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Declining pot sales put Aurora nonprofits in a bind

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A decline in marijuana sales is putting a strain on Aurora nonprofits.Marijuana sales have dropped back to pre-pandemic levels, and that's taking millions of dollars off the table for Aurora charities that serve the homeless population. That includes aid like temporary housing, cold weather shelters and meal programs. Auto thefts decline in the Denver metro, where task force is ramped up Organizers told FOX31 the situation is partially because of a shortfall in retail marijuana sales, which are taxed by the city to fund a response to homelessness.That funding was cut by more than half, and if more funding isn't provided, nonprofits can start seeing services reduced almost immediately by Jan. 1.“I was blessed and fortunate to get a room," said Judith Benitez who fell on hard times.Judith Benitez at Comitis Crisis Center in Aurora (KDVR)She's a resident at the Comitis Crisis Center on Victor Street. Since Aug. 7, she has been sleeping at the center."When you’r...

Loveland veteran, 100, receives French medal for WWII heroics

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) — It was a medal ceremony 78 years in the making.In front of a crowd of family, friends and fellow veterans, Roger Smith of Loveland had the prestigious French Legion of Honour pinned to his lapel. The medal is the highest French decoration and one of the most famous medals in the world, and it was bestowed on Smith for his heroics in helping to liberate that country during World War II.“So I raised my right hand on the 23rd of July, 1942," Smith told FOX31.A lifelong lover of aviation, Smith had a unique role in France’s liberation. He piloted a glider into German-occupied southern France on Aug. 15, 1944 – known as the “second D-Day.” It’s the day the Allies launched “Operation Dragoon." Colorado veteran reunited with the B-52 he flew over Vietnam 50 years ago Their mission was to land infantry troops and secure Mediterranean port cities to help drive out the Nazis. The operation was a big success.“I’ve been trying to bring out more recognition for what he...

Club Q shooting survivor reflects on anniversary of tragedy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — This Sunday marks one year since the mass shooting at Club Q. Five people were killed and dozens more injured.Nov. 19, 2022, was a day that forever changed the lives of so many, especially victim Wyatt Kent. FOX31 sat down one-on-one with the victim, who had close ties to every person lost in this tragedy. Club Q announces new location and name change In the wake, the days and months pass in no normal way when you're grieving.“It feels like it's been two months, and it feels like it's been five years all at once,” Kent said.1 year since the Club Q tragedyFor Kent, the anniversary of the Club Q shooting marks his birthday — the night he almost lost his life in the club and the night he lost five people who touched his life in different ways. From Kelly, who he says blocked him by gunfire, to the love of his life Daniel, these victims continue to touch his life daily.“Every single day,” Kent said. “Daniel comes through that window over there in a ray...

Tala Beach at 1 Hotel South Beach makes guests feel like they’ve traveled to Greece without leaving SoFlo

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

Picture this: a lush tropical vacation, not a care in the world, tons of fun, food and parties.Sounds like a complete dream, but don’t worry — it’s all real! Not to mention, it’s right in our own backyard, so no need to dust off your passport.This is no Mediterranean vacation. It’s Tala Beach at Miami Beach’s 1 Hotel.Mio Danilovic: “Tala Beach is a beautiful beach club that we opened here at the 1 Hotel. It’s a Mediterranean-inspired oasis, if you will.”Think of it like taking a trip to Greece without ever leaving the city.Mio Danilovic: “People can come from the beach to come have lunch here, they can have lunch and go to the beach, go to the boardwalk. They can come from the hotel, have a beautiful lunch experience or an evening party.”But if you really want to amp up the fun…Mio Danilovic: “Tala Nights is this monthly party that we do, it happens once a month. It’s got bottle service, big-name marquee D...

MV Realty files for bankruptcy protection, accused in lawsuit of ‘swindling’ homeowners across the country

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

A South Florida company is being sued by the state, accused of “swindling” homeowners across the country and targeting seniors. Karen Hensel has tonight’s 7 Investigates.John Browning Jr., homeowner: “There’s a lot of memories here. Yes, there’s a lot of memories here.”This has been home for John Browning Jr. for decades. It was a gift from one of his sons, who was a former defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs.John Browning Jr.: “My oldest son bought the house back in 1996. He bought this house with money that he played football and made.”He gave it to his dad, who has worked hard his whole life — detailing cars.Now at age 76, John is the full-time caregiver for his disabled grandson.John Browning Jr.: “Michael is mentally challenged, and he’s got cerebral palsy.”Both his grandson and a second son live with him.While he was not looking to sell his home, John was enticed when he got a call from MV R...

Scandal, deception at heart of ‘May December’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

Written by Samy Burch from a story by Burch and Alex Mechanik, both making their feature debut, “May December” from director Todd Haynes of “The Velvet Underground,” “Carol” and “Far From Heaven” fame is an odd bird. But then again Haynes has made a career out of odd birds. Haynes once made a short film about Karen Carpenter, using Barbie and Ken dolls as his “actors.” It worked remarkably well.This new film tells the story of a fictional actor named Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), who visits Savannah to study a married couple for a film she is about to shoot. The film is about the couple, who made news over two decades years earlier when they had an affair when the woman was in her 30s, married with children, and the man was 13. She went to jail. When she got out they got married and had children of their own. Elizabeth arrives on the eve of the high school graduation of two of the children. The film is loosely based on the story of Mary Kay Letourneau.The household is in a tizz...

Lee: Some pols want to edit your shopping list

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

Should the government decide what goes in your shopping cart?Surprisingly, some in Congress want to empower government bureaucrats to restrict consumer freedom by limiting the ability of needy families to purchase certain foods and beverages.This attempted power grab comes at a time when Americans ask their political leaders for relief from grocery prices, not more government overreach into their shopping carts.Some members of Congress have introduced legislation prohibiting recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from buying foods and beverages those congressional members find objectionable. Those members actively seek to include those restrictions in the Farm Bill later this year during the bipartisan negotiations.The logic behind that effort is to encourage healthier lifestyles, which is a laudable goal. Sponsors of the bills somehow believe that banning SNAP purchases of beverages and desserts will tackle the rate of obesity and diabetes in our country. The f...

Behind the lens with ‘Hunger Games’ Jo Willems

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

A prequel to an extraordinarily successful franchise, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” begins 64 years before Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen volunteered to be a tribute and fight in a televised life or death match as entertainment for the downtrodden population.It is also decades before Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) gains control to become Panem’s sadistic, dictatorial president.In this latest adaptation of a Suzanne Collins’ bestseller, Snow (England’s Tom Blyth, 28, who also stars as Billy the Kid in the Epix western series) is young, idealistic and, almost instantly, in love with the young tribute Lucy Gray Baird (“West Side Story”’s Maria, Rachel Zegler).If Lucy is the songbird of the title, the question becomes: Does that make Coriolanus the snake?Belgian-born cinematographer Jo Willems knows that capturing the excitement, the reality of the vicious Games and Lucy’s countrified musical numbers in a packed bar are key to understanding the passio...

Nicolas Cage made for ‘Dream Scenario’ role

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

Nicolas Cage demonstrates once again that he is the lodestone of madness, the captain of the crazy ship, the no-idea-too-out-there-for-me champion as far as contemporary American actors go. In “Dream Scenario,” a film written and directed by Norway-born Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself”) and produced by Ari Aster (“Midsommar”), Cage plays Paul Matthews, a not particularly interesting tenured biology professor in some unidentified American state (the film was shot in Toronto).Paul, who has a graying beard and a circle of dark unkempt hair around a bald pate, is not invited to the chic dinner parties given by his colleague Richard (Dylan Baker). But Paul and his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) have a working marriage. They have two semi-well-adjusted adolescent daughters: Hannah (Jessica Clement) and Sophie (Lily Bird, “Beau Is Afraid”). In his classroom, we see Paul talk about zebra coloration and the advantage of “sticking out.” Earlier, in what turned out to be a dream sequence, P...

Editorial: MBTA fixes rival cost of Big Dig

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:53:10 GMT

Move over Big Dig, the MBTA is in hot contention for the State’s Priciest Boondoggle title.The notoriously over- budget Big Dig highway project was initially estimated to cost $2.5 billion when it began in 1991. It ended up costing a whopping $14.8 billion when it was finished  in 1997. Transportation officials later put the estimate of the complete cost of the Big Dig (allowing for principal and interest) at some $24.3 billion.Now, MBTA officials put the price of fixing the mountain of issues that have plagued the transportation agency at a head-smacking $24.5 billion.The T’s assessed the state of its trains, tracks, signals, construction equipment, etc. and the findings were grim, according to the State House News.Nearly two-thirds of MBTA assets are not in good repair. Passengers who’ve been booted off dead trains and herded on to buses, or waited far too long for the next train to inch toward them on one of the many slow zones could attest to that. It wasn̵...