What’s the cost of doing the right thing?

Good morning, Colorado, and welcome to the official start of the march through college basketball madness. And cheers to the fans of those eight teams who’ve made it to our fine state for NCAA Tournament games today and Saturday at Ball Arena.

Easy to say, I’ve been to hundreds of college basketball games, starting as the student PA announcer for my St. Gregory’s Junior College Cavaliers men’s and women’s teams in the 1980s. I’ve been to the Final Four as a college student (watching Danny Manning tear out our Oklahoma hearts in Kansas City circa 1988).

I’ve covered scores as a sports reporter, including games at the arena formerly known as Pepsi Center. And before that, NCAA Tournament games at McNichols Arena.

During the 1996 West Regionals at McNichols, I was crammed in a group interview with then-Georgia coach Tubby Smith (who I knew from his time at The University of Tulsa) outside the lockerroom. I got bumped from behind, and, yep, there goes my brand-new, handheld tape recorder.

As it fell in slow motion and then violently crashed on the concrete floor in the bowels of the 1975-era arena, my four double-A batteries shot across the hallway. Silence. After the uncomfortable quiet, a young Coach Smith politely asked other reporters at the back of the gaggle to retrieve my double-As. Once I was reloaded, he asked if I was ready, shot me a grin and resumed taking questions.

He was 44 and in his second head-coaching job (he went on to coach more than 1,000 games, including 26 winning seasons). I was 29 and in my first job as a sports editor at the Loveland Reporter-Herald (I’ve gone on to report and edit thousands of stories). Just a couple of kids.

So for those of you in Colorado for the hoops hype, have a great time. Make memories that will stay with you for a lifetime.

And now, let’s tip off the news before today’s first tipoff (and cheers to the Colorado State men as they play at noon Friday against Memphis).

David Krause

Editor

THE NEWS

EQUITY

Colorado orphans shouldn’t have to pay for their own foster care, lawmakers say

#The debate, like a lot of fights at the Capitol this year, pitted what many termed “the right thing to do” against the cost of doing the right thing.#

That’s how Jennifer Brown described the tension yesterday over House Bill 1271, which in its initial version would have prevented counties from keeping the benefits of children whose parents have died and Social Security benefits for children with disabilities. See how it’s changed and what’s next in the process.

READ MORE

ARTS

Leonardo da Vinci’s machines — kind of — will call Pueblo home

Bull riders: out. Handmade da Vinci contraptions: in. The Leonardo da Vinci Museum of North America — filled with machines sketched by the Renaissance master and built with period-appropriate materials and tools — is the next move for Pueblo’s Historic Arkansas Riverwalk after a failed relationship with the Professional Bull Riders Association. Sue McMillin has more.

READ MORE

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Meet the dogs of the Colorado Capitol. Like, literal dogs.

Gia. Queso. Pippin. Peaches. Tyson. These may not be familiar names to even the most committed political news junkies, but under the dome of the Colorado Capitol, these are just about the only creatures who won’t try to talk to you about the budget.

READ MORE

• KC Becker to lead Colorado solar association amid uncertain times for renewable energy. The former Colorado House speaker shaped some of the state’s ambitious energy and clean air goals. Now she’ll lead the Colorado Solar Storage Association in face of political headwinds.

MORE NEWS

• ICE calls detained Denver activist Jeanette Vizguerra a “convicted criminal alien,” says she faces deportation. Vizguerra, who has been fighting to stay in Colorado for 16 years, was once recognized by Time magazine and has been outspoken against Trump immigration policies.
• Pueblo man wanted by police fired 80 rounds and injured 3 officers before he was killed, chief says. The police officers remained in the hospital Wednesday and are in stable condition, Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller said.

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

COLORADO REPORT

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

• Where is that restaurant “service charge” going? Not where you think, a lawsuit says. One of Denver’s most influential restaurant owners, Culinary Creative Group, is facing a lawsuit and employee complaints about how it divides up money from a 20% service charge in lieu of tips — including claims that a third of that money goes to pay managers.
  — Denverite
• “I couldn’t even see the hood of my car.” Colorado family caught in deadly 71-car pile-up caused by Kansas dust storm. As someone who grew up on the often howling Eastern Plains, Interstate 70 between Burlington and Goodland, Kansas, is one of the most windblown stretches of road in the state. And during the March 14 dust storm, the Chersevani family escaped with minor injuries from a pile-up that killed eight people.
  — Colorado Public Radio
• Dam at Wolford Mountain Reservoir no longer considered to be at risk of failing. For 20 years, experts have been monitoring the dam after warnings that it was moving and settling at a different rate than expected. But now two decades later, the Colorado River District declared that the dam is not more likely than any other to fail.
  — Sky-Hi News
• A coalition of northwestern Colorado counties and agriculture groups want to stop the effort to put wolves back on the 2026 ballot. The grassroots coalition of county commissioners and agriculture groups is asking the citizen initiative, Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy, to reconsider its effort to put wolves back on the ballot in 2026.
  — The Aspen Times
• Postal workers, community members to rally against USPS mail processing transfer from Grand Junction to Denver. The Western Colorado Area Local #600 union will rally today in Grand Junction to protest the USPS Regional Transportation Optimization plan, which will process western slope mail in Denver instead of the existing sorting facility in Grand Junction.
  — Post-Independent

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Coloradans need fair standards for mental health care, and now it’s up to the governor. Gov. Jared Polis must sign legislation that makes sure insurers cover mental health treatment just as they would a physical ailment.
  — Dr. Mona Abaza, Denver ear, nose and throat surgeon

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

What’s Happening

March 20-26

“Clybourne Park” and Panel Discussion. The play opens in 1959. You can tell from the music, from the way the central couple is dressed, from the way they say words like “whaddaya” and “Jiminy Cricket” in earnest. By the time the play ends, it’s 2009, and a contemporary dispute over residential zoning — a dispute anchored in the gentrification of a neighborhood — is unfolding in the same living room set.

“Clybourne Park,” a Tony Award winning play with a Pulitzer Prize-winning script, is finishing up its seven-week run at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities at the end of the month.

It’s a clever play that uses the 50-year time jump to highlight the recurring inequities in American housing policy, and the deeply embedded attitudes about who can comfortably live where. It’s also a sharply funny play, and the actors’ comedic timing throughout balances out the tense confrontations.

On Sunday, a special panel precedes the evening show about housing and community initiatives in Colorado, moderated by Brian Rossbert, executive director of Housing Colorado. The panel event is free, but RSVP is required.

$53; Various times, March 20-23 and 26-30; Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada

• Star Party. Spend the day (and night) staring at the sky with Dark Skies of the Wet Mountain Valley, an all-volunteer nonprofit running weekly sun and star observation days in Westcliffe. A solar session happens from 11 a.m. until noon Saturday, followed by a live photo show at the Smokey Jack Observatory in the evening. Free; March 24; Bluff Park and Smokey Jack Observatory, Westcliffe
• Closing Days at Ruby Hill. Today is the last day to ride the features at Denver’s urban ski and snowboard slope, Ruby Hill. With the park features gone, instructors from Winter Park will offer free beginner lessons on Saturday and Sunday before the hill shuts down for the season. Free; March 22-23; Ruby Hill Park, S. Pecos St., Denver
• Comedy Open Mic. A monthly lineup of 10-minute comedy sets, “slightly curated” and emceed by local comedian Joshua Emerson. Free; 7-10 p.m., March 24; Manos Sagrados, 9975 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

Basketball, political dogs and Leonardo da Vinci. Never a dull day in the world of local news. Have a great first day of spring and we’ll see you back here tomorrow to finish the week strong!

— David & the whole staff of The Sun

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Corrections & Clarifications

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