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Brain tumor claims questioned in ex-social worker's felony case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — Prosecutors are questioning an ex-social worker's claims that she's incompetent to stand trial because of a brain tumor, and now, her attorneys have asked to withdraw from the case.Robin Niceta, who worked for child protective services in Arapahoe County, is accused of filing a false child abuse claim against Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky. She faces a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant. Aurora sues Denver over 2020 protest lawsuits In March, Niceta's attorneys told a judge she was incompetent to stand trial because of a brain tumor diagnosis. But now, prosecutors are questioning whether that diagnosis is legit.FOX31 looked into court filings for the latest in the case and discussed them with a legal expert.Oncologist not found, MRI image from Google: prosecutorsThe state wanted Niceta to get a competency evaluation, but the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo told the court it couldn’t happen because Niceta is out of...

Colorado student designs 3D-printed device to help law enforcement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Inside Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Nicholas Dimercurio is always looking for his next great invention.The senior has spent more time than he can count inside the school’s computer lab, tinkering with various ideas on a 3D printer. But earlier this school year, he received a request from an unexpected source: school resource officer Jeff Cislo. "We realized there was a situation where deputies went through the door, the doors locked behind them, and there was no other way for them to come through," Cislo said. "Clearly, these guys are way smarter than I am, so we came to Nick and said here's our problem." Doctors find marijuana users require more anesthesia Dimercurio went to work, producing prototype after prototype until the perfect one was built. The device quickly clips onto the outside of a door, preventing it from shutting. It's small enough to be held in a police vest, and it's lightweight and durable.“It’s very important to ...

Adams County trails to stay closed through the weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — All trails in Adams County will remain closed until at least Monday so trails have a chance to dry out and crews can asses any damage. This includes the Clear Creek, Little Dry Creek, Niver Canal and South Platte River trails.“Several sections of trail are covered with running water and they really are unsafe,” said Byron Fanning, Adams County's director of Parks and Open Space. Colorado rain totals top 5 inches over 3-day period Stormwater is running into the lakes and rivers and overflowing onto some trails. Despite how it looks, Fanning said the system is designed to work this way after improvements made in 2013.“Trail system between the lakes and the trails and the river are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. In many instances, for example, where we're most concerned are some spillways where when lakes get too high, it spills over the trail system and goes right into the river. That's exactly what's happening,” Fanning said. Fanning said th...

Over 100K fentanyl pills, 75 pounds of meth confiscated in traffic stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) -- A traffic stop turned into a drug bust and arrest on Wednesday, the Grand Junction Police Department said in a release. The Western Colorado Drug Task Force and Colorado State Patrol pulled over 25-year-old Ramon Cesena-Valdez, of Grand Junction, on Interstate 70 west of Debeque. The stop resulted in the confiscation of more than 100,000 fentanyl pills and about 75 pounds of methamphetamine, the release said. UCHealth doctors find marijuana users require more anesthesia  Cesena-Valdez is facing these charges:Special circumstances pattern of manufacture/sale/dispense/distributeSpecial circumstances conspiracy to distribute/manufacture/sellDistribute/manufacture/possession with intent - methControlled sub-distribute fentanylChild abuse knowingly or recklessly without injuryHe is being held at the Mesa County Detention Facility.

Suspected drug dealer arrested after SWAT situation, shots fired in Miami’s Silver Bluff neighborhood draw concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

Police have arrested a suspected drug dealer one day after SWAT teams swarmed a Miami neighborhood for the second time in three months, leaving residents on edge.The latest wake-up call for residents of the Silver Bluff community came Thursday morning, as SWAT units with City of Miami Police approached a home in the area of Southwest 23rd Street and 14th Avenue.Cellphone video captured officers in tactical gear appearing to take a woman into custody.“This is the Miami Police Department. We have a search warrant for your location,” said an officer using a loudspeaker. “Walk to the officers at the door with your hands up.”The video was provided to 7News by concerned homeowners.“Do not make any sudden movements and obey all commands given to you by the officers at the door,” said an officer using a loudspeaker.Moments later, the woman was seen being taken into police custody.Officers yelled for at least one more person to come out of the home and lat...

Stars of ‘Knights of the Zodiac’ talk playing gods and warriors in anime-inspired fantasy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

A popular anime is getting the big-screen treatment with a star-studded cast … but in a disappointing twist, it turns out “Knights of the Zodiac” isn’t really about zodiac signs. Bummer! Deco’s Alex Miranda, a Libra, has more.That doesn’t mean I didn’t make the interview all about them, though. Madison iseman plays a young woman who struggles accept her place as a true goddess. Something I have no trouble accepting about myself.In “Knights of the Zodiac”…Madison Iseman (as Sienna): “It was Athena. She was doing it. I was doing it.”Madison Iseman plays a reincarnated goddess who was sent to watch over humanity.Alex Miranda: “Are you having your friends call you this? Are you soaking it all in?”Madison Iseman: “I mean, yes, but to be fair, I feel like the jokes never really stop coming.”And how could that not get to your head?Mark Dacascos: “Alex, it’s convincing in real life, too. I went t...

How to watch the Eurovision Song Contest like a pro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

Stock up on buck’s fizz, polish the glitter ball and don the sequins — it’s time for the grand final of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest. That’s right, folks. After two semi-finals, a conga line led by Peppa Pig, and a royal cameo, on Saturday evening 26 nations will vie to become this year’s Eurovision winner. Sweden is the hot favorite, with Eurovision aficionados also talking up the prospects of Finland and France. “It’s looking very unlikely that any other country apart from one of those three will win this year,” our senior Eurovision mole said confidently.All things being equal, Ukraine — as last year’s winner — should host the event. But with Russia’s ongoing invasion, organizers turned to the runner-up, the U.K., to hold Eurovision on Ukraine’s behalf, choosing Liverpool as the host city.Coverage from Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena starts at 8 p.m. U.K. time, hosted by, among others, Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina. It’s expected to wrap up around midnig...

Russia’s twilight zone, where wartime life is nearly normal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

VORONEZH, Russia — The Russian jets flying overhead to Ukraine every so often can be heard but they can’t be seen. It is a metaphor for the city of Voronezh, some 250 kilometers north of the border with Ukraine, where the war is both ubiquitous and nowhere; a rumbling threat as the backdrop to an — almost — ordinary life.“People try not to think about it and most don’t,” said Lyudmila (which is not her real name to protect her safety), a schoolteacher in her sixties. As one of the few Russian cities close to the frontline to go ahead with its Victory Day parade, Voronezh was an anomaly. Neighboring Belgorod, which suffers almost daily drone attacks, was among the first of dozens of cities to cancel its parade marking the Soviet triumph over Nazism citing security concerns. In a sign of further jitters, on the eve of the May 9 celebration, the city’s mayor scrapped festivities altogether.But Voronezh can still afford itself the luxury of normality. The situation, Alexa...

Mainstream economics is lost, and the price is political chaos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

Jo Swinson is the director of Partners for a New Economy and a former Liberal Democrat government minister in the U.K.Britain’s former Prime Minister Liz Truss was right about one thing: Economic orthodoxy is a real problem.Unfortunately, her prescription of tax cuts for the rich and encouraging casino banking was disastrously wrong. Yet, neither current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak or nor Labour leader Keir Starmer will solve the United Kingdom’s problems if they conclude we need a return to austerity or that there’s no space to be bold — especially considering the rapid energy transition we need.And politics will continue to flounder at its core task of making people’s lives better until economics catches up with 21st century challenges.The roots of Britain’s present political chaos go at least two decades back, to an apparently booming ecnomy leaving many places and people behind. Discontent was masked, for a time, by the government of then Prime Minister Tony Blair boosting public...

The EU’s green dilemma: Juggling growth and the environment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:17 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Union wants both more green rules and economic growth, but a growing chorus of voices says it can’t have both.The European Commission’s primary policy effort has been pushing through a Green Deal aimed at addressing the challenges of global warming and environmental degradation. But the energy emergency, the increasing view of China as a competitive threat to the EU, and the U.S. subsidy-heavy Inflation Reduction Act are prompting calls for a rethink.The latest to do so is French President Emmanuel Macron, who called for the EU to slam the brakes on new environmental rules in a Thursday speech on reviving French industry.“We have already passed lots of environmental regulations at the European level, more than our neighbors. In regulatory terms we are ahead of the Americans, the Chinese or any other power in the world,” he said. “Now we should be implementing them, not making new changes in the rules or we are going to lose all our players.”N...