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Inflation cutting into Coloradans' vacation plans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Inflation hasn't just cut into home life, It's cut into summer escapes, too. Americans are looking to vacation this summer more than last year, according to an annual survey from Bankrate. The survey asks not only how many people plan on taking a vacation, but their budgets and their financial decisions regarding the vacation itself. These are the best cities for summer vacation in the US In 2022, 61% of the survey's respondents said they planned to take a summer vacation. This year, 63% plan a vacation.Affordability, though, is increasingly the reason for not planning a vacation. Among the survey's respondents who said they weren't planning a summer vacation, 58% chalked up the decision to unaffordability, up from 48% last year. Among that 58%, nearly two-thirds (62%) said it was directly because of inflation or rising prices. How much cheaper are suburbs than Denver itself? As a result, about one-third (29%) of vacationers said they're cutting vacation costs -...

How to see the International Space Station while it is visible in Denver metro skies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The International Space Station is expected to be visible nightly as it passes over skies in the metro area in early June.It's not always visible, but when it is, NASA describes its appearance as similar to a fast airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, except it maintains one direction and doesn't have flashing lights. According to the NASA website, sighting the ISS will be possible through June 10 in the Denver metro area.When and where to lookThe website lists the best viewing times according to when the sun reflects off of the space station to contrast against the dark sky, and how long it will be visible before it crosses back below the horizon. Space station welcomes 2 Saudi visitors, including kingdom’s 1st female astronaut NASA uses degrees to refer to where the station is located vertically in the sky in relation to the viewer, with zero degrees being the horizon and 90 degrees being directly overhead. To gauge degrees on the horizon, NASA's ...

Remember these rattlesnake precautions for your kids, pets

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Rattlesnake season has arrived along the Front Range. Although bites are rare, precautions to ensure children and pets are safe on the trails are important.Experts said it's critical to know the distinctive sound of the snake's warning rattle: freeze if you hear it, locate the snake and back up about five feet. Colorado Parks and Wildlife urges hikers to not use headphones when hiking."Rattlesnakes do give a warning rattle," Public Information Officer Joey Livingstone of CPW said.  "With the wider trails, there are less hiding places for the snakes to be." Dog missing for over 5 weeks found alive on remote mountain miles from home In addition to traversing on wider trails, experts said to teach your children to freeze when they hear a rattle and consider rattlesnake avoidance clinics or training for your dog. CPW said it's important to keep your dogs leashed and on the trail itself.If you are looking to avoid rattlesnakes completely, it's best to hike at ...

These 81-year-old best friends traveled the world in 80 days

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

(CNN) — A pair of best friends from Texas are proving that adventure doesn’t have an age limit — even when you’re 81.Ellie Hamby, a documentary photographer, and Sandy Hazelip, a physician and lecturer, toured the world in 80 days, adventuring from the beaches of Bali to the deserts of Egypt.The octogenarian grandmothers started their ambitious adventure on January 11, according to the blog the two have used to document their travels.Their first stop was a location that eludes even many seasoned travelers: Antarctica.Getting to the southernmost continent first required crossing the Drake Passage, the notoriously rough waters between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands.“For almost two days, we were a rocking and rolling and a slipping and sliding through the Drake Passage and we were holding on for dear life,” Hamby said in an interview with CNN. “It was just wild.”“But when we...

EU sanctions pro-Russian oligarch over plan to ‘destabilize’ Moldova

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

The EU has imposed sanctions on a high-profile Moldovan politician who has led a series of protests in recent weeks against the country’s pro-Western government.In a new list released Tuesday, Ilan Shor was named among five individuals who will face financial and travel restrictions “in view of actions destabilizing the Republic of Moldova.” A Russian plan to overthrow the Moldovan government was thwarted in February, officials in the country said.According to the EU Council sanctions order, the Moldovan-Israeli businessman’s Shor Party “is involved in the payment and training of persons in order to provoke disorder and unrest.” In April, a Moldovan court found Shor guilty of banking fraud to the tune of €254 million. Funds from that and his ties to Moscow are allegedly being used “to artificially create political unrest in the country.”Also on the list is Marina Tauber, a Shor Party member of the Moldovan parliament who was detained e...

Springfield police arrest driver and monitor for alleged assault on special needs student

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

Police in Springfield say both a driver and monitor were arrested and charged in connection with an assault on a special needs student.The Springfield Police Department announced that Judy Cubin, 65, of Chicopee, and William Kane, 73, an East Longmeadow resident, were arrested after officials say a special needs child was assaulted while in a transportation van “for students with different types of physical, behavioral and cognitive needs.”In a statement, the department said a representative for the van’s transportation company reached out to Springfield PD’s Special Victims Unit after reviewing footage from one of their vehicles.Police said an investigation was launched soon afterwards, with the unit reviewing the video themselves and speaking with the victim.Warrants for the arrests of the van’s driver, Kane, and monitor, Cubin, were later granted. Both were taken into custody with the assistance of police in East Longmeadow and Chicopee.According to ...

Bob Myers stepping down as Golden State Warriors GM, president: ‘It’s just time’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

Golden State Warriors president and general manager Bob Myers is walking away from the franchise he helped build into an NBA powerhouse.“It’s just time,” Myers told ESPN. A Warriors spokesman confirmed Myers’ exit on Tuesday.Myers, who won four NBA championships and was twice the league’s executive of the year, was up for a new contract. He said he turned down offers that would have made him one of the highest-paid executives in the league.The 48-year-old spent 12 years with the Warriors, turning the once-moribund franchise into a dynasty and the jewel of the league. Myers drafted future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry (a two-time MVP), Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, signed free agent Kevin Durant and hired coach Steve Kerr, which helped kick off an extended run of contention, including titles in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. The team also made the NBA Finals in 2016 and 2019.Myers grew up in the Bay Area and was a player agent before he was hired as an assis...

Mark Jackson was heckled by ‘clowns’ in Denver over his Nikola Jokic MVP snub

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

Mark Jackson was heckled by Denver Nuggets fans because he left Nikola Jokic off his official MVP ballot. And while Jackson downplayed the taunts, there’s some discrepancy over the level of nastiness.“Mark is being kind to some of those fans. Some of those fans were clowns at the game,” said Jeff Van Gundy, who sat next to Jackson during the heckling as the ESPN analysts both called the Western Conference finals in Denver. “It used to be when you say you made a mistake, it goes away.”Jackson didn’t include Jokic in his top-5 for MVP voting and later acknowledged it was an oversight. Jokic finished second in the voting to Joel Embiid, a result that looked foolish as the playoffs unfolded.Jackson and Van Gundy will call Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in Denver.“I’ve had no issues at all and I don’t expect any other than one or two fans during one of the games at the Western Conference Finals,” Jackson said. “And f...

Jimmy Butler and the Heat showing how badly the Mavericks screwed up with run to NBA Finals

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

Adam Silver’s biggest tweak to the NBA since taking over for David Stern — the play-in tournament — produced this year both a finalist and semifinalist.The Heat and Lakers got through Silver’s extra game(s) and demonstrated there’s hope for the play-in teams beyond extra revenue for postseason gates. On a broader scale, the league is wide open because the Warriors and LeBron James lost their fizzle. We’re guaranteed five different champions over five years for the first time since (get this!) 1977 to 1981.Which brings us to the Dallas Mavericks and their decision to sit this one out. It’s impossible to overstate just how badly they botched it.Armed with one of the league’s top players in Luka Doncic, they made a hard and rapid pivot from going all-in on the season to tanking it away. They traded for a win-now piece and the picture of instability, Kyrie Irving. Then they lost and lost more before deciding that keeping a lottery pick out...

Smelling smoke in Massachusetts? Nova Scotia wildfire smoke overspreads the region

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:47 GMT

Have you been smelling smoke outside but don’t see a fire?Nova Scotia wildfire smoke made its way to Massachusetts on Tuesday, as those with a sensitive nose were able to smell the smoke as it pushed through the region. The smoke plume from Canada also impacted visibility in spots across southern New England.An “Air Quality Alert” was issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection with the wildfire smoke overspreading the Bay State.“Fine particle levels will elevate at times into the Moderate and Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range as wildfire smoke influences our region,” the advisory stated. “An Air Quality Alert for elevated fine particle levels has been posted for areas of Mass through midnight tonight.”Related ArticlesWeather | Massachusetts, get ready for 90-degree heat as June arrives after cool Memorial Day Weather | Massachusetts weather forecast: ‘A lot of uncertainty’ for...