How Trump vs. the Department of Education would affect Colorado

Good morning, Colorado, and happy Tuesday.

It’s already a good day. A snow day is on the horizon. So are mashed potatoes.

And maybe a brand-new safe path for pedestrians and cyclists with million-dollar views of the Flatirons? We’ve got more details on that in today’s newsletter and more.

Let’s get reading.

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

THE NEWS

EDUCATION

How might Trump’s vow to abolish the U.S. Department of Education impact Colorado schools?

If President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his campaign-trail promise to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education, there are some questions as to how federal funding would reach some of Colorado’s most vulnerable students. Erica Breunlin spoke with policy experts about some of the proposed changes and what they mean for Colorado students.

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ENVIRONMENT

A bike trail connecting Boulder and Erie could be a commuter paradise. The holdup is the money to build it.

Views of the snowy Flatirons and Indian Peaks framed by blue sky? Safe for pedestrians and cyclists? Say no more. The way Michael Booth describes a proposed 8.5-mile path along a former railroad bed to between Erie and Boulder already has me day-dreaming. Now it just needs to get funded.

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OUTDOORS

Nederland “coloring outside the lines” in push to buy Eldora Mountain Resort

Eldora Mountain Resort is up for sale, and it has Nederland officials scrambling. They guess they would need as much as $200 million to buy the ski area from Powdr. Could Nederland, the 1,500-resident Boulder County community, raise the money to buy the 680-acre ski hill just outside town boundaries? Jason Blevins reports on the small town’s dream.

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THE COLORADO REPORT

• Elon Musk, Republicans blast Denver mayor for resistance plans — but what does the law say? After Mayor Mike Johnston told Denverite that he would use the Denver Police Department to resist plans for mass deportation, the richest man on Earth and a series of Republican leaders have been labeling him an insurrectionist. Denverite dug into the intersection of state and federal law to see where this kind of resistance would fall.
  — Denverite
• Former Colorado public defender alleges he was fired for raising concerns about representing too many clients. After five years working as a public defender in Greeley — sometimes handling around 100 felony cases at a time — Travis Weiner claims he was fired in February in retaliation for refusing to keep his ethical concerns quiet.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• “Celebrating the greatest sport on earth at the greatest town on Earth.” The Grand Lake Pond Hockey Classic is returning to Grand County for its eighth year in February, and this is a great look at the work locals do to transform the lake into competition ready rinks — no Zambonis required.
  — Sky-Hi News
• Enstrom Candies to break ground on new 50,000-square-foot facility. The new facility for the toffee and candy makers will include a warehouse, a distribution center and office space.
  — The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

SunLit

REVIEW

In “Big Time,” college profs battle to survive amid sports run amok

Author Rus Bradburd, who gave up coaching college basketball to join academia and pursue writing, began his novel “Big Time” in 2011. He hoped to finish it before the era of big-time collegiate sports ended. He needn’t have worried. Though it took him longer than expected to finish his satire of the fictional Coors State University in Colorado, developments in college sports — and, coincidentally, at the real-life University of Colorado — made it more relevant than ever. This excerpt from his opening chapter describes a campus rebranding in which academic departments work in a support role for the athletic program to ensure their very survival.

READ AN EXCERPT, LISTEN TO THE PODCAST INTERVIEW

• Interview with the author. Bradburd describes his path from “the worst player in North Park (Ill.) College history” to working as an assistant to some legendary college basketball coaches to finally leaving it all behind to move into a role where he could exercise his longtime instincts to teach and write. But that didn’t mean he swore off college sports.  

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

Thanks for joining us on this busy holiday week! Hope to see you again tomorrow for some more news.

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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