Colorado’s AI businesses brace for regulation

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Top o’ the morning, folks!

While we’re long past St. Patrick’s Day, I’m feeling in tip-top shape after seeing that my colleagues here at The Colorado Sun claimed 29 awards at the Top of the Rockies contest — including journalist of the year honors for Sandra Fish!

The Sun was honored with the most awards of any news outlet in Colorado, competing in the extra-large division against bigger newsrooms from around the four-state region. We even nabbed first place in the sports features category for our increasingly relevant series “What the hell is wrong with the Rockies?”

Before you check out the complete list of winners, let me just say thanks again to the readers who have stepped up to become supporting members of The Colorado Sun. We quite literally can’t do this kind of award-winning journalism without that support.

If you aren’t already, you can become a part of this impactful community for as little as $5 a month by heading to coloradosun.com/join. We need your help more than ever.

And we aren’t resting on any laurels in this newsroom, so let’s get on to a full weekend’s worth of new journalism, shall we?

THE NEWS

TECHNOLOGY

As new laws are proposed, Colorado companies share how they use AI to make business better

Small businesses that use AI — from providing real-time phrasing suggestions to executives, live translating projects for teams that speak different languages and turning text into educational videos — are grappling with the nascent effort to regulate, label and report the use of generative AI at the state level. Tamara Chuang digs into the regulation movement’s goals and how business owners are hoping to fit into the next wave of innovation.

READ MORE

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STATE LEGISLATURE

Effort to limit lawsuits over construction errors — and in turn boost Colorado condominium construction — fails at Capitol

A bill to limit construction defect lawsuits died in committee as the legislative session sprints to a close. Senate Bill 106 was the latest attempt to kickstart construction of condominiums, which advocates see as a step toward addressing housing affordability. Jesse Paul has more on what went wrong this time.

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• Colorado lawmakers reject push to prevent local short-term rental rules from applying to backcountry huts and cabins. Senate Bill 213 was unanimously rejected by a House committee at the request of Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder — one of the bill’s main sponsors — who cited the emergence of a “disheartening” narrative about the origin of the bill.
• Colorado’s transportation fees on gasoline, deliveries and rideshare trips can stand, Denver judge rules. A group of conservative activists sued the state and Gov. Jared Polis in 2022 in an attempt to invalidate the fees that are slated to generate billions in revenue for road and transit projects.

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WATER

Palisade High School releases its thousandth endangered razorback into the Colorado River

The hatchery based at Palisade High School has been raising fish since 2020 as part of the school’s conservation education — and is already starting to see evidence of the students’ work making a difference in the Colorado River ecosystem, Shannon Mullane reports.

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OUTDOORS

A rare win after nearly 40 years for Texas investors planning Wolf Creek Village

For 37 years, a group of Texas investors have been planning an island of private land that could host 8,000 people right next to the Wolf Creek Ski Area. And after nearly 25 years of lawsuits, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver threw out three other rulings and affirmed the approval of an access road that connects that private island of land to U.S.160. Jason Blevins has more.

READ MORE

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MORE NEWS

• Does Colorado get 300 days of sunshine per year? In this Fact Brief, Justin George digs into the meteorological records to bust one of the biggest myths about our state.
• Colorado Springs’ weaker job market hasn’t slowed economic development wins. This week’s “What’s Working” takes a look at how the Colorado Springs economy is taking a different path than the Denver metro area — and where it’s headed in the future. 
• New charges filed against Littleton bus aide, revealing more incidents of alleged abuse to nonverbal students. Kiarra Jones, 29, now faces nine counts of third-degree assault and two counts of knowing and reckless child abuse as evidence emerged of Jones assaulting two boys on bus rides beginning in January.

COLORADO SUNDAY

A small Durango college is trying to reckon with its dark legacy — and help students do the same

Fort Lewis College awards more degrees to Native American students than any other four-year college in the country. But the distinction doesn’t come without historic baggage for the school and the student body — which is 46% Native American — that must reckon with the school’s painful history. Reporter Tracy Ross spoke to students about the intergenerational trauma caused by Fort Lewis’ long-ago role as a boarding school that used severe methods to “assimilate” Indigenous children, and how the college administration and staff have rallied to help the students.

READ MORE

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Colorado weather alert: Strong wind to hammer Fort Collins, foothills. Wind gusts up to 75 mph are expected in the foothills and up to 55 mph in the plains, with elevated fire danger in some areas of the state.
  — Coloradoan
• Former El Paso County deputy who disappeared for a year pretended to have cancer to solicit money, led double life, officials say.  Kevin Sypher, 57, was married to two women at the same time, authorities said in an arrest affidavit.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Teen rescued after falling into abandoned missile silo in eastern Colorado. Eight teens are facing potential trespassing charges after they snuck into an abandoned missile silo in eastern Colorado and forced an hours-long rescue operation after one of them fell in.
  — KKTV
• When the hail starts pelting, what happens to Colorado’s birds? Colorado is among the top states for major hail events and unfortunately, hail season overlaps with nesting season.
  — Colorado Public Radio

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• Student protests thrive on solidarity, vegan pizza … and the attention of the world.  The tradition of peaceful protest and civil disobedience is a time-honored one. Like it or not, this is what democracy looks like.
  — Diane Carman
•  Colorado houses are too big. We need more starter homes.  More access to smaller and simpler housing would greatly improve rates of first-time homeownership, especially for women
  — Trish Zornio
•  All Boebert needs is the MAGA base to win the 4th CD. And she’ll chase down protesters to keep them. Boebert inserted herself into a campus protest at George Washington University where some greeted her with “Beetlejuice” chants
  — Mike Littwin
•  Will Colorado Republicans stand up to Dictator Dave?  Dave Williams has used tactics of authoritarians to put himself in a position to become a member of Congress unless voters stop him this June
  — Mario Nicolais

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, as always, for making it to the bottom of this jam-packed newsletter. Have a fantastic week and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow — same Sun time, same Sun newsletter.

— 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.