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How to replace your Colorado lawn with native or water-saving grass

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Editor’s note: Betty Cahill wrote about preparing your lawn for replacement here last week. Here is Part II.You’ve decided to remove your cool-season lawn grass and replace it with either native grass or another water-saving grass species. The goal is to reduce outdoor summer water use and be part of the long-term solution of our limited Colorado water resources.Good on ya; let’s roll up our sleeves and discuss the how-tos and what-nots.Last week, we talked about the differences between warm and cool-season grasses, if swapping lawns is right for you, and helpful tips on saving water in your current landscape.TimingThe expression “there’s no time like the present” is more than applicable to get started on a turf-replacement project. This applies both to first killing the existing lawn and then planting and caring for the new one.Cover lawn with cardboard and add soil to a depth of 6 inches to kill an existing lawn. (Betty Cahill, Special to The Denver Post)The best time to get...

5 new mysteries set in Colorado and other Western states

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

“Till Death Do Us Port,” by Kate Lansing. (Berkley)Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of mystery writers set their stories in Colorado and the mountain states. Here is a sampling of some newer ones.“Till Death Do Us Port,” by Kate Lansing (Berkley Prime Crime)Parker Valentine is ready to pour the wine at her cousin’s reception when the wedding planner turns up dead, tulle from a bridesmaid’s gown wrapped around her neck.  Having solved crimes in four previous Kate Lansing mysteries, the Boulder vintner jumps in to find the killer.  And, to her surprise, her mother, critical of Parker’s sleuthing in the past, joins her.There is no question that the killer is a member of the bridal party.  Suspicion falls on the bride’s mother. It’s up to Parker to prove the woman didn’t send nasty emails to the planner.  In fact, Parker believes the self-centered stepmother is a better suspect.  Still others have reason to do in the wedding planner, including bridesmaids and groomsmen....

Denver’s Valor on the Fax offers people with brain injuries a safe space and a way to stay off the streets

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Jim Ray’s life was never the same after an assailant wielding a bat attacked him in New Mexico back in 1999. His head injuries were so severe he lost the ability to read and write, earn a meaningful income and keep a roof over his head.For years he couch-surfed and relied on the kindness of friends in the area until he returned to Ohio during the pandemic to help take care of his father’s estate. When he came back to Denver, finding a place to live became even harder, and he ended up in shelters.Everything changed for Ray when he recently moved into Valor on the Fax, a new 72-unit affordable apartment complex designed specifically for those who have suffered brain injuries.“They did a nice job on this place,” Ray said during an opening celebration Wednesday that brought together backers of the development, which took five years to complete. Valor on the Fax is one of the largest supportive housing communities in the state and one of the first affordable housi...

Darla Sidles ran the nation’s fourth-busiest national park for seven years. Here’s what she learned.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Rocky Mountain National Park superintendent Darla Sidles will retire June 30 after seven years leading the country’s fourth-busiest national park, leaving behind an office at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center with a stunning panoramic view of Longs Peak and its sheer east face.She took over the top position at the park after serving seven years as superintendent at Saguaro National Park in Arizona.“It’s been such a passion and honor to work here,” Sidles said Thursday in an hour-long interview. “And the whole (National) Parks Service for that matter, 34 years. It’s been a good career.”Much of her focus at Rocky Mountain National Park has been on managing visitor use, and for many it has come to define her tenure. Driven largely by Front Range population growth, the park surpassed 4 million visitors for the first time the year before she took over, and it has exceeded 4 million every year since then except for the COVID year of 2020. Last yea...

First lots list for sale in new Arvada foothills luxury home site

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Arvada’s luxury home market is growing. The first eight lots in Canyon Pines, a 90-plot home development site nestled in the Arvada foothills, hit the market in March.Denver-based Peak Development purchased the 180-acre site known as 25377 State Highway 72 for $9 million nearly two years ago. Peak founder Chad Ellington said the first eight lots range from 0.5 to 1.5 acres in size and are listed for about $500,000 to a little more than $1 million. He said two lots have already sold for roughly $750,000, and prospective buyers have been a combination of custom homebuilders and end users.Lot pricing depends on the views, privacy and terrain. Ellington said the architecture and design firm Semple Brown created guidelines prospective buyers must meet to ensure home designs fit within the natural landscape. “There’s a lot of considerations to make it (the homes) feel like it’s been there forever instead of an appendage that was added to the side of this mountain,” Ellington said. He said...

Billy Idol North American Tour – How to Get Presale Code Tickets

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Rock legend Billy Idol has announced new dates for his North American Tour and we can tell you how to get presale code tickets for the tour. Presale code tickets go on sale Tuesday, May 23, at 10 am local time, while general on sale tickets will start the following day, Thursday, May 24 at 10 am local time. You can find the Billy Idol presale codes and passwords below.Visit the ticket sale page for the full list of Billy Idol tour dates and details.If you’ve been waiting on a nice day for a white wedding, you’ll be happy to hear that Billy Idol will be tearing up the stage across 15 dates, and even featuring special guests the Foo Fighters at the Aspen, CO date on September 3. The tour will launch on August 27 in Vancouver, BC and will hit several dates before coming to a halt with a date on September 17 in Washington, DC, then following that up with five dates at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, NV, October 20-28. See below for all dates and details.Visit the ticket sale ...

Four decades later, pain of Archbishop Mitty teacher being killed on Highway 17 lingers: Roadshow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Q: On the rainy night of December 24, 1979, my English teacher at Archbishop Mitty High, Ms. Linda McKinney, was driving with her boyfriend on Highway 17 to Santa Cruz. He lost control of the vehicle, went over the yellow line that divided the road and had a head-on collision. Both were killed. As a result of those deaths, Caltrans started adding concrete dividers to separate the road. Over the past four decades, Caltrans added millions of dollars of improvements to 17, including concrete barriers, reflectors, tons of signage, a new type of pavement, and reflective striping. The speed limit was also reduced to 50 mph.The only thing that has not changed are drivers who speed, cut cars off, tailgate, and have no idea how to navigate a road with turns. Examples are 17, 237 in both directions just before Zanker Road, and the “S” turn in both directions on 101 in San Mateo.I propose that the CHP have a zero-tolerance policy on speeding, tailgating and the lack of use of turn ...

Walgreens settles consumer claims it knew Elizabeth Holmes company Theranos was a fraud

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

By Peter Blumberg | BloombergWalgreens Boots Alliance Inc. reached a tentative settlement with consumers who received Theranos Inc. blood tests in Arizona and California and claimed that the drugstore giant was “willfully blind” to fraud at the blood-testing startup.Lawyers for the company and consumers filed a notice with a federal judge in Arizona that they have reached a settlement-in-principle and expect to submit a request for court approval in about three weeks. Terms of the accord weren’t provided in Monday’s filing.Related ArticlesTechnology | Elizabeth Holmes ordered to pay massive restitution over fraud, go to prison May 30 Technology | Update: Elizabeth Holmes ordered to go to prison May 30 Technology | Elizabeth Holmes, take note: Jen Shah’s skin is ‘glowy’ in Texas prison Technology | The ‘defiant’ name Elizabeth Holmes gave newborn daughter while preparing to leave her Technol...

Stanford’s Rose Zhang, 19, breaks history as first women’s golfer to win back-to-back NCAA individual national titles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

By Jack Bantock | CNN Another week, another set of records sent tumbling in the wake of Rose Zhang.The 19-year-old Californian defended her NCAA National Championship crown in Arizona on Monday to become the first women’s golfer in history to win back-to-back individual national titles.Having begun the final round four shots off the lead, Zhang tore round Scottsdale’s Grayhawk Golf Club with a bogey-free, four-under 68 to equal the NCAA record of eight single season wins held by Renee Heiken and Lorena Ochoa.It also sees Zhang tie Ochoa for most NCAA career victories with 12, a haul that sets a new Stanford University benchmark – male or female – for wins; among the four people that shared the previous record: Stanford alumni Tiger Woods.A 15-time major champion, Woods quickly established himself as an all-time great after a prodigious amateur career. On the eve of her 20th birthday on Wednesday, Zhang similarly boasts an eye-watering list of early accolades.Victory at the Augusta N...

Opinion: BART should adopt driverless trains, VTA should halt San Jose extension

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:16:02 GMT

Metropolitan Transit Commission polling shows that voter support for a half-cent sales tax to fund local transit is a few points shy of the two-thirds majority needed for passage. While transit advocates may conclude from these results that they can get over the top with additional voter education, a better option is to improve transit before asking voters for more money.Bay Area voters are usually quite open to tax hikes that support government services, but at some point they may become exhausted. A half-cent increase would raise overall sales tax rates to 10% or more in much of the Bay Area, and over 11% in some Alameda County cities. Meanwhile, the MTC poll found that three-quarters of voters use transit rarely or never. Raising the price of necessities to support a service that is not vital to their daily lives may not be an attractive proposition for many voters.Rather than lobbying for interim state support and then asking residents to pay an additional $800 million annually ...