Good morning, Colorado.
I used to be one of *those* early morning people, greeting the day by 5:30 a.m. with my first cup of coffee quickly turning into my second. In theory, I still love mornings. Their stillness. How gentle they can be. But over time, I have devolved into a normal person who aggressively snoozes my alarm and struggles to fight the force of gravity willing me to stay in bed. I want to reclaim my early mornings, maybe even become of *those* extra early morning people who set out to begin conquering the day at 4 a.m. It feels like a lofty goal, but a girl can dream. Which is probably exactly what I’ll do as I keep pressing snooze and burrowing deeper into my covers.
Anyway. Let’s rise, maybe stretch a little, get that coffee into our veins and turn over to today’s news, shall we?
Erica Breunlin
Education Reporter
THE NEWS
EDUCATION
Teacher apprenticeships are taking off in Colorado. Could they help schools chip away at the educator shortage?
Paraprofessional P. Gideon Daniel studies for his teaching certificate at home July 9 in Colorado Springs. Daniel is working toward becoming a teacher through a new degree apprenticeship program that blends online college coursework with on-the-job classroom training. (Brian Malone, Special to The Colorado Sun)“It just creates so much opportunity for people who didn’t think they could go to college because they have to work the whole time.”
— Liz Qualman, director of teacher education at Colorado Mountain College
The architects of the new Colorado program say the early interest is a surefire sign that teacher apprenticeships have the potential to bulk up the state’s educator workforce over time and draw more teachers to classrooms who are likely to stay. As Erica Breunlin reports, having 100 teachers in training in the first two years is a good start.
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ENVIRONMENT
Zebra mussel larvae spreading fast in Colorado River and nearby lakes on Western Slope
Crews with Colorado Parks and Wildlife ready mussel-killing chemicals on the shore of Highline Lake near Loma on March 1, 2023. (Barton Glasser, Special to The Colorado Sun)The Colorado River is now officially “positive” for invasive zebra mussels in the latest failure of containment for the voracious species. It’s the second year in a row they’ve been discovered in the West’s key river channel through Colorado. CPW officials are also dealing with a full-blown adult zebra mussel invasion in a privately owned lake in western Eagle County. Michael Booth has details.
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ENVIRONMENT
Photos: Deconstructing “forever chemicals” at a Colorado military base
Anderson Ellis, left, and Dhileep Sivam of Aquagga set up equipment at the Peterson Space Force base PFAS site July 8 in Colorado Springs. Aquagga will use licensed technology patented by the Colorado School of Mines to destroy PFAS the group collects from soil samples onsite. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)It’s going to take massive amounts of innovation and energy to solve Colorado’s “forever chemicals” problem. But PFAS destruction expert Chris Higgins of the Colorado School of Mines, where some of the most promising techniques were launched, wants people who see the Space Force cleanup sites to come away with another impression: hope. Photographer Mike Sweeney toured the Colorado Springs base recently and has some powerful images of innovation.
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MORE NEWS
Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensics unit needs more staff, audit finds. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation commissioned the report as it looks for ways to speed up evidence processing times and improve the labs’ operations.Section by David Krause | Editor
COLORADO REPORT
? = source has article meter or paywall
Six Colorado facilities pitched for possible ICE detention expansion by private companies, records show. Documents obtained by the ACLU show that ICE is seeking 850 to 950 beds within two hours’ drive of its Denver headquarters or Colorado field offices. Possible sites include Cheyenne Mountain Center in Colorado Springs, the former Huerfano County Correctional Center and the former Boys’ Ranch in La Junta.— The Denver Post ? Food Bank of the Rockies’ new distribution center will be able to feed up to 10,000 people per day. With the proposed new restrictions on SNAP eligibility, Food Bank of the Rockies is preparing for growing needs and will open a new facility in Aurora that will double the cold storage space the organization has and triple its volunteering capacity.— Colorado Community Media Roughly 13,000 Northern Colorado residents sweat through widespread power outage. On one of the hottest nights of the year, a “transmission line event” left thousands of Poudre Valley REA without electricity overnight in Larimer County.— 9News The discounts behind Colorado’s EV boom are disappearing fast. As Sam Brasch put it: “A mantra for procrastinators now applies to Colorado residents considering an electric vehicle: The best time to buy or lease a battery-powered car was sometime last year. The second-best time is likely right now.”— Colorado Public RadioSection by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler
THE OPINION PAGE
COMMUNITY
Requiring licensing for Colorado outdoor preschool programs isn’t a barrier, it’s a breakthrough. Colorado’s 2024 state law provides a framework to help a wide range of programs handle challenges safely, consistently and with integrity.— Megan Patterson, founder of nonprofit, outdoor-based school WorldmindThe Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at [email protected].
What’s Happening
The Mancos Creative District logo, featuring burros, is posted large on the side of the Mancos Chamber of Commerce building. The city’s annual Burrofest in June drew almost as many people who live in the southwestern Colorado town. (Ilana Newman, The Daily Yonder)Mesa Verde Literary Festival, in Mancos, Saturday is for the writers. The award-winners and the best-sellers alongside the fledgling, the emerging, the curious and the just-for-fun types. More than 40 panels and presentations will be tucked into the coffee shops, bookstores and breweries throughout town with authors from all around the country.
Headlining the festival this year are Colorado writer and essayist Pam Houston, who will present with Diné (Navajo) poet Byron Aspaas, as well as Tim Weed, who will talk about nature writing as an antidote to climate despair.
Panels run the gamut of genres, from historical fiction and crafting memoir, to children’s books and graphic novels, to the ins and outs of the small press publishing world. There will also be a children’s poetry workshop and a character writing class for teens.
The festival is free and open to the public, just RSVP with your ZIP code and reading habits here, then check out the full schedule here to start planning your day.
Free; 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday; Various locations in Mancos
Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter
Glad we’re all caught up on today’s headlines. Anyone else ready for a nap? Yeah, me neither. We’ll see you back here tomorrow!
— Erica & the whole staff of The Sun
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