Analyzing the hard-to-get data on ski slope injuries

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Good morning! Whether you’ve departed from Colorado in hopes of catching the total solar eclipse or you’re just hanging out, content with the 40%-60% totality we can see inside our state borders, here’s wishing you a happy eclipse day!

I was in Austin for last year’s annular eclipse in October, which caused some beautiful crescent-shaped points of light as my in-laws’ trees created a patchwork of pin-hole projectors in their backyard.

So while we wait for the flood of new photos and videos from across the country, let’s dig into a very full weekend’s worth of news, shall we?

P.S. — Thanks to those of you who have expressed support, become new members and made donations to support The Sun after the state GOP evicted one of our reporters covering the state party assembly on Saturday. More on this below, and if you’d like to further support our independent, nonpartisan journalism, please consider making a donation at coloradosun.com/donate.

THE NEWS

OUTDOORS

Analyzing 5 years of injuries, crashes and hit-and-runs at Colorado ski areas

Colorado’s ski areas have never been more popular, with record crowds in each of the past two seasons. But as the slopes host more people, are they also seeing more injuries? Turns out, determining just how many people are injured on the slopes every year is harder than it should be. Jason Blevins spent two years filing records requests, assembling emergency room data and talking to the doctors who treat injured skiers and snowboarders to put together this report that shows collisions are on the rise.

READ MORE, PODCAST CONVERSATION

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ELECTION 2024

Lauren Boebert secures top spot on Republican primary ballot in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District

At the state Republican party’s assembly in Pueblo, Boebert won 41% of the party’s delegates and will appear in the top spot on the June 25 ballot, blocking former state Sen. Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch from having a place on the ballot. Sandra Fish has more from Friday’s vote.

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• Colorado Sun politics reporter kicked out of GOP state assembly. Despite being issued credentials at the door of the state assembly, Colorado Sun reporter Sandra Fish was escorted out of the building by a sheriff’s deputy Saturday after being told that party Chairman Dave Williams found her “current reporting to be very unfair.” Republican leaders have criticized Williams for the move, with state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer calling it “disgusting” on X. 

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ARTS

After years of hard lessons and perseverance, Denver artist R. Alan Brooks is having a moment

How many hyphens can one man have? Let’s ask writer-rapper-cartoonist-speaker-podcaster-professor R. Alan Brooks, whose work you may have seen hanging in the Denver Art Museum and on The Colorado Sun’s opinion pages as the writer of the weekly “What’d I Miss?” comic strip. And as Kevin Simpson reports, Brooks’ career is blooming by taking advantage of the decentralized nature of art in the modern world.

READ MORE

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HOUSING

How the “for-cause eviction” bill passed by the Colorado legislature would affect renters and landlords

Under state law, landlords can decide not to renew a tenant’s lease for any reason. House Bill 1098 — which passed the state legislature and is awaiting action by Gov. Jared Polis — would narrow the reasons why a lease renewal could be denied and includes language designed to prevent “retaliatory” rent increases to subvert the new rules. Jesse Paul has more detail.

READ MORE

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EDUCATION

What does the future of Colorado school funding look like? Here are the questions hanging over districts.

Does Colorado have a sustainable source of funding for K-12 education? When is the right time to decide on school funding changes? These are some of the questions faced by lawmakers as the state updates the school funding formula for the first time in 30 years. Erica Breunlin and Brian Eason explain the concepts in play as lawmakers sprint toward the end of the session.

READ MORE

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MORE NEWS

• Colorado is working on alternatives to a discount internet program ending in May. Affordable Connectivity Program participants were notified this month that it is ending, but while Congress mulls a $7 billion extension to keep it operating, Colorado authorities are working with internet service providers to find an alternative. Tamara Chuang has more.
• Stolen AT&T customer data was years old. Is it too late to protect your data? In this week’s “What’s Working” column, Colorado security experts weigh in on the massive AT&T data breach revealed last week.
• Colorado Springs-area woman, known as “J6 Praying Grandma,” found guilty of breaching U.S. Capitol during Jan. 6 riot. Rebecca Lavrenz, a 71-year-old owner of a bed-and-breakfast northeast of Colorado Springs, said she “felt I was there on an assignment from God,” about entering the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

COLORADO SUNDAY

When you gotta go, where to go? The crappy state of Colorado’s public restrooms.

Colorado’s public outdoor bathrooms are vanishing. Where once there might have been inviting brick-and-mortar restrooms, the public is often finding padlocked doors or a head-scratching void: “I could have sworn there used to be a bathroom here.” Nancy Lofholm digs into the disappearing public service — and solutions Colorado cities are attempting, from port-a-potties to high-tech self-cleaning public restrooms.

READ MORE

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Her art is at odds with museums, and museums can’t get enough. Gala Porras-Kim, who currently has her biggest show yet at Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, makes art that challenges the purpose of museums and records, including letting sections of old ice cores salvaged from the National Science Foundation’s Ice Core Facility in Lakewood thaw and release “ancient air” for exhibit viewers.
  — The New York Times 🔑
• Engine covering falls off Boeing plane, strikes wing flap during Southwest Airlines flight’s Denver takeoff. The Boeing 737-800 safely landed back at DIA after a piece of the engine’s cowling came loose on takeoff.
  — CBS News
• “This can mess people’s lives up”: Customers left in limbo as UPS Store in Dillon closes with little warning. It’s no secret that getting mail and packages delivered in Colorado’s high country is a problem. But for the many people who purchased a mailbox in Dillon to be their primary mail receptacle, the company’s decision to suddenly shutter is leaving them scrambling for alternatives even as the store agreed to remain open temporarily for customers to retrieve mail.
  — Summit Daily
• We squished Colorado down to a one-inch thick fudge brownie. Now you may be as confused as I was when reading that headline, but if you’re a map and physics nerd, realizing just how much surface area Colorado has if you ironed out the mountains is truly shocking.
  — CPR News

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• Cowardice and corruption: Lauren Boebert and Dave Williams epitomize the Colorado GOP.  The leading candidates in their respective congressional campaigns, Boebert and Williams represent the dilapidated remains of a once-proud Republican Party
  — Mario Nicolais
• To go green, focus less on cow burps and more on eating less beef.  Sen. Michael Bennet’s latest bill is a last-ditch effort to save Colorado’s ranching industry
  — Trish Zornio
• If you knew Bobby Kennedy, you know RFK Jr. is nothing like the original.  Kennedy is polling in double figures. And running as an independent in a three-way race, he just might tip the election to Donald Trump.
  — Mike Littwin   

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.

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Thanks for starting your week with us and remember — the only sun you can stare at without protection is The Colorado Sun. Have a great day!

— Eric and 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.