Today is Sept. 22, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

Dan Baer is bearish about the challenges faced by the United States.

As nearly a century of American dominance in the world gives way to an unknown future – shaped by rapid globalization, unforeseeable technological changes and intense pressures, including climate change, pandemics and resurgent authoritarianism at home and abroad – Baer warns that the trials the country is confronting could be “bigger than we even realize.”

But, he insists, they are neither innumerable nor insurmountable.

“We could actually list the 10 that are the most pressing, and you and I would probably agree on eight out of the 10,” the geopolitical expert told Colorado Politics in a recent interview. “And the problems are not insurmountable, in the sense that we have enormous agency, if we choose to use it, that can solve or at least make progress on almost all of them.”

That’s why Baer says in a new book that he’s “still bullish” about the country’s prospects to lead on the global stage.

Baer’s “The Four Tests: What It Will Take to Keep America Strong and Good,” published this month by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, lays out the areas he argues the U.S. must navigate in the next decade in order to secure a leading role for the next 50 years: scale, investment, fairness and identity.

Representatives from Western states grilled the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday over proposed regulations they believe will threaten oil and gas development on millions of acres managed by the federal agency, including 1.6 million acres in Colorado.

The representatives argued that policies the Biden administration is pursuing would harm the states’ economies and deny Americans access to the land.

The bureau responded that its intent is to thoughtfully develop resources as America transitions to a “clean energy economy.” Supporters of the policies also argued that they would result in shifting activities away from “speculative” leasing toward actually finding energy resources in “non-sensitive” places.   

The back and forth occurred during a subcommittee oversight hearing on energy and mineral resources in Washington D.C. In particular, the panel tackled the bureau’s proposal for leasing onshore public lands.

An effort to make Colorado the first state in the nation to prohibit so-called “abortion reversal” treatment is inching toward the finish line. 

State legislators passed a law in April to classify abortion reversal treatment as unprofessional conduct, subjecting medical workers who provide the treatment to professional discipline. But the law allowed abortion reversal to be reclassified as professional conduct if the state medical, nursing and pharmacy boards all agree that it’s a valid medical practice. 

The last of the three boards adopted its rule Thursday. The medical board ruled that abortion reversal treatment using certain medications is unprofessional conduct. The other two boards did not classify the treatment as an accepted practice or as unprofessional conduct. 

Since the three boards are not in unanimous support of abortion reversal, the new state law will remain intact – so long as the boards don’t change their rules before the Oct. 1 deadline. 

“As of today, the statute stands on solid ground … as long as nothing changes in the next nine days,” said Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, who sponsored the bill to make abortion reversal unprofessional conduct. 

Karen Crummy, a former investigative journalist and veteran communications consultant, is joining the Denver-based 76 Group public affairs firm as a partner.

She’s slated to start a new public relations division for the company, which has offices in Washington, D.C., California and Arizona, the firm said.

“Karen is an award-winning journalist, a gifted strategist, and the best crisis communications talent in the Western United States,” firm founder and principal Josh Penry, a former Republican leader of the Colorado state Senate, said in a statement. “We’re honored to have her as a partner at 76 Group and believe she will be a tremendous asset to our clients.”

The firm described Crummy, a former lawyer and longtime Denver Post reporter, as an expert at handling communications strategies for “complex, high-stakes and controversial projects often involving the intersection of business, public policy and law.”

Colorado teachers can request $1,000 from the state to pay for classroom supplies under a newly-expanded program. 

Gov. Jared Polis and the Department of Education pledged $6.7 million to the DonorsChoose Program on Thursday, which gives money to teachers to pay for school supplies and resources to improve students’ learning experiences. This adds to the $11 million allocated to the program in August. 

“Whether it’s more books, new markers and crayons, science lab equipment, or upgraded technology, I’m excited to help teachers get what they need for a great school year,” Polis said. “When we support Colorado’s amazing teachers, we can improve student learning and achievement.”

All preschool through 12th-grade public school teachers can request the money, including those who previously received money through the program. Teachers can submit their project requests online until Sept. 29, as funds last. 

Since the first round of funding was announced last month, more than 2,300 teachers were granted $1,000 each through DonorsChoose. Teachers can use the money for classroom supplies, technology learning tools, instructional materials, and social or mental health resources for students.