The Colorado Sun • 22nd July 2025

Denver Summit FC announced as NWSL expansion team’s name

After nearly six months of anticipation, Denver’s National Women’s Soccer League expansion team has a name. The Denver Summit FC moniker was announced Tuesday by the league’s 16th franchise. 

The announcement comes after fans voted on five possible team names in February. While the team claims Denver Summit FC won the contest with 15,000 votes and suggestions, it wasn’t an option. 

A similar name, the Colorado Summit FC, was on the list along with Colorado 14ers FC, Denver Peak FC, Denver Elev...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 17th July 2025

New Minnesota law regulates minors’ roles in social media content

Heidi Keller doesn’t think she’ll ever be rich — and she doesn’t want to be. “I’m a single mom. It’s never going to happen. But we are so blessed in our experiences, and that is true wealth,” Keller often tells her two daughters.Since 2020, she’s taken them on the road to countless public lands including two dozen American and Canadian national parks where they’ve explored some of the continent’s most awe-inspiring landscapes. All were made possible by Keller’s work travel writing and running an...

Sko Buffs Sports • 15th July 2025

Colorado student-athletes will provide content for subscription-based fundraising program

A new fundraising program offers a glimpse into how the University of Colorado plans to utilize its athletes' Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in exchange for direct payments. Athletes with revenue-sharing contracts with the university will be expected to contribute their name, image and likeness to the program.Buffs Premier will have three tiers of pricing, starting at $39.99 a month. Prices for the higher-tiered levels were not provided in the announcement. Subscribers to the program will recei...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 8th July 2025

Green Line disruption during Minnesota Yacht Club festival upsets St. Paul officials

A service disruption on the Green Line light rail line could cause issues for music lovers planning to attend the Minnesota Yacht Club festival later this month in St. Paul. Buses will replace the light rail across St. Paul, to the frustration of city officials as downtown prepares to host nearly 100,000 festivalgoers during the rail closure.From July 11 to 21, the line will undergo scheduled maintenance, with service to 13 stations from Raymond Avenue to Union Depot replaced by bus shuttles. Th...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 5th July 2025

Cyclists in Minneapolis celebrate freedom from pants on Independence Day

They rode for freedom — freedom from pants. Hundreds of bicyclists, most of them dressed in their underwear, took to the streets and trails of Minneapolis Friday on an annual ride that offered a unique way to celebrate the Fourth of July.It was the Freedom From Pants Ride, which began in June 2007 when someone on a Twin Cities cycling internet forum organized an underwear ride to escape the summer heat.Garrick Yoong, who participated in that first ride, said they decided to stage a sequel on Ind...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 5th July 2025

Why are Minnesotans giving up their pets at record rates?

Julie Koch has seen 31 dogs come and go from her Minneapolis home over the last four years. She’s a foster for Ruff Start Rescue, which cares for animals across Minnesota.Right now, she’s caring for a lovable 6-year-old white German Shepherd named Stone. He came to her from Texas in 2021 and was adopted in 2022. But in August, his family had to give him back.“He didn’t get surrendered because he was a bad dog, or he was full of issues,” Koch said. “He got surrendered because they were having a h...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 27th June 2025

Kitties take center stage during annual Minneapolis cat tour

Feline aficionados flooded the streets of Lowry Hill East on a wet Thursday, cheering as cats appeared in windows, on front porches and across lawns.The Wedge Live Cat Tour, an annual guided walk across the neighborhood, showcased dozens of cats for the hundreds who showed up, all within a few hours.The event kicked off at Mueller Park, where parking was scarce for blocks in each direction. Rain had postponed the event Wednesday, and showers continued most of the day Thursday. But as the eventgo...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 26th June 2025

For their first job, these teen brothers started a hot dog cart

It all started with the pickles. A jar had been sitting in the back of the fridge untouched for some time when Sam and Janna Fischer’s youngest son, Viggo, decided to put them to good use. He made relish — three different kinds — and it was good. Really good.“It was like all distinct different flavors, and I just kind of said ‘If we can this stuff, we can get a cottage food license and you guys can go sell it at farmers markets,” said Sam Fischer.Sev Fischer, 15, and his brother Viggo, 14, both...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 19th June 2025

Anchor and reporter Pauleen Le announces departure from WCCO

WCCO anchor and reporter Pauleen Le announced Wednesday that she is leaving the station, with her last show airing Friday at noon.Le grew up in Eagan and interned at the Twin Cities television station while attending the University of St. Thomas. She spent time working in Fort Wayne, Ind., La Crosse, Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wis., before returning to WCCO in 2022.She reports for the morning newscast starting at 5 a.m. and anchors the 8:30-9 a.m. show on the CBS News Minnesota steaming service. I...

Sko Buffs Sports • 13th June 2025

College sports have changed forever. Here’s how CU is tackling the House settlement

The department has also looked to cut its budget wherever possible. In January, George said that there were no plans to lay off employees, but that they were certainly on the table. Then, in early June, two track coaches had their positions eliminated. According to George, certain positions have also gone unfilled after staff departures.

The department has also looked to cut its budget wherever possible. In January, George said that there were no plans to lay off employees, but that they were c...

The Minnesota Star Tribune • 9th June 2025

Parents scramble to find cheap supplies for grad parties after Party City closures

Tracy Berkovitz had a chaotic Friday morning. She was in the final stretch of a marathon effort to plan her son’s high school graduation party and still needed a tablecloth and other last-minute supplies.“I have hit up two different Walmart’s. I’ve looked at Michaels. I’ve been to Cub. I’ve looked at Target. I looked online at different places. I’ve ordered from Amazon,” said Berkovitz last week, right before her son’s graduation from Rosemount High School. “So I’ve gone to multiple different pl...

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...