Happy Colorado Sunday, all.

I hope your week was lovely. I can’t tell you how happy I was to be able to report measurable rainfall to the Colorado Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network three days in a row. If I didn’t have a full-time job, you can bet that the big storms delivering needed doses of cooling rain every afternoon would have sent me scrambling for a novel and a chair on the covered front porch.

There is something soothing about a break with a book. These days there are stacks of to-be-read books staring at me from most flat surfaces in my house, so I don’t have the same use for the library that I did when I was a kid. But I learned reading this week’s cover story by Kevin Simpson that if I did peek inside the branch less than a mile from home, I would find a place transformed to meet the needs of my community no matter what direction they’re coming from.

Dana Coffield

Senior Editor

The Cover Story

Libraries have adapted to the moment, but their bedrock purpose hasn’t changed

Seems like everyone has some vivid memory of their public library, right? For me, it’s flashbacks to grade school days when the bookmobile would visit and I’d score an armload of fresh literary adventures. Or the woody scent of the main library’s massive card catalog as I scoured the Dewey Decimal System to source a high school paper. A lot has changed since then, and a pandemic demanded a whole raft of new strategies, but libraries have always operated on the premise of welcoming all and filling public needs.

And we found that’s definitely still the case — with some interesting twists — as we checked in on this amazing institution in Colorado to see how it has evolved to meet a very challenging moment. We paid particular attention to rural libraries, whose services have expanded even into connecting patrons with health care, but also looked at overarching issues like censorship and the difficult task of patching our social safety net. And just a heads up: We’ll be talking further about libraries’ evolving role with a panel of experts next month at SunFest. Sign up and bring your library cards!

READ THIS WEEK’S COLORADO SUNDAY FEATURE

Kevin Simpson | Writer

The Colorado Lens

Things move quickly in Colorado and people wear many hats to get things done. Here are a few of our favorite images this week of people going places and making change happen in their communities.

Hugh Carey | Photographer

Flavor of the Week

To-may-to, to-mah-to. Any way you juice them, they make a great cocktail.

Summer is not my favorite season — winter is, by a country mile, followed by the other seasons that at least have some snow and no 100-degree days.

However, as an avid gardener and a big fan of the fresh offerings at at our local farmers market, it’s easy to acknowledge how good a tender, juicy, heirloom tomato is with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and maybe a drizzle of really good olive oil, in the middle of summer. And as a distiller, I’m a big fan of tomato-driven cocktails, whether a Bloody Mary, Bloody Maria, Bloody Caesar, Red Snapper, really anything punched up by tomato and a bit of spice.

I’d heard of a freshly juiced Bloody Mary at Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort near Buena Vista more than 10 years ago, when some friends were married there, but didn’t have the opportunity to try it. The concept stuck with me, though. Friends described it as a totally different cocktail experience. Years later, I stopped in and interrogated some confused employees at the hot springs. They had apparently discontinued it during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So when it returned this summer, I knew it was time to strike. Tom Warren at Mount Princeton and Susan Hirt, whose Bloody Mary at Mother Muff’s in Colorado Springs was inspired by a visit to the hot springs almost 20 years ago, were very generous in talking through their processes and ingredients, and offering tips for home mixologists. There are countless possible permutations, so don’t be afraid to experiment. If it’s fresh, delicious and refreshing, if it leavens a hot summer day and puts a smile on your face, then you’ve succeeded.

READ ON FOR TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND A BASIC FRESH TOMATO JUICE RECIPE

Gabe Toth | Author

SunLit: Sneak Peek

In “Burn,” a surreal landscape greets two men with the remains of seemingly indiscriminate violence

EXCERPT: Two men emerge from a hunting trip in the Maine wilderness to find a staggering swath of death and destruction. Bestselling author Peter Heller taps into today’s disturbing political dysfunction as these lifelong best friends, Jess and Storey, navigate their way toward an understanding of what’s happened to society. Secession?

READ THE SUNLIT EXCERPT

THE SUNLIT INTERVIEW: Heller offers a glimpse inside the writing process that has made him a bestselling author, but also into his thoughts on the divisive politics of our time and the dangers that presents. Here’s a brief segment from his Q&A, but you do not want to miss Heller’s podcast conversation with our Tracy Ross:

SunLit: How does the relationship between your characters Jess and Storey, who emerge from their trip to find a starkly divided America, fit into the broader societal and political rift?

Heller: Well, there is this sense that whatever happens in this conflict — which may or may not be rippling out into the broader nation — their friendship is solid, irrevocable. I can only hope that their bond stands for the state of our Union. That whatever the perceived betrayals or wrongs … we can get past them.

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH PETER HELLER

LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST WITH THE AUTHOR

Kevin Simpson | Writer

Sunday Reading List

A curated list of what you may have missed from The Colorado Sun this week.

🌞 The big news of the week was that a Mesa County jury returned a guilty verdict on most of the charges former Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters faced. Nancy Lofholm reported from the trial and served up the jury findings with a lot of important context. Related: Can people convicted of felonies vote in Colorado? It’s complicated.

🌞 More than half of Colorado school districts now have kids in the classroom just four days a week, a move superintendents attribute to budget problems. Erica Breunlin reports there are costs to the switch that are showing up in students’ academic performance.

🌞 In political news, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice president, was in Denver last week and raised $3 million for his run with Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House. Our own governor called a special legislative session to hammer out a deal that, among other things, is intended to keep two tax measures off the November ballot. The state GOP sent out a transphobic email ostensibly intended to support a well-loved Republican senator in a toss-up race in southern Colorado. He was mortified by the messaging.

🌞 A lot of money has flowed toward regional trail building projects, but not so many trails have been completed. Jason Blevins uses fragments of a trail from Carbondale to Crested Butte to explain the hold up.

🌞 An oil and gas operator with about 60 wells in Larimer County lost its right to do business in Colorado and must clean up two wells and processing sites north of Fort Collins within 90 days. Mark Jaffe explains why people living near those sites are OK that the deal with state regulators let Prospect Energy duck $1.7 million in penalties.

🌞 Colorado food banks have spent just about all the $10 million in pandemic-era aid allocated for the purchase of fresh food from small farms, Parker Yamasaki reports. So what happens after the money runs out?

🌞 Colorado’s surge of new business formations dropped like a stone in the year after the state reinstated full-freight filing fees. Economists told Tamara Chuang it just signals a return to normal. Speaking of which, metro Denver’s inflation rate fell — a lot faster than the nation as a whole — to 1.9%.

🌞 Good news! All that work to save the tiny endangered boreal toad seems to be paying off in Colorado. Jennifer Brown, who went on a recovery mission with biologists in 2019, reports the high-elevation amphibians seem to be breeding — a lot — near Pitkin.

Dana Coffield | Senior Editor

Thanks for dropping by this morning, friends. If you’ve forgotten since the last time we said it, we appreciate all you do for us, whether it is sharing links to our stories, putting in a good word about The Sun, or subscribing to this newsletter.

— Dana & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Tamara Chuang

Business/Technology Reporter

Quick links: What happens to complaints | July unemployment rate | Take the poll | Denver inflation | Horizon Organic adds B Corp | 100 Comcast RISE winners

Before Rohit Chopra stepped foot into the city of Westminster, the director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said he did some research about local businesses.

He noticed that in the city, much like other cities across America, there were a lot of banks, grocery stores, pharmacies and other businesses linked to large corporate chains.

“Even here in Westminster,” Chopra said Thursday during an event hosted by the city, “it’s more and more banks that aren’t locally owned. And so the net result is that sometimes you go into a branch and there’s really no one who can actually help talk you through anything. You’re siphoned over to a 1-800 number or the person tells you to go online. And what happens is that everything is becoming a little bit more less-human.”

Chopra is trying to humanize our daily lives again by reducing the corporate callousness that can emerge with modern technology, like chatbots. As companies have grown larger through mergers and acquisitions, the effort to cut costs and increase profits has taken a toll on consumers and customer service. He’s especially interested in how banks and financial companies are treating people. As an independent agency inside the Federal Reserve, CFPB was a response to financial fraud that led to the Great Recession. Essentially, it enforces federal consumer protection law and keeps an eye out for financial mayhem that could hurt consumers.

During his stop in Colorado, Chopra talked a lot about junk fees and trying to rid the world of systems that might trick consumers into agreeing to them. He was joined by U.S. Reps. Brittany Pettersen and Yadira Caraveo and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who are in the same pursuit.

Chopra’s experience of contesting an issue with an airline ticket led him down an “endless loop” first with a chatbot and then through the airline’s phone system that transferred him from person to person.

“I think they want you to hang up,” he said to the audience. “They don’t want you to contest the fee or contest the problem. And I just think this is fundamentally wrong. There’s nothing more dehumanizing than being charged fees for fake or worthless services.”

The agency does get pushback. An effort to ban credit card late fees over $8 is now on hold after the U.S. banking industry opposed it. Prohibiting firms from charging new “convenience fees” to consumers paying off loans online or by phone, doesn’t mean companies abide by the law, causing CFPB to file an Amicus brief in support in such legal cases. Companies also don’t like that consumer complaints are published online and unvetted.

Got a problem? CFPB wants to know

But when consumers feel helpless, sometimes they don’t speak up. And now, there’s a federal agency that, he said, listens. On the online complaint page, CFPB says it sends companies about 25,000 complaints about financial products each week.

“When we get complaints at ConsumerFinance.gov, it doesn’t go into a black hole. We order the bank to reply to you and then we look into it,” Chopra said. “We also prioritize issues that we think could become a problem later. For example, we mentioned voice cloning, generative AI-related scams. … We’ll get six or seven complaints that sound exactly the same. And it turns out that 60,000 or 70,000 people have that problem.”

His other consumer tip? “If you’re in a dispute with a bank or a company, one of the things that often will get their attention is if you say to them or write to them, if you don’t solve this, I’m filing a complaint with the state AG or the CFPB,” he added. “Trust me, they will respond.”

In Colorado, Weiser said consumers can report scams, shady practices and other complaints at StopFraudColorado.gov. His team of lawyers and investigators don’t turn every complaint into a full-on court case but they look for trends. And sometimes, they’ll just send a letter to the accused company.

“We tend to look at either particularly egregious situations or patterns and sometimes we’re able to ask a few questions,” Weiser said. “And that actually does the trick.”

Resources:

➔ File a complaint about a financial product. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes complaints online or by phone on any consumer-financial problem, including credit cards, debt collection, mortgages, loans and credit reports. The federal agency says that each week, it sends 25,000 complaints to companies for a response and most companies respond within 15 days. >> consumerfinance.gov/complaint or 855-411-2372

➔ File a complaint with Colorado AG. The state’s highest-ranked law enforcement officer is the AG and he works with local and federal agencies to investigate violations of consumer protection laws, antitrust and other legal issues. >> coag.gov/file-complaint (also in Spanish)

➔ More places to get problems resolved. Another official resource is via USA.Gov, which is part of the U.S. General Services Administration. This page has links to where consumers can complain about online purchases, company products or services, text scams and robocalls, car-related issues and more. >> usa.gov/consumer-complaints

July unemployment rate up a bit to 3.9%

In July, Colorado’s unemployment rate reached its highest level since January 2022. At 3.9%, it was up one-tenth of a percentage point from June. But even though this means more Coloradans were unemployed last month (up 1,844 to 126,270 who were looking for a job), the state’s labor force grew, too.

According to preliminary data, the state’s labor force is the largest it’s ever been, with 3,242,918 employed or looking for work. The changes in July, though, are pretty slight and are in line or better than how the nation is doing, said Tim Wonhof, an economist at the state Department of Labor and Employment

“Our population in Colorado has been growing consistently over time and our labor force has been growing consistently,” Wonhof said. “We, on the whole, are still at very low unemployment rates. Do we have a high number of discouraged workers? We have 126,000 people who are out of work and about a fifth of those, I believe, would fall into that category. But do we have more than usual now? I wouldn’t say we do.”

Wonhof pointed to a state labor department chart (below) that shows Coloradans between the working ages of 25 to 54 years old are part of the workforce more so than they’ve ever been in the past two decades.

The state also continues to add more jobs each month, adding 4,800 in July, he said. Nearly half were government jobs. For private industries, manufacturing lost 1,000 jobs, while trade, transportation and utility industries gained 4,100.

“Normally, our four-month average in Colorado would be a gain of 3,300 jobs. Well, we gained 4,800 (in July) so we’re ahead. At the national level, the four-month average is 154,000 and this month, they’re 114,000, so they’re a little bit down. But last month, it was the other way around,” Wonhof said. “I don’t read too much into the monthly numbers.”

Compared with the rest of the nation, Colorado was in the bottom half for unemployment rates, and ranked 31st. The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 4.3%.

>> See the data: Colorado’s July jobs report

Take the poll: How’s the economy treating you?

Denver led the way to lower inflation in July. Did you notice? Take the reader poll to help us report on Colorado’s economy: cosun.co/WWCOeconomy2024

Updates on big Colorado economy news

We reported on these stories earlier this week but there have been some updates. Keep reading.

➔ Denver-area inflation rate down to 1.9% in July. Prices are still rising, but inflation fell to its lowest 12-month increase in three years in Denver. That drop to a 1.9% inflation rate surprised a few local economists, especially since the U.S. rate is still at 2.9%, which was also the lowest in three years. So what’s causing the decline in Denver’s Consumer Price Index?

Prices here have fallen for some items, like gas, apparel and new and used cars. Grocery prices didn’t change at all. But other items continued to increase, including dining out, up 5.7%. Shelter was up 2.1%, and that’s a huge chunk of a consumer’s budget. Keep in mind, the official rate considers just the one-year change, not how much groceries cost today compared to five years ago. But yes, prices are much higher than five years ago.

Denver’s rate was also the lowest nationwide. But the Denver data appeared to be missing some key data points, like the change to costs of electricity and natural gas. I reached out to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to ask why and, essentially, they said they didn’t get enough responses. When there’s not enough, they don’t release the data, as in the case of the Denver energy index.

“The missing items will still impact the aggregate indexes they belong to,” said Justin Copple, a BLS spokesman. “The prices that were successfully collected are used to calculate an unpublishable CPI which is used to aggregate up to the larger expenditure categories all the way through to all items less food and energy and all items.”

Other items, like automobile insurance, have been removed entirely from Denver’s data. Auto insurance in Denver hasn’t been tracked since 2021. BLS officials said that, too, could be linked to low responses. In those cases, Denver’s auto insurance calculation would default to the national urban CPI, which was 18.6% higher in July.

>> Earlier: Denver inflation slowed faster than the national rate to 1.9%. Does it feel like it?

➔ New business filings dropped 21.7%. During her quarterly update on how many businesses there are in Colorado, Secretary of State Jena Griswold said the rate of new filings dropped 21.7% in the second quarter, compared with a year earlier. Griswold attributed the decline to the end of a big discount around June 2023 that dropped filing fees to $1.

But there were other concerns about the data, including the growing number of delinquent filers. As reported earlier, delinquencies grew 91,000 in the quarter and now number more than 934,000. The Secretary of State’s Office said that the list includes years of businesses that never officially dissolved and it also includes owners who may be just a few weeks late in renewing their paperwork. I wondered how late? Here’s additional information, which I’ll track in future new business updates.

Of those 934,437 delinquent filings in the second quarter, here’s how late they were as of Aug. 14, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

• Less than 30 days: 14,034
• 30 to 59 days: 10,717
• 60 to 89 days: 14,591
• 90 days or more: 903,971

>> Earlier: Number of new Colorado businesses drops 21.7% nearly a year after filing-fee discount ends

Sun economy stories you may have missed

➔ Colorado food banks may soon run out of the federal funds they use to buy local produce. Colorado received close to $10 million in pandemic-era funding to help food banks buy local produce, but the money is running low with no replacement in sight >> Read story

➔ Colorado governor calls special session on property taxes to avoid ballot measure fight in November. The special session will allow lawmakers to advance a deal under which the conservative supporters of Initiatives 50 and 108 will pull their measures from the ballot >> Read story

➔ With rising rents, theater companies are renting a Denver office space to rehearse. The new Three Leaches Theatre on Colfax will house two theater companies and a gallery, and hopes to lessen the burden on the few affordable rehearsal spaces left in Denver >> Read story

➔ The economics of eating out have some of Denver’s top chefs dismayed, discouraged and looking elsewhere. Some of the city’s award-winning chefs get specific about their love/hate relationship of being part of Colorado’s largest dining scene >> Read story

➔ Geothermal developers to get $1M from Icelandic investors, energy office to tap resource deep under Chaffee County. Investors will match a $500,000 grant from the Colorado Energy Office, which Mt. Princeton Geothermal will put toward testing its well site near Buena Vista >> Read story

Other working bits

➔ Horizon Organic becomes a B Corp (again). The Broomfield dairy brand has provided organic milk since 1991. But only last month did it receive B Corp Certification, a designation that the for-profit company has met stringent tests and is deemed beneficial to all stakeholders, which includes employees, suppliers and the community. That’s the same with sister company Wallaby, which makes Greek yogurt. So, why only now? It had to reapply after its former parent, Danone sold the brands to Platinum Equity in April. Danone is one of the world’s largest B Corps.

“Following the acquisition,” said Tyler Holm, CEO of the two brands, in an email, “it was important to pursue independent B Corp certification to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to redefining success in business as a force for good. As a result, all Horizon Organic and Wallaby products will continue to carry the B Corp seal.”

Certified by the B Lab organization, companies must pass tests that score what their value and benefits are as a business, to the environment and the community. >> Horizon’s B Corp score

➔ Cost of health insurance is top challenge for small businesses. This shouldn’t be a surprise for members of the National Federation of Independent Business, which advocates for small business owners. Health insurance has been the top issue since 1986, according to the organization, which published its 2024 report called “Small Business Programs & Priorities.” Top Colorado-specific issues weren’t available, said state director Tony Gagliardi but “the threat of a massive federal tax hike in 2025 exacerbates the uncertainty Main Street Coloradans are feeling,” he said in a news release. He’s pushing for Congress to make the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent. >> Read report

➔ Comcast awards 100 southern Colorado companies a 30-second commercial and $5,000. The state’s dominant cable TV provider unveiled winners of its RISE awards, which isn’t an acronym but a program that launched in 2020 to support minority-owned small businesses impacted by the pandemic. The 100 winners in Colorado are all in the southern half of the state and include RAD Hostel in Colorado Springs, The Walter Brewing Company in Pueblo and Armadillo Ranch in Manitou Springs.

Comcast focused on southern Colorado because of the growth in small businesses which “account for over 90% of total employment,” said Wendy Artman, a Comcast spokesperson. “This is an area where this program can make a big difference.”

Recipients receive $5,000, a tech makeover and a fully produced TV commercial (from Comcast’s advertising sales division Effectv) that will air on local cable channels. >> The winners

Got some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww

Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. Remember to check out The Sun’s daily coverage online. As always, share your 2 cents on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww. ~ tamara

Miss a column? Catch up:

• Market recovers but here’s why Colorado job growth is slowing
• As food-insecurity funds end, Colorado farmers focus on food hub
• Colorado top-paying and lowest-paying jobs
• Repurposing old stuff in Colorado can be profitable
• Despite setbacks, a Durango builder is framing affordable houses in under a month
• What consumers and businesses need to know about Colorado’s “Do not sell my data” law
• Colorado employers may finally have found enough workers
• How a Denver company is fighting the problem of underemployment

What’s Working is a Colorado Sun column about surviving in today’s economy. Email tamara@coloradosun.com with stories, tips or questions. Read the archive, ask a question at cosun.co/heyww and don’t miss the next one by signing up at coloradosun.com/getww.

Support this free newsletter and become a Colorado Sun member: coloradosun.com/join

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

After Colorado’s November special session on property taxes wrapped up, Gov. Jared Polis knew the tax cuts the legislature passed wouldn’t be enough to satisfy many homeowners.

So the next week, he issued a challenge to local government officials across the state: cut taxes yourselves, by “as much as possible.”

“Hardworking people in Colorado cannot afford a 40% increase in their tax bills, or even a 20% increase,” Polis wrote in a letter to local taxing districts. “Wages have not gone up by anything close to this amount, and high inflation and interest rates are creating an affordability crisis for many Colorado families.”

Only a handful of them took his advice, a Colorado Sun analysis of the Department of Local Affairs annual property tax report found.

Overall, local government tax revenues climbed around 20% in the 2023 tax year — a $2.5 billion increase from 2022.

That’s far less than it could have been, with actual property values surging by more than 40%.

But most of the tax relief residents received was thanks to the assessment rate cuts mandated by the state legislature — not than anything local governments did on their own.

After Polis’ demand, the average mill levy across the state fell by 4.3% — a 3.5-mill cut on the average local tax rate of 85 mills.

In 19 counties, the average mill levies actually went up slightly, including Republican strongholds like Douglas and El Paso counties.

Only 16 counties cut tax rates by more than 5% — mostly in the mountains, where home values rose the fastest. In 29 others, residents saw a slight mill levy cut of less than 5%.

STORY: Colorado governor calls special session on property taxes to avoid ballot measure fight in November

LOCAL TAXES, A STATE HEADACHE

State lawmakers say they’re tired of the annual fight over property taxes, which are levied at the local level.

“It is striking me as increasingly odd that a voter in Douglas County is impacting property taxes in the San Luis Valley, or a voter in Denver is impacting property taxes on the Eastern Plains,” Rep. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat, told The Sun in an interview.

But the local government response to the historic rise in property values suggests that while they often clamor for local control, their elected leaders don’t want to cut taxes any more than state lawmakers do.

When you look at individual taxing districts, a list of close to 4,800 local entities that includes counties, cities and special districts, over 1,200 of them actually raised mill levies in 2023, for taxes paid this year. (Notably, 140 of those were newly formed special districts collecting taxes for the first time.)

Around 1,000 districts cut their tax rates, some of them to zero after a debt issuance had been paid off.

Another 1,100 didn’t change their rates at all. (The remaining entities didn’t levy a property tax in 2024, according to state data.)

The behavior of local officials is a part of why those on both sides of the tax debate are coalescing around local caps on growth. Without them, history suggests local governments might prioritize the additional tax dollars over responding to homeowner complaints.

If local governments won’t cut taxes in response to future spikes in home values, it could send the political fight right back to the state Capitol — or the statewide ballot.

Weissman’s goal for the special session is to avoid another round of property tax “Groundhog Day.”

“My focus in session is going to be to try to win support for a constitutional reform so that we more squarely put control of local tax revenue back with local voters,” Weissman said.

THE NARRATIVE

How dire are the property tax ballot measures? Business groups don’t agree.

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce — whose president J.J. Ament may have been the first to publicly suggest a special session back on May 13 — was notably absent among the 45 political advocacy groups to sign a letter calling for a special session this week.

The letter didn’t just call for a special session to reduce taxes, it also unequivocally denounced the two tax cut measures headed to the November ballot, calling Initiatives 108 and 50 “a very significant and real threat to all communities in Colorado.”

In an interview this week with The Colorado Sun, Ament explained that the chamber’s board endorsed a special session, but hasn’t taken a formal position on the two ballot measures.

But from Ament’s perspective, the reasons for a special session haven’t changed since he first called for one in May. He says the cap in Senate Bill 233 didn’t go far enough to slow the growth in taxes, and too many businesses were left out of the commercial tax cut lawmakers approved.

“We’ve got a really simple problem here: Property taxes spiked up without Gallagher,” Ament said, referring to the tax-limiting constitutional amendment voters repealed in 2020. “How do we fix that? That’s the issue. (Senate Bill) 233 didn’t accomplish that.”

That’s a far different argument than the one contained in the letter, which was signed by business groups such as the Colorado Competitive Council, Club 20 and the Colorado Association of Home Builders, as well as left-leaning groups such as the Colorado Education Association and the Community Economic Defense Project. In fact, there’s no mention at all in the letter that further tax cuts are needed.

Ament’s comments — in contrast to the deep concerns that other business interests have with the ballot measures — represent yet another sign of something we’ve previously reported in The Unaffiliated: The business community and conservative political groups remain divided over Initiatives 108 and 50, with few major organizations willing to publicly join Colorado Concern on its ballot pursuits.

To Ament, the dire predictions of opponents of the measures go too far.

“(Initiatives) 108 and 50 are probably not as apocalyptic as folks made them sound initially,” he told The Sun. “What we’re really talking about here, no matter what happens, is a reduction in the future rate of growth, right? None of these things are cuts.”

That mirrors the message that initiative backers Colorado Concern and Advance Colorado have tried to make in their campaign pitches.

In the first year, local governments and school districts would lose out on an estimated $2.4 billion in property tax revenue if Initiative 108 passes. But many homeowners won’t actually see their tax bills decrease from one year to the next if their home values grow faster than the cut.

“Those aren’t real cuts, and they’re not real losses,” Ament said. “It’s just a reduction in the rate of growth.”

State lawmakers and government officials beg to differ, saying that if the state has to replace billions of dollars in lost property taxes in an already tight budget year, the consequences for public services would be widespread.

POLIS DISAPPOINTED?

We asked Gov. Jared Polis if he was disappointed that Colorado Concern was pushing ballot measures his administration considers so damaging to the state.

He didn’t answer directly.

“Well, I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to reach the agreement in (the regular) session,” Polis said. “I think had people worked together a little bit faster and better, this would have been relatively less controversial.”

Here’s more from our interview with him Thursday:

• On whether it’s bad practice to allow outside groups to force legislative action through the ballot: “This is another example of an issue where, of course, it’s the right of people who petition and go to the people to decide things, but if the legislature can work it out, and we can avoid that and provide more stability for the state, that’s a good thing.”
• On whether the deal will end the property tax wars forever: “I don’t know what forever means in politics. Just like when we brought together oil and gas and environmental groups, I don’t think any of us could ever have a pretense (that) said ‘forever forever’ is a thing. But I’m … I’m hopeful that it lasts 10 years or more. You look at the reign of the Gallagher Amendment — and again, it had many flaws — but it lasted two decades of stability.”

WHAT TO WATCH

• The Pension Review Commission meets this morning to discuss potential bills for the 2025 legislative session. One idea that is likely to get drafted into legislation: increasing the state’s $225 million annual pension contribution by the rate of inflation each year.
• The Colorado GOP and Colorado Democratic Party must report their fundraising and spending in July to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

COLORADO DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Ahead of its FEC filing, the Colorado Democratic Party reported this week that it raised $130,000 in July from more than 1,300 unique donors, 90% of whom were from Colorado.

The party didn’t provide information on how much it spent last month or how much it had in the bank headed into August. But party officials did disclose that they provided $10,000 in financial assistance to the state’s Democratic National Convention delegates to help offset their travel expenses.

YOU HEARD IT HERE

Walz made the remark Wednesday as he appeared at a fundraiser in Denver hosted by Tim Gill, the Democratic megadonor who made his fortune as a software entrepreneur.

Some other tidbits from the event that may have flown under the radar:

• Walz boasted that CNBC now ranks Minnesota as one of the top five states with the best economies. “You know who we bumped to six? Texas,” he said to cheers. “I don’t know about all of you, but if I’m an … employer and I had a female executive or female leadership, in Minnesota we’re not going to mess with your personal lives. You’re going to be treated the way you should. I don’t think Texas can say the same thing. Come live in states that are free. Come live in states that let you make your own choices.” The ranking was for 2023, however. This year, Texas has moved to No. 3, and Minnesota is No. 6.
• Gill, who helped fund the Democratic takeover of Colorado politics, said the state has had a political renaissance. “We kind of started kind of red and went to purple,” he said. “I think we’re pretty much blue now.”
• Polis said he told Walz that Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign shouldn’t invest any money in Colorado because the state will surely back her in November. 

Missing from the event was U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a Thornton Democrat running in the toss-up 8th Congressional District. A spokesperson said she was attending a meeting about Colorado’s bird flu outbreak.

STORY: Tim Walz, speaking at $3 million Denver fundraiser, attacks Trump for false AI-crowd claims

THE POLITICAL TICKER

GUNS

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners says it has dropped its lawsuit challenging Colorado’s 2013 law limiting firearm magazines to 15 rounds “due to unforeseen circumstances.” The National Association for Gun Rights, which is associated with RMGO, blamed the decision on the National Shooting Sports Foundation refusing “to allow its director of research to give an expert deposition regarding critical evidence.” RGMO and NAGR vowed to bring another challenge to the law.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, sent out a campaign email this week touting his office’s work in the prosecution of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. “I’m proud of our close work with (Mesa County District Attorney Dan) Rubinstein, a Republican, to ensure the law was enforced and the case was prosecuted with integrity, protecting our elections,” Weiser wrote. The missive comes as Weiser is rumored to be mulling a 2026 gubernatorial campaign in Colorado.

Peters, meanwhile, said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” show that she plans to appeal her conviction.

READ MORE

• Tina Peters found guilty in plot to breach Colorado’s election system to prove voter fraud
• Colorado Springs-area woman, known as “praying Grandma,” sentenced to one year of probation for role in Jan. 6 riot
• Four-day school weeks have exploded across Colorado districts — and are setting students back
• More than $1 billion has been generated by Denver’s special sales taxes. Is the money being spent as intended?
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb pushes back on tax initiative for affordable housing
  — CBS Colorado
• Democrats turn to Jason Crow, their national security go-to, for Trump assassination inquiry
  — The New York Times 🔑
• Trump flew to Aspen on charter jet previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein
  — The New York Times 🔑
• Colorado Capitol removes ban on political apparel after lawsuit threat from pro-life advocate
  — Westword

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

ELECTION 2024

Colorado GOP sends out transphobic email attacking Democrat running to unseat Republican Sen. Cleave Simpson

The Colorado GOP on Thursday sent out a transphobic email attacking the Democratic opponent of state Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, who is running for reelection in the toss-up Senate District 6.

The email repeatedly used male pronouns to refer to Vivian Smotherman, a transgender Durango farmer and Navy veteran. It also included a screenshot of a social media post from the “Libs of TikTok” account saying Smotherman is “a man pretending to be a woman” and that “in Peru he would be considered mentally ill.”

“Given Senator Simpson’s commitment to improving prosperity in rural areas and his wide-ranging support across SD-6, there is not one good reason to vote for Smotherman,” the Colorado GOP email said. “However, we have seen several Colorado elections in which gender identity garners votes from people wanting to be progressive and fearing they’ll be labeled as ‘anti-trans’ for not supporting the media’s DEI candidate.”

The party said Democratic state Reps. Stephanie Vigil and Brianna Titone — referring to Titone by her dead name — benefited from diversity, equity and inclusion pushes to win their elections. Vigil identifies as gender fluid while Titone is the first transgender person elected to the legislature in Colorado.

Zooming out: We’ve been hearing complaints from Republican campaigns about the emails the Colorado GOP has been sending out recently in support of the party’s candidates running in toss-up districts. The missives have included offensive remarks and unfounded allegations about their Democratic opponents.

The emails come as Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams has come under fire for not doing enough to support Republican campaigns across the state. But now some are wishing the party would just keep its mouth shut altogether.

“I already called Vivian to let her know I did not have advance knowledge of this and the attacks do not align with my value system,” Simpson told The Unaffiliated, adding that he plans to voice his frustration to the party, too.

He pointed out that he has sponsored a bill with Titone.

“I’ve been a Republican my entire life and largely a part of the calculus to run for reelection was to demonstrate you can be a conservative Republican under the gold dome and still be effective,” he said. “If you treat people with dignity and respect you can still build some small wins.”

Simpson called the state party’s email a “step backward” in his cause.

In Senate District 6, the Colorado GOP’s decision to wade into the contest could be particularly damaging.

A nonpartisan analysis of election results in the district between 2016 and 2020, completed as part of the state’s redistricting process, estimated it leans 1 percentage point in Democrats’ favor. But the 2022 election results tell another story. Gov. Jared Polis won the district by 11 points, while U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet won it by 8 points and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser won it by 5.

Democrats hold a 23-12 majority in the Senate, one seat shy of a supermajority. That makes Simpson’s race critical.

Simpson is known as a low-key moderate Republican who works across the aisle — he’s won the endorsement, for instance, of Democrat John Salazar, a former congressman who lives in District 6 — so he has a real shot at winning reelection. The Colorado GOP’s hold-my-beer approach to the district could jeopardize that.

At the very least, the email is giving Democrats an easy line of attack.

“Dave Williams should be ashamed of himself,” Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib said in a written statement. “Everyone from Cleave Simpson to Jeff Hurd to Gabe Evans has a responsibility to condemn this hatred and division.”

Smotherman, in an interview with The Unaffiliated, confirmed that she had spoken with Simpson and that he offered “a very sincere and genuine apology.”

“It’s something we’re not surprised at,” she said. “We were hoping we could avoid it and stick to the issues.”`

• A bylaw amendment could make it more difficult to dislodge embattled Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams

VICE CHAIR SAYS SHE WAS THREATENED

Colorado GOP Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman says her family “received direct life-threatening communications” over the weekend from a person experiencing a mental health crisis.

“This individual, who typically resides in Pueblo, was in Florida with family following the recent passing of her mother, which appears to have triggered this crisis,” Scheppelman wrote in an email to members of the Colorado GOP central committee. “We are relieved to report that the situation has been neutralized, and the individual is now receiving the necessary mental health care from top professionals in Florida. Most importantly, our family is safe.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

• Trump or Harris? It’s a tossup for many CEOs
  — The Wall Street Journal 🔑
• After two years of far-right rule in a Michigan county, one chance to change it
  — The Washington Post 🔑
• Inside the worst three weeks of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign
  — The New York Times 🔑
• Vacation rental industry steps up lobbying in the face of stiffer regulation
  — Reuters
• Seventy miles in hell
  — The Atlantic 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Yesterday I was out running and I looked a bat in the eyes. It was pretty early for a bat to be out, with the sun still very high and bright, which is partly why I was able to make eye contact so clearly. It was also just hovering, not darting around as I usually see them at dusk. Just hovering.

I’m sure the bat was just trying to score some early dinner, but its behavior jostled me. I was reminded of a daunting but hilarious article by John Jeremiah Sullivan about the impending war between humans and animals — but then my mind quickly turned to all of the social media content I’ve been getting about welcoming fall and spooky season. Most of it is facetious, playing up the two cool days we’ve had on the Front Range, men in sweaters sipping pumpkin-spiced lattes, gazing at a single, barely yellowing leaf.

I’m not ready for all that. Instead, I’ll be in Crested Butte this weekend where there are hopefully flowers and not fall leaves, dipping into creeks, clinging to every little notion of summer.

Here’s the news.

Parker Yamasaki

Reporter

THE NEWS

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Colorado governor calls special session on property taxes to avoid ballot measure fight in November

Gov. Jared Polis has called lawmakers into a special legislative session to talk property taxes. Polis is hoping to pass a package of tax cuts in exchange for the removal of two consequential property tax measures from the November ballot that some lawmakers fear would decimate state and local budgets. Other groups say the fears are overblown. Brian Eason and Jesse Paul have the details.

READ MORE

ENERGY

Geothermal developers to get $1M from Icelandic investors, energy office to tap resource deep under Chaffee County

There is an untapped well of energy bubbling beneath Chaffee County, and two geothermal energy developers may have finally gotten the go-ahead funds to investigate it. The pair have been studying geothermal potential at a site just outside Buena Vista for over a decade, but it wasn’t until they linked up with the Colorado Energy Office and an Icelandic investor that the ball got rolling. Tracy Ross has more.

READ MORE

AGRICULTURE

Colorado food banks may soon run out of the federal funds they use to buy local produce

A pandemic-era relief program gave Colorado food banks nearly $10 million to spend specifically on locally grown food, solving both hunger and small farm sustainability. But the last of the funds was divvied up this spring, and the state expects most of the money to be spent by the end of fall. I spoke with farmers and food banks about what comes next.

READ MORE

OUTDOORS

Golden bike maker sues Gates Corp. over unpaid royalties for bike frame invention

In 2008 Denver’s Gates Corp. debuted a special belt-drive system to replace the century-old chain on bikes, but needed a bike-maker with a frame to accommodate it. Family-owned Spot Brand in Golden rose to the occasion with the innovative “Drop Out” frame. Now Spot claims that Gates Corp. has been shopping around the belt-drive and frame design without any credit, or money, going to Spot. Jason Blevins has the story.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• Fact Brief ☀️ Has a Purina pet food plant been in Denver for nearly 100 years? In May a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Purina pet food plant for its “offensive” odors. Justin George looks into the history of the I-70 landmark.

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Colorado solidifies regulations for psychedelic mushroom growers, manufacturers and therapy centers. The state’s Department of Revenue has finalized long-awaited regulations surrounding psychedelic-assisted therapy, which is set to roll out next year. The Department of Regulatory Agencies published its occupational protocols earlier this year.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Man arrested after strangling teen inside Colorado In-N-Out restaurant in Loveland. Lucas N. Kalisher, 55, was charged with second-degree assault strangulation and child abuse for a violent incident with a 15-year-old at the Loveland In-N-Out.
  — CBS News Colorado
• Boulder police launch new program to improve officer interactions with those on the autism spectrum. The program seeks to improve how officers interact with people on the autism spectrum by offering decals for people to put on their cars and homes.
  — 9News
• Ford Amphitheater gets nearly 150 noise complaints after grand opening. The highly anticipated Colorado Springs venue opened last weekend, much to the dismay of scores of complaining residents.
  — Westword

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Kevin Jeffers | Product Team

THE OPINION PAGE

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” Ossie wonders why “success stories” tout working for free as an almost magical formula for achieving financial success.

CARTOON

Jim Morrissey imagines the conspiracy-minded MyPillow guy doing his best to make convicted former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters comfortable.

CARTOON

Drew Litton captures the melancholy of leaving summer fun behind and getting back to the schoolhouse grind.

CARTOON

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

Podcast Playlist

CONVERSATION

Each weekday The Daily Sun-Up podcast brings you a bit of Colorado history, headlines and a thoughtful conversation. We keep it tight so you can quickly listen, or stack up a few and tune in at your leisure. You can download the Sun-Up for free in your favorite podcasting app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or RSS to plug into your app. This week, the team’s topics range from Denver chefs to melting ice.

• Peter Heller stops by to discuss his new book, “Burn.” The award-winning Colorado author compares running rivers to creating a “narrative current” for his storylines and the “magic of fiction.” He chats with reporter Tracy Ross about crafting his writing style.
  LISTEN
• Opening a restaurant in Denver can be a labor of love. Business reporter Tamara Chuang talks about her recent story looking into the trials and tribulations of the Denver restaurant scene and why chefs put themselves through the wringer.
  LISTEN
• A Colorado GOP embroiled in turmoil. There are just a few months left before the 2024 election, but state Republicans are infighting over their chairman. Political reporters Jesse Paul and Brian Eason break down why.
  LISTEN
• Will the Carbondale to Crested Butte ever come to fruition? Trying to build an 83-mile bike path hasn’t been easy, and outdoors reporter Jason Blevins has the latest for the plan going over McClure and Kebler passes.
  LISTEN
• Temp crew on melting ice and rabies … yep.  A Colorado State professor’s new study on melting ice in Antarctica and an update on rabies at a Colorado puppy adoption event are top of mind for Temperature newsletter scribes John Ingold and Michael Booth.
  LISTEN

🗣️ Remember, you can ask Siri, Alexa or Google to “play the Daily Sun-Up podcast” and we’ll play right on your smart speaker. As always we appreciate your feedback and comments at podcast@coloradosun.com.

Section by David Krause | Editor

Have a good weekend and see you back here Monday.

— Parker & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Sneak Peek of the Week

Steamboat Springs paddleboard pioneer sells Hala, Colorado Kayak Supply to longtime friends

Steamboat entrepreneur Peter Hall was among the first to design an inflatable paddleboard specifically made for navigating whitewater.

With a $30,000 initial investment in 2011, Hall’s Hala boards — with catchy names like the Hala Atcha, Hala Peno and the Hala Nass — helped create a new way to play in rivers and creeks.

“We set people up with a board that could tackle all kinds of whitewater. We were doing R&D and designing stuff for a cohort of paddlers that didn’t exist back then but we helped bring the sport to life,” said 41-year-old Hall.

The pandemic broke Hall. Shops canceled orders in the summer of 2020 but then doubled up heading into the next year as outdoor recreation soared. He tried to recover using a loan from the Small Business Administration, but then the federal government’s interest rate hikes added $135,000 in debt service to Hall’s bottom line. And then shops with overflowing shelves started canceling orders as the post-pandemic boom in outdoor recreation ebbed.

“Consumer behavior before, during and after the pandemic caused businesses to need to move faster than was possible and that friction is expensive,” Hall said. “Now there are prices being driven down by the oversupply of paddleboards and all these pool-toy paddleboards that sell for $199 and people are selling them for less than cost just to stop paying for storage. The bottom has just been swiped out of the whole paddlesports market.”

And Hall has filed for bankruptcy protection. He helped his creditors sell Hala Gear to a longtime employee, Colleen King. Colorado Kayak Supply — an online paddlesports retailer founded in Buena Vista that Hall acquired in 2019 from a seller who was struggling — sold to Jon Kahn, the longtime owner of Denver’s Confluence Kayak and Ski shop.

“Oh yes, I’m keenly aware that the previous owners have not been able to figure it out,” said Kahn, who opened Confluence Kayak in 1995 on Platte Street “when there were five, six other paddle shops in Denver and Boulder. Now there’s just two of us.”

Kahn hopes operating Colorado Kayak Supply — it’s often called CKS, which conveniently matches the initials of Kahn’s shop — in Denver with his existing warehouse space will help the company. The previous operators rented storage space in the Upper Arkansas River Valley and Steamboat Springs. And Kahn has a vibrant winter business that will help him weather the seasonal flow of paddlesports.

>> Click over to The Sun on Monday to read this story

The Outsider now has a podcast! Veteran reporter Jason Blevins covers the industry from the inside out, plus indulges in the fun side of being outdoors in our beautiful state.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Playground

Spot sues Gates over millions in unpaid royalties for bike frame invention that fits belts, not chains

When Denver’s Gates Corp. in 2008 debuted a belt-drive system to replace century-old chains on bikes, the company promised a “game changer” for the cycling industry.

But the chainless revolution — which the company helped launch for motorcycles in the 1980s — needed big help from bike-makers. While traditional bike chains can easily separate to slide into a bike frame, the belt-drive system needed a frame that could separate to accommodate the carbon belt.

One of the first bike companies to step up with a new frame to accommodate the Gates belts was the family-owned Spot Brand in Golden. The company designed a frame with what it called “Drop-Out” technology that fit the Gates “Carbon Drive” belt system.

In 2008, Spot Brands and Gates Corp. inked a licensing and royalty agreement that gave half of the Drop-Out invention to Gates so it could license the technology to other bike-makers. Gates said it would protect the patent on the design and pay Spot 8% of its net sales of any products sold by bike-makers who licensed the Drop-Out design.

A couple weeks ago Spot sued Gates Corp., saying the Denver-based company has not paid any royalties while the company has expanded its belt technology into more than 1,000 bike models. The lawsuit says Spot is owed “millions of dollars in unpaid royalties.”

“Gates’s benefit was achieved at Spot’s expense because Gates deprived Spot of the economic benefits of the Drop-Out while keeping for Gates alone the economic benefits of the growth of the belt-drive bicycle market,” reads the lawsuit filed in Denver District Court, which claims Gates owes Spot millions in unpaid royalties.

By 2011, Gates had 54 bike brands using the belt drive on 92 models and the company said the number of Gates belt-driven bikes was growing by 50% a year. The Gates Carbon Drive is now available on 135 brands of bikes offering 1,000 models. The belt-drive system has proven very popular among e-bike brands.

>> Click over to The Sun on Friday to read this story

The Guide

Colorado gets $5.8 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The Land and Water Conservation Fund last week delivered $325 million to all 50 states, the largest distribution from the fund’s state program since 1979.

Colorado got $5.8 million that will be distributed in the next grant cycle by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Last year, Colorado received five grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for $5.5 million for parks, trails, recreation programs and open space in Boulder, Erie, Idaho Springs, Jefferson County and Rifle. Colorado Parks and Wildlife submitted 11 grant applications for projects seeking a total of $10.3 million in LWCF funding.

Applications from Colorado communities seeking a portion of the $5.8 million in LWCF Colorado funds are due in October and will be announced next spring. Local, county, state and tribal governments can apply for $100,000 to $1.25 million in grants for recreation projects on government-owned land.

Since 1965, the LWCF’s state program has distributed $86 million for 976 projects in Colorado. Combined with distributions through the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the LWCF has sent $357.1 million to 1,691 projects in Colorado since 1966.

The fund gets $900 million a year from royalties paid by companies drilling off-shore for oil and gas in U.S. managed waters. Last year, the Land and Water Conservation Fund delivered $3.4 million for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests to support the acquisition of 289 acres atop the 14er Mount Democrat. In 2021, the fund delivered $8.5 million to the White River National Forest for the acquisition of Sweetwater Lake.

“The Lost Mountaineers” documentary — screening in Vail, Leadville and Denver this week — details the 10th Mountain Division finals days of WWII

At the bottom of Italy’s deepest lake lies a mystery. The amphibious vehicle that carried 25 10th Mountain Division soldiers in the final days of WWII sits upright on the bottom of Lake Garda. All but one of the soldiers are listed as missing in action. Their remains were not found after their amphibious vehicle sank in the alpine lake on the night of April 30, 1945.

Volunteer divers found the wreckage in 2012. A submarine searched the lake bottom in 2013 and found no evidence of the 24 men who drowned that night. (There was a sole survivor, who worked as a lifeguard before joining the 10th Mountain.) German forces surrendered a week later and the deaths of the 24 10th Mountain soldiers — some of the war’s last casualties — were eclipsed by the Allied forces victory.

An Italian nonprofit in 2023 made a documentary — “The Lost Mountaineers” — about the deaths of the 10th Mountain Division soldiers, chronicling the division’s role in the final chapter of the war as well as recent recovery efforts. “The Lost Mountaineers” is screening Aug. 14 at the Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail, on Aug. 16 at The Old Church in Leadville and Aug.19 at the History Colorado Center in Denver. A Q&A session with the documentary’s production team will follow all three screenings.

— j

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Good morning, Colorado. Let’s update you on a couple of our upcoming events.

On Sept. 4 at 6 p.m., environmental reporter Michael Booth will speak with a panel of experts looking at Colorado’s horrendous ozone year. We’ll ask Colorado’s air pollution control director and a top regional air quality official to review the scary 2024 season and ask what might change.

RSVP for Peak Ozone, a free event you can watch live with us as we answer your questions.

Then join us in person on Sept. 27 for our second SunFest gathering, which you’ll be learning a lot more about soon, but can go ahead and register for it here.

Now let’s get to today’s news.

Kevin Jeffers

Product Team

THE NEWS

ECONOMY

Denver inflation slowed faster than the national rate to 1.9%. Does it feel like it?

In the past year, gasoline prices have dropped double digits, used car prices are down 9.7%, while housing and grocery prices have stagnated. It’s all part of data that suggests inflation is slowing, especially in Denver compared to the rest of the country, Tamara Chuang reports. Still, overall prices have increased 10% since 2021. Here’s more.

READ MORE

HOUSING

Nearly 10,000 people are homeless in the metro area, but fewer are sleeping on Denver’s streets

An annual count of Denver homelessness showed a 12% increase in the past year, though for only the second time in recent history, fewer people were living outside. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is claiming the drop in unsheltered homelessness is among the largest in the nation. Not included in the survey were the 4,300 new migrants sleeping in shelters when the count was conducted. Jennifer Brown has more details.

READ MORE

ENERGY

Colorado oil and gas operator with long record of environmental violations loses right to do business in state

Prospect Energy — a Highlands Ranch-based oil and gas operator facing millions of dollars in fines and an abundance of complaints from homeowners and local governments — lost its right to do business in Colorado on Wednesday. Among the details of the agreement, Prospect Energy’s 59 wells will end up in an orphan well program and will eventually be plugged and abandoned by the state. Mark Jaffe has the latest.

READ MORE

CLIMATE

Antarctica’s melting ice is also lifting the land, CSU researcher says

A Colorado State seismologist and his team have confirmed that Antarctic melting could accelerate to a point that overflows a continental rock underlay that holds in a massive glacier, letting in seawater that will make the ice sheet melt faster than its current rate of 150 billion tons of ice per year. Sounds bad. Michael Booth explains.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• Tim Walz, speaking at a $3 million Denver fundraiser, attacks Trump for false AI-crowd claims. In a speech just shy of 15 minutes, Walz attacked Republicans for supporting school vouchers, wavering on financial support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, and for restricting abortion access. Jesse Paul was there.
• Forensic experts still working to identify human remains from Stone Canyon fire. The fire caused extreme changes to the skeletal remains, which complicate the extraction of viable DNA, the Boulder County coroner’s office said. Olivia Prentzel has more.
• No human cases of rabies so far as second puppy from Colorado adoption event tests positive. More than 35 people have been referred for rabies post-exposure treatment following last week’s announcement about a rabid puppy at a rescue adoption event. But Colorado has so far identified no human cases, John Ingold reports.

Section by Kevin Jeffers | Product Team

COLORADO REPORT

• Aurora booted hundreds from an apartment building. We followed one mother of three as she figured out what to do next. After just six days of notice before the entire building was evicted, Aurora police arrived at 7 a.m. to tell people to leave or be arrested.
  — Denverite
• 14 children, driver evacuate after Aurora school bus catches fire. With no one injured, fire officials credited the bus driver’s “prompt and courageous actions” to evacuate the kids.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Breckenridge plans to bring fireworks back on New Year’s Eve despite concerns from other towns. This would be the first New Year’s Eve fireworks show in the mountain town in over five years.
  — Summit Daily
• Think tank says mountain lion hunting ban would cost Colorado millions annually while supporters call foul. Supporters and opponents of a ballot measure that would ban bobcat and mountain lion hunting in Colorado are arguing over the financial impacts of the proposal after a conservative-leaning think tank released a study on the topic this week.
  — Vail Daily

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Danika Worthington | Presentation Editor

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Time is now for a new Colorado River Basin process to bring together and engage  sovereigns and stakeholders.  Whole-basin forum that includes Indigenous knowledge would be safe place for difficult conversations and develop solutions together
  — Lorelei Cloud and John Berggren

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

What’s Happening

Aug. 15-21

Palisade Peach Days. Peaches have been closely linked with the upper Grand Valley since the late 1800s, shortly after Ute Indians were forced off the land and, according to a Daily Sentinel article from 1900, settlers “impatiently” moved in to experiment with the soil along the two major waterways —the Grand (now the Colorado) and the Gunnison rivers.

By the early 1900s, peaches were so much a part of the valley’s identity that the local sports teams took names like the Grand Junction Smudgers, a reference to the small heaters designed to keep the groves warm through spring freezes, and the Palisade Peach Pickers. One game was even famously called off because the Peach Pickers were too busy picking peaches.

Though settlers down valley originally had less luck with the fruit, they still welcomed the agricultural and demographic changes with an 1887 celebration known as Peach Day, held in Grand Junction. Peach Day grew into Peach Days, and eventually bloomed into the music-, activity- and fruit-filled Palisade Peach Festival held tomorrow and Saturday in Riverbend Park.

If you can’t make it to the Western Slope this weekend, you can find Front Range alternatives in Fort Collins and Lafayette on Saturday, and a couple of peach-themed farmers markets in Centennial and Westminster.

Various prices; Aug. 16-17; Palisade

• Breckenridge International Festival of Arts. A truly eclectic mix of exhibitions, performances, workshops and guided outdoor activities, sprawled out around Breckenridge over the next 10 days. There are tons of free events (just look for the little green “F” in the event program) and family friendly programming.
  Various prices; Aug. 16-25; Breckenridge
• The Lost Mountaineers. A free screening of “The Lost Mountaineers,” a documentary about the 25 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division who died in a boat accident on April 30, 1945. The screening is followed by a Q&A session with the movie’s production team, along with after-hours access to History Colorado’s 10th Mountain Division exhibit.
  Free; 5-8 p.m., Aug. 19; History Colorado Center, 1200 N. Broadway, Denver
• 48 Hours Summit. A free, two-day summit about socially engaged art. Hear from speakers on topics like “Cultural Erasure in Arts Districts” and the interactions between architecture and homelessness. There will also be poetry readings, workshops, guided city walks, a fashion show and a block party.
  Free; Aug. 16-17; RedLine Contemporary Art Center, 2350 Arapahoe St., Denver

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

See you back here tomorrow.

— Kevin & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

When reality has overtaken the cliche, print the cliche.

The Earth actually is melting, at an accelerated pace that has geologists accustomed to thinking in 100,000-year blocks now measuring change at the 100-year level. Our talk with Colorado State University seismologist Rick Aster, previewed below and running at more length later this week at ColoradoSun.com, brought our focus back to global warming in real time.

Rick’s measurements are actually aimed not at ice melt itself, but what happens to the rock shelves called continents lying underneath when that snowcap disappears. Simplified answer: The rock floats, riding around and up and down on the molten interior at the Earth’s core. West Antarctica, the area below South America, is rising at 1.5 inches a year as it sheds ice.

Wait, that could be good, right? A self-correcting problem? As the seas rise and threaten coastlines, the coastline itself rising up could solve that? Correct, Aster says, but only if the melt is held to a moderate level. At the current glacier-gushing rates, the “float” of continental rock can’t keep up with the fast rise of sea water.

And that only helps for the two areas with permanent ice caps, Antarctica and Greenland. Other continents are “stiffer,” without the ability to float. North America, for example, is stuck largely where it is, and will see its ankles — Miami and New Orleans — inundated within our lifetime unless temperatures are stabilized.

Sobering, yes. Aster does not sugarcoat his observations about his beloved Antarctica. But, as we always argue here at The Temperature, knowledge is power. These are the studies that renewable energy activists, for example, are reading when they push for faster change. It’s good to know that Colorado researchers are buried deep in the data that can drive good decisions.

Cheers, and on to the rest of the news …

Michael Booth

Reporter

TEMP CHECK

CLIMATE

Antarctic shedding water weight lifts oceans a world away

Rick Aster has spent a career checking up on his favorite patient, the Antarctic ice shelf. Lately, the Colorado State University seismologist is worried about the patient’s weight loss. A little slimming amid the constant pressure of global warming could be OK — the Western Antarctic has an unusual rock underlay that could handle a moderate amount of ice melt.

But what Aster and his colleagues have learned recently is that melting could accelerate in a so-called negative feedback loop, overflowing the rock “bowl” holding in a massive glacier and letting in sea water that will make freshwater ice melt even faster.

They’ve also learned more about the gravitational pull of all that fragile ice, and how up to now it’s saved much of Earth’s coastline from further disaster. The mass has acted like a magnet, pulling liquid water up and around the Antarctic in a thicker layer than natural sea level would dictate. That kept water levels down at coastal cities to the north, from Miami to San Diego to Honolulu.

If West Antarctic keeps melting at current rates, the magnet is gone, said Aster, co-author of an ice study published this month in Science Advances. That means even more coastal inundation on the other continents.

The Antarctic glaciers alone could raise sea levels in North America by 10 feet by 2150, Aster said. Add in the melting glaciers of Greenland, the world’s other ice store, and there’s a world of trouble unless humans slow down climate change, Aster said. If we do, the Antarctic’s contribution to rising seas could be limited to just over a foot.

Scientists have sometimes comforted themselves with the knowledge that Earth has been through everything before. The ice sheets were gone in the warming before the last ice age, Aster noted. Continents survived.

“What’s really different in terms of global warming, and different than anything that the Earth has seen as far as we know,” Aster added, “is the rapidity. We’re spiking the carbon dioxide and otherwise changing the climate so rapidly that we’re in territory where it’s hard or impossible to find natural analogs that we can study in Earth’s past history.”

Geologic time goes by in ticks of a million years; climate change time appears to be passing in mere double digits.

“It’s happening so rapidly that we can see these large effects even in a human lifetime,” Aster said. “And that is something that the Earth has not seen before, as far as we know. So that’s the most stunning thing to me.”

Read more about how Aster and their team go about their work in the deep snow and ice of Antarctica, and what they’ve learned about the weight of ice and water, this week at ColoradoSun.com.

Section by Michael Booth | Reporter

MORE CLIMATE NEWS

• Boreal toads finally getting busy in the high country. For years now, Colorado researchers have been hauling endangered boreal toad tadpoles up above Gunnison in backpacks, hoping to reestablish an important species. This year, Jennifer Brown reports, they’ve finally got some good news: Wild-born tadpoles, meaning the past toads have learned their birds and bees and are reproducing onsite, the ultimate goal of reintroduction.
• Colorado River credits for states starting to take shape. One idea to promote water conservation on the drought and climate-stricken Colorado River is to give states credits in a sort of “water bank” if they make savings above and beyond the call of duty. Shannon Mullane reports that four states negotiating on the matter are finally making some progress.
• Long-critiqued Tri-State wins some love for renewable moves. After years of taking hits from member coops and environmental groups for sticking with coal too long, Tri-State Generation is now winning plaudits for its latest plans to switch over to renewables and create innovative electric storage solutions.
• Aurora Reservoir drilling plan gets the OK. Despite a last-minute effort by neighbors of Aurora Reservoir and Lowry Landfill’s communities to block a new drilling proposal near the big pool, the well pads can go forward. Mark Jaffe reports on the final blows to a community effort to get wider setbacks from the pollution oil and gas bring.

HEALTH

Colorado still near the bottom nationally in mental health

No one keeping up with the mental health landscape in Colorado will be all that surprised to find out where our state landed in the annual rankings from Mental Health America. Colorado is still near the bottom, at 46th out of 51.

The national advocacy organization judges states based on how many people are struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues, and how easy it is to get access to treatment.

Colorado is 50th in prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse, with the highest combined incidence of adults, teens and children who said they have thoughts of suicide, depressive episodes or addiction.

The state did mediocre in terms of access to care. Colorado is 16th best in the percentage of adults who have private insurance that covers mental health and 17th best in that category for kids, for example.

Nationally, 10% of adults who had a mental illness in the past year had private health insurance that did not cover their treatment. The 2008 federal parity law says insurance companies can’t have more restrictive rules for mental health than physical health, but that doesn’t mean it’s available. People are far more likely to have to go out-of-network to get an appointment with a behavioral health provider than they are for other medical care.

The top states overall were Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine, while the worst were Arizona, Nevada and Montana.

Mental Health Colorado CEO Vincent Atchity said the report underscores once again that Colorado “remains in an urgent crisis that demands immediate and ongoing attention.”

“Despite the strengths and beauties of our state, Coloradans of all ages are experiencing serious mental illnesses, suicidality, and substance use conditions at a higher rate than most of the nation,” he said in a news release.

Section by Jennifer Brown | Reporter

RABIES

No human cases of rabies so far from puppy adoption event

More than 20 people have been referred for rabies post-exposure treatment following last week’s announcement about a rabid puppy at a rescue adoption event. But Colorado has so far identified no human cases as a result of the event, as state health officials continue to plead with those who were at the event to come forward for screening.

Rabies is almost universally fatal but can be prevented after exposure (but before symptoms emerge) if those exposed are treated.

A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Monday that the state has assessed more than 80 people to determine if they had contact with the puppy that could have spread the rabies virus to them. The 20 people referred for what is known as post-exposure prophylaxis came from that group.

“I don’t want people to either minimize the risk or say ‘I didn’t have that much contact’ or ‘I probably wasn’t exposed,’” said Dr. Michelle Barron, the senior medical director of infection prevention and control for UCHealth and an expert in infectious diseases. “We want the public to get a formal assessment so (public health officials) can ask those questions.”

The puppy, a shepherd mix, was part of a litter brought from Texas to Colorado and made available for adoption at an event July 20 at Moms and Mutts Colorado Rescue for Pregnant and Nursing Dogs in Sheridan.

The CDPHE spokeswoman, Gabi Johnston, said the puppy arrived in Colorado on July 16. It began showing symptoms of rabies July 29, became seriously ill and was euthanized. A veterinarian submitted a sample for rabies testing, which came back positive Aug. 7. CDPHE notified the public Aug. 9.

That delay between when people were potentially exposed at the adoption event and when they were notified is not ideal because the post-exposure treatment should be started as soon as possible. But it is crucial people receive the prophylaxis treatment any time before they begin showing symptoms of infection. Once people begin exhibiting symptoms, especially ones related to the virus’ attack on the brain, then rabies almost always kills — save for a handful of cases worldwide.

Barron said it’s possible the puppy had a lower level of infectiousness at the adoption event, since it wasn’t showing symptoms there. But she said that’s not certain, which is why public health officials are being extra-cautious and urging people to be screened and, if appropriate, start treatment.

“If this was not a uniformly fatal disease, we would play by different rules,” Barron said. “But it’s so high-risk that if we’re wrong about what information you’re giving us, you could die.”

Johnston said the puppy — and likely the rest of its litter — is believed to have had contact with a rabid skunk in Texas. CDPHE said last week that the owners of the puppy and the veterinarian who examined the dog were both bitten. They are among those referred for treatment.

Meanwhile, all of the other puppies from the litter have been surrendered to animal control, where they will likely be euthanized.

“The people who adopted the other puppies were understandably devastated when they learned their puppies were exposed to rabies for a prolonged period of time,” Johnston wrote in an email.

Section by John Ingold | Reporter

MORE HEALTH NEWS

• Larimer County’s mental health center lays off 75 people, blames rise in uninsured and Medicaid reform. Larimer County’s community mental health center, SummitStone Health Partners, abruptly laid off 75 employees this month. It’s the third community mental health center this summer to lay off employees, while others are dealing with large budget shortfalls. As Jennifer Brown reports, the reasons for the financial turmoil are largely the same: An increase in uninsured patients following the end of the federal public health emergency for COVID and changes to how Medicaid operates in Colorado that have destabilized budgets.
  — The Colorado Sun
• Farms and farmers markets support food-insecure families. Can these initiatives meet growing demands? Farmers markets can be a win-win for lower-income communities: Providing fresh produce to families while providing support to small farmers. That’s why a variety of local, state and federal programs create incentives for people to shop at farmers markets. But these programs are often run on a shoestring, meaning budget ups and downs can hurt their momentum. Meanwhile, transportation challenges to get people to the markets remain. Kate Ruder digs in deep to figure out if farmers markets are a scalable solution to Colorado’s food insecurity problems.
  — The Colorado Trust
• Bird flu has “moderate” pandemic potential, CDC finds. Yay? The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked closely at the bird flu virus that infected a Texas dairy worker earlier this year and assessed it based on its ability to spread person-to-person and its ability to cause serious health consequences. It said the finding is in line with findings for previous bird flu outbreaks. Meanwhile, a virus sample taken from an infected worker in Michigan killed no ferrets in lab tests, which is great news since the Michigan-style bird flu virus is what is circulating now, including in Colorado.
  — CDC
• The real Olympic gold medal? Free health care for athletes. U.S. Olympians, struggling with the cost of health care and insurance like the rest of us, took advantage of a little-known perk in the Olympic Village: free health care. And not just for sports-related injuries. One U.S. rugby player loaded up on preventive-care visits with a gynecologist, a dentist and an ophthalmologist. “A lot of people are kind of making a joke about it,” the Olympian said. “Like, welcome to France.”
  — SI.com

CHART OF THE WEEK

You knew Colorado was in danger. But did you know it was this bad?

Colorado has more than 320,000 homes sitting in moderate-to-severe wildfire danger, according to the mortgage and insurance company CoreLogic. The analytics firm published a new report with eye-opening charts and maps of just how many homes nationally are in danger zones, and how much it would cost to replace them.

We’re second only to California, with its far larger population of 39 million. The communities up against forested, mountain terrain in the northern Sierra Nevada have seen the most destructive fires in recent years. But CoreLogic’s maps show the scary wildfire band north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriels as an angry red swath awaiting disaster.

Altogether, the CoreLogic report spotlights 2.6 million homes in 14 wildfire-vulnerable states. The total reconstruction cost of those homes? $1.3 trillion.

Section by Michael Booth | Reporter

Thanks for hanging with us — we’d like to think this glacier of a newsletter was packed all the way to the bottom with gemstones and instructive cultural artifacts! If your brain is hungry for more, take a minute to sign up for SunFest’s all-day extravaganza of learning and entertainment, we’ll look forward to seeing you there.

— Michael & John

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Good morning, Colorado.

Had a lovely camping trip this past weekend where my wife and I “disconnected” by walking around with a phone in the air trying to get service so we could watch the U.S. Women’s National Team win gold at the Olympics.

We successfully caught Colorado-born Mallory Swanson’s game-winning goal. It got my heart rate going — although not as dramatically as when moose joined our campsite in the middle of the night.

Needless to say, it was an exciting trip. And now, as we turn our attention to the news, we have a quick reporting ask:

Can you help us with a story? Reporter Tamara Chuang is looking to talk with people today to see if they are feeling Denver’s inflation drop. The city’s newly announced rate was 1.9%, once again less than the U.S. rate of 2.9%. Shoot her an email at tamara@coloradosun.com.

Danika Worthington

Presentation Editor

THE NEWS

EDUCATION

Four-day school weeks have exploded across Colorado districts — and are setting students back

School districts across Colorado have switched to a four-day school week, which has longer days to make up for the shorter week, while faced with strapped budgets and limits on educator salaries. But a recent report found that the believed benefits aren’t necessarily panning out. Erica Breunlin takes a look.

READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT

After years of dings, coal-fired powerhouse Tri-State now noted for switch to solar, wind

Tri-State Generation, a previous coal powerhouse utility that serves millions through co-ops across the region, has transformed into a renewable-energy giant covering four Western states. That’s after years of losing co-op members because of its slow pace of change. Michael Booth looks at the utility’s turnabout.

READ MORE

CULTURE

With rising rents, theater companies are renting a Denver office space to rehearse

As rents rise, there are few affordable rehearsal spaces left in Denver. And the ones that do still exist are booked out a year in advance. So two theater companies — plus a gallery — have looked to a spot that you may not normally associate with the performing arts: an office. Parker Yamasaki has more.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• Four months after initial closure, more traffic allowed over U.S. 50 bridge west of Gunnison. If repairs continue as planned, all legal loads will be allowed to cross the bridge by mid-October, transportation officials said Tuesday night. Olivia Prentzel has more.
• Tim Walz is visiting Colorado, 4 other states in a dash for campaign cash. The Denver fundraiser Walz is scheduled to attend Wednesday will be hosted by Democratic megadonor Tim Gill, who made his fortune as a software entrepreneur. Gov. Jared Polis is a featured guest.

Section by Danika Worthington | Presentation Editor

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Ski resorts announce 2024 opening dates. Breckenridge is scheduled to open Nov. 8, Vail on Nov. 15, while Beaver Creek and Crested Butte are set to open the day before Thanksgiving.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Former Denver cardiologist found guilty on 35 counts in sexual assault trial. A jury found Stephen Matthews guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women after meeting them on dating apps.
  — 9News
• Aurora evictions draw attention to owner’s neglect at other apartments. A 99-unit apartment that was shut down and evicted residents with only six days’ notice is drawing scrutiny on property owner CBZ Management.
  — Westword
• More than just evacuees, those forced to flee Colorado wildfires are new climate refugees. Climate change-related disasters — such as wildfires — displaced more than 2.5 million Americans in 2023.
  — CPR News

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Kevin Jeffers | Product Team

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• Was Tina Peters’ conviction a warning or a trend? The next election will tell us. It’s no surprise that Peters was convicted for her election security breach. But the Big Lie she championed is still alive and well.
  — Mike Littwin 

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

SunLit

BOOKS

Old Firehouse Books offers whimsical, practical, heart-wrenching titles

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from bookstores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins recommends:

• “The Pairing” by Casey McQuiston, a tale of love abandoned and rekindled
• “Killed by a Traffic Engineer” by Wes Marshall, a deconstruction of how our roads can be lethal
• “The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards” by Jessica Waite, a memoir of shocking secrets revealed

Read what the bookstore staff had to say about each. Pick up a copy and support your local bookstores at the same time.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

To moose and Mallory Swanson!

— Danika & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Good morning, Colorado.

We’ve got a lot of news to cover this morning, so I’ll keep this intro quick. But I did want to make sure you saw a big story that broke after 5 p.m. yesterday. Reporter Nancy Lofholm was inside the packed courtroom in Grand Junction when a jury turned over their guilty verdict for Tina Peters. The conviction capped a yearslong saga that jeopardized Colorado’s voting system and marks another conviction tied to post-2020 election conspiracies.

This is just one example of the issues we at The Sun are committed to covering, no matter how long it takes to report, where it happens, or what time the news comes in. We’ve got that story and more in this morning’s Sunriser.

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

THE NEWS

CRIME AND COURTS

Tina Peters found guilty in plot to breach Colorado’s election system to prove voter fraud

After hearing eight days of testimony, a jury deliberated for roughly four hours and found former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters guilty of seven of 10 counts related to a 2021 breach of the county’s election system. As Nancy Lofholm reports, the jury debated clashing portraits of Peters, weighing an image of a law-breaking, publicity-seeking conspiracy monger who jeopardized Colorado’s voting system against that of a public servant who was only trying to protect sensitive election information.

READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT

Tiny, endangered toads transplanted to Colorado pond successfully breed after 7 years

State wildlife biologists are calling the latest news about boreal tadpoles in a bog in the mountain above Pitkin “potentially life-changing.” Why? Because for seven years, biologists have been toting tadpoles to high-elevation ponds to try to save the boreal toad, and for the first time, the transplanted toads are making their own babies in the wild. Jennifer Brown has more.

READ MORE

WATER

Four Colorado River states, feds ramp up negotiations over water conservation credit program

Colorado River officials have outlined a speedy timeline to negotiate a new agreement with the federal government to track, count and store water so it can benefit the four Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Water reporter Shannon Mullane has all the details on the potential conservation credit program.

READ MORE

BUSINESS

Number of new Colorado businesses drops 21.7% nearly a year after filing-fee discount ends

There was a sharp decline in people filing to start a new business in Colorado during the second quarter, and some economists are attributing it to the end of a program that reduced filing fees to $1, Tamara Chuang reports. Now, filings are slowing down and getting back to the pace before the discount existed.

READ MORE

STATE LEGISLATURE

Another special legislative session on Colorado property taxes appears imminent to avoid ballot measure fight

The session looms after a long list of top civic and business groups from across the political spectrum said they supported a deal to stop a pair of measures from appearing on the November ballot. Brian Eason and Jesse Paul break down how the idea of a special session came together.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• A bylaw amendment could make it more difficult to dislodge embattled Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams. The change would make it harder to call a special meeting to vote on whether to remove Williams, the leader of the state Republican party, Jesse Paul reports.
• Colorado Springs-area woman, known as “praying Grandma,” sentenced to one year of probation for role in Jan. 6 riot. In a Facebook post before the ruling, Rebecca Lavrenz offered no apologies for her crimes and said she felt the judge’s decision was in God’s hands. 

Section by Olivia Prentzel | Reporter

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Amid world’s hottest month on record, Colorado’s mountains were — mostly — spared. NOAA reported that the average global temperature for July worldwide was 2.18 degrees above the 20th-century average, but the central and northern mountain areas of Colorado stayed about a degree below what meteorologists consider normal.
  — Summit Daily
• Law enforcement is struggling to find alternatives to dangerous restraint technique. The face-down prone position Elijah McClain was put in by police officers contributed directly to his death and has been a target of police reformers for years. But even as the governor signed a law requiring local departments to define a policy for its acceptable use, the state attorney general’s office is warning that without standard guidance the state could end up with a patchwork of policies.
  — CPR News
• Denver pays $350,000 to a man injured by a police officer speeding against traffic without sirens or lights. Christopher Cordova, a delivery driver for Bimbo Bakeries, was struck by Officer Jacob Marsh, who said he was following a speeding driver going the wrong direction on Quebec Street in 2021.
  — Denverite
• Park Meadows owner pushes back planned apartments on its parking lot. Instead of a seven-story, 454-unit apartment building on the east side of the Douglas County shopping center, the mall owner has now approached the Lone Tree City Council with a new plan for another 20,000 square feet of retail space, a parking garage … and no apartments.
  — BusinessDen 🔑
• California’s first family of rice Is stepping down. The Koda family — whose pioneering rice farm survived the entire family being incarcerated at Colorado’s Camp Amache during World War II internment — is closing up shop, citing water scarcity and a mismatch between their heirloom rice varieties and their farm’s poor adobe soil.
  — New York Times 

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• All Colorado households deserve to have help with affordable housing.  The solution is in creating publicly owned mixed-income developments that can adapt to Coloradans’ evolving needs
  — State Sen. Jeff Bridges (D-Greenwood Village), Tamara Pogue (Summit County commissioner) and Peter F. LiFari (Maiker Housing Partners)

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

SunLit

REVIEW

“The Girls in the Cabin” introduces a darkly troubled girl, a grieving family

Two slices of Caleb Stephens’ psychological thriller, “The Girls in the Cabin,” offer disturbing glimpses into what a widowed father hoped would be a healing camping trip for him and his two daughters — but which quickly turns into a nightmare scenario. Told from multiple points of view, Stephens’ Colorado Book Award finalist lays the groundwork for characters caught in a web of darkness.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author Caleb Stephens. After finishing a complex apocalyptic novel, Stephens wanted his next book to be more of a straightforward thriller. 

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

Thanks for joining us here, as always. Catch you here tomorrow.

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Good morning and welcome to the “thunderstorm every afternoon” stage of Colorado summer.

While these sudden bursts of precipitation and thunder are a welcome part of summer — especially when parts of the state are in a flash drought — officials are keeping an eye on all the fresh burn scars and other flood-prone areas.

But as we wait for the afternoon thunder to hit, let’s take a tour through a weekend’s worth of news, from the drama in the final act of the Tina Peters trial to a look at why getting Colorado’s major trails connected is taking so long.

Let’s lace up these boots and hit the trail already, shall we?

Eric Lubbers

CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE NEWS

OUTDOORS

New trails in Colorado under scrutiny as sliver of Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail gets approval

Eight years after then-governor John Hickenlooper announced a plan to connect 16 gaps in trails across Colorado, only one of the chosen projects is complete. And as Jason Blevins reports, the level of environmental scrutiny that went into the approval of a tiny section of one of the big 16 reflects the new normal for making recreation play nice with environmental concerns.

READ MORE, PODCAST

CRIME & COURTS

Tina Peters declines to testify in her own trial after judge refuses request to tell prosecutors “not to bully me around”

Facing 10 felony and misdemeanor counts, including identity theft and attempting to influence a public servant, Tina Peters dangled the possibility that she would testify in her defense. But after a judge repeatedly told her that he could not give legal advice from the bench, she declined. Nancy Lofholm reports on the final stretch of the case that could conclude today.

READ MORE

FOOD

Farms and farmers markets support food-insecure families. Can these initiatives meet growing demands?

There are federal, state and local programs that incentivize buying produce from farmers markets all over Colorado. And while some are popular — like coupons that double the value of food assistance spent at farmers markets — fewer people are using them than the state hoped. Kate Ruder has more on the future of these programs from The Colorado Trust.

READ MORE

ECONOMY

Market recovers but here’s why Colorado job growth is slowing

After last week’s market disruption fueled by a weak U.S. jobs report, local analysts say the response was overblown. Tamara Chuang breaks down the state of jobs in Colorado as part of this week’s “What’s Working” column.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• Alexander Mountain fire was human-caused, investigators say. Officials are looking for photos of the fire the morning it started west of Loveland, before it grew to nearly 10,000 acres and destroyed 51 structures.
• Health officials sound alert after puppy at Colorado adoption event tests positive for rabies. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says anyone who attended the July 20 event at Moms and Mutts Colorado Rescue for Pregnant and Nursing Dogs in Sheridan should be screened for rabies.
• Fact Brief ☀️Can people convicted of felonies vote in Colorado? “The day you are released from detention or incarceration is the day your eligibility to register to vote is restored,” the Colorado Secretary of State’s office states on its website.

COLORADO SUNDAY

The economics of eating out have some of Denver’s top chefs dismayed, discouraged and looking elsewhere

A busy restaurant doesn’t mean it’s thriving, but there seems to be something particular with Denver that is discouraging the city’s top local chefs and restaurants and has them looking elsewhere. Some of Denver’s award-winning chefs get specific, sharing details with Tamara Chuang, about their love/hate relationship with being part of Colorado’s largest dining scene.

READ MORE

@sunday@

Colorado Sunday is a weekly premium newsletter for Sun members. Get the story, plus behind-the-scenes previews.

@close@

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Olivia Prentzel | Reporter

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• Dave Williams’ actions have become so despicable they are entertaining. The GOP state chair has taken so many jaw-dropping actions that he has become appointment viewing to see what awful thing he will indulge in next.
  — Mario Nicolais
• Same old swiftboating story, same tired playbook — but with Walz the new target.  Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has the VP candidate’s back against challenges to his military service.
  — Mike Littwin
• Kamala Harris has exceeded expectations. Give her credit. As the Democrats’ new presidential nominee, Harris has defied even the staunchest of skeptics. Why do we keep underestimating women?
  — Trish Zornio

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

Thanks for kicking off the week with us! See you back here tomorrow.

— Eric and the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.