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Denver Film Festival 2023 preview: Films to watch in-person before the winter awards season

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

The buzz, by now, has become deafening for certain titles that began their year on the festival circuit and have now wound their way to Denver theaters — think “Past Lives,” “Asteroid City,” and “The Barbie Movie” — in advance of expected Academy Award nominations.Related: A chilling Colorado tale of buffalo slaughter jumps from page to screen in Nicholas Cage’s latest movieBut while there’s been plenty to see, there’s nothing quite like the Denver Film Festival, arguably the largest and most audience-friendly film event in the region. There are competitive one-offs and world premieres at this year’s 46th installment, but cinephiles will also have the chance to check out features and documentaries they’ve been hearing about since debuting at Sundance and other industry-standard events in Telluride and Toronto earlier this year.Here’s what you need to know going into this year’s Denver Film Fest, prod...

“Weyward,” by Emilia Hart, and more short reviews from readers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

“Weyward,” by Emilia Hart (St. Martin’s Press, 2024)“Weyward,” by Emilia Hart (St. Martin’s Press, 2023)Three women of the Weyward family inhabit this novel, starting with Altha (“healer”) in 1619. She relays her story in first person, and that was the most compelling for me. Violet’s story (1942) effectively bridges that of her ancestor and her great-niece. Extraordinarily sheltered, virtually imprisoned, Violet has the most arduous journey to realize her true self. Kate, in 2019, was the character I initially found most unappealing, due to her apparent weaknesses. By the book’s denouement, though, I liked Kate much more.Their relationships with their mothers are varied. Altha was exceptionally close to hers, and their connection was loving and supportive. Violet hardly remembers her mother (and doesn’t recall her grandmother at all), but as the novel advances she learns more about her heritage. Kate’s relationship with her mother starts tenuously, then stre...

Colorado musician takes on one of the most difficult pieces ever written for the clarinet

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

Composer John Corigliano was composer-in-residence at last summer’s Colorado Music Festival in Boulder. He offered advice to Jason Shafer on how to play his challenging clarinet concerto. Photo provided by Colorado Music Festival.Composer John Corigliano’s Clarinet Concerto is one of contemporary classical music’s most important — and notoriously difficult — pieces to play. Taking center stage to perform the work with a symphony orchestra is a major moment in any musician’s career.Jason Shafer, the Colorado Symphony’s principal clarinet, wanted to be sure he made the most of it. He spent a year preparing for this unique challenge, which he will take on this weekend at Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall.He also took the highly unusual approach of reaching out to the composer himself for some guidance on how best to interpret the work, which was written in 1977, for a live audience in 2023.“I had this realization that this guy is a legend. He’s still alive, still teaching at ...

Denver police release body camera video of shootings in Elyria-Swansea, Union Station Whole Foods

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

The Denver Police Department on Friday released body camera footage of two shootings that occurred within a four-hour span on Oct. 19 in Elyria-Swansea and at a Whole Foods near Union Station.One man was shot multiple times by officers after pointing what appeared to be a gun at them at the intersection of East 46th Avenue and York Street. The man is still hospitalized but is in stable condition and expected to survive, said Major Crimes Division Cmdr. Matt Clark. Police later determined the man was brandishing an airsoft gun.In the second incident, no one was injured when an officer fired their gun during an encounter with a man brandishing a knife in a Whole Foods near Union Station.Clark and Police Chief Ron Thomas provided new details about the shootings during a news conference Friday afternoon at Denver Police Department headquarters on Cherokee Street.During the first incident, officers responded to reports of a man pointing a gun at multiple people near a Burger King in the ...

Despite surprise billing laws, unexpected ambulance bills remain common in Colorado

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

More than a year after their daughter was treated for an eating disorder in Denver, a family is still trying to sort out thousands of dollars in bills from when she had to be taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals.Ann Sassano, of Chicago, said her daughter was taken by ambulance repeatedly while being treated in Denver last fall, with about eight round trips to three different hospitals for emergencies. Their insurance, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, said there were no in-network ambulance providers, meaning the family faced a $15,000 deductible for out-of-network care before the plan would start paying, she said.Altogether, her daughter received about $20,000 in bills, which would have wiped out her savings, Sassano said. Though their insurance ultimately agreed to pay some of the bills, her daughter is paying about $30 a month to stay out of collections while appealing the remaining ones, she said.“It’s just a very frustrating situation,” she said.Blue C...

People who call 911 in Denver can now stream live video to emergency dispatchers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

People who call 911 in Denver can now stream live video from their cellphones straight to emergency call takers — part of a suite of new technology the city is testing.Denver started the free pilot in June and since then has handled about 450 emergency calls in which the caller sent live video to the 911 center, said Matt Fuller, training manager at the city’s 911 Communications Center. That’s out of about 5,000 calls that were routed through the pilot system.The pilot software also includes more precise location data, the ability to forward live video to police, paramedics and firefighters as they head to the scene, and potentially the ability to use GPS location data to streamline 911 calls during major incidents, though officials aren’t yet using the latter two functions.Now, every time someone calls 911 in Denver, the software, created by the private company Carbyne, automatically sends a text to the caller. If the user clicks the link in the text, it giv...

2023 CHSAA state football championships brackets, results

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

A listing of the CHSAA state football tournament brackets and results:Class 5AFirst roundAll games Friday unless notedGame 1: No. 17 Legacy (6-4) at No. 16 Eaglecrest (7-3), 7 p.m.Game 2: No. 24 Fossil Ridge (5-5) at No. 9 Castle View (7-3), 7 p.m. ThursdayGame 3: No. 20 Mullen (6-4) at No. 13 Denver East (8-2), TBAGame 4: No. 21 Arvada West (5-5) at No. 12 Rock Canyon (7-3), 7 p.m. ThursdayGame 5: No. 18 Fountain-Fort Carson (7-3) at No. 15 Fairview (9-1), 7 p.m.Game 6: No. 23 Brighton (5-5) at No. 10 Legend (7-3), 7 p.m.Game 7: No. 19 Cherokee Trail (5-5) at No. 14 Chatfield (5-5), 7 p.m.Game 8: No. 22 Douglas County (4-6) at No. 11 Grandview (6-4), 7 p.m.Round of 16Nov. 10-11Game 9: G1 winner at No. 1 Cherry Creek (10-0)Game 10: G2 winner at No. 8 Mountain View (8-2)Game 11: G3 winner at No. 4 Pine Creek (9-1)Game 12: G4 winner at No. 5 Ralston Valley (8-2)Game 13: G5 winner at No. 2 Columbine (10-0)Game 14: G6 winner at No. 7 Valor Christian (6-4)Game 15: G7 winner at No. 3 Arap...

Deadly crash involving wrong way driver stops all traffic on 405 Freeway 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

A fatal crash involving several vehicles shut the northbound side 405 Freeway down early Monday morning. Initial reports indicate that a wrong-way driver may have slammed into the center divider of the northbound side of the freeway at Sherman Way shortly before 5 a.m. Passing traffic then collided with the vehicle that hit the center divider, according to KTLA 5’s Rich Prickett. Sky5 footage shows first responders surrounding one car and attempting to cut the doors off to gain access to the occupant or occupants.  "We did not see anybody being taken out of the vehicle [that crashed into the center divider] so this could turn out to be a fatality crash investigation," Prickett said. "It does not look good at this point."A crash involving several vehicles shut the northbound span of the 405 Freeway down on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (KTLA)A crash involving several vehicles shut the northbound span of the 405 Freeway down on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (KTLA)A crash involving...

4 shot, 1 stabbed after violence breaks out at Halloween party 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

A Halloween party in Azusa turned violent on Sunday night, authorities said. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, calls of a stabbing first came in just before 10:30 p.m. in the 5400 block of Banewell Avenue.  Deadly crash involving wrong way driver stops all traffic on 405 Freeway As the caller was reporting the stabbing to the 911 dispatcher, they started to report a shooting, police said. Authorities investigating a stabbing and shooting at a Halloween party in Azusa, CA on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. (RMGNews)When deputies got to the scene, they found four individuals with gunshot wounds and one with a stab wound. The suspects fled the scene before deputies arrived. No descriptions have been released. The victims' conditions remain unknown, and a motive for the shooting and stabbing has not been established. 

Putin calls meeting after mob storms airport in Dagestan looking for Israelis on plane from Tel Aviv

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:35:54 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting of top security and law enforcement officials on Monday, the day after a mob stormed the airport in the region of Dagestan after a plane from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv landed there. Hundreds of angry men rushed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, late on Sunday, looking for Israeli passengers, according to Russian news reports. Dagestan’s Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. It said the injured included police officers and civilians. The local Interior Ministry said 60 people were detained in the unrest. It was not clear if charges had been filed against any of them, but Russia's Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal probe on charges of organizing mass unrest. The crowd broke out onto the landing field and surrounded the airliner belonging to the Russian carrier Red Wings, with seemingly little ...