Posted inClimate, Environment, News

Colorado wants to reduce plastic waste. Here are all the ways it’s happening.

Advocates of the mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle are piling up small victories in Colorado with a series of consumer fees and opt-in requirements that now reach into your kitchen junk drawer.  The latest win for the movement is Denver’s “Skip the Stuff” ordinance, requiring consumers to ask for — or affirmatively accept when asked […]

Posted inEducation, Equity, Health, News

How programs across Colorado aim to end “period poverty” with free tampons and pads

As the new school term begins at Denver Public Schools, students who menstruate may be surprised to find new additions near the paper towels and soap in girls’, all-gender and teacher restrooms: free tampons and menstrual pads. While many private and public schools in the state have tampons and pads available for sale in restrooms, […]

Posted inClimate, Energy, Environment, News

Can anyone keep climate-friendly homes off the gas grid? A community in Arvada is trying.

The engineers and climate science enthusiasts living in Arvada’s Geos homes are famously in control of everything in their 28-home neighborhood.  They can tell you that when it’s 20 degrees outside, an efficient exchanger can transfer 90% of the indoor air’s existing heat energy to incoming fresh air. They can tell you how far their […]

Posted inBusiness, COVID, News

Colorado’s unemployment system is so overwhelmed that strangers have resorted to helping each other

Like many Coloradans who’ve been out of work for months during the pandemic, Julie Garcia Lopez saw her unemployment benefits run out on Sept. 26. She learned that she was eligible for an additional 13 weeks of federal emergency benefits. So she applied.  That’s when the nightmare began. Her account got stalled and she couldn’t […]

Posted inElection 2020, Politics and Government

How high will the blue wave crest in Colorado? Democrats are predicting big wins once again.

In the final days of the 2020 campaign, Lisa Cutter is not taking anything for granted. The state representative is the first Democrat to win her western Jefferson County district, part of a Democratic wave in 2018 that gave the party control of state government and the lawmaking process.  Cutter feels the pressure to win […]

Posted inElection 2020, Politics and Government

Democrats dominate campaign fundraising and spend big to build majority in the Colorado legislature

Democrats are outspending Republicans in state legislative races, and super PACs are pouring in $10 million, as the majority party looks poised to make gains in both chambers. A few of the competitive races are exceeding the $1 million mark with the most expensive contest — a state Senate seat in Adams County — topping […]