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John Deere Settlement Expands Farmers Right to Repair Nationwide
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, National

John Deere Settlement Expands Farmers Right to Repair Nationwide

By: Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun The agreement with the federal government and five states to allow more access to fix agricultural equipment is a win for farmers and consumer advocates. Major farm equipment dealer John Deere has agreed to a “right to repair” that Colorado farm and consumer advocates were key in launching, settling with the federal government and five states to give access to diagnostics and fixes for crucial agricultural equipment.  Colorado in 2023 became the first state to pass a law guaranteeing right to repair, and now industry leader John Deere has acknowledged that right should exist across the country, said Tyler Garrett, chief executive of the trade group Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.  The farmers union and CoPIRG, consu...
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Colorado Faces Supreme Court Fight Over South Platte Water Rights
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Faces Supreme Court Fight Over South Platte Water Rights

By: Jeff Rice | The Colorado Sun Attorney General Phil Weiser is ready for the fight over water flowing across the border: “Nebraska’s burden to prove claims is incredibly high.” The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Nebraska’s lawsuit against Colorado over a proposed canal that would take water out of the South Platte River in Colorado and send it to a reservoir in Nebraska. Nebraska claims Colorado is deliberately obstructing efforts to build the ditch, known as the Perkins Canal, even though everyone agrees Nebraska has the right to do so. The canal is necessary, Nebraska says, because Colorado isn’t sending enough water into Nebraska. The Perkins Canal would divert water from the South Platte River near Ovid to a storage site somewhere in Nebraska. The...
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Aspen Acres Fire Tops 91,000 Acres as New Evacuations Hit Fremont County
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Aspen Acres Fire Tops 91,000 Acres as New Evacuations Hit Fremont County

By: Dana Coffield | The Colorado Sun The Willow fire near Leadville grew by 900 acres overnight spurring mandatory evacuation of areas southwest of the city. Ouray 100 race canceled because of Gold Mountain fire. The Aspen Acres fire southwest of Pueblo made another surge Sunday, bringing the total acres burned to 91,523, federal fire officials said, and making it the seventh largest wildfire on record in Colorado. Authorities said Thursday the fire was human-caused but released no further details about its origin as it raced northeast from near the Aspen Acres campground across Pueblo County, where it forced the evacuation of the towns of Beulah, Colorado City, Rye, San Isabel and Wetmore. Around 8:15 p.m. Sunday, the Fremont County sheriff issued a mandator...
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Colorado GOP Governor Primary Too Close To Call As Kirkmeyer Holds Narrow Lead
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado GOP Governor Primary Too Close To Call As Kirkmeyer Holds Narrow Lead

By Jesse Paul and Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun Kirkmeyer had 41% of the vote to Marx’s 39% at 10:30 p.m. In third place was state Rep. Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs, with 20% of the vote. LARKSPUR — Colorado’s Republican primary for governor was too close to call Tuesday night, with state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer holding a slight lead over ministry leader Victor Marx in the race that will determine who gets a chance to become the state’s first Republican leader in 20 years.    Kirkmeyer had 41% of the vote to Marx’s 39% at 10:30 p.m. In third place was state Rep. Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs, with 20% of the vote. Whoever ultimately wins the primary will face Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser in November. Republicans haven’...
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Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk

By: Colleen Slevin and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Kiros has tapped into the national discontent for incumbents among Democratic voters and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that has DeGette’s supporters incredibly nervous. 29-year-old democratic socialist is giving U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette her biggest challenge in the 30 years since she was first elected to represent Denver, appearing on the verge of pushing Colorado’s longest serving member of Congress out of Washington. Melat Kiros, who was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders last week, has tapped into the national discontent among Democratic voters toward incumbents and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that at the very least has DeGette’s supporters incre...
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Colorado Governor Hopefuls Split on Wolves Hunting Rights and Rural Priorities
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Governor Hopefuls Split on Wolves Hunting Rights and Rural Priorities

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Sun surveyed the five candidates running for governor to get their plans and priorities for wildlife and the outdoors before Tuesday’s primary. The rural, wildlife and outdoor recreational issues facing the next governor of Colorado are significant, with at least one species at a critical juncture with an uncertain future. On Tuesday, voters across the state will select a Democrat and a Republican from among five candidates to replace term-limited Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat. The winners of Tuesday’s primary election will face off against each other on Nov. 3. The next governor will oversee a state where a voter-mandated wolf reintroduction program has been paused amid escalating clashes with ranchers while the state’s p...
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Super PACs Rush to Defend DeGette as Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Gains Momentum
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Super PACs Rush to Defend DeGette as Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Gains Momentum

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The spending, most of it going toward ads attacking Melat Kiros, is the clearest sign yet that DeGette is at serious risk of being dislodged from Washington after nearly three decades. trio of super PACs is dumping $1.3 million, most of it from unknown sources, into the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in a last-minute effort to prevent longtime U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette from being unseated by political newcomer and Democratic socialist Melat Kiros. The spending, most of it going toward ads attacking Kiros, is the clearest sign yet that DeGette may be at serious risk of being dislodged from Washington after nearly three decades. Kiros, 29, is running as a liberal insurgent and is pitching vote...
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Dark Money Groups Pour Millions Into Key Colorado Democratic Primary Battles
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Dark Money Groups Pour Millions Into Key Colorado Democratic Primary Battles

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The dollars are aimed at helping more moderate candidates beat their more liberal opponents, including a handful of incumbents. It’s paying for ads and mailers in districts across the Denver area and one in the high country. About $2 million in untraceable money has flowed into a handful of Democratic statehouse primaries in recent weeks to help more moderate candidates beat their more liberal opponents, including several incumbents. The funds come from three nonprofits that don’t have to report their donors and are being routed through a convoluted web of eight state-level super PACs, some of which have names that appear aimed at deceiving people into thinking they are grassroots organizations. The dark money is paying for ads and ma...
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Children’s Hospital Restores Gender Care Services but Doctors Decline to Provide Treatment
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Children’s Hospital Restores Gender Care Services but Doctors Decline to Provide Treatment

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun Children’s Hospital Colorado was forced to resume gender-affirming care through a court order, but the doctors who work there won’t do it. Children’s Hospital Colorado said Monday that it was resuming gender-affirming care for transgender youth after it was forced to do so by a court order, but that none of its doctors are willing to actually provide the care.  The announcement means the hospital is complying with the court order and yet, transgender kids and teens will not get care from the doctors who work at Children’s TRUE Center for Gender Diversity, a clinic that provides prescriptions for hormone therapy and puberty blockers. The Aurora hospital does not perform gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 18 and never has...
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PERA Bonus Payouts Draw New Scrutiny From Colorado Lawmakers
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

PERA Bonus Payouts Draw New Scrutiny From Colorado Lawmakers

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The proposal comes in response to a Colorado Sun investigation that found PERA has paid its investment staff millions of dollars in performance bonuses in recent years. Democratic lawmaker says he plans to introduce legislation next year to limit the bonuses that the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association pays to its investment staff. The proposal comes in response to The Colorado Sun’s investigation last week that found PERA has paid its investment staff millions of dollars in performance bonuses in recent years — including $10.2 million in payouts following the stock market’s disastrous 2022. That year, the pension lost $9.8 billion on its portfolio, but PERA still beat many of the benchmarks used to measure it...
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