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“Lessons in Chemistry” and more short reviews from readers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. Sure, you could read advertising blurbs on Amazon, but wouldn’t you be more likely to believe a neighbor with no skin in the game over a corporation being fed words by publishers? So in this new series, we are sharing these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email [email protected].“Inheritance,” by Dani Shapiro (Knopf)“Inheritance,” by Dani Shapiro (Knopf)Even though this is a story of one woman’s search for her birth father, it reads like a well-crafted mystery. While it did take a huge suspension of disbelief to accept how quickly the narrator found her birth father’s family, “Inheritance” does raise some interesting questions about not only what makes a family (i.e., DNA or love) but also about privacy vs. intrusiveness issues related to DNA tes...

Looking for a way to use all that zucchini? Try this chocolate cake | Opinion

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | A sheet-pan chicken for corn season Restaurants, Food and Drink | Five Weeknight Dishes: Herby orzo with a bright topping Restaurants, Food and Drink | This 3-ingredient ice cream recipe tastes like home and hope Restaurants, Food and Drink | Recipe: Make lamb kofta, a spicy Middle Eastern meat served inside pita bread Restaurants, Food and Drink | There’s a pesto miracle waiting in your freezer It’s a rite of summer for many Coloradans, that vegetable-induced panic: What to do with all the zucchini in your garden?You’ve already dug out that old zucchini bread recipe, cleverly thinking you’ll gift your coworkers an...

Cold plunging is a hot trend in Colorado. Here’s where to try it.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

A plunge into ice-cold water might sound like just the thing on a hot summer day, but there’s more to the art of cold plunging than that. Hot springs and sports recovery centers are offering cold plunges as a therapeutic activity, while fans are doing the same at home or in groups.In fact, the Global Wellness Institute noted in its 2023 Hot Springs Trends report that, “The benefits of hot-cold contrast bathing have been widely recognized and is now almost universal in hot springs across the globe.”Jim Mikula, senior vice president for WorldSprings, the company behind Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs, says the institute “led the charge” by promoting hot springs and cold plunges — also referred to as contrast bathing — starting 20 years ago.But “in the last four years it’s become really popular,” he said. “You feel refreshed, have more energy, and can almost see better when you go from the hot water to the cold.”The institute explains the benefits this w...

The Clyfford Still Museum’s new show is big. Really, really big.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

Because of the limits imposed upon the Clyfford Still Museum by its charter — it can only show works by the late abstract expressionist painter, and there are only so many of those in existence — producing a new exhibition there can be like orchestrating a game of poker.Clyfford Still’s colorful paintings pop on the museum’s white walls. (Provided by the Clyfford Still Museum)Curators shuffle the deck, deal their hand, and hope to come up with a winner.This rule, which the city of Denver agreed to in 2004 when it accepted ownership of the art and promised to build a museum to display it, has inspired all sorts of rearrangements of the 830 paintings in the collection over the years. Shows have been built around everything from the chronology of Still’s output to his preferred choices of color.Sometimes these efforts have come off as scholarly filters meant to deepen the understanding of this mysterious artist and the wild and exciting objects he made during a half-century of cr...

A look at Dazzle Jazz’s new downtown Denver location

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

Denver has an absolutely beautiful new locale for live jazz.The new Dazzle Jazz, at 1080 14th St., is seamlessly absorbed into the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The space, designed to seat more music lovers than the club’s previous locations, is warm and open. There are striking visual contributions from local artists on just about every wall in the place, including a spectacular mural depicting Colorado jazz saint, the late Ron Miles.The exterior of the new Dazzle, at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1080 14th St. (David Rossa, via the DPAC)The stage itself is large enough to hold at least an octet of musicians. And there are no obstructed views. The club’s owner, Donald Rossa, is visibly pleased at how things are turning out.The grand opening was Aug. 4 and 5.“We’ve always wanted to get Dazzle into the (Denver Performing Arts Complex),” Rossa said, “so jazz has an important future and legacy in (Denver).” The lease at the last Dazzle location, in the Baur’s ...

In one Colorado city, a new state law on housing policy gets knocked as “outrageous overreach”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

LAKEWOOD — Four years ago, voters passed a measure to limit the pace of residential growth in Colorado’s fifth-largest city.On Tuesday, a new state law goes into effect that will snuff out what Lakewood residents decided at the ballot box in 2019, when a majority of voters approved a limit to the number of new housing units that can go up in the city in any given year.House Bill 23-1255, signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in early June, prohibits the implementation of “anti-growth” policies — which typically take the form of annual limits on the number of approved housing permits — in any Colorado community. While the goal of the new law is to chip away at the state’s ongoing affordable housing crunch, Lakewood Councilman Charley Able chafes at the state legislature effectively quashing a policy that voters in the city put in place through an election.“It is outrageous overreach that wreaks havoc with the concept of ‘direct demo...

Deputy involved in fatal shooting in Carson area

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

An investigation is underway after a deputy was involved in a fatal shooting in the Carson area Monday morning. The shooting was reported around 2:20 a.m. in the 17400 block of South Central Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A deputy was involved in a shooting in South Los Angeles on Aug. 7, 2023. (KTLA)Detectives were called to the location to investigate a deputy-involved shooting.The suspect, described only as a male adult, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Sheriff's Department's news release. There were no details explaining what the man was suspected of doing or why deputies were in the area prior to the shooting. No deputies were injured during the incident. An investigation into the shooting involving multiple agencies is underway. Anyone with information was asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

California voters made public records a right, will they give it more teeth?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

Nearly 20 years after California voters made access to government records a constitutional right, requests are being met with interminable delays, exorbitant fees and a host of exemption claims, consumer and open-government advocates say.Those advocates are behind a new effort to sharpen open records laws with a proposed 2024 voter initiative designed to end abuses that keep the public’s business from public view.“The Public Records Act is full of loopholes and fails to live up to the constitutional right to open records in California,” said Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog, the advocacy group sponsoring the proposed initiative. “The Government Transparency Act is necessary to protect and expand the public’s right to an open and accountable government.”Gov. Ronald Reagan signed California’s Public Records Act into law in 1968.  In 2004, the state’s voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 59 to bolster its provisions by establishi...

PG&E faces questions amid wildfire prevention strategy shift from tree trimming to grid tech

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

Heading into California’s peak wildfire season, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has shifted its strategy to avoid sparking another devastating blaze: It’s focusing less aggressively on trimming trees that pose hazards near electrical wires and relying more on technology to quickly de-energize damaged lines.The pivot at Northern California’s beleaguered utility giant has raised questions among regulators, who have given PG&E until Monday to respond. The shift has been in the works for more than a year, but began in earnest in January when PG&E ended its “Enhanced Vegetation Management” program of stepped-up vegetation removal around power lines.The utility concluded that program, started in 2019 after a series of destructive wildfires were sparked by trees or limbs falling on electrical equipment, hasn’t been cost effective. PG&E says that a combination of routine and select tree work and new power grid technologies will deliver more pro...

‘Morale is very low’: Labor talks stall between Pleasanton police, city

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:17 GMT

PLEASANTON — Labor talks have stalled between the Pleasanton Police Officers Association and the city, as officers seek higher compensation and additional incentives to attract and retain employees amid a staffing shortage they say has led to fewer officers available to enforce traffic and drug laws.The impasse has entered its third month, and it’s unclear when the dispute could be resolved. A mediation session last month failed to bring the two sides to a new agreement. Brian Jewell, president of the POA, said the association is now requesting a fact-finding panel through the California Public Employment Relations Board, a legal step in negotiations meant to bring independent scrutiny to the opposing positions. That panel, he said, could begin its work by the end of September.“Morale is very low,” said Jewell, who is also a Pleasanton police officer. “Agencies all over California and the nation are struggling; the law enforcement profession as a whole ...