Compiled by Eric Lubbers, eric@coloradosun.com
CTO/Newsletter Wrangler, @brofax
Good morning! How was your weekend? I’m slowly starting to make some plans to get out and see more of this great state this summer than I did last year, but I’m interested in what you all are up to. What’s the most interesting thing on your summer itinerary? Send me an email at eric@coloradosun.com with your cool ideas and we could feature a few in The Sunriser throughout the season.
But there’s a whole work week stretching out ahead of most of us before we can go too gaga over summer expeditions, so let’s charge this scooter, shall we?
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The Latest from The Sun
Colorado is creating a network of doctors to diagnose child abuse and keep kids from slipping through the safety net
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That’s how many doctors in the entire state of Colorado are board certified in child abuse pediatrics. Worse, they’re all located on The Front Range, meaning that wide swaths of the state don’t have access to a doctor with the highest level of expertise in identifying the signs of child abuse.
>> HOW TO BUILD A NETWORK Jennifer Brown writes about how Colorado is looking to other states, including Missouri, to swiftly build a statewide network of physicians trained to better decipher whether child abuse occured — or to rule it out.
To pay for housing and roads, Colorado lawmakers turned to an unusual source: the public’s “lost and found”
Colorado Department of the Treasury safe deposit box manager Ann McKee brings a bar of silver — one of the pieces of unclaimed property in the state’s possession — out of a vault at the Colorado State Capitol on June 6, 2019. (Eric Lubbers, The Colorado Sun)
Every year, the state of Colorado reminds you to check if you have some unclaimed property, whether it’s a few bucks from an insurance settlement or — as pictured above — a rough, unmarked bar of silver. But as Brian Eason writes, that same “lost & found” department has caught the interest of lawmakers as they fight over public money.
>> UNCLAIMED PROPERTY “SUDDENLY IN PLAY” Brian deftly explains how the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund — at $116 million and growing — was used in the 2019 session and the likely fights it will inspire in the future.
Jared Polis touts military projects as he tries to lure national museum and Space Command to Colorado
In an undated photo, soldiers with Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery fire a salute during a change of command ceremony at Founders Field on Fort Carson. (Mark Reis, Special to The Colorado Sun)
The military is the third-largest economic driver in Colorado, and Jared Polis knows it. The Democratic governor is trumpeting those military bona fides with some potentially lucrative goals in his sights.
>> MUSEUMS, SPACE COMMAND AND MORE John Frank has a rundown of all the military projects that could potentially find a home somewhere in Colorado, from a prestigious museum to the headquarters for a major branch of the armed services.
>> CROW JUMPS OUT OF A PLANE FOR D-DAY Speaking of the military, U.S. Rep. (and former Army Ranger) Jason Crow, D-Aurora, strapped on a parachute for the first time in 15 years to jump into France to honor his former division’s part in the D-Day invasion. Jesse Paul talked to Crow about the experience.
Want a newsletter like The Sunriser, but focused on the ins and outs of Colorado politics? Then you want to subscribe to The Unaffiliated. Every Tuesday, John Frank and our politics team blend exclusive news, behind-the-scenes looks and analysis you can’t find anywhere else into an email newsletter that is a must-read at the Capitol and beyond. For details on how to subscribe by becoming a Newsletters+ Colorado Sun member (or how to activate your existing membership) head over tocoloradosun.com/unaffiliated.
From the Opinion Page
- Dave Krieger says it’s hard to see why Democrats need two “two white-bread, white male, centrist longshots” — better known as former Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Michael Bennet — in the presidential campaign.
- Michael Anthony Crews, who once worked for Hickenlooper, writes that he isn’t convinced the former governor offers the kind of progressive vision Democrats want in their 2020 presidential nominee.
- Mario Nicolais writes that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s campaign took a dark turn in the mayoral runoff and negatively defined his opponent to suppress voter turnout.
- Trust Colorado consumers to make the right choices when it comes to electric vehicles, writes Tim Jackson of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.
- Creating affordable housing is “essential as we work toward racial equity and economic opportunity,” Jennie Rodgers writes.
- Kelly Murphy’s family had experienced gun violence even before her children survived the recent STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch. “That’s why I’m fighting for my children, and your children, to live in a country free from gun violence,” she writes.
// Before we get into the Colorado news, I just want to make sure everyone has seen this ridiculously important piece from The New York Times about how YouTube can radicalize young men into extremism. YouTube is, at this point, basically a massive artificial intelligence engine with a single goal: Keep people watching videos for as long as possible.
A few years ago, engineers noticed that users were getting bored with the same videos (if you watch one video on how to repot a succulent, you probably don’t just want to watch more videos about repotting) so they made a tweak to the AI, called “Reinforce.” Now, instead of more succulent-potting videos, the same user would get suggestions to expand their video tastes, like, say, a video explaining a trick to sewing a hem or something else popular with other people who like succulents. The tweak was a huge success.
But what if instead of succulents, you were a bored young man watching “Star Wars” videos and stumbled on to one ranting against the “left-wing bias” of “The Force Awakens”? YouTube’s AI, not knowing or caring that the person who created it is a misogynist with ties to the far-right, will do what it does best and start serving up “similar” videos, including extremist content from white nationalists from around the world.
There is much, much more in this piece, including reactions from Google, extremism researchers and AI experts. Everyone should read it, especially if you’ve got young men and women in your life. // New York Times ?
// Now for something completely different: Look at this cool cow camper. // Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
// As we’ve reported, Colorado residents and politicians are clamoring for more renewable energy. But as Grace Hood reports, the electrical grid (in Colorado and beyond) can’t quite handle it — yet. // CPR News
// I can’t stop looking at the surge flow at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. // KOAA
// Electric scooters are coming for you, Fort Collins. // Coloradoan
// Don’t mind me, just researching broadband speeds in Saguache to see if I could still work for The Sun while renovating an entire hotel for about 60% of the cost of buying a small house in Denver. // 9News
Today’s Thing
The Thing: 5280’s “Dog-Friendly Denver” guide
Why You Might Like It: Of all the millennial clichés I embody (beard, foodie, coffee addict, existential concern about climate change) “not feeling kids are an option any time soon so I have a dog” is both the most time-consuming and the most rewarding. And as I try to actually have a social life and get outdoors this summer (my pup’s first of traveling age), it’s inevitable that he’s going with the crew at least some of the time. This is a great little resource for camping, hotels, restaurants, hiking, safety and more.
You’ve got a thing, I can tell. 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 down to the end of today’s Sunriser with me. As always, your help is appreciated in every way you can give it. Readers like you are still our best advertising, so if you can share a couple of links you found interesting from this Sunriser with the people in your life it can make all the difference as we try to build our community into providing even more journalism for our state.
Even doing something as simple as sharing a post about us on your Facebook page can make a huge difference. Here’s a tweet you can repost to help get the word out.
Have a great week, and we’ll see you on Wednesday.
— Eric