Latest news with #CUBoulder
CBS News
28-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Boulder County Coroner's Office rules death of University of Colorado student a suicide; parents dispute findings
The coroner's office in Boulder County says it has finished an investigation into the death of an 18-year-old. Megan Trussel died earlier this year after she went missing in February. Trussel was a student at the University of Colorado Boulder. Family and friends of Megan Trussel put up a memorial near where she was found dead over the winter. CBS The coroner says she died by suicide because of the effects of amphetamine and hypothermia. Boulder County Coroner Jeff Martin wrote in a statement in part, "Our opinion was based on several factors including but not limited to toxicology results and the presence of undigested prescription medication found during the examination." Meanwhile Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson wrote in a statement in part, "We understand this investigation took longer than many hoped," he said "This outcome is heartbreaking, and our hope is that the findings may bring some closure to Megan's loved ones and to the broader community. Our office typically refrains from releasing detailed information in suicide cases out of respect for the family and to prevent further harm, but we are sharing additional details due to the widespread public concern." The CU student was last seen on Sunday, Feb. 9 on campus. In the days following, the community rallied around her family searching before her body was found Feb. 15, near the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon. At a vigil in February, Megan's father Joe Trussell said to those in attendance, "It's a terrible thing that happened, but the best thing that we can do to honor her is to get better, to find out what happened," he said to the crowd. After the investigation's conclusion, the family has shared online that they will continue to go over what happened as they dispute the coroner's report. The family has expressed frustration with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office investigation throughout the process as friends and family helped search for Megan's once missing phone and purse. The family says they had also previously retained legal counsel to help facilitate their communication with the police. The family shared on social media Tuesday that they intend to have a private autopsy done and look deeper into factors surrounding her death including where and how Megan's purse and phone were found. Meanwhile, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office maintains that "Based on the comprehensive investigation and forensic findings from the Coroner's Office, Sheriff's Office, as well as a review by the District Attorney's Office, we have found no evidence to suggest that Megan was physically harmed or killed by another person."
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Longmont Latinx Voices awards scholarships to 10 SVVSD seniors
Local nonprofit Longmont Latinx Voices is supporting 10 high school seniors with scholarships as they pursue their college dreams. Giovanni Montez Chavez. (Courtesy photo) The Longmont nonprofit awards scholarships annually to St. Vrain Valley School District seniors, who were presented with their scholarships earlier this month. The Latino and Latina students each received $1,000, which they can put toward their higher education plans. This year's recipients are Diego Doton, Giovanni Montez Chavez, Justice Montoya, Edgar Nevarez Pena, Litzy Ortiz and Gisselle Sales Rodriguez of Skyline High School; Maria Arrece Garcia and Mahuiztli Martinez of Niwot High School; Emanuel Palacios of Longmont High School; and Alexander Westbrooke of Frederick High School. A few of the scholarship winners are going to the University of Colorado Boulder. Sales Rodriguez plans to study psychology at the university. Before heading to CU Boulder, Sales Rodriguez was recognized by a different higher education institution. She received her business certification from Front Range Community College last week through a dual enrollment program at Skyline. Sales Rodriguez will be the first person in her family to go to a four-year college. She said the scholarship will be a 'really big help' with her college expenses. 'College isn't going to cover itself,' she said. 'Even just a little help goes a really long way, and I'm really thankful for that.' Fellow Skyline student Edgar Nevarez Pena plans to study aerospace engineering at CU Boulder. Since he likes planes and working with his hands, he thinks the major will be a good fit for him. Maria Arrece Garcia is heading to Vanderbilt University, where she wants to study mechanical engineering. As a Niwot High student, she participated in the robotics program and the student council. Arrece Garcia's mom is Mexican and her dad is Peruvian. She said she's thankful that local students and their families are supported by Longmont Latinx Voices, and hopes that her scholarship will inspire her younger sister to pursue college. Justice Montoya. (Courtesy photo) 'Applying for this scholarship seemed perfect, because culture is really important to me,' Arrece Garcia said. 'I really love Longmont, and being able to get a scholarship from such a vibrant community is obviously a really great thing.' Litzy Ortiz wants to study data analytics at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder. She said the scholarship will ease the financial burden on her and her parents. 'It helps me not feel overwhelmed,' Ortiz said. Each Longmont Latinx Voices scholarship is named in honor of a community member. Ortiz's scholarship honored Linda Marquez, who was a Longmont resident and activist. 'I thought that was really nice, on their part, to have someone to honor,' Ortiz said. Most SVVSD schools will host their commencement ceremonies on Saturday. Alexander Westbrooke. (Courtesy photo) Emanuel Palacios. (Courtesy photo) Mahuiztli Martinez. (Courtesy photo) Maria Arrece Garcia. (Courtesy photo) Gisselle Sales Rodriguez. (Courtesy photo) Edgar Nevarez Pena. (Courtesy photo) Litzy Ortiz. (Courtesy photo)
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
New hailstorm research program launches in Boulder
DENVER (KDVR) — As Colorado approaches hail season, a new study is aiming to better detect these storms that can cause serious damage both physically and financially. It's a collaboration between 19 institutions both here in the US and around the world, including CU Boulder and CSU. They're calling it the In-Situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail in the Plains, a mouthful that can be shortened to ICECHIP. Denver weather: Afternoon showers and storms, some severe Hailstorms like the many we get in Colorado can be costly. 'I think it was something, like, $16 billion last year due to hail damage and so we started to realize, yeah, you might not necessarily cost lives, but is a giant chunk of our economy here,' says Becky Adams-Selin, a senior scientist with Atmospheric and Environmental Research. That's why the National Science Foundation is funding ICECHIP, a chance to make a dent in that cost like hail on a car. 'It's going to pay big dividends in the long run,' says Adams-Selin. The program, which launched in Boulder on Saturday will last for the next six weeks around the country and the teams won't wait for the storms to come to them. Severe weather leaves at least 27 dead, including 18 in Kentucky 'We're heading out to Kansas tomorrow,' says Adams-Selin. 'There's supposed to be a chance of hail.' They'll be bringing with them cutting edge technology. 'Mobile radars like those you see behind me, including mobile everything now, mobile temperature sensors, mobile hail systems,' says Adams-Selin. All of this to learn more about these storms than ever before and use that to try and be proactive before the damage happens. 'How does that translate to damage that matters to me? Like, is my roof going to get destroyed? Is my car, is my Weather Beast going to get destroyed?' says Adams-Selin. Hopefully to eventually put some money back in your pocket in the long run. 'Let's try and reduce these homeowners' insurance premiums,' says Adams-Selin. 'Let's try and get faster warnings out and reduce our ag damage.' The study is also looking to the future of hailstorm science, training more than 50 students from universities around the country in field research that is critical to the program. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
10-05-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Colorado scientist tracks Earthly plunge of a wayward Soviet-era Venus space probe
Predictions for the Earthly plunge of a wayward Soviet era Venus space probe are narrowing as the old spacecraft is expected to crash back to Earth Friday night. CBS "It's a fun event. And we really care about the research we do. And we find that such an interesting space event can kind of help highlight our research, and why we do what we do," said CU Boulder educated Aerospace Engineering Ph.D Dr. Shaylah Mutschler. Dr. Mutschler is director of the Space Weather Division as Space Environment Technologies. Space weather is different from atmospheric weather. It is affected by the sun's coronal mass ejections and solar flares. "And what happens is when events like that happen at the sun, some of them come out towards the Earth and interact with the Earth's magnetic field. And that inflates the atmosphere around Earth," said Dr. Mutschler. That perturbs solar orbits. When solar orbits shift, it can put some of the roughly 27,000 tracked objects orbiting Earth on a collision course. Mutschler and her colleagues follow the movement of about a hundred so-called, calibration satellites. The falling satellite, Kosmos 482 is one of them. "So these are defunct satellites. That means they're not maneuvering. They're just free orbiting. So when we are able to observe changes in their orbit, we can then invert those measurements to extract information about the environment that they're orbiting through." That helps them create space weather predictions. The return of Kosmos 482, once destined for Venus, is an opportunity to talk about space weather. "It's an avenue for us to talk about space, weather, and satellite operations. and how our space weather models are not perfect, which is why we don't know with perfect certainty when and where the satellite is going to re-enter." By Friday evening, experts were narrowing their prediction of a re-entry window of about three hours before and three hours after after 12:30am Saturday. They have drawn a wide swath of a potential re-entry path that incorporates little of the United States. But significant portions of Australia, India, China and Europe remained in the possible path. Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The spacecraft was launched in 1972. It was to land on the surface of Venus, but failed to escape Earth's orbit due to a rocket failure. That put it on an odd orbit that is actually very close to Earth at times. Among the closest of paths said Dr. Mutschler. Much of the rocket shredded in the failure, but a half-ton titanium shielded three-foot donut looking craft remains. It's plenty sturdy because it was designed to withstand the high temperatures and pressures of Venus. "So Earth is kind of a walk in the park compared to Venus," said Dr. Mutschler. It is not expected to break apart much. Seeing it is questionable, especially due to it's predicted path. But the chances of a person getting hit by its plunge remain very, very low. Still Dr. Mutschler said she'd miss it. "It's honestly one of my favorites."
Hospitality Net
08-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Humberto Fermo has been appointed General Manager at Moxy Boulder
Vision Hospitality Group proudly announces the addition of Humberto Fermo as the new General Manager of the Moxy Boulder, which opened last year near the CU Boulder campus. The hotel welcomed its first guests last June, marking a significant milestone as the first hotel to open in Boulder since 2018 and has quickly become the go-to hotel and bar on University Hill. Fermo is a dynamic and solutions-driven hospitality leader with over 20 years of comprehensive experience in hotel operations, financial management, and cross-functional leadership. With a proven track record across premier lifestyle and multi-property brands, he excels in guiding teams to achieve excellence in service standards, team development, and market positioning. Fermo was most recently the general manager of Kimpton's Hotel Monaco in Denver and prior to that was the GM at two different Indigo Hotels in Austin, Texas, and Rochester, Minnesota. Fermo will oversee the entire team and will direct operations, manage responsibility for financial performance, and oversee guest services for the property. Moxy Hotels, a part of Marriott Bonvoy's Distinctive Select portfolio, offer a playful hotel experience that steps outside of a conventional hotel stay and promotes a social center to both locals and adventure seeking travelers. The property features an incredible walk-through courtyard open to the public, featuring 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and anchored by Michelin Bib-Gourmand award winner Mister Oso and Aviano Coffee scheduled to open Spring 2025. The outdoor lounge spaces have fire pits, and comfortable seating, creating a perfect setting for guests to relax and unwind. The hotel is managed by Vision Hospitality Group of Chattanooga, Tenn.
