This week, we turn our attention to the “Digital Delusion,” and how it relates to District 51’s push to remove technology from the classroom and go back to more traditional means of education, Colorado’s “J-Curve” education funding and how it puts our local schools near the bottom funding nationwide, the deluge of ballot measures facing voters this November and The Daily Sentinel’s commitment to in-depth analyses of their potential impacts, and what our readers think Colorado’s Initiative 302, which would enshrine the right to hunt and fish in the state's constitution.

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We go a little rogue this week, looking at Meta’s $18 billion multistate settlement in a lawsuit alleging the platform intentionally hooked children, the safeguards it has agreed to implement and the likelihood that Colorado will get a sizeable chunk of that money, the AI bubble underpinning the economy amid an increasing pushback against data centers and a technology that’s increasingly crossing its manmade boundaries, adjacent neighbors to a proposed D51 OWL camp who are rising in opposition to the plan and the district’s lack of transparency, accusations of rural discrimination against the USPS imposing higher fees on outlying areas, and reader input on whether Colorado should tighten laws and regulations on the operation of motorcycles on state roadways.

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This week, we reflect on recent revelations detailing the Trump administration’s apparent efforts to punish the state of Colorado over Tina Peters’ incarceration, the latest updates on a case from 2024 in which a woman allegedly mutilated her boyfriend’s penis in the course of stabbing him, resulting in his death, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office defending the use of Flock cameras by local law enforcement, the editorial board’s view of looming DHS layoffs in the face of imminent cuts to federal funding, and the likelihood of a D51 mill levy override appearing on this November’s ballot that would result in a property tax increase for the first time since 2017.

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In this week’s episode, we discuss the rise in childhood hunger striking Mesa County, which has 64% SNAP eligibility, and the reasons for continued low wages across the region, the lives of five local teens that ended tragically in a crash in Orchard Mesa, mini-bike mayhem that broke out downtown amid increasing problems with e-motorcycles on roadways, Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx’s odd claims and his refusal to participate in a moderated debate, and what our online readers think about the use of Flock cameras by local law enforcement.

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This week, we look forward to events commemorating Colorado Day on August 1, including local drone shows, flag raisings on the CMU campus, and an important announcement from Sentinel Publisher Jay Seaton about a gift to the Grand Valley community that represents the area’s unique history; increasing demands for a thorough investigation into the events and decision-making that resulted in the death of the fourth of five firefighters injured in the initial response to the Knowles fire; and ponder what appears to be a rise in domestic violence issues across the region.

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This week, we explore the mystery of EBT cards sent out to D51 families to help with food costs during summer break that don’t qualify for the program; the Daily Sentinel’s own glitch that left subscribers without a paper on Saturday; a man who was arrested for allegedly shooting Flock license plate readers while inebriated; ongoing discussions about Museums of the West possibly shedding certain properties or consolidating them; the quest to erect a replica of the brachiosaurus unearthed at Riggs Hill somewhere in Grand Junction; chaos on the roadways; and what our readers think about reforming presidential and gubernatorial pardon powers.

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This week, we look at the results of the state’s June primary, which included several upsets, including GOP nominee Victor Marx’s win over seasoned politician Barbara Kirkmeyer in the GOP gubernatorial race; the tragic loss of three firefighters in what eventually blew up into the Snyder Fire, and the unfortunate, incorrect reporting by The Sentinel of the circumstances in the early hours of the blaze; and the irony of Governor Polis sacking two members of the clemency board after they exercised their free speech defending their votes against grant ing Tina Peters clemency in New York Times comments and a Denver Post op-ed.

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This week, we discuss the smoky air in the valley and the various fires that blew up this past week amid lingering severe drought, and reminisce about the Pine Gulch Fire of 2020, discuss the running editorial series celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the unfortunate politicization of America 250 events, the positive cultural interactions taking place around the World Cup, events planned for Colorado’s sesquicentennial, and the podcast’s future focus on Stoicism.

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From traffic jams and poor drivers to malapropisms and the terms of Tina Peters’ parole, in this week’s edition, we wander among several topics of particular personal annoyance.

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This week, we get behind-the-scenes insight into the birth and mission of The Western Colorado Journalism Foundation, announced on Wednesday, with hopes of bolstering local, independent newsrooms across the region, and prognosticate about what we might expect from Tina Peters, who shows no sign of taming down rhetoric about the 2020 election, after she walked out of the La Vista Correctional Facility on Monday.  

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