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Aurora's decades-long debate over whether to ban pit bulls should finally find resolution in the Nov. 5 election, when voters will have the final say on whether to repeal an existing ban. Here's an explainer.

Live updates from former President Donald Trump's rally in Aurora today. Speakers have included U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and state Rep. Gabe Evans, a congressional candidate.

Live updates from former President Donald Trump's rally in Aurora today. Speakers have included U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and state Rep. Gabe Evans, a congressional candidate.

By Fran Kritz, NPR

The ancient scourge of tuberculosis for years was the deadliest infectious disease. Then SARS-CoV-2 came along and grabbed the notorious title of #1 killer: In 2020, COVID-19 was responsible for 3.5 million deaths worldwide vs 1.5 million for TB.The 2024 Global Tuberculosis Report, published last week by the World Health Organization, puts TB back in the top slot with 1.25 million deaths in 2023 compared to 320,000 COVID-19 deaths. There's also been an increase of hundreds of thousands of new TB cases in 2023 compared to the year prior.

The 1.25 million TB deaths in 2023 is down from 2022’s number of 1.32 million (which that year was second to the COVID toll). But it's still indefensibly high, say public health leaders.

“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, in a statement issued on October 29.

According to the report, approximately 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023 — the highest number since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995 and a “notable increase” from 7.5 million people newly diagnosed in 2022.

TB sleuths are trying to figure out the reasons behind the increase. Anand Date, global TB branch chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says population growth may account for the increase in cases last year -- and that it may take until the 2024 to find out if that is so or if the leap in 2023 reflects an undercount of annual TB totals during the pandemic.

“Disruptions to TB programs during the height of the pandemic led to more people going undiagnosed and untreated for TB. [And] guidance to shelter in place may have also limited the spread of TB, says Yogan Pillay, who heads efforts to improve TB program delivery at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which is a funder of NPR and this blog).

COVID-19 did trigger a new setback in the effort to control TB. But most of the reasons the infection persists are frustratingly well-known, says Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership. There's too little money for research, treatment. and patient care needs. And there's stigma that can keep the most common victims of TB, impoverished people including migrants and sex workers, from seeking help or being offered treatment.

In addition, health conditions like malnutrition, diabetes and smoking that can exacerbate TB and keep medications from being fully effective, says Luke Davis, a TB and HIV specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. “TB is unusual,” says Davis, in that most people who are exposed to the bacteria won’t progress to infectious TB. Only about 10% do, and they are usually among the world’s poorest people often with poor health to begin with, which exacerbates their condition.”

So what's the solution?

And that brings us to the Tedros point. The world knows how to vanquish TB — but is not doing a good job.

Money reigns as perhaps the biggest obstacle to conquering tuberculosis. A spokesperson for WHO tells NPR: “Compared with global funding targets for TB set at the 2023 U.N. high-level meeting on TB, there are large funding shortfalls for TB research as well as prevention, detection and treatment services. To close these gaps, more funding is needed from both domestic sources in the countries most impacted by TB and from international donors.”

Global funding for TB prevention and care decreased in 2023 from $6 billion in the three previous years to $5.7 billion and remains far below the yearly target of $22 billion, according to WHO.

What would more money bring? WHO cites expanded rapid diagnostic testing as critical. Then treatment can start sooner. And people wouldn’t have to travel long distances to a clinic then wait for days for the results.

Increased funding would also help reimburse families for lost wages and food and travel expenses incurred as they go for treatment. Those costs keep some patients and their families from seeking care.

The WHO report and other investigations also say that countries burdened by TB also have to step up and spend more money on prevention, diagnosis and treatment. A report by MSF/Doctors Without Borders published last month, for example, found that, only 5 out of 14 countries have adapted their guidelines — based on WHO recommendations -- to initiate TB treatment in children when symptoms strongly indicate TB disease, even if bacteriological tests are negative.

And increased funding would speed up the pace of research says the CDC’s Date. Funding for TB research has stagnated at around $1 billion per year, constraining progress, according to WHO. The target at the U.N. meeting: $5 billion per year by 2027. “The world also has the most promising R&D pipeline of new TB tools in decades,” says Pillay. “What’s needed now is greater investment to deliver on the promise of that pipeline and ensure patients and those at risk of TB have affordable and equitable access to these tools when they are available.”

Vaccines in the works

Pillay says there are more than a dozen TB vaccine candidates in clinical trials, including one whose late stage (stage 3) clinical trial is sponsored by the Gates Medical Research Institute. The trial began recruiting patients last March. That vaccine candidate is called M72/AS01E and if proven effective would be the first new TB vaccine in 100 years. The lone TB vaccine available now is not predictably effective in adults, and can cause a false positive result on TB skin tests.

But even an effective vaccine won’t do that much good if there aren’t funds to purchase it for countries impacted by TB. Janeen Madan Keller, deputy director of the Global Health Policy Program at the Center for Global Development, based in Washington, D.C., says that while Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, pays for [a variety of] vaccines in some of the poorest countries such as Afghanistan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, some countries with high rates of TB are middle income countries, like Indonesia, and no longer eligible for support. Ahead of a TB vaccine’s approval, says Keller, there needs to be a better match of policy and funding.

“Often it seems that when we find a way to help vanquish TB,” says Lucica Ditiu, “we also find another barrier.”

Fran Kritz is a health policy reporter based in Washington, D.C., and a regular contributor to NPR. She also reports for the Washington Post and Verywell Health. Find her on X: @fkritz

By Claire Morgan

Updated Nov. 8, 4:15 p.m.

Sacramento County results arrived in three separate waves on election night, with the first released shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m., another around 10:15 p.m. then finally again around midnight. 

The county will release another batch of results later this week and will continue to issue reports every Friday and Tuesday until all the ballots are counted.

As of Friday at 4:10 p.m., county data estimated roughly 411,809 ballots had been counted.

See full California primary election results here.

Sacramento mayor

Early results show Assembly member Kevin McCarty holds a lead with 54% of the 113,724 ballots counted so far. Epidemiologist Dr. Flojaune Cofer follows with 45%.

McCarty told supporters he was feeling grateful during an Election Night watch party in a restaurant Downtown.

"[I'm] just completely appreciative of where we're at, the campaign we ran, talking to a lot of people, laying out our vision for Sacramento," he said. "Thanking everybody that helped us on this campaign: our volunteers, our endorsers, our supporters, our contributors."

Cofer also expressed gratitude during her own Election Night watch party at pub Downtown. She says homelessness was a top issue among voters she spoke to throughout her campaign.

"They were excited that we had a plan, that we were talking about not needing more money but needing to use the money that we had and make sure that we are coordinating services across our different agencies, that we have clear goals and outcomes," she said.

Sacramento City Council District 2

Early results show Former state Assembly member Roger Dickinson is in the lead with 61% of the 7,739 ballots counted so far. Del Paso Heights native Stephen Walton follows with 38% of the vote.

District 2 includes Del Paso Heights, Hagginwood and Woodlake. 

Council member Shoun Thao has represented District 2 since April, after he was appointed to temporarily fill the seat until the winner of this election takes office. Thao is serving the remainder of former Council member Sean Loloee’s term. Loloee resigned in January after pleading not guilty to a 25-count federal indictment related to his Viva Supermarket grocery store businesses. 

Local ballot measures

Measure D: 

Early results show out of 80,168 ballots counted, 71% were for and 28% were against Sacramento City Unified School District’s request to issue $543 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure D would be used to upgrade facilities at Earl Warren Elementary School, Elder Creek Elementary School and Hiram Johnson High School, among other projects. 

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure E: 

Early results show out of 112,104 ballots counted, 72% were for and 27% were against renewing and combining two existing library parcel taxes into a single tax with no expiration date. If passed, Measure E would generate approximately $9.6 million yearly for Sacramento County library services.

The measure requires a two-thirds majority to pass.

Measure G: 

Early results show out of 27,897 ballots counted, 61% were against and 38% were for imposing an additional 1-cent sales tax on items sold in Folsom. Funds raised through Measure G would be spent on first responder services, public infrastructure and economic development.

The measure requires a simple majority to pass. 

Measure H: 

Early results show out of 7,483 ballots counted, 54% were for and 45% were against Galt Joint Union Elementary School District’s request to issue $27 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure H would go towards upgrading infrastructure at Marengo Ranch Elementary School, Lake Canyon Elementary School and River Oaks Elementary School, among others.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure J: 

Early results show out of 714 ballots counted, 51% were for and 48% were against Elverta Joint Elementary School District’s request to issue $4.3 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure J would be used to upgrade infrastructure across its three schools.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure K:

Early results show out of 9,520 ballots counted, 56% were against and 43% were for San Joaquin Delta Community College District’s request to issue $598 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure K would go towards facilities improvements like lab upgrades, asbestos removal and new classroom construction.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure L: 

Early results show out of 11,270 ballots counted, 61% were for and 38% were against Orangevale Recreation and Park District’s request to issue $24 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure L would go towards making security improvements, upgrading playgrounds and renovating the district’s 60-year-old Youth Center, among other projects.

The measure requires two-thirds approval to pass.

Measure M: 

Early results show out of 1,588 ballots counted, 50% were against and 49% were for Arcohe Union School District’s request to issue $5.8 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure M would be used to upgrade school safety, repair aging facilities, expand classrooms and build a joint-use community center.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure N: 

Early results show out of 84,125 ballots counted, 58% were for and 41% were against Elk Grove Unified School District’s request to issue $542 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure N would go toward renovating, upgrading and rehabilitating school facilities, among other projects. 

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure O: 

Early results show out of 177,787 ballots counted, 68% were for and 31% were against Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department’s request to issue $415 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure O would go toward upgrading facilities and vehicles and completing a new training facility.

The measure needs two-thirds of the vote to pass, unless Proposition 5 is approved, which would lower the threshold to 55%.

Measure P: 

Early results show out of 101,115 ballots counted, 59% were for and 40% were against San Juan Unified School District’s request to issue $950 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure P would go towards building new school facilities, upgrading classrooms and improve the safety of drinking water on campuses.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure Q: 

Early results show out of 6,248 ballots counted, 72% were for and 27% were against Fulton-El Camino Recreation and Parks District’s request to issue $24 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure Q would go toward upgrading restrooms, adding lighting and improving accessibility at parks, among other projects.

Measure R: 

Early results show out of 11,809 ballots counted, 65% were for and 34% were against Folsom-Cordova Unified School District’s request to issue $144 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure R would go towards improvements at elementary schools across the district.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

Measure S:

Early results show out of 11,733 ballots counted, 64% were for and 35% were against Folsom-Cordova Unified District’s request to issue $144 million in bonds. Funds raised through Measure R would go towards improvements at middle and high schools across the district.

The measure requires 55% approval to pass.

By Keyshawn Davis

When paraprofessionals miss a day of work, the children they ordinarily support are sent home or kept out of school altogether. This is not just unacceptable -- it’s a crisis. And some of Colorado’s most vulnerable students are the victims.

Thousands of homes across Colorado remained without power Sunday morning, according to Xcel. During the snowstorm's peak Friday, 52,000 were powerless.

Tune in at 8pm to hear Anton Dvorak's most famous opera, Rusalka, based upon Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. This 1998 recording stars Renee Fleming in the title role.

Melodic, blackened death metal perfection.

"We have the original tapes, which a lot of bands can't say that."

Starting in November 2025.

The true healing of our nation is a long journey. It will come from the people, not political wishing.

The Wheat Ridge community is still reeling after the death of former boys tennis coach Tom Sabus.

Dawn Gaffin is the 2016 winner of the Dave Sanders Colorado Coach Award, which is presented annually by The Denver Post to a teacher-coach committed to female athletics and high ideals like Sanders, who was killed while saving students in the Columbine massacre in 1999.

A Delta Airlines flight flying from Detroit landed safely at Denver International Airport on Monday after a mid-flight mechanical issue damaged the plane’s nose.

The hit-and-run suspect allegedly waited for the victim -- an unidentified man in his 60s -- to get out of his car in the Autowash parking lot before running him over.

Resident conductor Christopher Dragon, known for his pops collaborations, will lead the film-backed show.

A listing of the 2024 CHSAA state football tournament brackets and results.

A look at how the first round of the CHSAA state football playoffs played out in Class 5A and 4A.

While it made up ground in later returns after Tuesday's election, the measure was rejected on 51% of city ballots counted so far, according to the latest results released by the Denver Elections Division on Friday evening.

Years from now, when records have been broken and re-broken, and high school dynasties are set in stone, Saylor Swanson and Sara Walker will be remembered.

Had Denver matched the regional average gain, it would have seen an additional $646 million more in taxable sales revenues, the report estimates.

On Oct. 21, 1999, the Black Canyon became Colorado's third national park. But it was a painstaking process to get there.

Colorado’s election results tell us that more of our neighbors are feeling bad about Tuesday night’s presidential outcome than are feeling good, but what about the down-ballot races?

My uncles are all gone now. But there are many veterans here with us now, from many fields of battle, suffering the consequences and they don't have the support they need or haven't been connected to that help.

"One of the common themes in our survival stories is that it's almost never just one thing that goes wrong,” shared Peter Frick-Wright, host of the Outside Podcast.

The allegations in the ICU come as the Aurora VA has been roiled by controversy in recent months. When clinicians do raise concerns to management, they say they're met with admonition and retaliation.

The governor can use existing unspent federal pandemic funds to save the safety net

By DAVID A. LIEB Life, death, crime and taxes will be on ballots for voters to decide this fall. More than 140 measures are going before voters in 41 states during the general election alongside choices for president and other top offices. The ballot questions will give voters a chance to directly decide some consequential […]

Gabi Fresh's tips for plus-size summer fashion.

Tony Rock shares his personal social media highs and lows.

Just Keke gets a taste of entrepreneurship.

When Keke wants something done, she makes it happen.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles declared Denver a top market for expansion, but said it would take 2-5 years to launch an NTT IndyCar street race in Denver.

William Byron launched Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary season by snapping the team’s nine-year Daytona 500 losing streak with a win Monday in the rain-delayed “Great American Race.”

Chris Andersen has come to reevaluate his former agent’s work and now describes it in terms such as “theft,” “malpractice,” “betrayal” and “devastation.”

Get your just desserts at Le Clare's, La Creperie d’Audrey and Sweet NOLA Snoballs.

Courtland Sutton and the Broncos were still celebrating his 32-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter Sunday when the tremor preceding the earthquake rippled.

After a months-long investigation, the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Aurora Police Department determined the security guard fired his weapon in self-defense and was “legally justified” in his use of force.

Trump, who has referred to immigrants “poisoning the blood” of the United States, promised to carry out mass deportations of people who are here illegally.

Westminster City Council this week retained a law firm that specializes in construction defects to determine what is causing several roads to sag and settle in the northernmost stretches of the city.

One of Colorado's reintroduced wolves likely died of wounds it suffered during a fight with another wolf, federal officials announced Thursday.

Center for Biological Diversity is suing sued the state health department over two Crestone Peak sites.

In the coming weeks, Denver’s Edward Dwight is expected to be part of a six-person crew heading into space on the latest mission of Blue Origin.

After not only losing, but getting bullied in a 27-14 manhandling by the hated Raiders, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton tried to scrawl a smiley face on this mess.

In the latest edition of the Kickin' it with Kiz podcast, sports columnist Mark Kiszla reflects on a pair of coaching legends calling it quits in the same week.

Playing video games has long been a challenge for many people with disabilities, since the traditional controllers for the PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo can be difficult or even impossible to maneuver when a person has limited mobility. Losing the ability to play doesn’t just mean the loss of a favorite pastime — it can also exacerbate social isolation for a community that already experiences it at far higher rates than the general population. Sony’s new Access Controller, developed with input from accessibility consultants, aims to change that.

Rockstar Games released the first trailer for the newest version of Grand Theft Auto on Monday, giving fans a glimpse of what’s likely to rank as one of the industry’s top-selling titles.