How to lose 24,000 Coloradans 

Good morning and welcome to the shortest month of the year, which is welcome after living through a January that felt like it had about 67 days in it.

While I can’t promise that February will be any less busy, I can promise that sticking with The Sun will help you keep track of things as the news keeps coming.

With that in mind, we have so much news to get to we should just dive right in. Sound like a plan?

Eric Lubbers

CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE NEWS

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

TABOR’s vanishing people: Why lawmakers are afraid 24,000 Coloradans may disappear in the next budget year

When do 24,000 residents — a number greater than the populations of 40 of Colorado’s 64 counties — just stop existing? As Brian Eason reports, all it takes is a population growth formula written more than 30 years ago and the strict construction of TABOR’s limits on state revenue.

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

How the Colorado Labor Peace Act came to be and why unions want so desperately to get rid of it

It doesn’t take much to form a union in Colorado. A simple majority of workers just have to approve it. But to achieve union security — one of the fundamental conditions for a union to work — a second vote with 75% approval is required under Colorado’s 80-year-old Labor Peace Act. Jesse Paul and Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland explain how the act works, where it came from and why union leaders want it gone.

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• The University of Colorado’s medical residents and fellows want to form a union. The university says no. Medical residents and fellows at the University of Colorado say they want collective bargaining over the long hours, unreported overtime and relatively low salaries that end up paying around $18 an hour. John Ingold reports on how the university is responding to the labor push.

ECONOMY

Colorado’s secretary of state sees uptick in business fraud with 3,508 complaints in two years

Two years after turning on a form allowing anyone to report business-identity theft — aka someone hijacking a company’s name or address for something shady — the Secretary of State’s Office has received more than 3,500 complaints and led to a shakeup in the way it handles Colorado’s business directory. Tamara Chuang has more in this week’s “What’ Working” column.

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MORE NEWS

• Nebraska threatens to condemn land in Colorado for a canal to carry away South Platte River water. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser threatened legal action and told Sedgwick County landowners to fight Nebraska’s claims to their land.
• Should Sundance stay in Utah? State leaders and locals rally to keep the independent film festival as Cincinnati, Boulder pose threat. Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget.
• Tour guide at former Colorado gold mine fell out of elevator after apparently not latching door. Surveillance video showed that in the minutes prior to his death, tour guide Patrick Weier had trouble squeezing himself in the elevator because it was so crowded, according to a report by the Teller County Sheriff’s Office.
• Colorado Springs voters sue city, alleging recreational marijuana repeal effort is unconstitutional. Months after voters approved recreational marijuana sales, city leaders approved a measure that would ask voters to repeal the ordinance.
• Fact Brief ☀️ Can employers in Colorado require a doctor’s note any time an employee calls in sick? No. Under Colorado law, employers can ask for “reasonable documentation” only after absences of four or more consecutive days.

COLORADO SUNDAY

Davey Pitcher’s family-owned Wolf Creek stands out in an increasingly corporate industry

While his billion-dollar competitors face unhappy workers, unhappy customers and the precarious balance of the lift pass economy, Wolf Creek’s Davey Pitcher is staying vigilant about staying chill — and his ski area is thriving in its lane. Jason Blevins has much more in this look at one of Colorado’s rare breeds.

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Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Couple indicted for running fraudulent “full-body scan” clinics in Colorado, other states. Mary and Fred Blakley of Arizona allegedly offered medicines intended for animal use and hawked unproven ultrasound scans for $300 a piece claiming to be able to detect cancers and other diseases.
  — The Denver Post ????
• Former Garfield County Sheriff’s Office employee arrested on embezzlement charges. Trish Worley is accused of embezzling $74,000 from Garfield County and the Holy Cross Cattlemen’s Association since 2018.
  — Glenwood Springs Post Independent
• Summit County Rescue Group helped with 187 calls in 2024. Less than a decade ago, the group received fewer than 100 calls per year.
  — Summit Daily
• Indiana Jones Bed & Breakfast makes Colorado’s Most Endangered Places List. The house where the opening scenes of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” were filmed in 1988 have now been deemed by Colorado Preservation Inc. as an endangered part of Colorado’s cinematic history.
  — Alamosa Citizen
• Meet the Colorado man who has crafted over 15,000 Grammy awards. John Billings, nicknamed the Grammy Man, has made over 15,000 Grammys with 150-year-old tools for over five decades from his shop in Ridgway.
  — Cowboys and Indians Magazine

???? = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COLUMNS

• When Trump falsely blamed diversity for the tragic D.C. crash, it made us remember who he really is. Sen. Michael Bennet and other Dems looked like they finally understood the need for resistance during Senate hearings on Trump nominees.
  — Mike Littwin
  
• The wait is almost over for women’s sports in Denver. Women’s sports is finally arriving in Denver after the city won a bid to become the location for the next NWSL team.
  — Mario Nicolais
  
• To fill Colorado’s leadership vacuum, look no further than the teachers, preachers or the nurse next door. True leadership means stepping up to protect democracy, the rule of law and our values, despite facing personal risks.
  — Diane Carman
  
• Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser are leading the fight against Trump in Colorado. Polis and Hickenlooper are not. Colorado will never be a Trump state. All of our leaders should strongly reflect this sentiment. Where are Hickenlooper and Polis?
  — Trish Zornio
  

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 again for starting off your week (and month) with us! If you haven’t already, get The Sun’s free app installed on your phone so you can stay on top of the fast-moving stream of news all day.

Have a great day and we’ll see you tomorrow!

— Eric and the whole staff of The Sun

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