I did something over the weekend that my mom told me never to do and I haven’t done in a couple of decades. Hitchhike! But rules don’t always apply in the Colorado mountains, especially when the road is unexpectedly washed out 3 miles from the trailhead and a nice Buena Vista local offers you a spot in the back of his pickup.
It was a nice reminder that sometimes you’ve got to go with the flow, that people are generous, and that not everyone willing to pick up someone with their thumb out is a serial killer!
We’ve got news to share today on clean energy, future immigration centers and Colorado’s most-beloved fleece hoodies.
Reporter
THE NEWS
OUTDOORS
Melanzana mystique: A peek into the rulebreaking business strategy of Leadville’s fleece factory
People wait months for an appointment to buy Melanzana hoodies at the company’s Leadville shop, where no one can purchase more than two items per visit. The company does not advertise, deploy Instagrammers or sell its coveted hoodies online. Its founder, Fritz Howard, tells Jason Blevins that all that was not to build buzz or a sense of exclusivity.
IMMIGRATION
Colorado towns are in the dark about whether ICE will reopen private prisons in their communities
Local officials know very little about possible plans by private prison companies to reopen closed prisons as immigration centers. Records obtained by the ACLU revealed that shuttered prisons in Walsenburg, Colorado Springs, Hudson and La Junta are possible sites to detain immigrants. Local officials who talked to Taylor Dolven said the companies might not need local approval to open them, but they would need local resources to operate them.
OUTDOORS
What I learned from my first pack burro race, Colorado’s only indigenous sport
Do not miss this fun, firsthand account of Olivia Prentzel being dragged over steep mountain trails, or being pulled, by a burro for 7.3 miles. “Terrifying but cool,” she writes.
ENERGY
Holy Cross Energy hits 96% clean energy, wonders if progress might slow
The co-op, which serves customers in Eagle, Pitkin, Garfield, Mesa and Gunnison counties, expects to deliver about 85% clean energy throughout 2025. In 2018, renewable energy accounted for about 39% of the Holy Cross electricity distributed. Michael Booth looks at the transformation and the concerns under the Trump administration.
MORE NEWS
COLORADO SUNDAY
The Southern Ute tribe has finally tapped into Animas-La Plata water. Why did it take 60 years?
In May, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe tapped into its water in the controversial Animas-La Plata Project, the first time a tribe has used its water from the project since it was authorized in 1968. Read more from Shannon Mullane about how the project encapsulates not only long-held dreams but long-fought debates.
Section by Jennifer Brown | Reporter
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Section by David Krause | Editor
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