Western Wildfires Fanned By Windy, Dry Conditions

Nearly one in five Colorado high school students reported they have seriously considered suicide, according to the latest survey data on the subject.  That startling statistic is what makes the work Colorado nonprofit Second Wind Fund does all the more important, said Anna Bishop, development director for the organization that connects Colorado youth under 20 who are at risk of suicide to accessible mental health care. To access the organization’s services, parents or youth-serving professionals like school counselors fill out an online form on the Second Wind Fund website describing what the young person in their life is struggling with and what barriers to care they face. The Denver Post Season To Share is the annual holiday fundraising campaign for The Denver Post and The Denver Post Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Colorado is covered with the scars of countless wildfires. In this undated file photo, an inspector looks at the charred gear of one of 14 firefighters who died in the 1994 South Canyon Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Kent Meireis/The Denver Post) Some of them are just starting to heal, like the charred trees and ashy remains of homes burned by the Alexander Mountain fire that sparked west of Fort Collins this summer. Other scars are less visible but still keenly felt, like the 1994 South Canyon fire that remains the state’s deadliest wildfire on record. State and local fire officials say disasters like the South Canyon fire, which killed 14 firefighters on Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs, led to widespread changes to make the field safer. But now they’re contending with a changing reality: Though less deadly today, Colorado wildfires are becoming more extreme, and fire officials must seek new and better ways to prevent and fight them. The difference between Colorado wildfires today compared to 30 years ago is “almost mind-boggling,” said Vaughn Jones, wildland fire management section chief for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. “We’re evacuating entire towns now, we’re closing down interstates, we’re disrupting interstate commerce.

Insurers haven’t broadly cut off coverage along the Front Range as weather-related claims rise, and they haven’t pulled out of the state entirely, like in California and Florida. But they are increasingly making demands that can complicate and even derail home sales. “Insurance providers en masse have decided that if the roof is more than 10 years old we won’t insure it,” said Matt Metcalf, a managing broker at Mile High Home Pro, which is both a real estate and mortgage brokerage. Current owners aren’t being cut off.

Jamal Murray issued a challenge to his locker-room neighbor. He needed to be entertained somehow. And someone other than Nikola Jokic was going to have to score to make up for Murray’s absence. He was recovering from a hamstring injury, and the Nuggets were halfway through a month of fending without him.

Justus Annunen’s string of competent goaltending helped steady the Colorado Avalanche during a tumultuous start to this season, and it will likely help him stave off a challenge for his place on the NHL roster. But what if we think a little bigger for the large Finnish goaltender? Could Annunen’s strong work at the end of last season, plus a steady run of solid starts this year, push him into the conversation for Finland’s third-string goaltender at the forthcoming 2025 4 Nations Face-Off or the 2026 Winter Olympics? “I think he’s played really well,” Finnish Avs star Mikko Rantanen said.

FORT COLLINS — After a violent outburst almost cost him everything, Avery Morrow was determined to get his life back on track. His path took a turn after an on-campus altercation in January 2023, when he assaulted a fellow male CSU student who contacted Morrow’s parked car while riding by on a longboard. For tackling and punching the student multiple times, Morrow was suspended from the team for six months and served 46 days in a work-release program last summer after being convicted of misdemeanor assault.