thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Ask Amy: Man wants to pass through the “friend zone”

Dear Amy : I am a 27-year-old straight man .
My closest male friends are all married or engaged .
I can count on one hand the number of friends and same-age relatives I have who are not in committed , long-term romantic relationships .
I can ’ t shake the feeling I will never find a long-term partner .
I ’ ve always heard , and believe , that the best relationships grow out of friendships .
I ’ ve had a good deal of relationships before , some explicitly casual and a few that burned like fireworks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experience of “ being friends first.
” I have no idea how that would work .
I feel like I ’ ve passed the stage of life where relationships can grow organically out of friendships .
It ’ s unusual for me to meet a peer who is single , let alone a single peer with whom I potentially share a deep compatibility .
Even if I did , I ’ m afraid of misreading it or messing it up .
Last February , I asked a friend out on a date while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we remained friends , either way .
She politely declined but has avoided me ever since , and I feel guilty for having put her in an awkward situation .
So , during the pandemic , I ’ m taking some “ time off ” to work on myself .
This raises the question , what am I working toward ?
Since most romantic media , fictional or instructive , is geared toward women , I feel like I have no reference point to judge my experience against .
I ’ m not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ date , but think I ’ m getting things wrong .
Dear Groomsman : I think you might be misunderstanding the whole “ friends become lovers ” storyline .
Yes , it ’ s great when Harry and Sally can have a slow-burning friendship that gradually ignites into a great love .
But this is not necessarily the norm .
“ Lovers become friends ” is how many couples experience the dynamic .
The most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself .
When you “ work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be to find new ways to experience the satisfaction ( and joy ) of liking – and loving – the man you are , with or without a partner .
When you ’ re ready , the way to meet a potential partner is to put yourself out there – telling friends and family members that you ’ d like to be fixed up , and , of course , using technology to match with women who are also looking .
You should use these meetups to continue to thoughtfully work on yourself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the work is never done .
I agree that connecting with other men is vital .
There are a lot of magazines , websites and blogs designated especially for men ; do some research to see which might offer content that appeals to you .
Dear Amy : My sister and her husband are empty-nesters who live about 300 miles away from us .
They visit my wife and me about once a year for four or five days , and they sleep in our spare bedroom .
We would like to travel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do so , and we hope they could accommodate us in their three-bedroom home .
We never receive an invitation to visit unless we tell them we are already in their area .
Then , they agree to meet us at a restaurant , but they never invite us to stay with them .
This means we have the much-added expense of a hotel room .
Is there a polite way for us to ask them to invite us for a few days visit and also ask if we can stay with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Traveling : You might assume that your sister and her husband aren ’ t happy with the state of their house .
People who are uncomfortable with their homes will reflexively avoid inviting people to visit .
The polite way for you to ask to stay is to be straightforward : “ We ’ d really like to plan a visit .
Would it be OK if we stayed with you for a couple of days ?
” If they demur , accept it .
Dear Amy : “ COVID Courtesy ” asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As a lifelong NYC resident , it is an unwritten “ rule of the road ” that pedestrians walk on the right-hand side of the sidewalk , the same as vehicles travel on streets and highways in the U.S .
Tourists will discover that Manhattan is a much more friendly city if they would observe these traditions .
Dear New Yorker : Yes , that should do it .

Dear Amy: I am a 27-year-old straight man. My closest male friends are all married or engaged. I can count on one hand the number of friends and same-age relatives I have who are not in committed, long-term romantic relationships.
I can’t shake the feeling I will never find a long-term partner. I’ve always heard, and believe, that the best relationships grow out of friendships.
I’ve had a good deal of relationships before, some explicitly casual and a few that burned like fireworks, but I’ve never had the experience of “being friends first.” I have no idea how that would work.
I feel like I’ve passed the stage of life where relationships can grow organically out of friendships. It’s unusual for me to meet a peer who is single, let alone a single peer with whom I potentially share a deep compatibility.
Even if I did, I’m afraid of misreading it or messing it up. Last February, I asked a friend out on a date while trying to make clear that I hoped we remained friends, either way. She politely declined but has avoided me ever since, and I feel guilty for having put her in an awkward situation.
So, during the pandemic, I’m taking some “time off” to work on myself. This raises the question, what am I working toward?
Since most romantic media, fictional or instructive, is geared toward women, I feel like I have no reference point to judge my experience against.
I’m not worried about running out of women to date, but think I’m getting things wrong.
Any thoughts?
— Always a Groomsman
Dear Groomsman: I think you might be misunderstanding the whole “friends become lovers” storyline. Yes, it’s great when Harry and Sally can have a slow-burning friendship that gradually ignites into a great love. But this is not necessarily the norm. “Lovers become friends” is how many couples experience the dynamic.
The most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself.
When you “work on yourself,” your goal should be to find new ways to experience the satisfaction (and joy) of liking – and loving – the man you are, with or without a partner.
When you’re ready, the way to meet a potential partner is to put yourself out there – telling friends and family members that you’d like to be fixed up, and, of course, using technology to match with women who are also looking. You should use these meetups to continue to thoughtfully work on yourself. We are all works-in-progress, and the work is never done.
I agree that connecting with other men is vital. There are a lot of magazines, websites and blogs designated especially for men; do some research to see which might offer content that appeals to you.
Dear Amy: My sister and her husband are empty-nesters who live about 300 miles away from us.
They visit my wife and me about once a year for four or five days, and they sleep in our spare bedroom.
We would like to travel to see them when it is safe to do so, and we hope they could accommodate us in their three-bedroom home.
We never receive an invitation to visit unless we tell them we are already in their area. Then, they agree to meet us at a restaurant, but they never invite us to stay with them.
This means we have the much-added expense of a hotel room.
Is there a polite way for us to ask them to invite us for a few days visit and also ask if we can stay with them in a spare bedroom?
— Traveling from Boston
Dear Traveling: You might assume that your sister and her husband aren’t happy with the state of their house. People who are uncomfortable with their homes will reflexively avoid inviting people to visit.
The polite way for you to ask to stay is to be straightforward: “We’d really like to plan a visit. Would it be OK if we stayed with you for a couple of days?”
If they demur, accept it.
Dear Amy: “COVID Courtesy” asked about pedestrian etiquette during the pandemic. As a lifelong NYC resident, it is an unwritten “rule of the road” that pedestrians walk on the right-hand side of the sidewalk, the same as vehicles travel on streets and highways in the U.S.
Tourists will discover that Manhattan is a much more friendly city if they would observe these traditions.
— New Yorker
Dear New Yorker: Yes, that should do it.
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Texas prep football player attacks referee

EDINBURG , Texas — A Texas high school football player charged onto the field and bowled over a referee Thursday @ @ @ @ @ ejected from the game .
Senior defensive lineman Emmanuel Duron of Edinburg High School came @ @ @ @ @ after the referee announced the ejection , slamming into the official during the first half @ @ @ @ @ against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo .
Duron was escorted from the stadium by police officers .
The @ @ @ @ @ referee was evaluated for a concussion by medical personnel at the stadium .
The game @ @ @ @ @ with Edinburg winning 35-21 to advance to the playoffs .
The District 31-6A Defensive Player @ @ @ @ @ , Duron also is the Bobcats ’ kicker and punter and a star wrestler .

EDINBURG, Texas — A Texas high school football player charged onto the field and bowled over a referee Thursday night, angered after being ejected from the game.
Senior defensive lineman Emmanuel Duron of Edinburg High School came running from the sideline area after the referee announced the ejection, slamming into the official during the first half of the zone play-in game against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo.
Duron was escorted from the stadium by police officers.
The Monitor of McAllen reported the referee was evaluated for a concussion by medical personnel at the stadium.
The game resumed after a delay, with Edinburg winning 35-21 to advance to the playoffs.
The District 31-6A Defensive Player of the Year last season, Duron also is the Bobcats’ kicker and punter and a star wrestler.


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--MLB sues insurance providers, cites billions in virus losses

Major League Baseball and all 30 of its teams are suing their insurance providers , citing billions of dollars in losses during the 2020 season played almost entirely without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic .
The suit , filed in October in California Superior Court in Alameda County , was obtained Friday by The Associated Press , says providers AIG , Factory Mutual and Interstate Fire and Casualty Company have refused to pay claims made by MLB despite the league ’ s “ all-risk ” policy purchases .
The league claims to have lost billions of dollars on unsold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , tens of millions on parking and millions more on suites and luxury seat licenses , in-park merchandise sales and corporate sponsorships .
It also cites over a billion dollars in local and national media losses , plus tens of millions in missed income for MLB Advanced Media .
It says all of those losses should be covered by their policies .
MLB cut short spring training and postponed the start of its regular season in March , then began a truncated schedule in late July during which fans were barred from stadiums @ @ @ @ @ @ @ games , down from 162 .
Most postseason games were played without fans , though there was limited capacity of about 11,000 per game for the National League Championship Series and World Series at Arlington , Texas .
“ Due to COVID-19 , the Major League Baseball entities , including those of the 30 major league clubs , have incurred significant financial losses as a result of our inability to play games , host fans and otherwise conduct normal business operations during much of the 2020 season , ” the league said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We strongly believe these losses are covered in full by our insurance policies , and are confident that the court and jury will agree.
” Messages seeking comment were not immediately returned by the insurance providers .
Over 1,400 lawsuits have been brought against insurance companies regarding business interruptions claims related to the pandemic , according to data compiled by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School .
That includes several similar suits by minor league baseball teams , whose season was wiped out completely when baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred canceled it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases , filed in Arizona and led by the Chattanooga Lookouts , has already been dismissed due to a virus exclusion in the policy .
Insurers in many cases have insisted that financial losses caused by the coronavirus do not constitute physical loss or property damage .
MLB is claiming the virus has led to both .
“ The presence of the coronavirus and COVID-19 , including but not limited to coronavirus droplets or nuclei on solid surfaces and in the air at insured property , has caused and will continue to cause @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ambient air at the premises , ” the suit says .
“ Coronavirus , a physical substance , has attached and adhered to Plaintiffs ’ property and by doing so , altered that property .
Such presence has also directly resulted in loss of use of those facilities.
” Many teams have laid off front office employees in response to the pandemic , and many are predicting a slow offseason for players in free agency .
Several clubs have already cut loose high-level players as a way to save money , including when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million club option on three-time All-Star Brad Hand and the Chicago Cubs failed to offer a contract to popular slugger Kyle Schwarber , allowing the 2016 World Series champion to become a free agent .
MLB has not said whether 2021 spring training or the season will start on time .

Major League Baseball and all 30 of its teams are suing their insurance providers, citing billions of dollars in losses during the 2020 season played almost entirely without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The suit, filed in October in California Superior Court in Alameda County, was obtained Friday by The Associated Press, says providers AIG, Factory Mutual and Interstate Fire and Casualty Company have refused to pay claims made by MLB despite the league’s “all-risk” policy purchases.
The league claims to have lost billions of dollars on unsold tickets, hundreds of millions on concessions, tens of millions on parking and millions more on suites and luxury seat licenses, in-park merchandise sales and corporate sponsorships. It also cites over a billion dollars in local and national media losses, plus tens of millions in missed income for MLB Advanced Media. It says all of those losses should be covered by their policies.
MLB cut short spring training and postponed the start of its regular season in March, then began a truncated schedule in late July during which fans were barred from stadiums. Teams were limited to 60 regular-season games, down from 162.
Most postseason games were played without fans, though there was limited capacity of about 11,000 per game for the National League Championship Series and World Series at Arlington, Texas.
“Due to COVID-19, the Major League Baseball entities, including those of the 30 major league clubs, have incurred significant financial losses as a result of our inability to play games, host fans and otherwise conduct normal business operations during much of the 2020 season,” the league said in a statement to the AP. “We strongly believe these losses are covered in full by our insurance policies, and are confident that the court and jury will agree.”
Messages seeking comment were not immediately returned by the insurance providers.
Over 1,400 lawsuits have been brought against insurance companies regarding business interruptions claims related to the pandemic, according to data compiled by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. That includes several similar suits by minor league baseball teams, whose season was wiped out completely when baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred canceled it.
At least one of those minor league cases, filed in Arizona and led by the Chattanooga Lookouts, has already been dismissed due to a virus exclusion in the policy.
Insurers in many cases have insisted that financial losses caused by the coronavirus do not constitute physical loss or property damage. MLB is claiming the virus has led to both.
“The presence of the coronavirus and COVID-19, including but not limited to coronavirus droplets or nuclei on solid surfaces and in the air at insured property, has caused and will continue to cause direct physical damage to physical property and ambient air at the premises,” the suit says. “Coronavirus, a physical substance, has attached and adhered to Plaintiffs’ property and by doing so, altered that property. Such presence has also directly resulted in loss of use of those facilities.”
Many teams have laid off front office employees in response to the pandemic, and many are predicting a slow offseason for players in free agency. Several clubs have already cut loose high-level players as a way to save money, including when the Cleveland Indians declined a $10 million club option on three-time All-Star Brad Hand and the Chicago Cubs failed to offer a contract to popular slugger Kyle Schwarber, allowing the 2016 World Series champion to become a free agent.
MLB has not said whether 2021 spring training or the season will start on time.


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--Rockies podcast: Why Colorado made a mistake in non-tendering all-star outfielder David Dahl, plus m

Rockies podcast: Why Colorado made a mistake in non-tendering all-star outfielder David Dahl, plus more offseason analysis

In this episode of the On The Rox podcast , Denver Post sportswriters Kyle Newman and Patrick Saunders break down @ @ @ @ @ non-tender outfielder David Dahl and catcher Tony Wolters .
Plus , more analysis on Colorado @ @ @ @ @ hot stove and general manager Jeff Bridich .

A third-generation Colorado native, Patrick has worked for The Denver Post since October 1998 when he began covering the Denver Broncos. He’s been a Rockies beat writer since 2005, save for a two-year stint as The Post’s online sports editor in 2010-11. Patrick was honored as the 2018 Colorado Sportswriter of the Year and was president of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in 2017. He graduated from Arvada High School, earned a degree in history and education from Fort Lewis College and has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado.


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--Driver dies in Lakewood crash as suspects flee robbery in speeding car

A driver died Friday in Lakewood when suspects from a nearby robbery crashed into the victim ’ s vehicle .
@ @ @ @ @ were called to the Ulta Beauty store , 489 S. Wadsworth Blvd.
, on a @ @ @ @ @ according to a news release .
When officers arrived , several suspects fled the scene @ @ @ @ @ , police said .
The suspect vehicle , at a high speed , crashed into @ @ @ @ @ the intersection of West 1st Avenue and Harland Street .
Three suspects , including the @ @ @ @ @ were taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries .
The driver of @ @ @ @ @ scene .

A driver died Friday in Lakewood when suspects from a nearby robbery crashed into the victim’s vehicle.
At about 1:55 p.m. police were called to the Ulta Beauty store, 489 S. Wadsworth Blvd., on a report of a robbery, according to a news release.
When officers arrived, several suspects fled the scene in a red Mitsubishi Galant, police said. The suspect vehicle, at a high speed, crashed into a silver Honda Civic at the intersection of West 1st Avenue and Harland Street.
Three suspects, including the driver of the Galant, were taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries. The driver of the Honda died at the scene.
An investigation is ongoing.


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--Team chemistry key to CU Buffs’ strong start

Four years ago , the Colorado football team came out of nowhere .
Annual residents of the Pac-12 South basement to that point , the Buffaloes were expected to once again finish at the bottom .
A determined and cohesive group of veterans helped CU build some early season confidence , however , and they stunned everyone by winning the South .
Sam Noyer is one of the few players remaining from that team .
Now a fifth-year senior quarterback , Noyer is leading the Buffs ( 3-0 , 2-0 Pac-12 ) to yet another surprising season and he sees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similarity I see that really stands out to me – I mean , there ’ s a lot of them – but there ’ s one that really stands out to me and that ’ s just the chemistry with these guys , ” Noyer said .
“ Everybody , from the freshmen up to the fifth-year guys like myself … we ’ re creating a family culture here and I think that ’ s really important .
That ’ s something that we had in 2016 .
“ Another thing that stands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our group .
We haven ’ t really had that type of leadership since 2016 .
I think that ’ s really important but there ’ s a lot of similarities in this team ( and 2016 ) and I want to continue to keep that going throughout the next couple of games.
” • CU Buffs vs. Arizona scouting report : Who has the edge , predictions and 3 things to watch • No fans to be allowed at Rose Bowl for CFP semifinal game • Undefeated Colorado tries to keep rolling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oregon State , Colorado and Washington take home our top awards The Buffs are scheduled to play at last-place Arizona ( 0-3 , 0-3 ) on Saturday night in Tucson , Ariz. , and they ’ ve got a chance to continue their pursuit of a second South title in the last five seasons .
Because of the coronavirus pandemic , this has been a delayed and shortened season , and it ’ s created a situation where the Buffs could be undefeated , but not win the South .
Southern California ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conference game in hand and that could help the Trojans take the division .
If USC loses one of its next two , the door is open for Colorado .
CU head coach Karl Dorrell isn ’ t worried about the Trojans , however .
He knows that for the Buffs to have a chance at the division title , they ’ ve got to keep winning .
“ I like where we ’ re heading , ” he said .
“ I think these next few games are really important .
All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know , but we ’ re sitting in a pretty good position in the conference .
We ’ ve got to start taking care of our own business and part of that business is taking care of what ’ s in front of us right now.
” What ’ s in front of CU right now is Arizona , which has lost 10 in a row , but has defeated the Buffs the last three years .
“ I think Arizona is a much better team than their record indicates , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wildcats when he was UCLA ’ s head coach from 2003-07 .
“ It ’ s easy to fall into that trap , looking at they ’ re 0-3 .
“ I think it ’ s a tremendous challenge for us .
They ’ ve been a thorn in our side , where we haven ’ t had much success , so we need to stay focused on what ’ s in front of us , doing the things that have given us this position right now and execute and play a great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at hand was a trademark of the 2016 team , which was led by upperclassmen who bonded together through years of losing and rose up together .
CU has just eight scholarship seniors , but plenty of players who have gone through three consecutive 5-7 seasons before this year .
They ’ ve also been through two coaching changes in the last 24 months .
Despite being hired in February and spending most of his first six months on the job connecting with the team virtually because of COVID-19 , Dorrell has made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was really my biggest emphasis when I got here was to get to know these players at a level that will allow them to open up , share their concerns and share what they think are great elements to be successful , ” Dorrell said .
“ Breaking through those barriers , being a new coach , that took some transition time to do .
I had to earn their trust in going through the process .
“ I think a big part of it is we did spend a lot of time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what it takes to win .
What ’ s our culture all about ?
What are the pillars we stand for ?
How do we move forward ?
How do we become successful ?
We talk about all those elements and I think it put us all on the same page.
” Dorrell is quick to admit that the chemistry isn ’ t perfect .
“ We ’ ve still got issues , but those issues are minimal than prior to when I got here , ” he said .
“ There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work on to improve and I think our players know that .
They ’ re willing to do the things that are necessary for us to be successful.
” So far , they have been successful .
They ’ ve bonded as a group and go to Tucson with a chance to stay on track for something that hasn ’ t been done at CU since 2016 .
“ I know it ’ s an important game , ” Dorrell said .
“ I think our players understand that and we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going in our favor.
” Series : CU leads 14-8 overall ; but trails 2-7 since joining Pac-12

Four years ago, the Colorado football team came out of nowhere.
Annual residents of the Pac-12 South basement to that point, the Buffaloes were expected to once again finish at the bottom.
A determined and cohesive group of veterans helped CU build some early season confidence, however, and they stunned everyone by winning the South.
Sam Noyer is one of the few players remaining from that team. Now a fifth-year senior quarterback, Noyer is leading the Buffs (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12) to yet another surprising season and he sees similarities to 2016.
“The one similarity I see that really stands out to me – I mean, there’s a lot of them – but there’s one that really stands out to me and that’s just the chemistry with these guys,” Noyer said. “Everybody, from the freshmen up to the fifth-year guys like myself … we’re creating a family culture here and I think that’s really important. That’s something that we had in 2016.
“Another thing that stands out to me is the leadership of our group. We haven’t really had that type of leadership since 2016. I think that’s really important but there’s a lot of similarities in this team (and 2016) and I want to continue to keep that going throughout the next couple of games.”
The Buffs are scheduled to play at last-place Arizona (0-3, 0-3) on Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz., and they’ve got a chance to continue their pursuit of a second South title in the last five seasons.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this has been a delayed and shortened season, and it’s created a situation where the Buffs could be undefeated, but not win the South. Southern California (3-0, 3-0) has an extra conference game in hand and that could help the Trojans take the division. If USC loses one of its next two, the door is open for Colorado.
CU head coach Karl Dorrell isn’t worried about the Trojans, however. He knows that for the Buffs to have a chance at the division title, they’ve got to keep winning.
“I like where we’re heading,” he said. “I think these next few games are really important. All of them are important, as we know, but we’re sitting in a pretty good position in the conference. We’ve got to start taking care of our own business and part of that business is taking care of what’s in front of us right now.”
What’s in front of CU right now is Arizona, which has lost 10 in a row, but has defeated the Buffs the last three years.
“I think Arizona is a much better team than their record indicates,” said Dorrell, who went 3-2 against the Wildcats when he was UCLA’s head coach from 2003-07. “It’s easy to fall into that trap, looking at they’re 0-3.
“I think it’s a tremendous challenge for us. They’ve been a thorn in our side, where we haven’t had much success, so we need to stay focused on what’s in front of us, doing the things that have given us this position right now and execute and play a great game.”
Staying focused on the task at hand was a trademark of the 2016 team, which was led by upperclassmen who bonded together through years of losing and rose up together.
CU has just eight scholarship seniors, but plenty of players who have gone through three consecutive 5-7 seasons before this year. They’ve also been through two coaching changes in the last 24 months.
Despite being hired in February and spending most of his first six months on the job connecting with the team virtually because of COVID-19, Dorrell has made team camaraderie a focus.
“It was really my biggest emphasis when I got here was to get to know these players at a level that will allow them to open up, share their concerns and share what they think are great elements to be successful,” Dorrell said. “Breaking through those barriers, being a new coach, that took some transition time to do. I had to earn their trust in going through the process.
“I think a big part of it is we did spend a lot of time in the summer really trying to cultivate what it takes to win. What’s our culture all about? What are the pillars we stand for? How do we move forward? How do we become successful? We talk about all those elements and I think it put us all on the same page.”
Dorrell is quick to admit that the chemistry isn’t perfect.
“We’ve still got issues, but those issues are minimal than prior to when I got here,” he said. “There’s always something that we need to work on to improve and I think our players know that. They’re willing to do the things that are necessary for us to be successful.”
So far, they have been successful. They’ve bonded as a group and go to Tucson with a chance to stay on track for something that hasn’t been done at CU since 2016.
“I know it’s an important game,” Dorrell said. “I think our players understand that and we’re just trying to keep the winning ways going in our favor.”
Game at a Glance
Matchup: Colorado Buffaloes (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12) at Arizona Wildcats (0-3, 0-3)
Kickoff: 5:05 p.m. MST
Where: Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. Playing surface: FieldTurf
TV: FS-1
Radio: KOA (850 AM & 94.1 FM)
Odds: Colorado by 7.5
Series: CU leads 14-8 overall; but trails 2-7 since joining Pac-12


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Colorado orders first 46,800 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

Colorado ’ s public health department this week ordered the state ’ s first batch of Pfizer ’ s COVID-19 vaccine , requesting from the federal government a shipment of 46,800 doses .
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting Dec. 10 to consider an emergency use authorization for the vaccine .
If it ’ s approved , Pfizer plans to ship the first doses to states within 24 hours , according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ’ s announcement Friday .
The health department made the order for the vaccine on Thursday .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a major turning point in this pandemic , and we will act as swiftly as possible to get it distributed once it is approved , ” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan , executive director of the Department of Public Health and Environment , in a statement .
Under Colorado ’ s draft vaccine-distribution plan , the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will go to hospital workers , including at long-term care facilities .
Health care workers and residents in nursing homes also are considered a high priority .
Colorado ’ s first batch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people considered the highest priority under the state ’ s vaccination plan .
Any COVID-19 vaccine approved by federal regulators is expected to be in short supply , with state and federal officials saying it will take at least until the spring before they begin to distribute doses to the general public .
Earlier this week , local public health officials said they expected Colorado to receive the first batch of vaccines between Dec. 11 and 14 .
Previously , the Tri-County Health Department , which serves Adams , Arapahoe and Douglas counties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state health officials that Colorado was expected to receive between 47,000 to 150,000 doses in the initial shipment .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will allocate vaccine doses based on population , and state officials expect to receive 1.69 % of the available vaccine in weekly batches .
Colorado health officials plan to start administering the Pfizer shots after the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices makes its recommendations for vaccine use , according to a state news release .
State officials plans to keep confidential information about the location of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pfizer vaccine , citing security and safety concerns .

Colorado’s public health department this week ordered the state’s first batch of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, requesting from the federal government a shipment of 46,800 doses.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting Dec. 10 to consider an emergency use authorization for the vaccine. If it’s approved, Pfizer plans to ship the first doses to states within 24 hours, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s announcement Friday.
The health department made the order for the vaccine on Thursday.
“The availability of a COVID-19 vaccine is a major turning point in this pandemic, and we will act as swiftly as possible to get it distributed once it is approved,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Department of Public Health and Environment, in a statement.
Under Colorado’s draft vaccine-distribution plan, the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will go to hospital workers, including at long-term care facilities. Health care workers and residents in nursing homes also are considered a high priority. Colorado’s first batch won’t cover the roughly 331,533 people considered the highest priority under the state’s vaccination plan.
Any COVID-19 vaccine approved by federal regulators is expected to be in short supply, with state and federal officials saying it will take at least until the spring before they begin to distribute doses to the general public.
Earlier this week, local public health officials said they expected Colorado to receive the first batch of vaccines between Dec. 11 and 14.
Previously, the Tri-County Health Department, which serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, said it had been informed by state health officials that Colorado was expected to receive between 47,000 to 150,000 doses in the initial shipment.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will allocate vaccine doses based on population, and state officials expect to receive 1.69% of the available vaccine in weekly batches.
Colorado health officials plan to start administering the Pfizer shots after the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices makes its recommendations for vaccine use, according to a state news release.
State officials plans to keep confidential information about the location of the ultra-cold storage sites needed for the Pfizer vaccine, citing security and safety concerns.


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Texas prep player faces assault charge, team out of playoffs

EDINBURG , Texas — A Texas high school football player who ran onto the field and blindsided a referee who had ejected him from a game was charged with assault Friday and his team has been taken out of the playoffs .
Senior defensive lineman Emmanuel Duron of Edinburg High School appeared in municipal court after being charged with class A assault , a misdemeanor , according to court administrator Maribel Velasquez .
A judge set a $ 10,000 bond for the 18-year-old Duron , who remained jailed Friday afternoon .
Jail records did not list an attorney for Duron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ area after the referee had announced the ejection , slamming into the official during the first half of the zone play-in game Thursday night against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo in Edinburg , which is located more than 200 miles south of San Antonio .
Duron was escorted from the stadium by police officers .
The Monitor of McAllen reported the referee , who the newspaper identified as Fred Gracia , was evaluated for a concussion and a shoulder injury by medical personnel at the stadium .
The game resumed after a delay , with Edinburg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District said Friday it had decided to remove the team from the playoffs after the attack .
District officials said “ appropriate disciplinary action ” would be taken following an investigation .
“ We extend a sincere apology to the referee and his family .
On behalf of the Edinburg CISD Board of Trustees and administration , we apologize to the athletes , staff , and our school community , ” the district said .
The Texas Association of Sports Officials said in a statement it is also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this type of blind‑sided assault on an official while working on the field is not new to Texas Football , ” the association said .
Duron , who was the District 31-6A Defensive Player of the Year last season , is also the Bobcats ’ kicker and punter and a star wrestler .

EDINBURG, Texas — A Texas high school football player who ran onto the field and blindsided a referee who had ejected him from a game was charged with assault Friday and his team has been taken out of the playoffs.
Senior defensive lineman Emmanuel Duron of Edinburg High School appeared in municipal court after being charged with class A assault, a misdemeanor, according to court administrator Maribel Velasquez.
A judge set a $10,000 bond for the 18-year-old Duron, who remained jailed Friday afternoon. Jail records did not list an attorney for Duron.
Duron came running from the sideline area after the referee had announced the ejection, slamming into the official during the first half of the zone play-in game Thursday night against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo in Edinburg, which is located more than 200 miles south of San Antonio.
Duron was escorted from the stadium by police officers. The Monitor of McAllen reported the referee, who the newspaper identified as Fred Gracia, was evaluated for a concussion and a shoulder injury by medical personnel at the stadium.
The game resumed after a delay, with Edinburg winning 35-21 to advance. However, the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District said Friday it had decided to remove the team from the playoffs after the attack.
District officials said “appropriate disciplinary action” would be taken following an investigation.
“We extend a sincere apology to the referee and his family. On behalf of the Edinburg CISD Board of Trustees and administration, we apologize to the athletes, staff, and our school community,” the district said.
The Texas Association of Sports Officials said in a statement it is also investigating the incident.
“Unfortunately, this type of blind‑sided assault on an official while working on the field is not new to Texas Football,” the association said.
Duron, who was the District 31-6A Defensive Player of the Year last season, is also the Bobcats’ kicker and punter and a star wrestler.


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Denver Nuggets release schedule for first half of 2020-21 season

The Denver Nuggets ’ short offseason is over and the team is back at training camp .
On Friday , the team announced the first half of its schedule for the 2020-21 season .
The Nuggets will tip off the season with their home opener Dec. 23 against Sacramento .
Denver then plays host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Christmas — the second year in a row Denver has played on Christmas day .
Games will be televised on Altitude Sports & Entertainment for 33 games , with four games being aired on TNT .
All 37 games will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ January 1 Fri. Phoenix 7:00 p.m. ALT 3 Sun .
at Minnesota 5:00 p.m. ALT 5 Tue .
Minnesota 7:00 p.m. ALT 7 Thu .
Dallas 8:00 p.m. TNT 9 Sat .
at Philadelphia 1:00 p.m. ALT 10 Sun .
at New York 4:00 p.m. ALT 12 Tue .
at Brooklyn 5:30 p.m. ALT 14 Thu .
Golden State 8:00 p.m. TNT 17 Sun .
Utah 6:00 p.m. ALT 19 Tue .
Oklahoma City 7:00 p.m. ALT 22 Fri. at Phoenix 8:00 p.m. ESPN/ALT 23 Sat .
at Phoenix 7:00 p.m. ALT 25 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 27 Wed. at Miami 5:30 p.m. ALT 29 Fri. at San Antonio 6:30 p.m. ALT 31 Sun .
Utah 1:30 p.m. ALT February 1 Mon .
Detroit 7:00 p.m. ALT 4 Thu .
at L.A. Lakers 8:00 p.m. TNT 6 Sat .
at Sacramento 3:00 p.m. ALT 8 Mon .
Milwaukee 7:30 p.m. ALT 10 Wed. Cleveland 7:00 p.m. ALT 12 Fri. Oklahoma City 7:00 p.m. ALT 14 Sun .
LA Lakers 5:30 p.m. ALT 16 Tue .
at Boston 5:00 p.m. ALT 17 Wed. at Washington 5:00 p.m. ALT 19 Fri. at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Atlanta 5:30 p.m. ALT 23 Tue .
Portland 8:00 p.m. TNT 25 Thu .
Washington 7:00 p.m. ALT 27 Sat .
at Oklahoma City 6:00 p.m. ALT March 1 Mon .
at Chicago 5:00 p.m. ALT 2 Tue .
at Milwaukee 5:00 p.m. ALT 4 Thu .
at Indiana 5:00 p.m. ALT

The Denver Nuggets’ short offseason is over and the team is back at training camp. On Friday, the team announced the first half of its schedule for the 2020-21 season.
The Nuggets will tip off the season with their home opener Dec. 23 against Sacramento. Denver then plays host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Christmas — the second year in a row Denver has played on Christmas day. Games will be televised on Altitude Sports & Entertainment for 33 games, with four games being aired on TNT. All 37 games will be broadcast on 92.5 FM/950 AM.
Full Schedule below:
December, preseason
12 Sat. at Golden State 6:30 p.m. ALT
16 Wed. Portland 7:00 p.m. ALT
18 Fri. Portland 7:00 p.m. ALT
December
23 Wed. Sacramento 7:00 p.m. ALT
25 Fri. LA Clippers 8:30 p.m. ESPN/ALT
28 Mon. Houston 7:00 p.m. ALT
29 Tue. at Sacramento 8:00 p.m. ALT
January
1 Fri. Phoenix 7:00 p.m. ALT
3 Sun. at Minnesota 5:00 p.m. ALT
5 Tue. Minnesota 7:00 p.m. ALT
7 Thu. Dallas 8:00 p.m. TNT
9 Sat. at Philadelphia 1:00 p.m. ALT
10 Sun. at New York 4:00 p.m. ALT
12 Tue. at Brooklyn 5:30 p.m. ALT
14 Thu. Golden State 8:00 p.m. TNT
17 Sun. Utah 6:00 p.m. ALT
19 Tue. Oklahoma City 7:00 p.m. ALT
22 Fri. at Phoenix 8:00 p.m. ESPN/ALT
23 Sat. at Phoenix 7:00 p.m. ALT
25 Mon. at Dallas 6:30 p.m. ALT
27 Wed. at Miami 5:30 p.m. ALT
29 Fri. at San Antonio 6:30 p.m. ALT
31 Sun. Utah 1:30 p.m. ALT
February
1 Mon. Detroit 7:00 p.m. ALT
4 Thu. at L.A. Lakers 8:00 p.m. TNT
6 Sat. at Sacramento 3:00 p.m. ALT
8 Mon. Milwaukee 7:30 p.m. ALT
10 Wed. Cleveland 7:00 p.m. ALT
12 Fri. Oklahoma City 7:00 p.m. ALT
14 Sun. LA Lakers 5:30 p.m. ALT
16 Tue. at Boston 5:00 p.m. ALT
17 Wed. at Washington 5:00 p.m. ALT
19 Fri. at Charlotte 5:00 p.m. ALT
21 Sun. at Atlanta 5:30 p.m. ALT
23 Tue. Portland 8:00 p.m. TNT
25 Thu. Washington 7:00 p.m. ALT
27 Sat. at Oklahoma City 6:00 p.m. ALT
March
1 Mon. at Chicago 5:00 p.m. ALT
2 Tue. at Milwaukee 5:00 p.m. ALT
4 Thu. at Indiana 5:00 p.m. ALT


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Epic and Ikon pass deadlines are just days away; without one, your days on the slopes may be limited

Two ski pass purchase deadlines are looming that could severely limit your skiing and snowboarding options this winter if you let them come and go without buying .
Sunday is the deadline to buy Epic Pass products for this season .
The deadline for Ikon Passes follows on Thursday , Dec. 10 .
Skiers and riders without those pass products could find it much more difficult to ski where and when they want because mountain access restrictions related to COVID-19 are designed to prioritize pass-holders .
“ For any guests who do not purchase a pass before the deadline , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dec. 8 , with sales limited based on the number of spaces available for any given day after our exclusive pass-holder priority booking window , ” said Johnna Muscente , a spokesperson for Vail Resorts and Epic Pass .
That pass-holder priority booking window for Epic Pass-holders closes on Monday .
You don ’ t need to buy a season Epic Pass to get in on the fun , either .
Epic Day Passes can be bought for one day or more , up to seven .
There also are advantages to securing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passes next week , and the situation at Winter Park is an example .
Winter Park is an Ikon Pass resort , and sales of Winter Park-only season passes also end Thursday .
Winter Park has created a new mid-week season pass product , and the deadline for that pass has not been set .
“ It ’ s a great option for someone who can ski Monday through Friday , ” said Winter Park spokeswoman Jen Miller .
“ After Dec. 10 , the option for people wanting ski at Winter Park @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pass or individual daily lift tickets , which are in limited supply at the moment .
As the season progresses , more tickets may become available , but there are no guarantees .
If and when tickets are available , they must be pre-booked , so no one will be able to purchase a day-of , walk-up lift ticket this season .
As with everything this season , we ’ re asking guests to plan ahead and check our website for the most recent info on mountain access.
” Subscribe to our weekly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outdoors news sent straight to your inbox .

Two ski pass purchase deadlines are looming that could severely limit your skiing and snowboarding options this winter if you let them come and go without buying.
Sunday is the deadline to buy Epic Pass products for this season. The deadline for Ikon Passes follows on Thursday, Dec. 10.
Skiers and riders without those pass products could find it much more difficult to ski where and when they want because mountain access restrictions related to COVID-19 are designed to prioritize pass-holders.
“For any guests who do not purchase a pass before the deadline, lift tickets will go on sale on Dec. 8, with sales limited based on the number of spaces available for any given day after our exclusive pass-holder priority booking window,” said Johnna Muscente, a spokesperson for Vail Resorts and Epic Pass.
That pass-holder priority booking window for Epic Pass-holders closes on Monday.
You don’t need to buy a season Epic Pass to get in on the fun, either. Epic Day Passes can be bought for one day or more, up to seven.
There also are advantages to securing an Ikon Pass product before the deadline passes.
“If someone misses the Dec 10 Ikon Pass deadline and wants to ski at any of the resorts, they need to contact that resort directly and see what products are still available,” said Kristin Rust, a spokeswoman for the Alterra Mountain Company, which helped create the Ikon Pass in 2018. “Ikon Pass does not determine partner products. Those products will vary by resort and available products may depend on occupancy, available terrain, day of the week.”
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Adventurist, to get outdoors news sent straight to your inbox.


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--CU Buffs vs. Arizona scouting report: Who has the edge, predictions and 3 things to watch

1 .
Shenault , Part Deux .
Freshman receiver La ’ Vontae Shenault submitted his most productive game to date as a young Buff last Saturday , hauling in six passes for 64 yards against a stout San Diego State defense .
Have the Buffs found another gem in Laviska ’ s younger brother ?
2 .
Going South .
CU finds itself in the thick of the Pac-12 South Division race with two weeks left in the regular season , with USC just a half game ahead by virtue of playing one more conference game .
If the Buffs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vs. Utah ) and USC drops one of its last two , they ’ ll be back in the Pac-12 title game for the first time since 2016 .
Not exactly what prognosticators predicted for Year One of the Karl Dorrell era .
3 .
Hot seat burns .
With speculation swirling about head coach Kevin Sumlin ’ s job security , Arizona has faded over the past two weeks , submitting listless performances in losses at Washington ( 44-27 ) and UCLA ( 27-10 ) .
Did all the fight go out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to beat them in Week 2 ?
Or will a return to Tucson make a difference ?
Who has the edge ?
The CU Buffs defense , led by middle linebacker Nate Landman ( 11 tackles , 3.5 for loss ) , is coming off its best showing of the fall after limiting San Diego State ’ s ground-and-pound to 79 yards on 31 carries .
Up next is an Arizona run game powered by Gary Brightwell ( 49-224 ) that has sputtered the past two weeks , averaging just 3.37 yards per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man under center for Arizona , the Buffs will have a mobile QB to contend with .
With the status of first-string quarterback Grant Gunnell ( right shoulder injury ) unknown , the Buffs have had to prepare for two QBs this week .
While Plummer was unimpressive throwing the ball in relief of Gunnell last week vs. UCLA ( 17-of-35 , 151 yards , 2 INTs ) , he didn ’ t have the benefit of a full week of practice .
After struggling in their first two games , CU ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aerial attack .
Can they do so again on the road ?
Workhorse running back Jarek Broussard ( 32-124 ) and the Buffs had to grind out 134 yards over 53 carries against one of the best run defenses in the country last week .
Now Broussard is looking to become the first back in CU history to start a season with four consecutive 100-yard games .
And he gets a welcome patsy in Arizona , which has allowed 233 and 281 rush yards , respectively , in its past two losses .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ first so-so performance as CU ’ s starter , gets an opportunity to rebound against a Wildcats secondary that hasn ’ t generated any turnovers and is allowing teams to complete 65.2 % of their passes .
With K.D .
Nixon healthy , and underclassmen Dimitri Stanley and La ’ Vontae Shenault emerging as threats , he should have plenty of weapons available .
The Buffs seem to have lost nothing with Evan Price replacing retired kicker James Stefanou .
Price has missed one field goal all season , and drilled a 41-yarder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Arizona kicker Lucas Havrisik has range — he has a 51-yarder on his resume this fall — and is relatively steady .
Neither team has moved the needle in the return game .
Grant Gunnell is banged up , but it might not matter .
The dirty little secret of the Buffs ’ 3-0 start ?
Their strength along the line of scrimmage , on both sides of the ball .
When CU runs for 175+ in Tucson , it won ’ t be a secret much longer .
With their QB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s job status teetering , this very well could be the last stand in a lost Wildcats season .
Perfect fodder for the white-hot Buffs .
Buffs quarterback Sam Noyer touts veteran leadership qualities without actual veteran game experience .
Expect the senior gunslinger to be the difference-maker in a close CU win .

Colorado Buffaloes (3-0) at Arizona Wildcats (0-3), Saturday, 5 p.m. MST, FS1, 850 AM
Three things to watch
1. Shenault, Part Deux. Freshman receiver La’Vontae Shenault submitted his most productive game to date as a young Buff last Saturday, hauling in six passes for 64 yards against a stout San Diego State defense. Have the Buffs found another gem in Laviska’s younger brother?
2. Going South. CU finds itself in the thick of the Pac-12 South Division race with two weeks left in the regular season, with USC just a half game ahead by virtue of playing one more conference game. If the Buffs can win out (at Arizona, vs. Utah) and USC drops one of its last two, they’ll be back in the Pac-12 title game for the first time since 2016. Not exactly what prognosticators predicted for Year One of the Karl Dorrell era.
3. Hot seat burns. With speculation swirling about head coach Kevin Sumlin’s job security, Arizona has faded over the past two weeks, submitting listless performances in losses at Washington (44-27) and UCLA (27-10). Did all the fight go out of the Wildcats the moment USC rallied to beat them in Week 2? Or will a return to Tucson make a difference?
Who has the edge?
When Arizona runs
The CU Buffs defense, led by middle linebacker Nate Landman (11 tackles, 3.5 for loss), is coming off its best showing of the fall after limiting San Diego State’s ground-and-pound to 79 yards on 31 carries. Up next is an Arizona run game powered by Gary Brightwell (49-224) that has sputtered the past two weeks, averaging just 3.37 yards per carry. If Will Plummer is the man under center for Arizona, the Buffs will have a mobile QB to contend with.
Edge: Buffs
When Arizona passes
With the status of first-string quarterback Grant Gunnell (right shoulder injury) unknown, the Buffs have had to prepare for two QBs this week. While Plummer was unimpressive throwing the ball in relief of Gunnell last week vs. UCLA (17-of-35, 151 yards, 2 INTs), he didn’t have the benefit of a full week of practice. After struggling in their first two games, CU’s defense shut down a meager SDSU aerial attack. Can they do so again on the road?
Edge: Even
When the Buffs run
Workhorse running back Jarek Broussard (32-124) and the Buffs had to grind out 134 yards over 53 carries against one of the best run defenses in the country last week. Now Broussard is looking to become the first back in CU history to start a season with four consecutive 100-yard games. And he gets a welcome patsy in Arizona, which has allowed 233 and 281 rush yards, respectively, in its past two losses.
Edge: Buffs
When the Buffs pass
Quarterback Sam Noyer, coming off his first so-so performance as CU’s starter, gets an opportunity to rebound against a Wildcats secondary that hasn’t generated any turnovers and is allowing teams to complete 65.2% of their passes. With K.D. Nixon healthy, and underclassmen Dimitri Stanley and La’Vontae Shenault emerging as threats, he should have plenty of weapons available.
Edge: Buffs
Special teams
The Buffs seem to have lost nothing with Evan Price replacing retired kicker James Stefanou. Price has missed one field goal all season, and drilled a 41-yarder to help put things away last week. Arizona kicker Lucas Havrisik has range — he has a 51-yarder on his resume this fall — and is relatively steady. Neither team has moved the needle in the return game.
Edge: Even
Post predictions
Sean Keeler, columnist: CU 31, Arizona 23
Grant Gunnell is banged up, but it might not matter. The dirty little secret of the Buffs’ 3-0 start? Their strength along the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball. When CU runs for 175+ in Tucson, it won’t be a secret much longer.
Matt Schubert, deputy sports editor: CU 31, Arizona 20
With their QB situation in flux, and Kevin Sumlin’s job status teetering, this very well could be the last stand in a lost Wildcats season. Perfect fodder for the white-hot Buffs.
Kyle Fredrickson, beat writer: CU 24, Arizona 21
Buffs quarterback Sam Noyer touts veteran leadership qualities without actual veteran game experience. Expect the senior gunslinger to be the difference-maker in a close CU win.


thedenverpost--2020-12-04--Nuggets’ Will Barton eager to prove himself yet again in return from knee injury: “It is clear cut w

Nuggets’ Will Barton eager to prove himself yet again in return from knee injury: “It is clear cut who I am in this league”

Nuggets coach Michael Malone may be uncertain who will start alongside superstars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray this season .
But as far as wing Will Barton is concerned , there ’ s no such mystery when it comes to his role .
“ I ’ m a starter in this league , ” Barton insisted in a video conference call with reporters Friday .
“ I think I ’ ve proved that year in and year out being one of the most consistent players in the whole NBA .
“ … I think it is clear cut who I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is confident in his ability to secure one of the starting spots declared open by Malone at the start of training camp , what remains to be seen is how Barton will return from a lingering right knee injury that sent him home early from the NBA bubble .
The 29-year-old veteran hasn ’ t played in an NBA game since the coronavirus pandemic initially shut things down in March , appearing in just one half of an exhibition game since then .
Malone said Barton was in a “ much better place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — a sentiment the 6-foot-5 guard echoed Friday .
“ ( The knee ) feels much better — jumping off it , running , cutting and planting , it feels real good , ” Barton said .
“ … I just got ta get back in shape , but I feel very good as far as my body and being able to be athletic and do the things I need to do.
” Barton admitted it wasn ’ t easy being away from the team as the Nuggets made their “ magnificent ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , overcoming a pair of 3-1 deficits against Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers .
What made it an even tougher pill to swallow : Barton was in the midst of a comeback year that saw him play some of the best basketball of his career after a 2018-19 season marred by an early season hip injury .
Malone went so far as to suggest Barton was playing at an all-star level before the break .
But that all went away after his knee soreness cropped up — an injury that led to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Once the pandemic shut things down , Barton said his inability to train and receive proper treatment only made it worse .
As a result , the Nuggets allowed him to leave Orlando to focus on treatment and rehabilitation .
“ I was really looking forward to the playoffs , especially with our team ’ s success and my individual success , ” said Barton , who averaged 15.1 points , 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in 2019-20 while shooting 45.0 % from the field .
“ The playoffs is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not being able to go out there and compete at a high level with my teammates , it crushed me.
” That absence now serves as motivation for Barton entering a new season , as well as helping the Nuggets making a championship run .
And while he finds himself in a battle to maintain his spot in the starting lineup — Gary Harris and Michael Porter Jr. are also in the mix for the 2 and 3 spots — there is also a need to help fill the defensive void left behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ departure for Detroit .
“ That was a big loss for us , he was versatile on both ends really , ” Barton said .
“ I definitely want to take pride in trying to step up and try to fill some of those holes , but we got to do it as a team .
But me personally , I definitely feel like it ’ s a challenge for me to raise my game .
”

Nuggets coach Michael Malone may be uncertain who will start alongside superstars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray this season.
But as far as wing Will Barton is concerned, there’s no such mystery when it comes to his role.
“I’m a starter in this league,” Barton insisted in a video conference call with reporters Friday. “I think I’ve proved that year in and year out being one of the most consistent players in the whole NBA.
“… I think it is clear cut who I am in this league.”
While Barton is confident in his ability to secure one of the starting spots declared open by Malone at the start of training camp, what remains to be seen is how Barton will return from a lingering right knee injury that sent him home early from the NBA bubble. The 29-year-old veteran hasn’t played in an NBA game since the coronavirus pandemic initially shut things down in March, appearing in just one half of an exhibition game since then.
Malone said Barton was in a “much better place” when addressing reporters earlier this week — a sentiment the 6-foot-5 guard echoed Friday.
“(The knee) feels much better — jumping off it, running, cutting and planting, it feels real good,” Barton said. “… I just gotta get back in shape, but I feel very good as far as my body and being able to be athletic and do the things I need to do.”
Barton admitted it wasn’t easy being away from the team as the Nuggets made their “magnificent” bubble run to the Western Conference Finals, overcoming a pair of 3-1 deficits against Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers.
What made it an even tougher pill to swallow: Barton was in the midst of a comeback year that saw him play some of the best basketball of his career after a 2018-19 season marred by an early season hip injury. Malone went so far as to suggest Barton was playing at an all-star level before the break. But that all went away after his knee soreness cropped up — an injury that led to discomfort in other areas of his body.
Once the pandemic shut things down, Barton said his inability to train and receive proper treatment only made it worse. As a result, the Nuggets allowed him to leave Orlando to focus on treatment and rehabilitation.
“I was really looking forward to the playoffs, especially with our team’s success and my individual success,” said Barton, who averaged 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in 2019-20 while shooting 45.0% from the field. “The playoffs is where you really make your name and not being able to go out there and compete at a high level with my teammates, it crushed me.”
That absence now serves as motivation for Barton entering a new season, as well as helping the Nuggets making a championship run.
And while he finds himself in a battle to maintain his spot in the starting lineup — Gary Harris and Michael Porter Jr. are also in the mix for the 2 and 3 spots — there is also a need to help fill the defensive void left behind by two-way wing Jerami Grant’s departure for Detroit.
“That was a big loss for us, he was versatile on both ends really,” Barton said. “I definitely want to take pride in trying to step up and try to fill some of those holes, but we got to do it as a team. But me personally, I definitely feel like it’s a challenge for me to raise my game.”


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--Using technology to tailor lessons to each student

By Janet Morrissey , The New York Times Co .
When 12-year-old Nina Mones was in sixth grade last year , she struggled to keep up with her math class , getting stuck on improper fractions .
And as the teacher pushed ahead with new lessons , she fell further and further behind .
Then in the fall of 2019 , her charter school , the Phoenix International Academy in Phoenix , brought in a program called Teach to One 360 , which uses computer algorithms and machine learning to offer daily math instruction tailored to each student .
Nina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I ’ m in between seventh- and eighth-grade math now , ” she said , proudly .
“ It gave me more confidence in myself.
” And when the coronavirus shutdown occurred , she said , her studies continued uninterrupted , thanks to the program ’ s online portal .
“ This is a model for personalized learning , ” said Sheldon H. Jacobson , professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a risk assessment public policy consultant .
The move toward a tech-driven , personalized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 360 from a nonprofit called New Classrooms , is long overdue , experts say .
Other industries , such as health care and entertainment , have been shifting in this direction for years .
Personalized medicine , for example , looks at DNA biomarkers and personal characteristics to map out a patient ’ s most effective treatment , Jacobson said .
And experts say the COVID-19 pandemic might be the spark that finally drives schools out of their comfort zones and into the world of innovation and personalized learning programs .
A number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eureka Math , iReady and Illustrative Mathematics , have been working aggressively to bring personalized learning to the forefront .
Joel Rose , a former teacher , and Chris Rush , a technology and design expert , are the brains behind Teach to One 360 , which is based in New York .
When Rose first started teaching fifth grade in Houston in the 1990s , he was stunned by the number of students whose math skills were two or even three grade levels behind .
“ Some students were as low as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as high as the eighth grade , and others in between , ” he said .
This one-size-fits-all system is broken , he said , adding , “ It is wildly outdated.
” So , in 2009 , while working for the New York City schools chancellor , Rose partnered with Rush to create School of One ( later renamed Teach to One 360 ) , a technology driven math program for students in grades five through 12 .
Here ’ s how it works : Students take a 90-minute MAP test , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skills , and a 60-minute diagnostic test to determine gaps and strengths .
The program then uses algorithms and machine learning to identify problem areas and strengths , and creates a personalized daily lesson or “ playlist.
” It also chooses the modality , or teaching method .
Some may get their lesson through a traditional teacher-led class ; others will work in small peer groups collaborating with students who are at a similar skill level ; and others will work independently , using online interactive videos , games and math programs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ different modalities a day , and a team of at least four math teachers oversees the program .
At the end of the day , students take a five-question quiz , and the algorithm uses the results to determine the next day ’ s lessons .
New Classrooms faces competition from companies like Eureka Math , iReady and Illustrative Mathematics , which also offer programs to help teachers identify learning gaps and provide customized lessons .
However , most focus on current-grade-year lessons and assume that students already know the previous grades ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , New Classrooms gives every student access to multigrade curricula and skills , which better addresses learning gaps in students who are several grade levels behind , Rose said .
“ Our assessment identifies which specific skills at each grade level the student does and does not know , ” Rush said .
“ A road map may say , go back and work on just these 10 fourth-grade skills and these 12 fifth-grade skills and 25 sixth-grade skills.
” On the content side , New Classrooms has partnered with some of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providers like Carnegie Learning , Khan Academy , EngageNY and IXL , so that students can have access to their math content through the Teach to One portal .
Alfred Cordova , the principal at Taos Middle School in Taos , New Mexico , brought in Teach to One for his sixth-grade math students in 2015 to turn around his school ’ s dismal math scores .
“ Our scores had really tanked , ” he said , partly because of the large number of students entering from elementary school with poor math @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sixth-grade students started excelling and passing our seventh and eighth graders ability-wise in math , ” Cordova said .
“ It ’ s been a huge success.
” He has since expanded the program to all grades .
Jade Parish , a 13-year-old student at Taos Middle School , is in seventh grade but working on eighth-grade math , thanks to the Teach to One program .
She said she used to be bored in the old system , where one teacher taught the same lesson to every student , regardless of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pace is a lot better , ” she said .
Currently , 27 schools across 11 states have adopted Teach to One .
Still , getting schools to sign on has been challenging .
Cost , bureaucratic inertia , schools and teachers being set in their ways , and fears that technology could replace teachers are among the barriers , Rose said .
Schools are often under pressure to follow a traditional curriculum with textbooks and teacher-led classes to ensure that they cover the content needed for standardized tests .
Many worry , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ traditional practices could affect test results , which would then affect school rankings and funding .
“ Innovation has always lagged in education , and we are slow to change and slow to respond as an organization , ” said Scott Muri , superintendent of schools at the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa , Texas , which brought the Teach to One program into three schools in 2019 .
Then there ’ s the cost of purchasing the program itself , buying computers for students , adding math teachers and sometimes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The total costs of such programs can vary substantially , and most school systems depend on grants to cover them .
Sometimes , money simply has to be redirected .
“ In our country , we invest a tremendous amount in K-12 and many people criticize that the current model just is not working , ” Jacobson said .
“ So it ’ s not a matter of spending more money — it ’ s spending money in different ways.
” Teachers and principals must also be fully onboard for the program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the best program on God ’ s green earth , but if you don ’ t have good implementation of it , it ’ s all for nothing , ” Cordova said .
And this can be tricky .
Some teachers are reluctant to try innovative teaching methods , while others worry that technology could eliminate their jobs .
But Muri pointed out : “ The program is not stand-alone .
It ’ s married to the teacher .
Neither work by themselves — you have to have both together .
”

The New York Times News Service Syndicate

By Janet Morrissey, The New York Times Co.
When 12-year-old Nina Mones was in sixth grade last year, she struggled to keep up with her math class, getting stuck on improper fractions. And as the teacher pushed ahead with new lessons, she fell further and further behind.
Then in the fall of 2019, her charter school, the Phoenix International Academy in Phoenix, brought in a program called Teach to One 360, which uses computer algorithms and machine learning to offer daily math instruction tailored to each student. Nina, now in seventh grade, flourished.
“I’m in between seventh- and eighth-grade math now,” she said, proudly. “It gave me more confidence in myself.” And when the coronavirus shutdown occurred, she said, her studies continued uninterrupted, thanks to the program’s online portal.
“This is a model for personalized learning,” said Sheldon H. Jacobson, professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a risk assessment public policy consultant.
The move toward a tech-driven, personalized learning system, like Teach to One 360 from a nonprofit called New Classrooms, is long overdue, experts say. Other industries, such as health care and entertainment, have been shifting in this direction for years. Personalized medicine, for example, looks at DNA biomarkers and personal characteristics to map out a patient’s most effective treatment, Jacobson said.
And experts say the COVID-19 pandemic might be the spark that finally drives schools out of their comfort zones and into the world of innovation and personalized learning programs.
A number of firms, like New Classrooms, Eureka Math, iReady and Illustrative Mathematics, have been working aggressively to bring personalized learning to the forefront.
Joel Rose, a former teacher, and Chris Rush, a technology and design expert, are the brains behind Teach to One 360, which is based in New York. When Rose first started teaching fifth grade in Houston in the 1990s, he was stunned by the number of students whose math skills were two or even three grade levels behind. “Some students were as low as the second grade, and other students as high as the eighth grade, and others in between,” he said.
This one-size-fits-all system is broken, he said, adding, “It is wildly outdated.”
So, in 2009, while working for the New York City schools chancellor, Rose partnered with Rush to create School of One (later renamed Teach to One 360), a technology driven math program for students in grades five through 12.
Here’s how it works: Students take a 90-minute MAP test, which is a standardized test measuring math skills, and a 60-minute diagnostic test to determine gaps and strengths. The program then uses algorithms and machine learning to identify problem areas and strengths, and creates a personalized daily lesson or “playlist.”
It also chooses the modality, or teaching method. Some may get their lesson through a traditional teacher-led class; others will work in small peer groups collaborating with students who are at a similar skill level; and others will work independently, using online interactive videos, games and math programs. Each student is assigned at least two different modalities a day, and a team of at least four math teachers oversees the program.
At the end of the day, students take a five-question quiz, and the algorithm uses the results to determine the next day’s lessons.
New Classrooms faces competition from companies like Eureka Math, iReady and Illustrative Mathematics, which also offer programs to help teachers identify learning gaps and provide customized lessons.
However, most focus on current-grade-year lessons and assume that students already know the previous grades’ skills, Rose said. By contrast, New Classrooms gives every student access to multigrade curricula and skills, which better addresses learning gaps in students who are several grade levels behind, Rose said.
“Our assessment identifies which specific skills at each grade level the student does and does not know,” Rush said. “A road map may say, go back and work on just these 10 fourth-grade skills and these 12 fifth-grade skills and 25 sixth-grade skills.”
On the content side, New Classrooms has partnered with some of its rivals, as well as online content providers like Carnegie Learning, Khan Academy, EngageNY and IXL, so that students can have access to their math content through the Teach to One portal.
Alfred Cordova, the principal at Taos Middle School in Taos, New Mexico, brought in Teach to One for his sixth-grade math students in 2015 to turn around his school’s dismal math scores. “Our scores had really tanked,” he said, partly because of the large number of students entering from elementary school with poor math skills.
“Very quickly, our sixth-grade students started excelling and passing our seventh and eighth graders ability-wise in math,” Cordova said. “It’s been a huge success.” He has since expanded the program to all grades.
The program also helps gifted students.
Jade Parish, a 13-year-old student at Taos Middle School, is in seventh grade but working on eighth-grade math, thanks to the Teach to One program. She said she used to be bored in the old system, where one teacher taught the same lesson to every student, regardless of their skills. “Working at your own pace is a lot better,” she said.
Currently, 27 schools across 11 states have adopted Teach to One. Still, getting schools to sign on has been challenging.
Cost, bureaucratic inertia, schools and teachers being set in their ways, and fears that technology could replace teachers are among the barriers, Rose said.
Schools are often under pressure to follow a traditional curriculum with textbooks and teacher-led classes to ensure that they cover the content needed for standardized tests. Many worry, Rose said, that veering away from traditional practices could affect test results, which would then affect school rankings and funding.
“Innovation has always lagged in education, and we are slow to change and slow to respond as an organization,” said Scott Muri, superintendent of schools at the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas, which brought the Teach to One program into three schools in 2019.
Then there’s the cost of purchasing the program itself, buying computers for students, adding math teachers and sometimes reconstructing classrooms to accommodate the different modalities. The total costs of such programs can vary substantially, and most school systems depend on grants to cover them.
Sometimes, money simply has to be redirected. “In our country, we invest a tremendous amount in K-12 and many people criticize that the current model just is not working,” Jacobson said. “So it’s not a matter of spending more money — it’s spending money in different ways.”
Teachers and principals must also be fully onboard for the program to work.
“You can have the best program on God’s green earth, but if you don’t have good implementation of it, it’s all for nothing,” Cordova said.
And this can be tricky. Some teachers are reluctant to try innovative teaching methods, while others worry that technology could eliminate their jobs.
But Muri pointed out: “The program is not stand-alone. It’s married to the teacher. Neither work by themselves — you have to have both together.”


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--Training facial recognition on some new furry friends: Bears

By Lesley Evans Ogden , The New York Times Co. Ed Miller and Mary Nguyen are Silicon Valley software developers by day , but moonlight at solving an unusually fuzzy problem .
A few years ago the pair became mesmerized , like many of us , by an Alaskan webcam broadcasting brown bears from Katmai National Park .
They also happened to be seeking a project to hone their machine learning expertise .
“ We thought , machine learning is really great at identifying people , what could it do for bears ?
” Miller said .
Could artificial intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discern one bear face from another ?
At Knight Inlet in British Columbia , Canada , Melanie Clapham was pondering the same question .
Clapham , a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Victoria working with Chris Darimont of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation , was keen to explore face recognition technology as an aid to her grizzly bear studies .
But her expertise was bear biology , not AI .
Fortuitously , the four found a match on Wildlabs.net , an online broker of collaborations between technologists and conservationists .
Combining their skill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time over several years for this passion project that would eventually bear fruit , reporting the results of their experiment last week in the journal Ecology and Evolution .
The project they produced , BearID , could help conservationists monitor the health of bear populations in various parts of the world , and perhaps aid work with other animals , too .
They got started by looking for other animals that had gotten the deep learning treatment .
“ In typical engineering fashion , we ’ re always looking for a shortcut , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dog hipsterizer , ” a program that found the faces , eyes and noses of dogs in photos and placed rimmed glasses and mustaches on them .
“ That was where we started , ” Nguyen said .
Although trained on dogs , dog hipsterizer worked reasonably well on the similarly shaped faces of bears , giving them a programming head start .
Nevertheless , Nguyen said , the work ’ s initial stages were tedious .
Creating a training data set for the deep learning program involved examining over 4,000 photos with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each bear ’ s eyes , nose and ears by drawing boxes around them so the program could learn to find these features .
The system also had to overcome a challenge of brown bears ’ physical appearance .
To monitor populations , “ we have to be able to recognize individuals , ” said Clapham .
But bears don ’ t have any feature comparable to a fingerprint , such as a zebra ’ s stripes or a giraffe ’ s spots .
From 4,675 fully labeled bear faces on DSLR photographs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Brooks River , Alabama , and Knight Inlet , they randomly split images into training and testing data sets .
Once trained from 3,740 bear faces , deep learning went to work “ unsupervised , ” Clapham said , to see how well it could spot differences between known bears from 935 photographs .
First , the deep learning algorithm finds the bear face using distinctive landmarks like eyes , nose tip , ears and forehead top .
Then the app rotates the face to extract , encode and classify facial features @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accuracy rate of 84 % , correctly distinguishing between known bears such as Lucky , Toffee , Flora and Steve .
But how does it actually tell those bears apart ?
Before the era of deep learning , “ we tried to imagine how humans perceive faces and how we distinguish individuals , ” said Alexander Loos , a research engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology , in Germany , who was not involved in the study but has collaborated with Clapham in the past .
Programmers would manually input @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with deep learning , programmers input the images into a neural network that figures out how best to identify individuals .
“ The network itself extracts the features , ” Loos said , which is a huge advantage .
He also cautioned that , “ It ’ s basically a black box .
You don ’ t know what it ’ s doing , ” and that if the data set being examined is unintentionally biased , certain errors can emerge .
For instance , if some bears are photographed more often in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lighting difference can cause misclassification of the bears .
( Data bias can be a problem in human facial recognition by AI , with misidentifications known to be more likely for people of color ) .
Whatever BearID is really doing , Clapham , who recognizes many Knight Inlet bears by sight , was surprised and encouraged by where the program fell short .
“ The bears that I confused , the network confused as well , ” she said , suggesting that the app behaves similarly to the neural network in her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of BearID is just the start .
She hopes the open-source application will become more accurate with more inputs , use and time .
The app is of great interest to the Knight Inlet Lodge in Glendale Cove , which has run grizzly bear tours for decades , and its current owner , the Nanwakolas Council , whose members come from First Nations of Canada .
“ Fifteen years ago when we started doing land use planning , there was just one provincial bear health expert for the whole province , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Nanwakolas Council and a member of the Tlowitsis Nation .
That hampered the Nations ’ understanding of the health of bears on their territory .
He said he felt excited that this “ Jason Bourne-ish ” technology would allow for more informed stewardship of bears .
“ We ’ re trying to make it a sustainable , limited footprint operation.
” And BearID may not stop with North American bears , as Clapham is already in conversation with others keen to use it for species like sloth bears , sun bears and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ What we ’ d love is that one day we have somewhere where people can upload camera trap images and the system tells you not only what species you ’ ve seen , but also what individual you ’ ve seen , ” and maybe its sex and age as well , she said .

By Lesley Evans Ogden, The New York Times Co.
Ed Miller and Mary Nguyen are Silicon Valley software developers by day, but moonlight at solving an unusually fuzzy problem.
A few years ago the pair became mesmerized, like many of us, by an Alaskan webcam broadcasting brown bears from Katmai National Park. They also happened to be seeking a project to hone their machine learning expertise.
“We thought, machine learning is really great at identifying people, what could it do for bears?” Miller said. Could artificial intelligence used for face recognition be harnessed to discern one bear face from another?
At Knight Inlet in British Columbia, Canada, Melanie Clapham was pondering the same question. Clapham, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Victoria working with Chris Darimont of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, was keen to explore face recognition technology as an aid to her grizzly bear studies. But her expertise was bear biology, not AI.
Fortuitously, the four found a match on Wildlabs.net, an online broker of collaborations between technologists and conservationists. Combining their skill sets, Miller and Nguyen volunteered spare time over several years for this passion project that would eventually bear fruit, reporting the results of their experiment last week in the journal Ecology and Evolution. The project they produced, BearID, could help conservationists monitor the health of bear populations in various parts of the world, and perhaps aid work with other animals, too.
They got started by looking for other animals that had gotten the deep learning treatment.
“In typical engineering fashion, we’re always looking for a shortcut,” Miller said.
They discovered “dog hipsterizer,” a program that found the faces, eyes and noses of dogs in photos and placed rimmed glasses and mustaches on them. “That was where we started,” Nguyen said.
Although trained on dogs, dog hipsterizer worked reasonably well on the similarly shaped faces of bears, giving them a programming head start. Nevertheless, Nguyen said, the work’s initial stages were tedious. Creating a training data set for the deep learning program involved examining over 4,000 photos with bears in them and then manually highlighting each bear’s eyes, nose and ears by drawing boxes around them so the program could learn to find these features.
The system also had to overcome a challenge of brown bears’ physical appearance.
To monitor populations, “we have to be able to recognize individuals,” said Clapham. But bears don’t have any feature comparable to a fingerprint, such as a zebra’s stripes or a giraffe’s spots.
From 4,675 fully labeled bear faces on DSLR photographs, taken from research and bear-viewing sites at Brooks River, Alabama, and Knight Inlet, they randomly split images into training and testing data sets. Once trained from 3,740 bear faces, deep learning went to work “unsupervised,” Clapham said, to see how well it could spot differences between known bears from 935 photographs.
First, the deep learning algorithm finds the bear face using distinctive landmarks like eyes, nose tip, ears and forehead top. Then the app rotates the face to extract, encode and classify facial features.
The system identified bears at an accuracy rate of 84%, correctly distinguishing between known bears such as Lucky, Toffee, Flora and Steve.
But how does it actually tell those bears apart? Before the era of deep learning, “we tried to imagine how humans perceive faces and how we distinguish individuals,” said Alexander Loos, a research engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology, in Germany, who was not involved in the study but has collaborated with Clapham in the past. Programmers would manually input face descriptors into a computer.
But with deep learning, programmers input the images into a neural network that figures out how best to identify individuals. “The network itself extracts the features,” Loos said, which is a huge advantage.
He also cautioned that, “It’s basically a black box. You don’t know what it’s doing,” and that if the data set being examined is unintentionally biased, certain errors can emerge.
For instance, if some bears are photographed more often in light than in dark conditions, the lighting difference can cause misclassification of the bears. (Data bias can be a problem in human facial recognition by AI, with misidentifications known to be more likely for people of color).
Whatever BearID is really doing, Clapham, who recognizes many Knight Inlet bears by sight, was surprised and encouraged by where the program fell short.
“The bears that I confused, the network confused as well,” she said, suggesting that the app behaves similarly to the neural network in her brain.
However, this first release of BearID is just the start. She hopes the open-source application will become more accurate with more inputs, use and time.
The app is of great interest to the Knight Inlet Lodge in Glendale Cove, which has run grizzly bear tours for decades, and its current owner, the Nanwakolas Council, whose members come from First Nations of Canada.
“Fifteen years ago when we started doing land use planning, there was just one provincial bear health expert for the whole province,” said Kikaxklalagee / Dallas Smith, the president of Nanwakolas Council and a member of the Tlowitsis Nation. That hampered the Nations’ understanding of the health of bears on their territory. He said he felt excited that this “Jason Bourne-ish” technology would allow for more informed stewardship of bears. “We’re trying to make it a sustainable, limited footprint operation.”
And BearID may not stop with North American bears, as Clapham is already in conversation with others keen to use it for species like sloth bears, sun bears and Asiatic bears, as well as wolves.
“What we’d love is that one day we have somewhere where people can upload camera trap images and the system tells you not only what species you’ve seen, but also what individual you’ve seen,” and maybe its sex and age as well, she said.


thedenverpost--2020-12-05--Real Christmas trees are selling fast at metro area lots as buyers battle pandemic isolation

Fifteen-year-old Bella McKay and her family methodically searched on a massive Denver Christmas tree lot on Thursday morning , tugging at branches and sniffing for the unmistakable scent of a live tree , before settling on one to take home .
“ Finally , the perfect tree , ” Bella said with satisfaction .
With December here and Santa Claus preparing to board his sleigh , Christmas tree lots in the metro area are buzzing , and business will likely get busier down the holiday stretch .
Pete Elliott , owner of Nice Christmas Trees , stocks more than 10,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 1720 S. Santa Fe Drive , Denver , during a typical season .
Elliott , who sells both wholesale and retail , is moving trees fast .
“ It ’ s been record numbers every day ” since opening in mid-November , Elliott said .
“ I expect it to be like this right until Christmas , that ’ s if we have any trees left by then.
” Elliott and other local tree lot operators say business is sizzling .
That ’ s based on reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It ’ s just people being pent up for so long , they ’ re wanting some sort of normalcy , ” said Brian Chrinka , of the Neighborhood Christmas Tree Co. , 3755 Tennyson St. , Denver , near the old Elitch Gardens carousel pavilion .
“ We can ’ t keep them in stock.
” Even people with artificial trees at home are buying real trees this year , looking to bring a bit of the great outdoors inside where they are spending much more time than usual .
Real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another purchasing point , sellers say .
“ People are coming and shopping earlier than last year , ” said Ty Adams , of Silver Bell Christmas Trees , 6601 Indiana St. , Arvada .
“ We are seeing a lot of new clientele and hearing comments like : ‘ This is our first real tree in a long time , ’ and ‘ we have a fake tree , ’ when they ’ re coming in.
” Oregon , the nation ’ s No .
1 supplier of fresh-cut trees , expects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ season to worldwide markets , with thousands of trees shipped here to Colorado .
Other top tree exporters are Washington , North Carolina and Pennsylvania , according to the Associated Press .
Elliott said he ’ s been scrambling , looking far and wide in hopes of bringing more trees to his lot this year .
“ We have people reaching out from other states ” looking to buy trees , Elliott said .
“ It ’ s different than normal years .
We ’ re trying to source trees right now.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a studio apartment .
She purchased a small tree , about 3 feet high , at Elliott ’ s large lot .
“ It ’ s been real trees since I was a kid , it ’ s a family tradition , I love the smell , ” Baldrige said .
“ It ’ s always a noble fir.
” The McKay family also buys a real tree each year , typically a noble or balsam fir .
“ We find a fragrant one that looks full , ” said Andy McKay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family of five took about 30 minutes to select their tree .
“ It ’ s nice to look around at all the trees and pick one that will look nice in our house , ” Bella added .
Many tree lots sell additional items including poinsettias , wreaths , garland , bows , wooden reindeer and snowmen .
Some sell candies , jellies and other holiday goodies .
Holiday music fills the air .
Callie McCurdy , of Littleton , stopped by the lot to purchase a fresh wreath for her front @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definitely going to be different ” with the pandemic , McCurdy said .
“ Still , we ’ ve got to find joy .
”

Fifteen-year-old Bella McKay and her family methodically searched on a massive Denver Christmas tree lot on Thursday morning, tugging at branches and sniffing for the unmistakable scent of a live tree, before settling on one to take home.
“Finally, the perfect tree,” Bella said with satisfaction.
With December here and Santa Claus preparing to board his sleigh, Christmas tree lots in the metro area are buzzing, and business will likely get busier down the holiday stretch.
Pete Elliott, owner of Nice Christmas Trees, stocks more than 10,000 fresh-cut Christmas trees on his 60,000-square-foot lot, 1720 S. Santa Fe Drive, Denver, during a typical season. Elliott, who sells both wholesale and retail, is moving trees fast.
“It’s been record numbers every day” since opening in mid-November, Elliott said. “I expect it to be like this right until Christmas, that’s if we have any trees left by then.”
Elliott and other local tree lot operators say business is sizzling. That’s based on reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic with people taking refuge in their homes.
“It’s just people being pent up for so long, they’re wanting some sort of normalcy,” said Brian Chrinka, of the Neighborhood Christmas Tree Co., 3755 Tennyson St., Denver, near the old Elitch Gardens carousel pavilion. “We can’t keep them in stock.”
Even people with artificial trees at home are buying real trees this year, looking to bring a bit of the great outdoors inside where they are spending much more time than usual. Real trees can also be set outdoors, another purchasing point, sellers say.
“People are coming and shopping earlier than last year,” said Ty Adams, of Silver Bell Christmas Trees, 6601 Indiana St., Arvada. “We are seeing a lot of new clientele and hearing comments like: ‘This is our first real tree in a long time,’ and ‘we have a fake tree,’ when they’re coming in.”
Oregon, the nation’s No. 1 supplier of fresh-cut trees, expects to ship nearly 6 million evergreens this season to worldwide markets, with thousands of trees shipped here to Colorado. Other top tree exporters are Washington, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press.
Elliott said he’s been scrambling, looking far and wide in hopes of bringing more trees to his lot this year.
“We have people reaching out from other states” looking to buy trees, Elliott said. “It’s different than normal years. We’re trying to source trees right now.”
Holly Baldrige, of Denver, lives in a studio apartment. She purchased a small tree, about 3 feet high, at Elliott’s large lot.
“It’s been real trees since I was a kid, it’s a family tradition, I love the smell,” Baldrige said. “It’s always a noble fir.”
The McKay family also buys a real tree each year, typically a noble or balsam fir. “We find a fragrant one that looks full,” said Andy McKay, Bella’s dad. The family of five took about 30 minutes to select their tree.
“It’s nice to look around at all the trees and pick one that will look nice in our house,” Bella added.
Many tree lots sell additional items including poinsettias, wreaths, garland, bows, wooden reindeer and snowmen. Some sell candies, jellies and other holiday goodies. Holiday music fills the air.
Callie McCurdy, of Littleton, stopped by the lot to purchase a fresh wreath for her front door.
The holiday season “is definitely going to be different” with the pandemic, McCurdy said. “Still, we’ve got to find joy.”