Good morning, Colorado.
Did someone say coffee? No? Oh, it was me. I said coffee. I said it from behind my keyboard so you might have missed it. Don’t mind me, I’m just in desperate need.
So how about this: I’ll fill you in on today’s news, you’ll nod along while reading — thinking, “wow, an uncaffeinated person wrote this? Incredible!” — and then we’ll move on with our days. You’ll do whatever it is on your docket and I’ll go make a giant brew of pour over.
And if you’ve already had your caffeinated beverage of choice this morning, just slurp along as we go. But maybe slurp quietly so as to not rub it in.
P.S. Join us tonight for The New Car Culture: How will the revolution in electric vehicles and transportation design change Colorado? RSVP now!
Presentation Editor
THE NEWS
POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Governor removes Democrat from board that blocked Douglas County’s property tax cut, replaces him with Republican
In December, the state board that reviews local property tax decisions unanimously rejected Douglas County’s attempt to offer a $28 million tax break to homeowners. Gov. Jared Polis blasted the decision at the time, and last week, he removed Democrat and former Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher from the panel. Polis replaced Buescher with an Englewood Republican, giving Republicans a 3-2 majority. Jesse Paul has more on the move.
WATER
Decades of inaction left a water system in southwestern Colorado in shambles. Will the state step in to help?
In southwestern Colorado, hundreds draw water from a federally managed irrigation system that has a decadeslong backlog of maintenance issues — so bad that the cost to repair it adds up to $35.3 million.
But that’s just one irrigation system in a group of 16 in the West called the Indian Irrigation Projects. Those other systems aren’t faring much better as parts fall into complete disrepair due to chronic underfunding. So how bad is it all put together? It’ll likely take $2.3 billion to repair, Shannon Mullane writes. And in case you were rubbing sleep out of your eyes while reading that, I said “billion” with a b.
HEALTH
Colorado has the nation’s third-longest waitlist for people charged with crimes and ordered into psychiatric treatment
In the past seven years, the number of forensic psychiatric beds in Colorado shrunk by 20%. Forensic beds are those ordered through the criminal justice system for people who are found incompetent for trial or found not guilty by reason of insanity. Last year, the state had 448 people on its waitlist, waiting an average of 66 days. Colorado was third worst in the nation for the number of people waiting per capita. (So who was the worst in the nation? Jennifer Brown can tell you.)
OUTDOORS
Colorado lawmakers intervene for ranchers losing livestock to wolves, saying “chronic depredation” must be defined
Ranchers got some help when pushing Colorado Parks and Wildlife to define chronic depredation in wolves — a key step that allows them to kill wolves that prey on their livestock. Rep. Julie McCluskie and Sen. Dylan Roberts, legislators in districts where the first 10 wolves were released and where two others migrated from Wyoming, pushed the governor and CPW to directly address the issue. And if they couldn’t, the lawmakers wanted to know why. Tracy Ross has more.
Section by Danika Worthington | Presentation Editor
THE COLORADO REPORT
🔑 = source has article meter or paywall
Section by Kevin Jeffers | Product Team
THE OPINION PAGE
COLUMNS
COMMUNITY
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.
SunLit
REVIEW
Poor Richard’s Books recommends titles on history, road ecology and art
Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from bookstores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Poor Richard’s Books in Colorado Springs recommends:
Read what the bookstore staff had to say about each. Pick up a copy and support your local bookstores at the same time.
Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer
Well, dear reader, the time has come. You have been lovely, as always. Enjoy your day. Now, I’m going to grind some coffee beans. See you tomorrow.
— Danika & the whole staff of The Sun
Corrections & Clarifications
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