Kevin's Corner

The tourist's photo of officer Larry DePrimo kneeling on the cold sidewalk to give the man boots that he bought at a nearby shoe store quickly became an online sensation, generating more than 325,000 "likes" on the NYPD's Facebook page.

[ 4 New York WNBC ]

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Denver Zoo

About "Zoo Lights" at the Denver Zoo This Year

Denver Zoo will be transformed to a wild winter wonderland as guests wander under the canopy of lights throughout themed regions at this year's Zoo Lights. Families can journey to the North Pole region to visit with Santa, enjoy tasty treats at Ms. Claus' Sweet Shop and take a spin on the carousel. In this region kids can also take Denver Zoo's historic train ride, revamped this year with a special theme. Kids can help spot animals from long ago at the Yesterday's Zoo Train Experience. During the ride they will hear the story of Yesterday's Zoo, a place where now extinct animals roam, while learning why it's important to help today's animals and seeing characters from the book.

[ Denver Zoo ]

Denver Zoo

Zoo Lights Special Events

• VISITS WITH SANTA - NOV. 30-DEC. 23

Naughty and nice children alike can bring their Christmas wish lists right to Santa’s mailbox at the North Pole and visit with the big guy himself!

• ICECARVERS - SUNDAYS-THURSDAYS 6-8 p.m.

See Santa’s helpers with power tools create a special ice-carving garden, filled with more animal sculptures than before.

Such a fun event for the entire family, and so far this year, very nice weather to enjoy the Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo.

Free Days are funded in part, by the citizens of the metro area via the SCFD 0.1% sales and use tax. It's a great value, so check out the dates below and have a free day! Additionally, The Tier I organizations (Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Zoo, Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens and The Denver Center for the Performing Arts) provide bookmarks listing their free admission days.

The 9NEWS Denver Parade of Lights Schedule

Where

How to Win

John W. Hickenlooper, Facebook

A drought destroyed $100 million of revenue. Wildfires incinerated 238,000 acres of forest. And then seventy people were shot in a movie theater. It's not easy being the governor of Colorado.

Hickenlooper told the magazine

“I felt, in some deep way, privileged and blessed to be a part of their lives,” he said to Esquire. “You feel this incredible, intense connection…. I didn’t feel paralyzed. In a funny way, I almost felt released.”

[ Denver Post ]

Congrats, Governor Hickenlooper!

"The Stir" has 12 Tips for Keeping Your Thanksgiving Sane

Many of us are having a few people over for Thanksgiving -- maybe five or six guests. And then there are the generous, ambitious hosts who are having many, many more guests than that. As in ... 20 people! How do you manage a Thanksgiving circus like that? So much potential for chaos and food poisoning.

[ The Stir ]

See the 12 Tips on "The Stir's" website. Happy Thanksgiving, relax and enjoy it with your friends and family!

You can help by dropping off turkey and food donations to one of these locations by Tuesday, November 20:

Ministry Outreach Center; 3501 E. 46th Avenue
I-70 and Vasquez/Steele (just east of the Pilot truck stop)
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Lawrence Street Shelter; 1130 Park Avenue West
(corner of Lawrence St. & Park Avenue West)

Donations can be dropped off anytime, 7 days a week.

Additional items needed for Thanksgiving food boxes include canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned pumpkin, boxed stuffing, canned cranberries, and canned yams.

The company, founded in 1930, is fighting battles beyond labor costs, however. Competition is increasing in the snack space and Americans are increasingly conscious about healthy eating. Hostess also makes Dolly Madison, Drake's and Nature's Pride snacks.

Hostess said it would file the motion to liquidate Friday if needed, with a hearing scheduled for Monday. If the motion is granted, Hostess would begin closing operations as early as Tuesday.

[ 9NEWS ]

What Does this Mean for Denver, Colorado?

The Irving, Texas-based company has a Wonder Bread and Home Pride bread plant at 80 E. 62nd Ave. in Denver, near interstates 25 and 76. As of May, when Hostess' Denver workers were warned of potential layoffs, the plant had 167 employees.

[ Denver Business Journal ]

The loss is greater for the thousands that will lose their jobs across the country. Let's keep them in our thoughts, especially at this time of year.

The Denver Area Ronald McDonald Houses - What They Do

Our main focus is providing comfortable, low-cost housing to out-of-town mothers and fathers needing to be near their hospitalized children. Our largest residence, the Aurora House opened in March 2008. Only 7 years earlier a new Denver House was built. We award college scholarships to high school seniors and grants to community groups.

[ Ronald McDonald House ]

How You Can Help

You can help by being a Ray of Hope. Your $20 gift each month will keep a family of a seriously ill child together for 12 days at The House. The average stay for a family is 24 days. On Tuesday, (Nov 13, 2012) between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. please have your credit card ready and call 720-754-7788. You can also give online and bid on online auction items to help these families with a place to stay while their child is being treated in the Denver/Aurora area hospitals.

The Denver Veterans Day 5K - Saturday, November 10, 2012

The 4th Annual Denver Veterans Day 5K, is a memorial race on Denver's scenic Auraria Campus. The DVD5K's mission is to celebrate Veterans Day the way Veterans would want to most: by running!

Annual Veterans Day Parade and Celebration in Denver - Saturday, November 10, 2012

Bring your family and friends downtown to celebrate Denver's largest Veterans Day event yet! From a 5k run to a parade to a remembrance ceremony to a festive celebration at Civic Center Park and an amazing fireworks display on the Auraria Campus . There will be free food, entertainment and giveaways for the whole family to enjoy throughout the day.

[ vetsdaydenver.org ]

YouTube

WATCH: 60 Years of Television Campaign Ads

Lori Kogan, associate professor at CSU's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and lead author of the study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior, said she and her team exposed 117 dogs to three types of music: classical, heavy metal and psychoacoustic classical music specifically designed to sooth animals, Postmedia News reported Friday.

Kogan said the dogs listening to classical music, which were of varying breeds, were generally more relaxed and restful than dogs in the no-music control group, while those listening to heavy metal displayed increased anxiety and unrest.

[ UPI ]

Average retail gasoline prices in Colorado have fallen 4.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.48 a gallon on Sunday, according to the gasoline price website ColoradoGasPrices.com.

This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.6 cents a gallon in the last week to $3.51 a gallon.

[ Denver Post ]

Hopefully the trend continues. Have you noticed the trend at the pump?

The 22-year-old singer's fourth studio album, released Oct. 22, had one of the best debuts in history, selling 1.208 million copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Red set a single-week sales record at iTunes, where it sold 464,000 copies. At Target, which offered a version of Red that included a bonus CD containing six additional tracks, Swift sold more than 400,000 units -- the highest total for any album in the retailer's history.

[ USA Today ]

WATCH: Taylor Swift "We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together"

"Gidget was a very charismatic animal that charmed millions of guests over the years at our sea lion show. She loved working with her keepers and awing guests with her swimming and agility. We are deeply saddened by this loss. She was adored by everyone that had the pleasure of meeting her."

Gidget was also well known for KUSA-TV sportscaster Drew Soicher's segment "Gidget Picks" where she predicted the winner of each Denver Broncos game by choosing between two team-logoed footballs every week. Although, she was not always accurate, guests still clamored to find out which team she was betting on until her "retirement" in the 2010 season.

[ Denver Zoo Media Release ]


Denver Zoo

Our thoughts are with everyone at the Denver Zoo. RIP Gidget, you will be missed.

Why Daylight Saving Time?

The federal government doesn't require U.S. states or territories to observe daylight saving time, which is why residents of Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands won't need to change their clocks this weekend.

[ National Geographic ]

That means we get an extra hour of sleep, that's good.