The Sunriser | Becky Mitchell going to bat for Colorado, tribal water

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Good morning, Colorado, and happy New Year!

I’ve never been much of a fan of New Year’s traditions — especially those that keep me up hours past my bedtime and feeling sleepy the next day. So to welcome 2024, I skipped the late-night parties and hiked up some of the highest dunes in North America at Great Sand Dunes National Park. No matter what time of the year I visit the park, I’m stunned by the views of the sprawling dune field and love watching the grains of sand swirl across the surface atop footprints from journeys before mine.

Whichever way you choose to ring in the new year, we hope The Colorado Sun can be an important part of your 2024. As a reader-supported new organization, our journalism wouldn’t be possible without readers like you. We’re so grateful you’re here and excited for the year to come.

Now, time for the news you’re here for.

THE NEWS

WATER

In tense Colorado River negotiations, Becky Mitchell takes a stand for Colorado and tribal water rights

As Colorado’s first full-time water commissioner, Becky Mitchell’s job is to make sure Coloradans don’t lose out as the seven basin states vie for the critical – and limited – resource. Mitchell has worked on water issues for the state since 2009, and now, she’s one of the seven state leaders, and the only woman, at the center of the negotiations over the crisis-plagued Colorado River. Reporter Shannon Mullane has more on what a day in Mitchell’s life looks like.

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TRANSPORTATION

Boulder County neighbors sue Jefferson County airport, claim illegal flying over their homes

Hundreds of Boulder County residents in the Rock Creek neighborhood have filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County claiming they have been “deprived of the use and enjoyment of their homes” because of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport operations, including excessive noise, vibrations and pollution. Jane Reuter with Colorado Community Media has more.

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ECONOMY

Colorado workers can start taking paid family leave Jan. 1

For the past year, many Colorado workers and their employees have built up a $775 million fund that will someday allow workers to be paid while they care for a newborn, a sick loved one or themselves. That day was Jan. 1. The paid family leave plan is one in a handful of labor laws that go into effect in 2024, reporter Tamara Chuang reports in this week’s What’s Working column.

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AGRICULTURE

The New York billionaire looking to change agriculture with Colorado farmland

Since he bought his first 309-acre farm in Sumner County, Kansas, in the late 1990s, Stefan Soloviev has become one of the most influential members of Colorado’s Eastern Plains farming community. He’s amassed more than 400,000 acres, or 625 square miles, ranking the 48-year-old as the 26th largest landowner in the country. And that doesn’t include the railroads he bought and revived to transport grain. Jason Blevins has more on the New York billionaire who says he wants to move away from competition to help farmers’ bottom lines.

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MORE NEWS

• Man arrested after breaking into Colorado Supreme Court building, holding security guard at gunpoint. The man also fired shots inside the building, but no one was injured, authorities said.
• Colorado Springs mother accused of killing 2 of her children appears in London court. Kimberlee Singler, 35, is facing extradition after police found her in the Kensington section of London over the weekend.
• Hutchins’ year in review: The news behind the news in Colorado’s media world in 2023. It’s been a rough year for Colorado’s printing industry, exposing a critical vulnerability for the state’s newspapers.

THE COLORADO REPORT

• The first 10 years of legal marijuana in Colorado were a wild ride. What will happen in the next decade?. This is a great rundown of Colorado’s journey with cannabis, from being the first place in the modern world selling legal, regulated marijuana for recreational use to the booms and growing pains to fighting for its foothold in the skyrocketing cannabis industry.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declares victory in sheltering over 1,000 people from encampments. After tweaking the way the administration counted someone as “sheltered,” the new mayor announced that his goal of housing 1,000 people by the end of 2023 was reached. Now what?
  — Denverite
• Elusive pine marten spotted in Granby. Apparently, sightings of these cute little tree weasels aren’t quite as rare as their reputation suggests — especially in and around Grand County — but it’s still great to get a glimpse of one.
  — Sky-Hi News
• What’s with all the closed rest areas on Colorado roads? If you’re a frequent roadtripper, you surely have noticed that there are fewer and fewer open rest areas around the state. The data supports that observation, with 10 of the state’s 36 rest areas closing since 2007 — and a CDOT study recommends closing or selling 10 more, citing escalating maintenance costs.
  — CPR News
• Breckenridge building contractor arrested, charged with multiple felonies related to theft of $180K. Justin Jeffe Ord was arrested and charged with eight felonies. Police say he stole funds through his construction company, setting up contracts and accepting deposits but then performing “little to no work” on the projects.
  — Summit Daily

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• Lauren Boebert calls it splitsville with her stunned 3rd CD constituents to try to save her cushy D.C. job. Maybe Ken Buck will do the right thing and advise 4th CD voters that Boebert represents everything that is wrong with GOP politics.
  — Mike Littwin
• If you thought 2023 was politically heated, just wait until 2024. With a host of stories dominating the past year, it set the stage for the most consequential general election year in state history.
  — Mario Nicolais

COMMUNITY

• Increasing railway safety rules in Colorado is up to state lawmakers. With federal legislation stalled, Colorado leaders need to implement stricter rules to protect rail workers and communities.
  — State Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Morrison, & State Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver

CARTOONS

• Other things the Colorado Supreme Court should weigh in on. Why stop at de-insurrectionizing Colorado’s presidential primary ballot? We’ve got wolves, water, bad drivers and Liz Cheney to worry about, too.
  — Peter Moore

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

SunLit

In “Diamond on the High Seas,” a shipboard murder mystery amid a whole lot of dancing

Hope Diamond and Matt Dennison, former lovers when they weren’t working in protective services and the FBI, respectively, have to put old feelings aside to solve some murders in this cozy mystery by Karen Gilleland. Add the twist that it all takes place on an ocean liner with a cast of characters so large that fingering the suspect becomes a multi-layered task. Some tango. Some samba.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author. Gilleland’s research to make her characters and plot more realistic included extensive interviews with noted writer and security expert Gavin de Becker as well as a former Navy commander who taught her about stormy seas and shipboard crime investigations. She felt placing the action on an ocean liner had particular appeal.

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Thanks for starting the year with us! See you here tomorrow.

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.