Can Colorado get back on top in solar?

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Good morning, Colorado.

The tree in our front yard has proudly displayed a Colorado Avalanche flag for the past week. It flaps in the wind, quietly communicating to our neighbors that “we” are in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“We,” in this case, includes my husband as well as the Avs. He’s a lifelong Avs fan who rattles off stats and player contract details constantly. I’m a more, ahem, casual fan.

But even for me, someone who is not religious about sports, it’s an exciting day in Colorado. We have game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight, two new quarterbacks for the Broncos and the Nuggets are crushing it. I can’t resist feeling excited about our home teams.

As you root for our Colorado teams, I hope you’ll root for your home team journalists as well. At The Sun, we’re working hard to bring you the news you need about your state and your communities. Our member-powered newsroom is made possible by you, our readers. If you’re not already a member, please consider joining today to help us meet our goal of 200 new members this month. 173 of you have already joined — thank you! If 27 more sign up, we’ll meet our goal. Will you help us get there?

Thanks for supporting local, independent journalism.

Happy Friday,

THE NEWS

ENERGY

Colorado used to be a national leader in home solar. Two big moves could push it back on top.

It wasn’t long ago, solar advocates say, that Colorado was among the best states in the country for connecting individual and community solar panels to the grid at large. But as other states wrote more efficient laws and added incentives, Colorado fell behind. Michael Booth breaks down two big moves — a major federal grant and a state bill that would help fund community projects — that could charge up the state’s solar projects.

READ MORE

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HEALTH

The lucky ones: Former world champion’s life was saved by a clinical trial. Now she wants others to get the chance.

After a lifetime of overcoming challenges that would make most people crumble, Siri Lindley’s diagnosis of leukemia at age 50 was her toughest hill to climb. Now, after participating in a UCHealth clinical trial that helped her beat a 10% chance at survival, she’s lobbying the federal government to improve access to trials for everyone, Dan England reports.

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ART

Forget “exposure”: A Denver residency provides artists something many others don’t — money

Guadalupe Hernandez walked away from his life as a teacher to dive headfirst into making art as a career. And as he reaches the end of his eight-month Art Students League of Denver residency, he says its biggest impact is one of its simplest: It provided enough money to live on while he focused on art full time. Parker Yamasaki explores how the tradition of artists’ residencies are adapting to the material needs of modern artists.

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STATE LEGISLATURE

Colorado won’t legalize raw milk this year after proposal to allow direct sales to consumers spoils in the legislature

The “food freedom” movement didn’t get far at the Colorado legislature this year. A proposal to allow Coloradans to buy raw milk at farms, farmers markets and roadside stands died at the Capitol on Thursday, Jennifer Brown and Jesse Paul report.

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• Lawmakers back off threat to withhold road money from cities under plan to boost housing near transit. House Bill 1313 — which would require certain urban and suburban local governments to allow more apartments and townhomes along major transit corridors — lost its biggest penalty, Brian Eason reports, but local leaders are still wary of the reach of the bill. 
• Colorado bill to regulate generative artificial intelligence clears its first hurdle at the Capitol. Senate Bill 205 — which would require companies to alert consumers anytime artificial intelligence is used and to add more protections to the budding AI industry — cleared its first legislative hurdle this week, Tamara Chuang reports.

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FACT BRIEF

Does Colorado help ranchers protect against wolves?

Today’s Fact Brief explains the funding mechanism that ranchers can access to get compensation for livestock killed by wolves — as well as “a suite of non-lethal tools” and expertise to help avoid conflicts.

READ MORE

• How The Colorado Sun fact-checks trending claims. Read more about The Colorado Sun’s partnership with Gigafact to create bite-size fact-checks on viral claims.

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Anthem insurance customers in Colorado may need to change hospitals if rate dispute not resolved. As of May 1, CommonSpirit Health’s 10 Colorado hospitals will no longer be in-network for the 1.5 million people covered by Anthem health plans in this state if a dispute with Anthem BlueCross BlueShield isn’t resolved.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Autopsy complete on remains of Suzanne Morphew. The report from the Chaffee County Medical Examiner is expected to be released next week, nearly four years after she was first reported missing.
  — CBS News
• Family of attempted kidnapping suspect feels the system has failed him. “Every six months that we find him in the jail system, we’re happy he’s there, because then he’s not out on the streets,” said the older sister of Solomon Galligan, who was formally charged with kidnapping and child abuse this week.
  — 9News
• How Bo Nix won over Sean Payton and led the Broncos to a history-making draft pick. Despite a run on quarterbacks before the Broncos had a chance to pick one at No. 12, the hope is they got their guy in the former Oregon standout.
  — The Athletic 🔑
• Orio’s Roadhouse, one of last exceptions to Colorado’s smoking ban, to go smoke-free. The Durango hangout had become an anomaly in a state largely clear of smoker-friendly restaurants.
  — The Durango Herald 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Colorado’s Congressional delegation must rethink its approach on wildfire “fuel reduction” logging.  Environmental groups challenge elected officials to stop ignoring science showing this approach does more damage than good
  — Josh Schlossberg, Colorado organizer for the national Eco-Integrity Alliance 

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” Ossie explains to Myra how perceptions and police calls can impact statistical crime rates — and have a domino effect on the community.

CARTOON

Jim Morrissey illustrates how local fans may try to regard all the hometown sports franchises equally, but in reality one team’s just a little harder to love.

CARTOON

Drew Litton also had the sports/family theme in mind when he put his spin on the current flurry of excitement happening on the local scene.

CARTOON

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.

Podcast Playlist

CONVERSATION

Each weekday The Daily Sun-Up podcast brings you a bit of Colorado history, headlines and a thoughtful conversation. We keep it tight so you can quickly listen, or stack up a few and tune in at your leisure. You can download the Sun-Up for free in your favorite podcasting app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or RSS to plug into your app. This week, we’re in the Capitol as the session draws to a close and following a Denver startups rise.

• Catching up with Alterra boss about A-Basin and the industry. Jared Smith left Ticketmaster to head up Alterra Mountain Co., one of the biggest players in skiing. Outdoors reporter Jason Blevins sat down with Smith for a chat at a recent industry event.
  LISTEN
• Long-awaited property tax overhaul is unveiled at the Colorado Capitol. We’ve been waiting to hear how legislators proposed to ease Colorado’s property tax spike, and politics reporters Jesse Paul and Brian Eason look under the hood of the bill.
  LISTEN
• “Shopping All the Way to the Woods.” Historian, author and outdoor enthusiast Rachel S. Gross joins reporter Tracy Ross to give us a hard look at our propensity to buy too much outdoor gear, brought on by the buckskin jacket.
  LISTEN
• Living near airports may affect the amount of lead in kids. Environment reporter Michael Booth and health reporter John Ingold review a new analysis looking at children’s health depending on their proximity to airports where lead aviation fuel is used.
  LISTEN
• Denver-based company’s big reveal on the NYSE. Ibotta — you’ve seen their logo on the Denver Nuggets’ jerseys — started years ago near Coors Field. And last week they hit the New York Stock Exchange. Business reporter Tamara Chuang has followed their rise.
  LISTEN

🗣️ Remember, you can ask Siri, Alexa or Google to “play the Daily Sun-Up podcast” and we’ll play right on your smart speaker. As always we appreciate your feedback and comments at podcast@coloradosun.com.

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Thanks for spending the week with us. Let’s send those Jets back to Winnipeg where they belong, shall we? See you next week!

— Eric & 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.