ReportWire

Tag: Denver

  • Colorado launches new alert system to help find missing Indigenous people | CNN

    Colorado launches new alert system to help find missing Indigenous people | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    After community members searched for Wanbli Vigil in knee-deep snow and brush in Denver, Colorado, authorities activated a statewide alert system on Tuesday to help find the missing 27-year-old Lakota man.

    Vigil’s disappearance is the first case to activate Colorado’s new Missing Indigenous Person Alert (MIPA). The system was launched last week to address the state’s missing Indigenous people crisis. Colorado is among a handful of states that have created similar alert systems in the past year amid the nationwide crisis of unsolved Indigenous missing and murder cases.

    “It’s needed, because we … as Indigenous people have been silenced too long, and abused too long and not taken seriously,” said Daisy Bluestar, a Southern Ute advocate and member of the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives Taskforce of Colorado, a grassroots group that lobbied for the creation of the new alert system.

    Vigil was last seen on December 29 around 2 p.m. as he left an apartment building in Denver and was reported as missing on New Year’s Day, his aunt, Jennifer Black Elk, told CNN. He was wearing blue jeans and a black jacket with white stripes, according to the alert issued by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

    Black Elk said Vigil walked out of their apartment after sharing “personal issues” and left the door cracked. She initially thought Vigil went to pray because he was seen carrying a chanunpa, a ceremonial pipe, she said.

    “He’s pretty funny. He’s pretty laid-back, easygoing and helpful and just a good person inside,” Black Elk said of her nephew.

    The Colorado Bureau of Investigation launched the Missing Indigenous Person Alert system on December 30, 2022.

    Its creation is the result of legislation passed last year to expand the investigation of cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Bluestar and other Indigenous advocates like her worked with state lawmakers to draft and pass Senate Bill 22-150 despite pushback from some lawmakers and agencies in the state. Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill into law last summer.

    The legislation also required the state to create an office of liaison for missing and murdered Indigenous people.

    The alert system is designed to be activated when an Indigenous person is reported missing to law enforcement. The legislation requires law enforcement agencies that receive a report of a missing Indigenous person to notify the CBI within eight hours of a report of a missing adult or within two hours of a report of a missing child, according to the Colorado Department of Public Safety.

    If an Indigenous child is abducted, an Amber Alert will go out statewide, pinging residents’ phones, the CBI said. An alert under the new system will be issued if an Indigenous child goes missing in a non-abduction case.

    Once an alert is issued, local and state law enforcement in Colorado are notified, as well as media outlets and other stakeholders who might distribute the alert information via email or text, CBI said. Unlike an Amber Alert, state investigators say the Missing Indigenous Person Alert will not go out to cell phones.

    “The CBI understands the importance and effectiveness of the various alerts that are in place in Colorado, and we are pleased to have been asked to develop this newest alert in an effort to quickly locate missing Indigenous persons and return them safely to their loved ones,” CBI Director John Camper said in a statement.

    As the search for Vigil continues, activists criticized how the new alert system was activated this week and said it could have been done in a more timely manner.

    Denver Police said Vigil was reported missing on Sunday, but the Missing Indigenous Person Alert wasn’t issued until Tuesday.

    “We’re losing valuable time in locating this young man or finding evidence as to where his whereabouts might be,” said Raven Payment, a Ojibwe and Kanienkehaka activist and member of the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives Taskforce of Colorado who has joined the search for Vigil.

    When asked about the time it took for the Missing Indigenous Person Alert to be issued, the Denver Police Department said its missing persons unit “opened a missing persons case and followed the notification procedure.”

    When asked about the alert’s timing, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said it issued the alert when it received information from the Denver Police Department. “The Denver Police Department is the lead on this case, as they took the report, and may have been performing investigative tasks leading up to the request for the alert,” the CBI said.

    “For us to get this pushed through was an accomplishment, major accomplishment. But right now, you know, we’re at this point where it still doesn’t seem like it’s important enough or urgent enough,” said Bluestar, the other advocate.

    Colorado is among three states that have implemented alert systems aimed to locate missing Indigenous people. Last year, Washington became the first state to create one and California launched a Feather Alert to assist in search efforts for an Indigenous person who has been reported missing under suspicious circumstances.

    Nationally, there were 782 unresolved cases of missing Native American people as of August 2022, according to data from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

    Correction: This story has been updated to correct the length of time authorities spent searching for Vigil before the alert system was activated.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Damar Hamlin: Buffalo Bills player in critical condition in hospital after cardiac arrest on field during game against Cincinnati Bengals

    Damar Hamlin: Buffalo Bills player in critical condition in hospital after cardiac arrest on field during game against Cincinnati Bengals

    [ad_1]

    Damar Hamlin remains in a critical condition in hospital

    NFL player Damar Hamlin remains in a critical condition in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during the game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, but his condition is “moving in a positive direction”, according to his marketing representative and friend, Jordan Rooney.

    Rooney, speaking to the NFL Network on Wednesday, also clarified that Hamlin was “resuscitated once”, on the field. Hamlin’s uncle, Dorrian Glenn, had told CNN on Tuesday evening that his nephew had been resuscitated a second time at the hospital.

    “Right now things are moving in a positive direction,” Rooney said.

    “There’s not clarity at this point about how long it’s going to take and where things are going to go. For the family, it’s just a matter of seeing more positive signs and hopefully building on that.”

    The 24-year-old Bills defensive back had briefly got to his feet after making what appeared to be a routine tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins during Monday’s game but then collapsed to the ground.

    The game in Cincinnati was halted as medical staff quickly attended to him and administered CPR for approximately 10 minutes before he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

    Glenn, speaking earlier on Wednesday to NFL Network reporter Cameron Wolfe, said: “They’re trying to get his lungs back to full strength.

    “He was 100 per cent assisted by ventilators [Tuesday]. He’s improved, up to 50 per cent. That’s an upward trend and we’re thankful for that.”

    In a statement issued on Tuesday, Hamlin’s family said they would provide updates on his wellbeing “as soon as we have them”.

    “On behalf of our family, we want to express our sincere gratitude for the love and support shown to Damar during this challenging time. We are deeply moved by the prayers, kind words and donations from fans around the country,” said the family’s statement, which was released via Hamlin’s agent.

    “We also want to acknowledge the dedicated first responders and healthcare professionals at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who have provided exceptional care to Damar. We feel so blessed to be part of the Buffalo Bills organization and to have their support.”

    The Bills, who had confirmed Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in a statement late on Monday night, issued a follow-up statement on Tuesday which stated: “We are grateful and thankful for the outpouring of support we have received thus far.”

    Niagara Falls, Old County Hall and Peace Bridge in Buffalo City are lit in blue in support of Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest during the game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Niagara Falls, Old County Hall and Peace Bridge in Buffalo City are lit in blue in support of Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest during the game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals

    Niagara Falls, Old County Hall and Peace Bridge in Buffalo City are lit in blue in support of Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest during the game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals

    Will the postponed match be replayed?

    The NFL announced a full postponement to the Bengals-Bills game just after 10pm local time on Monday evening, 90 minutes following kick-off.

    After Hamlin exited the field in an ambulance, it looked briefly as if play might resume before Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and Bills counterpart Sean McDermott met with game officials and the decision was made to pause proceedings. The Bengals had been leading 7-3 with five minutes and 58 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

    The NFL has since informed the Bills and Bengals that the suspended game will not resume this week, while the Week 18 schedule remains unchanged.

    The league said in a statement on Tuesday: “The NFL continues to be in regular contact with the medical team caring for Damar Hamlin, and also the Bills and Bengals organizations and the NFL Players Association.

    “The NFL has made no decision regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date.”

    Mike Florio and Peter King react to the cardiac arrest suffered on the field by Damar Hamlin on Monday night, saying a rescheduling of the game between the Bills and Bengals 'does not matter' in light of his critical condition in hospital

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Mike Florio and Peter King react to the cardiac arrest suffered on the field by Damar Hamlin on Monday night, saying a rescheduling of the game between the Bills and Bengals ‘does not matter’ in light of his critical condition in hospital

    Mike Florio and Peter King react to the cardiac arrest suffered on the field by Damar Hamlin on Monday night, saying a rescheduling of the game between the Bills and Bengals ‘does not matter’ in light of his critical condition in hospital

    The game has major playoff implications as the NFL enters the final week of the 2022 regular season, with the Bills (12-3) needing a win to reclaim the No 1 seed in the AFC, in the hope of clinching a first-round bye and home advantage through the playoffs. The Bengals (11-4) would have clinched the AFC North division title ahead of the Baltimore Ravens (10-6) with a victory.

    NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that if the game was not to resume, it would be “declared a no contest”, essentially a tie – which would be enough for the Bengals win their division and finish as the No 3 seed in the AFC, while the Kansas City Chiefs would then theoretically clinch the No 1 seed ahead of the Bills with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday.

    Will the Week 18 games still go ahead?

    The Bills are scheduled to close out the regular season on Sunday against New England Patriots (8-8), who need to win to secure themselves a wild-card berth in the AFC, while the Bengals are due to take on the Ravens (10-6).

    The Bills will not practice or be available to media on Wednesday, it has been reported. They will hold a team meeting and have a brief on-field walkthrough; the Patriots will practise as scheduled.

    When Hamlin was taken from the field in an ambulance on Monday night, Bills coach McDermott was seen leading his team in prayer, while players from both teams were shown to be visibly distraught, some with tears in their eyes, as the situation unfolded.

    The NFL’s statement on Tuesday said that they had “not made any changes to the Week 18 regular season schedule”, before adding that they “will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available”.

    Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio has questioned whether the Bills will be sufficiently mentally and physically prepared to play again by Sunday, and whether the NFL might reconsider sticking to the current schedule.

    “Will all of the players be mentally ready to go?” Florio said on Wednesday’s show. “They may tell themselves they are – and maybe once they’re out there, they’ll feel fine – but I think that crossing the thick white stripe on the sideline is going to be different now to what it has ever been, for them and their family members.

    “You’ve got every family member of every NFL player, fearful that what happened to Damar Hamlin can happen to their father, husband, friend, nephew, cousin – someone they know and someone they care about.

    “It’s part of what everyone has to process to get to the point where guys can play.

    “This game is too hard, too demanding, and the risks are too great to have someone play who doesn’t want to.

    “There’s no manual to this, no playbook, no standard operating procedure. Will all players be ready to go? That’s the concern I have for players not just on the Bills and Bengals but for players on every team.

    Florio added: “This is a very delicate moment in the scheduling of the season, it’s the culmination of the regular season, the playoffs are looming.

    “I really don’t know what the right answer is. There is no perfect solution to this.”

    The playoffs are due to begin on the weekend of January 14/15/16, with the Super Bowl scheduled for Sunday, February 12 in Glendale, Arizona. There is a free weekend in the calendar prior to the Super Bowl which would allow for the playoff schedule to begin a week later, should the NFL decide to postpone any Week 18 games.

    Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson hinted at the challenge he has faced in trying to prepare his team for a ‘win-and-in’ showdown for the AFC South division title with the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night.

    “Obviously on Monday night, watching it, coaching went away,” Pederson told the NFL Network on Wednesday. “I was thinking about Damar and his family – about the players on both sides of that field.

    “Then my attention turned to our team. How was I going to handle this and prepare our football team, what was I going to say? It’s human nature.

    “I can honestly say I don’t have all of the answers, but I want my players to understand that we’re here for them.”

    “We are preparing for a football game. It’s the hardest thing, to transition from life – and things that are out of our control – to a football game, and trying to get the focus of the room back on that.”

    NFL world gathers to show support for Hamlin

    Former NFL player Jason McCourty prays for and pays tribute to Damar Hamlin after he was taken to hospital in a 'critical condition', having suffered a cardiac arrest in the Bills' game against the Bengals on Monday night

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Former NFL player Jason McCourty prays for and pays tribute to Damar Hamlin after he was taken to hospital in a ‘critical condition’, having suffered a cardiac arrest in the Bills’ game against the Bengals on Monday night

    Former NFL player Jason McCourty prays for and pays tribute to Damar Hamlin after he was taken to hospital in a ‘critical condition’, having suffered a cardiac arrest in the Bills’ game against the Bengals on Monday night

    Hamlin is in his second season in the NFL, after being taken in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Bills. He spent five years playing his college football at Pittsburgh, his hometown, appearing in 48 games for the Panthers.

    He has started 14 games for the Bills this season in place of injured safety Micah Hyde, who suffered a neck injury in Week Two and has been on injured reserve since. Hamlin is tied for the second-most tackles on the team this year, with 91.

    After the incident, people started donating to a GoFundMe page set up by Hamlin’s charitable foundation, Chasing M’s, to raise money to support a toy drive for in his community.

    Hamlin’s initial stated goal was $2,500 but, by Wednesday, the page had reached over $6.3m (£5.2m), with donations coming in from around the world. NFL stars Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, plus the Houston Texans organisation and Patriots owner Robert Kraft were among those to donate large sums.

    NBA star LeBron James sent his best wishes to Hamlin when speaking to reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.

    LeBron James sends thoughts and prayers to Damar Hamlin and his family after the Buffalo Bills player suffered a cardiac arrest during an NFL game

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    LeBron James sends thoughts and prayers to Damar Hamlin and his family after the Buffalo Bills player suffered a cardiac arrest during an NFL game

    LeBron James sends thoughts and prayers to Damar Hamlin and his family after the Buffalo Bills player suffered a cardiac arrest during an NFL game

    “It is a terrible thing to see and I wish nothing but the best for that kid and the city of Buffalo, for the franchise of the Bills and the rest of the NFL and also the Bengals that were playing in that game as well,” LeBron said.

    “I’m a huge fan of the NFL and a huge fan of football and you never want to see anything like that happen.”

    A number of NFL teams postponed their scheduled press availability on Tuesday out of respect for Hamlin, while Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spent part of his news conference sharing his personal connection with the 24-year-old Pittsburgh native.

    “I’ve known that guy probably since he was about 12,” Tomlin said. “Just got a lot of respect and love for him as a human being, his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what it is he’s doing right now, which is playing in the NFL.

    “To watch him make personal decisions and make that a realisation, it’s just an honour to get to know young people like that. I had an opportunity to express that to him whenever I see him.

    “We’ve played Buffalo each of the last two seasons, and he and I get to have a moment because it’s just cool to not only appreciate these guys in terms of where they are now, but to know them since they were younger people and to watch their maturation their development.

    “I’ve got a lot of love for that young man.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Flight disruptions: Florida hit by air traffic control issue; Denver by freezing fog | CNN

    Flight disruptions: Florida hit by air traffic control issue; Denver by freezing fog | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Two far-apart states are seeing fresh air travel problems on Monday.

    Air traffic control issues triggered hours-long flight delays to Florida airports, the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN. And the main airport in Denver, Colorado, is seeing substantial cancellations and delays because of a fresh round of winter weather.

    Late Monday afternoon, the FAA told CNN that the issue in Florida was resolved.

    “The FAA is working toward safely returning to a normal traffic rate in the Florida airspace,” the agency said in a statement.

    Earlier in the day, the FAA told CNN that it had “slowed the volume of air traffic into Florida airspace due to an air traffic computer issue.”

    A publicly available airspace status notice showed flight delays early Monday afternoon averaging nearly three hours with a maximum delay up to six hours.

    The FAA said the issue was with the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) system at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center.

    That center is responsible for controlling millions of cubic miles of airspace for commercial flights over Florida.

    A spokesperson for Miami International Airport attributed delays there to a Florida-wide “FAA computer system issue.”

    The FAA said earlier that Monday would be a busy post-Christmas travel day with 42,000 flights scheduled, “with possible heavier volume from south to north.”

    Some of Florida’s key airports serving tourists have been affected by the air traffic computer problem, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.

    They include Miami International Airport (MIA), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO).

    About 750 flights originating or destined for the Denver International Airport were either delayed or canceled Monday because of inclement weather, according to FlightAware.

    As of 4:20 p.m. ET, about 285 flights set to depart Denver International were delayed, and almost 130 flights were canceled, FlightAware said. Almost 215 flights set to arrive, were delayed and just over 130 were canceled.

    According to CNN Weather, Denver has been reporting freezing fog with temperatures in the 20s since 6 a.m. local time.

    Visibility has been at or below a quarter of a mile all day. Light snow fell overnight, but the primary reason for the delays and cancellations is the freezing fog and low visibility.

    The airport at Denver was particularly hard hit last week during Southwest’s service meltdown.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Man suspected in explosion before killing wife, himself

    Man suspected in explosion before killing wife, himself

    [ad_1]

    DENVER — A man who put three failed explosive devices inside a worship hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in suburban Denver before killing his wife and himself there on Christmas morning is suspected of causing an explosion at a union building, police said Wednesday.

    Shortly before Sunday’s murder-suicide, Enoch Apodaca, 46, entered the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 68 building with a bucket and there was a “large explosion” shortly after he left, Thornton police said. The building, which police described as Apodaca’s “place of business,” was closed and no one was hurt. The bucket was similar to one used at the worship hall, police said.

    Just over a year before the explosion and shootings, a representative of Apodaca’s former employer, Sturgeon Electric Company Inc., said Apodaca told a Local 68 representative that he would shoot his wife and the union representative, and then “will come after the people responsible” after he and his wife lost their jobs. The accusation came in an application for a protection order, first reported by The Denver Post. The document noted that Apodaca had been fired in June 2021 but did not say why.

    According to police, Apodaca and his wife, identified by the coroner as 44-year-old Melissa Martinez, arrived at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Thornton at around 9 a.m., about a half hour before the first meeting of the day was scheduled. The couple had previously been members but were no longer welcome there, police said.

    Apodaca directed his wife to back up a truck to a window before breaking the window with a hammer and putting the explosive devices inside, police said. Apodaca then shot her before shooting himself, they said.

    One of the devices appeared to start a fire while two church members were inside the hall, police said. One of them used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. None of the devices detonated but a bomb technician found that one of them nearly did before malfunctioning or being extinguished, police said.

    No explosives were found in the couple’s home, police said. Instead, investigators found personal belongings that had been apparently set out and marked to be given to specific family members.

    The Post also reported Wednesday that police in nearby Westminster had received seven calls to respond to Apodaca’s home since September 2021, including one on Sept. 13, 2021, in which a person warned police that Apodaca was threatening violence, using drugs and withdrawing from his family after he and his wife lost their jobs. In the service records provided to the newspaper for three of those calls, there was no record that the cases progressed past the initial call, it said.

    An officer responded to Apodaca’s home in response to the Sept. 13, 2021, call, which was made by a cousin. But no report was written because the officer did not find any crime had been committed, Westminster police spokesperson Sgt. Ray Esslinger told The Associated Press.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump White House took QAnon theories seriously, former aide says: CBS News Flash Dec. 28, 2022

    Trump White House took QAnon theories seriously, former aide says: CBS News Flash Dec. 28, 2022

    [ad_1]

    Trump White House took QAnon theories seriously, former aide says: CBS News Flash Dec. 28, 2022 – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Trump White House took QAnon theories seriously, former aide saysThe January 6 committee has released more transcripts, including from interviews of Cassidy Hutchinson — the former aide to Mark Meadows, former President Trump’s chief of staff. She discusses how QAnon theories were taken seriously. In a now viral TikTok video, two friends are seen being harassed at a California In-N-Out Burger. A Denver man, who hurled racist and homophobic slurs, was later charged with a hate crime. And Wednesday night’s Kennedy Center Honors airs on CBS at 8 p.m. EST.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Denver Broncos sack head coach Nathaniel Hackett after LA Rams defeat

    Denver Broncos sack head coach Nathaniel Hackett after LA Rams defeat

    [ad_1]

    Denver Broncos: “On behalf of our ownership and organization, I want to thank Nathaniel Hackett for his dedication as head coach of the Denver Broncos. We sincerely appreciate Nathaniel’s efforts and wish him and his family all the best in the future”

    Last Updated: 26/12/22 6:33pm

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Denver Broncos against the Los Angeles Rams from Week 16 of the NFL season

    Highlights of the Denver Broncos against the Los Angeles Rams from Week 16 of the NFL season

    The Denver Broncos have sacked head coach Nathaniel Hackett following their heavy 51-14 defeat to Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day.

    Cam Akers ran for three touchdowns, Baker Mayfield threw for two more as the Rams thoroughly embarrassed the Denver Broncos (4-11) in California.

    Under first-year coach Hackett the Broncos struggled for much of the 2022 season, and with just four wins to their name have no chance of reaching the playoffs contention with just two regular season games remaining.

    A Broncos statement read: “On behalf of our ownership and organization, I want to thank Nathaniel Hackett for his dedication as head coach of the Denver Broncos. We sincerely appreciate Nathaniel’s efforts and wish him and his family all the best in the future.

    “Following extensive conversations with George and our ownership group, we determined a new direction would ultimately be in the best interest of the Broncos. This change was made now out of respect for everyone involved and allows us to immediately begin the search for a new head coach.

    “We recognise and appreciate this organisation’s championship history, and we understand we have not met that standard. Our fans deserve much better, and I can’t say enough about their loyalty during such a challenging stretch for our team.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Man kills wife, himself at Colorado Jehovah’s Witnesses hall

    Man kills wife, himself at Colorado Jehovah’s Witnesses hall

    [ad_1]

    THORNTON, Colo. — A man killed his wife and then himself at a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in suburban Denver, Thornton police said Sunday.

    A fire was reported at the hall around 9 a.m. before another caller told police that a man had shot a woman and then himself, authorities said.

    The man and woman were former members of the congregation, police said. Their names have not been released.

    A hazmat team with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office is investigating suspicious devices at the hall.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Woman raises over $10,000 selling candy apples

    Woman raises over $10,000 selling candy apples

    [ad_1]

    Woman raises over $10,000 selling candy apples – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    A Denver woman celebrates the holidays by making as many as 2,000 caramel apples a year that sell for $10 apiece, raising $10,000 to $20,000 that she’s donated to schools, libraries and a hospice. Barry Peterson reports.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • ILLENIUM Announces Holiday Food Drive, Special Club Performance – EDM.com

    ILLENIUM Announces Holiday Food Drive, Special Club Performance – EDM.com

    [ad_1]

    If your version of a winter wonderland is on a dancefloor, you’re in luck thanks to ILLENIUM.

    The Grammy-nominated producer and guitarist has announced “Saint Nick’s Holiday Food Drive,” a special club night where electronic music and charity collide. It’s going down at Denver’s Mirus Gallery and Temple Nightclub on Friday, December 23rd.

    The holiday-themed festivities kick off at 3pm, when ILLENIUM will host a two-hour photo-op for fans of all ages. Clubbers 21 and up can then head into Temple for the show, which will feature a number of “special guest DJs” before wrapping up with a big performance by the Fallen Embers artist, who recently revealed he’s recording his fifth studio album.

    [ad_2]

    Jason Heffler

    Source link

  • Christmas NFL live on Sky Sports: Eagles visit Cowboys on Christmas Eve as part of two triple-headers over holiday weekend

    Christmas NFL live on Sky Sports: Eagles visit Cowboys on Christmas Eve as part of two triple-headers over holiday weekend

    [ad_1]

    Season’s greetings! Sky Sports NFL brings you SIX live games over the holidays; Bengals @ Patriots kicks off the Christmas Eve action from 6pm, while there is also RedZone on Sky Sports Mix on Saturday night; the Packers visit the Dolphins as part of the Christmas Day triple-bill

    Last Updated: 20/12/22 7:40pm

    The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys meet on Christmas Eve, live on Sky Sports NFL

    Celebrate your Christmas with Sky Sports this year as we bring you SIX live NFL games over the holiday weekend, including an NFC East grudge match between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve.

    Christmas Eve live on Sky Sports NFL

    For Week 16, the usual Sunday night slate moves to Saturday, December 24, with the clash between the NFL’s-best Eagles (13-1) and Cowboys (10-4) the second game up in the weekend’s first triple-bill of live action on Sky Sports NFL (407).

    NFL live on Sky Sports at Christmas

    Thursday Night Football Jacksonville Jaguars @ New York Jets Friday, 1.15am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Christmas Eve triple-header Cincinnati Bengals @ New England Patriots Saturday, 6pm, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys Saturday, 9.25pm, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Las Vegas Raiders @ Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, 1.15am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Christmas Day triple-headerr Green Bay Packers @ Miami Dolphins Sunday, 6pm, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Denver Broncos @ Los Angeles Rams Sunday, 9.30pm, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Arizona Cardinals Monday, 1.20am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Monday Night Football (Boxing Day) Los Angeles Chargers @ Indianapolis Colts Tuesday, 1.15am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event

    The evening’s festivities get under waywith the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals (10-4) taking their six-straight wins on the road to the New England Patriots (7-7), who will be desperate to put their shocking late loss to the Las Vegas Raiders behind them and stay in the AFC playoff hunt. Kick-off is at 6pm.

    Chandler Jones scored a walk-off touchdown for the Las Vegas Raiders after a crazy decision from the New England Patriots players to throw laterals on the final play of the game.

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Chandler Jones scored a walk-off touchdown for the Las Vegas Raiders after a crazy decision from the New England Patriots players to throw laterals on the final play of the game.

    Chandler Jones scored a walk-off touchdown for the Las Vegas Raiders after a crazy decision from the New England Patriots players to throw laterals on the final play of the game.

    After the huge divisional clash in Dallas, the night rounds off with a meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-8) and Raiders (6-8) – kick-off at 1.15am, Sunday morning – as the two famous old franchises celebrate the 50th anniversary of Franco Harris’ ‘immaculate reception’ in the classic 1972 AFC divisional playoff between the pair.

    As well as these three standalone games, you can keep up to speed with all of the action from elsewhere around the league via NFL RedZone on Sky Sports Mix (416) from 6pm.

    Christmas Day live on Sky Sports NFL

    Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are in action on Christmas Day in a must-win matchup against the Miami Dolphins

    Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are in action on Christmas Day in a must-win matchup against the Miami Dolphins

    On Sunday, December 25 we’re back to bring you yet another triple-header, this one also kicking off at 6pm with a huge matchup in Miami as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (6-8) hope to hang on to their playoff hopes with a victory over the Dolphins (8-6), who themselves are desperately clinging on to their post-season aspirations despite three defeats on the trot.

    Highlights of the Green Bay Packers' win over the Los Angeles Rams, which officially knocked the defending Super Bowl champions out of playoff contention.

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Los Angeles Rams, which officially knocked the defending Super Bowl champions out of playoff contention.

    Highlights of the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Los Angeles Rams, which officially knocked the defending Super Bowl champions out of playoff contention.

    We then head out to Los Angeles for a meeting between the defending Super Bowl-champion Rams (4-10) and Denver Broncos (4-10), both heavily tipped pre-season contenders eager to salvage some pride in these final few weeks following hugely disappointing seasons – this one gets under way from 9.30pm.

    The Christmas Day festivities then conclude into the early hours of Boxing Day morning as, at 1.20am, the Arizona Cardinals (4-10) host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8) at State Farm Stadium, the site of this year’s Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

    What other NFL is live on Sky Sports this week?

    Trevor Lawrence takes his Jacksonville Jaguars into New York on Thursday night in a key playoff clash against the Jets

    Trevor Lawrence takes his Jacksonville Jaguars into New York on Thursday night in a key playoff clash against the Jets

    The Week 16 action gets under way with the traditional Thursday night fare and another matchup with huge playoff implications as the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-8) visit the New York Jets (7-7), both battling it out for a wild card spot in the AFC and with the Jags also still in with a shout of winning the AFC South division. This one is live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am on Friday morning.

    Watch highlights of and extraordinary game between the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings from Week 15 in the NFL.

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Watch highlights of and extraordinary game between the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings from Week 15 in the NFL.

    Watch highlights of and extraordinary game between the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings from Week 15 in the NFL.

    And finally, to close out Week 16, there’s a Monday Night Football clash between the Indianapolis Colts (4-9-1) and Los Angeles Chargers (8-6), with the visitors hoping to move a step closer to clinching a postseason berth with a win over the reeling Colts, who suffered an NFL-record comeback loss to the Minnesota Vikings last weekend. Watch all of the action on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am, Tuesday.

    Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season – featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports – on the go!

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Racers, mechanics, tinkerers converting classic cars to EVs

    Racers, mechanics, tinkerers converting classic cars to EVs

    [ad_1]

    DENVER — When Kevin Erickson fires up his 1972 Plymouth Satellite, a faint hum replaces what is normally the sound of pistons pumping, gas coursing through the carburetor and the low thrum of the exhaust.

    Even though it’s nearly silent, the classic American muscle car isn’t broken. It’s electric.

    Erickson is among a small but expanding group of tinkerers, racers, engineers and entrepreneurs across the country who are converting vintage cars and trucks into greener, and often much faster, electric vehicles.

    Despite derision from some purists about the converted cars resembling golf carts or remote-controlled cars, electric powertrain conversions are becoming more mainstream as battery technology advances and the world turns toward cleaner energy to combat climate change.

    “RC cars are fast, so that’s kind of a compliment really,” said Erickson, whose renamed ”Electrollite” accelerates to 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in three seconds and tops out at about 155 mph (249 kph). It also invites curious stares at public charging stations, which are becoming increasingly common across the country.

    At the end of 2019, Erickson, a cargo pilot who lives in suburban Denver, bought the car for $6,500. He then embarked on a year-and-a-half-long project to convert the car into a 636-horsepower electric vehicle (475 kW), using battery packs, a motor and the entire rear subframe from a crashed Tesla Model S.

    “This was my way of taking the car that I like — my favorite body — and then taking the modern technology and performance, and mixing them together,” said Erickson, who has put about $60,000 into the project.

    Jonathan Klinger, vice president of car culture for Hagerty Insurance, which specializes in collector vehicles, said converting classic cars into EVs is “definitely a trend,” although research on the practice is limited.

    In May, the Michigan-based company conducted a web-based survey of about 25,000 self-identified automobile enthusiasts in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. About 1% had either partially or fully converted their classic to run on some sort of electrified drivetrain.

    The respondents’ top three reasons for converting their vehicles were for faster acceleration and improved performance, for a fun and challenging project, and because of environmental and emissions concerns. About 25% of respondents said they approve of classic vehicles being partially or fully converted to EVs.

    “Electric vehicles deliver some pretty astonishing performance just by the nature of the mechanics of how they work,” Klinger said. So it’s not surprising to him that a small percentage of people converting classic cars to EVs are interested in improving performance. He compared the current trend to the hot-rod movement of the 1950s.

    But Klinger, who owns several vintage vehicles, said he doesn’t think electric motors will replace all internal combustion engines — especially when considering historically significant vehicles.

    “There’s something satisfying about having a vintage car that has a carburetor,” he said, because it’s the same as when the car was new. Some enthusiasts want to preserve the sound and rumble of older cars’ original engines.

    Other barriers to converting cars include the knowledge it takes to delve into such a complicated project, as well as safety concerns about tinkering with high-voltage components, the availability of parts, and the time it takes to realize a positive, environmental impact. Because classic vehicles are driven for fewer than 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) a year on average, it takes longer to offset the initial carbon footprint of manufacturing the batteries, Klinger said.

    And then there’s the price.

    Sean Moudry, who co-owns Inspire EV, a small conversion business in suburban Denver, recently modified a 1965 Ford Mustang that was destined for the landfill. The year-and-a-half-long project cost more than $100,000 and revealed several other obstacles that underscore why conversions are not “plug-and-play” endeavors.

    Trying to pack enough power into the pony car to “smoke the tires off of it” at a drag strip, Moudry and his partners replaced the underpowered six-cylinder gas engine with a motor from a crashed Tesla Model S. They also installed 16 Tesla battery packs weighing a total of about 800 pounds (363 kilograms).

    Most classic vehicles, including the Mustang, weren’t designed to handle that much weight — or the increased performance that comes with a powerful electric motor. So the team had to beef up the car’s suspension, steering, driveshaft and brakes.

    The result is a Frankenstein-like vehicle that includes a rear axle from a Ford F-150 pickup and rotors from a Dodge Durango SUV, as well as disc brakes and sturdier coil-over shocks in the front and rear.

    Although Ford and General Motors have or are planning to produce standalone electric “crate” motors that are marketed to classic vehicle owners, Moudry says it’s still not realistic for a casual car tinkerer to have the resources to take on such a complicated project. Because of this, he thinks it will take a while for EV conversions to become mainstream.

    “I think it’s going to be 20 years,” he said. “It’s going to be a 20-year run before you go to a car show and 50 to 60% of the cars are running some variant of an electric motor in it.”

    But that reality could be coming sooner than expected, according to Mike Spagnola, president and CEO of the Specialty Equipment Market Association, a trade group that focuses on aftermarket vehicle parts.

    He said that during SEMA’s annual show in Las Vegas this fall, some 21,000 square feet (1,951 square meters) of convention space was dedicated to electric vehicles and their parts. That was up from only 2,500 square feet (232 square meters) at the 2021 show.

    Companies are developing universal parts, as well as lighter, smaller and more powerful battery packs. They’re also creating wiring components that are easier to install and myriad other innovations. Some are even building vehicle frames with the electric motor, batteries and components already installed. Buyers can just install the body of a classic vehicle on top of the platform.

    “The early adopters of this would take a crashed Tesla and pull the motor and harnesses and batteries and all that out of the vehicle and find a way to shoehorn it into whatever vehicle they wanted to build,” Spagnola said. “But today there are many manufacturers now starting to make components. … We’re really excited about it.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Two migrant buses arrived in New York City on Sunday and up to 15 more are expected in the next few days | CNN

    Two migrant buses arrived in New York City on Sunday and up to 15 more are expected in the next few days | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    As New York continues to grapple with a growing influx of asylum-seekers, two buses carrying migrants arrived in the city Sunday, with at least 10 to 15 more buses expected over the next few days, according to an email from Mayor Eric Adam’s office obtained by CNN.

    The email sent Sunday to New York City Council members and staff warned the city’s shelter system is already at capacity as an increase in migrant arrivals is expected over the next few days.

    The surge is expected as a Trump-era public health border policy known as Title 42 is set to end Wednesday. Invoked at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Title 42 allowed officials to turn away migrants encountered at the southern border.

    “Please be advised that due to the lifting of Title 42 later this week, the City is expecting a higher amount of asylum-seekers buses beginning today, with 2 buses today and 10-15 more expected in the next few days,” the email reads.

    Fabien Levy, Adams’ press secretary, confirmed buses arrived in the city Sunday, but declined to say how many migrants were on board or what was specifically expected this week. He did say, “We’ve been told it’s going to ramp up this week.”

    A district court struck down Title 42 last month and a federal appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by several Republican-led states to keep it in place.

    New York should expect more than 1,000 additional asylum-seekers to arrive every week, the mayor said Sunday.

    Since spring, thousands of asylum-seekers have been bused to the city from the southern border, often at the direction of officials – including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott – who have been critical of federal border policies.

    More than 31,000 migrants have gone through the city’s migrant intake center as of December 14, and at least 21,400 are currently in the city’s homeless shelters or at four hotels operating as humanitarian emergency relief centers. The city has also opened 60 emergency shelter sites.

    New York has been dealing with the crush of asylum-seekers for months, and the increase since the last budget adoption has driven a “historic surge” in the number of people living in city shelters, according to the city Comptroller’s Annual State of the City’s Economy and Finances report, released Thursday.

    In October, Adams declared a state of emergency to what he called a “man-made humanitarian crisis,” saying the crowds seeking asylum were arriving faster than the city could accommodate them.

    Adams has urged state and federal officials to help pay for the costs the city is facing as more migrants continue to arrive. Already, the city has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, he said.

    New York is hoping to receive $3 billion from the federal government through 2026 to help handle the flood of migrants, according to the comptroller’s report.

    The report adds the federal government has not confirmed it will support New York with the annual $1 billion, but the money is needed for services to support arriving migrants and those already in shelters who need permanent housing.

    Denver, Colorado, is also struggling to provide shelter for a growing number of migrant arrivals.

    Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock declared a state of emergency Thursday in response to the surge of migrants arriving from the southern border.

    “With hundreds of new migrants now in Denver, and several hundred arriving in just the past few days alone, the city’s efforts to shelter them is under severe pressure due to limited space and staffing,” the mayor’s office said in a written statement.

    On Sunday, 90 migrants arrived in Denver overnight, according to data released by the City and County of Denver.

    Denver city services have served around 984 migrants since Dec. 9, the data shows, with 358 people sheltered in city emergency migrant shelters and another 157 people at partner emergency shelters.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Baltimore Ravens 3-13 Cleveland Browns: Donovan Peoples-Jones scores only TD of the game as the Browns stay alive in AFC playoff race

    Baltimore Ravens 3-13 Cleveland Browns: Donovan Peoples-Jones scores only TD of the game as the Browns stay alive in AFC playoff race

    [ad_1]

    Last Updated: 18/12/22 1:06am

    Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett celebrates after sacking Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley during the second half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

    Donovan Peoples-Jones scored the only touchdown of the game as the Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens 13-3 on Saturday to stay alive in the AFC playoff race.

    Story of the Game

    In Deshaun Watson’s home debut for the Browns (6-8), his scoring toss to People-Jones came with two minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter to put Cleveland 13-3 up.

    Watson, who was banned for 11 games for alleged sexual misconduct, finished 18 of 28 for 161 yards in wintery conditions, adding 22 more on the ground.

    Browns rookie Cade York made two field goals but missed two others, while Baltimore’s All-Pro Justin Tucker – the league’s most accurate kicker – had a rare off night, missing with a 48-yarder to end the first half and then having another attempt blocked in the second.

    Tyler Huntley, who was only cleared from concussion protocol a few days ago, started again in place of Lamar Jackson (knee), who missed a second straight. But Huntley but couldn’t get Baltimore going, finishing 17 of 30 for just 138 yards.

    Huntley made a critical mistake in the third quarter, when he was intercepted at the Cleveland nine-yard line by Denzel Ward – the Ravens trailing only 6-3 at that precise moment.

    Watson then directed a 91-yard scoring drive, delivering his TD strike to Peoples-Jones which proved to be enough to close out a crucial victory.

    Stats leaders

    Ravens

    • Passing: Tyler Huntley, 17/30, 138 yards, 1 INT
    • Rushing: JK Dobbins, 13 carries, 125 yards
    • Receiving: Mark Andrews, three catches, 31 yards

    Browns

    • Passing: Deshaun Watson, 18/28, 161 yards, 1 TD
    • Rushing: Nick Chubb, 21 carries, 99 yards
    • Receiving: Amari Cooper, four catches, 58 yards
    • Donovan Peoples-Jones, four catches, 31 yards, 1 TD

    What’s next?

    Tom Brady takes on Joe Burrow for the very first time in the NFL as two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL go toe to toe on Sunday, live on Sky Sports NFL.

    Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7) welcome Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) into town – kick-off at 9.25pm – with the New York Jets (7-6) also hosting the Detroit Lions (6-7) in a key clash for playoff spots, with this one getting under way at 6pm. The Sunday night triple-header rounds off with the Washington Commanders (7-5-1) hosting the New York Giants (7-5-1) in an NFC East divisional battle with huge postseason implications for the two wild card hopefuls – kick-off at 1.20am on Monday morning.

    Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season – featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports – on the go!

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • FBI got tip about shooting suspect a day before 2021 arrest

    FBI got tip about shooting suspect a day before 2021 arrest

    [ad_1]

    DENVER — Authorities said the person who would later kill five at a Colorado gay nightclub was on the FBI’s radar a day before being arrested for threatening to kill family members but agents closed out the case just weeks later.

    The disclosure by the FBI to The Associated Press creates a new timeline for when law enforcement was first alerted to Anderson Lee Aldrich as a potential danger. Previously it was thought Aldrich only became known to authorities after making the threat on June 18, 2021.

    Aldrich’s grandparents ran from their Colorado Springs home last year and called 911, saying Aldrich was building a bomb in the basement and had threatened to kill them. Details of the case remain sealed, but an arrest affidavit verified by the AP detailed how Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, was upset the grandparents were moving to Florida because it would get in the way of Aldrich’s plans to conduct a mass shooting and bombing.

    As part of the FBI’s probe, the agency said it coordinated with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, which had responded to the June 18, 2021, call from Aldrich’s grandparents and arrested Aldrich on felony menacing and kidnapping charges. But the FBI closed its assessment of Aldrich about a month after getting the tip.

    “With state charges pending, the FBI closed its assessment on July 15, 2021,” the FBI said.

    Those charges were later dropped for unknown reasons. Under Colorado law, cases that are dismissed by either prosecutors or a judge are automatically sealed to prevent people from having their lives ruined if they do not end up being prosecuted. Authorities have cited the law in refusing to answer questions about the case but a coalition of media organizations, including the AP, has asked the court to unseal the records.

    A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, Sgt. Jason Garrett, declined to comment on the FBI’s statement or on whether his agency had any tips about Aldrich before Aldrich’s 2021 arrest, citing the sealing law.

    The information conveyed to the FBI, which has not been previously reported, marks the earliest known instance of law enforcement officials being warned about Aldrich, and the shooting is the latest attack to raise questions about whether people who once caught the attention of law enforcement should have remained on the FBI’s radar.

    On the night of Nov. 19, more than a year after the assessment was closed, authorities said Aldrich entered the Club Q gay nightclub carrying an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire, killing five people and wounding 17 others before an Army veteran wrestled the attacker to the ground.

    An FBI assessment is the lowest level, least intrusive and most elementary stage of an FBI inquiry. Such assessments are routinely opened after agents receive a tip and investigators routinely face a challenge of sifting through which of the tens of thousands of tips received every year could yield a viable threat.

    There have been several high-profile examples of the FBI having received information about a gunman before a mass shooting. A month before Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people at a Florida high school, the bureau received a warning that he had been talking about committing a mass shooting. A man who massacred 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in 2016 and another who set off bombs in the streets of New York City the same year had each been looked at by federal agents but officials later determined they did not warrant continued law enforcement scrutiny.

    FBI guidelines meant to balance national security with civil liberties protections impose restrictions on the steps agents may take during the assessment phase. Agents, for instance, may analyze information from government databases and open-source internet searches, and can conduct interviews during an assessment. But they cannot turn to more intrusive techniques, such as requesting a wiretap or internet communications, without higher levels of approval and a more solid basis to suspect a crime.

    More than 10,000 assessments are opened each year. Many are closed within days or weeks when the FBI concludes there’s no criminal or national security threat, or basis for continued scrutiny. The system is meant to ensure that a person who has not broken the law does not remain under perpetual scrutiny on a mere hunch — and that the FBI can reserve its scarce resources for true threats.

    ———

    Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report from Washington.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Colorado Springs reckons with past after gay club shooting

    Colorado Springs reckons with past after gay club shooting

    [ad_1]

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — When officials unfurled a 25-foot rainbow flag in front of Colorado Springs City Hall this week, people gathered to mourn the victims of a mass shooting at a popular gay club couldn’t help but reflect on how such a display of support would have been unthinkable just days earlier.

    With a growing and diversifying population, the city nestled at the foothills of the Rockies is a patchwork of disparate social and cultural fabrics. It’s a place full of art shops and breweries; megachurches and military bases; a liberal arts college and the Air Force Academy. For years it’s marketed itself as an outdoorsy boomtown with a population set to top Denver’s by 2050.

    But last weekend’s shooting has raised uneasy questions about the lasting legacy of cultural conflicts that caught fire decades ago and gave Colorado Springs a reputation as a cauldron of religion-infused conservatism, where LGBTQ people didn’t fit in with the most vocal community leaders’ idea of family values.

    For some, merely seeing police being careful to refer to the victims using their correct pronouns this week signaled a seismic change. For others, the shocking act of violence in a space considered an LGBTQ refuge shattered a sense of optimism pervading everywhere from the city’s revitalized downtown to the sprawling subdivisions on its outskirts.

    “It feels like the city is kind of at this tipping point,” said Candace Woods, a queer minister and chaplain who has called Colorado Springs home for 18 years. “It feels interesting and strange, like there’s this tension: How are we going to decide how we want to move forward as a community?”

    Five people were killed in the attack last weekend. Eight victims remained hospitalized Friday, officials said.

    In recent decades the population has almost doubled to 480,000 people. More than one-third of residents are nonwhite — twice as many as in 1980. The median age is 35. Politics here lean more conservative than in comparable-size cities. City council debates revolve around issues familiar throughout the Mountain West, such as water, housing and the threat of wildfires.

    Residents take pride in describing Colorado Springs as a place defined by reinvention. In the early 20th century, newcomers sought to establish a resort town in the shadow of Pikes Peak. In the 1940s, military bases arrived. In the 1990s it became known as a home base for evangelical nonprofits and Christian ministries including broadcast ministry Focus on the Family and the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys.

    “I have been thinking for years, we’re in the middle of a transition about what Colorado Springs is, who we are, and what we’ve become,” said Matt Mayberry, a historian at Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.

    The idea of latching onto a city with a bright future is partly what drew Michael Anderson, a Club Q bartender who survived last weekend’s shooting.

    Two friends, Derrick Rump and Daniel Aston, helped Anderson land the Club Q job and find his “queer family” in his new hometown. It was more welcoming than rural Florida where he grew up.

    Still, he noted signs the city was more culturally conservative than others of similar size and much of Colorado: “Colorado Springs is kind of an outlier,” he said.

    Now he’s grieving the deaths of Rump and Aston in the club shooting.

    Leslie Herod followed an opposite trajectory. After growing up in Colorado Springs in a military family — like many others in the city — she left to study at the University of Colorado in liberal Boulder. In 2016 she became the first openly LGBTQ and Black person elected to Colorado’s General Assembly, representing part of Denver. She is now running to become Denver’s mayor.

    “Colorado Springs is a community that is full of love. But I will also acknowledge that I chose to leave the Springs because I felt like when it came to … the elected leadership, the vocal leadership in this community, it wasn’t supportive of all people, wasn’t supportive of Black people, wasn’t supportive of immigrants, not supportive of LGBTQ people,” Herod said at a memorial event downtown.

    She said she found community at Club Q when she would return from college. But she didn’t forget people and groups with a history of anti-LGBTQ stances and rhetoric maintained influence in city politics.

    “This community, just like any other community in the country, is complex,” she said.

    Club Q’s co-owner, Nic Grzecka, told The Associated Press he’s hoping to use the tragedy to rebuild a “loving culture” in the city. Even though general acceptance the LGBTQ community has grown, Grzecka said false assertions that members of the community are “grooming” children has incited hatred.

    Those who have been around long enough are remembering this week how in the 1990s, at the height of the religious right’s influence, the Colorado Springs-based group Colorado for Family Values spearheaded a statewide push to pass Amendment 2 and make it illegal for communities to pass ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination.

    Colorado Springs voted 3 to 1 in favor of Amendment 2, helping make its narrow statewide victory possible. Though it was later ruled unconstitutional, the campaign cemented the city’s reputation, drawing more like-minded groups and galvanizing progressive activists in response.

    The influx of evangelical groups decades ago was at least in part spurred by efforts from the city’s economic development arm to offer financial incentives to lure nonprofits. Newcomers began lobbying for policies like getting rid of school Halloween celebrations due to suspicions about the holiday’s pagan origins.

    Yemi Mobolade, an entrepreneur running for mayor as an independent, didn’t understand how strong Colorado Springs’ stigma as a “hate city” was until he moved here 12 years ago. But since then, he said, it has risen from recession-era struggles and become culturally and economically vibrant for all kinds of people.

    There has been a concerted push to shed the city’s reputation as “Jesus Springs” and remake it yet again, highlighting its elite Olympic Training Center and branding itself as Olympic City USA.

    Much like in the 1990s, Focus on the Family and New Life Church remain prominent in town. After the shooting, Focus on the Family’s president, Jim Daly, said that like the rest of the community he was mourning the tragedy. With the city under the national spotlight, he said the organization wanted to make it clear it stands against hate.

    Daly noted a generational shift among Christian leaders away from the rhetorical style of his predecessor, Dr. James Dobson. Whereas Focus on the Family published literature in decades past assailing what it called the “Homosexual Agenda,” its messaging now emphasizes tolerance, ensuring those who believe marriage should be between one man and one woman have the right to act accordingly.

    “I think in a pluralistic culture now, the idea is: How do we all live without treading on each other?” Daly said.

    After a sign in front of the group’s headquarters was vandalized with graffiti reading “their blood is on your hands” and “five lives taken,” Daly said in a statement Friday it was time for “prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate.”

    The memorials this week attracted a wave of visitors: crowds of mourners clutching flowers, throngs of television crews and a church group whose volunteers set up a tent and passed out cookies, coffee and water. To some in the LGBTQ community, the scene was less about solidarity and more a cause for consternation.

    Colorado Springs native Ashlyn May, who grew up in a Christian church but left when it didn’t accept her queer identity, said one woman from the group in the tent asked if she could pray for her and a friend who accompanied her to the memorial.

    She said yes. It reminded May of her beloved great-grandparents, who were religious. But as the praying carried on and the woman urged May and her friend to turn to God, she felt as if praying had turned into preying. It unearthed memories of hearing things about LGBTQ people she saw as hateful and inciting.

    “It felt very conflicting,” May said.

    ___

    Metz reported from Salt Lake City. AP writers Brittany Peterson and Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Colorado Springs reckons with past after gay club shooting

    Colorado Springs reckons with past after gay club shooting

    [ad_1]

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When officials unfurled a 25-foot rainbow flag in front of Colorado Springs City Hall this week, people gathered to mourn the victims of a mass shooting at a popular gay club couldn’t help but reflect on how such a display of support would have been unthinkable just days earlier.

    With a growing and diversifying population, the city nestled at the foothills of the Rockies is a patchwork of disparate social and cultural fabrics. It’s a place full of art shops and breweries; megachurches and military bases; a liberal arts college and the Air Force Academy. For years it’s marketed itself as an outdoorsy boomtown with a population set to top Denver’s by 2050.

    But last weekend’s shooting has raised uneasy questions about the lasting legacy of cultural conflicts that caught fire decades ago and gave Colorado Springs a reputation as a cauldron of religion-infused conservatism, where LGBTQ people didn’t fit in with the most vocal community leaders’ idea of family values.

    For some, merely seeing police being careful to refer to the victims using their correct pronouns this week signaled a seismic change. For others, the shocking act of violence in a space considered an LGBTQ refuge shattered a sense of optimism pervading everywhere from the city’s revitalized downtown to the sprawling subdivisions on its outskirts.

    “It feels like the city is kind of at this tipping point,” said Candace Woods, a queer minister and chaplain who has called Colorado Springs home for 18 years. “It feels interesting and strange, like there’s this tension: How are we going to decide how we want to move forward as a community?”

    Five people were killed in the attack last weekend. Eight victims remained hospitalized Friday, officials said.

    In recent decades the population has almost doubled to 480,000 people. More than one-third of residents are nonwhite — twice as many as in 1980. The median age is 35. Politics here lean more conservative than in comparable-size cities. City council debates revolve around issues familiar throughout the Mountain West, such as water, housing and the threat of wildfires.

    Residents take pride in describing Colorado Springs as a place defined by reinvention. In the early 20th century, newcomers sought to establish a resort town in the shadow of Pikes Peak. In the 1940s, military bases arrived. In the 1990s it became known as a home base for evangelical nonprofits and Christian ministries including broadcast ministry Focus on the Family and the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys.

    “I have been thinking for years, we’re in the middle of a transition about what Colorado Springs is, who we are, and what we’ve become,” said Matt Mayberry, a historian at Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.

    The idea of latching onto a city with a bright future is partly what drew Michael Anderson, a Club Q bartender who survived last weekend’s shooting.

    Two friends, Derrick Rump and Daniel Aston, helped Anderson land the Club Q job and find his “queer family” in his new hometown. It was more welcoming than rural Florida where he grew up.

    Still, he noted signs the city was more culturally conservative than others of similar size and much of Colorado: “Colorado Springs is kind of an outlier,” he said.

    Now he’s grieving the deaths of Rump and Aston in the club shooting.

    Leslie Herod followed an opposite trajectory. After growing up in Colorado Springs in a military family — like many others in the city — she left to study at the University of Colorado in liberal Boulder. In 2016 she became the first openly LGBTQ and Black person elected to Colorado’s General Assembly, representing part of Denver. She is now running to become Denver’s mayor.

    “Colorado Springs is a community that is full of love. But I will also acknowledge that I chose to leave the Springs because I felt like when it came to … the elected leadership, the vocal leadership in this community, it wasn’t supportive of all people, wasn’t supportive of Black people, wasn’t supportive of immigrants, not supportive of LGBTQ people,” Herod said at a memorial event downtown.

    She said she found community at Club Q when she would return from college. But she didn’t forget people and groups with a history of anti-LGBTQ stances and rhetoric maintained influence in city politics.

    “This community, just like any other community in the country, is complex,” she said.

    Club Q’s co-owner, Nic Grzecka, told The Associated Press he’s hoping to use the tragedy to rebuild a “loving culture” in the city. Even though general acceptance the LGBTQ community has grown, Grzecka said false assertions that members of the community are “grooming” children has incited hatred.

    Those who have been around long enough are remembering this week how in the 1990s, at the height of the religious right’s influence, the Colorado Springs-based group Colorado for Family Values spearheaded a statewide push to pass Amendment 2 and make it illegal for communities to pass ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination.

    Colorado Springs voted 3 to 1 in favor of Amendment 2, helping make its narrow statewide victory possible. Though it was later ruled unconstitutional, the campaign cemented the city’s reputation, drawing more like-minded groups and galvanizing progressive activists in response.

    The influx of evangelical groups decades ago was at least in part spurred by efforts from the city’s economic development arm to offer financial incentives to lure nonprofits. Newcomers began lobbying for policies like getting rid of school Halloween celebrations due to suspicions about the holiday’s pagan origins.

    Yemi Mobolade, an entrepreneur running for mayor as an independent, didn’t understand how strong Colorado Springs’ stigma as a “hate city” was until he moved here 12 years ago. But since then, he said, it has risen from recession-era struggles and become culturally and economically vibrant for all kinds of people.

    There has been a concerted push to shed the city’s reputation as “Jesus Springs” and remake it yet again, highlighting its elite Olympic Training Center and branding itself as Olympic City USA.

    Much like in the 1990s, Focus on the Family and New Life Church remain prominent in town. After the shooting, Focus on the Family’s president, Jim Daly, said that like the rest of the community he was mourning the tragedy. With the city under the national spotlight, he said the organization wanted to make it clear it stands against hate.

    Daly noted a generational shift among Christian leaders away from the rhetorical style of his predecessor, Dr. James Dobson. Whereas Focus on the Family published literature in decades past assailing what it called the “Homosexual Agenda,” its messaging now emphasizes tolerance, ensuring those who believe marriage should be between one man and one woman have the right to act accordingly.

    “I think in a pluralistic culture now, the idea is: How do we all live without treading on each other?” Daly said.

    After a sign in front of the group’s headquarters was vandalized with graffiti reading “their blood is on your hands” and “five lives taken,” Daly said in a statement Friday it was time for “prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate.”

    The memorials this week attracted a wave of visitors: crowds of mourners clutching flowers, throngs of television crews and a church group whose volunteers set up a tent and passed out cookies, coffee and water. To some in the LGBTQ community, the scene was less about solidarity and more a cause for consternation.

    Colorado Springs native Ashlyn May, who grew up in a Christian church but left when it didn’t accept her queer identity, said one woman from the group in the tent asked if she could pray for her and a friend who accompanied her to the memorial.

    She said yes. It reminded May of her beloved great-grandparents, who were religious. But as the praying carried on and the woman urged May and her friend to turn to God, she felt as if praying had turned into preying. It unearthed memories of hearing things about LGBTQ people she saw as hateful and inciting.

    “It felt very conflicting,” May said.

    ———

    Metz reported from Salt Lake City. AP writers Brittany Peterson and Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Mother, friends, performers among dead at Colorado gay club

    Mother, friends, performers among dead at Colorado gay club

    [ad_1]

    A loving boyfriend. A 28-year-old bartender who loved to perform. A mother visiting from a small town who enjoyed hunting. These are among the victims of the rampage at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs that left five people dead and 17 others with gunshot wounds.

    Club regulars and newcomers — gay and straight, transgender and cisgender — flocked to Club Q over the weekend to dance, enjoy a comedy show or work behind the bar. What began as a typical Saturday evening of dancing and drinking at the preeminent LGBTQ establishment in the conservative-leaning Colorado city south of Denver ended in tragedy when a gunman entered and began spraying bullets before he was tackled and subdued.

    The 22-year-old suspect is facing five murder charges and five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury.

    Here are the five people killed:

    DANIEL ASTON

    Daniel Aston, 28, grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and moved to be closer to family in Colorado Springs two years ago. He worked as a bartender and entertainer at Club Q and cherished the venue as a sanctuary where as a transgender man he could be himself and perform to a lauding audience, his mother Sabrina Aston told The Associated Press.

    The self-proclaimed “Master of Silly Business,” Aston had a propensity for making others laugh that started as a child when he would don elaborate costumes and write plays acted out by neighborhood kids. In college, where he was president of his school’s LGBTQ club, he put on fundraisers with ever-more flashy productions.

    ″(Daniel’s shows) are great. Everybody needs to go see him,” his mother said. “He lit up a room, always smiling, always happy and silly,” she said.

    DERRICK RUMP

    Derrick Rump, 38, a bartender at Club Q, was remembered as a loving person with a quick wit who adopted his friends as his family.

    “He was living his dream and he would have wanted everyone to do the same,” said his mother, Julia Thames, who confirmed his death to ABC News.

    She said in a statement that Rump was “a kind loving person who had a heart of gold.”

    “He was always there for my daughter and myself when we needed him; also his friends from Colorado, which he would say was his family also,” she said in the statement.

    Rump’s friend, Anthony Jaramillo, told CBS News that Rump was “loving, supportive, with a heavy hand in his drink pouring, and just a really good listener and would not be afraid to tell you when you were wrong instead of telling you what you wanted to hear and that was really valuable.”

    KELLY LOVING

    Kelly Loving, 40, had been talking to a friend on a FaceTime call from inside Club Q just minutes before the shooting started. Natalee Skye Bingham told The New York Times that the last thing she said to Loving was: “Be safe. I love you.”

    “She was like a trans mother to me. I looked up to her,” Bingham said. “In the gay community you create your families, so it’s like I lost my real mother almost.”

    Bingham, 25, said Loving had only recently moved to Denver and was visiting the club while on a weekend trip to Colorado Springs.

    “She was a tough woman,” Bingham said. “She taught me how it was to be a trans woman and live your life day to day.”

    Loving’s sister, Tiffany Loving, offered condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the shooting as well as those struggling for acceptance in the world.

    “My sister was a good person. She was loving and caring and sweet. Everyone loved her. Kelly was a wonderful person,” she said in a statement.

    RAYMOND GREEN VANCE

    Raymond Green Vance, 22, went to Club Q on Saturday night with his girlfriend, Kassy Fierro, and her father, Rich, the co-owner of Atrevida Beer Co., a local brewery in Colorado Springs. The group was there to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

    “My sweet baby. ill never be able to heal from this. i want to wake up from this horrendous nightmare. i pray u hear me when i call for you. im so sorry. ill never forgive myself for taking everyone there. i will love you til the day i get to come back home to your arms,” Kassy Fierro wrote in a Facebook post Monday accompanied by a photo of the couple.

    Vance’s family in a statement described him as a kind, selfless man with a promising future. He worked at a FedEx Distribution Center, loved video games and was “willing to go out of his way to help anyone,” the family said.

    “Raymond was the victim of a man who unleashed terror on innocent people out with family and friends,” they wrote in the statement.

    ASHLEY PAUGH

    Ashley Paugh, 35, was a loving mother and wife with a “huge heart,” said her husband, Kurt Paugh. She volunteered with an organization that helped children in foster care and delivered Christmas trees to the homes in which they were placed to brighten their holiday seasons.

    “She was my high school sweetheart — and she was just an amazing mother. Her daughter was her whole world,” her husband said in a statement.

    She also enjoyed hunting, fishing and riding four-wheelers.

    A resident of La Junta, a 7,500-person town about a two-hour’s drive from Colorado Springs, Paugh was visiting for the day with a friend when they went to Club Q on Saturday night for a comedy act. She was scheduled to organize the delivery of trees to homes with foster children in Pueblo and Colorado Springs this week, her husband said.

    ———

    Associated Press News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York and reporter Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed to this report. Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Rage and sadness as Colorado club shooting victims honored

    Rage and sadness as Colorado club shooting victims honored

    [ad_1]

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Hundreds of people, many holding candles and wiping away tears, gathered Monday night in a Colorado Springs park to honor those killed and wounded when a gunman opened fire on a nightlife venue that for decades was a sanctuary for the local LGBTQ community.

    The vigil came as the 22-year-old suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, remained hospitalized after Saturday night’s attack in which five people were killed and another 17 suffered gunshot wounds before patrons tackled and beat the suspect into submission. Aldrich faces five murder charges and five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, online court records showed.

    The attack at Club Q has shaken the LGBTQ community in this mostly conservative city of about 480,000, located 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Denver. At Monday night’s vigil people embraced and listened as speakers on a stage expressed both rage and sadness over the shootings.

    Jeremiah Harris, who is 24 and gay, said he went to the club a couple times a month and recognized one of the victims as the bartender who always served him. He said hearing others speak at the vigil was galvanizing following the attack.

    “Gay people have been here as long as people have been here,” Harris said. “To everybody else that’s opposed to that … we’re not going anywhere. We’re just getting louder and you have to deal with it.”

    Authorities have yet to reveal a motive for the attack, but the charges against Aldrich include hate crime charges, which would require proving that the gunman was motivated by bias, such as against the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The charges against Aldrich are preliminary, and prosecutors have not filed formal charges in court yet.

    Court documents laying out Aldrich’s arrest have been sealed at the request of prosecutors. Information on whether Aldrich had a lawyer was not immediately available.

    Local and federal authorities during a Monday news briefing declined to answer questions about why hate crime charges are being considered, citing the ongoing investigation. District Attorney Michael Allen noted that the murder charges would carry the harshest penalty — life in prison — whereas bias crimes are eligible for probation.

    “But it is important to let the community know that we do not tolerate bias motivated crimes in this community, that we support communities that have been maligned, harassed and intimidated and abused,” Allen said, adding that additional charges are possible.

    More details emerged Monday about those killed and those credited with stopping the shooting.

    Authorities said the attack was halted by two club patrons including Richard Fierro, who told reporters that he took a handgun from Aldrich, hit him with it and pinned him down with help from another person.

    Fierro, a 15-year U.S. Army veteran who owns a local brewery, said he was celebrating a birthday with family members when the suspect “came in shooting.” Fierro said he ran at the suspect, who was wearing some type body armor, and pulled him down before severely beating him until police arrived.

    Though his actions saved lives, Fierro said the deaths — including his daughter’s boyfriend, 22-year-old Raymond Green Vance — were a tragedy both personal and for the broader community.

    “There are five people that I could not help. And one of which was family to me,” he said, as his brother put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

    Vance’s family said in a statement that the Colorado Springs native was adored by his family and had recently gotten a job at FedEx, where he hoped to save enough money to get his own apartment.

    The other victims were identified by authorities and family members as Ashley Paugh, 35, a mother who helped find homes for foster children; Daniel Aston, 28, who had worked at the club as a a bartender and entertainer; Kelly Loving, 40, whose sister described her as “caring and sweet”; and Derrick Rump, 38, another club bartender who was known for his quick wit and adopting his friends as his family.

    Thomas James was identified by authorities as the other patron who intervened to stop the shooter. Fierro said a third person also helped — a performer at the club who Fierro said kicked the suspect in the head.

    Thirteen victims remained hospitalized Monday, officials said. Five people had been treated and released.

    A law enforcement official said the suspect used an AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon. A handgun and additional ammunition magazines also were recovered. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

    The assault quickly raised questions about why authorities did not seek to take Aldrich’s guns away from him in 2021, when he was arrested after his mother reported he threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons.

    Though authorities at the time said no explosives were found, gun-control advocates have asked why police didn’t use Colorado’s “red flag” laws to seize the weapons his mother says he had. There’s no public record prosecutors ever moved forward with felony kidnapping and menacing charges against Aldrich.

    It was the sixth mass killing this month, and it came in a year when the nation was shaken by the deaths of 21 in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. It also rekindled memories of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people.

    Since 2006, there have been 523 mass killings and 2,727 deaths as of Nov. 19, according to The Associated Press/USA Today database on mass killings in the U.S.

    ———

    Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

    ———

    Associated Press reporters Haven Daley in Colorado Springs, Colleen Slevin in Denver, Darlene Superville in Washington, Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Jeff McMillan in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, and news researcher Rhonda Shafner from New York contributed.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Neil Reynolds’ Final Word: New York Jets pass big test against Buffalo Bills and Tom Brady still gets it done aged 45

    Neil Reynolds’ Final Word: New York Jets pass big test against Buffalo Bills and Tom Brady still gets it done aged 45

    [ad_1]

    The New York Jets bounced back with a superb shock win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday

    As many as eight games on Sunday were decided by one score. We had the usual upsets, big plays and tight finishes – it’s the theme of this NFL season so far through nine weeks.

    1) Jets pass big test against Bills

    Most would have said it was a big positive for the New York Jets to even keep this one close against the Buffalo Bills, but they ended up winning the game.

    Highlights of the Buffalo Bills against the New York Jets from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Buffalo Bills against the New York Jets from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Highlights of the Buffalo Bills against the New York Jets from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Their defense was lights out. Sauce Gardner continues to impress as a rookie, as well as D.J. Reed in the secondary. They’ve also got a good pass rush, making an incredible quarterback in Josh Allen look very uncomfortable. The run game was also there, even without star rookie Breece Hall – they rushed for over 170 yards.

    I’m very impressed by what the Jets are doing this season. And it was a great way for this team to bounce back after a difficult loss to the New England Patriots. They are proving they’re no fluke.

    I’ve been speaking to a lot of Jets players this season and they genuinely are not surprised by where they’re at. It’s what they expected; they believed they could be this team. They’re a confident bunch.

    2) Tua tops 300 yards once more

    Another week in the NFL, and another game where Tua Tagovailoa throws for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, this time against the Chicago Bears. It is becoming a regular thing now for the Miami Dolphins.

    Highlights of the Miami Dolphins against the Chicago Bears from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Miami Dolphins against the Chicago Bears from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Highlights of the Miami Dolphins against the Chicago Bears from Week Nine of the NFL season

    They’re so hard to stop because he is so quick with his decision-making – the ball comes out of his hand so fast – and the receivers are so fast too. He is throwing the ball in under two and a half seconds, and by that time Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are already 25 yards down the field.

    As a result, defenses are terrified of being beaten deep, so they give Miami a lot of the middle of the field and their offense are feasting on that.

    Hill has over 1,000 yards already and we’re only nine games into the season. It’s incredible!

    Tua Tagovailoa fires a laser to Jaylen Waddle for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Miami Dolphins further in front against the Chicago Bears

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Tua Tagovailoa fires a laser to Jaylen Waddle for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Miami Dolphins further in front against the Chicago Bears

    Tua Tagovailoa fires a laser to Jaylen Waddle for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Miami Dolphins further in front against the Chicago Bears

    3) Where have you been, Joe Mixon?

    When the Cincinnati Bengals went on their run to the Super Bowl last year, so much was made of the play of quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase, but Joe Mixon and the ground game was also a big part of that.

    Highlights of the Carolina Panthers against the Cincinnati Bengals from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Carolina Panthers against the Cincinnati Bengals from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Highlights of the Carolina Panthers against the Cincinnati Bengals from Week Nine of the NFL season

    He has been missing for most of this season, but he arrived in a big way on Sunday with 211 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns. Yes, it was against a poor Carolina Panthers team, but I want to see if the Bengals can stick to this style going forward and more of a balanced attack?

    4) Don’t let Brady hang around!

    If you give even a 45-year-old Tom Brady, with no running game and no offensive line, just enough time, let him hang around, he’ll beat you.

    Highlights of the Los Angeles Rams against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Los Angeles Rams against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Highlights of the Los Angeles Rams against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from Week Nine of the NFL season

    The Los Angeles Rams continue to be hugely disappointing this season. They’ve been dreadful in the fourth quarter of games – outscored 71-10 in the final period. That’s on coaching, but also their big players not being able to close out games.

    They played really soft on defense. They allowed Brady a deep pass down the middle and then he was able to work the sidelines before throwing the game-winning touchdown in the closing seconds. It was classic Brady, and a great moment in what will most probably be his last season.

    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been pretty awful – not terrible, but certainly bad by their standards – yet they’re in first place in the NFC South, with no one running away with that division. And weirdly, because of the respective strength of their divisions, as it stands the 4-5 Bucs aren’t in a dissimilar spot to the 6-2 Bills in terms of controlling their division and their destiny.

    Germany welcomes the NFL for the first ever time on Sunday, with Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Seattle Seahawks - live on Sky Sports!

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Germany welcomes the NFL for the first ever time on Sunday, with Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Seattle Seahawks – live on Sky Sports!

    Germany welcomes the NFL for the first ever time on Sunday, with Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Seattle Seahawks – live on Sky Sports!

    5) Raiders’ shocking collapse against Jags

    I was really disappointed by the Las Vegas Raiders’ collapse from being 17-0 up in the second quarter to finding a way to lose that game to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

    Highlights of the Las Vegas Raiders against the Jacksonville Jaguars from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Highlights of the Las Vegas Raiders against the Jacksonville Jaguars from Week Nine of the NFL season

    Highlights of the Las Vegas Raiders against the Jacksonville Jaguars from Week Nine of the NFL season

    There have now been three games this season where the Raiders have led by 17 and have lost. That’s unforgivable, and it’s the sort of thing that will get head coach Josh McDaniels fired. And these NFL owners aren’t afraid to pull the trigger… we’ve seen it already this season with Matt Rhule in Carolina and most recently with Frank Reich at the Indianapolis Colts.

    He’s now firmly on the hot seat, because that team simply can’t close out games. How can you run the ball for three-straight weeks with Josh Jacobs to the tune of about 200 yards per game, but then you get a 17-point lead in this game and yet you can’t run it to save your life?

    Also, Davante Adams had nine catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the first half… and then just one grab for zero yards in the second. That is shocking!

    Player of the Week: Joe Mixon

    I left him out of my NFL Fantasy Football team, which absolutely destroyed me. But it has to be Mixon after his five-TD day for the Bengals.

    Watch all five of Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon's touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers in Week Nine

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Watch all five of Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon’s touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers in Week Nine

    Watch all five of Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon’s touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers in Week Nine

    It was a reminder that if he gets the right blocking, he is one of the best running backs in the NFL. He is going to be key for the Bengals the rest of the way.

    Play of the Week: Justin Fields

    I’m going with Bears quarterback Justin Fields’ 61-yard touchdown run against the Dolphins.

    Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields breaks through the Miami Dolphins defense on a stunning 61-yard touchdown run

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields breaks through the Miami Dolphins defense on a stunning 61-yard touchdown run

    Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields breaks through the Miami Dolphins defense on a stunning 61-yard touchdown run

    Not only did it keep Chicago in the contest, but it was one play of many that he made in a really entertaining game that offered hope for the future of the Bears and their fans.

    Fields is an incredible talent who is going to grow as a passer. But for now, let him do his thing, let him run free. He has made the Bears one for the more entertaining teams in the NFL in recent weeks.

    And I loved the clip of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel shouting at Fields as he ran out of bounds at one point on the Miami sideline… he was basically saying, ‘please, stop it!’

    Coach of the Week: Kevin O’Connell

    I’m a bit conflicted about this choice, because Kevin O’Connell is an offensive-minded coach, but his Minnesota Vikings unit does tend to get bogged down at times in games.

    Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell has his team 7-1 on the season after a six-game winning streak

    Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has his team 7-1 on the season after a six-game winning streak

    They’ll score fast in games, then will follow it up with about six punts in a row, before then finding another way to score again.

    Yet, this team are 7-1, are on a six-game winning streak and every one of those wins has been by one score. You look back to last year, and this Vikings team lost a lot of heartbreakers; this season, they’re finding a way to get over the line, and I think that is down to a coach who gives his players such confidence.

    You can see their team spirit come through in the way they celebrate as a team – on the field, in the locker room and even on the plane! They had an old curmudgeon as a coach before in Mike Zimmer, who wouldn’t have allowed those sort of things.

    Whatever magic formula they’ve found, it’s working, because they’ve practically assured themselves a playoff spot already at only the halfway point of the season.

    On My Radar

    Jeff Saturday as the new interim coach of the Colts really is a head-scratcher.

    The Indianapolis Colts have appointed former player Jeff Saturday as interim head coach in a surprise move

    The Indianapolis Colts have appointed former player Jeff Saturday as interim head coach in a surprise move

    I really like Reich, but I think it was inevitable that he was going to get fired as the Colts’ season was heading south. They made a change at quarterback, fired the offensive coordinator… that was really the only logical next move.

    It was textbook from owner Jim Irsay really, all the way up until the hiring of Saturday. I believe he now becomes the first head coach in the league to have never coached at NFL or college level – he has only coached high school football before.

    He was an All-Pro player for the team though, and was a really good leader. During the NFL lockout of 2011, he was a key negotiator in completing the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and NFL Players’ Association. There’s obviously something about him.

    But it’s one to keep an eye on, because it’s a hugely unconventional move by the Colts. I’m curious but also dubious.

    Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season – featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports – on the go!

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Cowboys @ Packers and Vikings @ Bills: NFL Week 10 game picks live on Sky Sports

    Cowboys @ Packers and Vikings @ Bills: NFL Week 10 game picks live on Sky Sports

    [ad_1]

    This week’s NFL Sunday action live on Sky Sports sees the one-loss Minnesota Vikings (7-1) travel to the Buffalo Bills (6-2), while the Green Bay Packers (3-6) are desperate for a win as they host the red-hot Dallas Cowboys (6-2) – live on Sky Sports NFL, from 6pm, Sunday

    Last Updated: 08/11/22 6:20pm

    Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott celebrates with running back Tony Pollard

    The in-form Dallas Cowboys head to Green Bay on Sunday night to face a Packers outfit in the midst of a five-game losing streak and desperate for a win.

    The Week 10 games to be shown live on Sky Sports NFL have been announced, with the matchup between the Cowboys (6-2) and Aaron Rodgers’ Packers (3-6) getting underway at Lambeau Field from 9.25pm on Sunday.

    NFL Week 10 live on Sky Sports

    Thursday Night Football Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers Friday, 1.15am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    NFL in Germany (Allianz Arena) Seattle Seahawks @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, 2.30pm, Sky Sports NFL
    NFL Sunday double-header Minnesota Vikings @ Buffalo Bills Sunday, 6pm, Sky Sports NFL
    Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers Sunday, 9.25pm, Sky Sports NFL
    NFL RedZone Week 10 Sunday, 6pm, Sky Sports Mix
    Sunday Night Football Los Angeles Chargers @ San Francisco 49ers Monday, 1.20am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event
    Monday Night Football Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles Tuesday, 1.15am, Sky Sports NFL & Main Event

    Prior to that one, the Buffalo Bills (6-2), fresh from a surprise defeat to the New York Jets last weekend, have the chance to put things right against the one-loss Minnesota Vikings (7-1). This one in Buffalo kicks off at 6pm.

    Germany welcomes the NFL for the first ever time on Sunday, with Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Seattle Seahawks - live on Sky Sports!

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Germany welcomes the NFL for the first ever time on Sunday, with Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Seattle Seahawks – live on Sky Sports!

    Germany welcomes the NFL for the first ever time on Sunday, with Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Seattle Seahawks – live on Sky Sports!

    And before the traditional NFL Sunday double-header, the NFL lands in Germany for the very first time in its history as Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) take on the Seattle Seahawks (6-3) at the Allianz Arena in Munich – this one exclusively live on Sky Sports NFL from 2.30pm.

    Christian McCaffrey had a passing, receiving and rushing touchdown for the San Francisco 49ers in their most recent win over the Los Angeles Rams.

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    Christian McCaffrey had a passing, receiving and rushing touchdown for the San Francisco 49ers in their most recent win over the Los Angeles Rams.

    Christian McCaffrey had a passing, receiving and rushing touchdown for the San Francisco 49ers in their most recent win over the Los Angeles Rams.

    Rounding off the Sunday night action, we join our friends at NBC for Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football, with Christian McCaffrey eager for another star showing for the San Francisco 49ers (4-4) as they host Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers (5-3) – kick-off is at 1.20am, early on Monday morning.

    Live NFL

    November 11, 2022, 12:00am

    Live on

    Elsewhere, the Week 10 action gets under way with the traditional Thursday night fare as the Atlanta Falcons (4-5), travel to the Carolina Panthers (2-7) in an NFC South divisional clash – watch live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am on Friday morning.

    A look at how the Philadelphia Eagles have become the only undefeated team left in the 2022 NFL season.

    Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

    A look at how the Philadelphia Eagles have become the only undefeated team left in the 2022 NFL season.

    A look at how the Philadelphia Eagles have become the only undefeated team left in the 2022 NFL season.

    Then, on Monday night, Week 10 concludes with the still unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles (8-0) hosting the Washington Commanders (4-5) in another rivalry clash, this one in the NFC East. Watch live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am, Tuesday.

    Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season – featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports – on the go!

    [ad_2]

    Source link