Morning headlines from DenverPost.com

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Today's Front Page News

Colorado avalanche danger worst in 30 years
Two deaths in the backcountry this week and a surge in skier-involved avalanches have prodded the Colorado Avalanche Information Center to issue a "special advisory statement" warning backcountry travelers of the likelihood of large and dangerous avalanches across the state.  

• Anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce handcuffed, sent to jail
• Days from 50th anniversary of orbital flight, John Glenn fever rockets
• Denver police bomb squad well-suited for danger
• Commerce City boy, 4, dies; grandmother arrested
• TABOR suit on unsettled ground

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Today's Local Politics

Colorado announces reforms to child-welfare system
Colorado will overhaul how it trains child-welfare caseworkers, make more information public when a child dies of abuse or neglect and start using data to hold counties accountable for how they deal with reports of child abuse, state officials said Thursday.  

• Colorado's swing-state status gives rise to super-PAC attack

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Today's Business

Consumer prices increase in Denver metro area
The consumer price index for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley metropolitan area increased 3.6 percent from the second half of 2010 to the second half of 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  

• Court blocks Colorado AG from investigating tribes' online payday loans
• Spirit Airlines to resume service in Denver after 8-year absence
• Women's sporting events to be economic blockbuster for Denver

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Today's Sports Headlines

State championships get set for top stories
Three things to watch for in tonight's championship matches at the Colorado state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center.  

• Avalanche breaks streak in Edmonton, slides past Oilers 3-1
• Falcons rout Mercyhurst, 8-0
• Pioneers, Sam Brittain blank Wisconsin 3-0
• Nuggets erase 23-point deficit only to lose on Memphis' last-second tip-in
• Arvada high pins hopes on trio of wrestlers

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Today's Entertainment

Celebrating "always honest, always profound" Johann Sebastian Bach at Boulder Bach Festival
When it comes to Bach, Rick Erickson never had a choice. "I consider myself born into Bach," said the newish music director of the Boulder Bach Festival, in his post since July. "I have so many relatives who are organists or choral people.  

• The blues, straight up: Colorado bluesman Otis Taylor's take on human "Contraband"
• Movie review: Venture into the stately, gentle movie "The Secret World of Arrietty"

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Today's Style

How to choose the right wedding dress
Those who have never been married might wonder why brides-to-be make such a big deal out of selecting a wedding dress. But analyze the components and you'll begin to see why.  

• Look of the Day, 2/17/2012

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Today's Opinion

Editorial: "I didn't do anything wrong." Yeah, right
Douglas Bruce, father of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, reported to jail Friday after being sentenced earlier this week for tax evasion in a spectacle befitting his controversial history in Colorado.  

• Editorial: For super PACs, a dose of disclosure
• What stereotype must Lin overcome?
• Carroll: So is democracy unconstitutional now?
• Guest Commentary: Exploiting Columbine on Lifetime