The operators of Colorado’s youth residential treatment centers, where children with the most acute mental health struggles go to recover, have warned for years that the system could fall apart without more funding. There are signs it’s happening now. Suicidal kids are waiting weeks, sometimes months, in hospital emergency rooms for a bed at a […]
Weld County
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s largest oil and gas producer wants permission to drill closer than 2,000 feet from homes
The buffer between homes and oil and gas drilling in Colorado is by rule 2,000 feet, except when it isn’t, and a move to drill in the middle of a residential area in Firestone is raising questions about how secure that buffer will be. The state’s biggest operator, Occidental Petroleum, through its Colorado subsidiary Kerr-McGee, […]
Posted inEnvironment
A record number of Coloradans are pursuing conservation easements as land, water prices increase
Tony Caligiuri was ready for it to fall apart. Instead, the pandemic gave conservation in Colorado a boost. Soaring land values, spiking prices for water, legislation boosting incentives for landowners who protect their land and growing pressure to develop open land has fueled a record year for conservation easements in Colorado. “We were bracing ourselves […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado has finalized its congressional redistricting, but don’t forget about your powerful county commission
Congressional and state legislative redistricting may have grabbed the headlines this year, but Colorado’s powerful county commissions will also need to overhaul their districts after a decade of big population growth. County commissioners are required to reassess their districts after the once-a-decade U.S. census to make sure they are close to equal in population. Nearly […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Growth, News, Transportation
New CDOT rules will force road projects to cut emissions — or else put money toward transit options
Colorado cities and state agencies planning big road projects must now design them to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide alternative transportation modes for the public, in a historic change of mission passed Thursday by Colorado Department of Transportation commissioners. The expected 10 to 1 vote has been hailed by conservation groups and some local […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Weld County’s health department is no longer allowed to post about COVID on social media
Updated Dec. 16, 2021: Following publication, Weld County reversed its decision and will allow the health department to post about COVID on social media. Weld County’s commissioners will no longer publish information about COVID-19 on social media following pushback on posts made to encourage residents to get vaccinated against the disease. Three members of the […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Can a climate-conscious CDOT build new roads and cut greenhouse gases at the same time?
The state agency that spent a century pouring roadways for trucks and automobiles now finds itself mapping out a new route — and paving the way to reducing impacts of climate change. Colorado Department of Transportation Director Shoshana Lew sees that lane to greenhouse gas cuts when she stands atop a new park that will […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outsider
Zillow spent big in Colorado’s Front Range this summer, months before collapse of home-flipping business
The collapse of Zillow Offers — the online real estate giant’s venture into buying and selling homes — announced Nov. 2 can be traced, in one small part, to its over eagerness to invest in Colorado’s red-hot real estate market. The company bought hundreds of homes in the Front Range this summer, mostly in August […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Trial of man accused of killing 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley ends with hung jury
GREELEY — The trial of a former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged in the killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl ended Thursday with jurors unable to reach verdicts on the most serious charges against him. Jurors found Steve Pankey guilty of false reporting but could not reach agreement on murder and kidnapping charges. Weld County […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Republican Lori Saine, a Weld County commissioner, enters race for new 8th Congressional District
Republican Lori Saine, a Weld County commissioner and former state representative, is running to represent Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District. Saine, who filed paperwork Tuesday to launch her campaign, is the first high-profile Republican to formally jump into the race to represent the district, which stretches from the north Denver suburbs to Greeley. The district […]