Author: reporter

WASHINGTON — Asked to share the biggest challenges of coaching a game without multiple starters Saturday night, a straight-faced Michael Malone said, “Making sure I don’t play Nikola 48 minutes.”When the comment fell on deaf ears, he felt the need to clarify.“That was a joke,” he said, banging on the table in front of him like a drum set.It was no joke three hours later, when Jokic was seated on the bench with 47 points through three quarters and the shorthanded Nuggets were struggling to tread water against an opponent on a 16-game losing streak.Jokic finished with a career-high 56,…

Colorado State Senate leaders on Saturday said they will remove Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis from her committee assignments in response to renewed allegations that she mistreated employees in her office, which also prompted the state’s legislative aide union to call for her resignation.Senate leadership stripped Jaquez Lewis of her state-paid aides earlier this week after two staffers formally complained that they were instructed to do chores around her home and bartend at a party she hosted, according to reporting by the Colorado Sun.Incoming Senate President James Coleman and Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez said in a statement that Jaquez Lewis’ “alleged…

FORT COLLINS — The history of Thompson Valley High School can no longer be told without football.Four years ago, roughly 20 freshmen on an overmatched varsity team promised to be different and dared to dream of winning a state championship. You know, something never accomplished on the gridiron since the Loveland school opened its doors 48 years ago.“We went 4-6. It was miserable. It (stunk), I will be honest. We just wanted something better,” explained outside linebacker C.J. James, his voice a distant memory from yelling out signals. “Every day at practice we talked about, ‘Change the culture.’”This is a…

Property owners affiliated with the Free Land Holder Committee, the group that tried to fence off and claim 1,460 acres of public land in southwestern Colorado, did not pay taxes this year on the 180 acres they legitimately own in Montezuma County — and a tax lien on that land was sold at auction in November.The 180 acres near Mancos, northwest of Durango, is titled to PJ Sunset P.L.P. Nevada Revocable Living Trust, which is connected to Patrick Leroy Pipkin, who lives on the property and is a self-described ambassador of the Free Land Holder Committee.That trust failed to pay…

More than $80 million was spent on Colorado’s eight congressional races this election cycle, final campaign filings and independent spending reports show — but that money wasn’t spread evenly across the districts.The closely fought 8th Congressional District, where Republican state lawmaker Gabe Evans unseated incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo by less than 2,500 votes, accounted for nearly half of the total spending — $40 million total. Of that, $29 million was spent by outside groups in the 8th, which covers the north Denver suburbs up through Greeley.It was one of the 10 most expensive congressional races in the country,…

Sean Payton didn’t listen to the critics in 2006 when he inherited a Saints team that went 3-13 the previous year and then led them to an NFC title game.Nearly two decades later, Payton still doesn’t entertain the outside noise.Entering his second season as Denver’s head coach, Payton knew the challenge that awaited him. The Broncos released Russell Wilson and swallowed more than half of his $85 million dead cap hit. Safety Justin Simmons, the team’s respected leader, was let go. Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was sent to Cleveland. And there wasn’t much cap space to fill in the blanks.But…

By SHAWN CHEN, Associated PressNEW YORK — It’s time for the holidays, which means robust family conversations and seemingly never-ending courses of food. But for the more tech-savvy among us, the journey home could also mean we’ll be called on to provide a backlog of tech support to parents, grandparents and other family members.And with generative AI being used to supercharge some major cyber scams this year, it’s also a good time to teach and not just fix.Here are some tips on how to manage your tech encounters this holiday season:Set devices up for automatic updatesWhether it’s Windows, macOS, iOS…

When a city’s NFL mascot gets its own Super Bowl ring, you know you’ve got a champion on your hands.That was the case with Thunder, the Denver Broncos’ real-life mascot, after the team won the 2016 Super Bowl. Yes, it was a real ring, but also a symbolic gesture — just like Thunder. A quartet of majestic, white Arabian horses, all owned by Denver entrepreneur and philanthropist Sharon Magness Blake, have appeared under the name at games and events over the last three decades, even flying to select cities and appearing on TV shows.Just as important, Magness Blake said, have…

Scammers pretending to be Denver Animal Shelter staff are calling people who lost their pets, telling them they’ve been hit by a car and need to pay a $500 deposit by phone to start emergency surgery, city officials said Friday.The scam has hit Denver before and appears to be reemerging in the metro area, shelter staff said in a news release. Scammers are also posing as the Dumb Friends League Buddy Center in Castle Rock and asking for $1,300.Scam callers posing as Denver shelter staff show on caller ID as 311, the city’s main information number, according to a news…

State football champions will be crowned in Class 5A, 4A and 3A on Saturday in Fort Collins. Here’s a scouting report of the teams competing for titles:Class 5ANo. 6 Legend (12-1) vs. No. 1 Cherry Creek (12-1)When/where: 6 p.m. Saturday at Canvas Stadium, NFHS NetworkLegend players to watch: Jaden Lawrence, sr., RB (Wyoming commit, 991 rushing yards, 18 TDs); Ryken Banks, jr., RB (824 rushing yards, 11 TDs); Nick Farley, sr., QB (1,155 yards, 11 TDs passing); Kellen Marchand, so., WR (17 catches, 339 yards, 4 TDs); John Niedringhaus, sr., DE (106 tackles, 19 TFLs); Aaron Olson, sr., LB (103 tackles);…