Amid federal vaccine uncertainty, Colorado takes steps to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines
Many people are wondering about COVID-19 vaccine availability this fall with the nation’s leading health agency in chaotic transition. Colorado's governor and state health officials took steps Wednesday to make sure residents can easily get them.
Gov. Jared Polis asked the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and other state agencies to make sure all Coloradans have access to updated COVID-19 vaccines. Polis said the state is committed to empowering individuals to make choices to protect their own health and safety.
The health department’s Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan issued a public health order to take several steps to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, saying it was necessary to protect public health.
Dr. Ned Calonge, the state’s chief medical officer, also issued a standing order to let pharmacists provide COVID-19 vaccines without individual prescriptions. It takes effect on Friday, Sept. 5.
Since Oct. 1 of last year, more than 4,500 Coloradans have been hospitalized due to COVID-19.
Free vaccines have generally been covered by private insurance, and uninsured Coloradans could access them at no cost through programs funded by the federal government.
Space Command to leave Colorado Springs, move to Alabama
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is reviving a plan to permanently base Space Command in Huntsville, Alabama.
The command has been operating from Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs. It achieved full operational capacity there in late 2023.
While Trump thanked Colorado, he also criticized the state's elections. “The problem I have with Colorado,” said the president, “they do mail-in voting … so they have automatically crooked elections.”
Audits and investigations have repeatedly confirmed the accuracy and security of Colorado’s vote.
No timeline for the move was given.
Greeley Deserves Better denied injunction; Catalyst won’t appear on this November ballot
A last-ditch effort by a Greeley citizens group to get the Catalyst funding plan before voters has hit an impasse.
BizWest reports a Weld District Court judge denied a motion from Greeley Deserves Better for a preliminary injunction on Thursday.
The group was trying to overturn a city hearing officer's ruling that their proposed ballot initiative was invalid. Friday marks the deadline to certify ballot language for November.
That effectively means the Catalyst development can proceed.
Greeley Deserves Better is pursuing a separate lawsuit against the city to stop the project's funding plan.
Yampa RTA heads to the ballot
Steamboat Springs gave its final approval Tuesday to a ballot measure for a new Regional Transportation Authority for the Yampa Valley.
At the same meeting, city council backed off of a proposed lift ticket tax that was on the table after Steamboat Ski Resort dramatically reduced its financial commitment to the RTA.
The resort's revised offer was $1,000,000 annually for three years.
Steamboat's approval follows votes from Routt County and Craig to also send the RTA question to the ballot.
State's new gun law gets challenged in court
One of Colorado’s newest and most restrictive gun-control measures is facing a federal lawsuit from the Colorado State Shooting Association, the state’s official National Rifle Association group.
The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Senate Bill 25-003, which was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in April. The measure will outlaw the purchase, sale, and manufacture of many semiautomatic firearms that use detachable ammunition magazines starting next year.
The Mountain States Legal Foundation filed the challenge Tuesday on behalf of the CSSA and several individual plaintiffs who argue the measure violates their Second Amendment rights by limiting their ability to operate and obtain firearms.
The measure in question is one of the most restrictive both in the state and across the country because it will effectively ban many popular semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, and some handguns, including AR-15 and AK-47 models and their variants.
These restrictions don’t go into effect until August 1, 2026. The law also includes exceptions for military, law enforcement, prison guards, and armored-vehicle businesses, and does not affect guns that Coloradans already own.
Anti-gun violence advocacy group Everytown For Gun Safety lists Colorado’s firearm restrictions as the tenth strongest in the country.
Boulder Police contract negotiations end with nearly 5% raises
Boulder and its Police Officers Association have reached a new contract agreement. It was ratified Wednesday and covers about 180 employees.
The agreement includes a nearly 5% salary increase. That's a compromise between the city's last best offer of 4%and the police union's 6% threshold.
The agreement means that voters will not need to weigh in on contract provisions at the ballot this fall.
Greeley confirms 12 candidates for November City Council election
Greeley voters will have a dozen candidates to choose from for City Council this November. The Greeley Tribune reports the candidates have all been confirmed.
Four seats are up for grabs with no uncontested races. The vacancies are for Wards two, three and four, as well as an at-large spot.
Voters will also select a new mayor as John Gates ends his term. Election day is November 4th.
As Colorado ramps up funeral home probes and finds misconduct, inspection reports remain secret
Colorado ramped up funeral home inspections this year after several cases of misconduct involving fake ashes and hidden bodies.
A log KUNC news requested and obtained last week shows inspectors have visited at least 166 mortuaries so far this year, with an average pace of 21 inspections per month.
To put the pace in perspective, at least 22 mortuaries were inspected last month compared to just five at the same time last year.
But state regulators are continuing to keep the contents of the dozens of new inspection reports a secret from the public.
The office that regulates Colorado funeral homes last week denied KUNC’s open records request for the inspection report from the Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, where inspectors say they found more than 20 hidden bodies on Aug. 20.
Gov. Jared Polis signed a law last year that tightened regulations on the industry, but it also exempted records of funeral home “licensing actions” from the Colorado Open Records Act.
The changes in records policy weren't discussed publicly when the bill was being considered, and lawmakers who sponsored the measure couldn’t explain to KUNC last spring why they made them.
Breckenridge earns Dark Sky Community designation
Breckenridge is the first mountain ski resort community in Colorado to earn Dark Sky certification. The town was officially designated last month by DarkSky International.
Breckenridge adopted an exterior light ordinance in 2007 and any new development has followed suit.
The town started replacing streetlights last year and is working with residents to reduce light pollution.
Stargazing is a big part of the town’s tourism portfolio.
