03 26 26 ABC's Mike Dobuski on Meta and YouTube Social-Media Addiction Trial also pharmacist Steve Musielak on seasonal allergy medications

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and Northern Colorado and not just for Catholics, but many thousands of non-Catholics who take advantage of the missions of the Archdiocese of Denver. At Cobank Arena, in the National Western Center in Denver, David Cale. The Broncos now the owner of the Burnham Yard site where they will build a new stadium. The Colorado Transportation Investment Office Board approved the deal worth just under $46 million. The board says they're pleased with the agreement because the Broncos have agreed to pay off their loan in its entirety. The site is 58 acres and the franchise hopes to have a new stadium be done by the 20-2031 season. Congressional lawmakers scheduled to leave Washington, D.C. for a two-week break for Passover and Easter. But ABC's Nicole the Antonio reports that there's still no end in sight for the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security. Airport security wait times are the worst ever. Airports in Houston and Atlanta specifically are among the hardest hits. And things are expected to get worse now that we're approaching the busy end of the week in the Easter travel season. Of course, the issue is TSA agents and other Homeland Security workers have not been paid. in weeks. One of those agents who hasn't been paid in six weeks tells ABC News that he's one of the growing number of agents who just can't afford to go to work. I already feel shame because I can't afford to pay my bills and I can't afford to go to work. And now I feel the burden of leaving my... my co-workers. DIA has largely escaped the long lines with both East and West security checkpoints staying under 30 minutes. Israel's taken two senior Iranians off its hit list at the request of a third country. Pakistan has asked the United States not to target Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. And that's prompted Israel to call off its own attempts to kill the two politicians. A source has told Reuters that if Kalabaf and the Abbas Araghchi were killed, there'd be nobody left to negotiate with. Iran is reviewing a 15-point ceasefire proposal from President Trump that was sent through Pakistan. While the President claims Iran is desperate to make a deal, the Iranians insist they've no intention of holding talks. Jonathan Savage, Fox News. Colorado state representatives say a new DUI bill being proposed would save lives. Right now, first time DUI offenders have a choice between installing an interlock device or accepting a license suspension. The House bill would require first-time offenders to have an interlock in their car. Democratic Representative Amy Pascal is sponsoring the bill. The number one thing I'm hoping it will do is limit the number of crashes and deaths on the road. She tells Fox 31 the bill would also require interlock manufacturers to provide a discount on the device. The bill now heads to the Senate. If it passes, it'll then head to the governor's desk for his signature.

A group in North Denver working to preserve Denver's Italian history. Denver has a very strong Italian-American community and now work is underway to develop a historic district to protect that heritage. Community members want to establish the Little Italy Historic District between 32nd and 38th and between Lapan and Zunai. It's a neighborhood steeped in Italian history. And while Gautano's restaurant still exists on 38th Avenue, other important restaurants and businesses are gone like Patsis and Pagliu. Carbonez also closed down years ago when Chubbies expanded. Organizers say they identified 50 properties that would be eligible for the new district. Nia Bender, K-A-Way. And the IRR Radio Music Awards are today. Grammy winner Taylor Swift is set to make her first award show appearance this year. A star-studded lineup will be presenting the awards. Ludacris is set to host the ceremony. It begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox. The show can also be heard on the IHeart Radio app for free. You're up to date. on Colorado's morning news. Taking a look at your latest business and money news. Keenan Dixon joining us in Keenan, a landmark trial now over and could mean some major changes. A California jury found meta and Google liable for getting kids addicted to their social media platforms. This mother cheered the verdict. This is going to help us in our efforts and educating the public, educating families in our communities and driving that change that we so desperately. need on these platforms. This, after a jury in Los Angeles, cited with the young woman in the landmark federal trial involving Instagram's parent company meta and YouTube's parent company Google. She accused the companies of designing their platforms to get her hooked early on, leading to depression and suicidal thoughts into adulthood. She was awarded $3 million in damages for the negligence involving the companies. Snapchat and TikTok previously settled with the woman. The case was being watched closely because it's seen as a test case by hundreds of similar loss. across the country, which are still pending right now. And META is laying off hundreds of employees. Multiple reports say workers are being laid off in META's recruiting, sales, and social media teams, and in the division that develops META smart glasses and VR headsets. The company says they are finding other opportunities for employees where possible. META employees about 79,000 people. The layoffs come as META is projected to spend around $135 billion on AI data centers. United Airlines is unveiling its new cabin designs. The airline is seeking higher profits by adding more first class and other roomy seats that command a premium over economy options. It's also introducing new cabins with some of its, on some of its regional jets. With 20 Polaris seats that can recline into beds, United Delta and American and other airlines have made cabin changes as premium revenue growth outpaces sales from standard economy seats. And have you ever considered using Taco Bell as part of your face routine? Nothing says clear skin like Taco Bell Mountain Mike DeWine Baja Blast under eye patches. They're real and they're spectacular and they're coming out later this year. Taco Bell says in a release there for the Baja Blast die hard.

infused with caffeine and a refreshing boost of citrus. You're up today on the latest business of money news. What? Really? It's insane. I love it. Honestly, yeah. We'll have to give it a try on the morning show. Sure, that'd be great. Let's take a look at your early Thursday morning drive. We head to the KOA Traffic Center and say good morning to Jonathan Steele. Yeah, very good morning to you. Happy Thursday. We're often running in good shape, not much to contend with here early, although there was a crash southbound at 38th involving a tanker truck that has been cleared off the highway, and we're starting to resume to normal there. We're actually basically at the post-at speed limit on I-25 across the city. Good build-up to the east on I-70. Pania looks great, too, heading to it from the airport, roughly 15 minutes between the terminal and I-70, and again, everything else pretty much wide open. We'll keep the advised, Jonathan Steele on K-A-8-50am and 94-1 FM. H! The Nuggets are on a four-game winning streak and finished off back-to-back with a 142-135 win over Dallas at Ball Arena last night. Jamal Murray scored 53 points. Nikolai Okic came up just one assist short of a 2020-20 night with 23, 21 rebounds, and just 19 assists. Murray shrugged off his performance. I was making some shots and got making them. So, I mean, Yoke had 23, 21, and 19. We could talk about him too. Head coach David Adelman was a little more compliment. Terry of those two. They've had some really special nights in Denver individually. Thinking back when they do it together, the triple double in the finals of both guys. And then tonight was just... Really special, man. The Nuggets made history. They're the first team in NBA history with one player to score at least 50 points in a game and another with at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in that same game. Denver stays home to play Utah tomorrow night. The abs are back in action tonight, finishing a four-game road swing in Winnipeg. It's been a successful trip so far. When the team departed Denver last week, they were on a three-game losing streak with just a two-point lead over Dallas and the West. They now have a seven-point lead or on a three-game winning streak. streak with 12 games to go until the playoff starts. The puck drops tonight at 6 o'clock in Winnipeg. Last night was opening night. Today is opening day and tomorrow is opening day for the Rockies. The first game of the season was the standalone one between the Yankees and Giants in San Francisco, dominated by the Yankees 7-0. Max Fried shoved going six in the third innings and allowing just two hits. The full slate of opening day games are today, as is traditional, 11 games on the schedule throughout the day with the first one started. Starting at 11 o'clock so you can watch at work. The Rockies will have to wait until tomorrow to open the new season. Kyle Freeland will make his franchise record fifth opening day start. And the Denver native will try to get the Rockies a new win in the new era of the franchise. K-OA coverage of tomorrow's Rockies Marlins' opening day game starts at 4.30. Colorado's home opener is next Friday. And the tournament continues tonight with the round of 16. Four games tonight. Four more tomorrow night in San Jose, 11-seat Texas, plays two-seat Purdue.

And four-seat Arkansas, led by John Calipari, clashed with top-seat Arizona. In Houston, nine-seat Iowa plays a rivalry game in the dance against Nebraska and Illinois. It plays Houston with Houston playing just a couple of miles from campus. K-O-A tournament updates are presented by Xfinity and Dave Smith Motors, low prices that are hard to beat on RAM, Jeep, GMC, and Chevrolet. I'm Kenan Dixon on KOA, Home of the Buffs, Broncos and Rockies, and KOA Sports today at 3. KOA News Time 519. Gina Gondack on Colorado's Morning News, a jury in federal court in Los Angeles says that meta and YouTube were negligent in making addictive networks. As a result, the jury awarding a 20-year-old woman $3 million, as she claimed she was hooked on the sites before she was 10 years old. Joining us on the K-O-A Commons Spirit Health hotline with the latest is ABC News tech reporter. It's Mike Duboskey. Mike, appreciate your time as always. Well, from constantly scrolling to notify... on these apps. It really seems that the biggest argument in this case was that the social media companies intentionally designed their platforms in order to be addictive. Yeah, that's exactly what's at the core of this case. What prosecutors had alleged was that Kaylee, referred to as KGM in court documents, became addicted to these platforms at a young age. She was on YouTube at 6. She was on Instagram at 9. And that the very design of those platforms were what made her... you know, become addicted to them, right? The things like beauty filters on Instagram or the endless scroll of a Facebook feed were the things that contributed to all these negative health outcomes, things like anxiety, depression, even things like body dysmorphia or suicidal ideation. It was an important strategy from the prosecution's point of view because often what these tech companies will do is they will fall back on a legal protection known as Section 230. Section 230. 30 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 stipulates that these platforms can't be held liable for the content that gets published on them. I can post on Facebook that the K-O-A hosts love pineapple on pizza, and you can sue me, but you can't sue Facebook for that. That's basically what the Communications Decency Act Section 230 protects. If you are targeting not the content that gets published on the platform, but rather the design of the platform itself, well, that's altogether a different legal question. And in a court in California yesterday, it was a successful strategy from these lawyers where punitive damages were awarded to Kaylee in the tune of $6 million or so. So that is a pretty landmark decision, and it could set the template for literally thousands of cases left to come down the pike. I won't argue the pineapple on pizza hot take. I would never do that. I'm okay with that. Okay, so the millions I was awarded to Kaylee really sounds like a lot, but I feel like that's a pretty insignificant amount for the job. giant company of meta. Totally. It's a parking ticket, as many have pointed out here. These companies are huge. They have, you know, masses of legal teams that have, you know, litigated this. And let's not forget that this was a case that included more tech companies. Snapchat and TikTok decided to settle this case out of court for undisclosed terms before it went to trial. YouTube and META's platforms decided that they had enough of a legal standing to move forward and actually go to trial. That was not a successful strategy for them, but both companies say that they are planning to appeal. This is not over, essentially. And, you know, sure, the actual damages here are a drop in the bucket compared to the actual intake of these companies. I think the bigger existential threat to them, the reason that we're talking about this is the precedent that it sets.

has done here is that there's a couple thousand broadly similar social media cases that are set to go to trial in the next few months. What lawmakers and what sort of legal experts have done is they've selected a handful of those cases that they think are representative. And they've publicized these trials. They've brought in, you know, high profile testimony like Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Messeri came and testified. And they're basically signaling to juries down the line, hey, as you consider the question, in your case, take a page out of this case's book. Look to what we discussed here to give you a sort of frame of reference, not necessarily, you know, sway you one way or another, but to give you some basis from which to work. And that means that what happens here is going to have big reverberations down the line. It's not just California either. Next month in Kentucky, a court is set to consider the effect of social media platforms in the classroom. You can imagine that the results of this case are going to influence the... strategy that takes place in that courtroom in a pretty big way. Yeah, that will be very interesting to see what happens with those thousands of other similar cases. Mike, last question for me, does this dramatically, and it's probably we don't have enough time to really just dive into it, but will this dramatically change how social media works? I would say potentially. Obviously, we have to wait for the appeals process to move forward. All these other cases, again, are broadly similar, but they deal with slightly different questions. So it's going to be really interesting to see. A real far-reaching effect of this could potentially be that age verification becomes a much bigger topic that we start discussing in the next few years, because that is basically the only way for these platforms to verify the age of the users that are on their platforms and how they treat them. Well, how do you determine how old a person is on social media? It's a really hard thing to do, and it does come with some privacy concerns as well. So that's something to keep in the back of your mind as we watch these cases go forward. ABC News tech reporter Mike Tabusky. Thanks, Mike. Of course, guys. Take care. Taking a look at your Thursday morning drive in the K-OA traffic center, here's Jonathan Steele. Now, so far, we're sailing along out here with moderate volume. Levels are building a little bit heavier up to the north, including I-25. But good drive. If you're coming out of North Glen and Thornton, 120th into downtown, just over 10 minutes and basically 10 minutes between downtown of the Tech Center. C-470's great through Highlands Ranch, 6th Avenue out of Lakewood, Boulder Turnpike, roughly, about 25 minutes, maybe a little bit less, coming off high 25, and then heading all the way into Boulder. Northern Colorado looks great. So as the south end and the mountain roads are in great shape. So really a super Thursday start for us with nothing going on. Jonathan Steele on K.A. 8.50 a.m. and 94.1 FM. K-O-A news time, 530. On Colorado's morning news, 8.50 a.m., 94-1 FM, and on the I-Hurt radio app. Good morning. I'm Gina Gondack. Fox 31 pinpoint weather, partly cloudy today, cool down, high temperature in the upper 70s. We could see some scattered showers with a low in the 30s overnight tonight and then a bigger cool down tomorrow. Currently, it's 61 in Denver.

It's just one more day of above average temperatures before we see that cool down on Denver in the front range. National Weather Services Bruno Rodriguez says that the cold front will bring blustery winds this afternoon, followed by some rain and even some snow in the higher elevations. The amounts are actually quite uncertain right now, especially as far as the location of the heaviest rain and or snow. Right now we're favoring kind of the central foothills of Boulder County for potentially a few tenths of an inch of liquid precept. Rodriguez says the forecast high is in the mid-50s tomorrow, and that's actually slightly below average, something that's unusual for us over the last few weeks. A red flag warning in effect for southeast Colorado this afternoon, fire crews are making good progress on the turkey fire that's burning in Werfano County. It broke out last night, burning about 638 acres and is 80% contained. Well, Denver isn't under a red flag warning today. The water restrictions are on for Denver. Denver water is aiming for a 20% reduction in water use by namely restricting lawn watering to two days per week. Spokesperson Travis Thompson says the utility doesn't want customers to start watering until mid-May. The biggest message that we're going to have for folks is to not turn on those irrigation timers yet. If drought conditions persist, Denver water could further restrict watering to one day per week. Connor Shreve, K-O-A. This afternoon, marking the first mass, James Golka, will lead as Archbishop of Denver. Just before the Mass at noon, the Archbishop will be taking part in an ancient tradition by knocking on the cathedral three times as a symbolic gesture of being welcomed by the faithful. Priests, bishops, cardinals welcomed Golka with an installation mass yesterday.

Chris from Colorado Springs thrilled about Golka's promotion. I think it's, in this case, it's someone who's not going to put on airs and who's as genuine as the day is long and is truthful and honest. And when he makes a mistake, we'll admit it. About 4,000 people attended the mass yesterday at Cobank Arena at the National Western Center. The Broncos officially closing the deal to buy the Burnham Yard site where they will build a new stadium. The $45.8 million deal for the 58-acre abandoned rail yard was approved by the Colorado Transportation Investment Office Board. They say they're thrilled with the sale agreement where the Broncos have agreed to pay off their loan in its entirety. They say this arrangement minimizes risk to the state and unlocks billions of dollars in private investment in this long blighted underutilized property. The stadium is tariff. targeted to be done in time for the 2031 NFL season. Chad Bauer, K-O-A. Some lawmakers willing to give up vacation and keep trying to get a deal to end the partial government shutdown and fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. Virginia Democratic Congressman James Walkenshaw tells ABC News that he's troubled by TSA agents not getting paid. and long security wait times. We have a scheduled congressional recess next week at the end of this week. That should absolutely be canceled if, God forbid, this issue isn't resolved. Democrats say GOP leaders are refusing to accept reforms to ICE. Colorado Republican Congressman Gabe Evans says he sees a similarity in the Democrats' strategy from years ago. Democrats continue to defund the police. just by refusing to pass the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. I know it. I saw it as a cop. It's what's playing out today. And they've done it, done it not once, but twice. Other Republicans accused Democrats of moving the goalposts with immigration reform. Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro set to return to Manhattan Federal Court this morning. For more than a decade, Nicholas Maduro enjoyed an opulent lifestyle as Venezuela's president, living in a palace in Caracas and accruing a net worth reportedly in the millions. But as he awaits trial in a Brooklyn jail cell on narco-terrorism charges, the absent head of state is now pushing to have his case dismissed by arguing he doesn't have enough money to pay for his own legal defense. A judge is set to consider that argument this morning when Maduro returns to court for a conference that could determine the trajectory of the criminal case against him. Peter Harrow-Lambus, ABC News. President Trump touting productive negotiations with Iran this week and even claims that Tehran gave him a gift related to oil and gas. But the war effort continues. In a video posted on ex-centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper claims Operation Epic Fury, it's having success against Iran. We are on a path to completely eliminate Iran's wider military manufacturing apparatus, which is why my operational assessment continues to be Iran's combat capability is declining. US combat capability continues to increase. Iran rejected the White House's 15-point peace plan and responded with its own proposal on state TV, which includes a ban on killing leaders, security guarantees, reparations, and sovereignty over the Strait of Ormoos. Iranian officials denying negotiations are taking place.

It will soon be easier for nonprofits and certain government agencies like school districts to build housing on their property. The Home Act was one of two housing bills signed by Governor Jared Polis. By passing this bill. are saying we want our partners at the table as part of the housing solution. We want that local creativity driven by nonprofits and school districts and community colleges. We welcome you to be part of the housing solution. The governor also signing Senate Bill 1 into law, which allows counties to spend property tax revenue on local housing, authorities, and workforce housing. It also allows them to sell property to build affordable housing. and the Supreme Court siding with Cox communications in its billion dollar lawsuit. over pirated music. More than 50 labels joined together to Sue Cox in 2018, accusing the internet service provider of failing to respond to thousands of infringement notices, cut off internet access for repeat infringers, or take other piracy deterrent steps. However, justice has determined Cox communication cannot be held liable for piracy by its internet service subscribers of songs owned by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and other labels. The 9-20 ruling overturned a lower court's decision, ordering a new trial to determine how much the Internet service provider owed the record labels. I'm Tammy Trujillo. You're up to date on Colorado's morning news. Keena Dixon joining us with the latest check of business and money news. Gas prices remain high, but... Leveling for Colorans. Gas prices holding steady again today. It's the fourth day that those prices have not risen in Colorado. That's holding at 391 a gallon. Nationwide, the average is also holding from yesterday's average at 398 per gallon. In Denver, prices were at 288 before the first of the start of the war in Iran, now up more than a full dollar in the last few weeks during the military operations. The Strait of Formuz remains closed to ships providing oil to the United States. causing that spike in gas prices. Disney is walking away from its $1 billion investment deal with Open AI. The decision comes after OpenAI made a surprise move to shut down its SORA AI video app. The deal with OpenAI would have allowed users to create videos using hundreds of characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars films. Disney had plans to integrate some of the SORA created videos into Disney Plus in a statement. Disney says it will continue to engage with AI platforms to find ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of the creators. Meta is laying off hundreds of employees. Multiple reports say workers are being laid off in Meta's recruiting sales and social media teams and in the division that develops meta smart classes and VR headsets. A company spokesperson told the verge that they're finding other opportunities for employees where possible.

Meta employs about 79,000 people. The layoffs come as Meta is projected to spend about $135 billion on AI data centers. I'm Tammy Trujillo. Fortnite Maker Epic Games is laying off more than 1,000 workers. The company is based in North Carolina with offices in San Francisco. CEO Tim Sweeney says the company has seen a decline in engagement in the hit video game Fortnite since last year, leading to continued losses. Epic Games has identified more than half a million dollars in California. saving involving contracting, marketing, and closing open positions. Sweeney says the layoffs are not related to AI. You're up to date on the latest business and money news. Taking a look at your Thursday morning drive with Jonathan Steele and the K-OA Traffic Center. Yeah, we're starting to see a little more company out here on the roads, especially up to the north, I-25. It's not really bogged down at all. Still maintaining pretty much the posted speed limit coming in from Thornton and North Glen. The I-76 westbound ramp to southbound 25 is a little slow. 270 building nicely, and the east side also will start to see the slight delay developing on I-70 on that ramp to Pena. But it's a 15-minute commute into the terminal if you are heading to DIA this morning. It's about a 10-minute drive out of Aurora on 2-25 and see... 470 between Ken Carroll and I25 is 15 minutes. Jonathan Steele on K.O.A. 8.50 a.m. and 94.1 FM. Well, a very happy baseball day to all who observed. The season officially got started last night with the Yankees 7-0-0. Went over the Giants in San Francisco. Max Reed shoved going six and a third innings and allowing just two hits. The full slate of opening day games are today, as is traditional. 11 games on the schedule throughout the day, the first starting at 11 o'clock. The Rockies will have to wait until tomorrow to open the new season. Kyle Freeland will make his franchise record fifth opening day start. K-O.A coverage of tomorrow's Rockies Marlins' opening day game starts at 4. 30. The home opener is next Friday. The Nuggets are on a four-game winning streak and finished off a back-to-back with a 142-135 win over Dallas at Ball Arena and it was Jamal Murray who scored 53 points leading the way. Nikolai Okich came up just one assist short of a 2020-night. He had 23 points, 21 boards and 19 helpers. Head coach David Adelman. They've had some really special nights in Denver individually. Thinking back when they do it together, the triple double in the finals of both guys. And then tonight was just... Really special, man. The Nuggets are the first team in NBA history with one player scoring at least 50 points and another with at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a single game. Denver stays home to play Utah tomorrow night. The a abs are back in action tonight, finishing a four-game road swing in Winnipeg. It's been a successful trip so far. When the team departed Denver last week, they were on a three-game losing streak with just a two-point lead over Dallas in the West. They now have a seven-point lead or on a three-game winning streak.

12 games to go until the playoffs start. Puck drops at 6 o'clock tonight in Winnipeg. The first win of Denver Summit FC history comes just three days before the team breaks the U.S. women's professional women's sports attendance record during Saturday's home opener. Melissa Kusler scored her third goal in three games, leading Denver to a 2-0 win over reigning NWSL champs, Gotham FC. She says the win gives the team a boost of confidence. We needed that, like, we worked really hard in all present to be here. and going back to Denver now in front of, I don't even know, like 55K now, which is crazy. It's really exciting and hopefully will help us, and I'm pretty sure we're going to get a good win. The team will start their home schedule on Saturday against the Washington Spirit at Empower Field. More than 50,000 tickets have already been sold for the historic game. I'm Tina Dixon on K-O-A, Home of the Buffs, Broncos and Rockies and K-O-A sports today at 3. Colorado's morning news. K-OA news time 547. The White House hosting a cabinet meeting today amid the standoff between Democrats and Republicans over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The feud has led to long lines at TSA checkpoints for select airports across the country with New York, Houston, and Atlanta, some of the hardest hits. My co-workers are angry and frustrated and they're tired. A TSA officer and union leader in Phoenix, one of the growing number of employees staying home. I already feel shame because I can't afford to pay my bills and I can't afford to go to work. And now I feel the burden of leaving my... My co-workers. More than 450 TSA agents have quit in the nearly six weeks since the partial government shutdown began. Democrats still demanding reforms to ICE enforcement. Yesterday, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-led effort to fund DHS, a proposal that would fund most of Homeland Security, but not one main part of ICE. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin says he hopes the deal can be struck soon. We haven't reached an agreement to my knowledge. We have limited amount of time before we're supposed to take a break, and I think we want to make sure we pay the people in the airport that are processing passengers. Lawmakers face a mini spring break recess in just a few days. Coming up, the ongoing question, the big debate. Is it cold or is it allergies? We'll talk to some of the spring sniffles coming up next. Taking a look at your Thursday morning to ride first in the K-O-A traffic center. Here's Jonathan Steele. Yep, still doing very well out here. There's a little slowing right now developing I-76. As I mentioned, westbound to southbound. We always see that ramp kind of backing up, but the east side of 270 coming off I-76 through York is jamming ever so slightly. It will ease from that point all the way out to I-70, which is still doing pretty well. Ten minutes from Pena West, heading back to I-25. Pena is doing well to I-25, certainly seeing a lot of traffic coming in from Northland and Thornton, but still maintaining good speeds, no slowdowns there. to downtown wide open to and from the tech center. Jonathan Steele on K.A. 8.50 a.m. and 94.1 FM. KO.A news time 549. Tina Kotek on Colorado's morning news. Well, spring is here and with it.

Cummless allergies for millions of Americans. In fact, according to the CDC, 3 in 10 U.S. adults and children report having a seasonal allergy. So what can you do to help alleviate some of those sniffles, sneezes, itchy, watery eyes? Yes, tis the season. Joining us on the K-OA Commons Spirit Health hotline is CBS Pharmacy Manager here in Denver. It's Steve Musilac. Steve, thank you so much for your time this morning. Of course. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Excited to be here. Let's talk a little bit about what contributes to all the sneezing and sniffling, and we're already seeing the budding outside in the trees with unseasonably warm conditions as of late. Where do we really stand when it comes to the current pollen conditions in our state? Yeah, great question. So you're exactly right. If we look at our pollen counts, recently they've been high, and they're expected to continue to be high for the rest of the week. So like the other day I was washing my car and all of a sudden at the end of it, there was this yellow layer of pollen already on it before I was even done. So that's not a surprise to people who are experiencing allergies right now because allergy season is in full swing. Do you expect the allergy season to be worse this year with the dry, warm winter that we've really had? That's hard to say, but I would say there's a good chance of that, especially in Denver. We have some unique conditions that make it the allergy season even more difficult for people. So during this time of the year, we generally still see those winter sicknesses and colds and they kind of intertwine with the seasonal allergies. So how can you usually tell the difference between if it's a cold or if it's allergies? You know, that's a great question as well. And sometimes it's hard. But one of the key differences is that if it's allergies, it's going to be lasting for longer than a cold. A cold usually resolves in 7 to 10 days or so. Allergies are going to persist for weeks and weeks. So, Steve, what are some of those tips that can help people who are constantly struggling with seasonal allergies around this time of the year? Is there anything that they can do first before the pollen count really starts to get worse later on in the spring and summer? Most definitely. So one of the key things that people don't realize you can do is start taking your allergy medications before your allergy symptoms arise. So kind of get a head start, prime your system to be ready for when those trees are budding. Best forms of allergy treatment. I know there's always like the debate between antihistamines and decongestions. Yeah, I mean there's three main categories, decongestines, anisthenes and nasal steroids. It really depends on the severity of your symptoms and what symptoms you're experiencing. So each has their place in therapy. No issues really when it comes to just taking medication earlier before you really see the symptoms. It works just fine when you're looking at allergies. Yeah, when you're looking at allergies, that's kind of what you want to do. If you know you're going to have some allergy symptoms, getting a head start is key. Okay, so Steve, what if I'm getting a head start? I'm doing everything that I think I should be doing ahead of the seasonal allergy season and it still doesn't feel like any type of over-the-counter medicine is helping.

Yeah, if you've tried several different things, you've talked to your pharmacist and they've kind of guided you as well and still nothing seems to be helping. That's a great time to talk to your primary care provider and get maybe another opinion. And then obviously when it comes to seasonal allergies and taking medication, there's the concern of, okay, I'm adding my allergy medication to other medications that I have nowadays. Yeah, that's definitely where your pharmacist comes into play. So anytime you're going to be adding a medication onto a prescription that you're already taking, a dietary supplement, another over-the-counter medication, it's always a good time to speak with your pharmacist, make sure that what you're taking is safe. Steve, anywhere else you would direct listeners for more information if they have any concerns or questions about the allergy season? I think your local CVS pharmacist is a great place to go. We're very accessible and ready to help. CBS pharmacy manager here in Denver. It's Steve Musilak. Steve, thank you so much of your time this morning and information. We appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. Kewa News Time, 558. Wrapping up the show here on Colorado's morning news. We're following some breaking news this morning in the war with Iran. Israel saying that it killed a head of Iranian's Revolutionary Guards Navy. As Israel's defense minister also says that he was killed along with another senior naval commander in a strike that took place overnight. We'll continue to follow the latest. President Trump says that the negotiations continue between the U.S. and Iran. But Iran has rejected the 15-point peace plan that was proposed by the U.S. and continues to say that talks aren't taking place. All this happening as the head of Iranian's Revolutionary Guard's Navy was reportedly killed overnight. We'll get the latest in the newscast coming up next. Jimmy Sengenberger filling in for Ross Kaminsky here on K-O-A.