An 8th-grade Colorado Jewish student was called a ‘stupid k***’ while being strangled by a laptop charging cord, in one of many antisemitic assaults by other students described in a Title VI complaint to Boulder Valley Public School District.
Colorado
Colorado officials relent to rancher pressure to remove pack formed by released wolves
Video is first look of pups from Colorado’s released wolves
Colorado resident Mike Usalavage happened upon the Copper Creek pack at an undisclosed location the week of Aug. 11-17, 2024, and provided this video to the Coloradoan.
Colorado’s only wolf pack produced by released wolves is being removed from its Grand County location.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife along with technical support from federal partners have begun an operation to capture and relocate wolves from the Copper Creek pack, the state wildlife agency announced in a Tuesday night news release.
The pack consists of two parents from among 10 wolves captured in Oregon and released in Colorado in late December of 2023 and at least three wolf pups the pair had this spring. “The decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis stated in the news release. “Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado.”
The option to remove the wolves is allowed under the federal 10(j) rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which designates Colorado’s released wolves as an experimental population.
The parents of the pack have largely been responsible for 16 confirmed wolf depredations of cattle and sheep near the pack’s den and rendezvous sites in Grand County since April 2, according to area ranchers.
The Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, which represents Grand County ranchers, has repeatedly asked the state wildlife agency to remove at least the parents of the pack over the past several months, and later the pups as well. The latest request from the association and other stockgrowers groups was sent to Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on Aug. 15.
The agency has repeatedly refused the request, citing the need to grow the state’s wolf population in accordance to the state’s wolf recovery plan before finally relenting to ranchers’ pressure Tuesday.
That state’s recovery plan calls for releasing 30 to 50 wolves over the next three to five years with a goal of a minimum of 150 to 200 wolves.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife is committed to fulfilling the will of Colorado voters to successfully restore the gray wolf population while meeting the needs of Colorado communities,” the release read. “As we have throughout the implementation of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW is working with wildlife biologists, federal partners and producers to develop solutions that will reduce the risk of additional wolf depredations.”
Tim Ritschard, a Grand County rancher and president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, said the association is pleased with the decision.
“If a wolf wanders in and kills a cow or calf, that’s tolerable, “Ritschard told the Coloradoan on Tuesday night. “When they set up camp and repeatedly depredate on livestock that’s where the problem is.
“I’m glad the feds stepped in and took action before a rancher or local Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff had to. Hopefully CPW can learn from this and prevent something similar happening in the future.”
The Coloradoan reached out to pro wolf groups for comment. Those messages were not immediately returned.
Ritschard questioned what the state wildlife agency will do with the wolves.
That was not detailed in the agency’s news release.
“For the safety of these animals and staff, CPW will not be sharing the location of the pack members or operation,” the agency’s news release read. “CPW will provide more information and details at the conclusion of the operation.”
The news of the pack removal comes days after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission was told by Colorado Parks and Wildlife the next planned wolf release would occur in the the same general area as the first releases in Grand and Summit counties.
Reid DeWalt, Colorado Parks and Wildlife assistant director, told the commissioners at their Friday meeting in Colorado Springs that the next release will take place in the northern zone.
The northern zone roughly encompasses from Glenwood Springs on the west, Kremmling on the north, Vail on the east and Aspen on the south. The area includes Interstate 70 running through the middle.
First, though, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has to secure wolves for its next release planned for late this year or early next year. Something which has been difficult to do.
That sourcing was made more difficult after the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington notified Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a June letter that it was rescinding an earlier agreement to send 15 wolves to Colorado later this year and in early 2025.
The ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) has filed a federal civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging that Jewish Student A was subjected to repeated antisemitic bullying, slurs, and physical assault by multiple fellow students at Southern Hills Middle School (SHMS) throughout 7th and 8th grade.
In one incident, students in Student A’s PE class attempted to play a game called “Jew touch tag” and said Jews were “dirty” and “contaminated.”
In another, in December 2025, a classmate reportedly fashioned a Chromebook charging cord into a lasso, threw it around the student’s neck and dragged him backward from a chair while calling him a “stupid k***.” This was deemed severe enough that the Boulder Police Department was called in to investigate.
Following this particular incident, the Boulder Police Department opened a Juvenile Court Referral for third-degree assault.
ADL says no meaningful action taken by school district over assault
As a result of these incidents, Student A no longer wears a Star of David necklace and does not share his religious identity with anyone.
ADL and the family allege that the school took no meaningful action despite being informed of the situation on multiple occasions. For example, the complaint says the school failed to enforce the no-contact order between Student A and the classmate involved in the Chromebook assault.
The complaint also says that the burden was consistently placed on the victim, such as reassigning his study hall class rather than restricting the aggressor, forcing him to miss a school trip, and asking him to leave class early to avoid crowded hallways.
“The record here is overwhelming: written pleas from the student’s parents, formal school reports, and a police investigation all point to the conclusion that antisemitic harassment at Southern Hills Middle School was pervasive, escalating, and severe,” said James Pasch, ADL Vice President of Litigation.
“Despite the family’s pleas for help to stop the harassment, the school district failed to effectively address it, a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. No family should have to fight this hard to ensure a Jewish child’s safety at school, and certainly no Jewish student should face the threat of assault or harassment because of their Jewish identity.”
Susan Rona, ADL Mountain States Regional Director, noted that 167 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Colorado in 2025, a “stark reminder that antisemitism is not something abstract – it is showing up in our communities, in our neighborhoods and even in our schools.”
ADL is requesting that the US Department of Education require the district to take steps to comply with Title VI and ensure that this student and all Jewish students feel safe and protected.
Boulder Valley School District said that while it does not comment on ongoing legal matters, “we take all allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously.”
“We continue to focus on improvements to our policies, reporting systems, practices, and education efforts – all with the goal of ensuring every BVSD student feels safe, welcomed, and a strong sense of belonging.”
When you walk inside the Conoco station at the corner of University Boulevard and Bonnie Brae Boulevard in Denver, you can’t help but notice the history on the walls.
“Here’s the 40s. The 50s and my dad and uncle in the 70s,” says owner Ken Wilson pointing to the pictures on the wall.
Ken is the third generation of the Wilson family to own the gas station and service center.
“Grandpa Ken started to lease this out in 1942. My dad bought the business from my grandpa and my uncle worked his whole career here for my dad and for me,” Ken recalls.
In all, the Wilson family has owned the Conoco station for more than 80 years.
“I started working here in 1978 when I was 12, just part time in the summers. I worked through high school and through college and then did my own thing, and I’ve been back here about 15 years,” said Ken.
“It means so much to our family. It’s been a great business.”
But Ken is the end of the road for the Wilson family ownership. In February, a for sale sign went up at the Bonnie Brae Conoco.
“We’re just looking now. We’re not in a rush. It’s not like we’re going to sell and be done this year. We’re going to get a price we want to get, and if it takes us years to do that’s okay,” he said.
Wilson has seen a lot of change during his time working at the station and service center.
“There aren’t a lot of garages anymore. They used to be everywhere. There were four of them on this block when I was a kid, he said.
When asked what he’ll miss most, Ken points to his relationship with his customers.
“I’ve had customers now where I actually waited on their grandparents. And then their parents. And now them.”
As for what his grandpa would say if he could see the place now, Ken says, “I think he’d say he was really proud of what we’ve done. Both my father, my uncle and myself. Hopefully he’s still hanging around here once in a while.”
The Colorado Buffaloes are still putting the finishing touches on their 2027 class over the next few months, but their 2028 recruiting plan continues to take shape.
Earlier this week, Deion Sanders’ staff extended an offer to one of the top prospects in the class of 2028, composite five-star wide receiver Jaylen Addai. Addai now holds 43 offers, including one from nearly every blue-blood program in the country.
247Sports’ Composite currently ranks Addai as the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2028 class, the No. 3 overall wide receiver and the top player from the state of Texas.
At 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, the Pearland, Texas native fits the mold of the modern-day receiver. He seems likely to fill into his frame given his youth. Addai is a multiple-sport athlete with elite athleticism on the field, on the basketball court and on the track.
Given how early it is in Addai’s recruitment, several teams are in contention for his commitment, with Notre Dame and Ohio State leading the way early. When the 2028 cycle picks up later this year, who really has a chance should come into focus, especially when visits begin.
Colorado’s 2028 class does not have any commitments yet, but has offers out to 28 different wide receiver prospects.
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