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Single Utah mother, 33, raising money for her own funeral after cancer diagnosis gives her 3 months to live

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Single Utah mother, 33, raising money for her own funeral after cancer diagnosis gives her 3 months to live

A young and single Utah mother of two small children was told by her doctors that she has three months to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Erika Diarte-Carr, 33, is now planning her own funeral and raising money to leave behind a trust fund for her children: Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5.

Diarte-Carr was at the hospital to treat a shoulder injury in May 2022 when she learned she had Stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma, a rare form of cancer, she wrote on a GoFundMe page. The doctor told her there were multiple tumors that had metastasized to other parts of her body including her skeletal system, which is how the tumor that was causing her shoulder pain was located.

The woman began treatment for the cancer before she was given more devastating news this past January, when she was diagnosed with Cushing Syndrome, which is caused by an excess amount of the stress hormone cortisol and includes symptoms such as weight gain, weak muscles and high blood pressure.

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Erika Diarte-Carr, 33, and her children: Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5. (GoFundMe)

She said the Cushing led to several other underlying health issues, including rapid weight gain, swelling, muscle and bone deterioration, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

Cushing is extremely rare, with only about 40 to 70 people out of every 1 million having it, according to the National Institutes of Health.

After her diagnosis, she continued working full-time and only took off two months early on for surgeries, biopsies, appointments, radiation and chemotherapy treatments. But due to her deteriorating health, she eventually found herself unable to work and has now been out of work for months.

Diarte-Carr said she had an appointment with her oncologist on Sept. 18, when she was informed that her treatments were not working, and she had only three months to live. She then decided to discontinue her treatments and spend her remaining time with her children.

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stethoscope

Diarte-Carr was at the hospital to treat a shoulder injury in May 2022 when she learned she had Stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

“I have been given 3 months to live. 3 months to spend with my babies and loved ones,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page. “3 months to make the best of what time I have left. During these next couple of months I need to make sure my kids will be ok after I am gone. I am faced now with the most difficult thing of planning my own funeral.”

Because she has not been able to work for the past several months, she says she does not have money saved up or life insurance set aside.

“I have looked into the expenses and I am needing to raise about $5,000 to ensure funeral costs are covered plus I’m wanting to leave something behind for my babies,” she said.

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Doctor’s stethoscope

Diarte-Carr was told on Sept. 18 he had only three months to live. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

The GoFundMe page was created shortly after Diarte-Carr learned of her diagnosis when she was still 30. She has far surpassed her $5,000 goal and wants to leave the rest in a trust fund for her children.

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As of Monday morning, the GoFundMe page has raised more than $1 million.

“All the funds that have exceeded my funeral cost will be now put into a trust fund for my babies,” Diarte-Carr wrote. “That way, I can leave behind something for them and I can still ensure they are going to be ok as they grow up.”

“They are my whole life, light and soul. My children are my fight and what keep me going,” she said.

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San Francisco, CA

Humboldt Bank Building in San Francisco will be converted into housing

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Humboldt Bank Building in San Francisco will be converted into housing


Kara St. Cyr reports on plans for the Humboldt Bank Building in San Francisco. Website: http://kpix.com/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/CBSSanFrancisco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CBSSanFrancisco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kpixtv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KPIXtv





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Denver, CO

Denver Film Festival 2024: New red-carpet venue, movies, and celebs for 47th year

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Denver Film Festival 2024: New red-carpet venue, movies, and celebs for 47th year


The 47th Denver Film Festival is moving all but one its red-carpet screenings to a new venue this year, alongside Colorado premieres of buzzy indies such as “The Piano Lesson” and “The Brutalist,” and in-person guests including Patricia Clarkson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

The festival, Nov. 1-10 at multiple venues, will offer 185 narrative features, shorts, and documentaries, as well as parties, panels, workshops and a gala, according to nonprofit producer Denver Film.

Single tickets to screenings, plus special and gala presentations and Red Carpets, are on sale to Denver Film members on Thursday, Oct. 3, and the public on Friday, Oct. 4, at denverfilm.org/denverfilmfestival.

For the first time this year, the festival‘s opening and closing-night red carpet screenings will be at Museum of Contemporary Art Denver’s Holiday Theater, a historic building the museum restored in the Highland neighborhood that has lately hosted screenings, panels and musical performances. The Red Carpets are moving there from downtown’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House, a favored and prestigious venue that Denver Film has in recent years struggled to fill — even before the pandemic.

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However, the Centerpiece presentation of “The Order” still will be at the Ellie. The film is an adaptation of a nonfiction book co-written by former Rocky Mountain News reporter and current Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn, which looks at a violent, far-right group of neo-Nazis that operated in Washington in the 1980s. It stars Jude Law and Nicholas Holt and plays the Ellie on Nov. 8.

Bookending it are opening and closing-night red carpets at MCA’s Holiday Theater, with the first being the Nov. 1 screening of “The Piano Lesson.” The August Wilson adaptation stars Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington; writer Virgil Williams will appear in person to receive Denver Film’s Excellence in Writing award.

The festival will close with “September 5,” which stars Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro in its dramatization of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. It plays the MCA Holiday Theater on Nov. 9.

Several Denver premieres are also slated, including “The Brutalist,” “Better Man,” “The Room Next Door,” “Emilia Perez,” “Blitz,” “Oh, Canada,” “The Last Showgirl” and “Nightbitch” — that last one starring Colorado native Amy Adams.

Fest producers also said they’ll host celebs this year such as Patricia Clarkson (“Sharp Objects,” “Six Feet Under”), who will receive the Cassavetes Award at a screening of “Lilly” at MCA Denver Holiday Theater. Marianne Jean-Baptiste will receive Denver Film’s Excellence in Acting Award following a screening of “Hard Truths,” Denver Film said. Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”), will be on-hand for his CinemaQ LaBahn Ikon Film Award, following a screening of “All That We Love” and short film “It’s Okay.”

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Directors RaMell Ross (“The Nickel Boys”), Jason Reitman (“Saturday Night”), Nnamdi Asomugha (“The Knife”), Cristiana Dell’Anna (“Cabrini”) and others will appear in person alongside their screenings.

Denver Film’s Sie FilmCenter will serve as the festival anchor, with additional screenings at the Ellie, Denver Botanic Gardens, AMC 9 + CO 10, and the MCA Holiday Theater.

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Seattle, WA

Game Recap: Geno Smith, Kenneth Walker III Highlight Seattle Seahawks’ First Loss

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Game Recap: Geno Smith, Kenneth Walker III Highlight Seattle Seahawks’ First Loss


The Seattle Seahawks’ second-half comeback fell short in a 42-29 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, handing the team its first loss of the Mike Macdonald era.

Seattle outscored Detroit 22-21 in the final two quarters, but that margin was far from enough to win the game when entering the halftime break trailing by 14.

“Yeah, I mean, just not a good enough performance on our front,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said postgame. “Got to give Detroit a lot of credit. I thought they had a great plan offensively … they just outplayed us on the defensive side of the ball for us. I will tell you this, our guys fought the heck out of that game. They went down to the last second and that’s what I’m most proud of right now and we’re going to hold onto that and that’s a foundation that we’ve built here that we’re going to push forward with.”

The first half was defined by Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf’s fumble that ended a promising 5-play, 33-yard drive that — after the return — allowed Detroit to begin their next possession at Seattle’s 14-yard line with a 7-0 lead. If Seattle manufactured points on that drive, they may have been able to continue trading blows with the Lions early on.

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Instead, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points on a 3-yard touchdown rush from running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Down four defensive starters to begin the game, the Seahawks were well behind where they hoped to be after the first quarter.

The Lions churned out yards on the ground in the meantime, totaling 88 rushing yards between Gibbs and David Montgomery in the first half. The pair also accounted for all three of Detroit’s first-half touchdowns against Seattle’s decimated defensive front. That made it easy for quarterback Jared Goff, who finished 12-of-12 passing for 92 yards through 30 minutes of play.

Goff finished 18-of-18 passing for 292 yards and two touchdowns — the most pass attempts by a quarterback without an incompletion in NFL history. Seattle’s back end could not stop the Lions while ailing on the front end. It was really that simple.

As the third quarter clock began rolling, the flood gates opened. Seattle lost its fifth starter to injury in safety Julian Love (thigh), but Detroit and Seattle traded touchdowns on five consecutive drives.

Even though Seattle felt held at arm’s length, its offense continued to make up for the struggling defense’s woes. Walker scored two of his three rushing touchdowns in the second half, and rookie tight end AJ Barner caught another from Smith.

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The Lions got two third-quarter touchdowns via a “Detroit Special” — a goal line touchdown pass from wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to Goff — and a 70-yard touchdown catch by Jameson Williams on a one-play drive.

Seattle forced just its third punt of the game with 1:59 remaining, trailing by eight. What would have been a fourth-down conversion at Detroit’s 31-yard line via a 8-yard catch from Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was negated by a offensive pass interference committed by Tyler Lockett — forcing the Seahawks to punt on a drive that could have tied the game.

Following another 7-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, not even an eventual safety mattered for Seattle’s effort. An interception in the end zone by Smith with 1:06 remaining sealed the deal.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a litmus test, it just shows us we’re not the team that we need to be at this point,” Macdonald added. “I mean, that’s just – that’s what it is. Just wasn’t good enough. They did what they did to win the game, they did a great job, they had a great plan, and we came up short.”

Seattle’s poor defense allowed Goff to set an NFL record for pass attempts without an incompletion versus Macdonald’s unit. Backups or not, that’s unacceptable. That ultimately must fall on the coaching staff, or else it wouldn’t be a record. The Seahawks are far from the first team to be that limited from injuries.

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Is that an indictment on Macdonald? Of course not. He has engineered one of the best defenses through three weeks. But he needs to go back to the drawing board in a backup situation. The team had much of the week to prepare for the starters’ absences, and that was abysmal.

“They operate at a high level,” Macdonald said. “I mean, they had a really good plan. We’re on record that Jared’s a great quarterback – played clean, they ran crisp routes, and we obviously didn’t deny the ball. That’s about as obvious as it gets

In a losing effort, Smith set career-highs in attempts (56), completions (38) and passing yards (395). He was the Seahawks’ engine, and it wasn’t enough. It’s hard to constantly play from one-to-two scores down, but Smith did his best to keep the Seahawks in the game.

“We’re [3-1], that’s what it says, and now we’ve got to get on to the next one,” Smith said. “That’s just football, that’s NFL football. I think the only team that went undefeated was the [1972] Dolphins, so we’re just trying to go out there and win every game we can. Today we didn’t get it done, but that’s why we’ve got next week.”

His lone interception came with the game on the line — constantly furthering drives despite the pressure around him. It doesn’t take much more than the eye test to see Smith’s effectiveness in this game. He is what makes Seattle’s offense functional. Put any other quarterback in that system, and a different (possibly even worse) result is likely.

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Smith is Seattle’s best player. He avoids negative offensive plays and creates gains when losses should be a foregone conclusion. Smith continues to be the best quarterback the Seahawks could have in 2024 — evading pressure, extending plays and creating positive plays — when the league has seen a downturn in quarterback proficiency. There is nobody better suited for the job.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) runs in for yards in the 2nd half.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) runs in for yards in the 2nd half of the N.F.L. against the Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field in Detroit, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Seattle was without four defensive starters to begin the game (five key contributors with Byron Murphy II also out), and it lost Love in the second half.

The Seahawks allowed touchdowns on five of Detroit’s 11 drives, making it far too easy for the Lions to pile up points. No matter what the offense did, it couldn’t keep up. The defense only forced punts three times — one of which was the first drive of the game.

Gibbs, in particular, had his way with Seattle on the ground, rushing 14 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns (5.6 yards per carry). He consistently had massive holes to run through between the tackles with the interior of the Seahawks’ defensive line at a disadvantage. There was little they could do to slow the rushing attack.

Seattle was completely lost on the “Detroit Special” that saw Goff catch the first touchdown pass of his career. That’s not entirely on the backup unit, but it was emblematic of the night.

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This game displayed why the Seahawks have struggled to win the past two seasons despite a decent offense. When the defense can’t get critical stops, it’s tough for the offense to keep pace even with the weapons it possesses.

Macdonald, obviously, was brought in to fix that. His largely-backup unit didn’t do the job on Monday, and it led to a 13-point loss on the road. The defense has been a bright spot for the Seahawks through three weeks, and it’s understandable that they would take a step back with all the injuries.

However, if Seattle wants to be a Super Bowl contender (like the Lions), they must be firing on all cylinders. That wasn’t the case on Monday night.

Seattle (3-1) faces the New York Giants (1-3) on Sunday, Oct. 6 at Lumen Field. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. Pt. New York is coming off a 20-15 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.



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