Anthony Cotton

This time next week, we’ll know who the Super Bowl champion will be — we’ve known for a while now that it won’t be the Denver Broncos, who entered the 2022 season with Mile-High expectations, but ended it with a fired coach and their seventh straight year of missing the playoffs. Now hopes are once again renewed with the hiring of Sean Payton as coach. Former Bronco Ryan Harris discusses the process that led to Payton’s arrival, and whether or not he can “fix” foundering quarterback Russell Wilson and return the team to the postseason.

A professional athlete protests injustice by sitting out the National Anthem.  There’s a firestorm, and before long, his career is over. While there is a connection, this is not a story about former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Decades earlier, it was Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf who was suspended by the NBA and shortly thereafter traded away from the team for his decision. In his autobiography, “In the Blink of an Eye,” Abdul-Rauf discusses his life before and after the anthem controversy.

After a lifetime of being bullied, a young man is given a chance for immediate acceptance– even renown– but only if he’s willing to do the unthinkable. “The Mask” is a short story  inspired by the life experiences of its author, Clayton Adams, of Aurora, whose own life ended much too soon. His parents, Spike Adams and Jamie Shimeall, recalled their son’s life and his legacy.

This week and next, the Colorado Department of Transportation is training police officers from across the state to differentiate among different types of driving impairments. At the end of the course, they become certified drug recognition experts.

While Republicans hoped to make inroads in last November’s midterm elections, Democrats continue to hold all three branches of Colorado’s state government. But that’s not to say theirs is a single, unified voice heading into next week’s start of the 2023 legislative session. Chandra Thomas Whitfield spoke with Julie McCluskie, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and with Senate President Steve Fenberg. We’ll hear from Republican leaders on Monday.

Denver’s first sister city was Brest, France, an alliance formed in 1948 when schoolchildren here raised money for the war-ravaged European town. It’s also the second-oldest sister city relationship in the United States. Earlier this week, a pair of schools in Colorado furthered the connection between the two countries. The language-immersion charter, Global Village Academy, received an award from French Ambassador to the United States Philippe Etienne. The ceremony was part of a whirlwind trip to the state for Etienne, who spoke with Colorado Matters about the growing importance of multilingualism, and how France and Colorado are forging partnerships in education and technology.

Deion Sanders played in both the Super Bowl and the World Series, then turned his attention to coaching football. He took Jackson State University in Mississippi to an undefeated season and two bowl appearances, Now he says he can lead CU’s struggling program back to glory.

Nearly a million Coloradans have returned their ballots so far. The deadline to vote is 7pm Tuesday. The whole process, while historically smooth in Colorado, is also fraught as misinformation abounds. We check back in with the head of the Colorado County Clerks Association, Matt Crane. He’s a Republican who’s fought The Big Lie here and across the country.