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6 important things to know about Denver’s migrant crisis
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Approved, Denver Metro, The Colorado Sun

6 important things to know about Denver’s migrant crisis

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun Almost 40,000 migrants have come to Denver in the past 15 months, a number that’s become hard to comprehend.  “To put that in context, that’s Coors Field on a Saturday night in July when the Dodgers are in town,” said Jon Ewing, spokesman for Denver Human Services, during this week’s Colorado Sun virtual event on the migrant crisis. “You look to your left, you look to your right, up and down, and almost every seat is full. That’s the number of people that we’ve cared for over the last year.” Here’s what you should know about how Denver is handling all this and what’s in store longer term. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN https://youtu.be/EzQCnkeZkEk?si=mVooQJ7q54CYoo1V
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Ken Buck announces he will leave Congress on March 22, scrambling race to replace him that includes Lauren Boebert
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Approved, National, The Colorado Sun

Ken Buck announces he will leave Congress on March 22, scrambling race to replace him that includes Lauren Boebert

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun U.S. Rep. Ken Buck will leave Congress on March 22, the Windsor Republican announced Tuesday in a decision that’s sure to scramble the already highly contentious and competitive race to replace him that includes Lauren Boebert. “It has been an honor to serve the people of Colorado’s 4th District in Congress for the past nine years,” Buck said in a written statement. “I want to thank them for their support and encouragement throughout the years. Today, I am announcing that I will depart Congress at the end of next week. I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family.” Buck, who was already planning to retire after his current term ends in January 2025, didn’t p...
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Polis’ environmental justice plans are in limbo at the Colorado state Capitol. Here’s why.
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Polis’ environmental justice plans are in limbo at the Colorado state Capitol. Here’s why.

By Brian Eason | Colorado Sun Gov. Jared Polis’ plans to bolster pollution enforcement in disadvantaged communities are in limbo after the Joint Budget Committee earlier this month voted down the administration’s request for eight new employees. In rejecting the $900,000 request for the 2024-25 budget year, which starts July 1, the JBC sided with a recommendation from its staff that raised questions about the Department of Public Health and Environment’s commitment to meeting its own goals. At first glance, the preliminary vote fit a recent pattern of Democratic lawmakers pushing the administration further to the left on environmental justice issues than it’s willing to go. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Former CBI scientist intentionally manipulated data, casting doubt on 652 cases, investigation reveals
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Former CBI scientist intentionally manipulated data, casting doubt on 652 cases, investigation reveals

By Olivia Prentzel | Colorado Sun Aformer forensic scientist intentionally manipulated DNA evidence during her 29-year career at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, casting doubt on at least 652 criminal cases she handled, including some of the most high-profile trials, according to investigation findings released by the agency Friday. That number could grow as outside investigators continue to review DNA testing done by Yvonne “Missy” Woods, after a probe revealed she manipulated data in the testing process and in some cases, posted incomplete test results, in the cases she handled between 2008 and 2023. The discovery is putting all of Woods’ work into question and CBI is also looking at her work dating to 1994, when she started working for CBI. The agency launched the investig...
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How a friend’s death turned Colorado teens into anti-overdose activists
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

How a friend’s death turned Colorado teens into anti-overdose activists

By Rae Ellen Bichell | Colorado Sun Gavinn McKinney loved Nike shoes, fireworks, and sushi. He was studying Potawatomi, one of the languages of his Native American heritage. He loved holding his niece and smelling her baby smell. On his 15th birthday, the Durango teen spent a cold December afternoon chopping wood to help neighbors who couldn’t afford to heat their homes. McKinney almost made it to his 16th birthday. He died of fentanyl poisoning at a friend’s house in December 2021. His friends say it was the first time he tried hard drugs. The memorial service was so packed people had to stand outside the funeral home. Now, his peers are trying to cement their friend’s legacy in state law. They recently testified to state lawmakers in support of House Bill 1003, a piece of legisl...
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Pueblo’s new Fuel & Iron food hall accused in lawsuit of shorting its builders as construction lagged, costs soared
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Approved, Southern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

Pueblo’s new Fuel & Iron food hall accused in lawsuit of shorting its builders as construction lagged, costs soared

By Jennifer Brown and Tamara Chuang | Colorado Sun One of the coolest endeavors to open in Pueblo in recent years is tangled up in a court battle after being accused of not paying its builders for the full cost of the project.  Fuel & Iron, the historic hardware store transformed into affordable housing and a trendy food hall where visitors can find cocktails and beer, pizza and fried chicken, opened in April. It was sued in May, its contractor claiming it was shorted more than $2.4 million.  The dispute is a black eye on a project heralded as the perfect mix of private investment and public dollars, a $16 million plan cobbled together from 17 sources, including grants and local, state and federal government investments. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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The cost of universal pre-K in Colorado: Thousands of at-risk kids got less classroom time
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

The cost of universal pre-K in Colorado: Thousands of at-risk kids got less classroom time

By Brian Eason | Colorado Sun Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ signature preschool initiative is serving thousands more families than expected in its first year, but its success has come with a costly downside: Fewer low-income children attend full-day preschool today than before the program launched. The trade-off was laid out in stark terms during Joint Budget Committee hearings last month: The more enrollment grows for universal pre-K, the less state funding will be available for at-risk children to attend full-day preschool. Under Colorado’s previous state-funded preschool program, which ended July 1, more than 6,000 at-risk 4-year-olds received funding for a full-day classroom slot last school year. This year, the state provided only 3,500 full-day slots to the most at-risk kids — ...
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Colorado GOP sends pro-Trump mailer attacking chairman’s primary opponent, newspaper
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Approved, El Paso County, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado GOP sends pro-Trump mailer attacking chairman’s primary opponent, newspaper

By Sandra Fish | Colorado Sun The Colorado GOP sent out a pro-Trump mailer this week attacking a congressional primary opponent of party chairman Dave Williams, as well as The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs, in the latest example of Williams using his party leadership position to benefit or defend himself and his allies.  The mailer, which appears to target El Paso County voters, accused The Gazette of “corrupt campaigning for Nikki Haley and Jeff Crank.”  Haley, a former U.N. ambassador, is running for president against Donald Trump, while Crank, a conservative commentator, is running in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary against Williams. RED THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Floating solar array could improve water quality, lower the power bill for Fort Lupton — if a federal grant comes through
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Approved, Local, Northern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

Floating solar array could improve water quality, lower the power bill for Fort Lupton — if a federal grant comes through

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun When it came to its water treatment plant Fort Lupton had two concerns: controlling algae in the reservoir next to the plant and the aging diesel generator that backed-up the facility when the electric grid was down. In collaboration with its power supplier Brighton-based United Power and the co-op’s contractor Schneider Electric the city found a solution for both – and then some. That plan — a microgrid with a battery fed by 850 kilowatts of solar panels floating on the reservoir — is in line for a $6.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, part of $366 million awarded to 17 projects in rural areas and tribal nations from Alaska to Florida. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Adams County’s oil and gas rules are among the strictest in the state — and the industry is still rapidly growing
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Adams County’s oil and gas rules are among the strictest in the state — and the industry is still rapidly growing

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun When Keith Huck, an Adams County senior oil and gas inspector, walks onto a well pad he looks, listens and sniffs. There is a lot to keep his eyes, ears and nose busy as the county has become the fastest-growing oil producer in the state. Since 2017, oil production has grown 15-fold as the county became Colorado’s second-biggest producer churning out 12.8 million barrels in 2023, with some companies still filing December numbers. Adams County remains a distant second to Weld County, where the output is 10 times as large, but since 2021 Adams County production is up about 58% and Weld’s has dropped by about 6%, according to state data. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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