Compiled by Eric Lubbers, eric@coloradosun.com
CTO/Newsletter Wrangler, @brofax
Good morning and happy Wednesday, folks! It’s starting to warm up in Denver after that branch-snapper of a storm, and with the snow (maybe?) behind us, there’s a glimmer of hope for a sunny, long holiday weekend.
It’s fitting for a state with such fickle and whipsawing weather that today’s Sunriser has such a wide range of stories. We’ve got thorny questions over legal pot, a stomach-rumbling story about wonton culture, a feature on the coolest guitarist in the state, a look at changes in Colorado’s consumer-protection law and more!
But before we dive into that menagerie of stories, I want to let you know that I and reporter Jesse Paul will be on Reddit this afternoon to answer questions about The Sun in an AMA (that’s “Ask Me Anything” for anyone not hip to Reddit). Check out the link here and please go ask your burning questions!
OK, let’s shake these branches already, shall we?
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>> ABOVE THE FOLD
Guitarist Jeffrey Marshall shreds with no arms. But he’s not here to inspire you.
Jeffrey Marshall performs during an open mic at Syntax Physic Opera in Denver. (Seth McConnell, Special to the Colorado Sun)
Denver-based musician Jeffrey Marshall’s career — from sharing stages with Blues Traveler to a voluntary stint as the “Penguin Man” in a New Jersey freak show — is already the stuff of legend. But the fact that he’s lived such an adventurous life with no arms and legs too short to walk is not supposed to be an inspiration, he told Sun contributor Tom McGhee.
>> “TAKE-NO-CRAP ATTITUDE”: Click here to read the story of Marshall’s life and music, from Colorado to Prague to Jamaica and back.
Colorado businesses — especially in the booming outdoor industry — are scrambling to keep new tariffs from sinking their ships
“This will hurt us financially in the short term and is causing uncertainty in the longer term.”
— Drew Saunders, head of Boulder-based apparel company Salewa North America
America’s ongoing trade war is having negative effects on Colorado businesses from farmers to aerospace firms, and the latest round of tariffs have businesses looking for alternatives. But as Drew Saunders (quoted above) told Jason Blevins, changing supply chains is “not something you can do overnight.”
>> TRADE ZONES, EXCLUSIONS AND BEER: Tamara Chuang looks at some of the ways Colorado businesses are searching for alternatives for markets and supplies.
>> OUTDOOR INDUSTRY SHIFTS: Jason Blevins talked to some of Colorado’s big outdoor gear manufacturers about shifting labor from China to other countries and what steps they’ll have to take to stay competitive.
Finding family in the folds: Learning the art of wonton connects Coloradans across cultures
Twin Dragon Restaurant owner Mama Shiou, center, moves from table to table to show her guests how to make potstickers and wontons, step by step. (Kathryn Scott, Special to The Colorado Sun)
Warning: You’re going to be hungry (and maybe a little homesick) after reading this story from Tamara Chuang. Every culture has some form of dough stuffed with meat, and for Colorado’s wide-ranging Asian communities, a class in Englewood on how to make wonton dumplings was both a delicious way to spend an evening and a chance for people to connect with their heritage in a hands-on way.
>> THE DISH ON DUMPLINGS: Click here to read more about the culture of wonton, get a mini-lesson on how to make your own and advice on where to find professionally made versions.
Did the Colorado Supreme Court just throw the state’s marijuana-legalization structure into question?
You may have read about a case at the Colorado Supreme Court involving drug dogs that don’t distinguish between, say, a batch of methamphetamine and a (now-legal-under-Colorado-law) bag of weed. But as John Ingold explains in this easy-to-follow story, the chief justice of the court, in a fiery dissent, is concerned that the way the case was decided opens up the possibility that Colorado’s entire legal marijuana law structure could be subject to federal “preemption.”
>> WHAT’S THE DEAL? Click through to let John Ingold walk you through the case and why legal experts are split on the possible ramifications.
Colorado’s consumer protection laws are getting much tougher
“This is a big deal.”
— Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser
Colorado’s consumer protection laws were recently ranked 48th weakest in the country by a consumer advocacy group. But after the legislature passed an overhaul 30 years in the making, prosecutors and private attorneys have much more leeway in bringing cases against companies.
>> WHY THIS MATTERS FOR OPIOIDS: Jesse Paul gets into the grit of the soon-to-be laws, including how they could make it easier for prosecutors working the state’s case against opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma.
More from The Sun
- Michael Bennet has a $1 trillion idea to fight climate change. Nick Riccardi from the Associated Press gets into the details of the plan.
- Colorado regulators have no plans to stop oil and gas drilling while they work out the practical aspects of implementing the state’s new law that puts health, safety and the environment as their top priority.
- Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined more than a dozen other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a rule that would make it easier for health care workers to refuse to provide abortions.
- Over on the opinion page, Alice Madden, a Democrat running to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner next year, argues that if Roe v. Wade falls, Gardner’s votes on Supreme Court justices “helped pave the way.”
>> THE SHORTLIST
// We’re running out of ways to talk about how wet this winter has been, but one way to think about it comes from The Coloradoan, where they calculated that Fort Collins has seen rain or snow on 71% of the past two months. // Coloradoan ?
// Boulder has put an emergency kibosh on electric scooters. // Boulder Beat
// That’ll put some rust on your spurs: An Aurora immigration attorney has been sued by the National Western Stock Show over claims that his was the winning bid on a prize steer sold at a scholarship auction — twice — but he never paid. // Business Den
// Hunting is part of the conservation movement, from license fees to controlling wildlife populations, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife is hoping to get a new generation of hunters interested in joining after decades of decline. // CPR News
// Colorado was the first state to legalize abortion in 1967, and that history is on display on a billboard facing visitors from Utah on I-70 with the message “Welcome to Colorado, where you can get a safe, legal abortion.” // CBS4
// “Virtually every neighborhood in the city feels nervous about its character.” Donna Bryson has a very cool story about forums by the Denver Architecture Foundation on how neighbors can try to protect neighborhood character. // Denverite
// “A Wyoming teenager held at gunpoint last summer by an off-duty Colorado police officer who assumed he had committed a crime is suing her for violating his civil rights.” // Jackson Hole News & Guide
>> TODAY’S THING
The Thing: The ultimate undershirt (for any age, gender or size).
Why You Might Like It: Not to exaggerate, but I can cleanly separate my adult life into pre- and post-AIRism. AIRism is the weirdly capitalized name for a lightweight, incredibly soft material that Uniqlo makes into a whole variety of undershirts, tank tops, camisoles and loungewear for men and women. I picked up a V-neck made out of the mesh version of the material a few years ago and have since amassed enough of the $10 shirts to wear a fresh one every day of the week (and then some). Summer is coming despite the recent cold snap and these undershirts are the next best thing to wearing an air conditioner under your business wear. I’ve even started using them as a cooling, comfortable layer between me and scratchy sweaters or some of my rattier T-shirts.
What’s your thing? If you have something that you just can’t stop raving about that you’d like to share, send us an email at things@coloradosun.com and you could be published in a future Sunriser!
Thanks for getting deep into this Sunriser! Please remember to share the stories you see in this newsletter far and wide and I hope you’ll join us over at /r/denver this afternoon for our AMA.
No matter what you do, have a great day!
— Eric