Today is Dec. 27, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

Two wolves released on Dec. 19 in Grand County came from a pack that Oregon officials said preyed on livestock in the last two years.

The Five Points Pack wolves injured one calf and killed another in separate depredations in July of 2023; killed a cow on Dec. 5, 2022; and, injured a 900-pound yearling heifer on July 17, 2022, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Livestock Depredation Investigations.

Two wolves from the pack – 2302-OR, a juvenile female, black color and 68 pounds, and 2303-OR, a juvenile male, gray color, 76 pounds – were among the five from Oregon that arrived in Colorado several days ago and released in the Western Slope, the culmination of years of planning for a program that has stoked political tensions and is likely to lead to conflicts as the predators make the valleys, lakes and peaks of the north-central Rocky Mountains their new home.

On July 21, Oregon wildlife officials authorized the killing of up to four wolves from the Five Points Pack after two attacks on livestock within a week, which were the second and third depredations in the area within eight months. United States Department of Agriculture employees killed two adult females, one adult male, and a yearling female from the pack by Aug. 4.

Businesses that are so far surviving the renovation of the 16th Street Mall fear a one-year delay would further hurt them, and some worry they won’t make it.

The 1.2 mile long outdoor mall serves as an anchor in downtown Denver for tourism, restaurants, small businesses and some night life. While the facelift is much needed, the construction work from Market Street to Broadway – with some portions already complete – has taken away restaurant patios, narrowed walkways next to heavy-equipment work and disrupted the flow of the RTD free shuttles that used to move some 3.6 million people every year.

Earlier this year, business owners gave competing assessments of the city’s famous 16th Street Mall. Some said everything is “rosy and great,” while others described being in a “rut” – diametrically opposed conclusions that, at times, served as a microcosm of the debate over whether downtown Denver is decaying or thriving.

“The construction project is great, but it’s way too lengthy for these businesses,” Marissa Williams, owner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, told the Denver Gazette in her Denver Pavilions store, where the construction was occurring right outside. “I think it’s hurting the faith people have in downtown Denver.”

The city originally planned for the project to be complete in 2024. As envisioned, the renovation would increase public safety and mobility and create an amenity zone. It would reconstruct deteriorating building infrastructure, create new walkways and offer more greenery.

Last week, Colorado energy regulators, who appeared astonished at the high costs, agreed to set aside a $2.82 billion request from Xcel Energy Colorado for new high-voltage transmission lines to serve the Denver metro and other areas.

In its 2021 electric resource and clean energy plan that’s before Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel said it wants to build new transmission as part of a $15 billion investment to achieve an estimated 87% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

The request includes $2.14 billion for the Denver metro transmission network upgrades, $176 million for upgrades to the San Luis Valley network and $252 million for the May Valley-Longhorn extension.

Xcel’s latest version of its 2021 energy resource and clean power plan caught the energy regulators by surprise, noting the 850% increase in the costs from previous estimates.

In his latest column, Eric Sondermann wrote an ode – to a year in “excess and overload”: “It’s the end of the year, amidst holiday cheer; After this loathing and fear, will someone please hold my beer; Even in rose-colored glasses, 2023 was not all that stout; Let’s take stock of what happened and what it’s about.”

“By George, the new Rep. Santos was exposed as a con; His tall tales evoked a hearty laugh and a frown; For a Congress thought to be in the dark; His fanciful falsehoods were like a final black mark.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic seized an unprepared health care system in the U.S., many states scrambled for limited supplies of face masks and other protective gear.

Fast-forward three years to when the pandemic loosened its grip and states are struggling to deal with a glut of surplus protective gear and are ditching their supplies in droves.

It appears Colorado avoided that conundrum by proactively giving away supplies, though it’s not immediately clear how those entities that got them dealt with expiration dates.

In Ohio, inadequate supplies compelled officials to buy millions of medical gowns from a marketing and printing company and spent about $20 million to try to get personal protective equipment made in-state.

Three years later, Ohio and other states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.