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Ways to save during this week's heatwave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Severe weather and triple-digit heat can cause power outages in the metro area. Xcel Energy told FOX31 nearly 1,500 people lost power just days ago due to a lightning strike in Jefferson County. Another cause of an outage can be the overuse of power during a heatwave. “Oh it's a hot one, thank goodness for the clouds,” said homeowner Walter Hochner. Increased use of cooling systems can create a heavier load on the power grid. Xcel told FOX31 the plan to prepare for summer heat includes allowing customers to volunteer to reduce their power usage in exchange for a discount as part of the Saver’s Switch and AC Rewards programs. Hot temperatures bring health risks to Colorado “Customers have volunteered to decrease their load in order to be able to increase the capacity of our system,” said Xcel spokesperson Iffie Jennings.Xcel will continue to install special meters that alert the company of any power outages throughout the coming months. If you don't have one yet, ...

Victims' family speaks out after plea in deadly Lakewood apartment fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) -- Family members who lost a mother and her daughter in a Lakewood apartment fire last year are speaking out. Monday afternoon, a 14-year-old boy pleaded guilty in juvenile court in a deadly arson case in Lakewood that took the life of 31-year-old Kathleen (Katie) Payton and her 10-year-old daughter Jazmine. The other 12-year-old suspect did not enter a plea on Monday. Janelle Camacho, Payton’s aunt, said it’s been very emotional the past couple of months.  “I think about them every single day,” Camacho said. “I think about the day we got the phone call of them passing away in a fire and you don’t want it to be real and then when you realize it’s true and they’re gone -- I’ve never experienced anything like this.”   2 boys facing 100 counts in deadly Lakewood fire Camacho was listening in virtually in Monday afternoon’s court hearing. "To see the young men in court and everything, you can’t help but to think this is st...

High temperatures bring health risks to Colorado

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) --  In the scorching high temperatures, Coloradans are looking for relief from the heat. Corbin Scoddard found a way to cool off at the Splash Pad at City Park. "I'm getting wet and just lying in the shade," he said. "It's nice to have somewhere you can get wet without having to go to a water park or something."With the recent heat, Swedish Medical Center in Englewood and The Medical Center of Aurora have already seen a handful of heat-related cases. Some involved people without housing. How altitude affects hikers and how to acclimate properly Dr. Mark Montano is the medical director of CareNow Urgent Care in Denver. "Generally, we'll see the more mild cases here in the urgent care centers, people who might be fatigued, have higher heart rates, headaches," he said. Montano said if people become dehydrated, there are several levels of heat-related illness. The first would bring heat cramps in the abdomen or legs."Next is heat exhaustion, and that's a l...

‘Shit happens’: Margrethe Vestager responds to French fuss over her US hire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s antitrust chief was trying to do the right thing in picking a renowned U.S. professor as a top EU competition economist.“I just wanted to find the right person and do it in the right fashion and then, shit happens,” Margrethe Vestager told a POLITICO reporter on Friday at the Unamido Japanese ramen restaurant near Flagey square in Brussels. The Danish commissioner, who has faced off against at least one shouting Big Tech executive and U.S. presidential venom, endured a potentially damaging setback last week over her choice of Fiona Scott Morton, who has been described as one of the “best economists in the world” in her field, for the influential EU chief competition advisory role.The shit, or rather la merde, came pretty much from one direction — when French President Emmanuel Macron joined other French politicians in criticizing the European Commission for choosing an American for the senior EU post. Macron said neither the U.S. nor ...

Thomas Haden Church game for ‘Twisted Metal’ mayhem

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

“Twisted Metal” is a brand new, half-hour post-apocalyptic action comedy series, based on Sony’s vehicular combat video game franchise of the same name.Naturally, Thomas Haden Church’s aptly named Agent Stone is the “cold and unyielding post-apocalyptic highway patrolman who rules the roads.” While Anthony Mackie’s John Doe must bypass Stone to deliver a package in a distant wasteland.Church, an Oscar nominee for “Sideway” and a Marvel villain as Sandman in “Spiderman 3,” was instantly keen on the “Twisted”  twisted humor.“The first three scripts I read were a lot of fun. And the comedy is so absurd. Laugh out loud hilarious,” Church, 63, explained in a Zoom interview done prior to the current actors’ strike.“This whole world is defined by mayhem and chaos and Agent Stone, by the sheer force of who he is and who follows him, in his own warped sense of justice, is going to make it all just and peaceful. He’s going to pull society back together.”Before he said yes to a videogame...

Editorial: RFK Jr. has nothing on Trump when it comes to media attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

Note to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: You are no Donald Trump.According to the Democratic presidential candidate, the media is ganging up on him, and he’s been slammed “even more than President Trump was slammed” by mainstream media outlets.“I’ve been really, you know, slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented,” Kennedy said during an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”No, you haven’t.The anti-Trump media feeding frenzy began even before the 45th president took office.“A Trump White House could mean gaudy gold decor and tacky touches,” read a New York Daily News headline. That came out on Nov. 8, 2016, election day.Media outlets turned to psychoanalysts to do armchair diagnoses of Trump. They were never favorable.Trump was criticized for his food choices (he apparently favors a well-done steak, which was deemed a sacrilege. Worse as he prefers it with ketchup.)When former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski wrote “Let Trump Be Trump,” t...

Orioles edge Phillies, 3-2, behind Jordan Westburg’s first career homer, Colton Cowser’s ninth-inning double

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

In the city that popularized “The Process” in the NBA, the Orioles displayed Monday night the continued success of their rebuild.Dean Kremer, acquired in the 2018 trade that sent Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitched brilliantly. Jordan Westburg, drafted in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, hit his first career home run. And, most pivotally, Colton Cowser — picked in the first round of the 2021 draft — hit a ninth-inning double to score 2019 second-round selection Gunnar Henderson.The Orioles beat the Phillies, 3-2, improving to an American League-best 62-38 and moving 2.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.The Philadelphia 76ers became synonymous with a rebuild when the pro basketball team suffered through several losing seasons in the 2010s, but collected draft picks and have now put together six straight playoff appearances — although they’ve yet to reach the conference finals in that span.The Orioles similarly en...

Anuzis: Proposed ‘conservation’ rule would limit U.S. energy supply

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

Regulatory overreach by federal agencies has become a common theme recently, from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed climate disclosure rule to the recently proposed “Strengthening the Stewardship of America’s Public Lands” rule by the Bureau of Land Management. And now, it looks like there is no end in sight to this unprecedented overreach.The proposed rule is intended to escalate public land “conservation” to a “use” within the Federal Land Planning and Management Act and “facilitate restoration work on public lands in cooperation with community partners.”However, the actual meaning of this statement has a plethora of interpretations. What is the definition of “restoration”? And what does it mean for our nation’s federal lands that are used to provide energy for American consumers?The Bureau of Land Management has attempted to convince the nation that this rule would still allow for federal activity and production, but the proposed rule is accompanied by a whole hos...

Battenfeld: Michelle Wu testing boundaries of her power with endorsements, City Council challenges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu is testing the boundaries of Boston’s strong mayor model – overruling the City Council, quashing an outside rebellion and using her clout to endorse candidates.Wu is making it clear she’s in charge for now – and any dissent won’t be tolerated, even last year putting her critics on a controversial list she provided to police.She waded into the at-large council race last week, supporting candidate Henry Santana in a risky move that could backfire or increase her powers. Santana is a former Wu aide who could be a key ally for the mayor on the bickering council, but Santana’s admission to the Herald that he has never voted could hurt his candidacy and embarrass Wu.The mayor had to pull her endorsement of Councilor Ricardo Arroyo in the race for Suffolk County District Attorney amid reports that Arroyo had faced investigations of sexual assault as a teenager. Arroyo ended up losing the race.Wu has also endorsed a candidate, Sharon Durkan, in this week’s spec...

Dear Abby: Teen son feels rejected by absent dad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:17 GMT

Dear Abby: My teenage son has a difficult relationship with his dad. They talk roughly once a week, but his dad hasn’t exercised visitation rights in nearly four years. He’s retired, very well off and has the time and resources to utilize spending time with our son; he simply chooses not to.My son has some very understandable negative feelings about this. He’s in counseling and is now recognizing he has the power and responsibility to set boundaries for his own well-being. However, he struggles with deep insecurities. Despite having other male role models (grandpa, coaches, neighbors) who model positive behavior, share time, give advice and support him, he struggles to trust that he is deserving of it.I regularly point out the wonderful male influences in his life and provide resources for him to spend enjoying activities with them. This helps, but it doesn’t seem to overcome my son’s deep sense of rejection and insecurities in peer-to-peer male relatio...