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Untitled Jackie Sedley
Boulder County plans to cut nonprofit funding for 2025
Boulder County officials will cut millions of dollars in safety net funding for the upcoming calendar year.
Nonprofits that provide emergency shelter, mental health care, food security, rental assistance, and more all face reductions in their upcoming grant allocations from the County.
Boulder County officials say the decision is a result of declining state and federal contributions, and county budget constraints. According to Boulder Reporting Lab, the demand for these services is only continuing to rise.
The cuts will impact the county’s Community Partnership Grant program, which distributed $12.3 million in human services funding to dozens of nonprofits this year. Next year, the county plans to give that program just under $8 million.
Another group that will be impacted by the budget deficit is All Roads, formerly known as the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. They expect a 30% cut next year, according to the organization’s chief development and communications officer.
Rocky Mountain Equality, previously Out Boulder County, expects a 15% reduction. Boulder Reporting Lab says they’ll likely have to reduce therapy slots for people on Medicaid, Medicare, and those uninsured.
Boulder County councilmembers agreed they would draft a letter to county commissioners with questions about the scope of the cuts, and the potential impacts on service providers.
Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters sentenced to nine years
Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was sentenced to nine years behind bars for her role in a 2021 breach of her own county’s election system.
Peters will serve between two to six months in the Mesa County jail before being transferred to the state Department of Corrections.
Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett called her a “charlatan” who would continue to find ways to profit off lies if she remained out of prison.
Peters did not testify during her trial, but before sentencing used her time to lay out her belief that elections are being stolen as part of a wide-reaching national conspiracy.
Peters was convicted back in August on three counts of attempting to influence a public official; conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation; official misconduct; violation of duty; and failure to comply with an order of the Secretary of State.
Newest vail ski village aims to provide housing for local workforce
The Town of Vail and Vail Resorts plan to develop a fourth ski village, after settling a legal battle over a 12-acre parcel of land.
A decade ago, the ski area operator planned to build its own luxury village with hundreds of condos and hotel rooms.
Instead, Avon-based East West Partners will develop the West Lionshead area into a base village at Vail Mountain. According to Colorado Public Radio, the developers aim to make it easier for people working at the resort and its many entertainment venues to live in the town itself.
Officials said the new village will include amenities for guests like shops and restaurants, but also allow for workforce housing, improved transit, and additional parking.
Many units at current base villages are vacation rentals used by guests. On top of that, the lack of affordable housing in Colorado’s ski towns has put longstanding pressure on those who work there. Employees at Vail Resorts are among several groups of ski workers who have pursued unionization for fairer wages and better benefits.
The plan will go through a long public process with many meetings between town, developer, and resort operators.
White-nose syndrome in bats leads to closure of nearly 100 caves
The Forest Service has closed nearly 100 caves across the Rocky Mountain Region to limit the spread of a bat disease that has killed millions of animals.
The closures were issued last month, prohibiting visitors from 88 caves across the region – including 16 in Colorado’s White River National Forest. All but 11 of the caves are only closed for part of the year.
The orders come after wildlife biologists found 32 bats on the Front Range with white-nose syndrome back in the spring. That’s a huge spike from the one bat found on the Eastern Plains last year.
The orders will last for three years.
Since 2006, white-nose syndrome has been detected in bats in 40 states and nine Canadian provinces. The rapid spread of the disease out East has already led federal land managers to close most caves and historic minds year round to the public. That’s according to The Colorado Sun.
First bear attack in Colorado of the year
The first recorded Colorado bear attack of the year took place last Thursday.
A black bear and three cubs broke into a Lake City home and attacked a 74-year-old man, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The mama bear and her cubs pawed open a partially-cracked sliding glass door around 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening, causing a large crash.
CPW wildlife officer Lucas Martin said in a press release that no person was killed, but it was a close call. Paramedics treated the claw wounds on-site, and the man was not taken to the hospital.
All four bears involved in the attack were euthanized and sent to CPW’s lab in Fort Collins to be tested for disease, according to The Denver Post.
