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Get ready for an even busier holiday travel season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

(NerdWallet) - If last year’s winter holiday travel season felt costly or chaotic, this year's might seem even more so.That’s because half of Americans (50%) plan to spend money on flights or hotel stays this holiday season, according to a new NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll. The survey was based on responses from 2,057 adults collected Sept. 5-7, 2023.That 50% figure is higher than last year when 44% of Americans said they’d planned to spend money on travel.When will crowds be the biggest? Probably the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That was the busiest travel day in 2019, 2021 and 2022, according to a NerdWallet analysis of Transportation Security Administration data showing the number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints over the past four years. Travelers can expect 2023’s winter holiday travel season to follow suit.The busiest travel days this holiday seasonWhile half of Americans will travel for at least one of the winter holidays (and some will travel f...

Austin author highlights lives of first American female astronauts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- "I think a lot of women are looking to us to prove that women do fit into the space program," said Rhea Seddon, a surgeon and the fifth woman to fly to space, said in an interview from the late 1970s with a NASA film crew. Rhea had just been announced as one of six women selected to join NASA's astronaut program. They were the first women to get that chance.In her new book "The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts," author and Bloomberg space reporter Loren Grush, of Austin, highlights the journeys of these women from Earth to the stars."What fascinated me was realizing that any one of them could have been the first American woman to fly," Grush said.It's been nearly fifty years since the women were selected in the late 1970s. After more than a decade of only allowing men to join the program, NASA decided to expand their roster. Thousands of women applied for the job. Six were selected. NASA explores brain training tech for future astronauts l...

Canajoharie contractor accused of grand larceny

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A contractor from Canajoharie was arrested and is accused of grand larceny. Jeffery Belrose, 55, is charged with third-degree grand larceny. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! On October 16, around 10:50 a.m., police received a complaint from a Fort Plain resident regarding a contractor who was paid for a home improvement project but never completed the work. Police say an investigation found Belrose operated "J's and Sons Construction" and accepted over $3,000 in May to complete roof work.Police say Belrose never started the project and never returned the money. He was arrested and processed by Fonda State Police. He was given an appearance ticket to return to the Minden Town Court on December 14 and was released.

'Veterans Voices' airing on FOX 2 News at 11

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Join us Friday for a special FOX 2 news presentation, 'Veterans Voices.'FOX 2's military veteran air force Lt. Col. Chris Higgins is hosting the program of uplifting stories of the area military veterans. Rush-hour demonstrations unfold in St. Louis City & County That's at 11:30 a.m. on FOX 2.

How Colorado’s Proposition HH, a complex property tax fix, became ballot box poison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

Proposition HH, the marquee measure of Colorado’s 2023 election season that had backing from the state’s top Democratic leaders, fell in a fashion as ugly as any in recent years.The nearly 19-percentage-point shellacking suffered by the property tax ballot measure Tuesday left policymakers scrambling for a backup plan and spurred Gov. Jared Polis to call the first special session since the pandemic.It also raised the question: How does a measure aimed at tax relief, albeit while attempting so much more, fall hard before an electorate facing historic increases in their next property tax bills?Both backers and opponents of Prop. HH chalk up its loss to a lack of a clear message to voters. And the electorate may have been primed to say “No” by a barrage of ads with directly contradictory messages, including plenty on either side that stretched the truth or misrepresented what HH would do.Some 59% of voters rejected the proposal in a low-turnout, off-year electio...

“Coal Country” a true tale of loss, betrayal and anguish | Theater review

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

The judge at the start of “Coal Country” stands on a box, facing the audience at Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center but addressing those gathered in a courtroom. The cast of the Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado’s production of the haunting documentary drama sit on benches, also facing the audience.They are awaiting their chance to express the anguish they suffered in one of the deadliest mining disasters in the last century. Only, they will not get their day in court. They will not be allowed to make victims’ statements because, according to the letter of the law, they are not victims. This, despite each of them having lost a loved one (in the case of one man, more than one) in a mining explosion in Raleigh County, West Virginia.Chris Kendall portrays Gary Quarles, the father of a lost miner in Coal Country. (Provided by BETC)On April 5, 2010, the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County experienced a series of explosions starting 1,000 feet down the deep coal mine. Mining giant Massey ...

Where there’s smoke, Xcel Energy hopes AI will help stop Colorado wildfires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

Xcel Energy Colorado, which expects to spend about $180 million on wildfire prevention this year, is adding artificial intelligence to its arsenal to fight what has become a year-round battle.Xcel is expanding its work with Pano AI, a San Francisco-based company that will install 21 camera systems by the end of the year on more than 1.5 million acres across the utility’s territory. The objective is to quickly alert Xcel and first responders when smoke is detected.Pano uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to interpret images from its high-definition cameras that capture 360-degree views, adding data from satellite feeds and other sources to assess the weather and conditions on the ground. The company staffs a center 24/7 where people review information.“By the end of 2023 we will have installed 21 cameras across the state, both on the Front Range and the Western Slope,” Xcel Energy Colorado President Robert Kenney said Tuesday.“We understand that wildfires in ...

Will travel for turkey: Some Colorado holiday brunches (and things to do, too)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

Break from tradition and embark on a culinary quest this year for your Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or New Year’s meal. Imagine carving into a turkey at a historic hotel with a mountain backdrop, or dominating a five-star buffet before hiking in a nearby national park.Here’s a selection of brunch options for the upcoming holiday breaks. Pack your bags and appetite, and get ready to explore:ESTES PARKEstes Park’s Stanley Hotel. (Kyla Chambers)The Stanley Hotel’s Cascades Restaurant & Lounge has a three-course holiday dinner for both Thanksgiving and Christmas ($99-$109/adult). This makes for an easy trip to the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. 333 E. Wonderview Ave., Estes Park; 970-577-4000; stanleyhotel.comPlus, Twin Owls Steakhouse is hosting Thanksgiving dinner from 4 to  8 p.m. on Nov. 23. Reservations are highly recommended as space is limited. 3110 S. Saint Vrain Ave., Estes Park; 970-586-9344; taharaa.comWhere to hike, skate, or snowshoe: Rent skates, ...

DISH Network cutting 499 Denver-area jobs after disappointing earnings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

DISH Network, the satellite TV and wireless provider, informed the state on Wednesday that it will cut 499 jobs in Englewood and Littleton in early January, a dramatic reversal after months of job gains as the company built out a national 5G cellular network from scratch.“The first employee separations are expected to occur during the 14-day period starting Jan. 7, 2024,” Kaylee Hyman, a senior corporate counsel with the company, wrote the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment in what is known as a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification ACT, or WARN, letter.Of the employees being laid off, 566 will be dismissed starting Jan. 7 and another 33 starting Jan.8, according to the two letters filed with the state.Among the positions being let go are 19 account executives, 17 staff accountants, 16 business intelligence agents, 13 social media associates and five assistant corporate counsels, according to the letters.DISH had roughly 6,000 employees in Colorado as of...

SeaWorld's newly hatched emperor penguin has a name

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:15 GMT

An emperor penguin chick hatched at SeaWorld San Diego in September has officially been named. Over 29,000 people took part in the vote, with more than of voters choosing the name Pearl for the marine life theme park's new arrival. Pearl was hatched on Sept. 12, becoming the first emperor penguin to be hatched at SeaWorld San Diego since 2010.SeaWorld says the general public will be able to view Pearl in early 2024 when she will be ready to join the park's penguin colony. “We have been amazed by the outpouring of excitement around Pearl’s hatching and cannot wait for guests to be able to see her and follow her journey as she matures,” Head of Zoological Operations Eric Otjen said. The park has created two ticket opportunities to enable a limited number of guests to see Pearl now behind the scenes. Ticket prices start at $94 with 10% of proceeds going to support penguin conservation around the world, the park stated in a news release. Tickets can be purchased at https://seaworld.com/...