Blurred image of an empty parliamentary chamber with wooden desks and chairs arranged in rows, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and flags on the walls.
With the combination of a slow shutter speed and racking of a zoom lens, the Senate chamber has the look of motion in the State Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Good morning on what will likely be a hot July Monday.

And while we are truly entering the dog days of summer, we do at least have the Olympics. Now, to be frank, the Olympics are in a weird spot — it says something that Colorado voters’ then-radical decision to reject the games in the ’70s is becoming the nearly default response for potential future host cities — but the bread and circuses part of my brain still gives me a little chill when I hear that triumphant music kick off.

As a lifetime track kid (3 of the 5 members of my nuclear family are track coaches), I appreciate how the Games elevate those sports that don’t usually get the spotlight. But one of my favorite aspects of the Games is the way they sound, an interest of mine that was supercharged by an episode of one of the all-time great podcasts, “99 Percent Invisible,” that digs into how we’re able to hear Simone Biles’ powerful landing “thump” on the floor routine, or the dip of paddles into the Seine during rowing events.

I’ll drop a link to that episode at the end of today’s newsletter, because I don’t want anything distracting you from catching up on the whole weekend’s worth of news we’ve got on deck.

On your marks, get set, read!

Since the beginning of The Colorado Sun more than five years ago, we’ve been tracking and analyzing the voting trends in each legislative session. And as Sandra Fish reports in her latest analysis, 2024 marked a high point in bipartisanship, with members of both parties supporting all but three of the 519 bills that passed.

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Colorado Republicans voiced criticism of GOP Chairman Dave Williams at a meeting Saturday in a Brighton church. (Sandra Fish, Special to The Colorado Sun)

After an Arapahoe County District Court judge blocked Republicans’ attempt to hold a vote to kick embattled party chairman Dave Williams out of his position, organizers instead used that time for a rally against Williams and to plan for the election. Sandra Fish was there and has more from the fractured party’s gathering.

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Restoration workers installed log structures on Upper Elkhorn Creek where the stream crosses relic beaver dams, using the old beaver meadows to store water, re-saturate the surrounding soil, and hopefully lure beavers back to the burn zone. (Coalition for the Poudre Watershed, courtesy photo)

After years of project submissions, the federal government’s plan to spend nearly half a billion dollars to address the impact of drought on the Colorado River Basin is becoming clearer. Shannon Mullane breaks down the types of projects likely to be approved and what’s next.

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A graphic showing how much the ingredients in a burger have increased
Dozens of tenants and residents, joined by Colorado Homes for All, gather with signs opposing the Apartment Association of Metro Denver on June 22, 2023, in Playa del Carmen Park. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

In a roundtable meeting with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, Colorado’s attorney general pledged to work with federal investigators to crack down on corporate landlords — a sign that Phil Weiser’s office could be making housing a stronger priority. Brian Eason has more details from the meeting.

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Members of the grassroots group Save the Aurora Reservoir (or STAR) are seeking to be declared “affected persons” — a designation usually for people living within 2,000 feet of drilling operations — to prevent the approval of a plan to drill up to 166 wells from nine pads straddling Arapahoe County and Aurora. Mark Jaffe explains the group’s gambit and how it could affect the drilling plans.

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The same developers who transformed Big Sky, Montana, into a lavish resort town for billionaires are moving ahead on their plans to build 700 luxury homes that have exclusive access to skiing, golfing and fly fishing to a northwestern Colorado community. But residents of Stagecoach fear the plans could forever change the quiet mountain town they love and hurt the environment, too, Kari Dequine Harden writes in this week’s Colorado Sunday.

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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.

As promised, here’s the link to the nearly 10-year-old episode of “99 Percent Invisible” that changed my relationship with televised sports: “The Sound of Sports.” Enjoy and have a great week!

— Eric and the whole staff of The Sun

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

Corrections:

This story was corrected at 11:30 a.m. Monday, July 29, 2024, to reflect that members of both parties supported all but three of the 519 bills that passed in 2024.

This byline is used for articles and guides written collaboratively by The Colorado Sun reporters, editors and producers.