Headlines Tuesday Sept 30, 2025
Marshall Fire Virtual Meeting
Boulder County government has scheduled a virtual public meeting for this evening, where the public can learn about proposed changes to a Recovery Action Plan stemming from the December 2021 Marshall Mesa wildfire.
After then-President Biden declared fire-affected areas a disaster, the State of Colorado received two federal grants totaling more than $12 million. The money was earmarked for housing and infrastructure recovery, as well as economic development and resilience.
From those grants, the state developed a Public Action Plan to decide exactly how to use the funds. The subject of tonight’s Zoom meeting is a proposed amendment to the plan.
The meeting is scheduled to run from six o’clock to 7:30. Spanish translation and American Sign Language interpretation will be provided, according to a Boulder County press release.
For more details and information on how to participate, visit kgnu.org/news, and find the link on our Daily Headlines page.
State Denies Boulder Xcel Cleanup
State health officials say Xcel Energy’s initial plan to clean up contamination at the Valmont Power Station doesn’t go far enough, and has rejected their proposal. KGNU’s Andraa Von has more.
Xcel’s Valmont Power Station just outside of Boulder city limits, near 63rd and Arapahoe, is contaminated by toxic coal ash created by almost 100 years of coal burning. Groundwater contamination has been documented since 2017 when Xcel was required to begin testing and publicly reporting results, according to Boulder Reporting Lab.
Xcel is required by state and federal law to remove more than a million tons of the coal ash, and to make groundwater safer. Some worry that disturbing the ash during this project could release toxic dust into the air.
The project is supposed to begin early next year and take a decade or more to complete. The cleanup is estimated to cost $60 to $70 million dollars, with the state Public Utilities Commission deciding how much of that bill falls to Xcel’s Colorado customers.
Xcel’s initial cleanup proposal involved processing most of the ash into cement and selling it locally. In rejecting this initial proposal, state officials said it had “vague waste-disposal methods, inadequate protections for air, water, and soil, and didn’t address concerns that arose from public comments”.
State officials said one reason they rejected Xcel’s proposal was because this is the first cleanup of this size, scope and duration in Colorado, commenting that it could set a precedent and they want to get it right the first time.
The Trump administration is cutting funding for colleges that serve a large population of students of color, redirecting millions of dollars away from 14 Colorado colleges. In a news release from the Department of Education, officials say the move will further the Trump administration’s goal of rolling back racial quotas to end discrimination.
According to Chalkbeat Colorado, the funds did serve 14 Colorado colleges, mostly two-year schools. So far, a confirmed 5.1 million dollars will be lost by Morgan Community College, Lamar Community College, and Pueblo Community College – all hispanic-serving institutions that used the money for student retention and support.
The minority-serving institution program was created by congress in 1992. Advocates say that the money helped students of color and lower income families have their kids go to college when they were less likely to do so.
Advocates for the programs also stress that the money helps relieve money stresses for all students enrolled at these institutions, including white students.
The redirected funds are going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as Tribal colleges which get their designation from historic determinations, and not by current racial quotas. Colorado has none of these institutions, meaning all of this federal funding is being removed from the state.
Medicaid Prior Authorization Reinstated
Therapists in Colorado will have to get approval from the state’s health care policy department to be able to conduct more than 24 sessions with a patient using medicaid. Governor Polis ordered the department to reinstate prior authorization to make up for the state budget deficit caused by Trump’s big beautiful bill.
The state estimates that requiring prior authorization for mental healthcare patients using medicaid could save the state 6.1 million dollars. The Denver Post reports, that this figure is part of Polis’s estimated 252 million dollars in spending cuts that have all come from the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance.
The Post reports that 10% of medicaid members who received therapy had 26 sessions, with the amount of those who had more than 56 sessions in a year roughly doubled after the law that prohibited prior authorization was lifted in 2022.
The slurry of spending cuts from a bill state lawmakers passed during the special session that authorizes the governor to QUOTE, “suspend or discontinue, in whole or in part, the functions or services of any department, board, bureau or agency of the state government for up to three months.”
School Meal Ballot Measures
Two measures that would help fund free school meals in Colorado will be on the state ballot this November.
Propositions LL and MM would allocate money to the Healthy School Meals for All program. Voters approved the meals program in 2022, according to Colorado Newsline, but since going into effect it has exceeded its projected cost.
If new funding isn’t found, program administrators say they’ll have to put limits on who can participate. The program is currently open to all students, regardless of income level. Also at risk would be an effort to source locally-grown produce, give cafeteria workers better pay, and offset cuts to federal food stamps.
If Proposition LL is approved, it would allow the existing meal program to keep excess money it has already raised. That totals more than $12 million. If it’s rejected, the excess money would be refunded.
Proposition MM would permanently fund the Healthy School Meals for All program by adding limits to tax deductions allowed for those who make more than $300,000 a year.
