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Opinion: The cheaper plans in the Colorado Option are not pushing health insurers out of the market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

Recently, a Denver Post columnist wrote the opinion piece “The ‘Colorado Option’ left me high and dry without health insurance, again,” that made a bizarre and inaccurate claim about the Colorado health insurance market.The Colorado Option is already saving Coloradans who buy their own insurance up to $540 per year in some parts of the state, with more savings on the way.The opinion columnist insinuated that Humana, Oscar Health, Bright Health and Friday Health Plans left the Colorado market because of the Colorado Option. This is absolutely not the case. This isn’t something I know only because of my position as Colorado’s Insurance Commissioner, but because of facts that were widely reported on across the country.For example, Humana exited the commercial health insurance market throughout the entire country. The company literally stopped selling health insurance in every state and decided to focus solely on Medicare and Medicaid. The Colorado Option is not the reason a...

Bear spotted on CU Boulder campus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

Police are reporting that there is a bear on the CU Boulder campus and are asking the public to avoid the area near the Engineering Center and Mathematics Building.According to a 9:30 a.m. CU news release, the bear is in a tree northwest of the Engineering Center next to the Mathematics Building. Police have roped off the area and have told the public to not call dispatch.The CUPD and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife are monitoring the situation, according to the release.

Gas prices higher than last year in Southern California

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

Buckle up, Southern California. High gas prices are back with a vengeance.Los Angeles County prices are up to an average of $5.56 per gallon. A month ago, that price was $5.22, according to AAA.That's higher than the state's average of $5.46 and far higher than the national average of $3.84.It's also higher than this time last year, when a gallon was $5.41 on average.However, it's still lower than the highest local average ever for L.A. County, which was recorded a little over a year ago.On June 14, 2022, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $6.44. Despite the climbing costs, deals can still be found. GasBuddy shows prices as low as $4.69 in the greater Los Angeles area.

Jets QB Aaron Rodgers has torn left Achilles tendon, AP source says. He's likely to miss the season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

Aaron Rodgers has a torn left Achilles tendon, according to a person familiar with the diagnosis, and the 39-year-old quarterback likely will miss the rest of the New York Jets' season.An MRI on Tuesday confirmed the four-time NFL MVP's injury, the person told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team didn’t announce it. Coach Robert Saleh was scheduled to speak to reporters on a video call later Tuesday.NFL Network first reported Rodgers tore the Achilles tendon, confirming the Jets’ fears. Torn Achilles tendons typically take several months of recovery due to the extensive rehabilitation needed.“Concerned with his Achilles,” Saleh said after the Jets’ 22-16 overtime win over Buffalo on Monday night. “MRI is probably going to confirm what we think is going to happen, so prayers tonight. But it’s not good.”On his fourth regular-season snap in a Jets uniform, Rodgers tried to avoid a rushing Leonard Floyd, who wrapped up the quarterback and spun him do...

‘Stop falling for weird s—’: Four takeaways from Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

By Paul Glader | CNN“You’ll never be successful,” Errol Musk in 1989 told his 17-year-old son Elon, who was then preparing to fly from South Africa to Canada to find relatives and a college education.That’s one of the scenes Walter Isaacson paints in his 670-page biography of Elon Musk, who is now the richest person who ever lived. The biography allows readers new glimpses into the private life of the entrepreneur who popularized electric vehicles for the masses and landed rocket boosters hurtling back to Earth so they could be reused.But Musk’s public statements and actions have become increasingly unhinged, filing and threatening lawsuits against nonprofits that fight hate speech and allowing some of the internet’s worst actors to regain their platforms.Isaacson portrays Musk as a restless genius with a turbulent upbringing on the cusp of launching a new AI company along with his five other companies.Musk allowed Isaacson to shadow him for two years but exercised no control over t...

Nasal decongestant in over-the-counter cold medicines doesn’t actually work, FDA experts day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

By Cailley LaPara | BloombergA panel of US regulatory advisers said phenylephrine, a main component of over-the-counter cold medicines including some versions of Procter & Gamble Co.’s Nyquil, doesn’t actually work.The committee of 16 advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday that scientific evidence doesn’t prove that the nasal decongestant is effective when taken orally at recommended doses. The majority of panelists agreed that further studies to test higher doses of the drug would not be worthwhile.The advisory committee’s decision isn’t binding, but the FDA’s own staff have also questioned phenylephrine’s efficacy. If the agency follows the panel’s recommendation, it could next begin a process to remove the drug from the market, forcing manufacturers, including P&G, Kenvue Inc. (Sudafed) and Reckitt Benckiser Group (Mucinex), to reformulate many popular cough and cold products.The companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.Consumers...

Review: Shakespeare and Marlowe collide and collaborate on Berkeley stage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

Ancient poets like Homer aside, there aren’t many authors whose very existence is debated as much as William Shakespeare. There are ardent factions devoted to the “authorship question” of whether Shakespeare actually wrote any of his plays or was simply a front man or invention of somebody else.Even the majority who believe Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare generally accept that he probably had co-authors for some of the plays, especially the weaker ones that vary wildly in style.In recent years, some scholars have become so convinced that Shakespeare collaborated with Christopher Marlowe on his “Henry VI” trilogy that the 2016 “New Oxford Shakespeare” credits the two playwrights side by side.Playwright Liz Duffy Adams imagines that untold collaboration between the two great contemporaries in her superb two-person play “Born with Teeth” at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre Company, fresh from its premiere at Houston’s Alley Theatre last year.In artistic director Josh Costello’s fast-paced stagi...

America’s Test Kitchen’s Oktoberfest recipes: Spaetzle, Black Forest Brownies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

America’s Test Kitchen’s newest cookbook, “Gatherings, Casual-Fancy Meals to Share,” lands on Sept. 19, just in time to inspire celebrations of every variety. The book opens with a chapter of practical tips on everything from party planning to menu management, before plunging into themed gathering ideas. You’ll find recipes and how-tos from ATK and Cook’s Country test kitchen chefs for everything from a Mexican Brunch to a Great British Picnic, a Bao Bar, a Vegetarian Dumpling Party and — this being the season — Oktoberfest.The Oktoberfest at Home spread devised by Cook’s Country’s Mark Huxoll offers a full menu of German fare, complete with Schweinebraten, brown butter sauerkraut, beer and caraway pretzels, Gruyere and fontina-topped spaetzle and Black Forest Brownies.Spätzle — or spaetzle, if your keyboard is umlaut challenged — is traditionally made with a spaetzle maker, which forms the eggy little noodles as the batter drips into ...

A Trump Appointee Is Trying to Gut the FEC’s Ability to Investigate Campaign Finance Crimes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

The government agency tasked with investigating campaign finance violations is on its way to intentionally making that very obligation more difficult to accomplish.The Federal Election Commission is a notoriously deadlocked agency that has nonetheless taken some significant enforcement actions in recent years. In 2019, for instance, the FEC issued record fines in relation to a Jeb Bush super PAC’s acceptance of $1.3 million from a Chinese-owned corporation. Last year, the agency fined Marathon Petroleum Company for giving $1 million to Republican party campaign committees while the fossil fuel company had existing contracts with the federal government.Now FEC Commissioner Allen Dickerson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, is pushing a rules change that would encumber the agency’s ability to investigate such violations. The proposal would require the FEC’s Office of General Counsel to get explicit approval from the commissioners for any investigative activity, no matter ho...

Prince George’s Co. police identify 16-year-old girl gunned down near high school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:20:25 GMT

Police tape around the fatal shooting at DuVal High School, near Palamar Drive and Woodstream Drive. (WTOP/John Domen) Police tape around the fatal shooting at DuVal High School, near Palamar Drive and Woodstream Drive. (WTOP/John Domen) Police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, have identified the teen girl fatally shot near DuVal High School in Lanham on Monday.Police said Jayda Medrano-Moore, of Greenbelt, Maryland, was walking on Palamar Avenue after leaving the high school about 3:45 p.m., when a dispute occurred between two groups and she was shot.In an update Tuesday, police said they still don’t know if they are looking for a single suspect or multiple suspects in the shooting and urged anyon...