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Federal Investigation Finds Vehicle Likely Killed Colorado Wolf
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Federal Investigation Finds Vehicle Likely Killed Colorado Wolf

By: Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun The male wolf was found dead in northwestern Colorado after Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it received a mortality signal from the wolf’s collar May 31 A Colorado gray wolf that died in May was likely struck by a vehicle, wildlife officials said Tuesday. Following a necropsy, investigators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the wolf died from blunt force trauma. The wolf, wearing tracking collar 2507, was one of the 15 animals captured in British Columbia and released in Pitkin and Eagle counties in January. The wolf was found in northwestern Colorado after Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it received a mortality signal from the wolf’s collar May 31.  Because gray wolves are listed as endangered ...
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SpaceX Boosts Starlink With $17 B EchoStar Spectrum Purchase
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

SpaceX Boosts Starlink With $17 B EchoStar Spectrum Purchase

By Michelle Chapman | The Colorado Sun The Douglas County satellite technology company, which also operates Dish Network, is also selling off wireless spectrum to AT&T Elon Musk’s SpaceX has reached a deal worth about $17 billion with EchoStar for spectrum licenses that it will use to beef up its Starlink satellite network. The deal for EchoStar’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses includes up to $8.5 billion in cash and up to $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock. SpaceX will make approximately $2 billion in cash interest payments on EchoStar debt through November 2027. SpaceX and EchoStar will enter into a long-term commercial agreement which will allow EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access SpaceX’s next generation Starlink Direct to Cell service. Shares of EchoStar su...
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Polis Issues Order to Keep Pharmacies Administering COVID Boosters Without Doctor’s Note
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Polis Issues Order to Keep Pharmacies Administering COVID Boosters Without Doctor’s Note

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun The orders follow the federal Food and Drug Administration’s decision to authorize COVID vaccine boosters only for certain people. Colorado officials on Wednesday issued public health orders aimed at making it easier for Coloradans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster this fall. The orders essentially create a standing prescription allowing for any Coloradan ages 6 months or older to receive a COVID shot if they or their parents choose. That is significant because pharmacy heavyweights CVS and Walgreens, amid confusion over federal vaccine policy, have thus far refused to administer COVID shots this year to anyone in Colorado without a doctor’s prescription. In addition, the state Board of Pharmacy will meet Friday to discuss ru...
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From hunting to fitness: How MAHA unites unlikely allies in Colorado
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Commentary, State

From hunting to fitness: How MAHA unites unlikely allies in Colorado

By Gary Wockner | Commentary, The Colorado Sun Make America Healthy Again rings true to Coloradans across the political spectrum and can accelerate other conversations Amid the toxic partisan chaos dragging down the American political system, I’ve definitely moved toward the middle. Like me, the vast majority of Coloradans are registered to vote as “unaffiliated” with either party, and for whatever reason, likely hold values that are independent and varied, rather than strictly holding to one party’s line. It’s been fascinating to watch the growth of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, or MAHA, nationally and here in Colorado, which seems to cross all over political boundaries as well. On Aug. 11, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal&nb...
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Colorado Liberal Coalition Seeks To Unwind TABOR With Graduated Income Tax Plan
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Liberal Coalition Seeks To Unwind TABOR With Graduated Income Tax Plan

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The plan would increase income taxes on people earning at least $506,000 in annual taxable income to raise more than $2 billion each year for things like health care, education and public safety. People earning less would get a tax cut. A group of liberal advocacy groups is pursuing a 2026 ballot measure that would change the state constitution to enact a graduated income tax rate in Colorado and raise more than $2 billion each year for services like health care, education and public safety. The plan would increase income taxes on people earning at least $506,000 in annual taxable income. The proposal would lower the income taxes on people earning less, who represent the vast majority of Colorado taxpayers. The changes would also apply to busine...
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Pueblo County Urges Trump To Step In To Preserve Coal Plant
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Local, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Pueblo County Urges Trump To Step In To Preserve Coal Plant

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun Big economic impacts are on the line as Xcel Energy transitions from generating power at the expensive Comanche Station. The county wonders if its citizens are being punished for twice voting for Donald Trump. Pueblo County is asking the Trump administration to issue an emergency order to keep Xcel Energy’s troubled, coal-fired Comanche power station open indefinitely. Comanche’s Unit 1 was closed in 2022. Unit 2 is set to close this year and Unit 3 by 2031. By that time all of Colorado’s six remaining coal-fired plants are scheduled to be closed to meet state emissions standards. But Pueblo County, in a filing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, said it will seek relief from President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. ...
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Effort to Repeal Wolf Reintroduction Stalls Before 2026 Ballot
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Effort to Repeal Wolf Reintroduction Stalls Before 2026 Ballot

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Coloradans for Smart Wolf Policy needed 125,000 signatures, but called the 25,000-plus it collected a “running start” if it decides to try again next year. A group seeking to end wolf reintroduction in Colorado says it’s going back to the drawing board after failing to collect the voter signatures needed to get a measure on the November 2026 ballot. Patrick Davis, lead organizer for Coloradans for Smart Wolf Policy, the group backing Proposition 13, said Wednesday evening the group had collected 25,000 signatures and was still counting. That was well short of the 125,000 signatures needed to get the initiative before voters next year. The group’s deadline to turn in its signatures was Wednesday. Coloradans for Smart Wolf Policy said it wouldn...
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Cost of Colorado dam project doubles to $2.7 billion as towns fear the price
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Cost of Colorado dam project doubles to $2.7 billion as towns fear the price

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun Northern Water has halted multiple contract bids while it scales back designs to hold together a coalition of water agencies Northern Water has halted some design and construction contracts and is cutting back its multibillion-dollar, two-dam supply project after its biggest customer said it was pulling out, officials said, as they detailed how the budget for their decades-long ambition suddenly jumped to $2.69 billion from $2 billion.  Four design-and-build contracts for the Northern Integrated Supply Project, meant to serve growth in 15 communities and water agencies, were pulled from the bidding process for at least three to four months while engineers consider how costs could be cut, Northern Water General Manager Brad Wind said in...
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San Luis families left dry: Rural Colorado town loses water with no warning
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

San Luis families left dry: Rural Colorado town loses water with no warning

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun FORT GARLAND — In the sandy hills scattered with piñon pine and spiky yucca, hundreds of people have relied on a water supply that is so much a part of the local culture that Costilla County residents describe it as a way of life.  Drilling for water is a pricey gamble on the high desert where many live off the grid at 7,500 to 10,000 feet of elevation. A well could cost $25,000 with no guarantee that water will spring, even after digging hundreds of feet.  Instead, many people in the poorest county in the state have opted for cisterns, reservoirs buried underground and covered with a plastic lid or cement slab. To fill them, residents drive 20 minutes or so to town, often weekly, with tanks in their pickup trucks or on their tra...
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Colorado Workers Face Strain As Polis Freezes State Hiring
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Workers Face Strain As Polis Freezes State Hiring

By Lucas Brady Woods | The Colorado Sun The freeze takes effect Aug. 27 and will last until the end of the year. It’s estimated to save the state as much at $7 million. State employees who say they are already overworked due to high vacancy rates are concerned they’re going to be stretched even further after Gov. Jared Polis implemented an administration-wide hiring freeze that begins at the end of this month. Polis announced the freeze at the same time he called a special session of the Colorado legislature — and for the same reason: impacts on the state budget from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the federal tax and spending measure passed by congressional Republicans earlier this summer and signed into law by President Donald Trump. “Our hope is that these proactive measures...
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