Posted inClimate, Environment, Equity, Health, News, Technology

Volunteers fan out over Boulder to record time, temp and humidity for scientists tracking climate trends nationwide

Pat Meyers and Deborah Rylander took a drive around Boulder Friday afternoon. Their cruise in a white Audi, with a heat sensor affixed to a window, was part of one of the largest heat-mapping projects in the U.S. The project, which required the help of almost a hundred volunteers, was part of an annual project […]

Posted inEnvironment, News

Colorado fines Boulder County gold mine $17,000 for water quality violations

The state Mined Land Reclamation Board imposed a $17,000 fine on owners of the Cross and Caribou mines for water quality violations, but suspended all but $5,000 of the penalty as long as Grand Island Resources continues “good faith” efforts to install containment and cleanup equipment. The state agency’s staff largely endorsed the mining company’s […]

Posted inEnvironment, News

Owners of gold mine above Nederland warn town officials to stop defaming it for water quality violations

Owners of the Cross and Caribou mine above Nederland have warned town officials to stop disparaging the longtime gold operation for water quality violations or face $500 million in slander damages. The mine owners’ claims of disparagement by Nederland come as state reclamation officials hold a hearing Wednesday to decide fines and cleanup steps for […]

Posted inCOVID, Education, News

Boulder County health officials warn that unchecked coronavirus rates could lead to stay-at-home return

Despite efforts from the University of Colorado Boulder and Boulder County to limit young adults from gathering and interacting with others in the community, health officials warned Tuesday that if coronavirus rates don’t improve, the county could be forced to shut down in the way it did in March. A statewide public health order issued […]

Posted inEnvironment, Health, News, Outdoors, Water

E. coli fouls 100 Colorado waterways. But managers aren’t sure how big the threat is to people playing in streams.

Braving the midday blaze on a particularly hot Front Range Friday, Evan Smart and a friend lingered near their inner tubes, beer cans in hand, after a refreshing float down Boulder Creek.  “Over my whole life of coming into the creek, I’ve never heard of anybody getting sick,” said Smart, a 26-year-old paramedic. I’ve always […]

Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Technology

Your poop may soon serve as an early warning system for Colorado coronavirus outbreaks

Toilets from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs will soon become important tools in Colorado’s efforts to establish an early warning system for the novel coronavirus. The state of Colorado has committed half a million dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds for a year-long pilot program to test sewage. The testing will pinpoint COVID-19-carrying genetic fragments […]

Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors

Colorado Classic women’s pro cycling race is called off because of coronavirus concerns

This is getting old.  Organizers on Thursday pulled the plug on the Colorado Classic race, set for August. The decision to cancel the fourth running of the four-stage race comes less than six weeks after organizers announced a revised, made-for-TV race model that replaced expos and start-and-finish festivals with virtual events and online streaming of […]

Posted inBusiness, COVID, Energy, Environment, News

Coronavirus cost Colorado’s solar industry thousands of jobs, but there’s one bright spot

The solar power industry has been hammered by the pandemic economy with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs nationally and Colorado facing an estimated 2,400 solar jobs gone by June. Yet one niche market is fitfully soldiering on in the state: home rooftop solar. Thanks to a strong start in 2020, some installers […]

Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government

Acres of barren Boulder soil are headed to rehab (and that might just help fight climate change)

Walking toward the western edge of his farm, Marcus McCauley pauses to roll a cigarette, lighting up before jumping the fence dividing his property west of Longmont from the neighboring farm. A coyote walks across the far end of the 120 acres, traversing a patchwork landscape of exposed dirt and low greenery, pocked with prairie […]