A recent infusion of federal funds is providing much-needed relief for rural hospitals already under financial pressure when the coronavirus crisis hit Colorado. Though hospital administrators say the emergency funds will provide immediate support, there is uncertainty around how and when the funds can be used, specifically if they can be used to make up […]
Moe K. Clark
Moe Clark is a former Colorado Sun writer. She left the publication in June 2020.
Email: moe@coloradosun.com Twitter: @moe_clark15
Posted inCOVID, Environment, News, Outdoors, Wildfire
Extreme drought conditions, coronavirus have Colorado wildfire managers anxious
High temperatures and an early snowmelt are causing growing drought worries in Colorado and have firefighters bracing for an unpredictable summer already complicated by the coronavirus. At least 76% of Colorado now is experiencing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with 11% of the state, mostly in southeast and south-central regions, under extreme […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Politics and Government
Coloradans in the U.S. illegally — and their citizen families — were denied coronavirus aid. Will the state step in?
Alaina Silva met her husband in a crowded sushi restaurant in downtown Denver in 2011. He was the sushi chef behind the bar, wearing a black chef’s coat and apron that crisscrossed behind his back. “I had just moved for work and I didn’t know anyone, so I decided to dine alone for the first […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID
How an emergency food network grew out of the coronavirus crisis to deliver 90,000 free meals to Coloradans
The Lost City coffee shop was open only 39 days in Capitol Hill before Gov. Jared Polis ordered all Colorado restaurants and bars to temporarily close March 16 due to the coronavirus crisis. “Definitely a brutal time to open a business, that’s for sure,” Lost City owner Michael Graham said with a laugh. The day […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, News
COVID diaries: Meet the chef coordinating 3,000 meals a day for hungry and homebound Coloradans
Every weekday morning at 6:30 a.m., Josh Ford pulls into the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and fires up the Old Hickory Smoker. Then he heads to the basement to get to work. “I’ve been doing restaurants my whole life. Since I was 14, making hot dogs at […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Transportation
Colorado unveils new plan to get more electric vehicles — of all sizes — onto its roads
With gasoline hovering around $1 a gallon and the economy reeling with COVID-19 uncertainty, the state’s plan to get to one million electric vehicles on its roads by 2030 hasn’t stalled. In fact, it’s hit the gas. The Colorado Energy Office introduced its updated 2020 Electric Vehicle Plan on Thursday, which for the first time […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Health, News
Coronavirus has left an Aurora clinic for refugees busier than ever and facing big challenges
“If she was my mom, I would take her to the hospital,” Dr. P.J. Parmar said through a barely cracked car window to a refugee family from South Asia on April 11. Parmar, who runs Ardas Family Medicine in Aurora, had been the family’s doctor for years. He knew the woman sitting in the backseat […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado has had 201 police-related deaths since 2014. Lawmakers want a better way to investigate them.
From 2014 to 2019, Colorado law enforcement officers shot 309 people, 189 of them fatally, and all but two of those shootings were deemed justified by prosecutors or grand juries. So far in 2020, officers have shot and killed 12 people. That placed the state fifth in the nation for the highest rate of fatal […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
600 beds will open at Denver’s National Western complex to give homeless men safer space during coronavirus outbreak
Denver will open 600 beds at the National Western complex to give men who are homeless a place to shelter safely during the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Mayor Michael Hancock said Tuesday. A similar shelter for women is in the works. The beds at the National Western complex are set to open in the […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
State lawmakers, Denver council members urge governor to do more to help homeless through coronavirus
Democratic state lawmakers, homeless advocates and a handful of Denver city council members are urging Gov. Jared Polis to do more to help people experiencing homelessness weather the new coronavirus. Among the actions the group is calling for is a mobilization of National Guard troops to help ease the burden of shelters that have been […]