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Boulder weighing minimum wage bump to $16.58 in 2025, another $1 in 2026, 2027
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Approved, Boulder Reporting Lab, Local

Boulder weighing minimum wage bump to $16.58 in 2025, another $1 in 2026, 2027

By John Herrick | Boulder Reporting Lab The Boulder City Council is considering raising the city’s minimum wage to between $15.57 per hour and $16.58 per hour starting next year, with additional increases of over a dollar in each of the following two years. A final decision is expected later this year.  If approved, the wage hike would impact thousands of workers currently earning the state minimum wage of $14.42 per hour. Labor advocates want the city council to raise the minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2030, but councilmembers were noncommittal during a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 22. They said they were concerned about the impact on small businesses facing higher labor costs, even as they agreed the increase is necessary to help workers afford to live in Boulder. READ THE F...
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Freight train derails in Boulder, injuring conductors and destroying bridge, BNSF investigating
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Freight train derails in Boulder, injuring conductors and destroying bridge, BNSF investigating

By Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado A derailment of a mile-long freight train that injured two crew members overnight is under investigation. It happened in the eastern part of Boulder near Foothills Hospital, close to the intersection of Arapahoe Avenue and 48th Street.   The train workers were taken to the hospital and were released on Friday morning. The crash destroyed a rail bridge and some trees were knocked down, but there was no other damage aside from the damage to the train cars. The derailment stretches across a wide area and is expected to take a while to clean up. Several roads were closed overnight near the crash, including Valmont Street and Pearl Parkway. By daybreak on Friday they were back open. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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‘What just happened?’: Selection of Aurora’s new top cop lacked any public engagement
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

‘What just happened?’: Selection of Aurora’s new top cop lacked any public engagement

By Jennifer McRae | CBS Colorado Aurora's newly named police chief Todd Chamberlain introduced himself to the public in a news conference on Thursday. The city made the announcement just the day before, amid criticism that the position had been filled without input from community leaders.  Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor addressed those concerns at the news conference, "After our failed public process last time, the feedback we heard from experts in the field was that there were many qualified candidates that would not take part in a public process because it could place their current job in jeopardy." He also added, "While the selection process did not include public engagement, Todd is committed to engaging with the community, listening to their concerns, earn their trust an...
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In Southwest Colorado, alliance of nine school districts finds staff, financial efficiencies, does more for students
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Approved, Chalkbeat Colorado, Local

In Southwest Colorado, alliance of nine school districts finds staff, financial efficiencies, does more for students

By Neal Morton | Chalkbeat Colorado, via the Hechinger Report For three dozen high schoolers, summer break in this southwest Colorado city kicked off with some rock climbing, mountain biking, and fly-fishing. Then, the work began. As part of a weeklong institute on climate and the environment, mountain researchers taught the students how to mix clumps of grass seed, clay, compost, and sand for seedballs that they threw into burned areas of the Hermosa Creek watershed to help with native plant recovery. The students upturned rocks — and splashed each other — along the banks of the Animas River, searching for signs of aquatic life after a disastrous mine spill. They later waded through a wetland and scouted for beaver dams as part of a lesson on how humans can support water restorat...
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Colorado River Basin’s largest users look to conservation strategies, while negotiators work on future
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Approved, Law Week Colorado, Local

Colorado River Basin’s largest users look to conservation strategies, while negotiators work on future

By Michael Rummel | Law Week Colorado While water may cover 71% of the Earth’s surface, it’s frequently been in short supply in Colorado and across the West. As the climate changes and the Colorado River Basin sees dry days ahead, negotiators from the states that share its water and the Native Americans who have used it for centuries are hard at work to create a sustainable framework for the basin’s future.  As the negotiators try to close the distance between the many competing demands for one of the most precious resources in the West, representatives from some of the basin’s largest water users, agriculture, ranching and municipalities, met at the 2024 Getches-Wilkinson Center and the Water & Tribes Initiative’s Conference on the Colorado River to disc...
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Damages from Pro-Palestinian protests last spring cost Auraria Campus more than $600K
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Damages from Pro-Palestinian protests last spring cost Auraria Campus more than $600K

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette The pro-Palestinian protests on the Auraria Campus have cost the institution in damages more than twice the roughly $300,000 officials reported last spring. The actual costs, an official confirmed Tuesday, was $668,934. Devra Ashby, a spokesperson for the Auraria Higher Education Center, said in May that she expected the “cost will only increase over time.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Sunrise Republican Women’s annual picnic featured summer fun in Monument
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Sunrise Republican Women’s annual picnic featured summer fun in Monument

By DERRICK WILBURN | Rocky Mountain Voice The Sunrise Republican Women's annual summer picnic took place April 4 at a private residence in Monument under fabulous weather. More than 100 local conservatives attended the picnic, a who's who of El Paso County elected officials and candidates for office. Those attending were U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who is retiring from the 5th District at the end of the calendar year; 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen; State Sen. Larry Liston from District 10; El Paso County Commissioners Stan VanderWerf, Longinos Gonzales and Holly Williams; County Treasurer Chuck Broerman; Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson; State Rep. Don Wilson from District 20; and Jeff Crank, the Republican nominee for the 5th District seat in the U.S. Hou...
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Questions surface regarding control of troubled apartment complex in Aurora
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Questions surface regarding control of troubled apartment complex in Aurora

By Vicente Arenas | Fox 31 News The city of Aurora has slated another apartment for a cleanup in the wake of two others that had major code violations and issues with crime. The latest complex to be slated for cleanup is the Whispering Pines apartment complex in the 1300 block of Helena Street, not far from Chambers and Colfax. On Tuesday, FOX31 cameras captured full trash bins. It’s not clear when they were last emptied. The crew also found a number of boarded-up windows at Whispering Pines. The city of Aurora now says cleanup crews will make their way to Helena Street, after picking up a trash pile at another complex at Dallas Street and East 12th Avenue. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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Lakewood City Council approves ballot measure to permanently lift Colorado’s TABOR limits
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Lakewood City Council approves ballot measure to permanently lift Colorado’s TABOR limits

By Karen Morfitt | CBS Colorado The City of Lakewood wants to extend a measure lifting TABOR limits for the city. The city council approved putting the question on the ballot which will ask voters to not only extend the measure that expires next year but make that move permanent. "We are asking the voters to be able to continue to retain excess sales tax revenue in excess of the TABOR revenue caps," City Council member Rebekah Stewart said. Stewart also chairs the Budget and Audit Committee. That committee, she says, has spent years discussing the future of TABOR and recent community surveys led to their recommendation to put the question on the November ballot. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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Immigration evictions a growing issue in Denver as housing, food, transportation costs swell to $74M
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Immigration evictions a growing issue in Denver as housing, food, transportation costs swell to $74M

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette Denver officials identified 15 apartment complexes with a high concentration of immigrants with tenants facing eviction — the latest focal point in a city whose finances have been stretched thin to pay for the influx of people from America's southern borders. Officials said they are looking to create a process with the landlords to refer residents to resources for “those at risk of evictions,” Perla Gheiler, executive director of the Denver Human Rights and Community Partnerships, told Denver City Council members during an update on the city’s immigrant response on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of evictions happening,” Gheiler told The Denver Gazette following the meeting. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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