Minn. Test Scores Remain Flat; Achievement Gap Stays Open

A San Luis Valley man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for extortion and threatening judges in multiple counties on Wednesday, according to a news release from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Brett Andrew Nelson was arrested in Gunnison on Feb. 15, 2023, for various felony counts of criminal extortion, retaliation against a judge and attempt to influence a public servant as well as stalking, forgery and other charges. In a statewide grand jury in April 2022, Nelson was found guilty of 20 out of 24 charges for committing extortion and threatening several judges, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens in Gunnison, Montrose, and Alamosa Counties over a two-year period. According to the 24-count indictment, Nelson filed multiple fraudulent documents against a variety of public officials and victims associated with criminal and domestic cases in which he was a defendant and claimed they owed him millions of dollars in monetary damages.

Sean Payton is Rice Krispies. He snaps, crackles and pops. And that’s just at postgame news conferences. But when he sees the right quarterback, the record scratches and he stops. In what is the Broncos’ most important draft since 2018, the answer is simple: trust the coach. He doesn’t make it easy.

Whether the Broncos move up, down or stay at No. 12, they are confident in their ability to land an impact player in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday. The quarterback position has been the central focus of draft talks since the team benched Russell Wilson for the final two games of last season.

The Denver Zoo’s sloth parents Charlotte and Elliot gained a new family member Friday with the birth of their fourth baby sloth. The Linne’s two-toed sloth pup is healthy, strong and “nursing like a pro,” Denver Zoo officials wrote in a Facebook post. Zoo-goers may catch a glimpse of mom Charlotte and her pup in their treetop habitat in the Tropical Discovery building. Sloth gestation lasts 10 months, and sloths give birth to one baby in the trees, according to the Denver Zoo. Newborn sloths are 10 inches long and weigh up to 13 ounces.

Defendants in Colorado sexual assault cases soon will be prohibited from using what a victim was wearing or a victim’s hairstyle as evidence of consent. Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, who is the acting governor this week, signed House Bill 1072 Wednesday afternoon. The bipartisan legislation is aimed at strengthening protections for sex assault victims in court by expanding the rape shield law.

Saylor Swanson says it so casually you can almost miss it. “I’ve always pictured myself playing quarterback,” Swanson, an Arvada West High junior, said Wednesday morning at the Broncos’ training facility. She has been, really, for the past two years playing flag football in CHSAA’s pilot program. She will be this fall, too, but in a slightly different capacity.