Denver to Pueblo in just 11 minutes

Good morning, Colorado.

And just like that, 2024 is coming to a close. Thank you for sharing a few minutes with us today before we welcome the new year. We know there’s a lot of celebrating in the hours to come, so let’s get to the news.

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

P.S. — New year, shiny new Colorado Sun membership? The end of the year also marks the end of our winter membership drive. If you’re not yet a Sun member, today is the last day to join and help us reach our goal of welcoming 200 new members this month. We’re just 24 new members away from unlocking a $2,000 matching grant from NewsMatch!

⏰⏰⏰ It’s also the final day to save 30% on your first year of a new annual Basic Plus or Premium membership. (At the Premium level, you’ll save $72 and get access to our entire suite of member newsletters for the year — that’s a great deal!) Don’t wait for the ball to drop at midnight — go ahead and snag that new membership for 2025 right now.

THE NEWS

TRANSPORTATION

Denver to Pueblo in 11 minutes? Hyperloop testing will begin soon in southern Colorado.

Imagine slipping into a sleek capsule at a train-like station in Pueblo and arriving in Denver 11 minutes later. It’s a new mode of transportation that Swisspod Technologies hopes to bring to reality as they build a 1-mile test track on the grounds of the former Pueblo Army Depot, Sue McMillin reports.

READ MORE

HEALTH

Colorado tries a new public health campaign about cannabis, this time backed by data

Stoner humor. High-concept art installations. Hoedown music. They’ve all been used by state officials to deliver cannabis-cautious public health messages. Now, a new campaign has entered the mix, this time with loads of science and data. John Ingold has more on The Tea on THC.

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EDUCATION

Lawsuit filed by fired principal Kurt Dennis against Denver Public Schools advances

A U.S. district judge rejected a request from Denver Public Schools to throw out a lawsuit in which a longtime principal says he was fired because he spoke out against the district’s student safety policies. Kurt Dennis was fired after he did an interview with 9News in which he raised concerns about DPS’ policies, days after a shooting at East High School where two administrations were injured and one student was killed. Erica Breunlin has the details on the suit.

READ MORE

THE COLORADO REPORT

• New research suggests nearly 75% of homeowners were underinsured immediately after the Marshall fire. A paper by University of Colorado researchers analyzed 5,000 policyholders affected by the fire and found that 3 in 4 homes were underinsured, with more than a third categorized as “severely underinsured.”
  — Colorado Public Radio
• Seismic real estate commission settlement has barely registered in Colorado. August’s new rules about real estate commissions were expected to send shockwaves throughout the homebuying process, but so far, commissions have stayed about the same in Colorado.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• “You like music so much, you should open a record store.” Former Henderson Mill worker Gary Koenig had never aspired to own his own record shop. But after 30 years of owning and operating Affordable Music in Dillon — and the changing value of real estate in the mountain town — Koenig says the business is playing its final tunes.
  — Summit Daily
• Lower fares, higher bus boardings, slow trains and a fast cop marked RTD’s 2024. Westword has a pretty thorough rundown of the year in transit, including a bump in bus boardings and a protracted dip in light rail traffic.
  — Westword
• Monday’s Aspen, Snowmass road conditions were worst in 30 years, sheriff says. Not one, not two, but eight Pitkin County weather-related traffic alerts were issued between 7:20 a.m. and 5:40 p.m. Monday.
  — The Aspen Times
• The most striking sights we saw around Denver in 2024. I’ll always stop to look at a Kevin J. Beaty gallery, and this is a great one.
  — Denverite

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

SunLit

REVIEW

“Minimum Safe Distance” explores an expanded definition of sentience

Author X. Ho Yen puts a very personal spin on science fiction. And in his first novel, “Minimum Safe Distance,” the reader immediately senses the connection between the “transbiological” refugee beings that drive his story and his own experience dealing with both autism and complex PTSD.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author. X. Ho Yen shares the story behind his shift from more than two decades as an aerospace engineer to writing science fiction.

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

See you in 2025!

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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