Month: July 2021

Four people were arrested after a hotel housekeeper tipped off authorities to more than a dozen weapons and 1,000 rounds of ammunition stored at a hotel room in Denver. Police removed 16 long guns, body armor and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from a hotel room on the eighth floor of the Maven Hotel near Coors Field, which is set to host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Police executed a search warrant and found a man inside the room which featured a balcony overlooking the downtown Denver area along with the weapons. The suspects were identified as 42-year-old Richard Platt and Gabriel Rodriguez, 48, who are both facing investigation for possession of weapons by a previous offender and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Ricardo Rodriguez, 44, is being investigated for possession of a weapon by a previous offender and Kanoelehua Serikawa, 43, is being investigated for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Platt and Serikawa were both also wanted on warrants from other jurisdictions.

The FBI on Sunday said it had “no reason to believe this incident was connected to terrorism or a threat directed at the All-Star Game. We are not aware of any threat to the All-Star Game events, venues, players or the community at this time.”  The MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is set to be held at Coors Field on Monday, followed by the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

Editorial credit: Travel_with_me / Shutterstock.com

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson and five other passengers successfully launched to the lower edge of space — about 50 miles above Earth — and back to planet Earth on Sunday in the first fully crewed flight from his private space tourism firm Virgin Galactic.

Virgin Galactic’s reusable SpaceShipTwo returned to Spaceport America, about 170 miles south of Albuquerque, N.M., in the desert after taking off 1/2 hours earlier from the same runway attached beneath to a twin-fuselage jet. Unity was launched from the Eve mothership at an altitude of 50,000 feet and live stream video showed it shooting into space. Within 30 seconds the spacecraft reached Mach 2 speed and a few seconds later hit Mach 3 at an altitude of weightlessness. Branson, 70, served as a mission specialist on the flight. Onboard video showed Branson and the three other astronauts unbuckling their seatbelts to float around the cabin and take in view of the curvature of Earth. At around 11:40 a.m. ET the spacecraft touched back down on Earth, making a smooth landing back in New Mexico.

Branson said at a news conference following the historic flight: “I think like most kids I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid and honestly nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space.” He said he was honored to “test the customer experience” and declared, “Welcome to the dawn of a new space age. It’s just magical. I’m just taking it all in. It’s just unreal.”