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Boulder City Council plans to tackle homelessness; Proposal surface to rollback AI regulations in CO Juanita Hurtado
Headlines Friday August 15, 2025
Move-In this Weekend for CU Boulder, Heavy Traffic
Boulder will be expecting heavy traffic as CU’s move-in week begins. This pattern will start today and continue until next Friday. Baseline road, Arapahoe Avenue, and Broadway will be especially slow.
Stores like Target, Trader Joe’s and HomeGoods will also be crowded as students shop for apartments and school supplies.
Classes start August 21. Welcome back Buffs!
Boulder City Council Plans to Tackle Homelessness
Boulder’s city council says it’s working on plans to address homelessness throughout the city, dedicating their council meeting last night to a discussion on the issue.
At the meeting, the council introduced a plan to end unsheltered homelessness in Boulder by 2028.
Numbers on homelessness for the city of Boulder have been mixed. Reports shared with the council showed that at least 140 people sleep outside in the city, according to a July 2025 point-in-time count. However, reports from 2024 show the city has been on the right track, with the Daily Camera reporting the city issued 3,539 affordable housing vouchers in 2024, up from 161 in 2016.
In order to realize the 2028 plan, the council said they would need an additional 11 million dollars a year for services. Services would include “diversion” tactics that would help build someone’s social network, as well as investments in supportive housing and rental assistance programs.
Governor Polis Earmarks Funds for Pro-Affordable Housing
Governor Jared Polis has ordered that beginning Oct. 6th, local governments will not be eligible for 280 million dollars in state grants unless they are complying with a range of new housing laws.
The money at stake helps cities pay for things like transportation, conservation and energy projects. To qualify for discretionary funds in those areas cities will need to show they’re complying with laws to increase housing density near transit and allowing accessory dwelling units among others.
Polis said to the Capitol News Alliance, “Whatever dollar figure we have for grants, we wanna direct them and prioritize the areas that are fundamentally building homes that people can afford. I mean, it’s kind of simple at that level.”
Local governments say they don’t necessarily oppose all the laws covered by Polis’s executive order, but some are really unhappy with the state’s approach. Six Front Range cities are already suing the state, arguing that Polis is unconstitutionally taking away their local control over land use and zoning.
Approved Spending for Oil Wells being Plugged in Colorado
Colorado will spend up to 14 million dollars to plug 142 low-producing oil and gas wells, aiming to cut methane emissions and keep them from becoming orphan wells.
The state’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission says these aging wells release disproportionately high levels of methane, a greenhouse gas linked to climate change and public health risks.
Funding comes from a federal grant through the Inflation Reduction Act and the state’s Orphan Well Mitigation Enterprise fund, with no state tax dollars used.
Eighteen of the wells are on the Front Range, while Yuma County will see the largest number sealed. Work begins this summer.
Proposal Surface to Rollback AI Regulations in CO
From protecting Colorado’s air and land… to protecting how technology shapes our lives.
Colorado lawmakers could revisit the state’s first-in-the-nation artificial intelligence law during next week’s special session.
The 2024 law set rules for using AI in areas like employment, health care, and government. But small businesses, schools, and hospitals say it’s too broad and costly.
Colorado Politics reports there are at least four proposals, some to narrow the law, others to delay when it takes effect, and one that would replace it altogether.
Governor Jared Polis has called for changes before the law takes effect in 2026.
