 block of Highway 1 near Highway 183.According to reports, 44-year-old Ruben Ysasi was operating an SUV heading westbound when he veered into the eastbound lanes, colliding with another SUV. Subsequently, a third SUV rear-ended the second one, which Buckley was driving.Paramedics later pronounced 27-year-old Buckley deceased due to the severity of his injuries. Following initial investigative procedures, authorities determined that Ysasi had been driving while under the influence.Consequently, officers arrested him on charges of intoxication manslaughter and causing an accident resulting in a fatality. Currently, the investigation is ongoing, and any witnesses with information about this incident are urged to con...

Miho Hazama takes her chamber jazz into orbit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

After months of pandemic confinement, Miho Hazama needed to soar.Largely unknown to California jazz fans, she delivered an ecstatic apogee at the 2021 Monterey Jazz Festival with her commission, “Exoplanet Suite.” While the festival’s programming was sharply curtailed and the fairgrounds were rife with Covid anxiety, Hazama and the chamber jazz group she calls her m_unit swept the arena audience into celestial realms with a performance that earned a rapturous standing ovation. That’s how you make a memorable first impression.Only 34-years-old at the time she made her West Coast debut, Hazama seemed to revel in her ensemble’s nimble navigation on an extraterrestrial sojourn marked by a steadily shifting blend of strings, brass and timpani.“That was part of my intention after being stuck in a tiny apartment in New York City for all those months,” said the Tokyo-reared composer. “Now we could get together with 13 people and create a sound together in the same space. I’d missed it so mu...

Kirk Franklin leads powerhouse gospel lineup into the Bay Area

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

Kirk Franklin is heading back to the Bay Area.Yet, he’s not coming back alone. Instead, he’s bringing a cast of amazingly talented friends — including Israel Houghton, The Clark Sisters, David & Tamela Mann and Tye Tribbett — to the Oakland Arena on Nov. 5 as part of the Reunion Tour.Franklin, of course, is one of contemporary gospel music’s most highly decorated artists, having won 19 Grammys and even more Dove Awards.Related ArticlesMusic | Last KISS: Saying farewell to band with a look back at its biggest moments Music | Rapper Drake will give away free Dave’s Hot Chicken sliders on his birthday Music | Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour visits San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento Music | One of the year’s very best concert tours is coming to San Francisco Music | Sax star Wayne Escoffery needs no introduction — but here’s one anyway The Texa...

AI is causing panic for authors. Now the courts are involved

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

By Brian Contreras, Los Angeles TimesWhen novelist Douglas Preston first started messing around with ChatGPT, he gave the AI software a challenge: Could it write an original poem based on a character from some of his books?“It came out with this terrific poem written in iambic pentameter,” Preston recalled. The result was impressive — and concerning. “What really surprised me was how much it knew about this character; way more than it possibly could have gleaned from the internet,” Preston said.The adventure writer suspected that the chatbot had somehow absorbed his work, presumably as part of the training process by which an artificial intelligence model ingests lots of data that it then synthesizes into seemingly original content.“That was a very disturbing feeling,” Preston said, “not unlike coming home and finding that someone’s been in your house and taken things.”Those worries led Preston to sign on to a proposed class acti...

Trump’s comment outside court draws judge’s attention again

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:25 GMT

By Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz | Associated PressNEW YORK — Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Wednesday in his ex-boss Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial as the former president’s defense team tried to undermine the credibility and question the motives of his onetime personal attorney turned adversary.Outside the courtroom, Trump’s commentary led the judge to weigh whether Trump had violated a limited gag order imposed earlier in the case.With Trump at the defense table, his lawyer Alina Habba confronted Cohen with comments he had made praising Trump, before turning on him when Cohen’s legal problems started in 2018.Habba tried to suggest that Cohen had angled unsuccessfully for a job in Trump’s White House — Cohen insisted he never sought one — and asked whether he had “significant animosity” toward Trump.“Do I have animosity toward him? Yes I do,” Cohen replied.“You have made a career out of public...