☝️ Happy Thursday — one more day, baby!

☀️ Today's weather: Just like me. Sunny. High 83.

📚 Robert's reading: "Welcome to the Age of AI Crime and Punishment," by Evan Ratliff.

Today's newsletter is 929 words, a 3.5-minute read.

Outside a room packed with nearly 100 people there to celebrate him this week, Brent Buford wanted no part of the fuss.

What he's saying: "I did what anyone else would do," the 68-year-old grandfather said.

This is what he did:

Buford spotted a black jacket near overgrown bushes across from a Highlands Ranch elementary school this past January.

• Then his headlights caught the top of a man's head.

Alex Flordelis, 36, was face down on the sidewalk. Buford jumped out of his car and dialed 911.

"I'm gonna roll you over," he told the motionless man before turning Flordelis onto his back and starting CPR.

Firefighters and paramedics soon arrived and took over. They found a pulse.

• Lost it.
• Found it again.
• Lost it again.

When the ambulance doors closed, Buford worried the young man was dead. He wondered about the stranger's family.

The next day, Buford found out Flordelis had survived.

• In the months that followed, he learned Flordelis was a husband and father to a 2-year-old son — and that an undiagnosed hereditary heart condition caused his collapse.

Between the lines: Flordelis' doctor said Buford's quick response prevented permanent brain damage.

Buford never made much of that night.

• He told his wife and grown children, but few others. A coworker at the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, where Buford is a civilian statutory programs specialist, eventually heard what happened and spread the word.

And that's how nearly 100 people ended up in a conference room to see Buford receive lifesaving awards from the sheriff's office and South Metro Fire Rescue.

The big picture: These events usually wait until January. This one couldn't.

• Buford was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in June.
• His doctor says there's no cure, but the cancer might be contained. He's undergoing chemotherapy.

So on Tuesday, a packed room celebrated the life Buford saved while quietly mourning the one they know will end.

Sheriff Darren Weekly called Buford a hero. Flordelis choked back tears and thanked the man who gave him a second chance.

The two men hugged.

• "My part was small," Buford said.

Looking back, he's sure he's had cancer for a while.

Which means, on that night eight months ago, one dying man stopped to save another.

Tell your lifesaver

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U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert's eldest son was sentenced last Friday in Weld County to 20 days in work release after his toddler wandered unsupervised from the congresswoman's Windsor home.

• Tyler Boebert pleaded guilty in April to misdemeanor child abuse and can work during the day but must spend nights in jail. (Colorado Sun)

💧 Castle Rock Water is revising its long-term water plan as the town works to cut reliance on nonrenewable groundwater and reach 100% renewable water by 2065. Residents can weigh in online or at an Oct. 8 open house.

Parker police arrested an 18-year-old following a Tuesday night crash at Motsenbocker Road and Mainstreet that killed his passenger. Police said Chase Murphy was driving more than twice the speed limit when he struck another vehicle and now faces vehicular homicide, reckless driving and speeding charges.

• Police hadn't released the victim's name as of yesterday.

⚖️ A federal judge tossed Douglas County commissioners' challenge to Colorado's county collective bargaining law after finding they lacked legal standing. The Aug. 20 ruling left unresolved whether the law violates constitutional protections. (Denver Gazette)

🚓 Lone Tree celebrated its new $36 million justice center with a ribbon-cutting Tuesday as the city prepares for major growth east of I-25. (Denver7)

• City police also are investigating a burglary that happened between Sept. 3–7 in Heritage Estates. The home backs to a golf course, and recent Douglas County break-ins have targeted homes near open space.

We know wildlife's been creeping closer to home this year.

A Parker Redditor who goes by "dobbbie" tells me he spotted this bobcat near his Cottonwood home this week.

• 😼 That's not a bobcat — it's a Robertcat.

My dogs and I passed a much smaller bobcat about a month ago in a grassy area near Parker's Hilltop Road.

• Its tail looked like a furry hotdog.
• I'm still freaked out.

📸 Seen big kitties in your neighborhood? Send a photo my way, and I'll post it here.

❤️ Robert is grateful for his dad.

Thanks to my editor Gigi Sukin.