The Colorado River’s other crisis

Good morning, Colorado.

You know those days when 1 p.m. hits and a fog washes over you? Your thoughts become a little duller, your focus wanes and your brain basically turns into sludge. I used to regularly combat that afternoon slump with a Mountain Dew Code Red. I’m not proud of it. My previous coworkers in a Florida newsroom ruthlessly mocked me for drinking a liquid that looks like it would make every organ glow in the dark.

I’ve mostly kicked that habit, though I do occasionally pick up a bottle on the way to a school board meeting or when I know it’s going to be a late night of writing. Now I power through the afternoon haze by taking my dog for a quick stroll or by grabbing a Starbucks latte or espresso. Still probably not the best for me, but it does feel like a step up from that alarmingly red soda.

If you have any proven tips or tricks for finding your second wind come the afternoon (so that I’m not regularly shelling out $7 on my Starbucks runs), let me know here. And, yes, I realize drinking more water is probably the answer.

As we all caffeinate ourselves for the first chapter of the day, let’s turn to today’s news, shall we?

Erica Breunlin

Education Reporter

THE NEWS

WATER

Colorado River’s hidden, below-ground reservoir is quickly shrinking, researchers say

While Colorado River users fret over shrinking water supplies above ground, the basin has lost even more water below the surface. The groundwater depletion also happened about three times faster over the past 10 years compared with the decade before. As Shannon Mullane reports, researchers found the losses in states like Colorado are lower than those downstream.

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• New Colorado stream protection law targets massive permitting backlog, costs. State health officials will face tighter deadlines and more scrutiny of a water quality permitting program plagued by massive backlogs and criticized as being too expensive.

HEALTH

Here’s what we know about how measles spread on a Turkish Airlines flight to Denver

At least four Colorado residents on the flight became infected with measles. The protocol for tracking infections on planes involves identifying everybody who sat two rows in front or two rows behind the infectious person. Two vaccinated adults from Arapahoe County who became ill were within those borders. But an infected child was farther back, and so, too, was an infected adult. John Ingold is tracking the spread.

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Former head of Colorado’s largest teachers union jumps into Democratic primary in 8th Congressional District

Amie Baca-Oehlert is the fifth Democrat to enter the race to represent the 8th Congressional District. She has not held an elected office but has served two terms as president of the Colorado Education Association. She taught English at Adams City High School in Commerce City, was a school counselor at Northglenn High School and led the District 12 Educators’ Association. Erica Breunlin and Jesse Paul have more.

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MORE NEWS

• Hundreds gather in Boulder to denounce antisemitism after attack. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis joined faith and community leaders for an event focused on taking a stand against antisemitism and hate. An emotional crowd listened as multiple speakers shared their sentiments.
• Federal judge stops deportation of family of man charged in Boulder firebombing. U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the family of Mohamed Soliman to halt deportation proceedings of his wife and five kids.

Section by David Krause | Editor

COLORADO REPORT

• RIP: Donnelley Erdman — a man for all seasons. The man who designed the ironic bumper sticker that typified the excess of 1970s culture in Aspen — reading “Cocaine is nature’s way of telling you to earn more money.” — died last year. This is a fascinating remembrance from his son.
  — The Aspen Times
• Keep this under your sombrero: Tres Picocos Burritos are tasty, even if the company isn’t Mexican. The frozen burrito company whose products are now available at hundreds of grocery and convenience stores was launched with marketing by CEO Jane Hartgrove, a woman with no Mexican heritage, sporting a hot pink sombrero 15 years ago — something that she tells Westword she would change if she could go back.
  — Westword
• Morrison bartender and Evergreen coffee shop owner to star in upcoming rockumentary. A movie about the life of 1970s band Sugarloaf is filming in and around Denver, and it’s nabbed two locals for starring parts.
  — Colorado Community Media
• The city is making a plan to stop “green gentrification” around the Park Hill Golf Course. A document known as the Park Hill Action Plan is designed to give existing residents and neighbors more input in the creation and distribution of affordable housing as the area develops around the new park.
  — Denverite

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Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

What’s Happening

June 5-11

Festival Flamboyán. It’s been about two years since playwright Jon Marcantoni established Flamboyán Theater and almost one year since he moved the company into a shared space in Lakewood, a home base to pump out plays with a Puerto Rican spin.

On Sunday, many of the connections Marcantoni has made running the theater will converge for the inaugural Festival Flamboyán, created to “showcase the multi-faceted aspects of the Puerto Rican experience,” through a market, book fair, and live music during the day, and a variety show featuring two short comedies, an improv performance and a Puerto Rican dance group in the evening.

Daytime activities are family friendly, with kids activities and salsa classes, while the evening show is 18 or older.

$20-40; noon-10 p.m., June 8; Three Leaches, 1560 Teller St., Lakewood

• Imitation of Life. A free rooftop screening of the 1959 melodrama, “Imitation of Life,” at the Aspen Art Museum, in conjunction with the opening of the summer exhibition. Free with registration; 8:30 p.m., June 6; Aspen Art Museum, 637 E. Hyman Ave., Aspen
• Save Our History festival. A four-film festival with a focus on history and preservation, hosted in the Chautauqua Auditorium, where Boulder screened its first motion picture. $21.20; 4 p.m., June 8; Chautauqua Auditorium, 100 Morning Glory Dr., Boulder
• Creative Day of Service. Civic engagement group Warm Cookies of the Revolution teams up with The Church Project for a day of clearing the grounds — literally, removing branches and debris — and imagining a new purpose for the opened space. Food, games and fabric crafts provided. Free; 8 a.m.-5 p.m., June 7; The Church Project, 256 S. Broadway St., Monte Vista

Section by Parker Yamasaki | Reporter

Thanks for spinning through the morning headlines with us. We’ll see you right back here tomorrow!

— Erica & the whole staff of The Sun

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