Colorado
Denver Parks and Recreation boots pickleball from Congress Park, Sloans Lake
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DENVER — Pickleball gamers are shedding locations to play within the metro, with Denver Parks and Recreation completely closing courts at Congress Park Monday. This follows town ditching plans to construct courts at Sloans Lake Park final week, in addition to town of Centennial placing a moratorium on courts inside 500 toes of properties final month.
On the middle of the controversy is the noise stage from the plastic ball hitting the paddles and courtroom high. Pickleball gamers at Congress Park had been conscious of the annoyance it has induced residents close to the courts, and had hoped for a proposed answer that may have moved the courts farther from properties and put in acoustic fencing screens to curb the noise.
“The upsetting half is that all of us agreed, and have agreed for a very long time, that that is too near residences and it must be moved — and that was the plan,” mentioned participant Mike Altreuter. “There are actually sufficient individuals supporting the courts and who wish to play right here and have a deep sense of loss at this time. I preserve getting unhappy textual content messages at this time.”
Scott Gilmore, deputy government director for Denver Parks and Recreation, mentioned the choice to close down the courts at Congress Park got here after numerous noise complaints from individuals dwelling close by, and because the sport’s reputation introduced an enormous inflow of visitors to the comparatively small Congress Park.
Gilmore mentioned metropolis inspectors carried out noise readings at 19 properties close to the Congress Park pickleball courts, and located ranges above town’s 55 decibel restrict at 16 of them.
“That’s not a really giant park. It’s a neighborhood park,” Gilmore mentioned. “It’s overwhelming the park and the neighborhood. Between the problems with pickleballers and others — simply parking within the neighborhood. Folks can’t park within the neighborhood. They’ll’t get out of their driveways.”
Gilmore mentioned there are not any plans at present to shut different pickleball courts in Denver, however the metropolis must “take a look at them case by case” if use will increase to the purpose that it causes comparable points in every respective neighborhood.
“My objective is to be sure that these areas work for everyone, not only one consumer group,” Gilmore mentioned.
Pickleball as a sport isn’t new, however it’s reputation has exploded for the reason that pandemic. The Affiliation of Pickleball Professionals estimates there have been 36.5 million gamers in america in 2022.
“What greater development have we seen than the pet rock and pickleball? Like, this can be a huge development,” laughed Marc Nelson, a pickleball participant who frequented Congress Park. “And it’s going to proceed to develop as a result of it’s simple to be taught, enjoyable to play, and you’ve got a group.”
Nelson has volunteered to serve on a “pickleball advisory committee” with town in an effort to navigate the game’s rising reputation and the problems it may create. He mentioned he’s disillusioned the choice was made to shut the Congress Park courts earlier than the committee was capable of supply some alternate options that may have allowed play to proceed there.
“I do know [the city] measured the sound, and it’s very loud proper subsequent to the homes. However can we simply put up non permanent fences and acoustic sound and see what the measure would have been?” Nelson mentioned. “This implies a lot to so many individuals, so I simply want we might have tried it.”
A number of Congress Park regulars made their strategy to the 4 courts at Martin Luther King Park to play Monday, not lacking a day, at the same time as their house courts closed.
Town hopes this factors to a long-lasting answer: the development of a giant advanced, maybe at Burns Park, that would offer ample area for pickleball away from properties. This suggestion was met with skepticism from gamers, saying such a fancy can be years away — whether it is constructed in any respect. As well as, they added, it might exclude their pickleball friends who don’t have automobiles.
“I met a group of individuals [at Congress Park] that don’t drive,” mentioned Natalie Hughes. “They stroll. They bike. They don’t personal automobiles, and so they can’t — they’re in assisted dwelling conditions. And taking away these parks means taking away their psychological, social, and bodily wellness each single day… I simply wish to converse with the people who do have an issue with it. We wish to meet within the center.”
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Colorado
Highlands Ranch teens surprise and delight with Colorado business
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A couple of Highlands Ranch teenagers are proving you’re never too young to build a thriving business from an idea.
The two sisters started selling their baked goods during the pandemic. “Little Sistas Treats” is now a brand with a strong following and ambitious plans for the future.
CBS
Zyaire and Char’les Hawkins want young girls to know you can be your own CEO. It’s about having confidence, follow through, and a willingness to work hard.
“Anybody can do anything, and even at a young age, people have ideas and things in their head that they don’t want to put out to the world. But if you really think about it, they can,” said Char’les.
Just don’t burn down the kitchen, adds their mom.
Marietta Hawkins
The Hawkins’ girls began baking as little kids. A passion passed along by their great grandmother Faye Vaughn – a restaurateur in Hannibal, Missouri.
“Something that I think I’ve learned doing the business,” said Zyaire, “Is connecting with customers, making sure everything’s good, the packaging, so then when we deliver it, they have they’re happy, and everything’s perfect.”
One of their originals is the cheesecake cone. A branding company helped design a logo for Little Sistas Treats.
And the girls wrote their own jingle. “Little Sistas, we got the cone. Whenever you eat ’em, you’ve got soul.”
“I always try to encourage my kids with business, you know, you don’t make a whole bunch of money but it’s a whole bunch of learning along the way,” said mom Marietta Hawkins, who says she is the business “momager.”
CBS
Don’t follow the crowd say Zyaire and Char’les Hawkins
“I feel like this isn’t just a passion of me and my sister’s. I feel like it’s a dream come true,” added Char’les.
There are hopes of owning a food truck, and maybe a concession at a major venue.
Most important say the Little Sistas – is having fun.
“They understand now that they’re an inspiration. I think that’s the greatest thing. I think their business is giving to the community at this point,” said Marietta. Visit their website at https://www.littlesistastreats.com/
Colorado
Colorado wants to force insurance companies to help homeowners understand, mitigate wildfire risk
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Insurance companies operating in Colorado would be required to inform homeowners of ways they could reduce the risk of wildfire to their properties and subsequently pay less in premiums under a bill introduced this week in the state legislature.
House Bill 1182 would also require insurers to give customers an opportunity to appeal assessments of a property’s wildfire risk, which can lead to increased costs and nonrenewals.
The measure is the legislature’s latest effort to tackle the growing problem of rising homeowners insurance costs and nonrenewals in wildfire-prone areas of Colorado as climate change increases the frequency and severity of wildland fires across the state. The cost of property insurance in Colorado has become one of the fastest-growing household expenses, with premiums increasing an average of 57.9% from 2018 to 2023, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.
Nevertheless, in eight of the past 11 years, property insurers have lost money in Colorado, said Ethan Aumann, senior director of environmental issues and resiliency at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
In 2023, the legislature passed a bill creating a quasi-governmental insurer of last resort for homeowners who can’t get coverage on the private market. Lawmakers hope House Bill 1182 will serve as a way to prevent homeowners from needing that last-resort coverage.
Hail is a big part of the rising cost of homeowners insurance in Colorado. Wildfire is another.
Unlike hail, however, Colorado homeowners can take several steps to protect their properties against wildland blazes.
The bill’s lead sponsors in the House are Democratic Reps. Kyle Brown of Louisville and Brianna Titone of Arvada. In the Senate, the main sponsors are Sens. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, and Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa.
Titone said she knows of examples of homeowners losing their coverage because insurance companies have made incorrect assumptions about a property’s risk of being destroyed in a wildfire. One person’s insurer dropped them after determining based on satellite images that their property was in the woods, even though it really wasn’t, Titone said.
“We want to make sure that these kinds of situations are rectified,” Titone said.
![](https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/AP23115754286529-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=85&ssl=1)
House Bill 1182 would require home insurers in Colorado that use a wildfire risk model or scoring method to share the details of those calculations with the state and how they affect underwriting decisions and rates.
The models and scoring methods would be required to take into account a homeowner’s work to mitigate risk on their property, such as removing vegetation to create defensible space for firefighters and using fire-resistant building materials, as well as community- and state-level mitigation activities.
Finally, insurers would have to take into account the state-level purchases of equipment to combat wildfires. Colorado has purchased two wildfire-fighting helicopters in recent years — Colorado’s only state-owned firefighting aircraft.
Insurers would have to tell homeowners within 60 days of a renewal or 90 days of a nonrenewal how they assessed a property’s wildfire risk. Insurance companies would have 30 days to respond to an appeal, and any denials of an appeal would have to be forwarded to the Colorado insurance commissioner.
The bill, if it passes the legislature and is signed into law, would go into effect in 2026. The changes are a key part of Gov. Jared Polis’ legislative agenda this year.
“I hear from Coloradans across our state — I’m sure you have too — who either can’t find coverage or who are seeing very large increases and getting priced out of the market for the coverage that they have,” Polis told lawmakers during his State of the State address last month. “And the rising cost of insurance of course doesn’t just affect homeowners. It’s also passed along to renters, too.”
Insurance companies have concerns about how soon the bill would go into effect and their ability to adhere to its changes, citing technological limitations.
“We do believe in mitigation,” said Carole Walker, who leads the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, an insurance industry trade group. “We have common ground on (wanting) mitigation to matter and we want to incentivize homeowners to do personal- and community-level mitigation.”
The hang-up is around protecting the proprietary technology of the third-party companies that provide modeling to insurers and verifying and measuring the meaningfulness of mitigation work of homeowners and communities.
“It has to be something that both the modeling companies can comply with and the insurance companies can, (too),” she said. “The stakes are really high.”
![](https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AP322622911362.jpg?resize=780%2C519&quality=85&ssl=1)
Titone said she is open to working with the companies to give them more time to prepare for the legislation before it would go into effect.
“Maybe there’s some things that you need to push off a little bit later, but we shouldn’t kick the whole thing down the road just because there’s a couple technological things that we need to address,” Titone said.
The measure was assigned to the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. Its first hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet.
Colorado
3 Big Questions for Kansas Basketball Before Colorado Matchup
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Kansas basketball is back at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Kansas State.
The Jayhawks (16-7, 7-5 Big 12) need a strong showing against a struggling Colorado team that has yet to win a conference game this season. While KU is a heavy favorite, Bill Self’s squad still has some lingering questions that could impact their postseason trajectory.
From lineup adjustments to key player performances, here are three major storylines to watch before the Jayhawks take on the Buffaloes.
Freshman big man Flory Bidunga has been a key piece for Kansas this season, but recently he has come off the bench in limited minutes. With his athleticism, rebounding, and rim protection, Bidunga gives the Jayhawks an edge inside.
KU has struggled with consistency in the paint, especially in defensive rotations, and getting him back into the starting five could help stabilize things. Whether Bill Self makes that move against Colorado remains to be seen, but a confident Bidunga will be crucial down the stretch in Big 12 play.
Tuesday’s game isn’t just another conference matchup—it’s a homecoming for two Colorado coaches with deep ties to Kansas basketball.
Tad Boyle, a former Jayhawk, has been leading the Buffaloes for over a decade, while his assistant, Danny Manning, is one of the greatest players in KU history.
Manning helped guide the Jayhawks to a national title in 1988 and later served as a Kansas assistant under Self. While nostalgia will be in the air, the duo faces a massive challenge—finding a way to end Colorado’s 12-game losing streak against a Kansas team eager to bounce back at home.
Zeke Mayo has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but his offensive production has dipped in recent games.
Kansas needs him to be a consistent scoring threat, especially from deep, to complement their inside attack. Against a Colorado team that struggles defensively, Mayo has an opportunity to get back on track.
If he can find his rhythm early, it could open up the floor for the Jayhawks and take pressure off Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson. A strong performance from Mayo would be a great sign for Kansas as it looks to build momentum heading into the final stretch of Big 12 play.
Kansas is heavily favored, but with key lineup decisions, a historic homecoming for opposing coaches, and the need to get key players rolling, there’s plenty to keep an eye on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
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