NTSB investigating Frontier flight that killed pedestrian Friday; Polis signs state budget after $1.5 billion shortfall; CU Study Says El Niño events connected to wildfires burned in the Rockies

Headlines Monday, May 11, 2026

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    NTSB investigating Frontier flight that killed pedestrian Friday; Polis signs state budget after $1.5 billion shortfall; CU Study Says El Niño events connected to wildfires burned in the Rockies KGNU News

NTSB investigating Frontier flight that killed pedestrian Friday

The National Transportation Safety Board was collecting information yesterday afternoon about an emergency evacuation that took place Friday night aboard a Frontier flight at DIA. The evacuation was triggered after the plane had struck and killed a pedestrian on a runway at the airport. The plane immediately experienced engine failure afterwards.

Airport officials told the Denver Post that the pedestrian who was struck jumped the perimeter fence at Denver International Airport. Airline officials said 224 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated from the Los Angeles-bound flight. Paramedics took five people to the hospital with unspecified injuries, and 12 others reported minor injuries, according to airport officials.

Frontier Airlines did not respond to the Denver Post for a request for comment about the evacuation.

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 Polis signs state budget after $1.5 billion shortfall

Governor Jared Polis has signed a state budget for the next fiscal year. It had to address a $1.5 billion shortfall caused by ballooning costs and shifting federal policy.

Medicaid took the brunt of the cuts. Reimbursement rates for most healthcare providers were cut 2%. Programs for some undocumented immigrants and people with disabilities are also getting trimmed.

Democrats say Colorado faces a structural deficit due to rising healthcare costs and TABOR restraints. They expect a similar shortfall and more belt-tightening next year.

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CU Study says El Niño events connected to wildfires burned in the Rockies

A new study from CU Boulder and NOAA shows that the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is closely connected to the amount of land burned by wildfire in the Mountain West.

Last month, meteorologists said that the La Niña pattern was over. This is after it brought lower-than-average precipitation and warmer temperatures.

According to the study, La Niña is connected to more acres burned by wildfire in the summer and fall here in the West due to drier conditions.

Andy Hoell is a senior research meteorologist at the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder.

He says he’d like to look more into this connection at the hyper-local level, but researchers are somewhat constrained by the available data.

Hoell said, “Because we have area burned by wildfire data back to the 1980s, and in some specific locations, you can go back a little bit further than that. So that is a place for us to continue to explore as we continue to get more data and more historical data.”

He says this research could provide an additional tool for emergency managers in communities planning for wildfire season.

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Wildlife Crossings

When wildlife cross roads, bad things are bound to happen. But a recent report shows that constructing crossings for elk, deer and moose aids driver and animal safety.

Car crashes with wildlife are down sixty-seven percent on US Highway 89 south of Jackson from 2023 to 2024. Those years cover data since the state completed wildlife crossings in the area. Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is one of the project’s key partners and funders.

Executive director Renee Sadler says it takes years for animals to adjust to new crossing structures, but it’s already starting to pay off. “Seeing an almost seventy percent reduction in wildlife vehicle collisions in that first year is pretty phenomenal.” Sadler hopes other funding sources can help build momentum on the local level.

This story was reported for Rocky Mountain Community Radio by KHOL’s Sophia Boyd Fliegel in Wyoming.

Longmont Slated for direct route to DIA in new state transit funding

New state funding for transportation could mean Longmont has its own direct bus line to Denver International Airport. The Colorado Clean Transit Enterprise and Regional Transportation District announced a 9.3 million grant agreement last Thursday that’s slated to increase bus frequency, restore old routes, and create new routes like a Longmont-to-DIA shuttle.

The funding originates from Senate Bill 24-230. The bill, signed by Polis last year, was legislation meant for transit funding – though an RTD spokesperson told the Daily Camera that many of the new routes are still in an early planning phase.

Karen Benker, Former Longmont City Councilmember and current RTD Board Director, told the Camera that since the closure of the Longmont-operated Eight Black’s airport shuttle, residents have been rallying for this new RTD route. Though she said plans are still early, Benker said discussions for the Longmont route proposed hourly service that could run from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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You can hear daily headlines on the Morning Magazine, KGNU’s weekday morning show, with coverage of local and regional public affairs and news with headlines and commentary. Click here to listen to full episodes of the Morning Magazine.

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