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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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Self-inflicted wound leads to hoax investigation at Staunton State Park
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Self-inflicted wound leads to hoax investigation at Staunton State Park

By Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun After launching a widespread manhunt for a person accused of stabbing a Colorado Parks and Wildlife ranger, officials said Thursday the ranger who claimed to be attacked in Staunton State Park this week was never in any danger.  Callum Heskett, 26, was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges Thursday for the “elaborate hoax” that sent Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies and other first responders out looking for the attacker, put thousands of residents on alert and placed several schools on a lockdown, the sheriff’s office said.Authorities say Heskett stabbed himself and was airlifted to a hospital after reporting the attack. Heskett, a seasonal ranger at the park, radioed for help at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, claiming he had been attacked a...
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Wolf funding diverted but reintroduction charges ahead
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Wolf funding diverted but reintroduction charges ahead

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun A group of Western Slope lawmakers Thursday abandoned their attempt to pause wolf reintroduction in Colorado. But they reached a deal with Gov. Jared Polis that will redirect about $250,000 set aside to bring more gray wolves into the state this year into a fund aimed at driving down health care costs. Colorado Parks and Wildlife will have to find the funding elsewhere to continue its reintroduction plans, which doesn’t appear to be a problem for the agency.  The next batch of wolves is scheduled to be released in western Colorado around December. The state is already sourcing animals for that release. State Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat, said the alternative to the compromise was the bill being killed by the legislature d...
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Colorado farmers and cities face tough choices in looming water showdown
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado farmers and cities face tough choices in looming water showdown

By Sharon Sullivan | The Colorado Sun STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Colorado water officials announced Wednesday a rough plan to figure out how the state would handle an unwelcome specter in the Colorado River Basin: forced water cuts. Mandatory water cuts are possible under the 103-year-old Colorado River Compact in certain circumstances, mainly if the river’s 10-year flow falls too low. It’s a possibility that is one or two “bad years” away, some experts say.  Colorado, however, does not have a clearly defined plan, or regulations, for how exactly it would handle such forced water cuts. It’s time to start preparing, according to state engineer Jason Ullmann, Colorado’s top water cop. Over the years, Coloradans on both sides of the Continental Divide have asked about these “compact...
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Fox31 owner moves on 9News: Colorado leaders warn of media monopoly
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Fox31 owner moves on 9News: Colorado leaders warn of media monopoly

By Parker Yamasaki | The Colorado Sun Leading Colorado Democrats condemned the proposed consolidation of local TV news stations in Colorado, which would see Fox31’s owner buying its rival Tegna, owner of Denver’s 9News. “Colorado is stronger when reporters have the independence to ask tough questions and keep us all informed,” U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said in a statement emailed to The Colorado Sun. “An FCC-approved merger of 9News and KDVR’s parent companies would greatly weaken Colorado’s civic infrastructure.” Nexstar Media group, owner of Fox31, announced this week that it is acquiring Tegna for $6.2 billion. The sale is expected to close in the second half of 2026.  Opponents of the deal, including Bennet and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, worry that consolidation will g...
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