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“The Wind Knows My Name,” by Isabel Allende, and more short book reviews from readers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. Sure, you could read advertising blurbs on Amazon, but wouldn’t you be more likely to believe a neighbor with no skin in the game over a corporation being fed words by publishers? So in this series, we are sharing these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email [email protected] WIND KNOWS MY NAMEBy Isabel Allende272 pp. Ballantine. $28.“The Wind Knows My Name,” by Isabel Allende (Ballantine Books, 2023)This one starts a bit slow, as in, how are these disparate story lines related?!? But Allende, a masterful storyteller, does tie it all together, although perhaps a bit too coincidentally for some readers. This novel explores the lasting trauma of refugee children separated from their parents, whether by choice or by force.  Inspired by a play based on the Kindertransport actions that sen...

Rocky Mountain National Park wants to make reservation system permanent

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

A long-range planning process, which is expected to result in timed-entry reservations becoming permanent at Rocky Mountain National Park during peak visitation months, is entering its final stages, as officials hold public meetings and solicit public comment as part of an environmental assessment of the proposal.The plan is necessary “to provide day-use visitor access in a way that protects resources while creating opportunities for high-quality visitor experiences,” park officials said in a statement. A permanent reservation system is needed, they argue, because the park saw a 44% increase in visitation from 2012 to 2019. But since a “pilot” timed-entry reservation system was introduced in 2020, those numbers have leveled off.“Rapid growth in day-use visitation and changing use patterns in the park have degraded natural and cultural resources, diminished quality of the visitor experience, increased visitor and staff safety concerns, and created a heav...

Keeler: Avs’ Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen say Colorado still missing “chemistry.” Is Bednar’s tinkering hurting or helping?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

The Avs need more cowbell. The 2022 Stanley Cup champs right now look like a gold-record rock band without a drummer. The songs are still killer, but the tempo’s all over the dang map.“It’s the chemistry,” forward Mikko Rantanen said as he leaned back in his locker stall at Family Sports Center Monday. “It’s the little details that we’re lacking a little bit. Execution hasn’t been good (the) last four games — power play, 5-on-5, whatever. So I think we just got to execute the game plan better.”Some nights, they blow the flippin’ roof off the building. Others, you’re reaching for the ear plugs. Nasty Nate McKinnon & The Nightriders (7-3-0) host Eastern bully New Jersey (7-3-1) on Tuesday night, and nobody is 100% sure how the set’s going to fly.Will Burgundy & Blue faithful get the troupe that’s won its last three home games by a combined score of 14-5? Or the band of oh-brothers who are oh-fer thei...

Denver blog digs up dirt and demystifies the city’s rapid transformation | Opinion

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s new series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).It’s increasingly common, even after calling Denver home for 23 years, for me to stop and wonder what block I’ve stumbled onto. That’s why I rely on the Denver Infill Blog to not only tell me what’s changed, but when and why — and what’s next for that area, block or parcel.Since 2004 it’s been chronicling both single projects and sweeping changes in metro Denver, thanks to both planner Ken Schroeppel, who lives and works downtown and teaches at the University of Denver, and tireless co-editor Ryan Dravtiz.Yes, I also write for a media outlet that covers this stuff with vigor and detail. But Denver Infill Blog feels complementary, not competitive, and Schroeppel and his contributors aren&#...

Reports to Colorado’s Safe2Tell rebound to pre-pandemic levels as children seek help for mental health, bullying

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

Colorado students are seeking help from Safe2Tell — the state’s system for making anonymous reports about safety concerns — at levels not seen since before the pandemic, according to a new report released Monday.Safe2Tell saw report volumes drop during the height of COVID-19 as schools were shuttered and students moved to remote learning. But report volumes fully rebounded during the 2022-23 academic year and even slightly exceeded pre-pandemic levels — with concerns about suicide the leading reason why students contact Safe2Tell, according to the program’s annual report. The state logged 22,486 reports to Safe2Tell during the last school year, a 16% increase from the previous year and marginally higher than the 22,332 reports the program received in 2018-2019, the last full year before pandemic disruptions, according to the report released by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.CRISIS POINT: Teens increasingly turn to Safe2Tell for suicide, mental h...

Body found in trunk outside home leads to homicide investigation 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

A call regarding a home disturbance in Huntington Beach led to authorities discovering a body in the trunk of a car. The original call came in late Monday afternoon from a home on Friml Lane, according to law enforcement officials.  Historic hangar at former air base in Orange County engulfed in flames Upon arriving and conducting a preliminary investigation, officers were able to locate the body in the back of a sedan parked nearby.A call regarding a home disturbance in Huntington Beach led to authorities discovering a body in the trunk of a car. (OnSceneTV)Police confirmed to KTLA that no obvious signs of trauma were found on the body, but it is being investigated as an “apparent homicide.” Details on the gruesome discovery remain limited. This is a developing story. Stay with KTLA for updates.

Woman run over during child custody dispute speaks out

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

A woman who was intentionally run over with a U-Haul pickup truck during a child custody dispute in Los Angeles earlier this year -a chaotic scene that was captured on officer’s dash-cam and body worn cameras- is speaking out about the violent ordeal.  The assault occurred on Oct. 1 after Harbor Division officers responded to calls of the dispute in the parking lot of a Target store at Gaffey Street and Capitol Drive in San Pedro, according to a LAPD news release.  The victim, April Barnes, who was helping a friend that is the foster parent of a 5-year-old boy, told KTLA’s Omar Lewis that she’s spent the last month trying to make sense of the whole thing. “I just don’t get it. I’m doing my best, but I just don’t get it,” she said. “I’ve been in disbelief that I was actually ran over.”  When she and her friend, who is the foster parent to the boy's cousin, arrived to pick him up, the 5-year-old's mother, 39-year-old Miesha Scott, refused to return him after a visi...

Wearing light clothing, reflective bands at night can prevent tragedies for pedestrians, bicyclists: Roadshow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

Q: Please remind all pedestrians and bicyclists to wear white at night! We can’t see you!My cousin’s 16-year-old grand niece was hit by a car in Oregon wearing only black at night. She barely survived, and is now in a vegetative state. So sad! It’s no fault of the driver, who was found not to be liable. It’s costing the family millions for hospitalizations and home care.Marcia Citta, SaratogaA: I’m so sorry. Thank you for sharing a powerful story that could save others from tragedy.Q: In your tips for trick-or-treaters column, you missed the most important one: please wear reflective vests or bands. They’re dirt cheap and make pedestrians visible at night.There is no better way to keep pedestrians, big and small, safe.Malcolm HoarA: Important advice for pedestrians and bicyclists, too, at night.Q: Your column title Sunday about “Legal Moves on the Road” and your “yes” response to the reader who described a car using a bike ...

Former rug merchant convicted of sexually assaulting 2 women in his California store

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

A former Laguna Beach rug merchant was convicted Monday, Nov. 6, of sexually assaulting two women in his store more than a decade ago.An Orange County Superior Court jury found Saeid Maralan guilty of felony counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object related to both women, as well as felony counts of forcible rape and attempted forcible oral copulation related to one of the women.The sexual assaults — which involved women who were trying to do business with Maralan at Sirous and Sons Rug Gallery — both took place in 2010.Maralan was previously accused of sexually assaulting 11 women, but the case was pared back in the years between his arrest and the jury trial. Maralan — who ran a rug store in San Clemente — faces up to 15 years to life in prison.After being free on bail with a GPS monitoring device during the trial, Maralan, now 65, was taken into custody immediately following the verdict.Maralan denied that any sexual assaults took place.He told the judge he wanted to immed...

Are Vallejo officers using force more often than they used to?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:36:58 GMT

The Vallejo Police Department has spent the past several years working to ensure its officers resort to using force only when strictly necessary.But the agency’s new data tracking system – which aims to capture more thorough information on use-of-force arrests – makes it impossible to tell whether this effort has been successful.Police data released last month appears to show a massive increase in Vallejo officers using weapons like batons, Tasers and projectile launchers to arrest people.Reported use-of-force incidents soared from 38 in all of 2022 to 198 as of the end of September – a more than fivefold increase. Reported control holds skyrocketed from two in 2022 to 92 in the first nine months of 2023. The number of takedowns that police reported likewise jumped from 16 to 91.The numbers appear to fly in the face of the California Department of Justice’s attempts to curb excessive force in a police department infamous for its strained and sometimes violent relationship with its c...