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The radical idea to combat Colorado’s predatory towing problem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

John Connolly wants to scrap the entire system and start over.The president of the Towing & Recovery Professionals of Colorado, a trade group representing the state’s towing operators, remembers how his industry used to operate. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, property owners paid towers to remove abandoned vehicles from their lots — without charging consumers.But in recent decades, “we allowed the fox in the henhouse,” state Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, a Fort Collins Democrat, said.Apartment complexes, which used to pay to have cars removed, now get the service for free. Instead, tow carriers bill drivers hundreds of dollars per tow, causing serious financial strain for a wide swath of low-income residents. And the more cars these companies haul off to tow yards, the more money they rake in.Colorado lawmakers in recent years have sought to address these financial incentives by passing a “Towing Bill of Rights” designed to better protect consum...

Better than expected, still dicey: Colorado business leaders size up economy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

The economy has turned out better this year than Colorado business leaders expected, but they remain pessimistic due to high interest rates, inflation and trouble filling open jobs.The latest Leeds Business Confidence Index released Thursday by the University of Colorado in Boulder marks the seventh consecutive survey indicating business leaders’ pessimism about the national and state economies.A score of 50 is neutral, while marks below that signal negative outlooks. The overall confidence index fell to 43.6 heading into the fourth quarter of 2023, down from of 44.1 in the third quarter.But the outlook for the first quarter of 2024 brightened a bit to an overall level of 45.7.“We heard from business leaders, a majority of them, about two-thirds, indicated the economy has outperformed their expectations so far in 2023,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of research at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.At the same time, Colorado business leaders c...

Keeler: Thanks to Deion Sanders, from The Rock to Lil Wayne, Boulder is where stars want to be

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

BOULDER — Who needs Will Ferrell when you’ve got Lil Wayne and Ralphie?A year ago at this time, the home sideline at Folsom Field was radioactive. Now it’s the new Crypto.com Arena, the sporting venue where stars — we’re talking A-list dudes: The Rock, Master P, Offset, Terrell Owens — want to be seen.“That doesn’t happen anywhere, for real, unless you’re in Los Angeles and you’re winning,” LenDale White, former Broncos running back, USC star and Chatfield High state champ told me a few days ago. “Bama? People don’t stop there (unless) you’re winning. (Then) people want to be a part of that.“But for people to already be at CU and seeing that excitement already. I haven’t seen that effect in college football. Even in my (time at USC), I was on teams where we had two Heisman winners and my spring game never had a sellout crowd or stuff like what the CU spring game had.”White was a Denver ki...

Mustang goes airborne before smashing into Grand Terrace home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

Surveillance video captured an out-of-control Ford Mustang going airborne before it crashed into a Grand Terrace home Thursday evening.The incident occurred around 7 p.m. in the 22000 block of Pico Street near Mt. Vernon Avenue.A surveillance camera captured a car crashing into a Grand Terrace home on Sept. 28, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The video shows what appears to be a speeding driver losing control of their vehicle, which eventually went airborne after going through a stop sign. The car then hits the corner of the home as it returns to the ground. The driver was able to get out of the vehicle after the crash and declined medical treatment, news stringer OnScene.TV reported. Man walking dog shoots, kills man in Garden Grove neighborhood No one inside the home was injured in the incident, according to the report.It was unclear what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

Gunshots in the grandstands: Why violence at high school football games is spiking and what can be done

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

In the middle of coaching his team’s first game of the season, Lloyd Johnson looked up into the stands at Fremont High School in Oakland and saw fights breaking out, one after another.The same thing happened that night at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose with fights among spectators forcing the game to be canceled.Fan violence is happening elsewhere, too, sometimes involving gunfire. In Sacramento, 15 shots were fired at a recent youth football game. At a high school game in South Los Angeles, a stray bullet sent a woman to the hospital. At a game in Oklahoma, a 16-year-old was fatally shot and four others were wounded. There was another shooting fatality in Louisiana. Shots have been fired at games in St. Louis, Baltimore and Chicago.This year, there have been 39 school shootings at high school sporting events nationwide, according to David Riedman, a data scientist who founded the K-12 School Shooting Database.With football season not yet at its midpoint and basketball seaso...

Dianne Feinstein, longest-serving female US senator in history, dies at 90

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

Washington (CNN) — Dianne Feinstein, whose three decades in the Senate made her the longest-serving female US senator in history, has died, according to a source familiar. She was 90.This story is breaking and will be updated.The-CNN-Wire & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

5 things to know about California’s new proposed rules for insurance companies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

By ADAM BEAM | Associated PressSACRAMENTO  — Months after California’s home insurance market was rattled by major companies pausing or restricting their coverage, the state’s top regulator said Thursday that he would write new rules aimed at persuading insurers to continue doing business in the nation’s most populous state.Seven of the 12 largest insurance companies by market share in California have either paused or restricted new policies in the state since last year.Some state lawmakers tried to come up with a bill that would address the issue. But they failed to reach an agreement before the Legislature adjourned for the year last week.Here’s a look at what California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara proposed and how it would affect the state’s insurance market:WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES?Unlike most states, California heavily regulates its property insurance market.In 1988, California voters approved Proposition 103. It said insur...

Tensions run high at another school board meeting — this time, in the heart of San Jose

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

The night began with a man dressed in a white coat with what looked like fake blood spilled over his front. He approached the podium at the Franklin-McKinley school board meeting ready to perform — and by pretending to be a doctor hell-bent on performing gender-affirmation surgeries on children, that’s what he did.“Thank you, progressive educators and those of you who glorify gender ideology and LGBTQ lifestyles,” said the man sarcastically, addressing the school board on Tuesday night.The man, who listed his name as only Noel V, was one of many speakers at yet another divisive school board meeting in the Bay Area. This one centered around the recent censure of school board member Marc Cooper, and accusations by Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, a local parents’ rights group supportive of Cooper, that Franklin-McKinley’s policies promoted teaching about LGBTQ+ issues and sex education that are inappropriate for school children.That school district on San JoseR...

49ers’ penalty-prone LB Greenlaw on officiating: ‘They’re definitely looking for me’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Officials aren’t the only ones keeping an eye out for Dre Greenlaw.The 49ers linebacker is building a reputation that goes beyond the yellow flags that follow him around. When preparing to face the 49ers as a member of the Carolina Panthers, Christian McCaffrey said Greenlaw was as conspicuous as he was explosive on game film.“Everyone in the league knows who he is,” McCaffrey said Thursday. “He reminds me of a Mike Tyson kind of guy. He plays with the most violent intentions all the time. If he’s tackling you, he’s going to make you feel it, that’s for sure.“When he’s on your team, you feel a little edge of confidence. Every time No. 57 is suited up, I know I feel great.”Greenlaw has been limited in practice this week with an ankle injury but expected to face the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Go ahead and assume officials will have their flags at the ready every time the 49ers’...

Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Isitolo Tuugamusu, Archbishop Riordan football

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

Archbishop Riordan football player Isitolo Tuugamusu is the Bay Area News Group’s boys high school athlete of the week for Sept. 18-23 after he received 37.05% of the vote.Lincoln-San Jose football player Kyan Phillips (36.79%) took second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Tuugamusu tied a West Catholic Athletic League record with five touchdowns in the Crusaders’ 41-34 victory over St. Ignatius to open the league schedule. The freshman scored all of his points on the ground, finishing with 91 yards in 23 carries as Riordan improved to 3-1.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, Oct. 1, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.Related ...