Good Morning, Colorado, you’re listening to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Thursday January 21st, and even though there’s a lot of turmoil right now we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you.

Today - The city’s encampments persist, with tensions boiling over in Capitol Hill. Denver has opened two camps, but they’re full, and some are refusing to live there.

But before we begin, let’s go back in time with some Colorado history adapted from historian Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we’re going back to January 21st, 1842, when Alfred Packer, also known as "The Colorado Cannibal" was born. Packer earned his infamy at 32 when he and five other men had attempted to travel through the San Juan Mountains, during the peak of winter. 

Now, our feature story.

About 10 feet from an encampment on Pearl Street in Denver, where about 25 people are living in tents, keeping warm with makeshift fire pits fueled by propane tanks inside blanket- and tarp-covered structures. 24 year old Chloe Lives in her street level condo. She feels too unsafe to use her last name in this story. 

What began last fall as a small encampment with a few quiet people who are homeless has grown exponentially since mid-December.

The block is strewn with clothing and spoiled food, and there are syringes and foil with the remnants of heroin or meth. 

Colorado Sun reporter Jennifer Brown paid Chloe a visit. And she’s joining us today to tell us more about the current situation.

Jennifer, to start, how did you feel about the homelessness crisis after your visit with Chloe?

Here’s some of Jennifer’s interview with Chloe 

The city has now set up new safe outdoor spaces, where red and gray tents are lined up in tidy rows, there are toilets and showers, and staff is on site 24 hours a day. 

Jennifer, can you tell us, besides these safe outdoor spaces, what programs is the city working on to solve this crisis?

Jennifer also spoke with 34 year old Marcio Johnson, who described living in the encampment and trying to keep it clean. 

The city has pushed the campers out of the alley a couple of times, and the encampments briefly dispersed to other parts of Capitol Hill only to return within days. More campers moved in after Denver cleaned up the large encampments by the Capitol and Morey Middle School.

It seems like no one is winning. 

And Chloe says it’s not their fault. It’s not our fault either, though. She blames the city at this point for lack of response, and a lack of action. 

Thanks for listening. Before we go, here are a few stories that you should know about today:

Emergency management crews have started to decommission the overflow coronavirus hospital set up at the Colorado Convention Center. None of the beds have been used, and the site was considered a last resort to the other four overflow sites. The work will finish by late March.

Mesa County business leaders are urging newly inaugurated President Joe Biden to keep the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Grand Junction. The office’s move from D.C. in 2019 was seen as a political play, but locals say it’s important to keep officials close to the lands they’re regulating.

Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission will consider new regulations next month to reduce emissions from natural gas well regulators. Pneumatic controllers, as they’re called, manage well conditions and release a little bit of natural gas every time they toggle a valve. The proposal would require no-bleed controllers.

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. And don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow for a special holiday episode. Now, a quick message from our editor.

The Colorado Sun is non-partisan and completely independent. We're always dedicated to telling the in-depth stories we need today more than ever. And The Sun is supported by readers and listeners like you.

Right now, you can head to ColoradoSun.com and become a member. Starting at $5 per month for a basic membership and if you bump it up to $20 per month, you’ll get access to our exclusive politics and outdoors newsletters. Thanks for starting your morning with us and don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Colorado Sun Daily Podcast

Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Tuesday January 19th, and we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories. 

Today - When Colorado lawmakers turned their attention to mobile home parks over the last two sessions for the first time in decades, one particular bill inspired some residents to start thinking big.

Before we begin, let’s take a look at what happened on this day in Colorado history - adapted from Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we take you back to January 19th, 1948 when, after nearly a quarter century of economic prosperity, a fire destroyed what had been the most productive lumber mill in Colorado. The mill site and the town that surrounded it now sit at the bottom of McPhee Reservoir.

Now, our feature story. 

When Colorado lawmakers turned their attention to mobile home parks over the last two sessions, one particular bill inspired some residents to start thinking big -- beyond the chronic battles with park owners over rising rents and questionable evictions.

A new provision in the Mobile Home Park Act, which went into effect in June, gave individuals the opportunity to purchase the property where they’ve parked their trailers. It also gave them the opportunity to start calling their own shots as a cooperative. 

Now, some are seizing that opportunity, banding together and taking steps toward purchases aimed at preserving a lifestyle that represents the state’s largest non-subsidized affordable housing option for more than 100,000 Coloradans.

But a process that can be difficult is even more fraught in the age of coronavirus.

Colorado Sun reporter Kevin Simpson is joining us today to tell us more.

So Kevin, can you start by explaining why lawmakers decided to tackle the issue of residents buying their mobile home parks in the first place?                              

Colorado’s legal provision requires that a park owner, if they anticipate selling the property or changing the use of the land, give notice to residents, who then have 90 days to make an offer and secure financing. For residents, the first step is typically creating an association or cooperative that represents more than half of the home owners, which is required in order to make the purchase.

Park owners must file an affidavit of compliance with the appropriate local agencies.

So, residents operate within two key parameters: the 90-day window to take care of due diligence and financing; and, of course, the assurance that the park owner will negotiate in good faith.

The latter could eventually require a court decision for fine-tuning.

Thanks for listening. Before we go here are a few stories you should know about today:

Just two weeks after she was sworn in, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert may already have challengers in the 2022 election. State Democratic lawmakers Kerry Donovan and Dylan Roberts told The Colorado Sun they are considering a run against the highly contentious Republican to represent the state's third Congressional District. The district leans Republican, but the largest voting bloc is unaffiliated.

A third Colorado man has been charged in relation to the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. Robert Gieswein, a 24-year old Woodland Park resident, has six federal charges pending, including assaulting a federal officer. Federal court documents tie Gieswein to the Three Percenters, a radical militia group.

More than three thousand tires are thrown out in Colorado every day. Most of those were recycled, but hundreds of thousands couldn’t be repurposed. And a massive fire at a tire dump north of Denver last summer illuminated the painful environmental tension over a consumer product everybody needs now and no one wants later. 

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. Now, a quick message from our editor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Monday January 18th, and we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories. 

Today - Regular testing of elementary school kids aims to identify asymptomatic cases and keep disease from shutting down in-person learning this spring.

Before we begin, let’s go back in time with some Colorado history adapted from historian Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we take you back to January 18th, 1881 when Marshall Silverthorn purchased 160 acres from the federal government down the Blue from Breckenridge, on which he failed to find gold. Today it’s the town of Silverthorne.

And now, our feature story. 

Many districts across Colorado have been regularly testing teachers and staff throughout the school year.

In school circles, the testing system has largely focused on monitoring the health of adults. But in September, COVIDCheck Colorado branched out to begin testing some of Colorado’s youngest residents from some of the most vulnerable families: students at Clayton Early Learning in Denver.

Now, as Gov. Jared Polis and many districts prioritize in-person learning this semester, opening up testing to K-12 students has become another tool to help districts track the spread of the virus and hopefully get ahead of any outbreaks that would warrant quarantines or closures.

It’s part of the solution for keeping schools open and keeping students and staff safe.

We have Colorado Sun reporter Erica Breunlin, who’s spoken to health experts across the state about this, joining us today.

And thank you all for listening. Finally, here are a few stories you should know about today:

Colorado's new Republican congresswoman, Lauren Boebert, has been sued in federal court on allegations that she violated the free speech rights of one of her constituents by blocking the constituent on Twitter. 

Governor Jared Polis says he's “shocked” to learn that Colorado will be receiving far fewer doses of coronavirus vaccine this week than anticipated. Polis says the Trump administration lied to state officials about its promise to speed up distribution.

Governor Jared Polis has sued the Bureau of Land Management and two top officials. The governor says the expansion of oil drilling on the Western Slope does not jibe with state laws and regulations protecting water, air, wildlife and recreation. Now he's asking a federal judge to overturn a plan for nearly 680-thousand acres of federal land in western Colorado. 

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. Now, a quick message from our editor.

The Colorado Sun is non-partisan and completely independent. We're always dedicated to telling the in-depth stories we need today more than ever. And The Sun is supported by readers and listeners like you.

Right now, you can head to ColoradoSun.com and become a member. Starting at $5 per month for a basic membership and if you bump it up to $20 per month, you’ll get access to our exclusive politics and outdoors newsletters. Thanks for starting your morning with us and don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Colorado Sun Daily Podcast

The Colorado Sun Daily Podcast

The Colorado Sun Daily Podcast

The Colorado Sun Daily Podcast

The Colorado Sun Daily Podcast

Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Friday January 8th, and we’re lucky to start the day with you.

Today - Colorado’s coronavirus vaccine rollout is confusing, and frustrating, but according to state leaders - it’s also working.

But before we begin, let’s go back in time with some Colorado history adapted from historian Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we’re going back to January 8th, 1976 when Elvis Presley was in Eagle County celebrating his 41st birthday. There, he indulged in his favorite winter pastime - snowmobiling and while doing so he raised the hackles of a resident who complained to the Vail authorities. The caller happened to be Susan Ford, daughter of the president of the United States.

Now our feature story.

Months ago, Gov. Jared Polis, medical experts and state public health officials mapped out an orderly plan prioritizing when different groups of Coloradans can get the vaccine. But as that plan -- now twice revised -- has been put to use, the on-the-ground reality so far has been much less orderly.

Colorado Sun reporters John Ingold  and Erica Breunlin are here today to talk more about the rollout, and how disparities have emerged as counties, schools, and hospitals all chart their own paths.

For those in the general public who are 70 and older, finding the vaccine right now will take persistence and patience.

Right now, there’s not a central place for everyone to sign up. As John mentioned, people who have a regular doctor or health clinic they go to are encouraged to call those places for more information. 

The state is planning to organize more information on its vaccine website -- covid19.colorado.gov/vaccine.

But, for at least the foreseeable future, state health leaders expect the process to be a little bumpy, with different timelines for different counties.

Thanks for listening. Finally, here are a few stories that you should know about today:

Rio Grande Pacific Corp. inks lease for the long-dormant rail line through Colorado high country - floating the possibility of oil cars in Browns Canyon. An Eastern Colorado billionaire landowner fights the lease plan.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has approved, for a second time, two drilling projects in Colorado after considering a court-ordered greenhouse gas assessment of the development’s environmental impacts.

Colorado lawmakers are considering a new fee on a gallon of gas to boost money for road improvements. 

Colorado will make up to a million rapid COVID-19 tests a month available to school districts, charter schools, and private schools as part of its effort to get students back to the classroom and keep them there. Gov. Jared Polis announced the initiative Wednesday. 

Back in the spring, doctors hoped that antibodies from coronavirus survivors’ blood could save the sickest patients from succumbing to the virus. But, now 10 months in the pandemic, demand for convalescent plasma is low in Colorado. 

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. Now, a quick message from our editor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.