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Tips on preserving your poinsettias, Christmas cacti and other holiday greenery

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

When entering a garden center or grocery store this time of year, you may see displays of amazing winter flower bouquets, poinsettias, potted rosemary and Norfolk Island pine plants. Close by are buckets of bright winterberry, fresh greenery, cheerful Christmas cactus, cyclamen, and blooming orchids.There’s more green, white and red staring you in the face than at an Italian flag factory.Garden centers and even some grocery stores carry bright winterberry, fresh greenery, cheerful Christmas cactus, cyclamen, and blooming orchids this time of year. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)You’re torn over whether to splurge on one or more of these seasonal splendors or hold tight to your budget and continue walking straight to the dairy aisle. You can’t help but dream about guests walking into your aromatic, cinnamon-spiced holiday party oohing and aahing over the house filled with dazzling seasonal floral eye candy. Darn you, Santa!Lacking self-restraint, you fill...

No guts, no glory: Do you have what it takes to crush these 6 Denver food challenges?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

If you had to sign a waiver before a meal, would you? Raina Huang does it for sport.The Los Angeles-based competitive eater visited Denver in November and shared videos of her completing various food challenges with her 435,000 Instagram, 497,000 YouTube and 3.6 million TikTok followers.Food challenges bring competitors like Huang from around the world. Local restaurants like Pho 95 Noodle House in Centennial, where Huang slurped down four large bowls of pho in 20 minutes, have started timed eating competitions to attract a new audience (one with a never-ending pit of a stomach).“The goal is to not make money from customers losing, but so people can come and try our pho,” said Pho 95 owner Aaron Le.If you think you have the stomach to down a 4-pound burrito, out-of-this-world spicy wings with no milk or water, or a 14-pound pizza, here are six spots in and around Denver to challenge yourself:Losers of Pho 95 Noodle House’s Pho King Challenge get a free T-shirt. (Provided by Ph...

Letters: As another busload of immigrants arrives, remember, Denver invited this mess

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

Denver invited this migrant messRe: “Busload of migrants gets dropped off at state Capitol,” Dec. 5 news storyThe Denver mayor’s office is critical of Texas for busing immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal status from Texas border towns to Denver, calling the conduct “inhumane” and “shameful.” Denver is a self-proclaimed “sanctuary city,” thereby extending its welcome mat to all comers. Denver police do not hold or report people here illegally to ICE for deportation and Denver welcomes them with housing, bilingual education for the children, and other government benefits.President Biden and Colorado’s liberal democrats in Congress refuse to enforce federal immigration law and are perfectly happy to let the flood of illegal immigration continue. Texas border towns are not sanctuary cities and do not have the money, resources or inclination to ignore federal immigration law or to welcome and support these immigrants. D...

A guide to the Donald Trump ballot challenge as the case lands in the Colorado Supreme Court 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

The case seeking to keep former President Donald Trump off Colorado’s 2024 ballot — unsuccessful so far — will go before the state Supreme Court on Wednesday.It’s the latest milestone in a lawsuit that alleges Trump engaged in insurrection surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol — and in doing so, disqualified himself from regaining the nation’s highest office under a Civil War-era amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The provision of the 14th Amendment bars anyone who swore an oath to the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” from holding office again.In November, a district court judge in Denver found Trump did engage in insurrection while also finding that the 14th Amendment restriction did not apply to the presidency the way it would to other federal offices.Since then, lawyers for both sides as well as outside organizations and state officials across the country have weighed in on how Colorado’s justices should ...

Lawsuit accuses Denver Chili’s manager of racially discriminating against Black woman, her family

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

A Denver Chili’s allegedly refused a Black family dine-in service unless they provided payment upfront, according to a federal lawsuit filed in late November.Markesha Futrell-Smith alleges in the suit filed in the U.S. District of Colorado against Chili’s parent company Brinker International that the restaurant discriminated against her because she is Black. None of the other customers who were not Black had to provide upfront payment during the April 2022 incident, and the restaurant manager accused her, without proof, of skipping out on meals in the past.The lawsuit, filed Nov. 28, wants the court to declare the restaurant’s actions described in the complaint are in violation of federal and state law and seeks “compensatory damages to the maximum extent permitted by law.” It also seeks nominal damages and punitive, economic and consequential damages as determined at trial and attorney’s fees and costs.Futrell-Smith filed a discrimination charge ...

Deputy pumping gas in Hemet shoots man with handgun: RSO

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

An investigation is underway Wednesday after a Riverside County sheriff's deputy was involved in a shooting near a gas station in Hemet Tuesday night. The incident occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. as the deputy was pumping gas in the area of Meridian Street and Florida Avenue.The deputy was alerted to a person standing on the sidewalk holding a handgun, the Riverside County Sheriff's Office stated in a news release. Commands were given to the suspect, but they were ignored, according to the news release. "The suspect continued to manipulate the weapon, and a deputy-involved shooting occurred," the Sheriff's Office stated.The suspect was provided medical aid at the scene and then transported to a local hospital. There was no immediate word on the condition of the suspect. Hit-and-run driver sought after leaving pedestrian to die in Carson The deputy, who was placed on paid administrative leave per department policy, was not injured in the incident. Anyone with information about t...

Five Below has $5 holiday-themed pajamas, and they’re going fast

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. Details.You don’t have to break the bank on your yearly traditionOne Christmas tradition that we love is getting everyone in the family a set of matching (or nonmatching) holiday-themed pajamas as a gift to open on Christmas Eve and wear that night. And while it’s a cute and cozy tradition, it can also be expensive — especially if you have a large family. But not anymore, thanks to Five Below, where you can currently get holiday pajamas for just $5 a piece. You’ll have to hurry, though — they are, understandably, flying off the shelves.The Christmas pajamas at Five Below are all mix and match, so you can certainly get both the gingerbread shirt and pants — or you can go with a snowman shirt and penguin pants, if that’s more your speed. They’re all $5, so there’s no breaking the bank this year.Shop this article: Young Mens Flannel Lounge Pants, Juniors Holiday Fair ...

Global Labor Market Conference to Assemble Complete Coalition of Leaders

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

The first Global Labor Market Conference (GLMC) is set to happen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 13th and 14th. This conference aims to gather professionals from the labor market industry, providing a platform for discussing the challenges that the global labor market faces while seeking input from a network of experts.The GLMC is a unique gathering of labor market leaders.In a statement, the GLMC said, “The GLMC is unique in that it will assemble a truly comprehensive global cross-section of all labor market stakeholders, including government officials, policymakers, representatives of multinational organizations, labor leaders, academics, artificial intelligence experts, business leaders, and more.”The conference’s focus will be global in scope, providing opportunities to discuss and seek solutions for future uncertainty in the worldwide labor market. Conversations across disciplines, industries, and professions will drive problem-solving and provide clarity ...

Community Leader Outraged by Rapper’s Dropout of School Campaign

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

The allure of New York City during the holidays is something quite special, but my recent family trip there exposed us to a bewildering scene. Grand Central Station was abuzz with groups of teens, known as the “Z-gang,” disturbing the peace with chants of “f%k school” and  “Zmoneeey for President.”With hundreds of gang members out promoting the movement, selling merchandise and urging each passerby to join the Z-list, their presence was impossible to ignore. Outraged by what I witnessed that day, I made a video about the Z-gang and posted it to my social media that same evening. As a community leader based in Philadelphia, a city plagued with poverty and crime like many urban cities across America, the last thing we need is a ‘drop out of school trend’ becoming popular. Alarmed and intrigued, I decided to probe into the origins of Zmoneeey and the Z-gang.Curiosity led me to interact with the most unusual member of the crew, a wheelchair bound, self-proclaimed ‘masked Z-ganger’ ...

Poll: Submit your vote for San Jose’s BART tunneling machine name contest

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:33:10 GMT

We asked. You gave us over 400 name ideas.The polls to pick the winner are now open!Until Dec. 13, Mercury News readers can vote on the top 10 most popular names submitted for San Jose BART’s tunnel boring machine — a device that will dig a nearly 5-mile pathway underneath the city and create a ring of transit around the Bay Area. Known as a TBM, these machines have traditionally been named after women of local significance, like Seattle’s “Bertha,” which carried the namesake of Seattle’s first female mayor.In nominating the name “Janet Gray Hayes,” reader Jane Horvath suggests San Jose should do the same.“Just as the TBM is breaking new ground in large diameter excavation, Janet Gray Hayes was the first elected female mayor of a large American city when she took office in San Jose in 1975,” Horvath explained as to why she nominated the former city leader who passed away in 2014 at the age of 87. “She championed contr...