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Colorado Auditor: Lottery sales model produced 'unusual winning patterns'

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Colorado State Auditor's Office is raising concerns about how the current courier sales model might produce unusual winning patterns.Courier services allow Colorado Lottery players to order game tickets through a mobile app. The services were allowed to start operations in 2019, but the courier sales model does not clarify who is selling the tickets or where they are being sold. Pueblo lottery player wins $5 million jackpot In Fiscal Year 2022, one retailer associated with a courier sold $12.6 million of lottery tickets — five times higher than the next highest-selling retailer in the state, according to the auditor's office.According to the Colorado Lottery, a courier service purchases tickets in person on the player's behalf at a licensed brick-and-mortar store and sends a digital image of the ticket to the player, or sends the tickets in the mail. All couriers are third-party services and are not affiliated with the Colorado Lottery. Couriers are not licen...

Forest Service secures public access to Colorado's Mount Democrat summit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- One of Colorado's famous 14ers will remain accessible to hikers and climbers, thanks to the purchase of nearly 300 acres leading to Mount Democrat in Colorado's Mosquito Range. Some of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks are difficult to access because of private land ownership, but the purchase of this area by The Conservation Fund and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service eliminates liability concerns and expands recreational opportunities in the area, according to a USDA release. These Colorado locations have the best chance for a white Christmas The area has been closed off and on over the years due to private ownership and concerns of liability.“Protecting one of America’s tallest mountains and its headwaters for all to enjoy is an honor of a lifetime for us,” said Kelly Ingebritson, Colorado project manager at The Conservation Fund, in a release about the land acquisition. “We are thrilled to celebrate this achievement – which was made possible by the...

Denver International Airport cargo employees to strike over safety concerns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Cargo workers at Denver International Airport announced they will be striking Monday morning. Swissport employees who load and handle essential packages and freight at DIA said they delivered the strike notice Sunday night. Striking workers say their main complaint is unsafe working conditions. Where and when Colorado roads will be most congested this holiday season According to Swissport’s website, the company has provided airport ground services and managed a modern air cargo warehouse at DIA since 2006. A Swissport Cargo Agent said anything that's coming into Denver for Amazon by air comes through Swissport and anything that's leaving Denver by air for Amazon comes through them as well. Workers say they are striking due to faulty and broken equipment, dangerous working temperatures at facilities, and inadequate safety training. They say the conditions are preventing them from making sure packages are delivered on time.Andrew Guttman hasn’t worked for Swiss...

Gigantic new ICBM means nuclear silo overhauls, including in Colorado

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. (AP) — The control stations for America’s nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles have a sort of 1980s retro look, with computing panels in sea foam green, bad lighting and chunky control switches, including a critical one that says “launch.” Those underground capsules are about to be demolished and the missile silos they control will be completely overhauled. A new nuclear missile is coming, a gigantic ICBM called the Sentinel. It's the largest cultural shift in the land leg of the Air Force's nuclear missile mission in 60 years. Colorado Auditor: Lottery sales model produced ‘unusual winning patterns’ But there are questions as to whether some of the Cold War-era aspects of the Minuteman missiles that the Sentinel will replace should be changed. Making the silo-launched missile more modern, with complex software and 21st-century connectivity across a vast network, may also mean it's more vulnerable. The Sentinel will need to be well protecte...

Over 50% of all homes in these Colorado counties are vacation homes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Four counties in Colorado have more vacation homes than houses or apartments occupied year-round, according to U.S. Census Bureau Data.Statewide, only around 4% of all homes are classified as vacation homes, and the City and County of Denver had around 344,760 homes in it, with only around 1% -- or 2,946 -- being vacation homes. There are over 90,000 vacation homes in Colorado Counties with the highest rate of vacation homesAll of the counties on the list are located in the mountains.Grand County - 56% of homes (16,731 homes and 9,436 vacation homes)Hinsdale County - 59% of homes (1,406 homes and 835 vacation homes)Mineral County - 61% of homes (1,261 homes and 771 vacation homes)Summit County - 53% of homes (31,509 homes and 16,683 vacation homes)Two of the counties -- Hinsdale and Mineral counties -- had an estimated population of under 1,000 people as of 2022. These Colorado locations have the best chance for a white Christmas However, Grand and Summit counti...

Colorado has some of the fastest-falling gas prices in US, AAA says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Gas prices have been falling for the last three months across the nation, but Colorado has some of the fastest-falling gas prices in the U.S., according to a report from AAA.It's well-timed good news for travelers as the holiday season is in full swing. AAA expects 104 million people nationwide to drive to their holiday destinations this year, up 1.8% from last year. Where and when Colorado roads will be most congested this holiday season As of Dec. 10, the national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.15, which is down from $3.39 at this time last month and about 15 cents cheaper than this time last year.Meanwhile, in Colorado, a gallon of gas costs an average of $2.85, which is about 50 cents cheaper than a month ago, and 20 cents cheaper than this time last year.Prices vary in different areas of the state, though. Gas wars in Denver mean lower prices for drivers The average price at the pump is highest in Glenwood Springs at $3.47 per gallon. On the flip ...

Miami-Dade teacher arrested for allegedly sending explicit photos and money to student

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

A former Miami-Dade school teacher, 29-year-old Mauricio Alexander Ruiz, appeared in court over the weekend after being charged with “offenses against a student.”According to police, in 2021, Ruiz was a part time teacher at West Miami Middle School in Coral Way when he was in communications with a 13-year-old student. During the course of their relationship, police said, Ruiz and the student would have video calls and would send money to the student in exchange for their explicit photos in return.On Friday, Ruiz was arrested. He was still teaching at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, located at 525 NW 147th St. at the time of his arrest. Ruiz has since bonded out of jail.

Newly released video shows convicted car thief driving stolen vehicle in Pompano Beach

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

Newly released video captured a convicted car thief inside a vehicle that he stole. The owner was able to figure out who was behind the wheel after using new technology that was inside the truck. The technology that was used to help Rob Kornahrens recover the stolen truck in Pompano Beach included Artificial Intelligence. Kornahrens uses the new technology to keep an eye on his fleet. That technology helped in another way by capturing video of the man, police said, committed the crime. “Lessons learned for people out there that use keys, it doesn’t always work,” Kornahrens said. The truck was stolen from the Pompano Beach Air Park on Dec. 6. “Fortunately for us, we just put in the new, high-tech cameras in there, so immediately went to the fleet manager who tracked down the truck, and was actually able to see the driver driving it,” he said.They were then able to call police and tell them exactly where the truck was. “We’re on the phone with...

Many on campus voice support for embattled Harvard president amid calls for her resignation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

Hundreds of university faculty members, hundreds of Black alumni and the executive committee of Harvard University’s alumni association have now voiced their support for embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay.Gay is facing growing calls to resign following her testimony on antisemitism on Capitol Hill last week. As of Monday, though, more than 700 faculty members had signed a petition to keep her on the job. More than 800 Black alumni additionally announced they are backing Gay.Late Monday afternoon, the alumni association’s executive committee expressed its unanimous support in a letter to school officials.“President Gay is the right leader to guide the University during this challenging time,” the committee said. “She is thoughtful. She is kind. She is resolutely dedicated to the growth and wellbeing of our very diverse community.”“People are mad,” said Dr. Sarah Johnstone, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. “If they fire her, Harvard faculty may leave.” Johns...

A nearly 3,000-pound ‘giant’ shark was tagged by a Cape Cod researcher: ‘We hit the lottery’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:00 GMT

Yeah, you’re definitely going to need a bigger boat.East Coast shark researchers fortunately had a better time than those in “Jaws” when they recently came across a nearly 3,000-pound monstrous great white shark.Atlantic White Shark Conservancy staff scientist Megan Winton was off South Carolina with Outcast Sport Fishing’s Chip Michalove last week for Michalove’s first charter of the season, and they truly “hit the lottery.”They caught and tagged an estimated 2,800-pound, 14-foot great white female shark off Hilton Head, which swam away with the first ever camera tag put on a shark in that southeastern region. They named the massive apex predator, “LeeBeth.”“We’ve seen a few (that size) off the Cape, but we don’t see them that often,” Winton told the Herald on Monday. “It’s so humbling to be in the presence of an animal that big.”The female shark is likely between 25 and 30 years old....