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Fall colors: Here’s the science behind the reds, golds and oranges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

Winter will be here soon enough, but enjoy those gorgeous fall leaf colors along the Front Range before any snowflakes arrive.Reach back and recall your grade-school days and the simple science behind deciduous tree leaves changing color every fall. If you said it’s a result of shorter days and less sunlight, which allow tree leaves to take a winter break from all that work they do converting water and carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen (known as photosynthesis), then you pass with flying colors — pun intended!Dried, almost burned-looking outer leaf edges are often caused by the plant’s inability to take up enough water during tough dry summer conditions.  (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)There are other processes going on as well. It all has to do with leaf pigments.In order for the whole photosynthesis process to happen, leaves require help from chlorophyll, which is what gives leaves their green color. The natural substances that make up leaf cells (pigmen...

Broncos Mailbag: How many players is Denver going to deal before the NFL’s trade deadline?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question.Parker, Greetings from New York’s Finger Lakes. In your estimation, how much selling will the Broncos do at the NFL trade deadline? Who are sure bets to get moved?— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.Ed, thanks for writing in and getting us started this week! Next time Denver plays away from Empower Field, it will be over in Buffalo, not too far from you.Of course, that game is after the NFL’s trading deadline, which arrives Oct. 31. How much different will the Broncos look then? At 1-5 and with the possibility of a full rebuild looking, Denver is primed to be active – or, if you want to take Sean Payton at his word, at least actively listening. So they could certainly unload several players. But the reality of the situation, of course, is that trading is like tangoing. It takes two, baby.The question, then, is do we think teams are lining up to offer gr...

Endorsement: The Denver Post’s position on Proposition HH

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

Editor’s note: This represents the opinion of The Denver Post editorial board, which is separate from the paper’s news operation. The Denver Post is supporting Proposition HH this November as a critical compromise.The ballot question will provide significant relief from the unsustainable property tax increases driven by the skyrocketing inflation in home values while also assuring that our public schools, predominately funded by local property tax, still receive the anticipated and much-needed boost in local revenue.Opponents of Proposition HH have sent out fliers incorrectly claiming that the measure will eliminate TABOR refunds (income tax returns mandated by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights).In reality, economic forecasts say the ballot measure will reduce TABOR refunds by a small margin, meaning taxpayers will still get back some of what they pay toward Colorado’s (comparatively low) flat-income tax rate of 4.4%. The TABOR refund dollars retained by the stat...

The top 10 most expensive home sales in Oakland, reported the week of Oct. 2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

A house that sold for $2.5 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Oakland in the past week.In total, 20 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $1.8 million, $876 per square foot.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Oct. 2 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $1.8 million, single-family residence in the 6100 block of Girvin DriveThe 2,571 square-foot single-family home in the 6100 block of Girvin Drive, Oakland, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in September and the total purchase price was $1,777,000, $691 per square foot. The house was built in 2002. The house features three bedrooms and four bathrooms.Girvin Drive9. $1.8 million, single-family house in the 4200 block of Atlas Ave.The property in the 4200 block of Atlas Ave. in Oakland has new owners. The price was $1,780,000. The ho...

Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton is making ‘remarkable’ progress, says family

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

The family of Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton says she is making “remarkable” progress in her battle with a rare form of pneumonia that landed her in intensive care.McKenna Kelley, one of Retton’s four daughters, posted an update on Instagram Saturday that said the 55-year-old Retton’s breathing is becoming stronger and her “path to recovery is steadily progressing.”“Though it’s a lengthy journey, witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening,” Kelley wrote. “She’s beginning to respond to treatments.”Related ArticlesOlympics | Suzanne Somers: Olivia Newton-John ‘taught me not to be afraid’ of breast cancer Olympics | Photos: Bay Area native Suzanne Somers through the years Olympics | Suzanne Somers, of ‘Three’s Company,’ dies at 76 Olympics | Piper Laurie, 3-time Oscar nominee with film credits such as ‘The Hustler’ and ‘Carrie,’ dies at 91 Olympics | Jennifer Garner, Reese Wi...

Man gets 3 years for road-rage shooting at off-duty California cop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

A Mission Viejo resident who authorities say fired on an off-duty San Bernardino police officer in a road-rage crime on Ortega Highway in 2021 was sentenced to three years in state prison on Monday, Oct.16.Keith Frederick Prante, 36, had pleaded guilty on July 20 at Southwest Justice Center in French Valley to shooting at a vehicle and being a prohibited person in possession of a loaded firearm. A charge of assault with a semiautomatic firearm was dismissed, Superior Court records show.The crime happened around 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2021, as the officer headed east on Ortega Highway, also known as Highway 74. He was being tailed by a motorist who was honking his horn, flashing his headlights and “driving dangerously,” the California Highway Patrol said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Jury awards daughter of man who died after encounter with LAPD $13.5 million for excessive force Crime and Public Safety | Ex-CA prison commissary contractor gets 13...

California poised for big climate moves after Gov. Newsom backs new laws

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

California is set to take major swings at boosting renewable energy, reining in corporate emissions, safeguarding wild places and ensuring livability amid worsening climate change after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed most of the environment-related legislation lawmakers sent his way this session.Among two dozen major climate and environment bills that landed on Newsom’s desk this year, he approved three quarters of them by the Saturday, Oct. 14 deadline.That “cements California’s climate leadership,” said Laura Deehan, executive director of the advocacy group Environment California. But it also matters “beyond our borders,” she said, with action by one of the biggest economies in the world likely to spur similar laws in other places.Newsom did veto six significant environment bills in recent weeks. These included proposals to make it easier for utilities to install power lines, require lead testing in some school water fountains, and prevent “forever” chemicals — known as PFAS — from spre...

How LGBTQ rights and parental notification bills fared in the California Legislature this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

With school boardrooms becoming a dramatic front in the culture war over LGBTQ students and their privacy, California Gov. Gavin Newsom this fall signed a handful of bills intended to protect such students.School boards across California have begun debating new policies around transgender and gender non-conforming students and other LGBTQ issues. State lawmakers, meanwhile, engaged in their own debate with nearly a dozen bills in the California Legislature this session directly affecting the LGBTQ community, including one that was the model for many of the proposed school board policies this year.Newsom had until Oct. 14 to decide the fate of those bills. Here’s a look at how they fared:Assembly Bill 5Status: Signed by Newsom on Sept. 23.About the bill: AB 5, the “Safe and Supportive Schools Act,” sponsored by Assemblymember Rick Zbur, D-Los Angeles, requires the implementation of new “LGBTQ cultural competency training” for teachers and school staff in California.“AB 5 is the produ...

Jury awards daughter of man who died after encounter with LAPD $13.5 million for excessive force

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

A jury awarded the daughter of a man who died after a 2019 encounter with the Los Angeles Police Department in Van Nuys $13.5 million last week after finding two officers used excessive force while lying on top of him for more than four minutes.The two officers only got off of the 50-year-old Jacobo Juarez Cedillo after he appeared to lose consciousness while pinned to the ground in the 7200 block of Woodman Avenue on April 8, 2019, according to multiple videos of the incident.More than 10 minutes later, with Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics looking on, Cedillo suddenly appeared to wake back up and writhe on the ground. For about three more minutes, the officers resumed pinning Cedillo, with one pressing his knees into the man’s back and holding his head down as the paramedics prepared a gurney for him.The second instance of officers pinning Cedillo, captured via the dashboard camera of an LAPD cruiser that arrived at the scene after the initial arrest, was played for the jury...

Krugman: Why we should, but won’t, reduce the budget deficit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:20 GMT

Amid terrible events abroad and the takeover of the Republican Party by agents of chaos, the U.S. economy has been delivering lots of good news. All indications are that real gross domestic product is still growing fast; we’re adding jobs at an extraordinary pace, even as inflation continues to fall.There is, however, one piece of the economic picture that’s worrisome: Long-term interest rates have gone up a lot since early 2022, especially over the past six months.This spike in long-term rates is problematic in a couple of ways. It’s not a crisis, at least not yet. But in a better world we’d be taking action to bring interest rates down in a sustainable way. In particular, now would be a good time to rein in budget deficits.Why a problemHowever, the chances of serious action on the deficit anytime soon are near zero. And it’s important to understand why.First, why are high interest rates a problem? So far, there’s no indication that they’re about to cause a recession. In fact, the ...