Good morning and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! “May your troubles be less and your blessings be more.”
St. Patrick’s Day was always a pretty big deal growing up because my dad’s family was Irish. He grew up in Chicago, where the city’s Irish immigration history runs so deep that they dye the river green. We had corned beef and cabbage for dinner, only one night a year, gratefully, and year-round my dad was big on “counting your blessings.”
I hope your day is filled with luck, you don’t get pinched, and that after you catch up on today’s news, you have time for a green beer, or a green tea. And particularly fitting for today in Colorado: “May the wind be always at your back.”
Jennifer Brown
Reporter
THE NEWS
OUTDOORS
Mountain Village condemns land owned by Telluride ski resort’s erratic owner, revealing decades of frustration
The gondola above Telluride that connects the town with Mountain Village, as photographed in 2019. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)“Chuck is failing us all.”
— Mountain Village Town Manager Paul Wisor
After Telluride Ski and Golf owner Chuck Horning refused to grant the town of Telluride access to a parcel of land for its 25-year-old summer concert series, the Mountain Village Town Council voted to begin condemnation of the parcel. And as Jason Blevins reports, the public move is the tip of an iceberg of frustrations between town officials and Horning.
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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Food banks, kids’ therapy and diapers: What Colorado lawmakers have cut from the state budget so far
The Joint Budget Committee meets Jan. 6 at the Colorado Capitol complex in Denver. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)So far, lawmakers at the Colorado Capitol have been cutting small-ticket line items — including diapers and food assistance grants — that they know won’t make much of a dent in the $1.2 billion budget shortfall. But as Brian Eason reports in this breakdown, every dollar saved on small programs is a dollar they won’t have to cut this week from the big ones — Medicaid providers, education and the state workforce — in the final sprint to introducing a budget bill this month.
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Colorado would become second state to limit when workers can be fired under union-backed ballot measure. Colorado, like 48 other states, is an at-will employment state, meaning an employer can fire a worker at any time for any reason or no reason at all. But Initiative 43 would prohibit companies with more than eight employees from firing or suspending a worker without so-called just cause — and give fired employees 180 days to file a lawsuit arguing their termination didn’t have just cause. Douglas County loses bid to revive its creative $28 million property tax relief plan. Denver District Court Judge Ericka F. H. Englert ruled that the State Board of Equalization’s decision was “properly considered” and thus valid. The bulk of Douglas County’s lawsuit was rejected last year.OUTDOORS
The Trump administration doesn’t want you to know a record number of people visited national parks last year
Hundreds of people lined the road to the Beaver Meadows entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park on Feb. 17 to protest the firings of National Park Service employees. (Lincoln Roch, Special to The Colorado Sun)331.9 million
The number of visitors to national parks in 2024, the highest ever recorded.
The National Park Service logged a record 331.9 million visits last year, beating a pre-pandemic record in 2016. But you probably won’t see any officials talking about it. Jason Blevins got hold of a memo sent to parks staff instructing them not to issue news releases or any “other proactive communications, including social media posts” after the Trump administration fired at least 1,000 employees at NPS.
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University of Colorado Colorado Springs among 50 universities facing federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign. The U.S. Department of Education said the schools could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in admissions or scholarships — which in the case of UCCS, seems to be related to the use of a faculty recruiting platform called The Phd Project, which helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business.ECONOMY
Are more restaurants closing or opening in Denver? Here’s what we found in the data.
While Tamara Chuang was trying to answer one question “how many restaurants are open in Denver,” she found a surprising number of answers. Click through to see data from the city of Denver, Yelp and other sources to help suss out the true health of the industry.
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Colorado’s tipped minimum wage would be left up to local governments under bill compromise. The amended bill has no side pleased but could provide some relief to restaurants, especially in Denver. Plus news about what fired federal workers can do and more in this week’s “What’s Working” column.HOUSING
A big house in Grand Junction, now home to 20 troubled men, tests Colorado’s new affordable housing law
This house in the 400 block of Bookcliff Avenue sits in the middle of a quiet Grand Junction neighborhood that adjoins the St. Mary’s Medical Center campus. Neighbors are not happy that the house has been turned into a group home for 20 men. (Gretel Daugherty, Special to The Colorado Sun)After residents started seeing men in shackles and handcuffs being dropped off at the large home in their well-heeled neighborhood, they started asking questions. And the answers they got about Rene’s House, operated by a local nonprofit called A Special Place in a house owned by a city councilman, just led to more questions. Nancy Lofholm digs into how this house is causing a stir in Grand Junction — and causing pushback on a new law aimed at easing the statewide housing crisis.
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MORE NEWS
Colorado jury rules Terumo isn’t liable for cancer allegedly related to toxic chemical releases in Lakewood. Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies of Lakewood was cleared of allegations that toxic ethylene oxide sickened neighbors. Arrest made in second round of vandalism at Colorado Tesla dealership. The 29-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second-degree arson, criminal mischief and other crimes at the dealership in Loveland. Columbine victim’s death from health problems related to 1999 school shooting ruled a homicide. Anne Marie Hochhalter died Feb. 16 of sepsis — an extreme reaction to infection — and complications from her paralysis were a “significant contributing factor.”COLORADO SUNDAY
Is Colorado cutting down too many trees to fight wildfires? These environmentalists think so.
“The fire mitigation, in the form of clear-cutting, paved the way for the large number of blown down trees, above and beyond the thousands of clear cut trees harvested.”
— Democratic state Rep. Tammy Story
Fewer trees, less fuel for fire. That has been the recent common adage among wildfire mitigation experts and the officials put in charge of maintaining the urban-wildland interface. But a growing number of environmentalists in Colorado are using recent fires as evidence that the current form of thinning could be making things worse. Tracy Ross digs in on the science of mitigation in this week’s Sunday feature.
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Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler
THE COLORADO REPORT
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Colorado backslides to 43rd in national road condition rankings. “It means your car repair bills are going to go up. And it sends the wrong signal to developers and people who want to move to the state.”— The Denver Post ? We talked to one of the strip club workers hit by wage theft, and one of the investigators who uncovered it. Matthew Fritz-Mauer, the labor policy director at the Denver Auditor’s Office, compared the pay structure for dancers to a sandwich shop clerk who has to pay to use the cash register to check you out — and share their tips with their manager.— Denverite Denver jury awards $10 million to tenants who complained of vile conditions. The more than 2,000 residents of Mint Urban Infinity apartments lived among cockroaches, falling ceilings and other unsafe and unsanitary conditions.— The Denver Post ?Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler
THE OPINION PAGE
COLUMNS
Coming to a Colorado town hall near you: anger, fear and desperate calls for action. Frustrated Democrats demand action from their leaders, but too often they’re getting fundraising appeals instead.— Diane Carman Democrats cave on Trump’s “terrible” spending bill. Many Democrats are furious, including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who reportedly said leadership had “no strategy, no plan and no message.”— Mike Littwin The news is bad for independent journalism these days. A growing trend to dictate what journalists write poses an existential threat to independent journalism and our democracy.— Mario NicolaisThe Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.
Hope you have a blessed day, sprinkled with some luck of the Irish.
— Jennifer and the whole staff of The Sun
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