Stopping Colorado’s bird flu outbreak

The Summer Olympics have begun in Paris, but the Games begin in earnest with the opening ceremony interrupting our workdays tomorrow morning.

What are you most looking forward to? I’m personally happy to break up the typical baseball-only summer doldrums with some of my favorite sports like basketball and … well just basketball, really.

But the beauty of the Olympics is that there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a sports junkie or not. Seeing the flags on our TV screens always brings out an extra sense of pride. And there’s no shortage of Colorado Olympians this year to root for, as John Ingold wrote about last week.

Before we light the torch, here’s today’s news from The Sun.

Kevin Jeffers

Product Team

P.S. Get your SunFest tickets!

THE NEWS

AGRICULTURE

Colorado expands testing for bird flu at dairy farms as state hits 30 cases in 30 days

Colorado has seen at least 51 cases of bird flu on dairy farms since April and 30 in the past 30 days, an unusually high number considering no other state has reported more than four in the past month. So this week the state’s agriculture department stepped up efforts to stop the outbreak by issuing an order requiring testing for the virus on all commercial cow dairies licensed by the state. John Ingold has the details.

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WATER

Can viruses help clean wastewater from fracking? It’s a “yes, but” from researchers.

A group of Texas researchers have successfully used a type of virus to kill bacteria in often-toxic wastewater from fracking, which usually finds its way back underground for storage. It’s a breakthrough with potential, but one that raises big questions about practicality. Shannon Mullane explains the research and what it could mean for Colorado, where fresh-water supplies have been strained by a two-decade megadrought.

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EQUITY

After 23 years, Denver’s largest music festival hired its first accessibility team. Here’s what they came up with.

The Underground Music Showcase has spotlighted thousands of local acts since 2001, but only this year has it fully embraced becoming accessible to all people. Parker Yamasaki takes us through how Denver’s largest music festival arrived at its first accessibility guide, and how it plans to make bigger changes in the years ahead.

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POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

• Colorado campaign donation limits case to be decided later this year. A federal court judge will decide after the Nov. 5 general election whether Colorado’s state political donation limits for candidates are legal, Sandra Fish reports.

Section by Kevin Jeffers | Product Team

COLORADO REPORT

• Colorado law enforcement welcomes speedy AI facial recognition technology along with rules. Advocates worry about privacy and misuse. Law enforcement in Colorado has been quietly using forms of facial recognition since the 2000s. But as artificial intelligence models have rapidly improved, advocates say the potential for abuse, privacy violations and false identifications outweighs what officials say would be a benefit for criminal investigations.
  — CPR News
• Aspen airport accounts for 9% of Pitkin County’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Officials look to change that. County commissioners have “opened up the can” on exploring the creation of a sustainable aviation fuel production facility on the Western Slope that would use beetle-kill wood, landfill waste and other biofuels to “decarbonize” more flights coming in and out of the small (but busy) airport.
  — The Aspen Times
• A great steak theft strikes Columbine Steak House and Lounge … again. In the third case of meat thefts suffered by the legendary Federal Boulevard steakhouse in recent years, the thieves stole 250 pieces of beef. But more worrisome for the owners was the fact that the burglars broke down a wall — damaging water and gas lines — in the process.
  — Denverite
• Judge rules in Castle Rock church’s favor in fight with town over shelter for homeless families in parking lot. The town of Castle Rock’s attempt to use land use regulations to prevent Rock Church from using an on-site RV and a camping trailer to provide shelter for people who need it was smacked down by a judge, who said the regulations can’t be used to stop the church from carrying out its religious mission.
  — The Denver Post 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Colorado’s outdoor legacy will only grow with passage of recreation act in U.S. Senate.  Colorado is a beacon for outdoor recreation, and senators need to take the House’s lead and prioritize passing the legislation
  — David Leinweber, Colorado Springs City Council and owner of Angler’s Covey 

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.

What’s Happening

Carbondale Mountain Fair. It seems like there is always something going on in Carbondale, but if there is one weekend to stop by and see what this creative enclave is all about, it’s probably this weekend, during the 53rd annual Mountain Fair.

This town tradition has all of the ingredients of a Colorado summer festival —live music, local brews, a 4-mile foot race and a costume bike ride. But because it’s Carbondale, there are also plenty of clever competitions and creative twists. Take part in the team pottery throwdown, the women’s wood splitting competition or the fly casting contest, among many other activities. Cool off with mojitos at the Cantina, featuring Montanya silver rum and invasive mint from the local gardens.

At the heart of the fair is a volunteer corps — somewhere between 400 and 500 people sign up every year —that do a little bit of everything, from greeting folks as they arrive to slinging the locally designed Mountain Fair merch. Psst, they’re still looking for volunteers.

Free; July 26-28; Sopris Park, Carbondale

• Dragon Boat Festival. The annual Dragon Boat festival is about so much more than boat races — although the races are pretty impressive. Come for the competition, stay for the live art, the Taste of Asia food vendors and the vibrant Asian marketplace. Check the website for shuttle and parking information. Free; July 27 and 28; Sloan’s Lake Park, W. 25th Ave. & Sheridan Blvd., Denver
• Colorado Springs Summer Fest. A summer festival in the spirit (and downtown) of Olympic City, USA. Enjoy a marketplace of sport and community vendors, live music and big screen broadcasts of live coverage from the Paris Olympics. Free; 11 a.m.-4 p.m., July 27; U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, 200 S. Sierra Madre St., Colorado Springs
• RiNo Art Market. Shop prints, clothes and crafts from more than 65 local artists and small business owners. Live music, DIY screen printing and a crafting booth run by Pop Culture Classroom. Free storytime for kids at the Bob Ragland Branch Library starts at noon in English, at 12:30 p.m. in Spanish. Free; noon-4 p.m., July 27; RiNo Art Park, 1900 35th St., Denver

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

And in case you missed it, in just a decade we’ll have the Winter Games next door in Utah.

See you back here tomorrow.

— Kevin & the whole staff of The Sun

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Corrections & Clarifications

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