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Forensic experts still working to identify human remains from Stone Canyon fire
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Local, The Colorado Sun

Forensic experts still working to identify human remains from Stone Canyon fire

By Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun Forensic experts in Boulder County are still working to identify a person whose remains were found in the rubble of the Stone Canyon fire, but the condition of the remains is posing a challenge for investigators. The remains were discovered in the aftermath of the Stone Canyon fire, which ignited July 30 north of Lyons, before it burned more than 1,500 acres. Five homes were destroyed and one person was killed. The fire caused extreme changes in the skeletal remains, including dehydration, fragmentation, color alteration and loss of material, that make extracting DNA more complicated, the Boulder County coroner’s office said in a news release Wednesday.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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In fractured state GOP, Pro-Williams wing wants bylaw amendment to make it more difficult to remove chair
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State, The Colorado Sun

In fractured state GOP, Pro-Williams wing wants bylaw amendment to make it more difficult to remove chair

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun If opponents of embattled Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams fail to remove him from the party’s top post later this month, they may be unable to dislodge him for the rest of his term, which ends in March. A major bylaw amendment being proposed by Williams’ allies would make it harder starting next year to call a special meeting to remove the Colorado GOP chairman or other party officers.  Currently, it only takes a written request of 25% of the members of the central committee to force such a meeting and a vote. The amendment would require that request be made through a form developed and authorized by the party’s secretary, and that each member of the central committee who signs it disclose “sufficient identifying inform...
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Number of new Colorado businesses drops 21.7% nearly a year after filing-fee discount ends
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State, The Colorado Sun

Number of new Colorado businesses drops 21.7% nearly a year after filing-fee discount ends

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun A 21.7% dip in folks filing to start a business in Colorado during the second quarter was largely attributed to the end of a program more than a year ago that reduced filing fees to $1, according to the latest quarterly data from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. “It was the sharpest decrease year-over-year in the state (that) we’ve been tracking since 2005. That’s both in percentage terms and absolute numbers,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of University of Colorado’s Business Research Division, which analyzed the data for the Secretary of State’s Office.  New business filings reached a second-quarter high last year at 54,940. The fee returned to $50 in June 2023 and now, one year later, filings dropped to 43,029 for t...
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Fact check: Incarcerated felons can’t vote, but upon release they can
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State, The Colorado Sun

Fact check: Incarcerated felons can’t vote, but upon release they can

By Justin George | The Colorado Sun People convicted of felonies who have served their entire sentences can vote in Colorado. So can people on probation and parole. Those convicted of felonies who are imprisoned or confined to detention as part of their sentence cannot vote. They regain their voting eligibility after they have completed their “full term of imprisonment,” according to the Colorado Secretary of State. “The day you are released from detention or incarceration is the day your eligibility to register to vote is restored,” the office stated on its website. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Parents are pushing for better Colorado playgrounds for kids with disabilities, and even small towns are getting in on it
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State, The Colorado Sun

Parents are pushing for better Colorado playgrounds for kids with disabilities, and even small towns are getting in on it

By Dan England | The Colorado Sun Parents everywhere hear the call of the wild, especially in the summer months, and one of the most common refrains is, “Can we go to the park?” For many parents it might be a relief, a chance to shoo them out of the house like a miller moth. Yes! Go to the park! But for Lauren Bowling, that refrain is anything but a chance to unwind. It means work. It means nearly two hours in the car. It means a whole afternoon.  Lauren and her husband, Richard, have twin boys they call walking miracles. Miles and Mack had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and were week-to-week starting about 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Lauren said, until they were delivered by emergency cesarean section at 28 weeks. The babies scrapped and survived, and the boys are now ag...
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Zornio: Hickenlooper, age 74, is the Joe Biden of Colorado. But, will he step aside, too?
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Commentary, State, The Colorado Sun

Zornio: Hickenlooper, age 74, is the Joe Biden of Colorado. But, will he step aside, too?

By Trish Zornio | Commentary, The Colorado Sun On Friday morning, Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper tweeted, “Ecstatic to cast my vote to nominate @KamalaHarris as the Democratic candidate for president 2024.” Hickenlooper’s enthusiasm is right on cue. Vice President Kamala Harris has dominated as the party’s likely new nominee, shattering fundraising records and generating momentum not seen for years. So it’s not surprising Hickenlooper would get on board. But it is surprising when you consider that Hickenlooper has already announced his plans to run for reelection at age 74 in 2026. If reelected, this would make him 80 years old by the end of his second term, only one year shy of President Biden. It’s an age a vast majority of voters have been clear is too old for higher office, r...
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In Larimer County, 75 laid off from mental health center amid rise in uninsured and Medicaid reform 
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Local, The Colorado Sun

In Larimer County, 75 laid off from mental health center amid rise in uninsured and Medicaid reform 

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun Larimer County’s community mental health center has abruptly laid off 75 employees, causing a gap in care for some of the most vulnerable patients and increasing concerns about how far the fallout will spread after a seismic shift in Medicaid funding.  Connor Grogan had 35 clients at SummitStone Health Partners in Fort Collins when he was told at a mandatory meeting last week that he was among those losing their jobs because of a budget crisis. He had to turn in his phone and laptop on the spot, with no opportunity to say goodbye to his patients.  “It was unethical the way that it was handled,” said Grogan, who had counseled children, families and adults at the center for more than two years. “At the very least, I feel like it is not ...
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State’s minimum wage could increase by nearly 3% again in January
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State, The Colorado Sun

State’s minimum wage could increase by nearly 3% again in January

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun The minimum wage in Colorado and a few local governments is going up again Jan. 1.  The raising of the minimum wage has been an annual event for the state and the city of Denver for years and, starting this year, Edgewater and Boulder County joined in. That’s because all are tied to the change in the Consumer Price Index, also known as inflation. Denver’s rate will jump 52 cents next year to $18.81 an hour, up from the current $18.29. Colorado’s is tentatively increasing 39 cents to $14.81, from $14.42. The state’s official new wage will be announced around Labor Day, according to state labor department officials. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Wolves from Washington a no-go because Colorado failed to agree on concerns of Southern Utes
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State, The Colorado Sun

Wolves from Washington a no-go because Colorado failed to agree on concerns of Southern Utes

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun A Native American tribe in Washington that promised 15 wolves to Colorado has rescinded its offer saying the state has not honored concerns of the Southern Ute Tribe involving wolf reintroduction.  Since soon after Colorado voters approved reintroducing wolves west of the Continental Divide, the Southern Ute Tribe has been trying to get Colorado Parks and Wildlife to acknowledge the tribe’s sovereignty in managing wolves on its land under an agreement covering hunting and fishing in the southwestern corner of the state.  But the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Nation says a lack of agreement between the Southern Utes and the state is a deal-breaker. On June 6, Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville Business Counci...
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Republican campaigns say Colorado GOP turmoil means they are going it alone heading into November
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State, The Colorado Sun

Republican campaigns say Colorado GOP turmoil means they are going it alone heading into November

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Republicans running in tight races across the state this year don’t expect to get the kind of help from the Colorado GOP that the party has offered in the past, a big deficit as conservatives try to claw their way back to political relevance.  They have good reasons for that assumption. Fourteen of the 18 candidates the party endorsed this year in contested Republican primaries lost. Chairman Dave Williams used the party’s limited funds to pay for mailers to benefit his own failed congressional primary bid. And Williams hasn’t been seen much since his primary loss even as a movement to remove him as chair is underway.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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