DENVER — Xcel customers who have seen their bills double or even triple are speaking out in a Public Utilities Commission public comment hearing on affordability Tuesday.Denver7 has been covering the dramatic increase in utility bills, with gas bills going up 80% this winter season compared to last year’s.”I’m very concerned about families and people and children being able to stay warm in this record-breaking cold weather,” said Flor Alvidrez, a Denver Resident, who spoke at Tuesday’s hearing.Consumer advocates said record numbers of people are reaching out to the PUC, and it’s not about complaining — it’s about reaching critical…
Author: catfish
NEW YORK — For years, Amina Luqman-Dawson made time to write a children’s book she calls her “little quiet project,” a historical adventure about a community of escaped slaves that she completed while raising a son and working as a policy consultant and researcher on education and domestic violence.Finding an agent and publisher was the first miracle for Luqman-Dawson and her debut children’s story, “Freewater,” which was released last year by a Little Brown and Co. imprint founded by author James Patterson.On Monday, she joined a tiny elite of children’s authors that includes Beverly Cleary, Neil Gaiman and Linda Sue…
Muriel Sarmiento was brought to the United States as a teenager with her immigrant family from Venezuela. She struggled in high school as she grappled with a new language and culture, keeping to herself because she was afraid of others making fun of her heavy accent. Her school experience in the U.S. changed dramatically when she enrolled in Miami Dade College’s dual-language program, one of the few of its kind in the nation. Students can take classes in Spanish for everything from biology to philosophy. The program is a part of the Honors College and is exclusively offered at the…
In bookstores and online, there are myriad children’s books with a variety of different purposes. Some are written to entertain kids with fanciful stories of adventure. Others teach children their ABCs and address learning manners in fun, accessible ways.One Idaho lawmaker has taken to children’s books to address topics like AR-15s and feminism and has caused some people to raise an eyebrow.The books — “Why Everyone Needs an AR-15: A Guide for Kids” and “Why is Feminism So Silly: A Guide for Kids” — were written in 2018 by Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa. They are available for purchase on Amazon and…
Former California Sen. Andreas Borgeas of Fresno has taken a job with a Greek energy firm. Photo contributed published on January 26, 2023 – 1:40 PMWritten by Gabriel Dillard Andreas Borgeas, former state Senator representing the Fresno area, announced he has taken a new position that draws on his Greek roots. Borgeas has taken a position with Greek renewables company Eunice Energy Group as CEO of Greece-Africa Power Interconnector, a transnational electricity project between Greece and Egypt known as GAP. In his new position, Borgeas will work with leaders representing Greece, Egypt and the European Union to accelerate the completion…
MADAWASKA, Maine (WABI) – Kids write what they know.For seven-year-old Evan Nadeau of Madawaska, he knows all about his two rescue pups, Sadie and Tanner.“I really like my pets. My dogs were my first ever pets,” he said.“Tanner is basically your what? Your big brother, right? Tanner is very protective of Evan. He sleeps in Evan’s room every night. They are close.”At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Evan got inspired.He wrote a story about Tanner and a funny adventure he takes in his backyard.“He used giant paper so he could illustrate, and I would write the words that…
There’s a stretch of coastline along the West Coast of South Africa where the ocean and the Earth intertwine in a dance of natural contrasts. Coarse white sand beaches share the waves with jutted bouquets of rocks poking up through bitterly cold water. Faded white and Mykonos-blue cottages coexist with stark but beautiful smatterings of fynbos shrublands, wild flowers, and wheat fields. It’s here—around an hour outside Cape Town—that you’ll find Paternoster.Anna Müller/EyeEm/Getty ImagesOne of South Africa’s oldest fishing villages with a population of under 2,000, much of Paternoster’s architecture dates back to the 1800s. The village was almost exclusively…
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KGO) — Governor Gavin Newsom’s office says the state is now investigating the conditions of farmworkers following the Half Moon Bay mass shooting at two mushroom farms.A spokesperson from Newsom’s office tweeted a statement, saying the state is looking into the farms to ensure the “workers are treated fairly and with the compassion they deserve.”At a press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Newsom said he was told about the “deplorable” living and working conditions of the farmworkers at the locations involved in the shooting.It was shared with him that farmworkers were being paid $9 an hour and…
As the Cincinnati Bengals continue their march through the playoffs, the Buffalo Bills are not forgetting the care Cincinnati gave Damar Hamlin. The team’s “Toy Partner,” Fisher-Price, donated $10,000 worth of toys and games to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.The company sent a card to the city, thanking local health care workers for taking care of Hamlin.Get the latest news stories of interest here”Our cities have really been bonded over this football. It’s been a friendly rivalry, but I would like to emphasize ‘friendly’ just because we’ve bonded so much beyond the field. I think this donation really emphasizes how interconnected our…
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to take away employee access to beaches in a 3-2 vote. The move has been described by IVGID Public Works workers as “chipping away” at employees, according to Chairman Matthew Dent. The decision comes during a housing crisis on the North Shore, and all around the lake, with many employees unable to afford to live in the district, including IVGID Communication Coordinator Kari Ferguson. The decision does not impact employees who live in the district and are already entitled to beach access, but instead…