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Pac-12 targeting Boise St., Fresno St., San Diego St., Colorado St. for rebuild, AP sources say

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Pac-12 targeting Boise St., Fresno St., San Diego St., Colorado St. for rebuild, AP sources say


(AP) – The Pac-12 is ready to begin its rebuild.

The Conference of Champions is targeting Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State of the Mountain West, with the schools on the verge of being accepted as members as soon as this week, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the conference’s plans and discussions with possible new members were not being made public. They said, if an agreement is reached, the new schools would join in 2026.

Yahoo! Sports first reported the four Mountain West schools were applying for Pac-12 membership.

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The Pac-12 is currently a two-school conference, with Oregon State and Washington State the only remaining members after the league was picked apart last year by other power conferences.

NCAA rules allow for a conference to operate with only two schools for two years. Teresa Gould was hired to be the Pac-12 commissioner earlier this year, leading a slimmed down league office.

Leaders at Oregon State and Washington State have insisted since the Pac-12 collapsed last year their priority was to rebuild.

Those efforts are poised to start about a week after Oregon State and Washington State failed to renew for 2025 a football scheduling agreement they have in place with the Mountain West this season.

In a recent interview with the AP, Washington State President Kirk Schulz hinted at what could be next for the the Cougars and Beavers.

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“So I think my philosophy going through all this has always been, let’s look for what’s the best long-term solution for WSU. Let’s look where our budget is and how much can we spend in a sustainable fashion around intercollegiate athletics. And can we put ourselves in a position to win championships, conference championships, where maybe you are in the top half of the league instead of near the bottom of the league in terms of resources,” he told the AP.

Oregon State and Washington State also have a two-year agreement with the West Coast Conference to be affiliate members, which covers men’s and women’s basketball and other Olympic sports.

Mountain West exit fees go down the further out a school departs, making it financially prudent for the Pac-12 to wait until 2026 to add the new schools. Still, the conference will have to pay close to $30 million for each school to the Mountain West in exit fees and penalties that were included in the scheduling agreement.

Oregon State and Washington State have tens of millions of dollars at their disposal to work with from the two remaining years of the current College Football Playoff agreements and a contract with the Rose Bowl that will also expired after the 2025 football season. Plus, they have revenue accrued by Pac-12 teams in recent years from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and Pac-12 Network assets.

If the four schools leave the Mountain West, the conference would be left with eight members — Air Force, UNLV, Nevada, Utah State, New Mexico, Wyoming, San Jose State and Hawaii.

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MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement late Wednesday night the conference was aware of media reports and its board of directors was meeting to discuss the next steps.

“All members will be held to conference bylaws and policies should they elect to depart,” she said. “The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 should they admit Mountain West members.”

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AP Sports Writer Tim Booth in Pullman, Washington, contributed to this report.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football





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Construction complete on Grey Hawk Park in north Colorado Springs

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Construction complete on Grey Hawk Park in north Colorado Springs


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Construction is officially complete on a north Colorado Springs park.

The City of Colorado Springs said Grey Hawk Park, near Voyager Parkway and North Gate Boulevard, is now complete.

The playground is 6,500 square feet, and the city said the park includes accessible walking loops, a multi-use field, a picnic pavilion, half-court basketball space, furniture, shade trees and a natural area with soft-surface trails and a scenic overlook.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony begins on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

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The city said Mayor Yemi Mobolade, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Britt Haley, City Councilmember David Leinweber, former City Council President Randy Helms, and Grey Hawk HOA leadership are expected to speak at the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, they said students from Discovery Canyon Campus Elementary School and neighborhood children will be given the opportunity to help with playtesting the brand new equipment.

The city said the park will provide outdoor opportunities for nearby communities.



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Colorado State Patrol chases off-duty Denver police officer; officer arrested over a month later

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Colorado State Patrol chases off-duty Denver police officer; officer arrested over a month later


Newly released documents detail how a Colorado State Patrol trooper briefly chased an off-duty Denver police officer near Golden in October, how investigators used cell phone location data to track the officer’s speed, and the charges he now faces.

Christopher Thomas, 29, was arrested on Friday and released later that day on a $5,000 cash or surety bond. An arrest affidavit obtained by CBS News Colorado on Monday shows that the arrest was connected to a brief Oct. 23 chase involving a state trooper on Highway 58 just west of Golden.

Denver Police Officer Christopher Thomas

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Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office


Around 11:30 p.m. that night, a state trooper parked on the shoulder of the highway clocked a Dodge Ram pickup truck at 102 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to an arrest warrant. The trooper chased the truck with his lights and sirens on and got a partial license plate number when they got to eastbound Interstate 70 near Kipling Street in Wheat Ridge. At that point, the trooper said he and the truck were going 90 mph.

The trooper said traffic was “moderate” and described the driver as “reckless.” When he got behind the truck, it “accelerated aggressively.”

“The Trooper initiated a short pursuit, but speeds exceeded 100 miles per hour, and due to moderate traffic on Interstate 70, the Trooper discontinued the pursuit,” CSP said in a news release on Monday.

Dispatchers ran the partial license plate and vehicle model, which brought up Thomas, according to the arrest warrant. Troopers parked on his street, and when Thomas returned home, he saw the troopers and allegedly fled, losing the troopers.

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Learning the identity of the driver, CSP and several Denver police officers contacted DPD’s internal affairs unit, who requested that Thomas come into DPD headquarters. He did, having arrived in the same truck he allegedly fled troopers in, according to the arrest warrant.

After being read his Miranda Rights, Thomas requested to speak to an attorney, but agreed to let investigators search his personal cellphone for location data, calls, and text messages. Investigators say they were unable to find any evidence through a manual search of his phone and returned it to Thomas while they waited for a call detail records, or “CDR” warrant.

CDR warrants allow law enforcement to get cellphone metadata from cell service providers, which shows things like location data, who someone calls or is called by, when, and how long they’re on the phone for.

The warrant was approved and signed by a Jefferson County judge on Nov. 7 and sent to Thomas’s cellphone carrier. On Nov. 21, the company returned the requested CDR data to DPD, whose investigators then pored through that information using a program called Nighthawk on Dec. 3.

The location data, coupled with the time Thomas was allegedly at those locations, led investigators to estimate the speed at which he was traveling and placed him at locations consistent with the pursuit, according to the arrest warrant.

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Two days later, Thomas was arrested on suspicion of felony vehicular eluding creating a substantial risk of bodily injury and misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Thomas joined DPD in 2021 and was most recently assigned as a patrol officer to District 1, in the northwest part of the city, according to the department. He was suspended without pay because he’s facing a felony charge. If convicted of the felony, he’d lose the ability to be a law enforcement officer in Colorado.

“The Denver Police Department is committed to transparency and accountability,” the department said in a statement on Friday. “When a Denver Police officer is arrested, DPD works to proactively share information in a timely manner, when possible. As with all arrests, the suspect is innocent until proven guilty.”

DPD says it will conduct an administrative review of Thomas’s alleged actions after his criminal case concludes.

He has not yet formally been charged. He’s due back in court on Monday.

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Reached by phone on Tuesday, Thomas’s attorney declined to comment on the case while it’s ongoing.



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Denver City Council approves nonprofit Urban Alchemy as new manager of one of city’s homeless shelters

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Denver City Council approves nonprofit Urban Alchemy as new manager of one of city’s homeless shelters



The future manager of one of Denver’s homeless shelters will also respond to mental health calls.

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The Denver City Council approved two contracts with the nonprofit Urban Alchemy on Monday night. One, after a 9-4 vote, will be for $30 million to run The Aspen shelter in the city’s Central Park neighborhood for three years. The other will be for $3 million to answer 3-1-1 calls.

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The Salvation Army will no longer operate the Aspen Shelter (a former Doubletree hotel on Quebec Street) and two others at the end of the year.

The St. Francis Center will take over the Stone Creek shelter and Bayaud Works will run the Tamarac Family Shelter.

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Debate among the council and from the public before the vote was heated.

Urban Alchemy is based in San Francisco and runs shelters across the country. It says it has a culture of redemption, transparency and five-star service. In other cities, however, the nonprofit has faced allegations of wage theft, data misrepresentation, lobbying violations and sexual harassment. The Denver mayor’s office says Urban Alchemy has taken responsibility for those past mistakes and is ready to help.

“There (are) challenges at every single one of our locations. This is really hard work. But I have confidence in their ability to deliver a high quality of service to the people at our shelters and the Denver community,” said Cole Chandler, the senior advisor on homelessness in the mayor’s office.

Urban Alchemy sent a statement to CBS Colorado saying: “We look forward to partnering with the City of Denver to change lives and deliver meaningful results for people experiencing homelessness and in crisis. Our motto is: we can show you better than we can tell you, and we know our impact will speak for itself.” 

Urban Alchemy has hired 70 people in Denver so far.

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Denver’s Department of Housing Stability says it will investigate any complaints against Urban Alchemy and could recommend contract termination. Members of the department told CBS Colorado they are excited for the partnership.



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