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'A work of God': Jerusalem art survives Aurora house fire

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — Days before Thanksgiving, a fire tore through an Aurora family's home, destroying almost everything. The family told FOX31 that what the destructive fire spared can only be described as a sign from God: A picture of Jerusalem was left untouched by the blaze. After tragedy, Aurora community leader helps distribute 1,000 Thanksgiving meals Five days after the fire tore through the home on East Layton Place, Renee Unruh is letting it all sink in. “This is my mom's house. She’s 70 years old," Unruh said. "She’s also had a nest egg for her, us and her grandchildren."Saturday around noon, that changed for the family.“A space heater tipped over and it was an older one and it caught on fire, which then caught the couch and blankets we tried to use to put it out," Unruh said.Colorful art left among the ashesThere's not much left of the home where the family made memories for three decades.“There is nothing but soot and piles of things to show for any of that, that’s ...

Is traditional holiday shopping making a comeback?

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The 2023 holiday season is off to a great start for local businesses. More than a third of consumers who responded to a Forbes Advisor survey said they’ll spend more than they did last year on gifts and family gatherings. Stuffed? How to burn Thanksgiving calories without leaving home University of Denver business expert Dr. Melissa Akaka said the holiday retail season started earlier this year, and it's expected to extend past the normal time period compared to seasons affected by the coronavirus pandemic.“Retailers are definitely vying for every last dollar this season. I think consumers are wanting to spend money, wanting to have a really good experience over the holidays," Akaka said.Big chains are offering incentives to shoppers, like gift selections priced under $25 and enhanced delivery options. Despite the convenience of online shopping, many stores are seeing more onsite traffic as traditional holiday shopping makes a comeback.“It is so much better to be a...

Woman arrested in Denver shooting on South Kearney

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A woman was identified in a shooting that occurred at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Denver Police Department.In a post to X, formerly Twitter, DPD said it was investigating a shooting in the 700 block of South Kearney Street, part of the Washington Virginia Vale neighborhood. One person was transported to a hospital and identified Thursday as a man who is expected to survive. 2 transported for stabbing in Five Points Nancy Ryan, 61, was identified and arrested on a count of first-degree assault. The Denver District Attorney's Office will determine if official charges will be filed and what those charges may be.

Editorial: Biden putting EV cart before the horse

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

“The secret to success is find a need and fill it,” the saying goes. It’s an adage political leaders should acquaint themselves with, as too many are determined to tell constituents what they need, and expect them to fall in line.Such is the case with electric vehicles.New Jersey is the latest to jump on the anti-fossil fuel bandwagon, announcing that it will phase out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, The Hill reported.The Advanced Clean Cars II rule, set to take effect Jan. 1, will make the New Jersey the 11th state to go down this road, joining Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, California, New York, Virginia, Rhode Island, Maryland and Connecticut.There’s just one problem: The market for electric vehicles is low on power.As the Detroit Free Press reported, Ford is reducing its commitment to a planned Michigan electric vehicle battery facility by 800 jobs and more than $1 billion, moves that will reduce the plant’s production capacit...

Savor ‘Saltburn’ for the style, not substance

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

With “Saltburn,” writer-director Emerald Fennell has put into the world something delicious, debaucherous and, at times, a little dopey.Part vaguely absurd comedy and part twisted thriller, the latest effort from the promising “Promising Young Woman” filmmaker is a tale of obsession taking place during the mid-2000s within a world of the wealthy where beauty is overvalued.In its opening moments, Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) tells us that everyone was in love with classmate Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), but not him. Oliver protected Felix and, sure, he loved him, he says, but he was not IN love with him.We suspect he is lying to us or, possibly, to himself.Before the awfully awkward Oliver encounters the good-looking and charming Felix, he isn’t having a great time at Oxford University, mostly spending time with a truly weird student who proceeds to yell at Oliver when he initially declines to offer him a math problem to solve on the spot.Soon, though, he is saving the day for Felix, ...

‘Leave the World Behind’ grim, scary & great

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

Sam Esmail of Hoboken, N.J. and “Mr. Robot” fame just blew my mind with his must-see end of the world thriller “Leave the World Behind.” One of the strengths of the film, outside of a cast headed by Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali and Kevin Bacon, is that it is so believable.The bitterly cynical and admittedly misanthropic advertising analyst Amanda Sandford (Roberts) wakes up and decides that she and her family, including husband and professor of English and Media Studies Clay (Hawke) and adolescent children Archie (Charlie Evans) and younger Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) should leave their chic Park Slope, Brooklyn home and go to “the country” for a quick vacation. The “country” is a few miles away in Long Island, where they get to stay in a beautiful home near the beach. “Leave the World Behind,” which is based on a 2020 novel by American author Rumaan Alam and produced by among others Barrack and Michelle Obama, is nothing less than a modern-day version of Alfred Hitchcock&...

Holiday concerts offer soundtrack to the season

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

This season demands music. It demands classical masterpieces and corny carols, klezmer and rock ‘n’ roll. Whatever your vibe — traditional, kitsch, anti-holidays — there’s a concert for you on the calendar.“Messiah,” Nov. 24 – Dec. 2, various locationsWant your “Messiah” big and grand, the Handel and Haydn Society’s 170th reading of Handel’s masterpiece goes down at Symphony Hall Nov. 24-26. (Yes, that’s right, 170 years!) For something a bit more intimate, try Boston Baroque’s take on the piece Dec. 2 at Calderwood Studio or Dec. 3 at Jordan Hall. Handelandhaydn.org & Baroque.bostonBoston Tuba Christmas, Nov. 25, Downtown Crossing StepsA hundred tuba players? Not enough. How about more than a hundred tuba players? If you’re looking for the most tubas in one place this holiday season, come to The Steps on Franklin and Washington Street for loads of carols and classics. Downtownboston.orgDarlene Love, Nov. 25, Cabot Theatre“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” is the gr...

Millard: Don’t let Black Friday fund criminal gangs

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

“Don’t let Black Friday fund the Black Market.”That was the warning from Alysa Erichs, former Acting Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations, to Americans looking for good deals on their holiday shopping. The internet is awash in counterfeit, stolen, and other illicit goods, and when bargain-hunting Americans buy them, they are stuffing the stockings of criminal gangs.“From bottles of diluted Jack Daniels to lead-laced counterfeit Yeti dog bowls, the criminals profiting from the sale of illegal goods do not care who they hurt or whose holidays they ruin,” said Erichs, who now works with United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT). The organization is a coalition of companies working together to fight against fake and stolen goods that it says too often end up in the shopping bags of American families.During a recent press event, USA-IT presented a display of recently seized counterfeit goods. Among them, a knock-off iPhone that was running Androi...

Adam Sandler mines his childhood for ‘Leo’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

For Adam Sandler, “Leo,” his animated musical now streaming on Netflix, has been a lengthy labor of love.Sandler, who produced, co-wrote and stars as the voice of Leo,  first began toying with the idea in 2016 before teaming up with a trio of comrades who directed: Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim.Leo is the 74-year-old lizard of the title. He’s spent his life with Squirtle the turtle in a grade school’s classroom terrarium. The two share barbed, funny comments on the kids passing before them.They’ve been around long enough to know that a motor mouth girl is “an only child” or the quiet one has “divorced parents.” When a substitute teacher (Cecily Strong of “Schmigadoon!”) orders that Leo stay in a different kid’s house each night, one surprise is he can talk to the student. Another is he gives good advice.“We were all,” Sandler said in a Zoom virtual press conference, “just so excited to actually address that stuff kids go through when they’re growing up...

Russell: What American Dream is Biden restoring?

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:16:33 GMT

The holiday season is here and in this economy, that means Americans will either stretch budgets as best they can, go into debt or go without.Bidenomics, the name President Joe Biden embraced for his plan to “restore the American Dream,” has proven to do anything but that.Reports on how the economy is doing on a macro level vary. Some wonder if we are currently in a recession, others say it’s coming, and still others posit we just missed one.Inflation is lower than it was two years ago, but it’s still higher than it was even in 2020, when it was just at 1.2%. It rose to 3.7 then fell back to 3.2% in October. Mortgage interest rates are still high and credit card debt is too.The average balance is now $6,000, higher than it’s been in a decade suggesting people are still struggling to make ends meet.Even if prices are going up slower than before or inflation has decreased over all, people are still experiencing increases on top of increases. The compound effect of this has people reel...