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
“Uncertainty” colors Colorado economic forecast as lawmakers begin to finalize budget
State economists confirmed Colorado’s brutal budgetary situation Monday, kicking off lawmakers’ mad dash to fill a $1.2 billion hole in the budget.
The March economic forecasts from the governor’s office and legislative staff solidify the numbers lawmakers will use to set the final state budget. Lawmakers had been aware — and raising alarms — about the massive hole since last year, and have already set in motion some cuts to fill it.
How close lawmakers are to filling the hole should become clearer Tuesday during a planned hearing on how cuts proposed so far square with the forecasts. They will then need to finalize the budget — including any additional cuts — before the budget is heard by the entire Senate next week.
It needs to be approved by the legislature in the next month and will dictate state spending for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
“We have worked so hard to find ways to have the least possible impact on Coloradans,” Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Democrat and chair of the Joint Budget Committee, said following the forecasts.
He added that he’s optimistic “that those really painful, difficult decisions have led to a place where we are very close to closing this budget in a way that creates the least amount of pain possible for the people of Colorado.”
Lawmakers have grappled with how to pay for — or cut — services like Medicaid, child care for the poorest Coloradans, and school meals, as well as core functions like education. Rocketing Medicaid costs in particular have blown open the state budget, while lawmakers are also trying to find ways to pay for Proposition 130, the voter-approved measure forcing the state to pay $350 million to bolster law enforcement.
Lawmakers from both parties agree the state faces a structural spending problem, but disagree on the blame.
Bridges faults the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, for forcing “rationing” because it limits state spending, regardless of economic conditions or needs. Republicans, including budget committee member Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, blame state spending that they say outpaces the voter-approved constitutional amendment. She points to charts from 2021 showing general fund spending on a trajectory to outpace the TABOR cap.
“We’re still in a structural deficit,” Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican, said. “We cannot just expect to sweep cash funds and not reduce, not stop our spending of ongoing general funders and think we’re going to be OK the following year.”
She was less optimistic than Bridges on how close the budget committee was to filling the gap. She estimated they still needed to find about $500 million in cuts, while Bridges predicted the committee was closer by “several hundred million” dollars.
Despite the cuts hanging over lawmakers’ heads, economists still predict state tax collections will outpace the cap set by TABOR — though refunds will be far from the recent windfalls taxpayers have received in recent years. This upcoming year’s TABOR surplus may be particularly slim, nonpartisan legislative economists predicted.
That expected $108 million surplus, versus the $1.3 billion surplus from last year, may even force lawmakers next year to dip into the general fund to pay for recently passed property tax cuts.
Economists for lawmakers and from Gov. Jared Polis’ office both pointed to uncertain national policy as rippling through their forecasts. Both camps, independent of each other, predicted a higher risk of recession as the Trump administration’s tariff and tax policies materialize.
“I think the word of the day is uncertainty,” said Mark Ferrandino, Polis’ budget director.
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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.”
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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