Boulder County residents who fled a roaring fire Thursday night weaved through back roads and neighborhoods Friday to find out whether their homes were still standing. For many, a smoldering pile of ash and flames was all that remained. Michelle Clifford, along with her partner and 19-year-old son, stood amid the smoking ash of what […]
David Gilbert
David is a former Colorado Sun staff writer.
Twitter: @davidgilbert4u
Posted inNews, Wildfire
Up to 1,000 homes may have burned in Marshall fire as snow stops spread
BOULDER COUNTY — The Marshall fire may have destroyed as many as 1,000 homes east of Boulder, authorities said Friday as improving weather and an incoming snowstorm eliminated the risk of Colorado’s most destructive fire getting even worse. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said there have been no fatalities reported and that no people are […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Avalanche danger is climbing across Colorado’s high country
Heavy snowstorms that started last week have ratcheted up the avalanche danger in the Colorado mountains, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center warned. Nearly all of the Colorado high country was under “considerable” avalanche danger Monday, with only the Sangre de Cristo and Culebra mountain ranges on the eastern side of the San Luis Valley at […]
Posted inNews
Is Colorado home to an ancient astronomical observatory? The question is testing archaeological limits.
On the winter solstice in 1997, Greg Munson stood beside an unusual basin pecked into the stone along the exit trail to Cliff Palace, grandest of the cliff dwellings in southwestern Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park. As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, Munson, a former Mesa Verde park ranger and […]
Posted inEducation, Equity, News
Skilled workers are needed in the San Luis Valley. A new college program could be an answer.
Codi Fonk loves watching the machines he helps design come to life. Fonk, 23, is an apprentice engineer at Formation Ag in the San Luis Valley, where he designs and tests components for massive equipment used in hemp farming. “It’s a dream job,” Fonk said. “I love what I do.” He considers himself lucky: He […]
Posted inNews, Transportation
I-25 South Gap will open in mid-December, nearly a year ahead of schedule
All lanes of the Interstate 25 South Gap project will open nearly a year ahead of schedule, Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado transportation officials announced Monday. Construction on the 18-mile stretch of highway was slated to conclude in November 2022, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. “By mid-December, in time for Christmas, the I-25 […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Colorado has a dismal recycling rate. Could a fee on manufacturers turn things around?
In Boulder, where every resident automatically receives access to recycling and composting services, more than half of the city’s waste is diverted from landfills. But in many Colorado cities and towns, residents who want to recycle must pay extra, or make a trip to recycling centers. The discrepancy between the relative ease of recycling in […]
Posted inSun Investigation
Sexual abuse, misconduct allegations kept quiet for decades at world-renowned Colorado Center for the Blind
More than a dozen previously unreported instances of sexual misconduct and abuse spanning at least two decades at the Colorado Center for the Blind in Littleton have surfaced during an internal investigation of the school’s parent organization. Among the offenses were the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by a summer youth camp counselor […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
6 Aurora Central High School students hospitalized after drive-by shooting at nearby park
AURORA — Six teenagers were wounded in a shooting at an Aurora park near their high school Monday afternoon. All of the victims attend Aurora Central High School. All are expected to survive, though one was undergoing emergency surgery. “My understanding is it was a drive-by shooting,” said Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson. She added […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Education, Equity, News
A caring high school principal or a criminal? A situation in Salida may have national implications.
When Salida High School Principal Talmage Trujillo encountered a student in crisis earlier this year, he followed his playbook. Trujillo went off looking for the kid for a one-on-one conversation. But Salida police were looking for the teenager too, fearful he had a gun and unsure of his intentions and whereabouts after he threatened to […]