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Colorado tuberculosis cases hold steady, as a major outbreak rocks Kansas
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado tuberculosis cases hold steady, as a major outbreak rocks Kansas

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun Colorado is not seeing an unusual uptick in cases of tuberculosis, despite an ongoing outbreak next door in Kansas, the state Health Department says. The Kansas outbreak, focused in the Kansas City area, started last year, and it has since grown to be among the largest in the country since at least the 1950s. (You may have read that it is the largest in U.S. history, but that is erroneous.) Two people are reported to have died. Here in Colorado, cases of tuberculosis are more or less in line with recent historical averages, even though the number of cases reported in Colorado last year exceeded the number of cases reported so far in the Kansas outbreak. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado GOP adjourns online meeting without considering controversial bylaws amendments
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado GOP adjourns online meeting without considering controversial bylaws amendments

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics It took just over an hour and a half for the Colorado Republican Party's state central committee to decide it wasn't going to conduct any business on Thursday night. About 90 minutes into an online meeting of the committee, state GOP Chairman Dave Williams declared that he was going to adjourn after members voted narrowly to require Republicans on the Zoom call to verify their identities with government-issued ID's — something Williams conceded would be impossible to accomplish on short notice. "Even though everyone already knows that we're all here, who we claim to be, there's no way we can think of in the moment to do credentialing, so I will go ahead and adjourn the meeting," Williams said as other Republicans attempted to speak, including U...
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HB25-1005 offers $34M in tax credits to attract Sundance Film Festival to Boulder
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Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

HB25-1005 offers $34M in tax credits to attract Sundance Film Festival to Boulder

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado’s film-incentive program has generated division among legislators since its inception. The state’s effort to attract the Sundance Film Festival to Boulder, however, is getting near-unanimous support. The House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on Wednesday approved the creation of a new incentive tax credit to draw what is arguably America’s most prestigious film festival away from its long-time home in Park City, Utah. Having outgrown the 8,400-person town, the 11-day festival that attracts some 70,000 annual attendees has narrowed its search for a new home to three locations: Salt Lake City (in conjunction with Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder. Under House Bill 1005, sponsored by House Majority Leader Monica Duran of Wheat R...
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Colorado bill looks to limit student cell phone usage during school
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Colorado bill looks to limit student cell phone usage during school

By Gabrielle Franklin | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News Getting young people to give their devices a break can be a challenge. Colorado lawmakers say schools are having a hard time getting students to put their phones down, too. A new bill at the capitol looks to improve the situation. A bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday looks to give districts across the state some guidance to keep students off their phones when it’s time to learn. Students are using their phones in class. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR-TV FOX 31 NEWS
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Federal workforce in Colorado receives resignation emails in Trump’s buyout plan
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Approved, gazette.com, State

Federal workforce in Colorado receives resignation emails in Trump’s buyout plan

By Mary Shinn | The Gazette Across Colorado, tens of thousands of employees received emails asking them to resign Tuesday, as part of President Donald Trump's effort to reshape the federal workforce that has received fierce pushback from unions. While most Department of Defense employees did not receive the email with the subject line "Fork in the Road," they went out to Defense Health Agency employees who work on military bases in Colorado Springs. One of the largest employers locally within the DHA is Evans Army Community Hospital on Fort Carson, with 2,300 military service members and civilians.  The offers to resign also went out to employees who work on public lands, such as the Forest Service, National Parks Service and Bureau of Land Management. Across the state, there...
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Colorado has spent $389M to fund its far-reaching water plans in the past two years
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado has spent $389M to fund its far-reaching water plans in the past two years

By Jerd Smith | The Colorado Sun The state has spent $389 million in the past two years on programs designed to help Colorado stave off future projected water shortages even as it continues to grow. During the last two years, from July of 2022 through July of 2024, the Colorado Water Conservation Board has funded $232.7 million in loans and awarded $156.3 million in grants, and completed about 20% of the projects and activities the Colorado Water Plan has identified are needed to ensure the state has enough water in decades to come. The news came Tuesday as part of a water plan status update presented to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The board is responsible for putting the plan into action and channeling loans and grants to dozens of major programs, including d...
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Why Colorado Mesa University’s president decided to stand alone when it comes to higher ed funding
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Approved, Chalkbeat Colorado, State

Why Colorado Mesa University’s president decided to stand alone when it comes to higher ed funding

By Jason Gonzales | Chalkbeat Colorado After four years on the job, Colorado Mesa University President John Marshall felt he needed to break ranks. Colorado higher education leaders have made it a tradition to sign a letter stating how much more money they need beyond the governor’s November request, including this year. The unified financial requests have led to far more money for all colleges and universities in recent years. But Marshall said he couldn’t sign onto this year’s letter for the sake of the students he serves. He hopes his absent signature sparks a conversation about the challenges the Grand Junction school has faced — not a disagreement that Colorado universities need more state funding. READ THE FULL STORY AT CHALKBEAT COLORADO
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Second Colorado marijuana recall in January hits nearly 60 dispensaries
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Approved, State, Westword

Second Colorado marijuana recall in January hits nearly 60 dispensaries

By Thomas Mitchell | Westword The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division has issued a health and safety notice over mold and yeast concerns for marijuana grown by Medpharm Holdings, LLC, which does business as cultivator Bud & Mary's. The recall, issued January 28, includes nine different harvest batches and impacts 58 dispensaries across Colorado. According to the MED, the flagged product was sold from February 7 through December 20 of last year. After testing marijuana from Bud & Mary's, some harvest batches were "found to have exceeded acceptable limits established for total yeast and mold," the MED notice says. According to Bud & Mary's, the recalled product passed initial post-harvest testing, but a test at the retail level identified microbial contamin...
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Legislative health-care debates commence in the 75th General Assembly
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Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Legislative health-care debates commence in the 75th General Assembly

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Several health-care bills — including two scheduled for their first hearings this week — are set to reignite the debate this legislative session on whether the benefits of greater coverage mandates are equal to the greater costs they’ll bring. And it won’t be just insurance issues that will occupy legislators’ discussions on health care this year. Regulation of a federal drug-pricing program, Medicaid-generated budget problems and the fate of the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer all are on the table, causing legislators to have to think deeply about why health-care spending is rising and what impacts they can have on businesses and consumers. On Wednesday, a House committee will discuss a bill that seeks to require health benef...
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Wolves will continue to be a ‘burden’ to livestock producers, Cattlemen’s Association says at Farm Show
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Wolves will continue to be a ‘burden’ to livestock producers, Cattlemen’s Association says at Farm Show

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A little more than four years ago, voters statewide supported Prop. 114 to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado. As long as it is the law, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are directed to implement it, cattle raisers are going to have to face the challenge, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Erin Karney said Tuesday in a lecture kicking off the Colorado Farm Show. "It is going to continue to be a burden to livestock producers," she said. She argues, though, what might be viewed as a Western Slope issue is a concern on both sides of the continental divide, noting the operations of Eastern Colorado cattle raisers, feedlots, sale barns and processing plants. "A lot of our members are directly affected," Karne...
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