Aurora news

• Trump names fast food exec as Labor pick

  08-12-2016 23:16
  
  President-elect Donald Trump is announcing his plans to nominate fast food executive Andy Puzder as his labor secretary.
  In a statement, Trump says Puzder will fight to make American workers “safer and more prosperous.” The president-elect also says he expects Puzder to protect small businesses from “unnecessary regulations.”Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and other chains. He says the right government policies
  
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• Health department reports whooping cough cases at suburban schools

  08-12-2016 23:06
  
  Five confirmed cases of whopping cough recently were reported at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and four cases at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, officials with the Cook County Department of Public Health said Thursday."It's of concern, because it's a highly contagious infection,...
  
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• Aurora man faces drug charges after I-80 stop in Nevada

  08-12-2016 22:58
  CARLIN, Nev. | A Colorado man is facing drug charges in northeast Nevada after police pulled him over for a taillight violation while driving on U.S. Interstate 80 west of Elko.Carlin Police Chief Dennis Fobes says 28-year-old Nguyen Tran of Aurora, Colorado allegedly was traveling with four large duffel bags filled with 70 pounds of marijuana.
  Fobes told the Elko Daily Free Press (http://tinyurl.com/zuqeq6f) an officer searched Tran’s car after he pulled him over Friday night and smelled
  
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• State’s teacher shortage affecting Aurora-area school districts, too

  08-12-2016 22:43
  AURORA | That Colorado is suffering from a teacher shortage is no secret to any local education wonk, though how local school districts are addressing the problem continues to differ.
  The number of qualified teachers graduating from Colorado institutions of higher education has been slashed by nearly 25 percent in the past six years, with the number of people finishing teacher preparation programs dropping another 2.2 percent last year, according to a new report from the Colorado Department of
  
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• THE MIX: Top Entertainment & Events in Aurora-Denver, Dec. 8-14

  08-12-2016 21:58
  
  AROUND TOWNDisney’s “Beauty and the Beast” 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 and 10; 2:30 p.m. Dec. 11. The Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St.Tickets start at $31. Call 303-856-7830 or visit vintagetheatre.com for more information.
  Luckily, for Aurora theatergoers, the arrival of the ever-dreaded “holiday season” doesn’t only mean more mistletoe, red-capped hooligans and hackneyed musical numbers. Well, maybe a few of the latter, but we certainly aren’t complaining ab
  
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• Brenda Jean Thayer dies at 58

  08-12-2016 21:53
  
  ObituaryBrenda Jean ThayerMarch 5, 1958 – December 4, 2016
  Brenda Jean Thayer, age 58, of Aurora. Daughter of Bill and Gwen Thayer. Sister of Barbara Garcia, Brad (Becky), and Steven
  (Carolyn) Thayer. Aunt of Becca, Michael, Brooke, Blake, Brianne, Amy, Melissa. Great aunt of Connor, Makenzie, Jackson.
  Memorial service was held Monday, 12/12 at 10 a.m. at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 5303 E. County Line Rd., Centennial.
  Memorials may be made to Denver Dumb Friends League, www.ddfl.o
  
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• Former astronaut, US Sen. John Glenn of Ohio has died at 95

  08-12-2016 21:49
  
  WASHINGTON | John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died Thursday. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95.
  Glenn died at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he was hospitalized for more than a week, said Hank Wilson, communications director for the John Glenn School of Public Affairs.
  John Herschel Glenn Jr. had two major career paths th
  
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• Eloy Antonio Angoco dies at 64

  08-12-2016 21:49
  
  Obituary
  Eloy Antonio AngocoMay 29, 1952 – December 4, 2016
  Eloy Antonio Angoco of Aurora, Colorado, formally of Maina, Guam, was called to his eternal rest on Sunday, December 04, 2016 at the age of 64.
  He was predeceased by his mother, Ana Muna Angoco-Cruz. Eloy is survived by his brothers, sisters, and their spouses: Wenie & Izzy Gonzalez, Joseph & Helen Angoco, Lana & Byas Cast, Frederick & Sybella Angoco, and Mae Oliver. He is also survived by numerous nephews, nieces,
  
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• Terence Gordon Todd dies at 77

  08-12-2016 21:43
  
  Obituary
  Terence Gordon ToddSeptember 20, 1939 – November 24, 2016
  Terence G. Todd (Terry) passed away unexpectedly at the age of 77 on Thursday, Nov 24, 2016. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Shirley Todd; his son Greg (Janeen) Todd, his daughter Kathleen (Chad) Tan- ner and his grandchildren, Douglas, David,
  Aiden, Afton and Annika, as well as Shirley’s mother, daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Terry is preceded by his first wife, Marjorie Todd. He was born in
  
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• REVIEW: ‘Nutcracker’ succeeds as a ‘gateway’ ballet

  08-12-2016 21:25
  
  I was once told that “The Nutcracker” is the gateway ballet.
  I now understand why.
  After attending a recent Sunday night performance of the perennial cornerstone of holiday enchantment at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, my ballet curiosity has been piqued. It’s morphed from a mild spirit of inquiry about a diminutive office on Santa Fe Drive to an incensed devouring of my first playbill bearing that red Colorado Ballet logo.
  I think I’m hooked.
  But before I forg
  
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• NASCAR star Earnhardt cleared to race again after concussion

  08-12-2016 21:17
  CONCORD, N.C. | NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed the final 18 races of last season because of a concussion, has been medically cleared to return next year.
  Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday that Earnhardt will take part in the season-opening Daytona 500.
  The 42-year-old driver completed 185 laps Wednesday at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. In addition to the on-track test, which was observed by NASCAR, the driver has logged more than 15 hours in a racing simulator duri
  
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• IOC president Bach wants life bans for proven Russian cheats

  08-12-2016 21:17
  
  LAUSANNE, Switzerland | Russian athletes and officials who are proven to have been part of a doping “manipulation system” should be banned for life from the Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach said Thursday.
  Bach gave his personal view one day before Canadian investigator Richard McLaren publishes a final report into alleged state-backed cheating at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
  Proof of systematic doping would be “aggravated circumstances” to justify life bans, th
  
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• Norwegian and Royal Caribbean get approval for Cuba cruises

  08-12-2016 21:14
  
  Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruises on Wednesday announced that they have received permission from the Cuban government to sail from the U.S. to Cuba.
  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings plans sailings on ships from two of its brands, Norwegian Cruise Line and Oceania. Both ships will include port calls in Havana as part of longer Caribbean itineraries. The Marina will sail from Miami on March 7 and Norwegian Sky will begin overnighting in Havana in spring 2017.
  FILE – In this May 2, 2016 fil
  
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• Is demand for travel to Cuba flattening?

  08-12-2016 21:14
  
  Demand for travel to Cuba may be flattening, with soaring hotel prices on the island, American Airlines cutting some flights, and uncertainty over whether new travel restrictions could be imposed when Donald Trump takes office.
  Gregory Geronemus, co-CEO of smarTours, a tour company that’s taken 3,000 Americans to Cuba, confirms there has been a softening in demand.
  FILE – In this May 24, 2015 file photo, US tourists walks outside the Bodeguita del Medio Bar frequented by the late Ame
  
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• Final rules for K-12 standardized testing released

  08-12-2016 21:10
  
  WASHINGTON | Aiming to reduce test-taking in America’s classrooms, the Obama administration released final rules Wednesday to help states and school districts take a new approach to the standardized tests students must take each year.
  It’s part of the bipartisan education law, signed by President Barack Obama a year ago, that returned substantial control over education policy back to the states, including the role test scores play in evaluating schools, teachers and students.
  FI
  
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• Bank robbed in Joliet, FBI says

  08-12-2016 20:06
  
  The FBI on Thursday said it is investigating a bank robbery in Joliet. The robbery took place at the Chase Bank, 2500 W. Jefferson St., according to an email about 12:20 p.m. from Garrett Croon of the FBI's Chicago office. No further information was available. Check back later.
  
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• Charges dropped against ex-coroner accused of mishandling babies' remains

  08-12-2016 20:02
  
  The case against the longtime former McHenry County coroner who was accused of mishandling babies' remains collapsed Thursday, with prosecutors dropping a final charge against her and a judge wishing her "the best of luck." It was a swift conclusion to the legal ordeal of Marlene Lantz, who almost...
  
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• Bears center Hroniss Grasu buys Glenview town home for $460,000

  08-12-2016 19:47
  
  Chicago Bears center Hroniss Grasu has paid $460,000 for a two-bedroom town home in Glenview. Grasu, 25, joined the Bears last year after the team drafted him. He has been injured this entire season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at the team's Family Fest practice...
  
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• At lead-tainted Indiana housing complex, inaction and missed warnings

  08-12-2016 19:01
  
  First they noticed workers spreading mulch over bare spots on the lawns. Next they were urged by health officials to have their children screened for lead. Then they started seeing signs popping up around the neighborhood, warning them not to play in the yards. Finally, in July, they got the letter....
  
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• DON’T HATE HERE: Panel of Aurora city and school officials reaffirms support for leery immigrants, refugees

  08-12-2016 18:57
  
  AURORA | Sabe Kemer began her comment with a definition.
  “A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or a natural disaster,” Kemer, a refugee from the Oromia region of Ethiopia, told a packed crowd in the Aurora Central High School media center Thursday night.She followed with a demand.
  “Think about that,” Kemer, her neck wrapped in a diaphanous orange scarf, demanded. “When you are running for you
  
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• Indiana man says he was stabbed by Klan leader in N.C. over internet comments feud

  08-12-2016 18:06
  
  The Indiana man police say was stabbed by the head of the California chapter of the Ku Klux Klan over the weekend contends he was attacked because of an argument over a Los Angeles area Klan rally that resulted in several stabbings earlier this year. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times,...
  
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• Aurora Unveils New Improvements at Route 59 Train Station

  08-12-2016 17:38
  AURORA, IL - The nearly 6,000 commuters who use the Route 59 Metra train station each day now have a revised traffic pattern to exit and enter the facility, additional parking, and more safety features that will improve their experience.
  
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• Unborn baby killed in suburban car crash

  08-12-2016 16:48
  
  A baby who was due to be born in a few weeks was killed in a car crash in Des Plaines.The crash occurred at the busy intersection of Touhy Avenue and River Road at about 9:25 a.m. Tuesday. The he unborn child, who was at 37 weeks gestation, was pronounced dead a little more than an hour later,...
  
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• Fireworks could soon fly in Aurora

  08-12-2016 16:13
  
  AURORA | City officials took another step toward making Aurora a fireworks-friendly city last week.
  City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted to send a plan to the full council that would allow the sale, possession and use of certain fireworks. In general, the new rules would allow the same fireworks permitted in Centennial and unincorporated Arapahoe County, meaning anything that doesn’t explode or shoot into the air. Sparklers, fountains and ground snakes would be allowed.
  Auro
  
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• Man sues Denver police after DNA mix-up leads to jail time

  08-12-2016 15:18
  DENVER | A man is suing Denver police after he was wrongly jailed for two months in a sexual assault case because of a DNA mistake.
  Shawnnon Hale, 26, said in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that crime lab technicians violated his rights when they improperly identified his DNA as being tied to a July 2014 rape, The Denver Post reported . Prosecutors eventually dismissed charges against Hale after a later test found his DNA was at the scene but not linked the crime. But that decisio
  
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• Aurora’s Buckley Air Force Base passed over for new jet

  08-12-2016 15:18
  AURORA, Colo. | Buckley Air Force base in Aurora won’t be getting new F-35 fighter jets anytime soon.
  The Air Force released a list Wednesday of five National Guard installations under consideration to get the costly aircraft in 2020, and Buckley wasn’t on it.
  Buckley’s Air National Guard wing flies aging F-16s.
  Colorado Republican congressman Mike Coffman, whose district includes the base, says he’s disappointed Buckley was passed over. He says the base could be in
  
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• Rescuers comb Indonesia earthquake rubble for second day

  08-12-2016 15:17
  
  MEUREUDU, Indonesia | Rescue workers, soldiers and police combed through the rubble of a devastated town in Indonesia’s Aceh province early Thursday, resuming a search for earthquake survivors that was halted at night by rain and blackouts.
  Nearly 100 people died in the shallow and powerful quake that struck northeast Sumatra before dawn on Wednesday. Hundreds were injured and dozens of buildings were destroyed. The worst damage appears to be in Pidie Jaya district near the epicenter,
  
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• Giraffes, rarer than elephants, put on extinction watch list

  08-12-2016 15:17
  
  WASHINGTON | The giraffe, the tallest land animal, is now at risk of extinction, biologists say.
  Because the giraffe population has shrunk nearly 40 percent in just 30 years, scientists put it on the official watch list of threatened and endangered species worldwide, calling it “vulnerable.” That’s two steps up the danger ladder from its previous designation of being a species of least concern. In 1985, there were between 151,000 and 163,000 giraffes but in 2015 the number
  
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• Ohio House committee approves 20-week abortion ban

  08-12-2016 15:12
  COLUMBUS, Ohio | Abortions would be banned after 20 weeks under a bill that Republican lawmakers hope to pass Thursday and add to legislation already on its way to GOP Gov. John Kasich that would prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
  A House committee voted Wednesday night to pass the 20-week ban, which now heads to the full House for consideration Thursday.
  That follows House approval Tuesday night of the so-called heartbeat bill, clearing the way for what would be one of
  
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• Former astronaut, US Sen. John Glenn is hospitalized in Ohio

  08-12-2016 15:12
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio | An Ohio State official says former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn has been hospitalized for more than a week.
  Hank Wilson with Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs said Wednesday that the 95-year-old Glenn is at the James Cancer Hospital, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has cancer.
  FILE – In this Thursday, May 14, 2015, file photo, former U.S. senator and astronaut John Glenn speaks during an exclusive interview with The As
  
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• Feds: Hoax beliefs fueled death threats to Sandy Hook parent

  08-12-2016 15:12
  MIAMI BEACH, Fla. | A Florida woman has been charged with making death threats against the parent of a child who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting massacre because she thought the attack was a hoax, federal authorities announced Wednesday.
  Lucy Richards, 57, of Tampa was arrested Monday after a grand jury indictment on four felony counts of transmitting threats, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
  The threats were made Jan. 10, according to authorities, and included messag
  
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• Church attack survivor recalls loud noise, then darkness

  08-12-2016 15:12
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C. | A survivor of last year’s massacre at a black South Carolina church testified Wednesday that her Bible study group had just closed their eyes and started praying when a loud sound shattered the stillness. The basement room went dark.
  When Felicia Sanders opened her eyes, she saw a young white man the parishioners had welcomed to the study only a half-hour earlier. Dylann Roof was mowing down the pastor and eight others with gunfire and hurling racial insults.
  Sander
  
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• Aurora prep sports schedule, 12.8.16

  08-12-2016 07:14
  
  AURORA | The Aurora prep sports schedule for Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016:
  Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected]. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
  BOYS BASKETBALL
  Ponderosa Invitational
  Coronado vs. Vista PEAK, 5:30 p.m.
  GIRLS BASKETBALL
  Fountain-Fort Carson at Gateway, 6:30 p.m.
  Douglas County Tournament
  Eaglecrest vs. Sand Creek, 5:30 p.m.
  Major Mortgage Wildcat Classic (at Fruita Monument H.S.)
  Vista PEAK vs. Palisade
  
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• Crowd braves cold to remember slain Dolton rapper

  08-12-2016 04:53
  
  Mourners released balloons Wednesday night with shouts of "Long Live Duke," a reference to Jeremy Nixon's stage name Boss Status Duke. The somber event remembering Nixon turned upbeat as tracks recorded by the aspiring rap artist blasted into the night and both friends and family shared happy memories...
  
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• Embattled Chuck E. Cheese's announces intention to close Oak Lawn restaurant

  08-12-2016 03:32
  
  A Chuck E. Cheese's in Oak Lawn that has been plagued by violent incidents, including an alleged shooting of a patron shortly after he left the eatery on Saturday, has informed the village it intends to leave town rather than face possible license revocation, a village official said. The move,...
  
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• Chicago police officer found guilty of perjury; 2 others cleared

  08-12-2016 02:20
  
  Drawing a distinction between "knowingly false" statements and mistakes, a Cook County judge handed out split verdicts Wednesday in the perjury trial of three police officers accused of lying about the circumstances of a drug arrest. One Chicago police officer was found guilty of felony perjury,...
  
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• Michigan City woman dies after South Shore train strikes car

  08-12-2016 01:07
  
  Authorities say a northern Indiana woman died after a South Shore commuter train collided with her car as she attempted to cross railroad tracks. Police say 37-year-old Crystal Greene of Michigan City disregarded warning lights when she drove a Nissan Sentra across the tracks in that city shortly...
  
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• Probation officers to wear body cameras

  08-12-2016 00:14
  
  The Cook County probation department for the first time plans to equip some if its officers with body cameras, a move that follows allegations that rogue officers had planted drugs, stolen money and violated the civil rights of probationers during home curfew checks. Chief Judge Timothy Evans,...
  
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