Holy Family girls basketball faces great expectations in quest for eighth state title: “Bring it on”

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Holy Family girls basketball faces great expectations in quest for eighth state title: “Bring it on” Holy Family basketball players Julia Hodell (1), Jennifer Altshuler (24) and Essence Contreraz (13) during CHSAA winter sports media day at Ball Arena in Denver on Monday, November 13, 2023. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)Great tradition carries the weight of great expectations.The Holy Family Tigers say: “Bring it on.”“Honestly, it’s an honor,” said Essynce Contreraz, the Tigers’ senior point guard.Holy Family is the defending Class 4A girls state champion, having defeated D’Evelyn 49-44 last season to win the school’s seventh state hoops title, but its first since 2014. Coach Ron Rossi had led the team to six 3A state titles before winning his first 4A championship.But a repeat feat won’t be easy. Asked if his Tigers have a target on their backs, Rossi chuckled.“We felt like we were hunted last year, too,” he said. “You just have to have the attitude that when you step on that court you are going to do the best job t...

CSU Rams vs. Hawaii football: How to watch, storylines and staff predictions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

CSU Rams vs. Hawaii football: How to watch, storylines and staff predictions Colorado State (5-6, 3-4 Mountain West) at Hawaii (4-8, 2-5)When/where: 9 p.m. Saturday/Clarence T.C. Ching ComplexTV/Radio: Spectrum Sports/ESPN Honolulu, 104.3 HD2BetMGM Line: CSU -5.5, 54.5 over/underWeather: Around 80 degrees with slight wind.Five storylinesAlmost bowling: Overheard in the underbelly of Canvas Stadium a few weeks ago: CSU AD Joe Parker, prior to the Rams’ win over San Diego State, remarked to a fellow staffer that, “If we can win these next three games, this season could be special.” He’s right. And now after beating the Aztecs and hanging on to defeat Nevada last week, CSU is one win away from its first bowl game since 2017. Head coach Jay Norvell needs to avoid a letdown in Honolulu, because a postseason berth would be a huge building block.Horton eyes 1K: CSU star wideout Tory Horton’s dealt with multiple injuries this year, including leg/ankle issues and a hip pointer. But that hasn’t stopped him from again being CSU’...

CU Buffs vs. Utah football: How to watch, storylines and staff predictions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

CU Buffs vs. Utah football: How to watch, storylines and staff predictions Colorado (4-7, 1-7 Pac-12) at Utah (7-4, 4-4)When/where: 1 p.m. Saturday/Rice-Eccles StadiumTV/Radio: Pac-12 Network/850 AM, 94.1 FMBetMGM Line: Utah -21.5, 52.5 over/underWeather: Sunshine with a high of 37 degrees, slight windFive storylinesShedeur’s status: After Shedeur Sanders suffered multiple injuries in last week’s pummeling at Wazzu, one to his hand and another to his ankle, CU’s quarterback had to leave the game. That exposed the Buffs’ lack of depth behind him, as neither Ryan Staub nor Gavin Kuld looked like they had command of the offense. Sanders was sacked four times before he departed in the first half, continuing a season-long trend of the Buffs’ QB getting battered. He’ll be a game-time decision Saturday.A season spiraling: The Buffs’ 3-0 start featuring an upset of TCU on the road and then emotional victories over rivals Nebraska and CSU at home feels like eons ago. Since then, CU’s lone win came against a bad ASU te...

Letters: Invasive weeds crowd out Colorado’s botanical gems

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Letters: Invasive weeds crowd out Colorado’s botanical gems Invasive weeds crowding out rare gemsRe: “Some might say it’s futile, but pulling thistles sows hope,” Nov. 16 commentary and “Clearing the path of goat heads,” Nov. 18 letter to the editorI was gratified to read the article on the community and personal benefits to pulling musk thistle near Jackson, Wyo., and the subsequent letter from “Goathead Greg,” who endeavors on Denver’s urban trails. My bête noire is not musk thistle, which, as the writer points out, is a pretty noxious weed that attracts butterflies and bees, but rather Russian thistle. It has the Putinesque attributes of being invasive and relentless, contains no beautiful flowers for pollinators, and engulfs our natural areas.If you visit the picnic stop at Vogel Canyon south of La Junta, be prepared to approach your table through a forest of this prickly menace. The valley floor just beyond is so impenetrable that viewing the petroglyphs is almost impossible. Up north, the Arapa...

Opinion: CHIPS Act just the start, U.S. needs to go beyond microchips

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Opinion: CHIPS Act just the start, U.S. needs to go beyond microchips Just over one year ago, President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, and a new era of American high-tech manufacturing was born.Propelled by a strategic investment of tens of billions of dollars, the United States will construct a new semiconductor ecosystem here in the United States. The goal is twofold: to ensure that the chips that power American life will be there when we need them, and that the United States remains a leader in not only designing but making high-end microchips.The CHIPS bill was a milestone, but the legislation failed to cover printed circuit boards, or PCBs, the complex structures on which chips sit. Often comprising dozens of layers, PCBs connect individual chips and enable larger systems and subsystems. They are essential: without PCBs, microchips would be nothing more than expensive silicon wafers.The United States once boasted a robust PCB capacity that ensured that important systems from defense to mass transit to communications could source U.S.-mad...

Dowd: Obama’s guy questions if Biden can beat Trump again

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Dowd: Obama’s guy questions if Biden can beat Trump again David Axelrod is not a prick.Truly.I’ve known him since 2007 and if I had to pick a noun to describe him, it would be mensch.So when President Joe Biden privately employs that epithet for Axelrod, according to Politico’s Jonathan Martin, it’s bad for a few reasons.The ordinarily gracious president is punching down at the strategist who helped elevate him onto the ticket with Barack Obama in 2008 and who thinks he was “a great vice president” and has done a lot of wonderful things as president.When some in the Obama camp chattered in 2011 about switching Biden out for Hillary Clinton, Axelrod said, he protested: “That would be an incredible act of disloyalty to a guy who has done a great job for us.”Surely, Biden does not want to lower himself to the vulgarity of the growling, brawling, thieving Republicans in the Hieronymus Bosch hellscape of our Congress.(As Seth Meyers noted, George Santos — who spent campaign money on Hermès, Ferragamo, Botox, Sephora and OnlyFans — h...

Review: ‘Saltburn’ is pretty, seductive but ultimately confounding

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Review: ‘Saltburn’ is pretty, seductive but ultimately confounding By Jocelyn Noveck | Associated PressTwo years ago Emerald Fennell stood on the Oscars stage hoisting her writing trophy for “Promising Young Woman,” a scathing look at rape culture and a balancing act of wit, style, shock value, audacity, great acting and pitch-black humor — plus a timely #MeToo message.That’s a lot for a debut film, and we didn’t even mention the best director nomination. Not surprisingly, anticipation has been hot for the writer-director’s next effort (as an actor, she’s already graced a little film this year called “Barbie,” in the suitably dark role of pregnant, discontinued Midge).Now “Saltburn” is here, and the results are enticing but decidedly mixed — perhaps because Fennell seems to be trying to one-up herself by leaning on the shock value, at the eventual expense of other storytelling elements.Make no mistake, the clever writing is here, as is the style, the sleek technique, and some terrific perf...

Another milestone on offer for F1 champion Max Verstappen at season-ending Abu Dhabi GP

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Another milestone on offer for F1 champion Max Verstappen at season-ending Abu Dhabi GP After a record-breaking year, Formula One champion Max Verstappen isn’t ready for 2023 to end just yet. Especially when another milestone can be reached at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.Another victory would take him to 54 career wins and past former Red Bull star Sebastian Vettel into outright third place on the all-time list.“Of course it’s quite a crazy number. We had a crazy, crazy year,” Verstappen said. “It will end at one point, but hopefully not too soon.”Verstappen sewed up his third straight title weeks ago and is looking for a record-extending 19th win of the season — he held the previous record of 15, set last year — but acknowledged he already has one eye on 2024.“I love driving, that’s the foremost (thing) and winning is the best thing in Formula One,” he said. “At the same time I’m very focused on what’s ahead of me and hopefully next year we have a competitive car again and continue that momentum.”There will be new targets n...

UN confirms sexual spread of mpox in Congo for the 1st time as country sees a record outbreak

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

UN confirms sexual spread of mpox in Congo for the 1st time as country sees a record outbreak LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said it has confirmed sexual transmission of mpox in Congo for the first time as the country’s experiences its biggest-ever outbreak, a worrying development that African scientists warn could make it more difficult to stop the disease.In a statement issued late Thursday, the U.N. health agency said a resident of Belgium traveled to Congo in March and tested positive for mpox, or monkeypox, shortly afterward. WHO said the individual “identified himself as a man who has sexual relations with other men” and that he had gone to several underground clubs for gay and bisexual men. Among his sexual contacts, five later tested positive for mpox, WHO said. “This is the first definitive proof of sexual transmission of monkeypox in Africa,” Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on several WHO advisory groups, said. “The idea that this kind of transmission could not be happening here has now been debunked.”Mpox has been endemic in...

Formula One team McLaren extends engine deal with provider Mercedes until 2030

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:54:06 GMT

Formula One team McLaren extends engine deal with provider Mercedes until 2030 WOKING, England (AP) — The McLaren Formula One team will continue using Mercedes engines until 2030 after extending its contract on Friday.Mercedes started supplying engines to McLaren again in 2021 and the existing contract was until the end of 2025. They had previously worked together from 1995-2014.“Mercedes-Benz have been a brilliant and reliable partner of the McLaren Formula One team,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said. “The extension signifies the confidence that our shareholders and the wider team have in their powertrains and the direction we’re taking with them into the new era of regulations ahead.”Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian GP driving for McLaren in 2021. He is the last driver to win for McLaren, but the team has done well this season with Lando Norris securing seven podium finishes. Oscar Piastri has also impressed in his debut season.McLaren was fourth in the constructors’ standings heading into the final race at the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday,...