Bill could cut pay for Front Range tipped workers

Good morning, Colorado, and a very Happy Galentine’s Day to all who celebrate!

I’m all about the sap that comes with this time of year. Flowery cards. A smorgasbord of chocolates in heart-shaped boxes. (Or sushi in a heart-shaped box — yes, that’s a thing. Sprouts Farmers Market has got you covered.) All of it is corny and cliché, but we all need a touch of joy wherever we can find it to get through these winter doldrums.

Before you zip through our headlines today, I hope you’ll take a minute to text or call one of the gals in your life to wish her an extra happy Galentine’s Day and remind her why she’s such a meaningful person to you. If you’re running dry on adjectives for her, here’s a handy list from a writer. Tell her she’s a lovely, exuberant, magnificent, bright, zesty, bubbly, vivacious, thoughtful, devoted, complete icon of a woman. Maybe just choose one of those words. But definitely include icon. After all, to steal a line from the icon of all icons, Beyoncé: Who run the world? Girls!

Enough with the sap, I guess. Let’s veer into today’s news, shall we?

Erica Breunlin

Education Reporter

THE NEWS

STATE LEGISLATURE

Denver, Boulder restaurants could pay tipped workers less when their gratuities exceed minimum wage under proposed law

A bill supported by the state’s restaurant association could ease the stress of restaurateurs as they struggle to keep dining establishments open — but could also mean a dip in pay for thousands of workers in any place that has a higher minimum wage than the state. Tamara Chuang breaks down how House Bill 1208 works.

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• Colorado lawmakers agree to free up $3 million to address major state rape kit backlog. Some state lawmakers had demanded the Colorado Bureau of Investigation show a clear plan to resolve the 500-day wait for test results.
• Want to legally drive a Japanese mini-truck in Colorado? You may soon be able to. Kei cars and trucks, known as Kei-jidōsha, or light vehicles, in Japan where most of them are made, are growing in popularity in the U.S. But many states have banned them in recent years.

HEALTH

The feds promised Colorado $339 million for health insurance. The money hasn’t arrived yet.

Because Colorado has implemented health insurance programs that save the federal government money on subsidies, the outgoing Biden administration allotted $339 million to be paid to the state. But as John Ingold reports, the Division of Insurance hasn’t been able to pull down any of the funds weeks after the promise.

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EDUCATION

Douglas County leaders weigh which 3 Highlands Ranch schools to close while prioritizing safety, continuity

As the spring semester heats up (or cools down, with this weather), students, teachers and administrators in Highlands Ranch are waiting to find out whether their school will still be open in the fall of 2026. Erica Breunlin looks at the factors the Douglas County School Board is weighing as it determines which schools to close.

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• Denver Public Schools sues to stop Trump administration policy allowing ICE agents in schools. The federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the Trump administration hasn’t provided “good reason” for rescinding the rules nor adequately considered or addressed the fallout.

WATER

Northern Water may be nearing settlement of lawsuit filed to stop $2 billion reservoir project

More than a year after an environmental group sued to stop the Northern Integrated Supply Project — a two-reservoir development designed to serve northern Colorado’s fast-growing population — whispers of a multimillion-dollar settlement are being heard. Jerd Smith of Fresh Water News takes us through the whole dam situation.

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Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

COLORADO REPORT

• Colorado terminates contract with Medicaid transportation provider MedRide after brief suspension. Colorado officially terminated its contract with the nonemergency medical transportation service after a week of confusion over its status as a Medicaid-eligible provider.
  — Denver 7
• Affordable apartments could rise from ashes of former Boyer’s Coffee plant. After a 2020 fire burned down what was my favorite coffee shop during my time in The Denver Post newsroom, the owners of Boyer’s approached Maikers Housing Partners to build a five-story mixed-use apartment building that would allow the coffee company to continue to have a presence in the area.
  — The Denver Post ????
• Judge orders landlords to stop harassing Venezuelan immigrant tenants in Aurora. An Arapahoe County judge barred owner Avi Schwalb and manager Nancy Dominguez from intimidating residents after Schwalb allegedly forced open the door to an apartment without an order and threatened to call immigration enforcement if the family didn’t leave.
  — Sentinel Colorado
• The famous Grand Lake suspended bite has begun. Yes, I only clicked on this headline because I simply had to know what a “suspended bite” was, and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. (If you’re curious, in fishing, suspension means the fish are spending their time in a consistent layer of water below the surface but above the lake bed that can be targeted by knowledgeable anglers.)
  — Sky-Hi News
• Union officials urge commission not to fund sheriff’s legal bills. “I speak on behalf of the membership — this is a union town — it is what Pueblo was built on,” Brad Riccillo, president of the Local 837 union, told Pueblo County commissioners, arguing that the county should not step in to pay any more of the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office’s legal bills after Sheriff David Lucero was sued for refusing to participate in collective bargaining with the office’s union.
  — The Pueblo Chieftain

???? = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

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What’s Happening

Feb. 13-19

Alex Israel: Heaven. Perhaps the most “Aspen” piece of artwork the Aspen Art Museum has ever shown — a ski-in, ski out exhibition at the shuttered Ruthie’s restaurant, a mid-mountain building that still stands at the base of historic Ruthie’s Run.

The work is part of the mountain’s art in unexpected places program and was designed and painted by Los Angeles-based Alex Israel.

Hints of the exhibition are sprinkled throughout the mountain — it’s the red brushstroke font found on way signs and season passes, which Israel also designed. The work itself, painted inside Ruthie’s, is viewable to anyone who can ski the intermediate-level approach from Feb. 15-23 and March 7-16.

If you’ll be there this weekend, Saturday’s “opening reception” includes a live performance by the Aspen Chamber Quartet from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and a conversation with the artist from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Free with valid lift ticket; Feb. 15-23 and March 7-16; Base of Ruthie’s Run, Aspen Mountain, Colorado

• Art Throb at Ah Haa. The annual winter fundraiser for the culinary arts program at Ah Haa School for the Arts, featuring a roster of guest chefs and mixologists serving up some special recipes. $100; 6-8 p.m., Feb. 15; Ah Haa School for the Arts, 155 W. Pacific Ave., Telluride

• The Motet. The six-piece funk set The Motet stops by the Crested Butte Center for the Arts for a Valentine’s Night performance. $45; 8-11:30 p.m., Feb. 14; Center for the Arts, 606 Sixth St., Crested Butte

• Tiny Beautiful Things. If you’re looking for something a little more sentimental this Valentine’s Day, the Thunder River Theater Company opens its production of “Tiny Beautiful Things” on Friday. The play is based on a book of the same name, a compilation of author Cheryl Strayed’s best columns from 12 years of giving anonymous advice on the internet. Thursday showings are pay-what-you-can. $20-55; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Feb. 14-March 2; Thunder River Theatre, 67 Promenade, Carbondale

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

Thanks so much for turning to The Sun to keep staying informed on all things Colorado. We’ll see you back here tomorrow! (You’ve still got time to grab that bouquet or pick up a few extra candles ahead of Valentine’s Day.)

— Erica & the whole staff of The Sun

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