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Compiled by Eric Lubbers, eric@coloradosun.com
CTO/Newsletter Wrangler, @brofax

Good morning! While the big news is that Colorado has its first new governor since “War Horse” was in theaters, here at The Sun we have a little news for ourselves. We’ve got a new reporter!

Veteran investigative journalist Chris Osher has joined the team as our grant-supported education reporter. He’s already got some big plans to, as he put it on Twitter, “dig wide and deep” into one of the most important beats in the state. Welcome aboard, Chris!

OK, we’ve got a lot of politics, some chaos around one of the quirkiest ski resorts in the state and federal shutdown news, so let’s toast this bagel, shall we?

Lawsuits, lenders and irked homeowners creating chaos around the sale of Granby Ranch ski resort

 

In 1995, Marise Cipriani bought the 5,000-acre Granby Ranch ski area, seen here in December before the resort opened. As she negotiates the sale, lenders are lining up for payment. (Nina Riggio, Special to The Colorado Sun)

I can’t do justice to Jason Blevins’ story here, so I’m just going to quote you the first two paragraphs of his take on the embattled Granby Ranch resort:

“As an unnamed buyer circles Grand County’s privately owned Granby Ranch ski area, a roiling circus of family, lenders and homeowners is assailing resort owner Marise Cipriani.

“It’s not a pretty scene at the picturesque 5,000-acre ski and golf resort along the Fraser River, which Brazilian developer Cipriani has owned since 1995 and put on the market for an undisclosed price a year ago.”

>> That’s just the beginning. Click to read about Cipriani’s sister, homeowners in the resort neighborhood and even the Town of Granby getting involved in the sale.

 

Colorado, meet your new governor. The Sun has the exclusive first interview with Jared Polis.

 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis jokes with members of the state House and Senate before his inauguration at the Colorado State Capitol on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. (Pool photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Yesterday was a big day for Colorado. Five new executives were sworn in (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer), the two-term run of Gov. John Hickenlooper ended and Cyndi Lauper was in town. First, read our exclusive first interview with the new governor, where he outlines some of the aggressive moves he’s planning to set the tone for his administration.

Second, check out Jesse Paul and John Frank breaking down five things that made yesterday so historic for Colorado.

>> MORE: Top donors to Jared Polis’ inauguration gave $50,000. But they remain unknown for now.

>> EXIT INTERVIEW: Cynthia Coffman, the outgoing Republican attorney general and one-time gubernatorial candidate, once had a bright political future. Jesse Paul talked to her about what’s next and why it may not involve politics at all.

 

The government shutdown and Colorado, by the numbers

“The biggest problem for us are the deadlines. They don’t change. You can shut down the government, but we still have to respond within 30 days.”

— Denver patent attorney George Lewis, on how his business is affected by the shutdown.

Since the beginning of the federal government shutdown nearly three weeks ago, 13 percent of all unemployment claims processed by the state of Colorado have been for federal workers or contractors. Tamara Chuang looks into some of the lesser-known parts of the state being affected by the extended shutdown.

>> MORE: We’ve got a list of what’s open, what’s not and what’s stuck in limbo, but I’m going to spoil it and say the most interesting thing I learned from that list is that the Denver Mint funds itself through “seigniorage.” (Tamara explains in the story)

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The Shortlist

Stuff about Colorado worth checking out

 

// The scandal surrounding the Colorado Convention Center’s pricey expansion keeps getting weirder. Check out Andrew Kenney’s latest about the mysterious luxury executive suite added to the plans without the city’s approval. // The Denver Post

// $46,000,000. I just needed to write it out, with all the zeroes, to appreciate exactly how much money will be involved if investment billionaire Henry Kravis gets the asking price for his 4,600-acre ranch near Meeker that has a helipad, private hunting and trout fishing, a golf course designed by Greg Norman and furniture built on site by French craftsmen. // BusinessDen

// Good news! Denver City Council made some new rules for electric scooter riders to continue to ignore. // Denverite

// Doves may be an international sign of peace, but for bird watchers in Durango, Eurasian collared doves are just another invasive species. // Durango Herald

// A Facebook page called “Facing Homelessness — Denver” has been telling the stories and taking photos of the city’s homeless population to help humanize individuals that are often ignored. // Westword

// Nathan MacKinnon is a hockey superstar and a bona fide hero in his native Canada. But here in Denver, he’s just another guy. I think his lack of fame stems from his refusal to embrace the nickname “Natty Mack” I tried to give him in 2014. // The Athletic [lock emoji]

// An Aspen pet store outed the identity of a man — a former employee — who they say has been trolling the business with fake reviews all over the internet. This is a really fascinating look at the involvement of law enforcement in the world of online harassment. // Aspen Times

// Northeastern Junior College in Sterling is launching its first satellite campus in my hometown of Yuma after a building was donated by Bank of Colorado. // Yuma Pioneer

// Whoa. An off-court brawl after a high school girls’ basketball game got former Broncos linebacker Andra Davis charged with assault and battery after he was accused of choking and pushing an athletic director into a wall. // Aurora Sentinel

Your Thing for Today

The Thing: Cleaning out your email inbox.

Why You Might Like It: I know, I’m playing a dangerous game here as the author of an email newsletter, but it’s probably time to do some conditioning on your email inbox. The thing is, I get a lot of my important news via email these days, and I finally got sick of having to sort through a bunch of junk just to read my favorite news sources.

My system has been pretty simple since Jan. 1. Rather than pursue some lofty Inbox Zero goal (which will just about always leave you feeling inadequate and frustrated), I downloaded a new email app for my phone, Edison (iPhone, Android). Not only is Edison the fastest email app I’ve ever used, it’s notable for what it doesn’t have: The ability to snooze email. I got in a very bad habit of hitting the “remind me tomorrow” button on email, which just created a backlog that would make my jam-packed DVR jealous.

With Edison, I process every email as soon as it comes in. It conveniently adds a big “Unsubscribe” button to the top of most junk mail (I’ve been hitting it about a dozen times a day) and just over a week into my effort my inboxes are suddenly much less chaotic. With a little more effort, my email should be down to one-to-one personal communication, important transactions and the batch of email newsletters I read to stay informed in no time. When I do finally reach that goal, it will be nice to feel a sense of well-being when the email notification fires on my phone instead of the creeping dread I usually experience.

Editor’s note: Every Sunriser will include one … thing … to cap off our time together. The Thing will be just about anything, like a TV show or a book or a particularly cool dog toy.

Thanks for reading, folks. Don’t forget that we are always looking for story ideas that matter to you. Our inbox tips@coloradosun.com is always open, and we’re also available on Signal, WhatsApp and text at 720-669-3663. Let us know what you want to see us cover!

Have a great day!

— Eric

 

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Eric Lubbers is the Chief Technology Officer and one of the co-founders of The Colorado Sun. A native of Yuma, Colorado, he writes The Sunriser newsletter in addition to handling most of the behind-the-scenes tech stuff. Email: eric@coloradosun.com...