>> some fans gave us there. we heard from the coach and now we want your opinion. it's known for its beauty and someone tried to ruin it. the search for two vandals. it's been burning for two months. now we know how the beaver creek fire got started. the message from a teacher about homework that has sparked a national conversation. 9news starts now. whether to raise the tobacco tax by roughly 300%. smokers are paying $0.84 in taxes per pack. initiative approved for the ballot would raise that to about $2.60 per pack. 9news reporter whitney wild joins us to explain why. >> reporter: a campaign for a healthy colorado is pushing this bill. it will raise 315 million but the main purpose is to stop young people from smoking. one dr. we spoke with says compared with other states,

colorado has been a long time coming. >> we are now the 38th highest tax in the country. >> reporter: dr. davidoff is the president of the american heart association denver and is backing the effort to triple the tobacco tax in colorado. >> we know the tax in colorado has not kept pace with inflation. >> reporter: the proposal would increase taxes on cigarettes by $1.75 per pack. and other prod the bill would put that money back into tobacco education, research and would even help pay back student loans for health professionals in rural areas. supporters say the purpose is to stop young people from smoking. >> tobacco tax is one of the most effective ways to prevent youth from starting smoking in the first place. >> smoking is bad for you. >> reporter: jackie ward picked up smoking six months ago.

>> you can't buy something without getting text. i don't think you can make a case for its fair or not. >> reporter: demetrius graham started smoking at 18. he is now 22 and understands why people are pushing to raise the tax. >> makes me want to quit. yeah. smoking is an expensive habit regardless. i'll probably slow down. >> reporter: colorado last raised tobacco tax from $0.20 to $0.84 per pack back in 2004. a business owner who declined to speak with us did this would force him to close his business. >> that much of his sales from cigarettes? wow. two months after the beaver creek fire started investigators say it was human caused. still burning along the colorado-wyoming border. we have not been told yet how they reached that conclusion. the fire started on june 19. it has since burned more than 37,000 acres, more than 200 firefighters are still working

until there is significant snow later in the fall. someone decided the rocks on the lookout not to need their spray paint. someone else got it on video. a whole lot of social media investigators are trying to help deputies track down the vandals. you may have seen this video widely circulated today. to young men being confronted for spray painting the rocks. coloradans will rightly be upset around this vandalism but any native. >> we shouldn't be disrespectful to everything that we appreciate. a lot of us drive thousands of miles just to see this. i don't want to see the side of some rock tagged with an idiot's logo. i tell them they need to learn how to respect nature. they didn't create that. tear up what you bought and what you created. don't tear up the rest of our stuff. >> there you go. we often blur the spray-painted symbols of prolific taggers around count to avoid giving them attention.

like a body part and the skill level suggests this is either their first time or they don't know much about english or anatomy. we saved ourselves the trouble of the blur. the driver who rammed a denver police car still hasn't been caught and the truck he could be driving now shouldn't be that hard to spot. it started just before 10:00 a.m. when officers approached the driver in a stolen black chevy pickup near peoria and 39th. the driver ran the police cruiser and then took off. no one was hurt. abandoned in a lot at evans and holly. surveillance video shows the driver pulling up to another truck and stealing it. >> we heard nothing. i mean, it happened that fast. the truck is still running. so it happened fast. you know, he knew what he was doing. >> police say the driver may be in a 1998 white ford f2 50 with black flames.

and of the stolen vehicle only this time there were two children inside. the suv reported stolen from the federal heights area this afternoon. police spotted it, the driver took off and went off the road into a vacant lot. he took off on foot but didn't get far. the young children in the car were safe and reunited with their parents. police have not did -- released how the thief was able to steal the suv. two climbers went up capital peek and needed help getting down once the snow took a few hours for rescuers to reach them. two rescuers went in via helicopter, one -- climbers reported they were stuck in the snow and heard thunder all around them. climbers now safe, because it's a man from longmont and a woman from ann arbor, michigan. also snow reported on the peaks above telluride, riders on the train at pike's peak can vouch for that. it has been snowing on americans mountain for the past

warm for much of it to stick. that of course will start changing over the next month. the weather headlines in the metro area are the storms popping up in and around aurora this morning or this evening rather, time-lapse shows a little rain coming out of the dark clouds, not enough to put a dent in one of the driest months of august we've seen in denver. coming up whether our rain chances increase as we get into the week a bit more. three is usually considered a lucky number. and it could prove to be the kind of death the broncos need in their quarterback lineup. with a third preseason game a few days away coach gary kubiak says trevor siemian will start against the l.a. rams. so with no clear answer on who will start the regular season, reporter victoria sanchez asked a few fans their opinions. >> sanchez changes the protection. >> reporter: the broncos have a lot to live up to and with two preseason games left the big question remains, who is the qb? >> what are their names?

choices. former new york jets, last year's third string quarterback, and the rookie. >> paxton lynch is the best athlete. >> reporter: to choose? >> paxton and then sanchez. >> sanchez has the experience. he fumbles too much. simeon seems like he is scared. i would think lynch because he seems to be the one that he is young and he's got the guts, though. >> reporter: okay. let's let a neutral party chime >> reporter: perfect. andre doesn't follow the broncos but he should have some insight. >> it doesn't matter which quarterback. >> peyton manning wasn't the greatest last year and we still won. >> reporter: the defense might have the pressure on them again. who is kubiak going to choose? >> put me in, coach. >> reporter: you think you'd do a better job leading the broncos once the regular season starts, get your name on your jersey. how about this one? sanchez with a few tweaks.

denver is 1-1 in the preseason. luckily those don't count. two more games to iron out the case before going head-to-head with the panthers. and you know they are not too happy with how the last matchup went. i know there are plenty of fans, i wasn't able to talk to tonight so i posted a poll on twitter. close call between paxton lynch and trevor siemian. lynch came out on top with 41%. sanchez came in last with just 21%. >> yeah. sanchez impression. but we'll see because on our 9:00 newscast we had a little different outcome on that. so we'll have to see what happens on this one. that's their opinion. we invite you to give yours, consider it an early season warm-up to play armchair coach. go to 9news.com/for now. mark sanchez, trevor siemian or paxton lynch against the panthers. voting is open on

and have the results in just a few minutes. >> looks like we've got trevor siemian at 50%, paxton lynch at 50%. mark sanchez with a goose egg. >> now there's a few more people coming in. these can say -- change so dramatically. >> we went to -- okay. we're going to come back and visit this in a minute. clearly we've got -- so we're going to wait this out. we'll make sense in a minute. >> hold on. >> i think they broke the you need to be making east coast money or west coast money. in denver these days even if you put down 20%, you still need to make more than $72,000 a year to afford the mortgage payments. far higher than every college -- not on the coast. the salary needed to buy a home here is currently $20,000 above the national average. parking is a premium on denver street and tonight city council agreed to take on the program by putting more of the burden on developers. normally new buildings do not

parking if they are on small lots. but for the next seven months, new buildings will have to include offstreet parking. the city will look at permanent changes. police arrested a man in lakewood during a drunk driving crackdown. not notable in itself. until you learn it was his seventh dui arrest. 46-year-old michael wiley's blood-alcohol content was 1.5 times the legal limit. it was his fifth dui arrest in the state of colorado seventh overall. wiley also faces charges for reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and not having insurance. >> if there's any consolation in that, i guess it would be that he was taken off the street again. before someone was very seriously hurt or killed. we law enforcement continue to do what we can, and that is to look for them, stop them, arrest them and get them off the street. >> arvada pd and jeffco

saturdays saturation patrols. they arrested a total of 18 people. weld county is tracking four cases of travel-related zika virus. twenty-one coloradans caught zika while traveling. experts say colorado itself is too high and dry for the mosquitoes to pass it here. although this is a reminder they say for travelers to take precautions in affected areas. former president jimmy carter says he didn't think he would survive his cancer diagnosis last year. while helping on a new habitat for humanity project. in memphis. he only thought he had a few weeks to live last august after douglas -- doctor told him melanoma had spread to his brain. he was recovering from surgery to have part of his liver removed. >> putting on a false optimistic face. what is nearly certain might have indicated to news media, about i'll be back next year. i was hoping i would.

and this is one of them. >> carter says his hopes didn't pick up until he started responding well to treatment. in march he announced he was cancer free. a new homework policy out of the classroom in texas has parents across the country talking tonight. and after 20 years here at 9news, kyle dyer is ready for a new challenge. we've seen them before. this was yesterday's wall of dust. swallowing up phoenix.

today was back to school for thousands of kids. a letter written by a teacher in texas is generating discussion among parents. the letter spells out it's only the work that a student doesn't finish during the day at school. it goes on to ask parents to help their child succeed by eating dinner as a family. reading together. playing outside. getting their child to bed early. hundreds of people have given their opinions, shared experiences and offered their own advice. we enjoyed -- join the conversation on our facebook

cauldron with the olympic flame extinguished inside the stadium last night. after the ceremony another event as the public flame slowly faded away. bringing the games to a close. both cauldrons for the rio olympics were made by an american artist. before the start of the summer games many of you chose an underdog country for which to cheer and after the closing ceremony and tally, azerbaijan is the winner. athletes received one gold, seven silver and ten bronze medals for a total of 27 points. congratulas nick buffone and dan markoya for knowing how to pick an underdog. full results on 9news.com. a friend of ours is leaving. a friend of yours too. when someone is as wonderfully talented as kyle dyer, she has been sitting here as you've been sitting there, having a conversation about what matters. she joined in 1996 and she announced she's leaving for a

overcoming great challenges with a positive attitude, you inspire me. for the other people i've met who are working on great innovative programs to better everyday lives of people here, your determination wows me. for those in the medical community, i did a lot of medical stories and you are coming up with treatments saving lives and improving lives, your brilliance floors me. then there are people who shared very personal stories with me that bubbly was hard, your heart will always touch me. >> kyle is not yet able to share details on her new challengju phoenix is always good for a little weather drama. the massive dust storm forced a flight to divert. a couple people on board to video. our friends at sister station in phoenix say not every dust storm is a haboob. we're told a dust storm technically isn't even that until visibility drops to a half-mile. heavy dust storm is one where you can't even see a third of a mile. only a few in phoenix reach that level.

sandstorms in the sahara desert and middle east. usually much more intense than anything we see here. our weather drama is going to be much more tame. than that. we see a cooldown, going to feel more like fall than summer. share this wonderful picture we got from our viewer of the sunrise. just absolutely stunning. thank you, keith, for taking the time. under the sunny skies, temperatures one today into the year of 90-degree heat. way above average. but we're going to cool down, what's that storm to the northwest of colorado. that frontal system headed in our direction and it arrives tomorrow. that's when we start to see the changes in our forecast. for tonight, quiet despite a few storms in the mountains and even here in the metro area, a few isolated storms but none of those turned severe.

temperature right now. out at dia. here in the backyard, so comfortable as we are sitting at 69 degrees. checked the weather with the rest of the state, first off in the high country, showers have diminished. clouds out towards the san juans, temperatures in the 60s and 50s. northern mountains, steamboat springs 57, we zoom in a little bit more, a comfortable evening with temperatures in the 70s. through tonight, 58 is your overnight low so that's going to be mild. a little breezy closer to the foothills. the lows around the front ra more 60s. and 50s. temperatures close to the divide and some mountain areas will drop into the 30s. what's going to happen on tuesday. start off sunny, and dry. very calm. in the high country storms will start to form after lunch time increasing clouds, and then here in the metro area and on the front range, we see the front arrive in the afternoon and that's when all the changes happen. so 85 will be your high tomorrow. not as hot as today. temperature forecast shows

headed out the door, temperatures in the 60s and 50s. throughout the afternoon, warm into the 80s up and down the corridor. as the front arrives, late in the afternoon, temperatures start to cool down into the 70s. by this time tomorrow evening, temperatures are going to be ten degrees cooler. highs across the state will rise into the 90s out east. sixtys and 70s in the mountains. seventy-eight high in grand junction. a bit cooler in the mountains. for scattered showers. for the kids headed to school, 68 early in the morning, those clouds increase 84 degrees, but still mainly dry and then isolated storms around town. more clouds and a bit breezy here. futurecast starting up tomorrow, early in the morning, watch how things across the state are looking in good shape. storms start to develop in the mountains around lunchtime, here in the city that front approaches late in the

some cooler temperatures, feel them, that is. chance for isolated storms. in the high country, we could see another dusting of snow. let me scoot out of the way, tomorrow the high 85. watch the cooler air work its way through and stick around for a little while. wednesday, thursday, friday, highs in the 70s. small chance for showers in the afternoon and on saturday, we warm back up, high of 83.

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hi, everybody. the real -- will the real sim shady please stand up? trevor siemian was chosen as the starter for the los angeles rams. all he has to do is play well for a little more than a

regular season begins in 17 days. coach kubiak wants to make an announcement already. >> it's down to the nitty- gritty here which we've got to make -- don't have to but i'm going to make a decision next week. so they've all put themselves in position to get the opportunity to go out there and compete. >> kubiak insists all three quarterbacks are still in contention. but broncos insider mike klis things one of them has eliminated himself. >> reporter: mark sanchez was right. he did squander an opportunity to become the broncos starting quarterback with his performance against the 49ers. gary kubiak again gave the nod this week to trevor siemian. that's two in a row, siemian is the leader again, going into the preseason game against the rams. kubiak said he was not disappointed by the uncertainty at the most important position, this close to the regular season. >> i expect that it will mean

last year. one that's never played -- he has one regular-season snap. so i knew this was going to take some time. and i think a credit to them and how well they've battled and pushed each other. >> reporter: kubiak did not say that simeon would start in the opener against carolina. i think that's because he wants to see how both siemian and paxton lynch does against the rams. that's right. i think co longer siemian versus sanchez. but siemian versus lynch. mike klis, 9news. >> wow. rockies begin a six game road trip with a real stinker. they were beaten by the brewers who scored three times in the first inning including one on shortstop daniel descalso's error. the brewers only got four hits but still beat the rockies. 4-2. west central florida where boston red sox outfielder andrew benedetti leapt over the

sousa of a ninth-inning home run. in the still of the night. john elway sure had a lot to smile about. since becoming the general manager elway has led the broncos to five straight division titles. a pair of conference championships. and a super bowl victory. among those who have noticed is a former nfl star randall cunningham who now works as a pastor in >> did you see the video this week of randall cunningham the former great eagles quarterback talking about you to his church congregation in las vegas? >> i did not see that. i heard about it. >> he told all them that you need to not just be happy, you need to look happy. and he asked everybody have you ever seen john elway? the man always look happy more than anyone else in the world. >> that is nice. i wish he would tell my wife

>> after i saw cunningham say that i immediately rushed to my bobblehead and sure enough, he is smiling. some people have a natural smile i think. even when their face is at rest. john is one of those. what a nice trait to have. >> resting happy face. >> happy face. good way of putting it.

forecast changing tomorrow, cooler air moving through, getting on the road you should be just fine. sixty-seven degrees. afternoon cold front approaching, it will kick of the winds, increase clouds, bring us cooler temperatures and also a chance for some storms. after that we are talking about 70s wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday high of 83. seventys. >> slurpee. >> slurpee for him. there he goes.

they packed up the beach set. jimmy fallon is back and robert