Good Colorado Sunday morning, friends.
It hardly seems possible that three years have passed since I was sitting exactly where I am today and noticed the sky turn an otherworldly shade of orange and the scent of smoke filling the room. It was the devastating Marshall fire chewing through neighborhoods in the towns next door, racking up $2.8 billion in losses along the way.
By the time heavy snow fell and snuffed the flames the next day, people on my block were already texting and calling each other asking questions about homeowners insurance. After living a long time in the same homes, most of us were underinsured and needed to suck it up and begin paying a bit more to protect ourselves — at least financially — against the impossible thing that had just happened in Louisville and Superior.
But the insurance premium hits kept coming — so much so that this year, the escrow portion of my mortgage payment rose by $200 a month. Some of that increase was attributed to property tax increases, but most of it was to cover homeowners insurance.
Nothing has changed in my house or neighborhood, so what gives? That’s a question that lots of people in Colorado have right now and one tackled by Olivia Prentzel and Tamara Chuang in this week’s cover story. The answer is a bit complicated, but their story will help you know that you are definitely not alone.
Dana Coffield
Editor
The Cover Story
Insurance crisis born of climate disasters
Businesses are temporarily closed May 29 in downtown Greeley after severe hail and thunderstorms swept the area. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)I was in Pueblo late last fall, sitting in a room full of southern Colorado homeowners, real estate agents and insurance brokers when the discussion got heated. The meeting was part of a series hosted by Colorado’s Division of Insurance to talk — and more importantly, listen — about the rising cost of insurance rates.
“Many people here in this state are going to be losing their homes. They can’t afford the damn taxes here anymore and now they’re beating us to a pulp on our insurance,” one homeowner said.
“Why would anybody want to live in Colorado?”
As climate disasters become more frequent and destructive, the pending insurance crisis feels like a ticking time bomb impacting homeowners across the state from the Eastern Plains to the places where densely forested wildland intersects with urban neighborhoods. In the past five years, Colorado homeowners have seen premiums rise nearly 60%. More and more insurers are dropping coverage or leaving the state altogether.
For this two-part series, my colleague Tamara Chuang and I spoke to several homeowners to hear their horror stories, dug through data and talked to insurance experts who are exploring what can be done.
READ THIS WEEK’S COLORADO SUNDAY FEATURE
Olivia Prentzel | Reporter
The Colorado Lens
Point of view is everything in Colorado. Here are a few of our favorite recent views from our photojournalists.
The nearly full Wolf moon rises over the Sangre de Cristo mountains Jan. 12. The full Wolf moon followed Monday. The best time to photograph the full moon is the night before it is completely full because it is then that moonrise and sunset roughly coincide so that the ambient light can be balanced somewhat with the moonlight and you can better see the surrounding terrain. (John McEvoy, Special to The Colorado Sun) Freshly groomed trails and blue skies greet skiers and snowboarders Jan. 12 at Monarch Mountain ski area after a weekend storm dropped 6 inches of snow on the resort. (David Krause/The Colorado Sun) Lake County Elementary School students walk through a corridor during their lunch break Monday in Leadville. (Jason Connolly, Special to The Colorado Sun) A man walks past tents Monday at the Safe Outdoor Space managed by Colorado Village Collaborative in Denver. The outdoor shelter is closing and residents, who are currently experiencing homelessness, are moving to a micro community with hard-sided buildings. (Michael Ciaglo, Special to The Colorado Sun) Cameron Stark of Montrose is pulled by horse Lady May and rider Emily Jaeger during the novice San Juan Skijoring competition held Jan. 10 in Ridgway. (William Woody, Special to The Colorado Sun)Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler
Flavor of the Week
Seven life lessons from the National Western Stock Show
(Peter Moore, Special to The Colorado Sun)Most therapists tell you the most effective personal habits, rather than demonstrating them to you. But as I wander the stalls and arenas at the National Western Stock Show, I’m learning important stuff all the time, and not just from my personal spirit animals: sheep. If you look, listen, and even sniff closely enough, there are all sorts of principles being mooed, whinnied, clucked, yelped and otherwise baaaaa-andied about.
For instance …
Yes, you need a haircut. But, no, yours isn’t going to look this good. (Peter Moore, Special to The Colorado Sun)SEE MORE OF THE LESSONS PETER LEARNED AT THE STOCK SHOW
Peter Moore | Illustrator
SunLit: Sneak Peek
Newly arrived time travelers get their bearings in “Time Agents: Complications”
“Not long ago he would have laughed till he hurt at the notion of jumping through time on a lightning bolt. Now he was banking on it.”
— From “Time Agents: Complications”
EXCERPT: Part of the fun of reading about time travel is sorting out the writer’s means and rules behind it. In “Time Agents: Complications,” author Jodi Bowersox introduces two characters who must test a new method for catapulting across the years in order to escape forces seeking to eliminate them because they’ve learned the secret. For fans of her previous Lightning Riders series, this Colorado Authors League winner in the Thriller category picks up an old thread for new adventures.
READ THE SUNLIT EXCERPT
THE SUNLIT INTERVIEW: Giving readers a peek inside the mind that created a new fictional vehicle for time travel, Bowersox explains how even a random experience from everyday life can spark an imaginative new idea. Here’s a portion of her Q&A:
SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Bowersox: The whole concept of jumping through time on a lightning bolt was inspired by a real trip up Pikes Peak in a lightning storm. Plus, I had just been to Rockledge Ranch for a bit of living history. My mind began to turn. … Every time-travel story needs a method for traveling, whether it’s the rocks of Scotland, a magical item of some kind, or a portal found by happenstance, so why not lightning? While it’s mysterious how it could work in the beginning, a sci-fi element eventually shows up to explain it.
READ THE INTERVIEW WITH JODI BOWERSOX
Kevin Simpson | Writer
Sunday Reading List
A curated list of what you may have missed from The Colorado Sun this week.
Cartoonist Drew Litton pays tribute to Bill McCartney, the last man to coach the CU Buffs to a national championship. McCartney died Jan. 10 after a long drive into dementia. (Drew Litton, Special to The Colorado Sun)? Not that this newsletter is obsessed with insurance or anything, but it was difficulty getting coverage that led Naropa University to shed the program training therapists to use psilocybin to treat their patients. Parker Yamasaki reports on what’s next for the university and the now stand-alone psychedelic studies program.
? Worrying about finances is a congenital condition for most of Colorado’s 178 school districts. The concern turned up a notch when Gov. Jared Polis said he favors a change to the way students are counted that would likely lead to a cut in the money sent from the state. Erica Breunlin found out that 110 Colorado districts — and not all of them rural — logged lower student counts this year.
? Speaking of the governor, he was part of our Legislative Preview event Thursday where he talked a lot about where he stands on a bill that might outlaw the sale of a broad swath of automatic weapons and another that would make it easier for unions to collect fees from workers. Watch the whole thing, moderated by Jesse Paul and Brian Eason, on our YouTube channel.
? In other Capitol news, lawmakers are no longer allowed to carry guns in the building. At least 21 members of the General Assembly got their first jobs there via vacancy committee appointment. A state representative is suing Lyft after she was allegedly sexually assaulted in front of her house by a driver who was not authorized to carry passengers for the ride-share service. Out in Washington, D.C., Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans has been appointed to the Problem Solvers Caucus and that is sand in the gears of the Democratic machine that will seek to unseat him in 2026.
? Some of the 10 gray wolves British Columbia promised to Colorado as part of the state’s restoration program seem to have arrived in the state. But no one official is saying exactly where the animals have been released. That lack of information was irritating enough to people in a Facebook group organized around the topic of tracking wolves that they tried to find out on their own. Tracy Ross has been following along.
? It is disturbing news that people with eating disorders are often dangerously ill by the time they seek treatment. Jennifer Brown learned that some help is on the way as the first residential treatment center that takes Medicaid is opening soon in Denver.
? Were the good voters of Colorado Springs dazed and confused when they authorized recreational cannabis sales in their city in November? That’s what the city council claims as it mulls the possibility of taking the issue to the voters again in April. Olivia Prentzel has the details of the discussion.
Dana Coffield | Editor
Thanks for hanging out with us this morning — though given how the forecast looked at the time this was written, it seems like staying in to read with a cup of something hot clutched in your hands wasn’t necessarily a choice. Speaking of mugs, we’ve restocked The Sun merch store and a new metal camping cup is among the offerings. Order now and dream of your next outdoor adventure!
— Dana & the whole staff of The Sun
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