Boulder’s office space mystery

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Good morning, Sunriser readers!

I often talk about what book I’m reading in these intros, and there is one book on my shelf that I’ve never brought up, despite it being the most thumbed through and dog-eared thing on my shelves. It’s a cookbook that my mother cobbled together from photocopied books, magazines and her own experiments.

I learned how to cook from my mom, which meant I learned how to use a recipe as “inspiration” and then usually, following her scribbles in the margins, add more butter, more cream, more sugar or more cheese. Neither of us are very good bakers.

So when my partner’s birthday rolled around this year, I turned to his mother for the cake recipe. We went with a chocolate sponge with peanut butter-and-chocolate frosting. After some tinkering on a test bake earlier this week, we figured out the necessary tweak to make it just right: more chocolate.

Speaking of birthdays, it’s Colorado Day! So while I don’t have enough peanut butter cake to go around, there are festivities all over the state where you can grab a slice to celebrate 149 years since Colorado got its statehood.

Before you go out partying, let’s get some news in you.

THE NEWS

BUSINESS

High rents, empty desks: The mystery of downtown Boulder’s office market

Downtown Boulder’s commercial office spaces are empty. In some cases, businesses are cutting costs by leaning into remote work, but property owners still aren’t reducing rent, as Andrea Steffes-Tuttle reports. City officials are left worried that downtown is losing the foot traffic and buzz that brings Boulder to life.

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OUTDOORS

Counting sheep at 14,000 feet: Inside Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s bighorn sheep survey on Pikes Peak

Teams of binocular-bearing biologists, wildlife officers and volunteers are on the prowl for bighorn sheep. An accurate count of Colorado’s once-threatened state mammal is crucial to tracking population size and health as highly contagious pneumonia spreads among lambs. Olivia Prentzel has the details.

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

As Gabe Evans seeks reelection, he must contend with his voters’ complex views on immigration

Immigration could have a big influence on whether freshman Republican Gabe Evans holds on to Colorado’s only swing congressional seat in next year’s midterms. Bente Birkeland of Colorado Public Radio reports what voters are thinking and how it’s more complicated than political talking points usually capture.

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MORE NEWS

• Fact Brief ☀️ Were Colorado gun stores given 8 days to have their workers fingerprinted under a new law? Yes. A new law gave Colorado gun stores an eight-day window in July to submit their employees’ fingerprints for state background checks.

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THE COLORADO REPORT

• ICE agent shoots at suspects who allegedly tried to run over officers during Colorado Springs operation. A law enforcement source said ICE was conducting a targeted operation at a construction site in Black Forest, north of Colorado Springs, when the incident occurred.
  — Denver 7
• Weiser is suing PetSmart for deceiving dog groomers with training program. Colorado’s attorney general is suing the national pet store chain after saying a state investigation found that dog groomer employees were trapped into illegal contracts.
  — KRDO
• This Colorado company manufactures in the USA, but still can’t escape tariffs. Jeff Popiel is the president and CEO of Geotech, a homegrown Denver company that manufactures environmental testing equipment. He says of the tariffs, “It’s been reciprocal. So we’re paying more for the components used to manufacture the product.”
  — Colorado Public Radio
• ​​Who is DoBetterDNVR? Meet 3 women feeding information to Denver’s loudest social media critic. The account routinely excoriates Denver’s current leaders for the way the city approaches addiction and homelessness.
  — The Denver Post

THE OPINION PAGE

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” the cartoonists lament the government’s ability to find money for its favored projects while other priorities go begging.

CARTOON

Drew Litton illustrates how University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders has already notched a victory — before the season begins.

CARTOON

Jim Morrissey imagines Colorado receiving a 149th birthday card it didn’t expect — or particularly appreciate.

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 typically 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:

• Nice Melly: Going behind the scenes at Melanzana. For years outdoors reporter Jason Blevins has been prodding Melanzana founder Fritz Howard for an interview. The private entrepreneur finally relented, and Jason talks and walks us through the busy Leadville shop.
  LISTEN
• Pick to lead Colorado State Land Board raises eyebrows. Nicole Rosmarino said things years ago that have ruffled feathers. As rural reporter Tracy Ross discusses, some consider her a controversial choice to lead the agency that generates more than $280 million a year for Colorado public schools.
  LISTEN
• Sun’s newest reporter happy to be back home in CO. After a few years working in Miami and Boston, Sun politics reporter Taylor Dolven is happy to be back in Colorado where she was raised. Now she gets to help and inform fellow Coloradans.
  LISTEN
• “Writing with a newborn is not easy.” Ian Patterson was just honored as the winner of the 2025 Colorado Book Award in science fiction for his debut novel “Transference,” which he self-published. He joins SunLit editor Kevin Simpson to talk about the book and his journey to becoming a writer.
  LISTEN
• Colorado still has $826 million for broadband. But who’s getting it now? Business reporter Tamara Chuang breaks down how Colorado internet providers are scrambling after the federal government changed the rules for using Colorado’s share of the federal broadband dollars.
  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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Happy birthday, Colorado!

— Parker & 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.