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Kids in Colorado’s poorest counties are more likely to experience the death of a parent, sibling
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Kids in Colorado’s poorest counties are more likely to experience the death of a parent, sibling

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Children who live in Colorado’s lowest-income counties are 131% more likely to experience a parent or sibling death than their peers living in the highest-income counties, according to a new report by Judi’s House and the JAG Institute in Aurora. And those lowest-income counties also happen to be Colorado’s most rural, the study says. Micki Burns, CEO of Judi’s House, said authors of the study grouped counties together based on median income and came up with “five income distribution bands.” They then ran the groups through a statistical tool called the Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model to calculate their findings.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Developers have the go-ahead for new construction in northern Weld County after a three-year freeze
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Developers have the go-ahead for new construction in northern Weld County after a three-year freeze

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun Residents of northern Weld County might see new construction now that a local water district has given developers the go-ahead to request water services after a three-year hold. North Weld County Water District stopped real estate development in its tracks in 2021 when it announced a moratorium on tap sales and new requests for water amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a statewide housing craze. Developers’ projects stalled. A growing housing stock halted.  The district’s work began: They had to pull the reins to figure out if they even had enough capacity to serve everyone who wanted water, said Tad Stout, board president for the district. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Feds sue Free Land Holders group that put up fence, claimed ‘original’ ownership over 1,400 acres of forest
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Approved, National, The Colorado Sun

Feds sue Free Land Holders group that put up fence, claimed ‘original’ ownership over 1,400 acres of forest

By Olivia Prentzel and Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun A group that fenced off about 1,400 acres of U.S. Forest Service land outside Mancos after claiming ownership over it is now being sued by the federal government. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court of Colorado, U.S. attorneys called the Free Land Holder group’s fence “unlawful,” citing the federal government’s title to the land that it manages through the Forest Service for recreation purposes and cattle grazing.  The U.S. is filing the lawsuit, attorneys wrote, to prevent further harm to the land and public and “ensure continuing free and lawful access to public property.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Amid opposition to newly approved mountain lion plan, CPW commission urges respect for employees
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Amid opposition to newly approved mountain lion plan, CPW commission urges respect for employees

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees can’t catch a break when it comes to their work on wolf reintroduction or the management of mountain lions.  And that can’t be good for their health, members of the Parks and Wildlife Commission say, or their bandwidth to manage the other 950-plus wildlife species in Colorado.  “I feel sorry for the people in this agency that are working on some of this,” said Marie Haskett, who represents outfitters on the commission, referring to CPW’s rocky first year of wolf reintroduction. “We put a tremendous amount of hours and a tremendous amount of pressure on them for everything we do. You can see it in every one of their faces.”  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Cañon City voted to build a new swimming pool, but not to fund it
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Cañon City voted to build a new swimming pool, but not to fund it

By Sue McMillin | The Colorado Sun When voters delivered a mixed decision on building a new pool in town, they created a dilemma: build it without the assurance of having the money to operate it or walk away from the project despite voters’ approval of the sales tax and debt to build it. There’s a hedge-your-bets option as well, which would slow the construction process so the district could go back to voters again to ask for funds to operate the pool before significant debt is incurred building it. The only option without financial risk is to bag the project.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado county clerk spent $4,000 on get-out-the-vote billboard with her name, face on it
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado county clerk spent $4,000 on get-out-the-vote billboard with her name, face on it

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez’s office spent $7,200 on a get-out-the-vote campaign in the lead-up to the November election that included a billboard with an advertisement that prominently featured her picture and name. Gonzalez’s office said the campaign, launched in mid-October, also included social media posts, community events and flyer distribution. The billboard alone cost $4,000. The office said it found before launching the campaign that ads featuring Gonzalez, a Democrat, were high performing, citing a June report from the consulting firm Recap Communications. Gonzalez’s spokeswoman said those findings reinforced national guidance and research showing that local officials are the most trusted messengers for election information and...
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Did Middle Park sell $1 billion of water for 10 bucks?
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Did Middle Park sell $1 billion of water for 10 bucks?

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun Since Dwight Eisenhower was president, tiny Middle Park Water Conservancy District has hoarded a precious gem: 20,000 acre-feet of water rights on Troublesome Creek, near Kremmling, and the authority to build a dam for it.  In October, Middle Park gave its treasure to a private rancher. For $10.   The Middle Park district, which primarily serves ranchers and hay growers in Grand and Summit counties, has only a few hundred thousand dollars of revenue each year, and no ability to raise potentially tens of millions of dollars for environmental permitting and hundreds of millions for construction, the district’s attorney said.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado sheriff who froze to death in 1881 to be honored in national memorial for fallen officers
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Colorado sheriff who froze to death in 1881 to be honored in national memorial for fallen officers

By Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun Chaffee County’s first elected sheriff, who reportedly froze to death in 1881 after becoming stranded while trying to evict claim jumpers at a mine west of Buena Vista, will be honored next year when his name is added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Lucien Morgan was 45 when he died in the line of duty due to weather exposure on Jones Mountain, a 13,218-foot peak, according to archives of the Rocky Mountain News and The Mountain Mail, Salida’s newspaper. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Just elected, Dist. 31 Sen. Chris Hansen to resign Jan. 9 from legislature to start new job as utility CEO
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Just elected, Dist. 31 Sen. Chris Hansen to resign Jan. 9 from legislature to start new job as utility CEO

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Democratic state Sen. Chris Hansen plans to resign from the legislature Jan. 9, the day after Colorado’s 2025 lawmaking term begins, as he takes on a new role as the chief executive officer of the La Plata Electric Association. Hansen, who lives in Denver, told The Colorado Sun that he will submit a letter of resignation to Capitol leadership in the coming days.  The La Plata Electric Association on Tuesday announced that it had selected Hansen as its CEO, a week after Hansen was reelected to a second four-year term in the Colorado Senate representing District 31. He didn’t make his plans to resign from the legislature known until Wednesday when he spoke with The Sun.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado announces possible release areas for next wave of introduced wolves
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado announces possible release areas for next wave of introduced wolves

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials met Friday with commissioners from four counties where the agency plans to release wolves — a new approach after state authorities previously released the animals in secret. Garfield, Pitkin, Rio Blanco and Eagle counties are in the running as drop-off points for the 10-15 wolves the agency will source from British Columbia during the 2024-25 capture-and-release season starting in December. The counties are within the agency’s northern release zone.  The early engagement comes after a rocky start to Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program in part, say critics, because of the agency’s lack of transparency starting with the release of five wolves in Grand County on Dec. 18, and five in Summit County on D...
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