Why Denver Is One of the Worst Cities for March Madness in the USA

Today, basketball fans across the country are gearing up for the start of the annual NCAA basketball tournament popularly known as March Madness. But according to a new survey, Mile High hoops fans are at an enormous disadvantage when it comes to experiencing and enjoying this annual sports ritual. According to the WalletHub report, Denver is the fourth worst large city for March Madness and ranks at 276 out of 291 total communities analyzed, barely ahead of Kennesaw, Georgia, Poughkeepsie, New York and Colorado Springs, which finished at 280.

8 Breckenridge Ski Area-Related Deaths in One Year, Resort Blames Victims?

Of the nine deaths related to accidents at Colorado ski resorts during the current season, four are tied to Breckenridge. This represents an unfortunate trend: Four skiers also died at Breckenridge last season, out of nine across the entire state, with all of the incidents at Breck taking place during last March or afterward. That adds up to eight Breckenridge-related deaths in approximately one year and nearly half the current official total of eighteen fatalities during the past two seasons combined. No other Colorado resort, and there are over two-dozen of them, appears to have suffered more than one casualty. Yet after multiple contacts from Westword in recent weeks about the rising number of recent tragedies, Breckenridge’s only response has been a statement that essentially blames the victims for their own deaths.

Ernie Bjorkman’s Strange Vet-Tech-Peace-Corps-Male-Model Trip Back to CW2

After an absence of more than eight years, former Channel 2 anchor Ernie Bjorkman is returning to the station, where he’ll take over as co-host of the morning program Daybreak from Tom Green, who announced that he was stepping away from the gig earlier this year. And the path Bjorkman has taken to get back to the CW affiliate is flat-out bizarre, encompassing gigs as a veterinary technician, a member of the Peace Corps who served in Ethiopia and a male model, among other things.

Cory Gardner Tells Me About Telephone Town Hall When It’s Almost Over: Thanks!

Last night, Senator Cory Gardner was scheduled to take part in his second telephone town hall over the span of eight days, a tactic apparently intended to undermine criticism about his failure to conduct in-person town halls, despite multiple demands that he do so and even a late February forum in Denver that went on in his absence. I wasn’t planning to take part, but a Gardner robo-call urged me to do so, albeit when the event should have been almost over.

The Ten Denver Intersections With the Most Accidents So Far in 2017

The Denver Police Department has compiled data on the ten metro-area intersections with the most accidents during the first two months-plus of 2017. The statistics reveal that the most dangerous spots for Denver drivers right now aren’t on surface streets, no matter how busy. Each entry in the top ten pertains to locations at or near exits on one of the two major interstates that slice through the area, I-25 and I-70.

Why Boulder DA Isn’t Seeking Death Penalty in Horrific Ashley Mead Murder

Boulder’s Adam Densmore has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Mead. The details of the homicide are particularly shocking; the largest part of Mead’s body recovered to date is her torso, from which the organs had been removed according to Densmore’s arrest affidavit, on view below. However, Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett has decided against seeking the death penalty in the case, and in general, he believes the circumstances of a killing shouldn’t be the sole factor for determining whether or not capital punishment is appropriate.

How Trump’s Immigration Orders Could Make Everyone’s Health Care Worse

A Colorado advocacy organization has formally backed a high-profile lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s original executive orders banning some refugees and immigrants. New variations on the orders, which had been blocked by a federal court, were signed yesterday. Despite tweaks related to the number of Muslim-majority countries targeted (six, rather than the initial seven) and removal of language about giving preference to those who practice majority religions, however, the documents aren’t radically different from to the earlier ones, to which the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved objected due in part to their potential for harming medical care in America. CCMU believes that’s the case not just when it comes to undocumented individuals already in this country, but also for citizens of every description because of reasons that include the large number of foreign-born doctors working in this country and the growing demand for even more, especially in rural areas.

Inside Myloh Mason Astonishing 1,200-Year Scream Robbery Sentence

Myloh Mason, a suspect from Lakewood’s 2015 Scream bank robbery who was captured after becoming the twelfth Coloradan to be placed on the FBI’s ten most-wanted list, has been sentenced to an astonishing 1,200 years in prison for reasons First Judicial District DA’s office spokeswoman Pam Russell concedes are complicated.

Tom Tancredo on His Team America PAC Being Called a Hate Group

Team America PAC, an organization backed by Tom Tancredo, a former Colorado congressman and two-time gubernatorial candidate who ran for President in 2008, has been dubbed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Since Tancredo, a longtime conservative, considers SPLC to be a dubious organization whose left-wing agenda is designed to collect as much cash as possible, he isn’t especially upset by this designation. But he’s admittedly irritated by a 7News report on the subject that he sees as having essentially endorsed the hate-group tag.

Heroin Deaths in Denver Up 933 Percent in 14 Years, Colorado Numbers Shocking

In recent years, we’ve reported about concerns over heroin use in Denver, and statistics from over the past decade-plus, including provisional data for 2016, demonstrate that there’s definitely reason for worry. According to numbers assembled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, heroin-related fatalities in Denver have increased a staggering 933 percent since 2002.

New 16th Street Mall Shuttles Are Months Late

Last August, the Regional Transportation District staged an early morning press event to ballyhoo new shuttles coming to the 16th Street Mall. But while 36 of the vehicles were supposed to be moving passengers along this iconic stretch more than a month ago, only five have been delivered thus far, and and an RTD spokesman confirms that there’s no definitive date when the other 31 will be on the road.

How Meth, Murder and Gangbanging Earned Orlando Sanchez 100 Years-Plus

John Orlando Sanchez, who goes by his middle name, has been sentenced to life in prison plus an incredible 108 years for the 2015 murder of 41-year-old Eric Schnaare. And a newly unsealed arrest affidavit shared below paints a brutal portrait of the slaying. Afterward, Andrew Gutierrez, who was sentenced to life plus sixteen years over the incident, is quoted as saying, “Wasn’t that awesome? That almost made me cum in my pants.”

On NPR, Cory Gardner Tries to Delay Bus From Crushing Jeff Sessions Over Russia

Senator Cory Gardner isn’t alone when it comes to a lack of in-person town halls, given that Senator Michael Bennet hasn’t held one since 2014, as we reported earlier today. But while Bennet is able to bash President Donald Trump for conflicts of interest, among other things, Gardner, as the National Republican Senatorial Committee chair, finds himself in the uncomfortable position of having to maintain loyalty to the chief executive even as evidence of alleged improprieties among his cabinet appointees continues to mount, as demonstrated by the grilling he received on National Public Radio this morning in regard to serious questions about Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Meet Marco Dorado, Exhibit A in What’s Wrong With Trump’s Immigration Policies

Last night, during his first prime-time address before members of Congress, President Donald Trump touted his agenda, including a series of controversial immigration policies. Afterward, Astrid Silver, an undocumented immigrant, offered a Spanish-language rebuttal on behalf of the Democratic Party, and her comments about the millions “who are an integral part of this country and who constitute the values and the promise of the United States” are perfectly symbolized by Denver’s Marco Dorado. After all, his entire life is a refutation of the idea that every undocumented immigrant should immediately be shipped back to his or her native country.