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Sky-high plans for Bounce Empire push EDM legend Brad Roulier to innovate

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

Brad Roulier flung his arms wide atop a 13-foot-tall hydraulic platform, its base wreathed in fog and multicolored LED lights. Surveying his 50,000-square-foot empire from such a perch is not something the typically soft-spoken, behind-the-scenes Denverite relishes for a photo shoot. But he knows that his lofty plans won’t succeed without a bit of puffed-up promotion.“Let’s take the tour!” he said after the platform descended and he stepped onto the spongy gray floor. “I see you have the magic socks.”The grip-soled footwear is required to explore Bounce Empire, the newly opened “inflatable theme park” in Lafayette that Roulier says is the largest of its kind in the world. It’s an upscale, bounce-house paradise for kids and their parents that also offers DJ nights and other 21-and-up nighttime programming. Attendees can crowd around the circular hydraulic stage to see artists perform, or they can rent out a “VIP bounce house...

Denver’s best burgers, Avery Brewing’s 30th, rooftop yoga and more things to do in Denver this week

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

Denver Burger BattleThursday. Denverites enjoy access to a miraculous selection of classic hamburgers, from the urban Cherry Cricket and My Brother’s Bar to the further-afield Bud’s Bar in Sedalia. But what about delicious innovations in the state at large?Denver Burger Battle, which returns on Aug. 3, will pit more than 20 Colorado restaurants and food trucks against one another in the ultimate red meat championship — including off-menu burgers, organizers said, along with new contenders such as Hickory & Ash, Edgewater Beer Garden and Slater’s 50/50.“A team of burger experts and enthusiasts carefully vet and hand select each competing burger so that guests have the chance to taste and vote from an impressive, curated bracket of local restaurants,” they wrote. (Full disclosure: Denver Post dining reporter Lily O’Neil is one of the judges.)Belly up for the patty battle starting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Auraria Campus Tivoli Quad, ...

Shohei Ohtani is off the trade block; Angels add top starter Giolito: Report

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

Good news Angeles fans, not only has the club removed Shohei Ohtani from the trade market but the club became buyers ahead of the upcoming trade deadline. Despite receiving multiple offers for their star slugger and pitcher, the team has decided not to trade its megastar, Sports Illustrated reported. Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani talks to members of the Chicago White Sox as they sit in their dugout after hitting a single during the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)Considered by many to be the most valuable player in baseball, Ohtani has slugged 36 home runs and sports a 3.71 ERA into late July.Further showing that they are all-in on a run at the playoffs, the Angels added starting pitcher Lucas Giolito in a trade with the Chicago White Sox. Disneyland expanding alcohol options, bringing beer, wine and cocktails to new restaurants In addition to Giolito, the Angels added White Sox reliever Reynaldo López in...

Even in Berkeley, the disabled community faces new challenges in a post-ADA world

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

This week marks 33 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in workplaces, schools and a host of other aspects of public life.While the 1991 federal law has drastically improved the quality of life for many in the disabled community, modern barriers to the accessibility it promised still abound — particularly amid the Bay Area’s housing crisis, emergency disaster planning and rapidly changing technology in the digital age.Locally, Berkeley is widely credited as a birthplace of the disability rights movement. In the 1970s, disabled residents began transforming both urban landscapes and cultural assumptions, spurring everything from the installation of the nation’s first curb cuts to the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.But in the wake of the passing of two of the city’s pioneering activists, Hale Zukas and Judy Heumann, in the last several months, many of the city’s disabled residents are left ref...

Swiftonomics: California could see big economic boom from Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

Taylor Swift is reigniting a “Gold Rush” in California as the final leg of her record-breaking U.S. ‘Eras Tour’ comes to Santa Clara and Los Angeles with massive fanfare at the sold-out concerts.The cultural phenomenon is on track to boast the highest-grossing musical tour of all time, with more than $1 billion in revenue anticipated — along with a big boost to the economies of the cities in which she sets foot. Over the last several months, the impact of the ‘Eras Tour’ has trickled down from Swift herself to the entire U.S. economy, with one estimate from market research firm QuestionPro predicting her tour could generate $4.6 billion in spending across the country.The preliminary numbers from cities that Swift has already passed through are staggering.Visit Pittsburgh estimated $46 million in direct spending in Allegheny County, while Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Research and Data and Visit Cincy said the tour brought in more ...

California has adopted a new plan to teach math. Why are people so riled up?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

California is preparing to overhaul the way its schools teach math with new state guidelines, a 1,000-page effort that’s drawn both staunch support and fierce criticism over the nearly four years it’s taken to produce.At its core, the new approach reignites a years-old debate about the best way to teach math and how to balance the needs of students with different skill levels.The revision comes at a time when two out of three students are not meeting California’s math standards, according to state assessments last spring. Those results were even more staggering for minority students: Last year, 84% of Black students and 79% of Latino students did not meet those standards.“The traditional approaches (to teaching math) have yielded really poor results, really inequitable results, and whole generations of people who do not like math,” said Rachel Ruffalo, senior director of strategic advocacy for The Education Trust-West. “We’ve made traditional math instruction so na...

San Francisco was too expensive so they moved to Spain and bought a beautiful house for $50,000. Here’s how they did it

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

By Inka Piegsa-Quischotte | CNNJohn Flores and Michael Leitz. (Michael Leitz via CNN) When John Flores and Michael Leitz were looking for a home in which to spend the next stage of their lives, they realized that where they lived in San Francisco was too expensive.Instead, they began looking further afield – eventually buying a beautiful 120-year-old, three-story home in rural Spain for less than $50,000.Both Flores and Leitz worked in education in the US before retiring – Leitz was a high school history teacher while Flores was an administrator at UCLA.While they said they both enjoyed their San Francisco lifestyle, they realized that it would be unaffordable to live in rented property on pensions much lower than their salaries.“Europe was an obvious choice for us,” said Leitz. “I am part German and part Irish, so there were European roots from the family.  John is part Mexican, which makes for the Spanish connection, and he is fluent in Spanish too.“The closest you can come t...

49ers know Super Bowl contention isn’t what makes history. Winning it does.

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

SANTA CLARA — The words “Super Bowl” haven’t been heard much through the first two days of media availability since the 49ers arrived at training camp.Then again, it’s not necessary. Everyone knows what’s at stake in 2023, and in the eyes of the fanbase as well as most of the players, if the 49ers don’t win their sixth Lombardi Trophy in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024, the season will go down as a colossal failure.That may not be fair. It lacks perspective and common sense.Then again, the 49ers last won the Super Bowl following the 1994 season, and tying the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers with their sixth ring would put the franchise back on top.Whether it’s a ticking clock or a closing window, the 49ers know it’s time to strike with one of the NFL’s most loaded rosters and their best assemblage of talent since Steve Young threw six touchdown passes against the San Diego Chargers on Jan. 29, 1995 in Miami.“I...

Body camera video shows man fatally run over seconds after deputy tased him on Colorado highway

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

Body camera video showing a Larimer County Sheriff’s deputy tasing a man on Interstate 25 seconds before he was hit by a passing SUV was released Wednesday by attorneys for the man’s family and by the sheriff’s office. The man, 28-year-old Brent Allen Thomspon of Loveland, died shortly after the incident at a hospital.Brent Thompson (Provided by Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC) Last week, the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office announced that no criminal charges will be brought against Deputy Lorenzo Lujan in connection to the Feb. 18 incident. On Wednesday, attorneys Qusair Mohamedbhai and Siddhartha Rathod, who represent the Thompson family, released the video.“No one in their right mind would tase someone on the highway,” Rathod said in a phone interview Wednesday. “The public has a right to see this.”During a traffic stop on the highway ramp, Thompson took off running after Lujan told him he was being arrested, as seen in the video. Lujan chased Thompson toward the highway, fi...

Hundreds of homes are eyed on parking lots next to downtown San Jose

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:20:48 GMT

SAN JOSE — Hundreds of homes — potentially including affordable residences — could replace surface parking lots on a site just east of downtown San Jose, documents on file with city officials show.The housing would be built on several parcels whose addresses include 95 North 17th Street.An estimated 213 units would be built on the project site, which is at the corner of North 17th Street and East St. John Street, according to the development plans.Housing development site in San Jose near the corner of North 17th Street and East St. John Street, shown within the outline. Project boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)The Core Cos., a veteran real estate firm, and Eden Housing, which specializes in affordable residences, have teamed up to develop the housing project, which is in San Jose’s Julian-St. James neighborhood.The 213 units would consist of 113 large-family apartments that would be affordable, 64 apartments for seniors, and 36 for-sale townhome...