Colorado-born pilot bringing supplies to Lahaina following deadly fires

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Colorado-born pilot bringing supplies to Lahaina following deadly fires DENVER (KDVR) -- A Colorado man, born and raised in Arvada who now lives in Hawaii, has spent the past few days flying supplies to those affected by the fires in Maui. “I think Coloradans can relate because we are used to fires, especially with how scary it is when it comes to neighborhoods," Jake Harmon, the Chief Pilot for Maverick Helicopters in Hawaii said. Maui wildfire disaster: How can I donate to help? Harmon said he was a student at the University of Colorado when plans changed and he decided to become a pilot. Before moving to Hawaii to work as a tour guide pilot, Harmon worked as an EMS pilot for Airlife Denver."When you're flying as an EMS, you are flying people on the worst day of their life, and its the opposite of that here, it's one of the best days, and a lot of people tell me its the best part of their trip," Harmon said.Harmon, who graduated from Arvada West High School, said during his career as an EMS pilot he had 536 patient missions. Now in Hawaii, he has f...

Denver weather: Cooler end to the weekend

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Denver weather: Cooler end to the weekend DENVER (KDVR) — Denver's weather will cool down for the end of the weekend and the start of the workweek. There will be a slight chance for more showers Sunday and Monday ahead of a stretch of drier and warmer weather. Weather tonight: Clearing, seasonalShowers and thunderstorms will continue to exit this evening. Denver will be left with a partly cloudy sky and low around 60 degrees, which is normal for this time of year. Lows on Aug. 12 are mild. (KDVR)Weather tomorrow: Morning sun, cooler Sunday morning, a cold front will move through the area. This will result in wind gusts out of the north picking up to around 30 mph, encouraging cooler temperatures. Highs will only reach the upper 70s, which is about 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. Highs on Aug. 13 are mild. (KDVR)There will also be a slight chance for afternoon thunderstorms, mostly over higher elevations. Looking ahead: Drier, warming up for the workweek Monday will follow a similar pattern of below-norm...

Protesters decry ‘horrible’ conditions at Miami-Dade Animal Services shelter

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Protesters decry ‘horrible’ conditions at Miami-Dade Animal Services shelter Animal rights protesters came together and raised their voices in Medley.A crowd of demonstrators gathered along the 7400 block of Northwest 74th Street on Saturday afternoon to peacefully protest conditions at the Miami-Dade Animal Services shelter.Protesters said the shelter is dilapidated and dangerous to the animals living there.“Some of these animals have been there for 246 days. They’re not being walked, they’re not being seen, they’re not being played with,” said Rita Schwartz, co-founder of the Pets’ Trust Miami. “These animals are caged up. It’s a horrible situation.”The Pets’ Trust, a nonprofit animal rights group in Miami-Dade County, is raising awareness — calling on Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to do something about the problem.

Daytona Beach woman startled by late-night encounter with bear

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Daytona Beach woman startled by late-night encounter with bear A woman in Daytona Beach was startled in the middle of the night by a sneaky four-legged intruder.Gina Helsel spoke about the big bear scare that took place on her front porch, early Thursday morning.Helsel told her dog it was time to clear the porch for cats. All was normal, until a bear poked its head around the corner.“The bear was getting in the neighbors’ trash, and I caught it in the act,” she said.Ring doorbell video captured Helsel letting out a prolonged loud scream.“My brother called me last night and was cracking up. He was like, ‘Gina, only you would scream like that,'” she said,The good news is that once Helsel and her dog made a run for it, the bear did as well.“The bear is mostly focused on the dog, and it basically, you know, kind of lunges, does a little bit of a left charge,” said bear biologist Mike Orlando, “and then, when her and her dog retreat, the bear runs away.”Meaning the bear was likely not an ag...

Justin Steele is building on his progress toward the postseason as Marcus Stroman eyes his return from the IL

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Justin Steele is building on his progress toward the postseason as Marcus Stroman eyes his return from the IL Each year Justin Steele’s big-league experience has served as a building block for the next season’s workload.He learned in 2022, his first season as a full-time starter and third in the majors, what goes into physically and mentally getting through the long season and how he needs to prepare in the offseason to pitch into October. His foundation will be tested over the next several weeks.Steele’s five innings in Saturday’s 5-4 win against the Toronto Blue Jays continued to add to his career-high innings. Through 22 starts, two short of last year’s total, Steele has thrown 126 innings — seven more than he completed in 2022.The Cubs’ offense took advantage of Steele and the bullpen keeping the game close. Cody Bellinger tied the game in the fourth, part of a four-run inning, when he dropped down to almost one knee to take a low pitch off the right field wall for an RBI single. Dansby Swanson followed with a three-run homer to put the Cubs ahe...

Danforth businesses have ‘bittersweet’ closing to make way for Ontario line

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Danforth businesses have ‘bittersweet’ closing to make way for Ontario line While the Taste of the Danforth festival has brought hundreds of thousands of people to the Danforth Avenue area to try new cuisines and businesses after being cancelled the last three years, for some, it will be their first and last time participating in the festival.Many businesses on the Danforth will have to close to make way for the Ontario subway line that Metrolinx is building, with some having no plans to relocate elsewhere.“We’ve been around 30 years, we started on queen west near Bathurst, in 2014 we had to move from there because the rent went up really high, so then we found this location on Danforth in the Greektown, we just love it here so much, I wish we didn’t have to move out,” said Kalsang Dolkar Gyaltong, co-owner of Tibet Shoppe.“We just got out of COVID, we survived COVID, so we were thinking now good things ahead of us, and this terrible thing happened, it’s kind of a devastating kind of shock for us.”For Tibet Shoppe, ...

Syrian capital rocked by explosions but no immediate word on source or target of attacks

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Syrian capital rocked by explosions but no immediate word on source or target of attacks DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The sound of repeated explosions could be heard in the area around the Syrian capital before dawn on Sunday, state media and Damascus residents said.There was no immediate statement from government officials on the source or target of the attack, but similar incidents in the past have usually been attributed to Israeli airstrikes, with Syrian air defenses responding to shoot down the missiles.The latest such incident was on Aug. 7, when Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes hit areas around Damascus, killing at least four Syrian army soldiers. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor, said those strikes targeted weapons and munitions warehouses and positions of Iran-backed militias around Damascus. Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.Israel ...

Survivors of the deadly Maui wildfire start returning to ruins. The death toll is likely to rise

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Survivors of the deadly Maui wildfire start returning to ruins. The death toll is likely to rise By CLAIRE RUSH, BEATRICE DUPUY and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER (Associated Press)LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The grim work of tallying the dead after a ferocious wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui came into sharp focus Saturday as crews picked through the devastation, marking homes with a bright orange X to signal they had searched for bodies and HR when they found human remains. At least 80 people perished in the inferno that swept through the centuries-old town of Lahaina on Maui’s west coast. As the homes that remained standing got their marks, residents who barely made it out alive returned to take an inventory of their loss.“Most of our focus will be on humans today,” Gov. Josh Green said Saturday as he and representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency stood under the scorched branches of an old, treasured banyan tree on historic Front Street. Green said operations were now centered on “the loss of life.” The fire reduced hundreds of...

Concert review: Ed Sheeran sets a new attendance record at U.S. Bank Stadium

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Concert review: Ed Sheeran sets a new attendance record at U.S. Bank Stadium Saturday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, Ed Sheeran did something he’s never done before at a local concert. He rocked.By that, I mean he played some rock songs with a full rock band, which is new territory for the 32-year-old Brit, who has spent the past dozen years scoring a seemingly never-ending series of worldwide hits and performing them live for increasingly larger crowds.Speaking of, Sheeran set a new attendance record for a concert at USBS and packed 72,102 folks into the place. He performed on an in-the-round stage, allowing the venue to sell seats around the entire bowl. (Previous record-holder Garth Brooks also played on a considerably smaller in-the-round stage but had seats on the floor. It was general admission for Sheeran.)Sheeran built his empire on his own back and typically performs solo, using pedals to loop vocal tics and guitar riffs and create an electronically aided bed of sound. It’s a cool trick that gets tiresome when employed for an entire two-hou...

Call-ups of top prospects bring big changes to Saints’ lineup

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:16 GMT

Call-ups of top prospects bring big changes to Saints’ lineup On the night the St. Paul Saints honored their past, the lineup they put on the field Saturday night at CHS Field bore little resemblance to the one that debuted under new ownership in 1993.In a way, it bore little resemblance to the one that started this season.A seismic shift took place on Aug. 3, when three players rated among the top 30 in the Twins organization — Brooks Lee, Yunior Severino and DaShawn Keirsey — were called up from Double-A Wichita, and veteran minor leaguers Mark Contreras and Alex De Goti were released.Recent history has shown that most top prospects in baseball made the leap from Double-A to the majors, with Triple-A lineups primarily made up of veteran minor leaguers who were viewed as short-term answers in the majors. The lineup the Saints put on the field these days often is made entirely of top prospects and players with substantial major league experience.“The look of the minor leagues has changed since Major League Baseball took over (in 2021),” Saints...