Will nuclear be a part of Colorado’s clean energy future?

Good morning, Colorado.

The first email I read in my inbox this morning was about the installation of an energy efficient escalator the city of Manitou Springs plans to install adjacent to the 2,768 steps of the town’s famed Incline.

“By adding this escalator, we are creating an opportunity for more people to engage with this unique outdoor experience while preserving the spirit of the Manitou Incline,” the city wrote in a news release.

Next email: Gov. Jared Polis unveils a new official portrait in the state Capitol building, featuring the governor smizing in a blue polo with uncanny similarities to a South Park character.

It’s April Fools’ Day — stay safe out there, friends! And when you need a dose of news sans pranks, catch up with us here at The Colorado Sun.

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

THE NEWS

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Nuclear power is officially a clean energy source in Colorado. Not everyone is pleased.

On paper, House Bill 1040 is all about two little words: “and nuclear.” But the act of adding those two words to Colorado’s definitions of clean energy sources — right alongside solar and wind — has advocates dreaming of a nuclear-powered, carbon-free state and opponents warning of nuclear’s toxic legacy. Parker Yamasaki digs into the past, present and future of nuclear in Colorado.

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• Statehouse Democrats move to expand protections for transgender Coloradans. Democrats in the Colorado legislature introduced two bills that would add protections for transgender people in schools and the courts. They’re expected to meet strong Republican opposition.
• Colorado governor signs bill letting universities pay student athletes, but asks legislature to revisit transparency. Federal court settlements essentially forced state lawmakers to pass a bill allowing universities like the University of Colorado to pay student-athletes for the use of their NIL rights. State law had prohibited the practice.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Members of Colorado Springs’ City Council are paid $100 a week. Do they need a raise?

Could you afford to take on a job that requires 40-50 hours of work per week that only pays $100 per week (or about $3 an hour)? And what does it mean when a city’s leadership is made up only of people who can afford to do it? Olivia Prentzel reports on how Colorado Springs leaders are asking — and answering — questions like these.

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ENERGY

Colorado utility bills could rise, emissions cuts would be slowed if Trump ends clean energy tax credits

The Trump administration is targeting around 20 energy-related tax cuts in the Inflation Reduction Act — which provide incentives for everything from installing solar panels and heat pumps to buying electric cars — and Mark Jaffe reports on the cascading effects on Colorado bills that could follow.

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HEALTH

Judge dismisses drug company’s suit to stop Colorado’s prescription affordability board

Amgen, the maker of the blockbuster arthritis drug Enbrel, filed a lawsuit to prevent Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board from doing what they did for insulin and EpiPens: Cap the out-of-pocket price for consumers. But as John Ingold reports, Judge Nina Y. Wang dismissed the lawsuit, saying “the economic injuries alleged by Amgen are too speculative and too attenuated to support standing in this case.”

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MORE NEWS

• Colorado reports measles case in Pueblo, not tied to ongoing Texas outbreak. The infection in an unvaccinated resident of Pueblo is believed to be a result of travel to an area in Mexico with a measles outbreak, not the ongoing outbreak in Texas and New Mexico.
• Police fatally shoot armed man in downtown Colorado Springs. Officers arrived at a parking lot around 2 p.m. Monday after a person called 911 to report an armed man breaking into cars, police said.

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Denver changes AI-designed logo after discovering “some issues.” If you take away one thing from this newsletter today, let it be this: No matter what prompt you feed them, most popular AI clients are only trying to return the most plausible response, not the most accurate. That’s how you end up with a “Denver” skyline featuring zero recognizable buildings and the sun rising behind a blue sky.
  — Denverite
• Liquid eggs sold in Colorado recalled for possible bleach contamination. The maker of Egg Beaters and Bob Evans liquid eggs is recalling products that may be contaminated with a bleach cleaning solution, including those sold in Colorado.
  — The Denver Post
• Everyone loved a Colorado prison’s VFW post — until a popular YouTuber heard about it. There are about 6,000 Veterans of Foreign Wars posts around the world, but Post 12226 was the only one operating inside a prison. But the program at Sterling Correctional Facility was shuttered after a YouTube channel called “Angry Cops” — which had been banned by TikTok and Facebook for racist content —
  found out about it and whipped up a frenzy.
  — 5280
• Heard a loud boom in Denver? It was the Pepsi plant decompressing. No one was injured at the plant — which will be moving to a new location near DIA — but a ruptured decompression hose made a very loud sound.
  — Denverite

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Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Time is now for Colorado to lean in to its quantum quest with a sense of urgency. With a recent federal designation and thousands of related jobs, the quantum push is something all the Rocky Mountain West should get behind.
  — Joe Nimmons, Colorado regional president at Huntington Bancshares Inc.

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.

SunLit

REVIEW

“Dr. Martha Cannon of Utah” tells of attraction, devotion to her “Old Boy”

Martha “Mattie” Hughes Cannon won election to the Utah state Senate in 1896 — by defeating her own husband. Joan Jacobson’s rollicking account of a woman ahead of her times in Victorian America (it was a finalist for the Colorado Authors League award for History) includes this excerpt explaining her polygamous marriage to a leader in the Mormon church, and why it was a very progressive choice for a successful woman in the late 19th century.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author. Jacobson’s tour group of “churchy Lutherans” was visiting a historic Salt Lake City cemetery when she first heard the story of Mattie Hughes Cannon — and she just couldn’t believe it was true. That launched her research into a story that kept expanding to explore various aspects of America’s Victorian era.
  

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

Hope you have some laughs today. Catch you back here tomorrow.

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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Corrections & Clarifications

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