Happy Friday from KUNC News! Here are a few of the most interesting stories from the week of September 8-12:
Get top headlines and KUNC reporting directly to your mailbox each week when you subscribe to In The NoCo.
Republican Barbara Kirkmeyer is running to be Colorado’s next governor
Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer is the latest candidate vying to be Colorado’s next governor.
The state senator from Brighton filed paperwork Monday, making her long-anticipated 2026 bid official and then held a launch event Tuesday evening in Fort Lupton.
Kirkmeyer has a long history in Colorado politics. She was elected to the statehouse in 2020 and sits on the legislature’s powerful Joint Budget Committee, which makes her a ubiquitous voice in the state’s budget conversations.
Kirkmeyer’s campaign platform includes promises to drive down the cost of living, improve Colorado’s roads and boost public safety.
Current Gov. Jared Polis is term-limited and can’t run for reelection in 2026.
Two prominent Democrats are running to replace Polis: U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
Shooting at Evergreen High School leaves multiple students injured, shooter dead
Jefferson County Schools closed for the week after an “active shooter” incident at Evergreen High School on Wednesday.
A 16-year-old gunman fired a revolver multiple times at his classmates, authorities said Thursday. The suspect later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators say the gunman was radicalized by an "extremist network" and plan to release more information soon.
With Space Command moving, Colorado Republicans tout other military investments in the state
After declaring the Colorado delegation was “united in fighting to reverse” President Trump’s decision to move Space Command headquarters out of Colorado Springs, Colorado’s congressional Republicans said late last week that they “are working with the Administration to minimize the impacts of this move.”
Republicans said they’re expecting to lose only 1,000 positions, instead of 1,700.
GOP Representatives Jeff Crank, Lauren Boebert, Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd said in a statement that the move will take years to complete and that during that time, the Defense Department’s “presence in Colorado is expected to continue its rapid growth,” including the number of Space Force personnel, which should outpace any loss.
Safeway stores closing in Colorado
Albertsons is closing 10 Safeway stores across Colorado, including several on the Front Range. The South College Avenue Safeway in Fort Collins and the Cleveland Avenue store in Loveland are among the affected locations.
These closures are part of a merger between two of the company's area divisions. Four stores are closing in the Denver metro.
Albertson’s plans to shutter the sites by November.
The nursing shortage in the Mountain West is among the most concerning in the U.S.
The Mountain West is home to states with some of the worst nursing shortages in the country.
Utah is at the top of the shortage list, with about 1.4 nurses per 100 people, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado trail close behind, with at least 25% fewer nurses than the national average (2.2 nurses per 100 people).
Part of the shortage can be attributed to fewer students in nursing schools, said Kara Beech, executive director of the Wyoming Nurses Association.
But she also said nurses are retiring early, burning out or going into jobs that don’t involve direct patient care.
Real Estate Developer RK Industries bringing new office, jobs to Aurora
One of Colorado’s largest private-sector employers is expanding in Aurora with over 1,700 potential new jobs.
The governor’s office announced Wednesday RK Industries will move its central operations and multiple business offices into a 150,000-square-foot building.
The construction and manufacturing company was established in Colorado in 1985. It has operations across the state and in the Mountain West.
The City of Aurora and Adams County worked closely with the company for more than two years to facilitate the expansion.
Colorado seals orphaned oil and gas wells under state program
Colorado's Orphaned Well Program plugged nearly 100 oil and gas wells over its last fiscal year. The state program housed in the Energy and Carbon Management Commission released a report this week detailing their recent work.
Ninety-five wells across the state were plugged, and over 250 orphaned wells underwent monitoring and testing work. The program also decommissioned equipment at over a hundred sites. All work is paid for by oil and gas operator fees and grant funding.
As of July, there were over 900 orphaned wells in the state. Colorado regulators are trying to prevent more orphaned wells by reimbursing operators to plug low-producing ones.
Trump Administration puts limits on popular conservation program
A parcel bordering Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, a historic ranch on the Yampa River in Colorado and land within the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument in New Mexico all have one thing in common: they were acquired in part with dollars from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
The longstanding federal conservation program is funded by offshore oil and gas royalties. But now the program could see more constraints that environmental and recreation advocates worry will undermine its effectiveness.
Congress created the LWCF in 1965 to protect natural and recreation areas. Since then, the fund has supported 45,000 projects across 8,000,000 acres in every county in the U.S. It’s also enabled matching funds for state and local governments to buy and develop public parks and recreation sites.
Boulder residents reminded to secure trash following bear attack
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is reminding Boulder residents to secure trash and other attractants after a bear injured a resident last weekend.
A man walking his dogs along High Street on Saturday encountered a cub and its mother. The man sustained what he called “superficial injuries.” Wildlife officials found an overturned trash can nearby.
CPW says bear sightings and conflicts with humans are increasing because of the bears’ pre-hibernation search for food.
Keeping trash cans in garages until pickup and taking down birdfeeders can help prevent bear activity.
