Small Boulder Wildfire Contained, Washington Denies Colorado’s Request for Wolves, Secretaries of State Concerned About Federal Voter Data Misuse, Immigrants Detained in Aurora Despite Asking for Deportation, Ethics Committee Investigation, RTD Holiday Light Rail, Boulder County Minimum Wage Hearing

Headlines Wednesday November 19, 2025

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    Small Boulder Wildfire Contained, Washington Denies Colorado’s Request for Wolves, Secretaries of State Concerned About Federal Voter Data Misuse, Immigrants Detained in Aurora Despite Asking for Deportation, Ethics Committee Investigation, RTD Holiday Light Rail, Boulder County Minimum Wage Hearing KGNU News

Tuesday Night Wildfire in Boulder is Contained

A small wildfire broke out above Boulder last night near Realization Point and Artist Point on Flagstaff Mountain.The fire was declared contained by 1 a.m. with firefighters remaining on scene to put out remaining hot spots. According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, there were and are no evacuation orders and no structures threatened.

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Washington Denies Colorado’s Request for Gray Wolves

The state of Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission denied Colorado’s request for up to 15 gray wolves, citing a lack of public support and wolves’ endangered status in the state.

Colorado was due to receive 15 gray wolves from British Columbia this winter, but the newly appointed director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told Colorado on Oct. 10 that it was only allowed to source wolves from Northern Rocky Mountain states where gray wolves are not listed as federally endangered.

Groups in both Washington and Colorado were opposed to the relocation of the wolves, but some supporters in Colorado cite the critical need to source wolves for Colorado’s ongoing wolf reintroduction program. Colorado’s current gray wolf population is only about 25 to 30 wolves, which is not yet enough to be self-sustaining, according to the chair of the Colorado Sierra Club.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will continue to work to source gray wolves elsewhere for what they hope will be a third wolf release this winter.

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Colorado Secretary of State and Others Concerned About Potential Federal Misuse of Voter Data

Secretaries of State from 10 states, including Jena Griswold of Colorado, sent a letter to top Trump administration officials to express “immense concern” about whether the Department of Justice shared voter roll information with Homeland Security to search it for noncitizens.

The letter, which is addressed to U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi and secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, asks if election officials were misled about how the federal government would use their voter data. The DOJ requested voter data from 40 states, and Griswold’s office supplied a master Colorado voter history list from the past year, including names of voters, their residential addresses, birth year, and some phone numbers, all public information.

In an interview with Colorado Newsline, Griswold said “we would like to know what the Trump administration is doing with voter data, and I am proud to stand with nine other secretaries of state to demand answers and accountability.” She expressed fear that the administration is using voter data to spread disinformation and undermine elections.

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Immigrants in Aurora Detention Facility Asking for Deportation

For the past few months, immigrants being held at an Aurora detention facility have been asking to be deported. Cesar Eriberto Landazuri Marmolejo, who came to the U.S. last year with his wife and young son, asked to be deported to Ecuador to reunite with them. Another immigrant, Keooudone Pthechamphone, who came as a child from Laos in the 1970s, wants to deport back as a fresh start.

Immigrants who have no criminal record have previously been released as their cases have played out, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy has made it difficult to do that. Several court orders have challenged that policy.

According to court data, immigrants are still eager to leave the country. Laura Lunn, the director of advocacy and litigation at the Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network, said delays throughout every aspect of the immigration court process is now causing the length of detention to grow rapidly.

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Ethics Committee Moves Forward in Investigation of CO Democrat Group

The Colorado Independent Ethics Committee voted to investigate members of the Colorado Opportunity Caucus after the group has been suspected of accepting illegal contributions that would have paid for a retreat in Vail last month.

The complaint was filed by Colorado Common Cause against some seventeen Colorado democrats, including state senator Judy Amabile from Boulder, as well as Cecelia Espinoza and Sean Camacho. The complaint alleges that so-called dark money group One Main Street paid for room and accommodations of a caucus retreat to Vail in October.

According to Colorado Politics, One Main Street allegedly paid for $25,000 worth of room fees. The complaint claims the Colorado Opportunity Caucus asked One Main Street’s Colorado division to pay the bill. The complaint also acknowledged rooms at the Sonnenalp Vail resort, where the group met, cost between $316 to $500 a night.

Colorado Common Cause took issue with One Main Street having “undisclosed influence over a large number of Colorado legislators by paying significant costs of the event.” Under state law, it’s illegal for a lawmaker to accept gifts exceeding $75 per year per person.

If the lawmakers were found to have violated the law, Colorado Politics reports they could be fined up to twice the cost of the event.

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RTD Holiday Light Rail Lines

Regional Transportation District (RTD) officials soon will launch a temporary holiday light rail service linking RTD’s I-25/Broadway station with 30th/Downing in Five Points through the central downtown corridor. These trains will run every 15 minutes. The service will run Nov. 28 through Jan. 3, but will mark a resumption of the downtown and Welton Street rail transit that has been disrupted with rail maintenance since May 2024.

On Jan. 4, the current diverted tracks will resume their normal routes. The 86-day project is part of a multiyear $152 million RTD construction plan of the downtown track. Now that the track is finished, the temporary “Holiday Train” service will run as scheduled. Public transportation advocates lauded the temporary trains as a possibly permanent step toward a much more broad overhaul of routes that have been recommended due to low ridership.

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Boulder County Commissioners to Consider Reducing Minimum Wage Increase at Nov. 20 Hearing

The Boulder County Commissioners are holding a public hearing tomorrow, Nov. 20, to consider future changes to the county’s local minimum wage. A proposed draft ordinance would reduce the county’s upcoming 2026 wage increase, which applies to unincorporated Boulder County, to 1.5%, which would align with the 2026 City of Boulder minimum wage. County commissioners will consider the draft ordinance at a public hearing on tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Boulder Courthouse on Pearl St. Members of the public are invited to share comments during the public hearing or to share written comments online.

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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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