Democratic state lawmakers on Tuesday began to unveil a sweeping bill aimed at increasing law enforcement accountability in Colorado by collecting racial profiling data, ensuring officers hold each other accountable and making it easier for the public to file lawsuits against police. The measure, which could be introduced as soon as Wednesday, also would beef […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, News, Outdoors
Safety and stoke: A-Basin’s coronavirus reopening provides glimpse of what next ski season may look like
ARAPAHOE BASIN — There are a lot of words to describe skiing and snowboarding. “Moral” and “victory” are not usually among them. But that’s how the staff at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area talked about reopening Wednesday after being shuttered for more than two months because of the coronavirus crisis. “This is a moral victory,” said […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Culture, News, Politics and Government
A Denver restaurant fights to keep its doors open — and its staff paid — as coronavirus crumbles the industry
It’s Friday night at a restaurant in the heart of Denver that’s served as a culinary beacon in the Mile High City for 23 years. The servers are hustling. The chef is keeping watch over flame-licked pans as his kitchen staff calls out orders. The phone keeps ringing. But the tightly packed tables in Potager, […]
Posted inCOVID, News
75-year-old Arvada man who spent a month on ventilator after coronavirus infection returns home from hospital
ARVADA — Doug Summerfield knows how lucky he his. The 75-year-old Arvada man knows that someone his age, with his asthma, is the kind of patient experts say probably wouldn’t make it through a case of the new coronavirus that was as bad as his. But on Saturday, Summerfield returned to his home with a […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Outdoors
With Olympic dreams delayed, one Colorado athlete declares: “This is the time when champions are made”
SALIDA — Sophia Herzog dips her feet into the rushing Arkansas River and shudders. “I’m an elite swimmer and this is out of my comfort zone by a long shot,” she says, laughing as she slips into the current. The 23-year-old Paralympic silver medalist didn’t just lose her goal when Paralympic and Olympic officials pushed […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado likely won’t have an accurate coronavirus death count for months, or even years
Across Colorado, there is a mystery brewing in mortality. At least 1,200 more people died last month in the state compared to in April 2019, according to official — though preliminary — figures. But only a fraction of that increase is currently being attributed to the novel coronavirus. So, in a time of unprecedented public […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
The squawking, stomping chicken of the grasslands is back in Colorado
This wild chicken stomps its small feet so enthusiastically to attract a girlfriend that it tamps down its own section of grassland prairie. Feathers that look like tiny horns pop up from its head, and bright-orange, balloon-like pockets inflate on the sides of its neck as it cackles and “booms.” The male lesser prairie-chicken has […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Governor says Colorado now has capacity to test anyone with coronavirus symptoms, encourages people to get screened
WHEAT RIDGE — Gov. Jared Polis on Monday said that Colorado now has the ability to test anyone in the state who has coronavirus symptoms — for free — and encouraged people to seek out screening. “You really should get tested if you have fever, dry cough, shortness of breath,” Polis said at a briefing […]
Posted inCOVID, Environment, Health, News
Colorado sewage treatment plants are examining your poop for coronavirus clues. Seriously.
For 24 hours starting early every Sunday morning, small pipes suck samples from the river of sewage flowing into the South Platte Water Renewal Partners wastewater treatment plant in Englewood for 24 hours. The tubes deposit the raw sewage into containers inside a box that resembles a mini fridge. Goggled, masked and gloved workers then […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Transportation
Airlines flying empty planes to small Colorado airports plead for OK to cut service
As empty planes touch down in quiet Colorado communities to meet federal rules for taking COVID-19 relief money, airlines are pleading with the Department of Transportation to let them suspend service. And when their requests are refused, airlines are getting creative with flights into Colorado’s regional airports as travel collapses under the weight of the […]