There are at least 150 abandoned homes in the San Luis Valley at a time when Colorado is in a severe housing crunch. Sun reporter Tatiana Flowers visited the valley recently and met with several San Luis Valley organizations trying to find abandoned homes, figure out who owns them, buy them and renovate them  to make them habitable again. 

The San Luis Valley is vast and sparsely populated, and short about one-thousand-800 housing units, which is where the abandoned home project comes in. In some cases, the homes will be restored for the people who abandoned them when upkeep became too expensive. In others, they will house people who are currently homeless.

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Money matters a lot when it comes to politics, and the Sun’s Sandra Fish is Colorado’s journalism campaign finance guru. She reports that a group aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York was behind a shadowy 4-million-dollar campaign to encourage voters in Colorado’s Republican primary to vote for a Republican candidate who is an election conspiracist.

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It’s now taking nearly three months for Coloradans who are out of work to get a new unemployment claim processed. So why is it taking so long?

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Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the Aurora theater shooting when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of people. Twelve were killed and many others were injured. So, how have gun laws in Colorado changed?

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A few weeks ago, the Bureau of Reclamation said another 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water would have to be cut next year by Colorado River water users to protect levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell. To many, this signaled more water was going to be released from reservoirs in Colorado,  New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. On Monday, water managers in the four so-called Upper Basin States sent a letter back to the Bureau of Reclamation saying they’ll do what they can to pull back use of the overtaxed river that originates in Colorado. But they also said it's time for Lower Basin states to work just as hard to consume less water. Reporters Jennifer Brown and Chris Outcalt talked about what the implications are for Arizona, California and Nevada, states that together used almost three times the water consumed by the Upper Basin last year.

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For years, Eric DeFonso studied bird recordings, listening to the chirping through his car speakers. His fascination with birds and their unique callings paid off last week in the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge with a special discovery. The Sun’s Olivia Prentzel talks with environment reporter Michael Booth about what he found.

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Mesa County District Court Judge Matthew David Barrett issued an arrest warrant for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was indicted back in March. Political reporter Jesse Paul brings us up to speed on the latest in this unraveling case.

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After a Google Maps search showed company Tomcat Tactical based out of a home in a residential area, about a mile home from an elementary school, residents were shocked. This company wasn’t selling jam or crafts, but ammunition and semi-automatic weapon kits. It launched a debate among residents in Greenwood Village over whether guns should be allowed to be sold from homes. After months of discussion, city council members voted this week. Reporter Shannon Najmabadi explains the vote and how the city got there.

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Clean energy plans are underway at three small utility companies, but environmental groups aren’t so pleased. And the EPA is getting sued over its plans to reduce ozone levels because some say they’re not sufficient to drive down the thick haze. The Sun’s environment reporter Michael Booth has the latest on clean energy in Colorado, who’s happy about them and who’s not.

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The drinking water in Frisco is tainted with dangerous levels of PFAS after the EPA drastically lowered its guidance on what levels of the “forever chemicals” are safe to consume. Officials suspect firefighting foam that has run off into nearby creeks is driving up the PFAS levels in the small town’s water supply and more than 100 cities and towns across the state could be facing the same predicament. Reporter Olivia Prentzel talks with Michael Booth about what Frisco officials are calling “a concern, not a crisis” and what the news EPA guidance could mean for residents across Colorado. 

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