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Two children in ski gear sprinkle the ashes of their friend on the snow. To the right, Laura Love, the mom of a boy who died, looks on. She is trying to improve mental health care for kids in crisis
Laura Love, right, watches as two of her son Sam's friends spread some of his ashes at the base of a tree at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 in Summit County, Colorado. The gathering was a celebration of Sam Aden, who died by suicide in 2023 at the age of 14. Sam's loved ones gather each year at A-Basin for a "Day of Stoke" to celebrate the teen.(Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
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Good morning, Colorado.

I tend to jog the same running path at the same time on the same days. Which means I tend to see the same people. The competitive runner who’s TikTok famous, the two chatty dudes, the older women besties who egg each other on and one woman who enjoys leisurely phone calls while on a walk.

For the past couple months, everyone has been bundled up to varying degrees. Well, except the competitive runner, but that’s a different breed. But recently, we’ve all been shedding layers. It’s so silly but seeing these people who I’ll likely never actually talk to all gradually changing at the same time just makes me smile. It makes me feel like part of a community.

So to be a bit sappy, I love my little Colorado community and thank you for being part of this larger Sun community. Now, the news.

A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
Laura Love wears a sweatshirt honoring her son, Sam Aden, at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on Jan. 31. The gathering was a celebration of Sam, who died by suicide in 2023 at the age of 14. Sam’s loved ones gather each year at A-Basin for a “Day of Stoke” to celebrate the teen. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)

As Colorado struggles with a statewide psychiatric bed shortage, a record-breaking number of children are spending longer in emergency rooms, for days and even weeks. After Laura Love’s son Sam Aden’s experience in the ER, he refused to go back before he died by suicide — a situation Love does not want any other parent to experience. Chryss Cada has more.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
A steady stream of water leaks out of Butzbaugh Flume on Jan. 19, 2024, in southwestern Colorado. The flume is part of the Pine River Indian Irrigation Project. As part of the project’s main ditch, the flume carries water to hundreds of acres of irrigable land around the Southern Ute reservation and La Plata County. (Shannon Mullane, The Colorado Sun)

For the 400 residents of the Southern Ute Reservation and La Plata County who depend on the aging water system, the $19 million in federal funding was a good first step to upgrade their drinking water. But as the Pine River Indian Irrigation Project’s maintenance backlog grows, that funding is in limbo, Shannon Mullane reports.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
The Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, pictured Feb. 28, 2024, is home to Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver. (Erica Breunlin, The Colorado Sun)

Judge Myong J. Joun agreed with the eight attorneys general — including Colorado’s Phil Weiser — who argued in a lawsuit that the immediate end to the two grant programs to train teachers at higher education institutions came with no advance notice nor any explanation and therefore violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Erica Breunlin has more.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
Nephi Cole, director of government relations state affairs for the National Sports Shooting Foundation, loads and unloads a 10-round magazine from an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle at Bristlecone Shooting, Training and Retail Center in Lakewood on Jan. 16. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)

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Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from bookstores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends:

Read what the bookstore staff had to say about each. Pick up a copy and support your local bookstores at the same time.

RECOMMENDATIONS

This afternoon should be pretty nice. It would be a good time for a walk.

— Danika & the whole staff of The Sun

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