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07_08_25_Headlines Ainsley Coogan
CPW wolf meeting
Colorado Parks and Wildlife will not kill or relocate a gray wolf pack that is believed to have been preying on livestock in Pitkin County.
That decision came during a special meeting of the Wildlife agency’s commissioners yesterday.
The wolves are part of what’s called the Copper Creek wolf pack, and were part of the 2020 voter-approved wolf reintroduction program. They were released in Grand County in April 2024, but after a series of livestock killings, were captured and relocated to Pitkin County earlier this year.
Before making any decision yesterday, the Wildlife commissioners heard from various experts. Once they did, they decided not to give the agency any specific instructions at all.
The Commissioners meeting came just days after a ranchers’ group asked for a “chronic depredation” permit that would allow them to kill wolves that are preying on their livestock.
The permit request came from the Holy Cross Cattlemen’s Association, which says that the Copper Creek Wolf pack has been killing livestock in Pitkin County for the last few months.
Livestock attacks by wolves in Pitkin County have been more common since the relocation, in spite of state efforts to curb the problem. That includes the hiring of range riders to protect livestock.
The Commission hasn’t yet acted on the rancher request.
Colorado immigration arrests
The number of arrests in Colorado by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has more than doubled during the first six months of the second Trump administration.
The number of ICE arrests in Colorado is up nearly three hundred percent from this same time a year ago.
That comes to 1,355 people as of June 10th, or nine per day, according to the Denver Post. They cite data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project at Berkeley’s law school.
The Colorado arrests include people from Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala and China. The UC-Berkeley data shows that most of those arrested have not been convicted of any crime.
Immigration advocates say that the Trump administration is prioritizing immigration enforcement over all other federal law enforcement priorities. The impact of all those arrests on families, they said, has been profound.
The administration says its goal is to deport as many as 1 million people a year. The Post says that so far, they are falling short of that. But the Republican tax bill signed into law last week includes tens of billions of dollars in new funding for ICE, in order to hire more agents and increase the number of arrests.
The Denver Post reporting reflects only Colorado numbers, but the Denver ICE office also has jurisdiction in Wyoming.
Budget effects on schools
Republicans in Congress have approved a sweeping tax and domestic policy bill that Donald Trump has put in place.
The bill will ramp up spending on immigration enforcement and make deep cuts to social safety net programs. This includes major ramifications for children and schools.
It slashes Medicaid, which provides health insurance to about 37 million children and provides significant revenue for schools, and will limit the eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The SNAP program provides free lunches for eligible children.
The 900-page bill doesn’t stop there. It will create a new voucher-like program that will pay for private school scholarships, but provides the opportunity for states to opt-out, which many Democrats are expected to do.
The increase in ICE enforcements will also have an effect on schools and many hours and dollars have contributed to helping students whose families have already been arrested.
Weld County West Nile
A test conducted on two mosquitos in two different areas of Weld County revealed a positive test for West Nile virus. No human cases have yet been reported.
These types of tests occur weekly in Weld County and are collected from three different zones. The two positive tests are from zones one and two, including zone one near Greeley, Evans, Kersey and Lasalle, and the second is near Johnsontown, Milliken and Platteville.
Colorado Health officials expect cases of West Nile virus to increase in human cases as the hot weather continues over July and August. The first human case recorded in Weld County was July 18, 2024. Symptoms can appear three to 14 days after an infected bite. Some symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, followed by weakness and a rash.
