Estes Valley Voice • 17th May 2025

Pro baseball player at bat in Bogey’s Sports Bar

Sandwiched between two houses off of Ivy Street and Moraine Avenue sits a trio of red shipping containers. Inside lies a fully functional sports bar, owned by former professional baseball player Terry Bogener, his son Cam, and wife Carolyn Newberry. Bogey’s Sports Bar gets its name from Terry’s playing days. While at the University of Oklahoma, he was given the nickname Bogey, a riff from his last name. His path to playing Division I ball, then in the Big Eight Conference, actually came from a d...

The Colorado Sun • 16th May 2025

A Colorado pole vaulter survived cancer — and is now setting a high bar with her resilience

LONGMONT — Connor Westphal coaches pole vault for every high school in Denver Public Schools. He’s never worked with a vaulter quite like Lauren Sankoff.

“Lauren has, by far, out of any of the schools and any of the students I’ve had the best already, and she’s just a sophomore,” Westphal said, baking in the sun on the track at Longmont High School on Friday.

He was there to coach Lauren as she vaulted in the Hoka St. Vrain Invitational, one of the state’s most elite high school meets. Hundred...

The Colorado Sun • 6th May 2025

Colorado skiing legend Mikaela Shiffrin joins NWSL Denver ownership group

The greatest alpine skier of all time is stepping onto the soccer field, as an owner. Colorado’s own Mikaela Shiffrin is joining the ownership group of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Denver expansion team, the team announced Tuesday. 

With 101 World Cup victories, two Olympic gold medals and eight world championship titles, Shiffrin is widely considered the most decorated alpine skier in history. Born and raised in Vail, she started competing on the World Cup circuit at age 16. 

Shiffrin...

The Colorado Sun • 21st April 2025

The women’s soccer stadium in Kansas City has been a big economic success. Can Denver replicate that?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When players walk from the locker rooms to the field at CPKC Stadium on the banks of the Missouri River, they pass 37 words tiled on a wall.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Those words, Title IX, apply only to educational institutions, but they triggered a decades-long revolu...

Sko Buffs Sports • 16th April 2025

Former Buff credits Colorado for path to leading NWSL Denver expansion

When Jen Millet left the Golden State Warriors for Bay FC, she made a leap of faith. It was 2022, and the explosion of popularity for women’s sports, captained by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, had not yet reached its boiling point. That decision paid off tenfold last week when Millet was selected as the first President of Denver’s NWSL franchise, its first hire.She's the youngest of six and was often the new kid at school as her family hopped around the country. So when she arrived at the 3,600...

Estes Valley Voice • 11th April 2025

LGBTQ+ residents find community and acceptance in Estes Park

On a snowy February night, about 20 people gathered at The Stanley Hotel for a monthly night of cocktails and camaraderie. They call themselves the GLEE Club – gays, lesbians, and everyone else. In May, the group will mark their third anniversary.In a destination town for retirees like Estes Park, it might be easy to think that old prejudices might move in, too. But, for many of the town’s out LGBTQ+ community members, they’ve received a reprieve in Estes from places they’ve moved from. The GLEE...

Estes Valley Voice • 9th April 2025

New tax credit expected to stimulate state and local film festival industry

Less than two weeks after the Sundance Film Festival announced its 2027 move from Utah to Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis signed HB25-1005, a new refundable tax incentive bill that will support the film industry in Colorado.The bill creates two refundable tax credits. One will provide the Sundance Film Festival with $34 million in incentives doled out over the next decade. The other will provide $500,000 annually to support small film festivals in the Centennial State.In 2024, nearly 73,000 people at...

The Colorado Sun • 6th April 2025

Thousands show up across Colorado to say “Hands Off!” to Trump administration

From Denver to Montrose, Fort Collins to Fairplay and as far south as Trinidad, tens of thousands of people showed up across Colorado on Saturday to protest actions of the Trump administration being felt first hand. They were part of a mass mobilization that led to more than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations held in all 50 states. 

A crush of 10,000 protesters spilled from the steps of the state Capitol across Lincoln Street and into Veterans Memorial park in Denver. Amid the sea of homemade si...

The Colorado Sun • 26th March 2025

Fast, walkable transit for metro Denver would cost $420 million a year for a decade, study says

Alliance to Transform Transportation has a plan to provide 2 million metro Denver residents with buses running every 15 minutes, but where the funding could come from is still a mystery

The Colorado Sun • 25th March 2025

Trump's withholding of transit funds could shrink CDOT's bus expansion plans on Federal Boulevard

Plans to enhance bus service on Denver’s Federal Boulevard could be scaled back as the Trump administration pauses new grants for transit projects. 

Colorado transportation planners have embraced upgraded bus service, known as bus rapid transit, or BRT, in an attempt to reduce congestion in Front Range commuter corridors. The concept mimics some features of train service, like upgraded stations and more frequent service, but with a significantly lower price tag than building rail lines. 

The D...

Estes Valley Voice • 8th March 2025

Three of five special districts to hold elections in May

It’s official. Estes Valley voters will be headed to the polls on May 6. Three of the five special districts serving the Estes Valley will hold elections to fill seats on their boards. The two other districts did not receive enough candidates to trigger balloting.Contested races will occur in the Estes Valley Fire Protection District, the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District, and the Park Hospital District, which currently does business as Estes Park Health.The two other districts – the Est...

Sko Buffs Sports • 26th February 2025

Trump administration reverses plan tying NIL to Title IX guidance

President Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded a Department of Education guidance that would have required universities to abide by Title IX when compensating student-athletes. That guidance, released in the final days of the Biden Administration, had thrown a wrench into the plans of college athletic departments as they prepare for major changes in collegiate sports. The House v. NCAA settlement, expected to be approved in April, will allow schools to directly pay student-athletes for th...

Estes Valley Voice • 13th February 2025

Two bills in state Senate address wildfire risks 

Following a summer that saw destructive wildfires sweep through Larimer and Boulder Counties, Sen. Janice Marchman, D-Loveland, who represents the Estes Valley, is sponsoring a pair of bills that would address fire mitigation and emergency information.Listen to story on the EVV Podcast here:One would make it easier to carry out prescribed burns on private land. The other would consolidate emergency information and county wildfire updates into an existing state website.Both bills result from Marc...

The Colorado Sun • 30th January 2025

Denver selected as home for new National Women’s Soccer League team, with games to start in 2026

Women’s soccer fans around Colorado are celebrating after the National Women’s Soccer League announced Thursday that Denver would be awarded the league’s 16th franchise and start play in 2026.

The ownership group is paying a record $110 million expansion fee to join the league, according to Sportico, compared with the $2 million entry fee that teams in Los Angeles, San Diego and Utah paid in 2020-22. The last two teams to join the league — Bay FC in San Jose, Calif., and Boston — paid $53 milli...

CU Independent • 26th January 2025

CU’s Isaiah Givens breaks four minute mile in Colorado

He’s going the distance; he’s going for speed. Isaiah Givens, a University of Colorado redshirt sophomore, was one of three athletes Saturday, Jan. 18 to run a sub four minute mile nearly a mile above sea level. The athletes are the first to break that time barrier in Colorado.
Hundreds of fans filled the stands at CU Boulder’s Indoor Practice Facility to watch the premier event of the Colorado Classic, one of three indoor home meets for CU Track and Field this year. To add to the hype, the mile...

Estes Valley Voice • 10th January 2025

State of the State address looks at affordable housing options and homeowner insurance reforms

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis delivered his seventh State of the State speech Thursday, featuring the second-term governor’s usual wonky policy focus and nerdy science fiction and popular culture references. The near hour-long speech included a focus on housing affordability that offered two unique proposals to address the state’s housing shortage. Polis, who has made the issue of Colorado’s skyrocketing home prices a priority since being reelected in 2022, urged lawmakers to consider changing regul...

The Colorado Sun • 30th December 2024

Psilocybin enters the chat: Coloradans have a new psychiatric treatment option

Ryan Chrapko ate some psilocybin half an hour ago. He’s been staring at the same tree now for 10 minutes. It wasn’t a lot of mushrooms, only about a quarter of a gram. It’s just enough to unlock a sense of childlike wonder in his psyche at this particular moment. 

It’s almost like he’d never seen an evergreen before, with its infinite number of thin needles pointing up toward a clear blue sky. 

“It’s funny that I’m talking into this microphone right now while looking at that. It’s really the r...

CU Independent • 14th December 2024

Hunter wins the Heisman Trophy

The most prestigious award in college football is coming back to Boulder. Travis Hunter, the University of Colorado’s two-way player, is the 2024 winner of the Heisman Trophy Award. 
He is the second winner of the award – which is given out to the most outstanding college football player – in Colorado history. The first, the late CU running back Rashaan Salaam, won the award exactly 30 years ago. 
Hunter, initially seen as a long shot for the award, had been the favorite for many weeks of the se...

CU Independent • 9th December 2024

Update: BPD says fentanyl likely not involved in five students’ hospitalizations after Kappa Sigma party

The Boulder Police Department is investigating an incident that saw several male college students treated or hospitalized after heavy alcohol consumption at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house.
First responders were called to the Boulder Community Hospital and the University of Colorado Boulder Kappa Sigma fraternity house after reports of individuals showing signs of overdoses. Police initially indicated that at least six men were ill, but now believe there were five.
Officers arrived to find the...

CU Independent • 3rd November 2024

IFC on The Hill accidentally shares pro-Trump Instagram post on its Instagram

Editor’s note: A former version of this story incorrectly stated that a representative of IFC did not respond to all questions, it has since been corrected.
On Oct. 26, the Interfraternity Council on the Hill, an independent council made up of 21 social fraternity chapters off campus, uploaded an Instagram post from the Republican National Committee’s Instagram account. 
The post, which features an image of former president Donald Trump, is captioned “We are fighting for the future of our countr...

CU Independent • 3rd November 2024

Buffs now tied for No. 2 in the Big 12 and ranked No. 21 in AP Poll

The University of Colorado football team was expected to finish No. 11 in the Big 12 this year. They are now No. 2 and have a viable shot at the Big 12 championship following two opponents’ losses during Week 10.
On Saturday, Iowa State University lost to Texas Tech University 23-22. Iowa State, previously undefeated, is now tied with the Buffs for second place, with each team having 4-1 in conference records.
If Colorado and ISU win the rest of their seasons, a CU win over Texas Tech will serve...

CU Independent • 29th October 2024

One year after Oct. 7 attack, students take to CU Boulder campus

Oct. 7 marked one year since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the subsequently declared war. Throughout the week of the anniversary, students at the University of Colorado Boulder took to campus in support of both the Israeli and Palestinian causes and to mourn the lives lost on both sides of a war raging over 6,000 miles away.

CU Independent • 27th October 2024

Colorado returns to AP Poll at No. 23 after win against Cincinnati

After a year’s absence, the Colorado Buffaloes have returned to the Associated Press College Football Poll. The week 10 poll released Sunday has the Buffs ranked No.23. 
The recognition comes after a 34-23 win over the University of Cincinnati Saturday night. The win brings Colorado to a 6-2 overall record and a 4-1 record in the Big 12 Conference. 
Saturday’s win also brings the Buffs to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2020. Colorado has not won a bowl game since 2004 under coach Gary...

The Colorado Sun • 25th October 2024

The unconventional race that could decide the direction of Colorado’s legislature

About six years ago, an idea popped into Jillaire McMillan’s head: maybe someday she’d run for office. 

The idea wasn’t a big leap. In high school, she was voted most likely to be the first female president. McMillan, a mom of four who lives outside Longmont, had also served as the parent-teacher association president at her kids’ elementary, middle and high schools. And in the first weeks of the Trump administration, she joined a Facebook group founded by a lifelong Republican upset by Donald...