Musk, Bezos asking for a lot of Colorado broadband money

Happy Friday, Sunriser readers,

Last night I was sitting on my couch minding my own business, when an image invaded my mind: a man with three flared nostrils that he uses to suck up children’s voices. Who was this man, and why did I know him so well? After some wandering Google searches I found him. Mr. Gorf. One of the creepy substitute teachers from Louis Sachar’s “Sideways Stories from Wayside School,” a book series that I haven’t thought about in probably two decades.

I’d always felt like Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” was the most defining reading experience of my younger years. But scrolling the Wayside Wikipedia page last night, I realized that Sachar was my gateway to the unsettling world of the Baudelaire orphans. It was Wayside School that taught me not every story has a perfect resolution, and that something strange is almost always afoot.

My Sun colleague Tracy Ross recently introduced me to the work of Karen Russell, whose uncanny stories scratch the same itch as Sachar and Snicket did when I was a kid. Maybe that’s why Mr. Gorf appeared in my living room last night. What sets all of these stories apart from the Wonderlands and the Oz worlds is that, to the characters, there’s nothing fantastical happening at all. The odd and often dark ways of their worlds are just the way things are.

Let’s see what weird things are happening here in Colorado.

Parker Yamasaki

Reporter

THE NEWS

TECHNOLOGY

Starlink, Amazon asking for $300M of Colorado’s broadband money after federal rule changes

The Colorado Broadband Office was well on its way toward helping underserved households in Colorado have better internet access using federal funding. Then last month, the federal government changed funding rules to prioritize low-cost projects to save taxpayer money. As Tamara Chuang reports, it left internet service providers and the state scrambling.

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CRIME AND COURTS

Colorado jail commander who watched videos of 117 inmates being strip searched faces criminal charges

A former La Plata County jail commander faces criminal charges for watching, and rewatching, video evidence of 117 female inmates being strip searched over a five-year period. Olivia Prentzel has the story.

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WATER

Western lawmakers make moves to improve snow measurement in the Colorado River Basin

U.S. lawmakers put forward a new bill this week to ramp up snow and water monitoring in the overstressed Colorado River Basin, Shannon Mullane reports. The goal? Help water utilities, farmers, officials and communities plan around uncertain supplies and dry years with more accuracy.

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• Colorado lagging behind neighboring states in processing critical water quality permits. Colorado is behind in processing wastewater treatment permits — big time — and it’s holding up improvements. A new report says that using new technology, and streamlining processes are among factors that allow other states to issue permits much faster.

MORE NEWS

• Colorado among states to pass privacy laws protecting brain data collected by devices. Advocates for protection caution that future technologies could extract more sensitive information about people’s medical conditions or innermost thoughts.
• Fact Brief ☀️ Has cannabis generated more than $2.5B in sales tax revenue for Colorado? Yes. Cannabis sales have raised almost $3 billion in tax revenue for Colorado since the state began taxing the drug, state data shows.

Section by Shannon Mullane | Water Reporter

THE COLORADO REPORT

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

• Why the first (and only) VFW post inside a prison was shut down. Ryan Krueger wanted to highlight the opening of VFW Post 12226 inside the Sterling Correctional Facility with an article for VFW Magazine. Then a YouTuber kicked off a backlash that took the program down.
  — Prison Journalism Project
• Colorado cops bust 206 drivers for using cellphones in first 6 months of new ban. Warnings that the law, which prohibits the use of phones unless the device is in a hands-free setup, could be used to disproportionately punish minorities seem to have been founded, as Black Coloradans received 7% of the tickets despite making up only 4% of the state’s population.
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Fort Collins on list of new “hubs” as USDA looks to relocate half its Washington staff to field offices. Despite the union for federal workers calling the relocation plan a ploy to cut federal jobs, Colorado’s Democratic senators welcomed the move while cautioning it must be “done right.”
  — Colorado Public Radio
• Pitkin County takes step toward rezoning 85% of county to protect against land sales. Pitkin County is poised to rezone more than 500,000 acres of public lands in the county to prevent development in the event of land sales by the federal government.
  — The Aspen Times

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• As Colorado governor, my initiative is helping redefine how states view education as federal support changes. With the federal government diminishing its role in education, governors are getting behind our state-led initiative to educate and set up all students for success.
  — Gov. Jared Polis

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” the cartoonists riff on real-life instances of individuals arrested for posing as ICE agents, including an incident of sexual assault.

CARTOON

Drew Litton highlights how, after last year’s encouraging performance by quarterback Bo Nix, Denver Broncos fans are primed for more.

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. Here’s this week’s awesome lineup from The Sun team:

• Colorado public radio stations scramble amid mixed signals. For years Republican administrations have been trying to end funding for public radio. They’ve finally succeeded. Arts and culture reporter Parker Yamasaki discusses what the billion-dollar funding cuts mean for dozens of small stations across Colorado.
  LISTEN
• Colorado author unpacks the reality of nuclear weapons. Science journalist Sarah Scholes joins SunLit editor Kevin Simpson to talk about how a road trip through New Mexico inspired her latest work, “Countdown: The Blinding Future of Nuclear Weapons,” and the things people didn’t want to tell her on her journey.
  LISTEN
• Colorado companies trying to navigate business around tariffs. We’ve talked a lot about what tariffs and their impacts could be in Colorado. But now we have some receipts. Business reporter Tamara Chuang breaks down the import/export numbers from the past few months.
  LISTEN
• Temperature team takes the controls. Health reporter John Ingold talks about new hazards to gender-affirming care in Colorado, and environment reporter Michael Booth new botanical names created for the Indigo Girls that everyone will be “lichen.”
  LISTEN
• Eldora sale: How’s this gonna work? Lots of questions while the town of Nederland negotiates with the current owner, Powdr. Outdoors reporter Jason Blevins has more insight on when the nine-figure deal could be finalized and the vibe around town and the skiing industry.
  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.

Section by David Krause | Editor

Considering buying this copy of “Sideways Stories” that I found on eBay with the same cover art as my third-grade copy. If I don’t see you back here Monday, I’m probably stuck on the 19th floor.

— Parker & the whole staff of The Sun

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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.