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Western Slope Wins State Support In Long Fight To Preserve Shoshone Water Control
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Western Slope Wins State Support In Long Fight To Preserve Shoshone Water Control

By: Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Water Conservation Board approved a proposal to use two powerful Colorado River water rights to help the environment. GOLDEN — In a momentous decision for the Western Slope, state water officials unanimously approved a controversial proposal to use two coveted Colorado River water rights to help the river itself.  Members of the Colorado Water Conservation Board voted to accept water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant into its Instream Flow Program, which aims to keep water in streams to help the environment. The decision Wednesday is a historic step forward in western Colorado’s yearslong effort to secure the $99 million rights permanently. But some Front Range water providers pushed back during the hearings, worried ...
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Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors

By Taylor Dolven and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Opportunity Caucus, considered among the more moderate Democrats in the legislature, organized the event. The caucus was formed as a nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors. At least 17 Democratic state lawmakers gathered with lobbyists during a weekend retreat at a Vail hotel organized by the nonprofit Colorado Opportunity Caucus. The two-day gathering included “educational panels” and discussions, according to state Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat who is chair of the caucus formed in January as a nonprofit. She said the purpose of the event was to “get a group of pragmatic, diverse legislators together to really talk about our goals for our caucus based on what we think the Colorado people really want ...
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Arkansas Valley Pipeline Could Finally Deliver Clean Water to Forgotten Towns
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Arkansas Valley Pipeline Could Finally Deliver Clean Water to Forgotten Towns

By Jerd Smith | The Colorado Sun Years of buying radium-free water from vending machines is coming to an end, but the cost to build the Arkansas Valley Conduit continues to rise and deadlines to use federal funds are fast-approaching. Rick Jones strides quickly into the offices of the May Valley Water Association. He’s running late after a morning of checking leaks in a pipeline that is one of several delivering well water to his 1,500 customers. Jones has lived in Wiley, nearly 200 miles southeast of Denver, most of his life and has served as superintendent of the association for 38 years. Outside the front door of his office in a small, well-kept brick building on Main Street, a dispenser delivers radium-free water for 25 cents a gallon to anyone who walks up with a container...
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Can Colorado local or state governments be held liable for car damage from potholes?
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Can Colorado local or state governments be held liable for car damage from potholes?

BY TYLER HICKMAN | THE COLORADO SUN A road crew can repair a pothole in 30 minutes or less, at the cost of about $60 per square yard, officials say Yes. Colorado local and state governments can be forced to pay for car damage resulting from dangerous road conditions, including potholes. Anyone whose vehicle is damaged by a pothole on a public road can file a claim with the state, county or city that manages the property. Public entities can only be held responsible if they were previously notified of the pothole and had the resources for repairs and sufficient time to fix it, but didn’t.  After damage occurs, drivers have 182 days to file a claim, though it’s rare for claimants to be paid out. A 2024 news report revealed that of 1,300 pothole damage claims filed with th...
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PERA seeks legislation to push the next auto-adjust to 2044
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

PERA seeks legislation to push the next auto-adjust to 2044

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun State pension officials plan to ask lawmakers to relax some provisions of Senate Bill 200 in order to provide financial relief to PERA’s members. For the first time since the state pension’s finances cratered in the early 2000s, the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association is putting together a legislative proposal to bring some relief to its beleaguered members. At the pension board’s annual retreat in Colorado Springs earlier this month, pension officials offered a number of ideas to prevent — or at least delay — another round of automatic adjustments to the system’s finances. If the legislature agrees, the changes could spare retirees from additional cuts to their monthly pension checks, and stave off even higher payroll d...
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Colorado Officials Block GOP Pick for House Seat Over Vacancy Rule Dispute
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Officials Block GOP Pick for House Seat Over Vacancy Rule Dispute

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office told the GOP vacancy committee in House District 14 that its members did not get 10 days of notice ahead of making their appointment as is required by state law. State elections officials Monday rejected a Republican vacancy committee’s pick for a seat in the Colorado legislature, finding that the panel didn’t follow state law in making the selection.  The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office told the GOP vacancy committee in House District 14 that its members did not get 10 days of notice ahead the gathering to make their appointment as is required by state law. The committee was picking a replacement for former House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese. She resigned Sept. 15. The vacancy vote was he...
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Colorado Judge Orders Losing Plaintiffs to Pay Terumo $5.2 Million
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Colorado Judge Orders Losing Plaintiffs to Pay Terumo $5.2 Million

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun The multinational medical manufacturer, based in Lakewood, uses toxic ethylene oxide as a sterilizer. Jefferson County residents attempted to sue for health damage. A Jefferson County District Court judge ordered cancer-stricken patients who unsuccessfully sued Lakewood medical manufacturer Terumo BCT for toxic pollution releases to pay just under $5.2 million in the multinational company’s legal fees. Terumo uses ethylene oxide, or EtO, to sterilize its blood processing equipment before shipping, and neighbors of EtO-using industries around the nation have filed lawsuits claiming the companies are liable for cancer and other major health problems. A Jeffco jury in March found Terumo not negligent, after four women sued the company for damages i...
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Colorado Supreme Court to decide if state wrongly denied child abuse hotline data to media orgs
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Supreme Court to decide if state wrongly denied child abuse hotline data to media orgs

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The news agencies wanted to know the number of times child residential treatment centers had called the child abuse hotline but were denied by state human services officials A legal battle over child abuse hotline data requested four years ago by The Colorado Sun and 9News has reached the Colorado Supreme Court.  The case centers on the news organizations’ joint request under the Colorado Open Records Act for the number of calls made to the state child abuse hotline from three child residential treatment centers in the Denver area from 2018 to 2021. Journalists sought the information while investigating the safety of children in residential centers, including the death of a 12-year-old boy who ran away from Tennyson Center and...
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State Budget Growth Cap Leaves Colorado With Tough Choices Ahead
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

State Budget Growth Cap Leaves Colorado With Tough Choices Ahead

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Providing the same level of government programs and services next fiscal year is predicted to cost $850 million more than the legislature will have available to spend. It’s one state budget crisis after another.  That’s the takeaway from quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts presented Monday to the Colorado legislature by nonpartisan Capitol staff and the governor’s office.  The General Assembly just wrapped up a special session to plug a roughly $750 million hole in the state’s current budget caused by tax code changes made through congressional Republicans’ tax and spending bill, which was passed and signed into law in July. But more trouble is on the horizon in the form of what’s referred to as Colorado’s structural...
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Colorado’s new law shields renters from fees, businesses say protections should be next
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado’s new law shields renters from fees, businesses say protections should be next

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The Colorado legislature banned CAM fees — charges for common area maintenance — in residential leases starting Jan. 1. Without warning, Le’Toya Garland’s landlord tripled the common area maintenance fees she owed on her hip-hop dance studio in Aurora. In June 2024, the $300 to $500 a month she had paid throughout her lease jumped to $1,693. And while she managed to scrape together the funds to cover her new monthly tab — including the $2,900 she already owed in monthly rent — she couldn’t afford what came next: a $9,000 bill for back-charges she’d never been told she had to pay. “It just showed up in our account,” said Garland, who co-owns the School of Breaking. “It was the first time ever that we’ve gotten a bill like that, and it wa...
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