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Mandated hiring preferences are not a “just transition”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Mandated hiring preferences are not a “just transition”

By Aimee Tooker | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Just Transition Action Plan was established in 2020 to “empower communities with resources to drive their own economic transitions.”  I take personal issue with Section 2 of this introduced bill. SB26-052 “CONCERNING COAL TRANSITION COMMUNITIES, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, PROVIDING A HIRING PREFERENCE FOR COAL TRANSITION WORKERS IN COAL TRANSITION COMMUNITIES AND EXPANDING THE ALLOWABLE WAYS IN WHICH A PUBLIC ENTITY MAY DEPOSIT OR INVEST JUST TRANSITION MONEY.” ·       A COVERED BUSINESS SHALL CONSULT WITH THE JUST TRANSITION OFFICE, ·       A COVERED BUSINESS SHALL REPORT ANNUALLY TO THE JUST TRANSITION OFFICE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRIOR YEAR: o   (a) THE TITLE OF ANY POS...
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State Regulators Confront Fallout From Xcel’s Wildfire Power Shutdowns
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

State Regulators Confront Fallout From Xcel’s Wildfire Power Shutdowns

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun State utilities regulators collected testimony from 4,000 businesses, households with lifesaving medical equipment and the merely annoyed as they form rules for public safety power shut-offs. In December, Rainbow Schultz was preparing for Xcel Energy’s announced shutdown of power lines to cope with high winds since her restaurant — the Jamestown Mercantile — had lost $8,000 in the utility’s safety shut-off eight months earlier. Schultz was already reducing her supplies when she was told by Xcel Energy her town of 230 in western Boulder County would not be in the shut-off area and so she stocked up as usual.  Still when the 112-mile-per-hour gust of wind came Dec. 18, Schultz found herself in the dark wi...
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Xcel Wildfire Power Shutoffs Leave Boulder Businesses With Major Financial Damage
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Xcel Wildfire Power Shutoffs Leave Boulder Businesses With Major Financial Damage

By Anna Coon | KDVR BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR)— Dozens of Boulder businesses say they lost tens of thousands of dollars after going days without electricity during planned power outages by Xcel Energy in December, and the utility company says it will not reimburse those losses. Xcel shut off power to thousands of customers on Dec. 17 and again on Dec. 19 as strong winds increased wildfire risk across the Denver-metro and along the Front Range. While the outages were planned as a public safety measure, some businesses say power was not restored for days, forcing closures and the disposal of spoiled inventory. A survey conducted by the Boulder Chamber of Commerce found that roughly 250 of about 300 responding businesses reported being negatively affected by the outa...
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Copper Theft Blamed for Weeklong Phone Outages in Southeast Denver
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Copper Theft Blamed for Weeklong Phone Outages in Southeast Denver

By Jasmine Arenas | CBS Colorado Some residents and businesses in southeast Denver were without landline phone service for more than a week, leaving many frustrated by what they described as a lack of communication from service provider CenturyLink. CBS Colorado reached out to CenturyLink and a company representative said the outage was the result of being targeted by copper thieves. Phone service was restored Friday morning at Bonnie Brae Flowers, a longtime flower shop on Evans Avenue. Owner Bell Mendenhall said the business was without landline service for more than 10 days. "It's nice to have phones again when you do a lot of business over the phone," Mendenhall said. "People call when they want to send flowers." READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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High Rents Red Tape Leave Downtown Boulder Offices Empty
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

High Rents Red Tape Leave Downtown Boulder Offices Empty

By: Colette Bordelon | Denver7 With "for lease" signs scattered throughout the City of Boulder, housing experts effort solutions to high commercial vacancy rate. BOULDER — Almost six years have passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and downtown Boulder still faces a "historic" commercial vacancy rate, according to experts working closely on the complex issue. "Real estate is, if not the No. 1, it's the No. 2 question that we have," said Jonathan Singer, senior director of policy programs with the Boulder Chamber. "Right now, we are looking at a historic commercial vacancy rate. Not just in our community, but across the world.” The number of empty buildings throughout the city, with "for lease" signs hanging in their windows, is all Max Lord can see a...
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Douglas County Cracks Down on Retail Theft With New Reporting Rules
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Douglas County Cracks Down on Retail Theft With New Reporting Rules

By: Olivia Young | CBS Colorado Douglas County Sheriff's Office says shoplifting is up in the county, but now county leaders want to crack down on the crime by encouraging businesses to report it. Douglas County Board of County Commissioners, the sheriff and the district attorney gathered Tuesday to reaffirm their support for strict penalties for theft and announced a new ordinance proposal. The ordinance would fine local businesses for not reporting theft. Leaders in Douglas County say the goal is to get corporations to change policies that disincentivize theft reporting. Nancy Schuster has worked at The Colorado Store for more than 15 years. "It's a small family business, so everyone kind of knows everyone, and it's definitely close knit," Schuster said. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CB...
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Small Businesses Lead Surprise Drop in U.S. Private Payrolls
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, National

Small Businesses Lead Surprise Drop in U.S. Private Payrolls

By Reuters | The Denver Gazette WASHINGTON – U.S. private payrolls unexpectedly declined in November as small businesses shed jobs, but the weakness is probably not a true reflection of the labor market’s health, with recent government data showing layoffs remaining at low levels late last month. Economists also cautioned against reading too much into the ADP employment report published on Wednesday, arguing its monthly estimate has historically diverged from the government’s private payrolls count produced by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. “It is too loosely correlated with the official data to be troubling,” said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “It would be unwise to lower forecasts for the official data, however, on...
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City Health Inspectors Defend Bleach Tactic In Street Vendor Enforcement
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

City Health Inspectors Defend Bleach Tactic In Street Vendor Enforcement

By: Alliyah Sims | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — A viral video showing a Denver health inspector pouring bleach on a street vendor’s food has sparked outrage, but the city said it was the last option after weeks of warnings, citations and failed attempts to shut down the operation. In total, more than 100 lbs of food have been thrown out, much of it stored unsafely. “I never imagined that was going to happen,” said the owner of Tacolorado, Isidro Garcia Barrette. He said he showed up Saturday night to work like any other night, but never expected inspectors to approach the way they did. “I never imagined that supposed inspectors, I don’t know if they are inspectors or not, because they never identified themselves,” said Isidro. He said they told him to shut down just as he a...
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Full Steam Ahead on the America First Agenda
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Full Steam Ahead on the America First Agenda

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A lot of good has already happened in Trump’s first year back. Donald Trump’s first year in the White House has delivered more progress than most presidents manage in an entire term. The border is tightening. Energy is coming back to life. Inflation is easing. America feels steady again. You can see it in people’s faces — a sense of relief, a little pride, a little hope after years of turbulence. But anyone who’s ever built anything knows early wins don’t carry you forever. Momentum is a start, not a finish. We’ve moved things forward, but keeping that ground and pushing it further is the real test. This is where you focus up and just do the work. The America First agenda works — and the next chapter must be about execution, ac...
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In Aurora, Danielle Jurinsky doesn’t talk change—she works for it
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

In Aurora, Danielle Jurinsky doesn’t talk change—she works for it

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Since taking office in 2021, Danielle Jurinsky has thrown herself into Aurora’s challenges. She’s backed measures to curb crime and pushed to ease the load on small businesses and residents when it comes to local taxes. But Jurinsky’s work hasn’t stopped at city hall — she’s known for showing up at neighborhood cleanups, community events, and talking face-to-face with the people she represents. One of her biggest moments came when she raised the alarm about a violent gang terrorizing residents at local apartment complexes— while others looked the other way. -https://www.danielleforaurora.com/about Taking the risk to tell the truth about Tren de Aragua She made national headlines when she publicly ...
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