23,000 gallons of gasoline seeping toward the Animas River

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Good morning and happy Friday to everyone, but especially the Chicago White Sox fans who can now claim the pope as one of their own.

Where will you be one week from today? Because you could be hanging out with the whole staff of The Sun and an absolutely stacked deck of some of the most interesting people in the state on the beautiful University of Denver campus!

Advance passes for Colorado SunFest are only available through the weekend, so if you’ve been on the fence about joining us — or even if you just have next Friday free on your calendar — click here to get those tickets right now before life has a chance to get in the way. Sun members and students can take advantage of some big ticket discounts, so there’s really no time like the present. It’s going to be a fun, engaging time, I promise.

Meanwhile, we’ve got a whole lot of work to do here at The Sun to get things ready, so let’s just grab a mug of something warm and get on to the news, shall we?

THE NEWS

ENVIRONMENT

Massive gasoline spill at Southern Ute reservation now seeping toward Animas River

A broken Enterprise Products pipeline started spilling thousands of gallons of gasoline six months ago — the sixth-largest spill handled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Michael Booth reports on how toxic levels of benzene have been detected down the mesa from the spill closer to the Animas River, and why Southern Ute Tribe leaders are saying the feds are moving too slowly.

READ MORE

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The 5 biggest themes of Colorado’s 2025 legislative session

Democrats vs. Polis. Democrats vs. Trump. Budget gymnastics. Gun laws. Evidence backlogs. Within these themes are some of the most consequential stories from this year’s legislative session, Jesse Paul and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance report. If you read one story about the session, make it this one.

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• Jared Polis plans to veto Labor Peace Act bill, a priority for Colorado unions. Senate Bill 5 would abolish a requirement in the Colorado Labor Peace Act that 75% of workers at a company sign off — after a majority of workers have already voted to unionize — before unions can negotiate with businesses for union security, aka the mechanism that allows for collective bargaining to begin. Jesse Paul reports on why Polis’ decision to nix the measure is sure to inflame the unfavorable view of the governor already held by the state’s unions.

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TECHNOLOGY

Special legislative session on Colorado’s AI law looms after lawmakers failed to act

Tech companies warn that the law, which is scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, would stifle innovation in Colorado and impose an administrative burden on any businesses that use AI, Chas Sisk with KUNC reports.

READ MORE

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MORE NEWS

• Fact Brief ☀️ Are beer and wine sales in Colorado grocery chains hurting small liquor stores? Yes. Small liquor stores in Colorado saw sharp drops in sales after the state allowed beer and wine sales in large grocery chains.

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Rockies off to a historically bad start. Not to beat a dead ball club, but it does make a kind of cosmic sense that the only thing the Rockies are good at is being bad.
  — Axios Denver
• As Trump reshapes housing policy, renters face rollback of rights. Executive orders, policy reversals and funding cuts for sanctuary cities like Denver could set back renters’ rights by decades and worsen an already dire housing crisis.
  
  — Bloomberg CityLab
• Denver’s Auraria campus — and its pro-Palestinian encampment — to be subject of federal antisemitism report. The campus, which saw a 23-day encampment by students protesting the military actions of Israel in Gaza, will be the subject of federal scrutiny after a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights committee voted unanimously to begin a yearlong examination of “the presence and/or absence” of antisemitism on the downtown campus. The committee’s proposal alleges the encampment featured participants chanting slogans “calling for the extermination of the state of Israel and for terrorist attacks on Jews globally.” The proposal attributes that statement to “news reports,” but does not cite any specifically.
  — The Denver Post 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• Attorneys and judges are the Constitution’s last line of defense against Trump and tyranny. Trump is not just attacking attorneys. It’s an assault on democracy, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
  — Craig Silverman
  

COMMUNITY

• As a professor with non-native parents, I ask — When will you speak out? We must have the moral and ethical courage to speak out and say the things we know to be true.
  — Jennifer Ho, director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts at the University of Colorado in Boulder

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” the cartoonists take a look at politicized reactions to mockery of religion — and how it all depends on who’s doing the mocking.

CARTOON

Can legislative action provide effective guardrails for the rapidly developing artificial intelligence technology? Jim Morrissey has doubts.

CARTOON

Drew Litton illustrates how, from last-second wins to blowout losses, Denver hoop fans have been riding a roller coaster of emotions in the NBA postseason.

CARTOON

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.

Podcast Playlist

CONVERSATION

Each weekday The Daily Sun-Up podcast brings you a thoughtful conversation and headlines of the day. We keep it tight so you can listen on the go, or stack up a few and tune in at your leisure. Download the Sun-Up for free on your favorite podcasting app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or RSS to plug into your app. Check out this week’s lineup from The Sun team:

• Getting schooled on Colorado’s school funding. It came down to the final hours of the legislative session, but state lawmakers passed a bill that calls for more money to schools starting this fall. Sun education reporter Erica Breunlin outlines the good and bad in the school finance act as it goes to the governor.
  LISTEN
• Democrats in Colorado bucking Polis. The Colorado legislature is challenging Gov. Jared Polis this year unlike it ever has before. Colorado Sun political reporter Jesse Paul joins Bente Birkeland of Colorado Public Radio to explore the dynamics.
  LISTEN
• A different kind of networking. Thought experiment-turned-science fiction novel: Colorado author John Be Lane talks with SunLit editor Kevin Simpson about his AI-centric work, “The Future Lies,” which he wrote before ChatGPT launched.
  LISTEN
• Colorado businesses brace for new AI law. A bill addressing how Colorado businesses implement artificial intelligence was pulled from a legislative committee. Sun tech reporter Tamara Chuang breaks down why and what it means for the new AI law set to go into effect Feb. 1.
  LISTEN
• Colorado ski area deaths reviewed. Sun outdoors reporter Jason Blevins discusses what he found while reporting on the number of skier deaths at Colorado resorts this season, and the balance of personal responsibility and why ski resorts don’t have to report deaths.
  LISTEN

🗣️ Remember, you can ask Siri, Alexa or Google to “play the Daily Sun-Up podcast” and we’ll play right on your smart speaker. As always we appreciate your feedback and comments at podcast@coloradosun.com.

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Have a great weekend, and I hope to run into you next week at DU!

— Eric & 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.