The X Games’ AI referee is coming for every sport

Good morning, Colorado!

I packed up all my belongings in Tennessee and cruised westward to Colorado a hard-to-believe five-and-a-half years ago. I came here to join The Colorado Sun because I wanted to be part of a newsroom run by journalists deeply embedded in their communities who care about the sustainability of local news.

And I’ve stayed here for The Sun.

I often tell people that I feel like I’m sitting in the golden chair of journalism. So many of my colleagues across the country run on a hamster wheel day after day, churning through story after story without getting enough time to dip beneath the surface of the basic who, what, when, where and why. I’m lucky in that The Sun empowers its reporters to find the stories that aren’t being told and dig and dig. Sometimes that means talking to 10 or more sources. Other times that means filing public records requests or driving five hours and spending a few days capturing a story on the ground.

That’s the way the job should be for every journalist. But as newsrooms have shrunk or disappeared, that approach has become more and more rare. It’s an approach that takes a lot of money, which is why I’m so grateful to all our members for continuing to support us. Thank you for helping us keep powering this engine of local news. If you’re not yet a member, it only takes a few dollars a month to make a difference for our work here at The Sun. I hope you’ll consider joining us today.

Erica Breunlin

Education Reporter

THE NEWS

OUTDOORS

The X Games debuted AI judging in Aspen. Now they are building AI referees for all sports.

Anytime a judge is involved in deciding a winner, subjectivity seeps in. There are plenty of athletes who can gripe about missing out on a medal because of it. Now, X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom and a Boulder-based AI company are developing judges with no emotional attachment, and they’ve got plenty of ideas. Jason Blevins talks with the two-time Olympian Bloom about the bot project.

READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT

Colorado’s roadless areas escape Trump’s ax — for now

Gov. Jared Polis has been reassured by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins that the Trump administration’s order Monday to open roadless areas on Forest Service land in the West does not apply to Colorado. That’s because of a 2012 deal Colorado made with the federal government. Michael Booth has the details on the latest curve in the road.

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ENERGY

Elbert County says no to Xcel Energy’s Power Pathway permit request

Xcel’s $1.7 billion Colorado Power Pathway transmission project is 550 miles of power lines to bring Eastern Plains wind and solar energy to the growing Denver and Colorado Springs markets. But a 48-mile stretch through Elbert County has Xcel walking a fine line. Mark Jaffe looks at the pushback by county commissioners and residents.

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Judge blocks Colorado governor from ordering certain state workers to hand over employment info to ICE

A Denver district court judge said in issuing a preliminary injunction that Gov. Jared Polis’ plan to have a division of the state labor department turn over information of about 35 Coloradans to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to a subpoena would violate state laws meant to protect immigrants’ data. Taylor Dolven covered the three-day hearing and has more.

READ MORE

• Voters in Mountain Village overwhelmingly reject proposal to allow voting by LLCs, trusts. The town of Mountain Village is the only municipality in Colorado that allows nonresidents to vote in local elections. As Jason Blevins reports, the latest proposal — a first for the state — was contentious, with locals fearing wealthy absentee owners would seize control of the town.

MORE NEWS

• Colorado’s revived startup scene looks a lot like it did 20 years ago. After COVID quashed in-person events, tech company founders are again meeting to trade ideas, as they did more than two decades ago in Boulder. As Tamara Chuang watched at a recent gathering, the freeflowing ideas landed on an Uber-type service for dog poop removal after an exercise in vibe coding.
• Boulder firebombing suspect now faces 12 federal hate crimes charges. In federal court, prosecutors said the attack was a hate crime because Mohamed Soliman targeted people based on their national origin — their perceived connection to Israel. Olivia Prentzel has more on the federal charges in the attack.

Section by David Krause | Editor

COLORADO REPORT

• 34 Colorado immigrants become U.S. citizens at ceremony in Littleton. As ICE expands its deportation program — with nearly 60,000 immigrants in custody, nearly half of whom have no criminal record — it’s nice to see a story of just how much the immigrant community means here in Colorado.
  — Littleton Independent
• Denver Public Schools, teachers union reach tentative agreement on pay and class sizes. Denver teachers would get a $1,000 annual cost-of-living raise for the next three years under a tentative contract agreement reached Tuesday by the teachers union and Denver Public Schools that would also require the district to work toward capping elementary class sizes at 30 students starting in the 2026-27 school year.
  — Chalkbeat Colorado
• Community revives iconic Colorado mountain pond, restoring water flow that was diverted by developer. The creek is running, the beavers and swallows have returned and this tiny town on the eastern side of Independence Pass once again has its beloved, iconic pond that had been dried up by changes made by the developer of a luxury home community.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• James Leprino, billionaire cheesemaker for pizza chains, dies at 87. Forbes called him “one of America’s all-time monopolists.” His Denver firm is headquartered where his dad’s grocery store once stood.
  — BusinessDen 🔑
• Small-town runway, big-time impact. If there’s one thing I enjoy, it’s learning the surprisingly interesting history behind public things that are easily taken for granted. And this little piece on the runway serving Meeker fits that bill to a T.
  — Rio Blanco Herald-Times

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

What’s Happening

June 26-July 2

“Unsui (Mirror)” Talk and Dance. Buckhorn Public Arts, an Aspen-based arts nonprofit, is relatively new on the scene. It started with a mountaintop party they threw just as people emerged from the fever dream-nightmare of 2020, desperate to see one another, gather and dance.

Now four years from its original conception and two years from earning their nonprofit status, Buckhorn has shifted — mostly — from parties to public art installations, bringing big names to their little corner of the Roaring Fork Valley.

The latest installation, “Unsui (Mirror)” by artist Sanford Biggers, is now on display at Paepcke Park. “Unsui (Mirror)” — a pair of towering sequin clouds — was co-commissioned with the California-based public art project Desert X.

Tim Sack, executive director of Buckhorn, said he’s been in talks with Desert X since his first visit to the biennial festival. “The search and discovery of it really unlocks a whole different level of connection,” Sack said. He wanted to create something similar in the high alpine.

In partnership with Aspen Public Art, “Unsui (Mirror)” will stay up through September. On Sunday, Biggers will host an artist talk at the park beginning at 3:30 p.m., and on Monday a special performance by DanceAspen will take place beneath the new clouds.

Free; June 29 and 30; Paepcke Park, East Main Street, Aspen

• Three new shows. The Museum of Art Fort Collins opens three new exhibitions tonight: “Beyond Resilience,” a group show that includes Colorado-based Danielle SeeWalker; “Angle of Draw,” a photography exhibition by Wyoming artist Shawn Bush; and “When All Is Said and When All Is Done” by local Justin A. Carney. Free; 6-8 p.m., June 26; Museum of Art Fort Collins, 201 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
• CPAC Members’ Show. The Colorado Photographic Arts Center will host its 67th annual members show, featuring 38 images by Colorado artists, selected from a pool of 206 photographers and over 1,000 submissions. The exhibition opens June 27, with an opening night reception and award ceremony June 28. Free; 5-8 p.m., June 28; Colorado Photographic Arts Center, 1200 Lincoln St., Suite 111, Denver
• Steel Magnolias. Part of Theater Silco’s “100 Women in the Arts” initiative, the three-week run of “Steel Magnolias” features a woman-led production crew and is performed by a cast of Coloradans. Check the schedule for special first responders, veterans and educator nights, as well as “talk back” performances, where audience members can give feedback after the play. $38-$55; June 20-July 13; Theatre SilCo, 460 Blue River Parkway, Silverthorne

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

Before you go, take a peek at this year’s Colorado’s Best reader’s choice survey where you can weigh in on the small businesses you believe are worthy of the spotlight. Cast your vote at coloradosun.com/colorados-best.

— Erica & the whole staff of The Sun

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