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DPS pushes back as city officials, including Mayor Johnston, seek to influence policy, board elections

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

Despite an anodyne name, the dormant City-School Coordinating Committee that Denver city officials are seeking to revive has become a flashpoint in a seeming power struggle with leaders of Denver Public Schools.The intent of the committee is simple enough, as city officials want to establish a formal channel for regular discussion of safety challenges and other school issues of public concern. But debate that played out in public Wednesday between district officials and City Council members — including over who will serve on the new panel and how it will operate — underlined potentially higher stakes, especially as Mayor Mike Johnston this week took sides in the contentious fall DPS board elections.Johnston previously referred to the fractious school board as “a public embarrassment” during this year’s mayoral campaign. He called for change Tuesday when he endorsed a trio of reform-minded candidates backed by Educate Denver, a civic group that also supp...

Colorado hardly regulates funeral homes and crematories. That could soon change.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

When Colorado state Sen. Dylan Roberts first heard details about the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, he expressed profound disappointment.“I can’t believe Colorado is going through this again,” the Avon Democrat said. “Why is this continuing to happen in our state? It doesn’t seem to happen in most other states.”The situation was gruesome: Authorities found at least 189 improperly stored bodies in the funeral home specializing in green burial, an operation its owners had been running without a license. State regulators seemed to have no idea.The grisly news from the southern Colorado mortuary shined a spotlight on the state’s lax oversight of funeral homes and crematories. Colorado remains the only state in the country that doesn’t license funeral directors or require some certification. State officials don’t regularly inspect funeral homes and only devote one-quarter of one full-time position to regulate 220 funeral ho...

Riverside County deputy, barricaded suspect wounded in gunfire exchange

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

A Riverside County Sheriff's deputy and a barricaded suspected traded gunfire in Thousand Palms Wednesday night, wounding both of them and sending them to the hospital.At 7:08 p.m., deputies were sent to Ramon and Robert roads to find a person accused of felony hit-and-run, the department said in a news release.They found the driver, who was behind the wheel of a vehicle, and while detaining him, the passenger of that vehicle opened fire on deputies, who returned fire, striking the shooter at least once, the department said.After being hit, "the suspect barricaded inside the vehicle and refused to follow commands," the release said.A deputy was hit in the gunfire, and he was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in stable condition."The suspect, also struck by gunfire, was ultimately taken into custody," officials said. "Deputies provided medical aid, and he was transported to a local hospital; he is currently in stable condition."The driver was ultimately arrested on that fel...

Sticky Sweet: Dirty Honey prep for album release and L.A.show

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

Sticky Sweet: The two years since L.A. rock & roll band Dirty Honey released their self-titled debut album have been nothing if not eventful. That first album may have been created during a pandemic but, when the world reopened, these lads were able to take full advantage.Multiple grueling European tours saw their stock rise across the Atlantic, while over here they opened for bands as prestigious as Guns N’ Roses and the Black Crowes, earning a ton of new fans in the process.“It’s been an interesting ride to say the least,” says singer Marc LaBelle. “The last year or so has really been focussed on bringing our band and our style of music over to Europe a lot. I think we’ve been there three times in the last 18 months. We’ve done some really cool stuff along the way. Opened for Guns N’ Roses, and played Hyde Park [London]. Played a bunch of festivals over there, and really got acquainted with what it means to tour in Europe. It’s been really exciting, it’s been a lot of hard wor...

Preview: ‘Assassin’s Creed Nexus’ uses virtual reality to bring series closer to fans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

“Assassin’s Creed” is built on a premise that’s tailor-made for virtual reality. Characters in the game enter a device called the Animus and they’re transported into the past, living out the lives of another person through data collected from people’s DNA. It’s essentially VR with a sci-fi twist. Given the synergy between the real-life technology and the series mythology, it was only a matter of time before Ubisoft made an “Assassin’s Creed” VR game. The one the Ubisoft Red Storm decided to make is surprisingly faithful to older games. I had a chance to spend an hour with “Assassin’s Creed Nexus,” and despite being on a completely different medium, I felt at home playing the game.THE STORY SO FAR“Nexus” takes place in Abstergo as players take on the role of an employee who works for Dominika Wilk (played by Morena Bacarrin). The company has discovered a way to recapture Isu artifacts through th...

Silicon Valley CEO convicted in COVID-19 and allergy test fraud case sentenced to 8 years in prison

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

SAN JOSE — A Silicon Valley executive who lied to investors about inventing technology that tested for allergies and COVID-19 using only a few drops of blood was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $24 million in restitution, federal prosecutors said.Mark Schena, 60, was convicted last year of paying bribes to doctors and defrauding the government after his company billed Medicare $77 million for fraudulent COVID-19 and allergy tests, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.Schena claimed his Sunnyvale-based company, Arrayit Corporation, had the only laboratory in the world that offered “revolutionary microarray technology” that allowed it to test for allergies and COVID-19 with the same finger-stick test kit, prosecutors said.In meetings with investors, Schena claimed he was on the shortlist for the Nobel Prize and falsely represented that Arrayit could be valued at $4.5 billion, prosecutors said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | ...

49ers should consider sitting Christian McCaffrey vs. Vikings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Take it from someone who has no expertise in athletic medicine or specific knowledge of what is ailing Christian McCaffrey:If the 49ers truly value the end game in 2023, they should think hard about having McCaffrey watch from the sideline when they visit the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.No need to make any announcements and telegraph their intentions. Better to keep alive the possibility of McCaffrey playing as long as possible going into kickoff for what Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the NFL coaches term a “competitive advantage.”McCaffrey left a 19-17 loss to Cleveland after 36 snaps with what was termed an “oblique/rib” injury. They had an MRI done and didn’t release any results, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting long-term injury had been avoided and that playing on Monday wasn’t out of the question.Publicly, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan will leave it to the medical staff. If McCaffrey is cleared and can ...

Former 49ers Terrell Owens hit by car following argument, LA sheriff’s department says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

By Cheri Mossburg, Chris Boyette and Jill Martin | CNNPro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens escaped injury after being hit by a car following an argument in Calabasas, California, on Monday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.After deputies were called to the scene, Owens told them he was involved in a verbal argument with the suspect following a recreational basketball game, the department said in a statement. The unnamed suspect then got in a white BMW and began to drive away.“As the suspect left the location, he struck Mr. Owens on the left knee with the vehicle. He then drove away and out of view. Mr. Owens was not injured and declined medical treatment,” the sheriff’s department said.“Hope the car is okay!!!” the football legend quipped in an Instagram Reel with footage from the basketball game.Representatives for Owens have not responded to CNN’s request for comment.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | A ‘body blow’ for Just...

How do you know if you are still contagious after an illness? A doctor explains

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

By Katia Hetter | CNNIt’s fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and the weather is getting cooler. Many people have cold-like symptoms, and some may have tested positive for Covid-19, influenza or the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).With winter on the way and viral infections increasing, a lot of people may wonder how long they will be contagious after infection and how long they should take precautions and avoid contact with others.How can someone know if they are still contagious? If so, what’s the average length of time they could transmit viruses such as the coronavirus, influenza, RSV or the common cold to others? And what precautions should an infected person take at school, work and at home?To guide us through these questions, I spoke with our CNN Wellness medical expert, Dr. Leana Wen. Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She previously served as Baltimore’s heal...

McManus: Israel’s goal in Gaza is regime change. Where have we heard that before?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:48 GMT

Ever since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel has waged an intermittent but limited military campaign to keep a lid on the violent Palestinian faction. Hamas fired missiles at Israeli cities, Israel bombed Gaza from the air or attacked on the ground, then negotiated a cease-fire.The goal was never to remove Hamas; that appeared too costly. It was merely to keep it under control. Israeli military officers gave their recurring Gaza offensives a sad, cynical name: “mowing the grass.”Last week, mowing the grass came to an end.Hamas’ murderous rampage through Israeli towns and villages, which deliberately targeted civilians, led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt a far more ambitious goal: regime change.“We will destroy Hamas,” Netanyahu said Friday.“We are crushing Hamas’ ability to function as sovereign,” Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for Israel’s armed forces, told reporters. “We cannot contin...