Bankruptcy for owner of Denver Post

You have to read closely to see it, so elegant are the euphemisms, but the company that owns the company that owns the Denver Post is taking bankruptcy to get out from under $1 billion in loans it can't repay. ("Pact lets Post's owner cut debt," Jan. 16.) I note this with sadness, not any sort of pleasure, because Denver and Colorado need the Post -- all the more so after we lost the Rocky Mountain News a year ago -- and because I admire press lord Dean Singleton, whose MediaNews Group is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher in terms of circulation and who is one of the world's true visionaries about where journalism is going in the digital age.

As today's story explains, MediaNews is in relatively better shape than most other struggling or bankrupt newspaper owners, and given Singleton's proven virtuosity there is reason to think he can pilot the company through current storms into sustainability when industry trends smooth out. For Colorado's sake and in the interest of informed self-government, let's hope so.

Disclosure: I am a Denver Post columnist.

Colo. sports thru Texas eyes

As one of the many transplants who have moved from Texas to Colorado, I’ve picked up on several interesting differences between the sports scenes in Houston and Denver. Denver is one of the most unique sports cities in the country with an eclectic mix of competition for fans to take in.

Obviously there are the big four with the Broncos, Rockies, Nuggets and the Avalanche, but there is so much more. From Major League and Arena soccer to Arena and Australian Rules Football. There are even two professional lacrosse teams in town, not to mention the array of high school and college sports.

In Texas it is no secret that football is king, from high school all the way to the NFL. But while support for the Texans has continued to grow through the years, Houston is light years behind Denver when it comes to supporting an NFL franchise.

High School football is another matter. While it has increased in popularity in Denver, the entire state of Texas is infatuated with that level of football, and the majority of the State champions at the top levels over the last decade have come from the Houston area.

Prep baseball in Houston is far superior to that in Denver, with a laundry list of top MLB players originating from Houston. Meanwhile the biggest MLB player from the Denver area at the moment would probably be Brad Lidge.

Of course that’s not a surprise considering the climate here and how difficult it is to play baseball in cold weather. Anyone who has ever caught a 90 MPH fastball in sub-50 degree temperatures or hit a ball off the end of the bat would agree.

I guess the most obvious difference between the two cities when it comes to sports is the variety. While Houston has the Rockets and the Houston Dynamo, which has won the MLS championship, it is dominated by football and baseball from the professional ranks down to high school.

Denver provides more options which sports fans clearly enjoy, and while the Broncos obviously reign supreme, fans relish the opportunity to take in the plethora of athletic competition the city provides.

Austin Corder has covered sports for the Amarillo Globe and San Antonio Express as well as his hometown Houston Chronicle. He now lives in Genessee, equidistant between Invesco Field and the ski areas.

Sharf running again in HD-6

Editor: Joshua Sharf, who blogs for us as well as on his own at View from a Height, and who has long helped me on radio, made it official last week: He will take another run next year at the east Denver seat in Colorado's House that eluded him last year when Democrat Lois Court prevailed after Sharf had bested Rima Barakat Sinclair in the GOP primary. Here's his email announcement from today: On Thursday, October 15, I announced my candidacy for State House District 6.

I'm running because I know that Colorado can do better than we have been, and that our district's representation in the State House of Representatives needs to be a part of that improvement.

House District 6 is a relatively prosperous district. But even past success isn't enough to guarantee the future. Coloradoans are worried about losing control over their futures, futures which they have worked hard to build. We can work to give them back that control.

Colorado has the resources – most importantly, our people – that can lead us back out. We need to unleash those resources to their full potential.

I hope you'll be able to join me as I walk the district, knock on doors, and discuss how to get the state moving in the right direction again. Please visit my website at sharfcolorado.com for more information.

The work ahead won't be easy, but together, we can succeed, both as a campaign and more importantly, as a state.

See you on the trail, JOSHUA SHARF

Teacher's Desk: Support Seawell for DPS

IEP meetings continue, and I may soon turn into a pumpkin. Meanwhile, Denver Public Schools are holding a school board election and I have an endorsement for the at-large seat: Mary Seawell. The reason I am endorsing Mary is simple. She supports doing whatever it takes to ensure student academic success. This includes programs and process in regular district schools, charter schools, magnets and innovation schools. That is the fair-minded philosophy that the Denver School Board needs. This is the attitude that is needed for someone who will be making the decision of our charter schools’ renewals and the charters of new charter schools.

Her opposition is clearly anti-charter school without results-based plans to improve student achievement. He regurgitates trite, worn-out arguments.

I like Mary for another reason. She was part of the team that built the Denver University’s new MBA in educational leadership. The program is a much needed resource and is a combination of traditional school leadership training coupled with marketing and entrepreneurship. Other states’ universities have “charter school principal programs,” and I am thrilled that Colorado now does too!

Kathleen Kullback is a licensed special educator at Colorado High School Charter, a Denver alternative high school, and a former candidate for the State Board of Education.