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
Jonathan Drouin didn’t want to leave Colorado, but is fitting in well with Islanders
Patrick Roy was very familiar with Jonathan Drouin, the phenom, from his days coaching against him in the QMJHL.
A dozen years later, they’ve been reunited in the NHL with the New York Islanders. Roy is a different coach in his second go-round behind an NHL bench.
And Drouin is a different player than he was as a teenager terrorizing opposing defenses alongside Nathan MacKinnon for the Halifax Mooseheads.
“He’s very mature right now,” Roy said. “When he was in junior, he was a phenomenal playmaker. When he was playing with Nathan in Halifax, they were always a threat, and they were the leaders of their team. What I love about his game right now is that he is playing both sides. He makes really good plays for (Mathew Barzal), but he also defends really well. The 200-foot game that he’s playing shows me a lot of maturity in his game.
“I’m very impressed with him.”
Drouin’s evolution as a player has not happened on a linear path, but his two years with the Colorado Avalanche did wonders to rebuild his career and his value. The Avs got him on a bargain one-year deal after an up-and-down tenure with the Montreal Canadiens.
He fit in well and earned another one-year deal. Eventually, it was time to ask for more, and the Avalanche — with Gabe Landeskog coming back and Brock Nelson needing a long-term deal — could not provide it.
“It sucked. Obviously, sometimes you’ve got to do a decision for your family and for other reasons,” Drouin said. “I enjoyed my time in Colorado. I would have loved to stay here for the rest of my career, but the business side of it doesn’t allow it sometimes. You’ve got to move on and do different things.”
Drouin’s relationship with MacKinnon got him in the door with the Avs, but he became an integral member of the club for two seasons on his own. He had 19 goals and 56 points two seasons ago, then 11 goals and 37 points in just 43 games last year.
His development as a two-way player was a consistent talking point with Avs coach Jared Bednar. That was something Roy echoed. Drouin had 14 points in his first 17 games with the Islanders.
“He’s been a great addition for us,” Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri said. “I think he’s a guy you can put with anybody, and he elevates that line. He’s done a great job so far, and hopefully he continues to get better and more comfortable. It’s awesome to have a guy like that in your room and your lineup.”
When last season ended, it was pretty clear there wouldn’t be room for Drouin in Denver unless he was willing to take a discount again. Asking a player to do that multiple times in the prime of their career just isn’t feasible. Drouin said there were plenty of talks with the Avalanche, but he also knew before the free-agent market opened that a return wasn’t going to happen.
So on July 1, Drouin went back to the Eastern Conference, signing a two-year, $8 million deal with the Islanders. That meant parting ways with MacKinnon.
“It was tough,” Drouin said. “Obviously, he brought me here. He was one of the main reasons I came here. It’s a very close group over there. It sucked to leave. Some of those happen as part of the business, I guess.”
Landing with the Islanders has meant a few reunions. Drouin and Anthony Duclair have been friends going back even before his Halifax days with MacKinnon. He knew Roy well, but he’s also played for assistant coach Ray Bennett with the Avs.
And he’s now in a position to be a veteran mentor for the other guy making his return Sunday night to Ball Arena. When the Avs traded for Nelson, one of the key parts of the deal going the other way was Calum Ritchie.
Colorado selected him in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft, and he became the club’s top prospect at one point. He played seven games for the Avs at the start of last season before returning to juniors.
Ritchie started this season in the AHL, but has played eight games for the Islanders without a point.
“I’m trying to help him as much as I can, honestly,” Drouin said. “I knew him from Colorado, a couple of games before he got sent down last year. He’s been great with us. He’s a kid that wants to learn, wants to get better. That’s always cool to see.”
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Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders has an overall record of 16-21 since taking over in Boulder prior to the 2023 season.
Where does Coach Prime rank among Big 12 coaches entering the 2026 college football season?
Deion Sanders No.15 in Big 12 Coach Rankings
On3 ranked all 16 Big 12 head football coaches heading into 2026. Deion Sanders is ranked No.15, only ahead of Kansas State Wildcats coach Collin Klein. This will be Klein’s first year as Wildcats head coach. He is a former Kansas State quarterback was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Texas A&M Aggies.
A top this ranking at No. 1 is BYU Cougars coach Kalani Sitake. Sitake has been at the helm for the Cougars since 2016. He has accumulated an overall record of 84-45. In four of Sitake’s 10 seasons with BYU, he has led them to double digit wins.
Here is the entire ranking:
1. Kalani Sitake, BYU Cougars
2. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State Wildcats
3. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech Red Raiders
4. Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs
5. Willie Fritz, Houston Cougars
6. Lance Leipold, Kansas Jayhawks
7. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia Mountaineers
8. Eric Morris, Oklahoma State Cowboys
9. Brent Brennan, Arizona Wildcats
10. Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears
11. Scott Satterfield, Cincinatti Bearcats
12. Morgan Scalley, Utah Utes
13. Scott Frost, UCF Knights
14. Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State Cyclones
15. Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes
16. Collin Klein, Kansas State Wildcats
Is 15th a fair ranking for Coach Prime?
What stands out right away from this is a first time collegiate head coach is ahead of Sanders, Morgan Scalley. While Sanders’ team struggled in 2025, it would be hard to rank him behind Scalley.
When Sanders was hired, the Buffaloes were coming off a one-win 2022 season. It was a controversial hire, as Sanders’ collegiate coaching experience came at the FCS level with Jackson State. The Coach Prime era in Boulder got off to a great start.
In 2023, Colorado began the season 3-0. It got going with a stunning season opening upset on the road against the defending national runner-up TCU Horned Frogs. The Buffs won their next two games against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Colorado State Rams to get to 3-0.
They hosted ESPN’s College GameDay for their in-state rivalry game against Colorado State. The country had their eyes on what Sanders had cooking. This undefeated came to a screeching halt with a road loss to Oregon. Colorado ended up losing eight of their final nine games to end with a record of 4-8. While the end was dissapoitning, it was still three more wins than the previous season.
2024 a major turnaround. The Buffs went 9-3 and made the Alamo Bowl. Buffs’ wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter won the 2024 Heisman Trophy and quarterback Shedeur Sanders was named 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
2025 was more of what 2023 was. The Buffs went 3-9, missing a bowl game for the second time in three seasons. Will they get back to a bowl in 2026?
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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.”
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