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8.19.2025 andraa von Jack Armstrong
Headlines Tuesday August 19, 2025
Denver Layoffs
171 workers for the city of Denver have been getting notifications that they’ll be laid off after mayor Johnston announced the city’s 200 million dollar budget deficit this past May. According to a City of Denver News release sent out yesterday, notifications will continue through today.
The city hasn’t announced if the eliminated 171 jobs will be full or part-time workers, but they estimate the firings make up 1.6% of their workforce.
The city also plans to eliminate 665 vacant jobs and transfer 92 jobs to funding sources outside of the city’s general fund. All these cuts will account for about 100 million dollars, half of the city’s deficit.
According to the Denver Post, the city only plans one round of layoffs. The Post also reports low morale among city employees – some have taken to slowing their work or not taking up new projects in fear of the firings.
The news release from the city confirmed Laid-off employees will receive 30 days’ paid leave, severance based on their time working with the city, salary and benefits.
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Western Slope Wildfires Update
Multiple wildfires burning in western Colorado have now consumed more than 200-thousand acres, making it the worst year for wildfires in the state since 2020.
At least one of the fires was human-caused, according to the Denver Post. The Archuleta County Sheriff’s Department has arrested two men and charged them with fourth degree arson, for allegedly starting an illegal fire that spread, near Pagosa Springs last week. That fire was 100% contained as of Saturday.
Two fires are still burning in Rio Blanco County. The Lee fire has burned some 137,000 acres with sixty-one percent containment as of yesterday. It was started by lightning on August 2nd.
The Elk fire, also in Rio Blanco County, has burned more than 14,000 acres and is 100% contained. It too was touched off by lightning.
The Turner Gulch fire has burned for more than a month now and has consumed nearly 32,000 acres, according to Colorado Newsline. It is at 79% containment.
The U.S. Drought Monitor says that drought conditions are at either “extreme” or “severe” all across western Colorado, which has greatly contributed to the wildfires that have burned this summer.
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CU Drought Study
Two CU Boulder scientists have concluded that persistently dry conditions are being driven by human activity more intensely — and more directly — than previously understood.
The findings were published last week in the journal Nature, and describe a climate pattern in Western states related to an El Niño-La Niña cycle to the south. This pattern has had one or two decade phases of cooler or warmer water and air temperature – one phase bringing higher-than-average rainfall, the other w/ less precipitation. The pattern has been in the dry phase since the 1990s.
By analyzing more than 500 climate model simulations from around the world, the study’s authors, which include scientists from around the country, were able to show the influence of human activity on the Southwestern megadrought. Rising levels of greenhouse gases, mostly the result of fossil-fuel combustion, have caused much of Colorado River’s Upper Basin to warm by an average of more than4 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels.
Severe drought conditions have persisted there since 2000, impacting about 40 million people in Colorado and six other Western states. The federal Bureau of Reclamation on Friday announced another year of reduced water allocations for the Lower Basin states of Arizona and Nevada.
The study’s author says, “What’s important here is that we’re showing that rainfall has also been influenced by humans, in addition to just evaporation … Both contribute to drought.”
“The most important implication of our findings,” he added. “ is that this drought is here to stay, unless we we do something about rising temperatures and global warming.”
Possible Measles Case At DIA
Officials from The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are urging travelers who were in Concourse C to watch for symptoms of Measles after an out-of-state resident carrying the virus passed through the airport last week. The infected traveler was in the airport August 12, and changed flights from gate C51 to gate C50 around 5pm.
Measles symptoms include a runny nose, cough, red eyes, fever, and a rash that starts on the face. Those who think they are experiencing measles should contact their medical care provider to discuss the best way to travel to access care while limiting exposure.
In related news, The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment also reported a second confirmed case of measles in Mesa County. The Denver Post reports that the county resident is suspected of being infected by the same source as a person living in Grand Junction who tested positive for the virus last week. This marks the 21st case of measles in the state this year.
Newsmax Settles
The conservative network Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to the Denver-based voting equipment company, Dominion Voting Systems.
The payment is an out-of-court settlement. It comes after a judge ruled earlier that Newsmax had indeed defamed them, for airing false information about its voting equipment after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
That same judge said that a jury should decide whether Newsmax acted with malice, according to the Denver Post. But the settlement, disclosed yesterday, came before that went to trial.
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ICE Colorado
As many as three new ICE detention centers could be open in Colorado by the end of this year.
That would triple the number of federally-operated Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in the state, according to Colorado Newsline.
The new ICE facilities are proposed for Walsenburg, Hudson, and Ignacio. If they all open it would increase immigration detention capacity in Colorado to 2,560 beds. For now, the detention center in Aurora is the only one in the state.
The expansion would be possible because of the forty-five billion dollars in new federal spending earmarked for immigrant deportations, part of a massive Republican tax cut and spending plan signed into law last month.
The Hudson and Walsenburg locations were among those listed as possible ICE centers in documents first obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union.
