The Sunriser Archives - The Colorado Sun https://coloradosun.com/category/newsletters/the-sunriser/ Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:52:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-cropped-colorado_full_sun_yellow_with_background-150x150.webp The Sunriser Archives - The Colorado Sun https://coloradosun.com/category/newsletters/the-sunriser/ 32 32 210193391 Gov. Polis calls special session on property taxes https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/16/the-sunriser-08162024/ Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:52:36 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=399491 Blurred image of an empty parliamentary chamber with wooden desks and chairs arranged in rows, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and flags on the walls.Plus: Icelandic investors interested in Colorado geothermal, federal funds run low for local produce, bike frame battles and more Colorado news]]> Blurred image of an empty parliamentary chamber with wooden desks and chairs arranged in rows, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and flags on the walls.
The Sunriser logo

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.

The Colorado House of Representatives convenes Jan. 10 on the first day of Colorado’s 2024 legislative session. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

Sept. 6

Deadline for lawmakers to remove initiatives from the November ballot

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.

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The proposed site of the Mount Princeton Geothermal plant, Aug. 28, 2023, near Buena Vista. The site, with views of 14,196-foot Mount Princeton, is on state land trust land, which, when leased, helps fund things like public schools and institutions in Colorado. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

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.

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An heirloom eggplant, grown by Switch Gears Farm in Longmont, will be in the weekly produce bags as part of the Colorado Nutrition Incentive Program. Vanita Patel, co-founder of Switch Gears, gets the seeds for this particular eggplant from a Pakistani farmer in California. (Rebecca Slezak, Special to The Colorado Sun)

220

Local farms that sold food to groups with LFPA funds

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.

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$25 million

Spot’s original ask to drop the matter and avoid a lawsuit

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.

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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.

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.

🗣️ 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.

Subscribe at coloradosun.com/podcast

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.

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

]]> 399491 Explaining Denver’s slowing inflation https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/15/the-sunriser-08152024/ Thu, 15 Aug 2024 14:52:20 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=399360 A grocery store employee arranges produce, including potatoes and fruits, in the organic section of a store filled with various fruits and vegetables.Plus: Prospect Energy shut down, mixed results in latest homelessness count, Denver fundraiser with Tim Walz raises millions and more Colorado news]]> A grocery store employee arranges produce, including potatoes and fruits, in the organic section of a store filled with various fruits and vegetables.
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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.

RSVP for Peak Ozone

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.

Learn more about SunFest 2024

Now let’s get to today’s news.

Denver-area inflation hit the sub-2% mark that the Federal Reserve was waiting for before lowering interest rates. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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.

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An unhoused person walks past his tent in an encampment along the 1300 block of Pearl Street in Denver in January 2021. (Andy Colwell, Special to The Colorado Sun)

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.

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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.

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Colorado State University Geosciences professor Rick Aster installs a POLENET seismic station in Antarctica. Aster and POLENET colleagues used seismic tomography to scan the Earth up to hundreds of kilometers below the Antarctic ice sheet. (Courtesy of Rick Aster, POLENET team)

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.

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File

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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.

A view of Palisade near where the town famous for wineries and peaches meets the high desert Book Cliffs. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

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

See you back here tomorrow.

— Kevin & the whole staff of The Sun

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

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

]]> 399360 Four-day school weeks aren’t working out like some hoped https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/14/the-sunriser-20240814/ Wed, 14 Aug 2024 15:03:20 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=399235 A crossing guard holds a stop sign, assisting children and parents across a crosswalk in front of Mancos Elementary School.Plus: Coal-loving utility goes renewable, theaters move to office spaces and more drivers are heading over U.S. 50 bridge ]]> A crossing guard holds a stop sign, assisting children and parents across a crosswalk in front of Mancos Elementary School.
The Sunriser logo

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.

A row of backpacks lines a hallway wall Monday at Mancos Elementary School in Mancos. Students kicked off the new school year that day, diving back into four-day school weeks. Mancos School District moved to four-day weeks in 2016, largely as an incentive to draw quality teachers as it struggled to maintain competitive salaries. (Matthew Tangeman, Special to The Colorado Sun)

14%

Colorado public school students at schools with four-day weeks

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.

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Tri-State Generation is using power from the Escalante solar farm built around its retired coal-fired plant near Grants, New Mexico. (Source: OrigisEnergy/Gridworks)

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.

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Melissa Leach, artistic director and owner of The Three Leaches Theatre, poses Tuesday in the former Benchmark Theatre in Lakewood. Leach prefers working in intimate theater spaces. “When you’re closer to the audience they kinda live in the work,” she said. (Rebecca Slezak, Special to The Colorado Sun)

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.

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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.

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:

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

RECOMMENDATIONS

To moose and Mallory Swanson!

— Danika & the whole staff of The Sun

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

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

]]> 399235 Tina Peters guilty in breach of Mesa County election system https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/13/sunriser-20240813/ Tue, 13 Aug 2024 14:59:29 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=399037 a pair of women in formal clothing walking indoorsPlus: Endangered toads having tadpoles, special legislative session more likely, Colorado River negotiations ramp up and more ]]> a pair of women in formal clothing walking indoors
The Sunriser logo

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.

Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters departs the Mesa County Justice Center courtroom with her supporters Monday in Grand Junction. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

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.

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A 2005 file photo of a boreal toad at the Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility in Alamosa. Thousands of rare boreal toads are bred each year at this hatchery for reintroduction into the wild. (Judy Walgren, Rocky Mountain News via Denver Public Library)

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.

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Train cars are parked along the Colorado River on April 10 in Bond. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

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.

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A boy runs across Main Street in downtown Ordway on Jan. 26, 2022. The town is the county seat of Crowley County. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)

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.

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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

What do you want candidates to talk about during the 2024 election as they compete for your vote? Our survey is still open. Tell us what you think!

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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.

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

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.

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

]]> 399037 Why getting new trails in Colorado takes so much work https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/12/sunriser-20240812/ Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:12:09 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=398826 Plus: The economics of dining out, Tina Peters opts not to testify, food aid at farmers markets, slowing job growth and more ]]>
The Sunriser logo

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?

A view of the former coal mining village of Placita, with the upper Crystal River winding along the valley floor as seen from from Colorado 133 as it climbs up McClure Pass. (Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Journalism)

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

Tina Peters of Mesa County speaks during a Republican State Central Committee meeting March 11, 2023, in Loveland where elections for a chairman, vice chairman and secretary were conducted. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

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.

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Perdita Butler, left, and Geonna King uncover a bed of vegetables at Butler’s Quarter Acre and a Mule farm in Pueblo. Butler grows organic produce and Quarter Acre and a Mule is an anchor farm for the Pueblo Farmers Market. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Trust)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

]]> 398826 Election fraud conspiracies take center stage https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/09/sunriser-20240809/ Fri, 09 Aug 2024 14:58:36 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=397841 Tina Peters speaks at a podium on steps next to a large sign that reads, "Fix the STOLEN 2020 ELECTION.Plus: Accessible playgrounds that are actually fun, a premier elk hunting spot raises concerns, a new Democratic nominee and more Colorado news]]> Tina Peters speaks at a podium on steps next to a large sign that reads, "Fix the STOLEN 2020 ELECTION.
The Sunriser logo

Good morning, Sunriser readers! Last weekend I worked The Colorado Sun booth at the Crested Butte Arts Festival, and I want to thank everyone who stopped by and said hello. It was truly fun meeting you all, hearing about how you like to read The Sun, and learning what issues and interests we should keep an eye on in the Gunnison Valley.

For all you readers —in CB and elsewhere — who like to think, talk and learn about our state, we’d love to see you at SunFest this year. It’s our daylong festival of networking and panels, centered around the theme “For a Better Colorado.” Check out some of the featured speakers on the SunFest website. We’ll be talking with professional skiers, chefs, scientists and fellow journalists, along with many others.

’Til then, today’s news.

On Thursday afternoon, a narrative developed during the trial of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. Sherronna Bishop, a friend and co-conspirator of Peters, testified for the defense, plainly laying out the steps that she and Peters took in their attempted hack of Dominion Voting Systems. Nancy Lofholm has the story.

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Lauren and Richard Bowling and their sons Braxton, in the middle, and twins Mack, left, and Miles, helped raise money for the $1.6 million adaptive playground in Berthoud with a lemonade stand. The family participated in a groundbreaking event for the pioneering park May 29. (KD Jones Photography, Special to The Colorado Sun)

$53,000

Funds raised over the past four years by the Bowling family’s annual lemonade stand

Cities and towns across Colorado have spent the better part of a decade bringing parks up to ADA standards, but ADA standards aren’t necessarily fun. As Dan England reports, just because a kid can roll up to a playground in a wheelchair, doesn’t mean they can use any of the equipment. That is slowly changing, with more parents of disabled children pushing for accessible — and exciting — parks in their areas.

READ MORE

2

Seats to spare in the House for Colorado Democrats to keep their supermajority

House District 19, which straddles Boulder and Weld counties, is one of six districts where Democrats won their seats by fewer than 1,500 votes in 2022. Thursday night, a Democratic vacancy committee selected Jillaire McMillan to replace Rep. Jennifer Parenti on the District 19 Democratic ticket. Parenti dropped her reelection bid in July, blaming personal agendas and special interests for making the job too difficult. Jesse Paul reports.

READ MORE

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Who knows which quarterback will be taking snaps for the Denver Broncos once the preseason musical chairs is over? But Drew Litton illustrates that there’ll be some explaining to do if it isn’t rookie Bo Nix.

CARTOON

In “What’d I Miss?” R. Alan Brooks and Cori Redford imagine a fictitious “Republican Jesus” and the miracles required to account for the actions of some followers.

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.

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, we talk about, among other things, the idea of taxing empty homes in ski towns and if funding for housing could take a hit.

🗣️ 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.

Subscribe at coloradosun.com/podcast

See you around, Colorado.

— Parker & the whole staff of The Sun

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

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

]]> 397841 How a “flash drought” summer helped wildfires https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/08/sunriser-20240808/ Thu, 08 Aug 2024 15:00:14 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=397699 Plus: Fort Collins mental health center latest to lay off staff, Aurora Reservoir drilling plans approved, what to do this weekend and more]]>
The Sunriser logo

Good morning! Every four years, the Olympics, the general election and back-to-school prep all seem to collide in August.

And this year, thanks to the “flash drought” that dried out northern Colorado (more on that below), we’ve added fire season to the mix this time. So here’s hoping that you’re staying safe, cool and sane as we hit the home stretch of summer — and if you need a little inspiration on what to do, check out our “What’s Happening” section at the end of the newsletter.

Now let’s dive into the news, shall we?

Drought conditions in northern Colorado worsened between April 30 and July 30. (U.S. Drought Monitor, Contributed)

January through April was a good time for water in Colorado, with a typical snow year followed by a favorable bump in precipitation in May. So how did the state dry out fast enough to fuel a series of wildfires? Shannon Mullane digs into the “flash drought” that left parts of northern Colorado experiencing their driest summers since the 1890s.

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A ribbon of two-lane road winds through the prairie in Larimer County. (Ed Kosmicki, Special to The Colorado Sun)

The largest community mental health center in Larimer County abruptly announced layoffs last week, requiring counselors to turn over phones and laptops on the spot, denying them a chance to say goodbye to patients. Jennifer Brown reports on how a number of factors — from a massive change in how clinics are reimbursed to hundreds of thousands of Coloradans being kicked off Medicaid — led to a financial crisis.

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This photo of Aurora Reservoir was taken from an elevation of about 7,500 feet in 2005, as the Beacon Point neighborhood was just beginning to take shape. (denver_flyer, Creative Commons license)

Crestone Resources received approval to drill up to 166 oil and gas wells yesterday with one caveat — electrify the drilling equipment. Mark Jaffe has more, including the reactions from neighbors opposed to the plan and what steps remain before drilling can commence.

READ MORE

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The main stage at the Planet Bluegrass festival grounds in Lyons in 2021. The grounds weren’t affected by the recent Stone Canyon fire, which torched more than 1,500 nearby acres on the ridge above. (Molly McCormick, Provided by Planet Bluegrass)

Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. The ‘S’ at the end of “Folks” is deliberate. Craig Ferguson, a Denver lawyer who took over the wildly popular but financially troubled Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1988, came up with the idea for Folks in a Chicago hotel room in 1990. He was coming off one of the biggest crowds to attend Telluride Bluegrass to this day, and wondered if he couldn’t put together something more like a singer-songwriter summit, a festival that focused on the community of musicians, something that stood apart from other folk festivals of the time.

The first Folks Festival was held in August 1991 in Estes Park, and moved down to the banks of North St. Vrain Creek in Lyons a few years later, where it has lived ever since. If you’ve seen us write about Lyons lately, it’s because of the 1,557-acre Stone Canyon fire, which started just north of the town and burned for five days, destroying five structures.

The festival grounds were spared, and the Folks Festival, scheduled for Aug. 9-11, is slated to go on. That close call isn’t lost on Planet Bluegrass, the production company that runs the Folks Festival, so they are offering free admission to emergency responders and firefighters, along with their families, who have worked on Colorado’s wildfires this season. If that’s you, just stop by the special will-call line at the box office with your credentials to get set up.

“In the meantime, our path forward remains clear,” the company wrote in an email Wednesday. “More musical and community experiences on Planet Bluegrass.”

Free-$205; Aug. 9-11; 500 W. Main St., Lyons

Thanks for spending your morning with us, and enjoy that cool front! See you back here tomorrow.

— Eric & the whole staff of The Sun

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

]]> 397699 Ski towns want a vacancy tax on empty homes  https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/07/the-sunriser-20240807/ Wed, 07 Aug 2024 15:05:58 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=397560 homes in a forest with mountains in backgroundPlus: All the new minimum wages coming, Tina Peters’ chief aide testifies about hunt for “phantom voters” and a Denver doctor who helped make some of the biggest pandemic vaccine decisions ]]> homes in a forest with mountains in background
The Sunriser logo

Good morning, Colorado.

I think we should all collectively give ourselves a pat on the back for how amazing our Colorado soccer players on the U.S. women’s national team have been doing this Olympics. Did we do anything to help? No. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t revel in their success.

Colorado’s Sophia Smith scored an extra-time goal yesterday, sending the team to the gold medal match after missing it the last two Olympic tournaments. She’s been a scoring machine with the help of fellow Coloradans Mallory Swanson, née Pugh, and Lindsey Horan.

So I say it is your duty as Coloradans to wake up Saturday and watch them face Brazil for gold at 9 a.m.

Ok, now we can turn to the news.

Large family homes sit above the Snake River Arm of Dillon Reservoir on July 19. The Summit Cove neighborhood has a few listings on Airbnb. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

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Colorado communities that currently tax empty homes

Mountain towns have been struggling with affordable housing while also seeing as many as 40% of homes unoccupied by full-time residents, Jason Blevins reports. A consortium is pushing the Colorado legislature to let local governments ask voters to tax homes that sit empty for most of the year.

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Brendan Hartigen brings dirty dishes into the kitchen at The Last Steep Bar & Grill on Elk Avenue in Crested Butte on Aug. 6, 2019. (Dean Krakel, Special to The Colorado Sun)

Colorado and the city of Denver have been raising the minimum wage annually for years. Now, Edgewater and Boulder County are joining in. Tamara Chuang has more on why. (For additional context, the $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2010.)

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Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters speaks during the “Election Truth Rally” on April 5, 2022, at the Colorado Capitol. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

When former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters used Mesa County’s voting system to try to do the bidding of national stolen-election conspiracists, she had inside help. Tuesday, her chief aide helped those prosecuting Peters. Nancy Lofholm has more from the trial.

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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.

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from bookstores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Park Hill Community Bookstore in Denver recommends:

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

RECOMMENDATIONS

Remember: Three Coloradans and the rest of the U.S. women’s national team take on Brazil on Saturday for gold. Go team.

— Danika & the whole staff of The Sun

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

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

]]> 397560 Urban Coloradans are having fewer kids https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/06/sunriser-20240806/ Tue, 06 Aug 2024 14:55:59 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=397343 A person with long, curly hair sits on a wooden rocking chair on a porch. There's another empty wooden rocking chair beside them. A small table with a metal vase holding flowers is nearby.Plus: Why a Washington tribe won’t send wolves, Stone Canyon fire 100% contained, ballot measures don’t get the signatures and more]]> A person with long, curly hair sits on a wooden rocking chair on a porch. There's another empty wooden rocking chair beside them. A small table with a metal vase holding flowers is nearby.
The Sunriser logo

Good morning, Colorado.

Whenever it rained in Madagascar — which wasn’t often in the island’s drought-stricken southernmost region where I was living as a Peace Corps volunteer — my neighbors would whistle and cheer while standing under their verandas watching the raindrops fall. School was canceled and little kids squealed in excitement, running outside with buckets to catch the falling water from the sky.

I felt like celebrating last night, too, as it stormed and rained for hours in Colorado Springs. It wasn’t a drought buster by any means, but I can only imagine the firefighters fighting flames in the foothills let out a cheer or two.

We’ve got a packed Sunriser this morning, with everything from wildfires, wolves, birth rates and more. Let’s get to it.

Denver County experienced the second-largest decline in births among the 100 most populous counties in the country from 2021 to 2022 — the most recent year of county-by-county data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of babies born dropped 6.3%. To better understand the numbers, Erica Breunlin dug into the data and spoke to women who are opting to be childfree.

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A male Mexican gray wolf tries to elude capture inside an enclosure at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in November 2017. (Provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

A Native American tribe in Washington that promised 15 wolves to Colorado has rescinded its offer. In explaining their decision, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Nation said “necessary and meaningful consultation was not completed with the potentially impacted tribes” when Colorado created its wolf reintroduction plan. Tracy Ross has the details.

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A state commission cut a key proposed requirement that oil companies seeking to drill within 2,000 feet of homes must get the approval of residents living there. Activists say tearing out that vital protection, just a month before hearings begin, gives a big advantage to the oil companies. Mark Jaffe and Michael Booth have more.

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Boulder County fire management firefighters Noah Nerguizian, left, and Nathan Basalla, along with Boulder County Parks and Open Space employee Jessica Hawkins, mitigate the hot spots from the Stone Canyon fire Aug. 2 in Lyons. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

After fully containing the Stone Canyon fire, which destroyed five structures and was linked to one death, officials are in full-on investigation mode to try to figure out what caused the blaze near Lyons. Feds were called in, alongside Boulder authorities, to collect the clues, Jennifer Brown reports.

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The proponents of eight measures being pursued for Colorado’s November ballot — many of which were being pushed by conservative activists — failed to get enough signatures by Monday’s deadline. That means voters this fall won’t weigh in on whether to ban children assigned male at birth from participating in girl’s youth sports and whether the state should require voter approval for fees raising money for public transportation projects. Jesse Paul has more on the measures that failed.

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What do you want candidates to talk about during the 2024 election as they compete for your vote? Our survey is still open. Tell us what you think!

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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.

Mary Rippon was a groundbreaking professor at the University of Colorado — the first woman to hold that position at CU and possibly the first at any state university. She also harbored a secret — a student with whom she had a daughter — and proceeded to keep her private life hidden, in contrast to her renown as a professor. As Silvia Pettem’s biography shows, that was a particularly fraught proposition in Victorian-era Boulder.

READ AN EXCERPT

Stay dry out there.

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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

]]> 397343 Missing: Two friendly llamas wearing backpacks https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/05/sunriser-20240805/ Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:04:30 +0000 https://coloradosun.com/?p=397110 Person with a dog and three llamas carrying packs standing on a grassy mountain trail with scenic background.Plus: Progress on Front Range fires, measuring irrigation emissions, changing the food ecosystem, the ripple effects of property tax caps and more ]]> Person with a dog and three llamas carrying packs standing on a grassy mountain trail with scenic background.
The Sunriser logo

Happy Monday from the few blessedly cool morning hours we can expect here in the apex of the dog days of summer. And after a week (and weekend) of watching the Front Range deal with a string of wildfires, these dog days can’t end soon enough.

But with a (knock on wood) good weekend of containment and the lifting of evacuation orders for some residents displaced by the flames, hopefully we can get through the week without anything else sparking.

Meanwhile, we have an absolute spread of news for you in today’s Sunriser that touches on just about every big topic in Colorado: Fire, tourism, climate change, food insecurity, housing, tax structures, elections and, of course, fugitive llamas.

So while I’d love to stop and chat, we need to get this train a-rollin’. Onward!

P.S. — It’s not easy (or cheap) to keep this kind of wide-ranging news coverage coming for readers like you all around Colorado. We rely on our members to be able to keep an eye on the entire state, so if you haven’t joined yet, please consider supporting our work. Memberships start at just $5 a month and every dollar goes right back into our nonprofit newsroom. Click the button below to get started!

A home structure remained undamaged from the Stone Canyon fire along Stone Canyon Road Friday in Lyons. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

Firefighters had a good weekend dealing with the wildfires burning along the Front Range: The 10,000-acre Alexander Mountain Fire was 54% contained as of yesterday afternoon, progress on the Quarry fire jumped to 35% containment and the Stone Canyon fire was declared fully contained. Catch up on the weekend’s progress with our live updates from Sunday.

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The intersection of U.S. 34 and U.S. 36 begins to see more car and pedestrian traffic early Friday afternoon in Estes Park, despite the wildland fires in the northern Front Range. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

During a week when Estes Park is typically buzzing with vacationers trying to eke out a little bit more mountain time before the end of summer, the town found itself on the other side of closed roads with locals and tourists alike watching for evacuation notices. Parker Yamasaki talked to business owners about what happens when wildfire season comes knocking.

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Lisa Balcomb, dog Nick, and llamas Rones and Vio in happier times in the San Juans just before a fateful sheepdog attack. (Courtesy Lisa Balcomb)

Lisa Balcomb and her sister Barbara embraced llama-assisted backpacking years ago to save their knees. But after an encounter with an aggressive sheepdog on a trail through the San Juans last month, Lisa’s llamas Rones and Vio took off into the high-altitude forest and haven’t been seen since. Michael Booth breaks down the case of the llamas on the loose — and what to do if you spot them.

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Pivot irrigation, like this operation near La Junta, helps farmers put a precise amount of water on a given crop. Area farmers draw water from the Arkansas River via a system of canals and ditches to irrigate their crops. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)

The process of pushing water through pumps, canals and center-pivot sprinklers can add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. But it’s hard for farmers to know where to start improving efficiency without knowing exactly the quantity and location of emissions. Shannon Mullane has more on new Colorado State University research that will help pinpoint the biggest culprits.

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Emerald Gardens microgreens co-owners Dave Demerling (left), of Arvada, and Roberto Meza, of Bennett, tend to some of their crop in their hydroponic farm’s greenhouse in Bennett in November 2019. (Andy Colwell, Special to The Colorado Sun)

How does one go from growing hydroponic microgreens for high-end restaurants to running a 14,000-square-foot “food hub” that connects fresh food with underserved communities? In this week’s “What’s Working,” Parker Yamasaki digs into the East Denver Food Hub and how hard lessons learned in the pandemic led to an effort to change the whole food ecosystem.

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The community of Granby Ranch is financed by 10 metro districts. (Nina Riggio, Special to The Colorado Sun)

Investors are starting to pull back from the Colorado housing market, in part because of fear about a potential cap on property taxes floated by a conservative nonprofit that Coloradans could vote into law this November. Brian Eason explores the municipal bond investment market and why the attempt to keep taxes low for homeowners could have major effects on building much-needed inventory around the state.

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Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, third from left, arrives at the Mesa County Justice Center for her trial July 31 with her team of lawyers in Grand Junction. (Christopher Tomlinson/Grand Junction Sentinel via AP)

Matt Heimerich and his family are some of the few farmers left in the 790 square miles of northern Crowley County after city water buy-ups shrank the county’s irrigated acres from more than 50,000 in the 1970s to fewer than a thousand this year. The small community is a reminder of the cultural and economic ruin that happens when cities in Colorado and elsewhere buy farms, dry up the land and move the water to urban areas, Jerd Smith and Michael Booth write.

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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.

Stay safe, stay cool and thanks for starting your week with us. See you tomorrow!

— Eric and the whole staff of The Sun

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

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

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