Today is March 17, 2023 and here is what you need to know:

Recent mayoral debates have been combative, but the forum on Thursday, which focused on fentanyl, was much more collaborative. 

Candidates were asked questions by students at 5280 High School, which specializes in providing education for youth dealing with substance misuse and addiction. Their queries, which all dealt with fentanyl use, treatment and support systems for young people, were framed by the students’ own struggles with addiction and their successes with sobriety.

The high school has welcomed about 500 students from all over the Denver area since it opened in 2018, according to Melissa Mouton, the school’s founder. 

Kwame Spearman, the CEO of the Tattered Cover and one of 17 mayoral aspirants, dropped out of the Denver mayor’s race Thursday, his campaign confirmed. 

Spearman also threw his support behind Kelly Brough. 

“The city where I grew up, my home, has real challenges ahead,” Spearman said in a news release. “While I jumped in full throttle, it wasn’t enough to break through the crowded field. This is about what’s best for Denver, its neighborhoods and its residents. As the CEO of a small business, we need a leader who supports entrepreneurs and will work to ensure small businesses thrive in Denver.”

The March revenue forecast – key for legislators who will craft the Colorado state government’s spending priorities in the upcoming fiscal year – shows modest improvements from December, but warning signs exists for a possible recession, reduced revenue collections and the effects of inflation and population growth on the state budget.

The forecasts were presented by the Legislative Council economists, nonpartisan staff who work for the legislature, and economists with the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) to the Joint Budget Committee, the body that builds the state budget.   

Those forecasts usually differ, and in some years, the differences can be substantial. It’s then up to a decision by the JBC on which forecast they will use to decide the final 2023-24 state budget, which is expected to be introduced in the state Senate in 11 days.

Available general fund revenues, according to the Legislative Council forecast, will be slightly higher in 2023-24 than the previous year: $17.74 billion for 2023-24 versus $17.16 billion for the current budget year. Both numbers are slightly higher than was forecast last December. 

Colorado landlords could soon be prohibited from evicting tenants or declining to renew leases without “just cause,” if a bill passed by the state House becomes law. 

Under House Bill 1171, landlords could only evict or terminate residential leases if the tenant does something wrong, such as failing to pay rent, violating lease agreements, committing illegal activity, refusing to let the landlord enter the property with advanced notice, and refusing to sign a new but substantially similar lease, among other conditions. 

Landlords could evict or terminate leases in certain no-fault circumstances, such as to renovate or demolish the property or to move themselves or their family into the property. However, in these cases, the landlord would have to give the tenant 90 days’ notice and pay the tenant two to three months’ worth of rent to help them pay for new housing. 

During the 24 years she represented Denver’s 1st Congressional District, Pat Schroeder became known as much for her razor-sharp wit and memorable quips as for the landmark legislation she championed and the barriers she knocked down.

A fierce advocate for women and children, the Colorado Democrat had a knack for bringing into focus injustices others either ignored or shrugged off as the natural order of things, all while producing a seemingly endless stream of succinct phrases that made her points.

Schroeder, who died at age 82 on Feb. 13, hadn’t planned on going to Washington even hours after the polls closed in 1972 – she’d expected to return to work at the jobs she’d kept during her candidacy – but once she got there, she soon established herself as a towering political figure.

Whether it was landing a seat – but not a chair of her own – as the first woman on the House Armed Services Committee or filling the Capitol with young children to illustrate the building’s lack of day care, Schroeder met obstacles with a cheeky defiance.

The unconventional path she took to Congress paved the way for a career marked by bucking the system and speaking her mind, according to Schroeder and her friends and campaign workers.