Just weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, the greatest female athlete you’ve probably never heard of shocked the track and field world by turning in the fifth-best heptathlon performance of all time at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. But only weeks before that, Colorado’s Annie Kunz, 28, sank to an emotional low point that […]
Carol McKinley
Special to The Colorado Sun
Twitter: @CarolAMcKinley
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Colorado court orders new sentencing for Idaho nurse imprisoned in connection with Kelsey Berreth’s murder
A Colorado appeals court on Thursday ordered a new sentencing for an Idaho woman imprisoned in connection with the murder of Kelsey Berreth, who was killed by her fiancé in her Woodland Park condo on Thanksgiving Day in 2018. Krystal Lee Kenney, 34, took a plea deal after being accused of plotting to kill Berreth […]
Posted inColoradans, News
The Brown Bombers, a little-known Black baseball team, shook Colorado’s segregated sports world
In 1949, the Brooklyn Dodgers had Jackie Robinson. Colorado Springs had the Brown Bombers. Just two years after the Dodgers’ star broke Major League baseball’s color barrier, the Bombers achieved their own historic diamond breakthrough — one equally fraught with racism, but also marked by achievement and celebration. Seventy-two years ago, no one outside of […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Weld County grand jury indicts man in 1984 Greeley cold-case murder of 12-year-old girl
Nearly 36 years after 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews disappeared from her Greeley home, a Weld County grand jury has indicted an Idaho man for her death. Steven Pankey, who lived in Greeley at the time of Jonelle’s disappearance and had ties to the family’s church, was indicted on Oct. 9 on five charges, including first-degree murder […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
How four Colorado companies answered the call to make coronavirus supplies for health care workers
The coronavirus crisis has forced the closure of many Colorado businesses over the past two months. But some saw an opportunity to innovate and pivot from making snowboards, yurts and ski boots to start producing face shields and other protective gear for health care workers. Here are four of their stories: Zay Products Rex Deitesfeld […]
Posted inBusiness, News
Sculptors at a Lafayette mannequin factory are shaping more realistic body types for stores worldwide
He rubbed his thumbs across the angel wings of her back, and made circles up the curves of her neck. Then he took a knife and started slicing off pieces of her shoulders. “People ask what you do, and where do you work,” says mannequin sculptor Gary Alsum. “And when I answer, they say, ‘You mean […]
Posted inColoradans, News
Final duty: These Colorado veterans ensure every comrade is honored at Fort Logan
On a frigid Tuesday, six old soldiers stood sentinel, stiff-backed and rifle ready, for the funeral of a veteran they didn’t know. As the family solemnly gathered in a glass shelter, the Fort Logan All Veterans Honor Guard riflemen waited at attention outside, and when the service was over, they performed a three-rifle volley — […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, News
After haunting Colorado for three decades, there is new hope in the Jonelle Matthews case
Before 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews went missing, Greeley was half the size it is today. Kids rode their bikes on dirt roads past farmers’ fields, explored ravines and sold Girl Scout cookies door to door. On the night Jonelle was last seen, Christmas presents were already tucked beneath trees and holiday lights blinked from rooftops and […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate being investigated for 1984 Greeley cold-case murder of 12-year-old girl
A failed two-time Idaho gubernatorial candidate says he is being investigated in the disappearance and death of a 12-year-old girl in Greeley 35 years ago. Steve Pankey, who previously lived in northern Colorado, told the Idaho Statesman that the first time he heard about the murder case of Jonelle Matthews was the day after Christmas […]
Posted inColoradans, Culture, Music, News
Neil Young and Crazy Horse spent 11 magical days in Telluride — and the album they made there is coming out soon
Neil Young felt like getting high, so he brought the band back together to jam with him under a full pink moon. The rock ‘n’ roll icon was aiming for a Rocky Mountain high — at about 9,000-foot elevation. Young summoned longtime partners Crazy Horse from semiretirement and headed for a mountain studio near Telluride […]