Denver News

Denver schools with persistently low test scores will have to present detailed improvement plans this fall, but they no longer face automatic closure or replacement.

The Denver school board on Monday night agreed to a more flexible process for intervening in struggling schools. The changes mean the board will have more options and more discretion.

https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2018/10/16/closure-is-still-an-option-but-a-new-approach-will-let-struggling-denver-schools-make-their-case/

After struggling to score the majority of the 2nd half, the Denver Nuggets figured out better offensive efficiency in the last few possessions beating the clippers 107 to 98.

The Avalanche Take on the Devils tonight at 5

The Broncos Take on the Cardinals tonight at 6:20

In Weather

A warming trend in the Denver metro area means high temperatures will climb from the lower to the upper 60s for the rest of the week, with a lot of sunshine.

The high on Today will be around 70 degrees. Variable winds will gust up to 17 mph. The low temperature Thursday night will be around 46 degrees.

No winning lottery ticket was sold for the latest Mega Millions drawing, meaning the jackpot climbs to $868 million.

Mega Millions officials say no tickets matched all six numbers to claim the estimated $667 million grand prize in Tuesday night’s drawing. The numbers were 3, 45, 49, 61, 69 and Mega Ball 9.

More than 20,000 people in the Denver metro area were without power Tuesday evening after a very large power outage.

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A tweet by the power company said crews were “hoping” to have the energy back on for customers around 11:30 p.m. but it was largely restored by 10:15 p.m.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/denver-power-outage-affecting-thousands

The York Street on-ramp to westbound I-70 is permanently closed. It is not part of the final design for the I-70 expansion because it was determined that access points to the interstate

were too close.

Two Sears stores in the Denver metro area are among the 142 Sears and Kmart locations that will close after the company filed for bankruptcy on Monday.

The Sears located on W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood and on S. University Blvd. in Centennial will close by the end of the year.

Denver 911 has partnered with the company Rapid SOS to use your smartphone’s location services to aid call dispatchers with where you are.

Instead of relying on cell towers or a caller to describe their location, Rapid SOS operates similar to the technology used by Uber and Lyft, that can narrow down your location to within a few feet.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/denver-911-update-your-phone-for-faster-response-times

William “Bill” Coors, a former leader at Coors Brewing Company, passed away Saturday at the age of 102. Molson Coors announced the death in a press release. The company said Bill died peacefully at his home.

Bill was the grandson of Adolf Coors, who founded the brewery in 1873.

Lisa Calderón, co-chair of the Colorado Latino Forum in Denver and a longtime community advocate in north Denver, will join the field of challengers to Mayor Michael Hancock in Denver’s May 2019 election.

About 1,750 scooters are expected to be on Denver’s streets by the end of this month with the next expected batch of 350.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/03/denver-scooter-fleet-grows/

RTD is showing that they mean business in its dispute against its partner overseeing the construction and operation of the metro area’s commuter rail system. RTD has warned Denver Transit Partners that its inability to open the G-Line to the western suburbs for passenger service constitutes a “termination event.”

In a notice the RTD sent to DTP on Tuesday, but not released publicly until Wednesday, the transit agency warned that DTP has 30 days to quote “remedy the breaches” or 20 days to quote “propose a remedial plan to cure the breaches” that it says has led to the delays.

RTD did not say in its notice that it will definitely terminate its $2.2 billion contract with DTP if the concessionaire doesn’t make the necessary fixes in the time allotted, but it did note that DTP’s performance is quote “unacceptable to RTD.”

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The search for 30-year-old Ryan Albert of Marlton, New Jersey reported missing in Rocky Mountain National Park has been temporarily suspended because of poor weather.

Colorado commuters can get discounted or free rides as Google’s Waze carpool service goes national

That’s right Waze is providing the means for thousands of Colorado commuters to utilize its new pay-to-carpool service through the end of this month.

Waze, a popular Google-owned navigation app, celebrated the national launch of the carpool service Wednesday after two years of development. The service allows drivers willing to offer space in their vehicles to register on the standard Waze app. People seeking rides need to download a different app to be matched with a driver.

The goal of the service, according to the company, isn’t to compete with ride-hailing companies like Lyft and Uber but to decrease commute times and lessen congestion.

Denver Post Reports

Colorado was among 13 states that served as a testing ground for the beta version of the service last month. Through the end of October the company will reward the state with subsidized rides. Any Coloradan who downloads the new app by Oct. 31 will be provided with $2 flat-fee rides through the end of the month. Waze has estimated most rides will cost about as much as taking public transportation.

The deal gets better for employees of 56 metro-area companies participating in the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ — or DRCOG’s Any of the roughly 60,000 workers represented at those companies ride for free if they use the service in October. Participating businesses include DaVita and Western Union.

Criminals beware: Denver police can now scan your license plate on Federal Boulevard with a permanent new camera

The new installation on Federal cost $62,000

The city of Denver is expanding its use of a technology that scans license-plate numbers and automatically alerts police when it spots a vehicle of interest.

Denver already has 11 license-plate readers mounted in vehicles that it uses around the city, which it has operated since debut in 2015. In its first 47 days alone, police used just a single unit to read nearly a half-million plates, generating more than 9,000 “hits” on suspicious cars and resulting in 40 citations and 71 arrests.

High Street Real Estate Partners of Atlanta and Eagle Four Partners of Newport Beach, California, formed a Denver-based joint venture called HS-EF Court Place to purchase the hotel from its prior owner, for an undisclosed sum on Sept. 28.

The hotel, located at the east end of 16th Street Mall on Court Place, has 1,231 rooms and 133,000 square feet of meeting space but… It will surrender its long-held title as Colorado’s largest hotel when the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center opens just south of Denver International Airport in Aurora in December with more than 1,500 rooms and 485,000 square feet of meeting space.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/08/hyatt-to-acquire-two-roads-hospitality/

Employers across metro Denver have listed nearly 6,000 jobs this month that pay $100,000 or more a year, according to Ladders, a career site for high-wage positions.

-You can find job post in technology, sales, engineering, accounting and general operations on the website.

-But $100,000 may not go as far as it used to, especially in metro Denver’s high-cost housing market. Attom Data Solutions estimates that someone looking to buy a home at the median price for Denver County of $430,000, would need a yearly salary of $117,148.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/04/want-to-land-a-six-figure-gig-denver-metro-has-more-than-6000-listed/

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In Weather

Temperatures will drop to a low of about 38 degrees Friday night according to the National Weather Service.

The weekend will be even cooler and wet, with a high of 58 both on Saturday and Sunday, when the Colorado Rockies face off with the Milwaukee Brewers at Coors Field.

Isolated rain showers are forecast through the weekend. The best chance for rain is Sunday afternoon. Fans should bring rain coats for the Rockies’ playoff game.

According to Denver Police, the zoo received a call from an unidentified individual threatening to fly an airplane into the facility. They later determined the threat was not credible and announced the park would reopen today.

Denver Post Reported

The Zoo evacuated more than 1,000 guests from the park and moved animals to safety.

- Police said they are working with their federal partners to determine where the threat came from. 

Also in Zoo news

Two popular residents will be leaving the Denver Zoo. The zoo’s two polar bears are being separated and sent to two other zoos in the hopes they produce offspring with new mates.

“Cranbeary, the 16-year-old female, will leave this month for The Alaska Zoo, while Lee, her 18-year-old mate, will depart later in the fall for Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Three schools in the Denver metro area were among the five Colorado schools named Monday as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

All five in Colorado are public elementary schools that were nominated for their high level of academic performance as measured by statewide tests in math and English. Public schools are nominated for the program by their chief state school officer.

The Colorado schools are:

* Swigert International School in Denver

* Kendrick Lakes Elementary School in Lakewood

* Willow Creek Elementary School in Centennial

* Zach Elementary School in Fort Collins

* Tavelli Elementary School in Fort Collins

Amazon, which has recently added more than 2,000 workers at fulfillment centers in Colorado, said Monday it would lift its lowest pay rate to $15 an hour starting on November first.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/02/amazon-minimum-wage-hike-in-colorado/