Good morning, Colorado.
I am the daughter of a woman who can cook with the best of the Midwest moms. Dinner most every night of my childhood was plated with some kind of homemade entrée. My fave was a dish called pizza casserole. Because, in the Midwest, you can turn anything into a casserole.
I, unfortunately, did not inherit the cooking gene from my chef of a mom. At least that’s what I tell myself. The truth is, cooking doesn’t much appeal to me because I live alone. Why put in so much work to make a feast for a table of one?
And now, on the rare occasion I do cook, I end up traumatizing my dog. Even last night after simply turning on the oven (let’s be real — to cook a frozen pizza), my dog froze, gave me a wary look and then trotted off to hide in the bathroom where she served up an unmistakable side-eye. Her grave concern: the scream of the smoke detector, which in my defense goes off only about four out of every 10 times I attempt to whip up a meal. Still, the second I step near the oven or stove, my dog immediately anticipates danger, cocking her head as if to say, “Please. Just. Don’t.”
If anyone has any tips on how to train the fear of the kitchen out of my dog, I’m all ears. Or perhaps I’m the one who needs to be trained — with a crash course in cooking for millennials who microwave.
Over here at The Sun, we’ve certainly prepared a fresh batch of stories for you this morning, all made from scratch. So let’s dig in.
Education Reporter
THE NEWS
ENVIRONMENT
Chevron, Occidental and Civitas cited for falsified lab reports downplaying pollutants in Colorado groundwater
3,275
instances of falsified data points on 683 lab reports spanning 404 locations scattered among 15 communities in Weld County
In some cases, the false lab reports led to sites being deemed remediated and allowed to close. In one case, the level of benzene in well water was 1,010 micrograms, but reported as 4.55 micrograms. The allowable limit is 5 micrograms. Mark Jaffe has the latest developments.
OUTDOORS
First responders in Colorado’s mountain towns are receiving wave of unfounded texts for help from satellite-enabled iPhones
In the past week or so, 911 dispatch centers in some rural Colorado counties have received awkwardly worded texts seeking help. “Multiple people on fire.” “Single person on fire.” “Stranded and lost.” “Trapped by fire.” All of them were unfounded. And, as Jason Blevins reports, all of them are coming from iPhones using Apple’s new satellite texting feature.
ENERGY
Building new coal and gas power plants would mean higher energy bills. Here’s how the math works.
It might be a little early for some of us to “do the math,” so Mark Jaffe has done it for us. And one way into it is this thing called levelized cost of energy, which divides the cost of building and operating a plant over its life by the amount of electricity it generates for a cost per megawatt-hour. I promise, Mark makes it easy to follow along.
Section by David Krause | Editor
COLORADO REPORT
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Section by David Krause | Editor
THE OPINION PAGE
COMMUNITY
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What’s Happening
July 24-30
Bronc Day. Green Mountain Falls, the 600-person town just west of Colorado Springs, is hard to describe. One way to think about it is as a classic small town, with a sole paved road that winds through a single block of businesses, steep dirt driveways that require 4-wheel drive to ascend, and a population that swells during the warm summer season and withers in the winter. But that barely scratches the surface.
It’s also HQ for the arts organization Green Box, whose year-round residencies and two-week summer festival have scattered large-scale public art pieces all over the place, like the temporary wonder “Off the Beaten Path,” a kinetic aerial sculpture in town until Oct. 19, and “EARTH.SPEAKS” an installation by Osage artist brooke smiley.
One way to get to know this unassuming arts haven is on the annual Bronc Day, an 86-year-old tradition that features a pancake breakfast, main street parade and a pie contest, along with family friendly games like the stick horse race and live music by Tenderfoot Bluegrass.
While you’re there, check out James Turrell’s “Skyspace” on the hillside above town, a stone structure with four daily shows — two open roof, and two closed roof — that will shake up your sense of light and color. Tickets to “Skyspace” shows can be reserved here.
Free; 9 a.m., July 26; Green Mountain Falls
Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter
Thanks for joining us for another Sunriser. Come back tomorrow for seconds!
— Erica & the whole staff of The Sun
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