Will this be the team that gets Arizona back to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years, and maybe go further? Who knows. But one thing is for certain, no Wildcats squad has had a better regular season than this one.
Colorado
What’s Working: Robocalls are declining in Colorado but still number in the millions
Quick links: Comcast layoffs | Local fed workers update | Take the reader poll | More!
Coloradans fare better than most Americans when it comes to pesky robocallers, according to the latest data from YouMail, which has a free call-blocking app.
But at nine calls per capita last month — below the nation’s average of 12.3 — Colorado phones received an estimated 51.6 million robocalls in September. That per capita figure includes babies.
The problem is, said Danny Katz, executive director of Colorado Public Interest Research Group, many of us are getting way more annoying calls. And the number of robocalls in the state has doubled since 2016 despite laws requiring phone companies to adopt technology that authenticates a voice caller’s identity to prevent spoofing and scams.
While the technology doesn’t authenticate text messages, the FCC has other rules banning text messages sent by an autodialer.
The Federal Communications Commission has taken action. In August, the FCC kicked out 1,200 noncompliant voice service companies “effectively disconnecting them from (the) U.S. phone network.”
But in a new analysis of federal data, PIRG found that only 44% of more than 9,000 phone companies had fully installed the technology. Another 18% have it partially installed. And 31% haven’t installed it.
“Unfortunately, protecting consumers is a marathon and every time that we get to the next benchmark, oftentimes the scam artists are thinking, OK, what’s the new technology or new way that we can get around the rules and regulations?” Katz said. “But I do think every benchmark we hit is a higher bar for scam artists to have to pass. Even though it’s not working perfectly yet, I think there’s plenty of us who have seen a decrease in the number of robocalls and spam texts we have gotten over the last few years.”
Katz is talking about the phone companies in compliance, like T-Mobile, Verizon and other familiar consumer mobile services. Verizon has its Spam Alerts and Call Filter tools for landlines and wireless to help users identify suspicious callers and block them. T-Mobile has ScamShield. AT&T has ActiveArmor.
According to the broadband trade association US Telecom, on behalf of AT&T, the number of robocalls is actually going down. Even YouMail’s data shows that numbers have been in decline this year.
Still, “we recognize that illegal robocalls and scams do continue to be a scourge on our networks, which is why carriers have implemented security protocols,” the trade group said in a statement.
More to come on this topic. Are spam calls getting worse, better or have you even noticed? Take the reader poll to help us better understand the impact on Coloradans.
➔ cosun.co/WWrobocalls
Why Comcast is closing its Centennial HQ and laying off 302
Comcast this week told the state’s labor department that it will close its West Division headquarters in Centennial and layoff 302 employees as part of a major restructuring.
In a memo from Sept. 18, company leaders told employees they need to realign the company for growth. And something that’s not growing? Legacy cable TV and broadband businesses.
The company doesn’t even call it cable TV anymore, but rather, “residential connectivity and platforms.” In its second-quarter earnings report, Comcast lost 11% of its domestic video customers in a year, down by 1.4 million to 11.8 million customers. A decade ago, it had 22.3 million video customers.
Over the same decade, its broadband subscribers grew 40% to 31.5 million, as of June. But that is falling, too, and was down 1.6% in June, compared with a year ago, for a loss of 528,000 internet customers.
But Comcast’s revenues are growing, up 2.1% in the second quarter from a year earlier, thanks to its Universal theme parks and its mobile phone service. Net income nearly tripled to $11 billion, though that was largely due to selling its interest in Hulu to Disney for $9.4 billion.
The restructuring gets rid of divisions in order to focus on regions. If that sounds a little confusing, a Comcast spokesperson clarified Thursday that the company has three divisions: Central, West and Northeast.
The Centennial office, located at 9401 E. Panorama Circle, is the West Division headquarters. But all three divisions are closing. The Central division in Atlanta, is laying off 240 employees. The Northeast division in New Hampshire layoff total has not been confirmed.
But regions, which include other offices and Comcast operations in the U.S., will remain.
The city of Centennial is still home to several Comcast facilities, including an older building at 4100 E. Dry Creek. The aging facility, which existed before Centennial was incorporated in 2001, is the local headend where large satellite dishes help distribute video and is the metro Denver home of Comcast Technology Solutions.
Centennial city officials said in a statement that it “feels for those impacted workers,” but also understands “the need for our companies to restructure and recalibrate in order to remain competitive in a challenging economic environment.”
Neil Marciniak, Centennial’s director of Economic Development, said Comcast will still be the city’s largest private employer. Based on 2024 data, Comcast employed 2,500 people in Centennial, he said.
Colorado federal workers unemployment claims up 81% in a week
The federal shutdown continued to impact federal workers in Colorado with the numbers filing for unemployment growing 81% since last week to 1,119 since Oct. 1, according to the state labor department.
That includes folks who took deferred resignation earlier in the year and had their last day Sept. 30. But current employees, who haven’t been paid since the shutdown began, are now 18 days into the shutdown.
Companies are sharing information on what they’re doing to ease the financial burden, including:
Speaking of the government shutdown, here’s how What’s Working readers responded to last week’s poll on how the shutdown has affected your life. Check it out 🡻🡻
Sun economy stories you may have missed
➔ Dark money group that spent big in Colorado’s Democratic primaries approved funding for Vail retreat for state lawmakers, lobbyists. The Colorado Sun has learned that One Main Street Colorado signed off on a request for $25,000 from the Colorado Opportunity Caucus to fund hotel rooms. >> Read story
➔ Michael Bennet, Phil Weiser are amassing millions of dollars for their Democratic gubernatorial primary fight. The candidates had about $4.6 million in combined campaign cash to begin October. >> Read story
➔ Nederland fire erased a third of local businesses and with it 30% of town sales tax revenue. U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, Gov. Jared Polis visited Caribou Village Shopping Center and promised help navigating access to government help >> Read story
➔ Colorado plans to fully digitize paper and analog land records, some dating back to the 1860s, by next year. A $2 fee from every property filing since 2016 has helped fund the state’s $21M effort to preserve paper and analog records for digital eternity >> Read story
➔ Subsidized flights to small Colorado communities will continue during shutdown — for now. Denver International Airport has the most federally subsidized essential air service routes of anywhere in the nation. That includes flights to Cortez, Alamosa and Pueblo. >> Read story
➔ From Brooklyn to Beulah, hippie beginnings to golden years, a retired couple returns to van life. Part of Colorado’s rapidly aging demographic, Dave and Helene Van Manen left their mountain home for a more practical future — on their own terms >> Read story
Other working bits
➔ Dollar General agrees to pay $400,000 fine for pricing inaccuracies. The settlement comes after the state attorney general’s office sent investigators to stores in Milliken and Loveland in 2023 and found that more than 2% of item prices advertised on shelves rang in differently at the cash register. The AG’s office continued to inspect stores all over the state and found that 12 of 18 inspections charged a higher price at the register.
Dollar General, which has 70 stores in Colorado, denied the allegations but agreed to the settlement, which also requires the retailer to do price audits at each store for the next three years, according to terms. >> View settlement
➔ There are 157,819 job openings on state’s job board. But of those, nearly one-third are remote or out of state, according to the state labor department. As of Oct. 15, 45,880 were out of state and 5,522 were remote. The top company posting jobs? Oracle, with 10,153 openings. Registration to the state’s job board, at connectingcolorado.gov, is required for those collecting unemployment checks. >> Hunt for a job
➔ Pueblo recycler named to Cleantech 50 watch list. That’s a notable honor for Driven Plastics, which takes unwanted plastic bags or that shrink wrap that companies excessively use and turns it into an additive to make asphalt roads last longer. For each mile of one lane, the Pueblo manufacturer recycles up to 10 tons of that thin plastic. >> Earlier story
Got some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww
Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. As always, share your 2 cents on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww. ~ tamara
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What’s Working is a Colorado Sun column about surviving in today’s economy. Email tamara@coloradosun.com with stories, tips or questions. Read the archive, ask a question at cosun.co/heyww and don’t miss the next one by signing up at coloradosun.com/getww.
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Data centers: What good are they for Colorado?
Re: “Dueling policies for data centers,” March 1 news story
The Denver Post article about two competing bills in the legislature regarding new data centers in Colorado seems to start with the presumption that we want the data centers.
Why do we want them and who wants them? Is it the politicians wanting bragging rights about our state becoming another Silicon Valley? Perhaps they want more businesses so they can collect more taxes from the new residents. Alternatively, they just want more power in Washington by increasing our population. Has anyone stopped to ask why we want to attract more people to our state?
Colorado is in a fight with other Western states to obtain more water for our growing population. Our wildlife is being crowded out by the increased urbanization. The roads are so crowded that it is not uncommon to come to a complete stop on our interchanges during rush hour. We have a serious housing shortage. The air is being polluted by the increased number of cars. These are all the result of a growing population. Did anyone stop to ask why we want more people?
During my 53 years living in Colorado, I have never heard anyone (other than politicians) say, “We need more people.” On the contrary, the conversation is more often about how we are becoming overcrowded. I would like the politicians to explain why we need more businesses and more people in our state. It should not be a presumption that more is better! Are our elected representatives truly reflecting the wishes of their constituents?
Doug Hurst, Parker
Anger and disbelief were our reactions when we read about House Bill 1030, which is under consideration at the statehouse. This outrageous corporate welfare bill would provide some of the world’s wealthiest corporations with massive state tax reductions to build monstrous resource-thirsty data centers. Analysts projected a $92.5 million tax loss in just three years if a bunch of these data centers are built. Just one 160-megawatt facility would gobble up as much power as 176,000 homes once completed. Consider for comparison that the entire DIA airport uses around 45 megawatts of power!
As the state legislature grapples with bone-deep budget cuts, we cannot afford to exempt data centers from paying their own way nor allow their unregulated construction. Taxpayer-funded corporate handouts would entail massive hits to tax revenue that should be used for our schools, roads, infrastructure, and valid state needs. What essential services will potentially be cut or axed to cover the lost revenue to the state from this corporate giveaway?
These data centers also demand massive amounts of our water. A CoreSite data center in Denver alone will use approximately 805,000 gallons of water per day to air-condition its computers. That is the same as the average daily indoor water use of 16,100 Denver homes.
I pray our state legislature will condemn HB-1030 to the corporate welfare hell where it belongs in. Instead, they should support Senate Bill 102 that will hopefully properly regulate these tax-eating, water-wasting, and electricity-gobbling monstrosities.
Terry Talbot, Grand Junction
As a pediatrician, I’ve noticed one key issue missing from the data center debate: public health.
Data centers are extraordinarily energy- and water-intensive. Nationally, they already consume about 4% of U.S. electricity — a figure expected to more than double by 2030. Much of that power still comes from burning fossil fuels. Without strong safeguards, that growth means more air pollution. In my clinical practice, I see firsthand how health is shaped by the air we breathe. More pollution means more asthma attacks, heart disease, and premature deaths, especially in communities already burdened by poor air quality.
Water use is another concern. Large data centers can use enormous amounts of water for cooling. In a drought-prone state like Colorado, this raises serious questions about long-term drinking water reliability and heat resilience.
Energy affordability is also a health issue. When infrastructure is built to serve massive corporate users, costs can shift to households. I see the effects of energy insecurity in families forced to choose between cooling their homes, buying medication, or putting food on the table.
Colorado has an opportunity to get this right. Senate Bill 102 would establish guardrails to protect ratepayers, limit pollution, and ensure large electricity users pay their full infrastructure costs. Other states, including Michigan and Virginia, are reconsidering generous tax incentives after seeing how quickly public costs can outpace public benefit.
Colorado can welcome innovation without sacrificing clean air, clean water, affordable energy, and community health. Public health must be a priority, not an afterthought.
Clare Burchenal, Denver
As the story makes clear, data centers in our communities have real impacts on our health, our pocketbooks and our quality of life. I’m a mom of two small children who are counting on the adults in the room to make responsible decisions that impact their futures. It’s dizzying to see the pace of data centers sweeping the country and confusing as to why leaders are rushing to accommodate them without taking into consideration all of the impacts these massive industrial complexes have on communities.
It’s critical that data centers are powered by clean-burning renewable energy, not fossil fuels. We are in a no-snow winter in Colorado, and we have no safeguards in place against data center water use. Energy infrastructure should be paid for by the billion-dollar big tech companies that will profit from it, not by unfair rate increases for our families and small businesses.
There is a way to do this right. Senate Bill 102 has some important protections for our families and communities while still allowing for the responsible construction and operation of data centers built in appropriate places in our state. It is unacceptable that our leaders do nothing to protect us from big tech excesses. SB-102 will protect all Colorado kids – and their parents and communities. Join me in urging our legislators to pass this important bill.
Sara Kuntzler, Arvada
U.S. women’s hockey players above the game and politics
Re: “Trump tore athletes down on the world’s stage,” March 1 commentary
Dear Megan Schrader,
Thank you for your column on how the president disrespected the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team. Your excellent commentary hit and sent the puck into the back of the net, so to speak.
To take it a step further, I believe the women’s choice not to visit the White House was more than meets the eye. Ostensibly, they declined the invitation because of the timing, specifically the resumption of play in the professional women’s hockey league.
Yet, I would like to believe it was more an expression of contempt for the president and his policies.
The women were smarter and braver and truer to their values than were the men’s Olympic hockey team, who, with the same timing issues, chose to accept the invitation to the White House. That visit and the visit to the State of the Union Address only helped bolster the president’s optics. An exception was the Colorado Avalanche’s own Brock Nelson, who declined to accompany the men’s team because he valued his family time more than a public charade.
In sports — as in life — we need more people like the women hockey players who will elevate their values above the games and politics.
Bill Allegar, Denver
Backing up to park for safety?
Re: “Do you back into a parking spot or back out?” March 1 feature story
I read this with slight amusement. For someone who has traveled a bit, and especially in Asia (Japan in particular), backing into a parking space is a very common practice (not a new trend) and has been for decades. On my first trip to Japan, around 1992, I was told it was what most people did.
As for the company Imminent Threat Solutions recommending “tactical parking” because they should “prevail against all threats,” seems like marketing hype of the biggest kind, building fear into your daily life of running errands and going to work. Has there been bad behaviour, shootings, and whatnot in a parking lot? Sure, but let’s not build fear for something that happens rarely to the average individual.
Randy DeBoer, Denver
To add to the parking procedures article in Sunday’s paper, there is another option, one that I use and recommend; it’s the “drive-through” to an open space.
After having been hit and having a rental car damaged (a three-month hassle to resolve) by a driver who backed out of an opposite space without looking, I don’t drive into a parking space if I can help it. What I do instead is find an open space where I can drive in straight and continue to a back-to-back adjoining space where I can park and then drive ahead to depart. These parking spots are typically a longer walk to my destination, and I benefit from the additional steps.
G. E. Cole, Centennial
I enjoyed your article on discussing whether to back in or pull straight into parking spaces. Our oldest son is a backer-inner, and I am starting to be one too. What is missing from your analysis, though, is the grocery store, much less Costco or Home Depot. Almost nobody is a backer-inner in these places, since you’re typically loading stuff in your backseat, hatch, or pickup bed. I guess the backer-inners are just not going to be able to escape as quickly once they’ve picked up 50 pounds of dog food, 25 rolls of paper towels, or five sheets of 4′ x 8′ plywood. Hope they survive.
Tim Hickisch, Highlands Ranch
You can support immigrants and the law
Re: “Faith communities show support for immigrants,” Feb. 22 news story
Faith communities do show support for immigrants. I don’t agree with those who stand against the law and ICE. While we may support all people made in the image of God, we should not be for illegal immigrants. They have broken the law, and some are doing great harm while living here. Legal immigrants, please come. Illegal immigrants, please go home and come here legally.
Deanna R Walworth, Brighton
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Early Sunday morning, Colorado rescue crews found the body of a missing skier who was killed in a recent avalanche.
The skier was reported missing in the Boss Basin area in the upper portion of Resolution Creek on March 7.
Summit County Rescue Group, Vail Mountain Rescue and the Summit and Eagle County Sheriff’s Offices began searching the area and discovered the site of the avalanche. They noticed that nearby ski and snowmobile tracks led up to where it occurred.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says Flight for Life helped with the search. They found the body of the missing skier in the avalanche debris on Sunday, around sunrise.
CAIC staff said the avalanche started near the treeline on a northeast-facing slope and was about two feet deep. The slope angles ranged from 33 to 36 degrees.
According to CAIC data, this is the first person killed in an avalanche during the 2025-2026 ski season.
Avalanche danger in some parts of the high country is considerable, particularly on north- and east-facing slopes and on large open slopes just below ridgelines.
The CAIC Forecast for Sunday says:
“The avalanche danger will stay at CONSIDERABLE (3of5) on Sunday for the places that picked up the most snow in this last storm (Elk and Sawatch Ranges). Areas that received less than 8 inches will go back to MODERATE danger, but this may vary significantly from drainage to drainage and with elevation. Assume a higher danger if you find a foot or more of new snow. Across the region, wind-drifted slopes will remain the most dangerous regardless of the danger. In the shallower areas (Elks and Sawatch), we’re more concerned about avalanches in motion breaking deeper, failing in buried facet layers.
On Sunday, as the sun pops out, remember that a strong spring sun can make sunny slopes unstable rather quickly. Keep an eye out for roller balls as an indication of a forthcoming shed cycle of loose avalanches.”
Second-ranked Arizona rallied from down 11 late in the first half to win 89-79 at Colorado on Saturday night, putting the finishing touches on its first Big 12 title. The 29 victories are the most in school history during the regular season, breaking a mark done four previous times including in 2021-22 in Tommy Lloyd’s first year running the program.
Brayden Burries had a career-high 31 points, 22 coming in the second half, while Koa Peat scored 19 of his 25 in the first half. The freshmen combined to make 21 of 31 shots and Burries added an 11-of-12 performance at the foul line, and Burries added seven rebounds, five steals and an assist.
Tobe Awaka, Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas each had 10 for Arizona, which shot 70.4 percent in the second half and 55.9 percent for the game. The Wildcats had a 54-26 edge on points in the paint and finished plus-5 on the boards after being down four at the half.
Jaden Bradley went scoreless for the first time this season, missing all three of his shots, but he made up for it with six of the UA’s 22 assists.
Colorado (17-14) got 28 points from Isaiah Johnson, who set the school freshman season scoring record. The Buffaloes shot 40.6 percent and made 7 of 22 from 3 but only hit one triple after halftime.
The UA trailed 38-36 at halftime, only the fourth time this season it has been down after 20 minutes, after being down 11 late in the first half. A Burries 3 tied it at 44, thenKharchenkov gave the Wildcats their first lead at 48-46 with 16:59 remaining.
Arizona got the lead up to five before Colorado fought back. Six straight by Bangot Dak put the Buffaloes ahead 54-52 but then Dak picked up his fourth foul and had to sit.
That began a 4-minute stretch with 10 lead changes before Arizona got a stop and Burries drained a 3 on the other end to put the UA up 66-62 with 9:17 left. The Wildcats made six straight shots, including back-to-back baskets inside byAwaka to make it 73-64 with 7:15 remaining.
A 3 from Kharchenkov put Arizona up 10 with 5:48 to go. The Buffaloes got within six before Peat dunked through a zone defense, and a Burries layup again got the lead to double digits.
Peat had 12 of Arizona’s first 14 points in the first seven minutes, but none put the Wildcats in the lead. The Buffaloes never trailed in the first half, jumping out to an 8-point edge with 8:08 left before halftime and extending that to 36-25 with 4:21 to go in the half, both on 3s by Johnson.
Colorado hit six 3-pointers in the first half, three by Johnson, while Arizona was 0 for 6 from deep
A 9-0 run, capped by a 3-point play by Burries, got the UA within two in the final minute, setting the stage for the second half.
Arizona now gets a few days off before heading to the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. As the No. 1 seed it has a double bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals, where it will face either No. 8 UCF, No. 9 Cincinnati or No. 16 Utah. They beat those teams this season by seven, 26 and 19 points, respectively.
2026 Big 12 Tournament schedule
No. 12 ASU (16-15) vs. No. 13 Baylor (16-15), 9:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
No. 9 Cincinnati (17-14) vs. No. 16 Utah (10-21), 12 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 10 BYU (21-10) vs. No. 15 Kansas State (12-19), 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 11 Colorado (17-14) vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State (18-13), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
ASU/Baylor winner vs. No. 5 Iowa State (25-6), 9:30 a.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Cincinnati/Utah winner vs. No. 8 UCF (20-10), 12 p.m. (ESPNU)
BYU/Kansas State winner vs. No. 7 West Virginia (18-13), 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
Colorado/Oklahoma State winner vs. No. 6 TCU (21-10), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
ASU/Baylor-Iowa State winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (22-9), 9:30 a.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Cincinnati/Utah-UCF winner vs. No. 1 Arizona (29-2), 12 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
BYU/Kansas State-West Virginia winner vs. No. 2 Houston (26-5), 4 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Colorado/Oklahoma State-TCU winner vs. No. 3 Kansas (22-9), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 2 winner, 4 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Quarterfinal 3 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
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