Good morning, Colorado.
If one thing is for certain, it’s that it’s cold today. Wherever you are, I hope you’re bundling up.
Now, let’s get to the news, ideally while you have a warm beverage on hand.
Danika Worthington
Presentation Editor
P.S.❤️ Roses are red, violets are blue. What does Colorado mean to you? Send a valentine to our state by telling us what you love about Colorado. We’ll share some of our favorite reader responses. TELL US
THE NEWS
BREAKING NEWS ☀️ Oil and gas advocate from Colorado named to lead Bureau of Land Management. Kathleen Sgamma, a Denver resident, has been the head of the Western Energy Alliance since 2006, working to protect the interests of oil and gas producers amid an international embrace of cleaner energies.
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Colorado budget crisis imperils state worker raises, threatening to break union contract
Skip Miller, then-president of Colorado WINS, the state employees union, speaks at a news conference at the Colorado Capitol on Jan. 10, 2019, announcing legislation that would allow state employees to collectively bargain. (Moe Clark, The Colorado Sun)⬆︎2.5%
Across-the-board raises owed to state workers next budget year
$60 million
Amount those raises would cost the general fund
$1 billion
Estimated budget shortfall lawmakers are working to close
“Literally everything is on the table,” Joint Budget Committee Chair Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, told The Colorado Sun about the state’s budget shortfall. And as Brian Eason reports, to close that gap the JBC could consider not approving the raises agreed to during last year’s contract negotiations and send the union and the governor back to the bargaining table.
READ MORE
Colorado may add extra layer of ban protection for books in school libraries. After a three-hour debate, members of the Senate Education Committee approved the bill that would require schools to have a policy on school library book challenges.BUSINESS
The King Soopers strike could cost Colorado Girl Scouts hundreds of thousands of dollars in cookie sales
Girl Scout Troop 66493 cheers for cookie customers at Peak Kia in Littleton. The troop was originally set to have a booth at a King Soopers, but a union workers strike forced them to relocate. (Girl Scouts of Colorado photo)Colorado’s Girl Scout troops along the Front Range are getting an early experience with labor negotiations as King Soopers canceled cookie-selling booths in front of stores being picketed by striking workers. Tracy Ross reports on how troops are adjusting sales tactics as negotiations continue.
READ MORE
Opinion: Readers take sides on the union worker strike at King Soopers. And there are more than two sides. As the supermarket labor strike enters second week, 450 Colorado Sun readers shared how they’re supporting or avoiding the work stoppage.WILDFIRE
Colorado wants to force insurance companies to help homeowners understand, mitigate wildfire risk
A Boulder Rural Fire Department firefighter approaches a burning home in Louisville on Dec. 30, 2021. (Jeremy Sparig, Special to The Colorado Sun)⬆︎57.9%
Average increase in property insurance premiums in Colorado between 2018 and 2023
House Bill 1182 is the legislature’s first crack at helping homeowners with the increasingly expensive cost of property insurance, requiring insurance companies to not only tell homeowners of ways they could reduce wildfire risk, but directly lower premiums when that mitigation is complete. Jesse Paul reports.
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Colorado Supreme Court to decide whether Boulder’s landmark climate change lawsuit can proceed. In 2018, Boulder sued ExxonMobil and Suncor for damages wrought by climate change. The court will now decide whether that is a state or federal issue.Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler
THE COLORADO REPORT
Police say camouflaged camera found pointed at Lone Tree home. “It looks clearly like somebody placed it there, camouflaged it for the purpose of doing surveillance on the house that it was pointed at,” Lone Tree Police Chief Kirk Wilson told FOX31.— FOX31 Denver Want to legally drive a Japanese mini-truck in Colorado? You may soon be able to. Do you want a pickup that has the same size of usable truck bed as an F250 but can park in a compact spot? A bill at the statehouse would allow mini Japanese “kei” trucks on Colorado roads for the first time in decades.— CPR News Lakewood’s controversial parkland measure grinds residential projects — even small ones — to a halt. One couple says their plan to scrape their house and rebuild it on their 1.3-acre plot of land would require them to set aside a 1,372-square-foot slice of land for a tiny park.— The Denver Post ?? = source has article meter or paywall
Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler
THE OPINION PAGE
COLUMNS
Lawsuits against Trump et al are flying fast and furious. Colorado AG Phil Weiser is among those on the case. But Colorado AG Phil Weiser’s greatest concerns are that Trump might defy the Supreme Court — and the constitutional crisis that would ensue.— Mike LittwinThe 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 [email protected].
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SunLit
REVIEW
Explore Booksellers tips us to books on motherhood, mushrooms and Rome
Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from bookstores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Explore Booksellers in Aspen recommends:
“The Motherload” by Sarah Hoover, a candid, comic memoir of motherhood “The Mushroom at the End of the World” by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, a mushroom-based look at capitalism “Last Summer in the City” by Gianfranco Calligarich, about alienation in Rome, the Eternal CityRead what the bookstore staff had to say about each. Pick up a copy and support your local bookstores at the same time.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Kevin Simpson | Writer
Stay warm.
— Danika & the whole staff of The Sun
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Corrections & Clarifications
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