How Colorado’s brown teeth helped discover fluoride

Plus: Teaching students “grit,” Gross Dam opponents ask judge to halt construction, PERA under scrutiny from members and more local news

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Dec 9, 2024 - 10:00
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How Colorado’s brown teeth helped discover fluoride
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Good Monday and happy morning! Or do I have that backward? It’s hard to tell after yet another holiday prepping weekend.

Putting together today’s newsletter had me remembering — with fondness and amusement — the stretch of my 20s where my daily mode of transportation was the notorious 15 (or the 15L on a good day) bus line that runs down East Colfax Avenue in Denver. While every trip held the possibility to delight, disgust or amuse you, for the most part, it was just a reliable way to get downtown and back.

Having experienced Bus Rapid Transit in a couple cities since then — notably in Albuquerque, where all public transit is also free — I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the evolution of the 15 will be utterly transformative for Colfax. And hopefully, a bellwether example of how to make fast, reliable public transit without drowning in as much red tape as a train line can generate.

But I can’t just sit here waxing nostalgic for the party-colored fabric on the old RTD buses. We’ve got news to get to! So let’s pull the cord and prepare to get off at the next stop, shall we?

Water runs through a faucet, July 17, 2023. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

Holy cow, the people in this town have strong but ugly teeth. While those aren’t the exact words that Dr. Frederick S. McKay recorded when he encountered the teeth of the residents of Colorado Springs in the early 1900s, the sentiment was definitely there. John Ingold recounts McKay’s discovery that the Springs’ highly fluorinated water was what was keeping those teeth from decaying and considers what Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s possible attack on the practice could mean.

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The stair-step reinforcement and raising of Gross Reservoir Dam in Boulder County, now well underway. The project is the key to Denver Water’s massive expansion of the pool at Gross Reservoir, which prompted years of negotiations with Boulder County and environmental groups on mitigating impacts on surrounding land and watersheds. (Source: Denver Water)

After environmental groups and Denver Water failed to reach a mitigation agreement when a U.S. District judge declared the permit for the Gross Dam expansion project illegal, each side has filed their own solutions. Michael Booth walks us through what both sides want, from an immediate injunction to allowing the dam to be finished before settling its legality.

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Megan Lightner, reading interventionist at Calhan Elementary School, goes through a drill on syllables with a group of fourth graders at the school Dec. 3 in Calhan. (Mark Reis, Special to The Colorado Sun)

As the days of full remote learning fade into memory, teachers and parents have noticed that many students quickly turn to others to solve a challenge more often than muscling through it themselves — and learning more effectively in the process. Erica Breunlin looks at the data and the techniques being deployed to instill perseverance in young students around the state.

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For the first time since the legislature passed its landmark pension reform effort, PERA is facing intense scrutiny from its members and state lawmakers, who are beginning to question the board’s oversight and its transparency with the public. Brian Eason has more from the frustrated stakeholders and PERA officials on what they’re doing to get everyone on the same page.

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Hunters unpack wild game meat as employees work to process it Nov. 2 at Meat Cleaver in Denver. Meat Cleaver accepts meat donations from hunters to give to food pantries. (Eli Imadali, Special to The Colorado Trust)
Colorado Sunday issue no. 166: "The winding road to rapid transit"

A major bus expansion along the Front Range is in the works to revive old, but proven and popular tech. Advocates of Bus Rapid Transit say the transit projects could bring more comfortable buses in dedicated lanes that run at frequencies where you don’t have to check the schedule, but just jump on. Plus, the projects are exponentially cheaper and faster than adding train lines, Michael Booth reports.

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The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

Thanks for starting your week with us, whether you’re staying home, hopping a bus or getting on the road. We’ll be back here to talk news tomorrow, see you then!

— Eric and the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.

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