Author: EVAN WYLOGE
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Drought conditions still easing slowly across Colorado
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Drought plaguing the Southwest continues, but Colorado saw another week of small improvements, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The biggest improvements have come in the eastern half of the state, while the Western Slope has yet to see the same reprieve. “Widespread beneficial rainfall, exceeding 1 inch, this…
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Colorado drought recedes slightly as long-term trend continues
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Colorado saw a small improvement in drought conditions after recent snow and rain, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s National Drought Mitigation Center, though more than half of the state is still experiencing at least “severe” drought conditions. West of the Rockies, and especially in the southwestern corner of the state, conditions continue to worsen.…
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Judge dismisses redistricting lobbying complaint against Republican operatives
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Months after the state finished its congressional and legislative redistricting, a complaint alleging illegal redistricting lobbying by a group of local Republican operatives has been dismissed, with an administrative law judge concluding the complaint did not have merit. The complaint alleged that members of Colorado Neighborhood Coalition lobbied redistricting commissioners without proper disclosure. One employee…
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Colorado law aimed at ridding state of dishonest cops drives decertifications in first year
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Around noon on a cold, foggy day in October of 2020, Steven Crist, an inmate at the El Paso County Detention Center, scaled a barbed wire fence and made a run for it. Police found him less than an hour later in an industrial park near the jail. He was treated for injuries and returned…
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FEMA mulls rejecting Denver’s pandemic-related homelessness mitigation reimbursement
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Denver could be stuck with tens of millions of dollars in homelessness mitigation costs, after the city’s request for federal pandemic-relief reimbursement for homelessness mitigation was initially deemed ineligible. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said part of Denver’s requested $40 million reimbursement for homeless sheltering, dating back to July 2021, is not eligible for…
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Redistricting commissioner announces renewed run for El Paso County elections chief
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Elizabeth Wilkes, who had a high-profile 2021 after serving as one of the state’s 12 congressional redistricting commissioners, hopes to get elected as El Paso County’s chief elections officer in 2022. The Colorado Springs Democrat filed candidacy paperwork Wednesday for the county Clerk and Recorder race, which will have no incumbent candidate this year. Wilkes unsuccessfully…
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Outdated? Marshall fire area mitigation plans more than a decade old
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The wildfire mitigation plan for the area where the Marshall fire ripped across a suburban landscape on Thursday hadn’t been updated since 2010, predating heavy population growth in the area. The plan, managed by the Rocky Mountain Fire Protection District, includes evacuation routes for the area, the designation of subdivisions in hazardous locations and places where…
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Colorado surpasses 10,000 COVID-19 deaths
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Colorado has surpassed yet another grim milestone in the nearly two-year COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic: 10,000 deaths. As of Tuesday, the state counted 10,018 deaths due to the novel coronavirus. A surge of new cases in the past few months has led to higher daily COVID-19 deaths, pushing the number of lives lost past 9,000 less…
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Some Coloradans’ drinking water still has highest radium levels in the nation
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Some of the highest concentrations of radium-contaminated drinking water in the nation are clustered in rural southeast Colorado, according to a recent compilation of data. The problem is hardly new. The presence of radium in the area’s groundwater, which is linked to an increased cancer risk particularly for children, has been known for decades. The newly…
