Latest / Colorado Sun / Colorado Sun Wednesday 10/14/2026

Transcript

Colorado Sun Wednesday 10/14/2026 · Colorado Sun

• 0:01
  Hello, this is the Colorado Sun for Wednesday, october fourteenth, twenty twenty six.
• 0:10
  My name is Candace Einbeck.
• 0:12
  Thank you for joining us.
• 0:14
  Today we will be reading the following main articles.
• 0:18
  Millions in untraceable conservative money is flooding into Colorado to oppose tax related ballot measures.
• 0:28
  Colorado Democrats' first legislative supermajority is within reach.
• 0:33
  They're not spending like they want it.
• 0:38
  And North America's largest wildlife overpass is working.
• 0:42
  I twenty five collisions near Castle Rock are down ninety one percent.
• 0:52
  Let's start with our first story.
• 0:56
  Millions in untraceable conservative money is flooding into Colorado to oppose tax related ballot measures.
• 1:04
  Most of the money is targeted at Amendment eighty seven, which would impose a graduated income tax rate on businesses and individuals, increasing the tax burden on those earning
• 1:15
  more than about five hundred thousand dollars a year in order to generate an estimated two billion in its first year.
• 1:25
  This is reported by Jesse Paul.
• 1:31
  This story first appeared in the unaffiliated newsletter.
• 1:35
  Millions of dollars in untraceable money from conservative groups has flowed into Colorado in recent weeks to oppose a pair of liberal ballot measures that would change the tax code
• 1:47
  to raise billions of dollars in state revenue, primarily for things like education and health care.
• 1:55
  Most of the money is targeted at Amendment eighty seven.
• 1:59
  Which would impose a graduated income tax rate on businesses and individuals, increasing the tax burden on those earning more than about $500,000, in order to generate an
• 2:12
  estimated $2 billion in its first full year for health care, education, and child care.
• 2:20
  Conservative money is also being spent to oppose Proposition NN, which would eliminate potentially billions of dollars.
• 2:28
  And taxpayers' Bill of Rights refunds for the foreseeable future and redirect that money for at least a decade toward K-12 schools and early childhood programs.
• 2:42
  Four state issue committees are fighting 87 and NN Don't Price Us Out, Brighter Colorado, the Americans for Prosperity Colorado Issue Committee, and Keep Colorado Affordable.
• 2:57
  Don't Price Us Out appears to be raising and spending the most money, specifically against the ballot measures.
• 3:05
  On september twenty ninth, it took in $760,000 from the American Prosperity Coalition, which has no online presence and is registered to a shipping store in Texas.
• 3:20
  The group also received $300,000 from Ready Colorado, a conservative political.
• 3:26
  nonprofit that works on education issues but doesn't disclose its donors.
• 3:33
  The American Prosperity Coalition and Ready Colorado are what the Colorado Sun refers to as dark money groups because they don't reveal their donors.
• 3:43
  Last week the committee received $25,000 each from Joe O'Day, who runs a Colorado construction company and ran unsuccessfully
• 3:54
  For US Senate as a Republican twenty twenty two, and Jeff Keller, a retired Colorado construction company executive.
• 4:05
  Don't Price Us Out spent more than $800,000 on ads at the end of September.
• 4:12
  The group has spent tens of thousands on YouTube spots urging people to vote against Amendment 87.
• 4:19
  Google's Ad Transparency Center shows.
• 4:22
  The next biggest spender against Proposition NN and Amendment 87 is the Issue Committee Brighter Colorado, which is also supporting six conservative ballot measures this year.
• 4:38
  Since the group is spending for and against so many initiatives on the 2026 ballot, it's difficult to determine how much is being spent on which ones.
• 4:49
  But the committee had raised nearly $3 million through Tuesday morning, most of which $1.75 million came in September from Common Sense America, a national conservative
• 5:01
  political nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors.
• 5:05
  And has bankrolled many conservative ballot measures in Colorado this year.
• 5:10
  The Go Pack Election Fund, a federal political action committee that backs Republican causes and candidates, gave Brighter Colorado $500,000 also in September.
• 5:25
  The conservative political nonprofit Colorado Dawn, which doesn't disclose its donors, gave $100,000 to Brighter Colorado.
• 5:35
  In early October.
• 5:38
  Most of the committee's recent spending was on ads and it was predominantly rooted through Victor's Canvassing in Colorado Springs, a pedalitical firm that works for many Republican
• 5:50
  candidates and campaigns.
• 5:52
  The Americans for Prosperity Colorado Issue Committee, a group funded by Americans for Prosperity, the National Conservative Dark Money Group, has raised and spent about three
• 6:03
  hundred and fifty thousand dollars opposing Amendment eighty seven.
• 6:07
  Through Tuesday morning.
• 6:42
  The Protect Colorado Future Coalition is backing eighty seven and had raised nearly two million dollars through Tuesday morning, including from some groups that don't disclose
• 6:52
  their donors.
• 6:53
  More than a quarter of the committee's donations through Monday came from Merle Chambers, a major Democratic donor in Colorado who used to work in the oil and gas industry, who has
• 7:04
  given five hundred thousand dollars.
• 7:07
  Other major contributors to the Protect Colorado's Future Coalition.
• 7:12
  have been Stand for Children, an Education Advocacy Group, AARP, which is funded by its members, the Bell Policy Center, and Colorado Fiscal Institute, a liberal nonprofit think
• 7:26
  tank, the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition, a nonprofit led by Democratic State Representative Lorena Garcia, and Great Education Colorado Action, a nonprofit.
• 7:43
  The Bell Policy Center's donors, which have disclosed to the Colorado Sun, include a number of liberal-leaning nonprofits and foundations, as well as individual donors
• 7:53
  sympathetic to democratic causes and candidates.
• 7:57
  The Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition posts a list of its major donors on its website.
• 8:03
  The Colorado Fiscal Institute reveals some of its donors.
• 8:07
  The Great Education Colorado Action.
• 8:10
  The political offshoot of the nonprofit Great Education Colorado does not review its donors and neither does Stand for Children.
• 8:18
  Most of Protect Colorado's Future Coalition reported spending has been on ads in support of Amendment 87.
• 8:27
  Yes for Colorado Kids, which is backing Proposition NN, had raised more than $5 million through Tuesday morning, including $3 million from the National Education Association.
• 8:40
  The nation's largest teachers union.
• 8:43
  Other major contributors to the committee include the Gary Advocacy at $1 million, the Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education at $950,000, the Rose Community Foundation
• 8:57
  at $50,000, and CLCS Action at $25,000.
• 9:03
  Gary Advocacy was founded by oil and gas entrepreneurs Sam Gary and his wife Nancy.
• 9:10
  The Colorado Fund for Children in Public Education is funded by members of the Colorado Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union.
• 9:19
  The Rose Community Foundation's funding was ceded about fifth 30 years ago from the sale of Rose Medical Center.
• 9:28
  CLCS Action is a political nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors and is associated with the Colorado League of Charter Schools.
• 9:39
  The money raised by Yes for Colorado Kids has gone toward a major ad campaign that includes TV and digital spots.
• 9:47
  Millions more is being spent on the other measures on the statewide ballot this year.
• 9:53
  No pollution in the Constitution, an issue committee battling Amendment eighty two, which would put a right to natural gas in the state constitution, had raised more than two
• 10:04
  million dollars through Tuesday morning.
• 10:07
  That includes six hundred thousand dollars from the Utility Action Alliance, a national political nonprofit that battles climate change and doesn't disclose its donors.
• 10:18
  Five hundred thousand dollars from the sixteen thirty Fund, a national liberal nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors, and two hundred fifty thousand dollars from the League
• 10:28
  of Conservation Voters, a liberal political.
• 10:34
  Nonprofit funded in large part by Democratic philanthropists.
• 10:39
  In October, the committee received two hundred and fifty thousand dollars from the Greed Advocacy Project, another political nonprofit that doesn't disclose its stoners, and one
• 10:49
  hundred and twenty five thousand dollars from Aspen One, which runs Aspen Snowmass.
• 10:54
  Conservation Colorado and its nonprofit campaign ARM, whose funding sources are unclear, have also contributed money.
• 11:02
  To no pollution in the Constitution.
• 11:06
  The committee spent more than one million dollars in September, most of it on TV and digital ads.
• 11:13
  Defend our ballots, which is fighting Amendment 84, which would require voters to put the last four digits of their Social Security driver's license or state ID numbers on their
• 11:24
  ballot, had raised about two hundred thousand dollars through Tuesday morning.
• 11:29
  Most of it from a recently formed nonprofit of the same name that doesn't disclose its donors.
• 11:35
  Coloradans for Coco, the committee supporting ballot issue 7A, which would raise the sales tax in communities served by a front range passenger rail line to expand service, had
• 11:47
  raised nearly one million dollars through Tuesday morning.
• 11:51
  Its major donors include the Denver Broncos, the Colorado Rockies, the engineering firm HDR, and
• 11:57
  Lyon Residential, a builder that works in Sterling Ranch, HNBT Corporation, a transit developer, and boldly forward, a political nonprofit tied to Governor Jared Polis that
• 12:10
  doesn't reveal its donors.
• 12:13
  Protect Colorado's land and water, prevent wildfires, which is backing Proposition 137, which would set aside about $200 million in annual existing tax revenue for land
• 12:25
  management and
• 12:26
  Had raised about $5 million through Tuesday morning.
• 12:29
  About $1 million of that had come from the Nature's Conservancy, a national nonprofit funded by its members and other foundations.
• 12:37
  The Western Resource Advocates Action Fund, the nonprofit campaign arm of Western Resources Advocates, which doesn't reveal its donors, is also a big funder of the
• 12:47
  committee.
• 12:49
  The committee also received $525,000 in
• 12:53
  in early October from the Environmental Defense Action Fund, a liberal dark money group, and one hundred thousand dollars on Monday from the Colorado Civic Alliance, also a dark
• 13:04
  money group.
• 13:05
  Families Not Politics, which is battling against Propositions one hundred thirty four and five, which would prohibit transgender youth and college students from playing in gendered
• 13:16
  sports and outlaw surgeries
• 13:18
  Change in the biological sex characteristics of people under 18 had raised about one point seven million dollars through Tuesday morning.
• 13:28
  Its major donors include the ACLU, One Colorado, and its nonprofit campaign arm, which doesn't disclose its donors.
• 13:36
  Brighter Future for Colorado, a liberal political nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors, and the Color Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, known
• 13:47
  as Color.
• 13:48
  And Chambers, the former oil and gas executive.
• 13:52
  Another color and ACLU back committee opposing the initiatives, the People's Know, has raised two hundred thousand dollars to oppose the initiatives.
• 14:02
  The committees supporting one hundred thirty four and one hundred thirty five, Protect Kids Colorado and Protect Our Children haven't reported and raising spending much money.
• 14:16
  And there are um pictures here of people demonstrating an opposition to Colorado propositions 134 and 135 outside of the state capitol on September 15, 2026.
• 14:31
  There's also a picture here of Michael Farrafino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver, speaking at a rally, a launch rally for the Yes on
• 14:44
  7A.
• 14:45
  uh
• 14:46
  Campaign supporting Proposition seven A.
• 14:48
  This is at Union Station on September tenth.
• 14:57
  There's also a picture of supporters gathered at the Yes for Colorado Kids Campaign kickoff in support of Proposition NN at Denver West High School on july seventeenth.
• 15:09
  And finally there is a graduated income tax calculator.
• 15:15
  See what you'd owe under Initiative one hundred ninety five's proposed six bracket structure versus Colorado's current four point four percent flak rate.
• 15:26
  You can enter your taxable federal income and it will show you how much you would be paying.
• 15:47
  Our next story Colorado Democrats' first legislative supermajority is within reach.
• 15:53
  They're not spending like they want it.
• 15:55
  Republican groups are outspending Democrats in Highlands Ranch, Pueblo, and Loveland by more than four to one.
• 16:03
  This is reported by Taylor Dolvin.
• 16:08
  Republicans are spending more than one point six million dollars to defend a state senate district in Douglas County that they've held comfortably for the past fifteen years in
• 16:18
  what appears to be a desperate attempt to prevent a Democratic supermajority at the Colorado Capitol.
• 16:27
  Democrats are just one House seat and one Senate seat shy of what lawmakers said would be their first bicameral supermajority, meaning they would control two thirds of the seats in
• 16:38
  both chambers of the legislature, which would allow them to override vetoes from the next governor and put constitutional amendments on the ballot without any Republican votes.
• 16:49
  But a supermajority may not be on every Democrat's wish list.
• 16:54
  It would weaken the next governor, likely to be Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, and force Democrats in the legislature to reconcile tough questions about policy choices
• 17:05
  that they've been able to avoid over the past eight years by using the threat of a veto from Governor Jared Polis as cover.
• 17:15
  Based on spending so far, Republicans appear to want to prevent a Democratic supermajority.
• 17:22
  far more than Democrats want to achieve one.
• 17:25
  In three competitive Senate and House races in Pueblo, Highlands Ranch and Loveland, Republican state Super PACs had spent about six point seven million dollars as of october
• 17:37
  tenth, more than four times what Democratic groups had spent.
• 17:41
  In Senate District thirty, the Douglas County seat on which a Senate supermajority could hinge, Democratic groups had spent no money to defeat
• 17:51
  GOP Senator John Carson as of october tenth.
• 17:59
  For Republicans, Democratic supermajorities in the Capitol would spell a new level of disaster and embarrassment for a party that finds itself increasingly irrelevant and
• 18:09
  signaled that Colorado's transition from a purple state to a blue one is largely cemented.
• 18:15
  Republican operative Daniel Cole, who manages major GOP spending in the state Senate races, called the prospect of a Democratic supermajority the quote worst case scenario.
• 18:28
  That's a hypothetical I don't want to entertain, Coles said.
• 18:31
  We're fighting to make sure it doesn't happen.
• 18:34
  Senate District thirty encompasses the northeast part of Douglas County, including Highlands Ranch, Castle Pines, Lone Tree and Roxboro Park.
• 18:42
  It's home to people who are older, whiter, wealthier than the average Coloradan, and has been represented by Republicans since at least twenty ten, despite wins by presidential
• 18:53
  Democratic candidates in twenty twenty and twenty four.
• 18:57
  Carson of Heislands Ranch, who was appointed to the Senate District 30 seat by a vacancy committee in 2025, likes his chances.
• 19:06
  A lawyer with experience on the Douglas County School Board and the University of Colorado Board of Regents, he describes the district as purple and hopes voters will keep him
• 19:16
  around for a full term, where he said he'll focus on lowering taxes and increasing penalties for drunk drivers.
• 19:24
  He touts his short state legislative record of bipartisan bills to help protect kids from AI chat box and increase penalties for drivers who kill people in traffic crashes.
• 19:36
  Quote, it'll be close, I'm working hard, Carson said as he applied sunscreen to his face before knocking on doors in the Sterling Ranch subdivision on a recent weekday morning.
• 19:46
  I feel good about my positions, so we'll see.
• 19:50
  Carson's supporters appreciate his calm demeanor and
• 19:53
  Above all else.
• 19:55
  Quote, he's reasonable, said Renee Anderson, eight hundred sixty two of Highlands Ranch.
• 20:00
  He's one of the kindest people and not afraid of difficult conversations.
• 20:05
  Republican groups have spent more than one point six million dollars to support Carson and oppose his Democratic challenger, Kevin Lewing, which is more than some stateway major
• 20:15
  party candidates have spent on their behalf this year.
• 20:19
  As of october tenth, the Senate Majority Fund has spent more than one million dollars in the race, followed by more than two hundred seventy thousand from Lower Energy Costs
• 20:29
  Colorado, and more than one hundred ninety thousand dollars from Republican State Leadership Committee, a federal super PAC.
• 20:37
  Among the largest known contributors to the Senate Majority Fund since August are a federal super PAC called GOPAC, the Anschutz Corporation, Excel Energy, Amazon, and
• 20:48
  Chevron.
• 20:50
  Messaging about the threat of a Democratic supermajority has not been very effective in the past, said Cole, the Republican operative.
• 20:58
  That's different this time around.
• 21:00
  It's a message Cole said canvassers are prioritizing when they knock on doors.
• 21:05
  Quote, now people are aware we have a lopsided government, and the consequences of that are not good, he said.
• 21:11
  The message is much more impactful.
• 21:14
  Bolstered by Vice President Kamala Harris's win in the district in twenty twenty four,
• 21:19
  Voters' rejection of a home rule charter position and a sweep by progressive candidates to the Douglas County School Board last year, Democrats claim Senate District 30 is in play.
• 21:31
  But so far, Democratic groups haven't spent any money to support Luung.
• 21:36
  Senate President James Coleman of Denver, who advises Democratic Spending Group Altogether Colorado, says there's still time for money to drop.
• 21:45
  Our primary focus is and always has been to protect our incumbents, he said, and our hope is to also support candidates running to flip seats.
• 21:56
  Spending in a house race in Highland Ranch is just as lopsided with Republican groups so far spending more than seven hundred sixty thousand back Nate Marsh compared with
• 22:06
  Democratic groups zero dollars in support of incumbent state representative Bon Marshall.
• 22:13
  A national group called Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee lists Lewing, a Castle Pines businessman who has served on the Douglas County Public Schools Board and South
• 22:23
  Metro Player Rescue Board has been
• 22:25
  as one of its priority candidates, but the group hasn't spent any money to back Long or other Democrats in competitive districts.
• 22:33
  Ling says he sees himself as the first serious Democratic challenger for the seat in recent memory.
• 22:40
  Like Carson, he considers himself a moderate.
• 22:45
  He was a never Trump Republican until twenty twenty when he became a Democrat.
• 22:51
  He hasn't decided how he'll vote on Amendment eighty seven, the graduated income tax ballot question, but says he backs Proposition N which eliminate taxpayers' Bill of Rights
• 23:03
  refunds for the foreseeable future and give that money for at least a decade to K through twelve public schools and early childhood programs.
• 23:12
  Carson is a no on both measures.
• 23:15
  Luang has no shortage of business cards.
• 23:18
  He's the owner of the magic rapid car washes in Highland Ranch, Aurora and Parker, and works as a computer scientist at the newly renamed National Laboratory of the Rockies.
• 23:32
  His campaign has spent more than seven hundred thousand dollars.
• 23:37
  Excuse me correction.
• 23:39
  His campaign has spent more than seventy thousand dollars compared with just over thirty one thousand six hundred dollars.
• 23:51
  Three hundred.
• 23:54
  By Carsons While knocking on doors in Highland Ranch, Lewing was able to engage voters in conversation, even those who appeared unlikely to vote for him.
• 24:21
  He approached people with seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm, a literal spring in his step talking about his goals to cut red tape for small businesses, create more avenues
• 24:31
  to employment for young people, and regulate data centers.
• 24:35
  He spent ten minutes speaking to a man who had a you missed flag featuring the image of President Donald Trump's defiant post assassination fist pump, and another ten talking to
• 24:45
  a woman with an elaborate Alice in Wonderland Halloween display.
• 24:49
  He found things he could agree on with both, he said.
• 24:53
  I think a lot of people vote for the person, not the party, he said.
• 24:57
  State Senator Robert Rodriguez of Denver said his group, the Democratic Senate Campaign Fund, recruited Lewing to run.
• 25:04
  He said he can't speak to why Democratic groups haven't spent any money in Lewing's race, but he thinks the huge amount of Republican spending is a good sign.
• 25:14
  Quote, I think it's a credit to Kevin Lewing's campaign.
• 25:17
  That he's forced them to spend money on the seat, Rodriguez said.
• 25:20
  It signals there's concern that it could be flipped.
• 25:24
  Obviously the Republicans see it as a threat.
• 25:30
  Spending in competitive legislative races in Pueblo and Loveland so far are just as lopsided.
• 25:36
  Trump won Pueblo's Senate District III by more than five points in 2024, but voters have sent a Democrat to the State House for the last 15 years.
• 25:46
  Democrat Anton Gutierrez faces Republican Dana Charles.
• 25:50
  Republican groups have spent nearly $2 million backing Charles, compared with Democrats nearly $900,000 for Gutierrez.
• 25:59
  In the House District forty six race in Pueblin, things are a little more even.
• 26:04
  The Democratic incumbent, State Representative Tisha Morrow, has benefited from about two hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars in outside spending, while Republican challenger
• 26:15
  Jonathan Post has been aided by about three hundred and twenty-eight thousand.
• 26:20
  And in Loveland's Senate District fifteen race, where Harris beat Trump by nearly eight points in twenty twenty four.
• 26:27
  Democratic incumbent States Senator Janice Marchman faces Republican Rob Woodward.
• 26:34
  Marchman beat Woodward in 2022, switching the seat from red to blue for the first time in recent history.
• 26:43
  Republican outside groups have spent nearly three times as much as Democratic outside groups on the race, which about with about $1.2 million for Woodward and about $420.
• 26:57
  fifty four thousand dollars for Marchman.
• 27:00
  In House District fifty one, also in Loveland, Republican groups have spent more than eight hundred thousand dollars to keep the seat red, backing Amy Parks.
• 27:10
  The incumbent Representative Ron Weinberg, a Republican, is not seeking reelection.
• 27:15
  Parks Democratic challenger, Jackie Marsh, has seen zero dollars in outside spending to support her so far.
• 27:23
  Spokespeople for the Democratic
• 27:25
  House spending groups declined to comment.
• 27:28
  Nick Paparaki, who works with Democratic House campaigns, said his groups, the Colorado House Majority Project, plans to spend the maximum amount allowed on the three House
• 27:39
  districts in Highlands Ranch, Pueblo and Loveland, about twenty thousand five hundred dollars each.
• 27:46
  Though the amount is dwarfed by what outside groups can spend, he said he's still hopeful it will make a difference.
• 27:53
  Quote.
• 27:54
  I see Douglas County, Loveland Pueblo as key battleground districts, he said.
• 27:59
  As for a supermajority, he said, I want that victory.
• 28:03
  That's what's getting me out of bed in the morning.
• 28:05
  End quote.
• 28:14
  We have a picture here of Kevin Lewing uh speaking to a prospective voter and knocking on doors.
• 28:23
  And a picture of the Colorado Senate with James Coleman presiding over that chamber's final day in the legislative session on May 13th.
• 28:34
  And a picture of John Carson, state senator for District 30, a Republican incumbent who is out.
• 28:42
  Canvassing door to door in Highlands Ranch.
• 28:52
  North America's largest wildlife overpass is working.
• 28:56
  I-25 collisions near Castle Rock are down about 91%.
• 29:02
  This is reported by Olivia Prensil.
• 29:05
  Drivers once hit a wild animal about once a day on a stretch of highway between Colorado's two most populous cities, Denver and Colorado Springs.
• 29:15
  In the roughly 10 months since North America's largest wildlife overpass opened across Interstate 25.
• 29:22
  Between Mark Larkspur and Monument, drivers have hit two animals, according to a state wildlife manager and officials transportation officials, a ninety-one percent drop.
• 29:35
  The crossing system includes a two hundred and nine by two hundred foot bridge, five wildlife underpasses, and miles of fencing designed to funnel animals toward the
• 29:46
  crossings.
• 29:48
  Together they give everything from 700 pound elk to
• 29:52
  To tiny toads, a safer way across the six lanes of highway that cuts between thirty nine thousand acres of habitat.
• 30:01
  We are thrilled, said Bridget O'Rourke, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
• 30:06
  Wildlife over passes and underpasses and funneling animals to have a safe pass across the roads has been statistically proven that it's successful.
• 30:19
  The fifteen million dollar project completed last December was a collaboration between state engineers and wildlife biologists to help the animals safely cross one of Colorado's
• 30:29
  busiest highway corridors in an area where big game frequently move.
• 30:34
  Animals like elk, deer, and pronghind start to migrate through lower elevations as food sources begin to dwindle at higher elevations, O'Rourke said.
• 30:44
  This year's drought has been
• 30:45
  And wildfires have caused some animals to start moving a few weeks earlier than previous years, including bears, which have been scrounging for food anywhere they can find it.
• 30:56
  The end of daylight savings time also causes a sharp spike in wildlife vehicle collisions because earlier winter sunsets overlap directly with evening rush hour commutes and peak
• 31:08
  animal migration seasons.
• 31:10
  Quote, I think we have to be aware that Colorado human population
• 31:14
  is increasing and we are encroaching on wildlife habitat.
• 31:18
  Oh end quote, O'Rourke said.
• 31:23
  The overpasses are designed for larger animals, but through surveys and trail cameras, biologists have spotted even smaller ones like bunnies and northern leopard frogs which
• 31:33
  have seen dramatic declines in population over the last few years earning a protected status using the crossings.
• 31:41
  It's a huge win, O'Rourke said.
• 31:43
  Prongharn spent decades traveling along I twenty five searching for a crossing and in June
• 31:49
  Biologists confirmed a pronghorn safely crossed the interstate for the first time in twenty to thirty years.
• 31:56
  Lisa Schwantas, a regional communications manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation, told the Colorado Sun.
• 32:04
  Additional tracking data shows that pronghorn are also using underpasses.
• 32:10
  Data show the overpass is not just saving animals' lives, but also reducing crashes that can be dramatic, dangerous, and costly for drivers, she said.
• 32:20
  Fewer crashes also means fewer law enforcement and maintenance workers required to divert traffic.
• 32:26
  Data shows that traffic delays along the corridor have dropped by about nine percent.
• 32:32
  CDOT tracks roadkill and wildlife animal collisions through Colorado.
• 32:39
  State patrol troopers who respond to crashes and then report them and state maintenance workers who either see the carcasses themselves or respond to reports from drivers,
• 32:52
  Schwant has said.
• 32:53
  CDOT maintenance crews track every carcass they move off the highway, from large animals like elk and deer to smaller critters like foxes and raccoons.
• 33:03
  Quote, I think it's a fascinating thing we can all work together to decrease wildlife collisions.
• 33:08
  Schwantis said.
• 33:10
  Using data, C DOT with CPW and the Colorado Wildlife Transportation Alliance can identify areas across the state where wildlife overpasses can benefit the largest number of
• 33:22
  animals.
• 33:23
  Six more crossing systems are being designed, including the first wildlife overpass specifically designed for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep along Colorado 40 east of Empire,
• 33:34
  Schwantas said.
• 33:36
  Other plans are focused on the westbound lanes of I seventy at East Vale Pass between Vale and Copper Mountain, I twenty five just north of New Mexico's state border, on US one
• 33:47
  hundred sixty east of Cortez in southwestern Colorado, over Colorado forty west of Craig, and near US two hundred and eighty seven south of the Wyoming border.
• 33:58
  Starting in January, Colorado drivers will be able to opt in to a five dollar fee that goes towards
• 34:05
  The construction of wildlife passes across the state, similar to the twenty-nine dollar fee for Keep Colorado Wild Pass, which has generated one hundred and forty-six million
• 34:17
  dollars since it launched in 2023.
• 34:21
  With your five dollars, it might not sound like a lot, but it adds up and it's something our state genuinely cares about, Auroric said.
• 34:29
  And there's a picture here of the overpass and a moose safely crossing.
• 34:35
  Colorado Nine using a wildlife overpass.
• 34:39
  Such crossings have helped reduce the wildlife vehicle collisions.
• 34:48
  And there's a picture here of coyotes seen running near the Interstate twenty-five overpass in August of twenty twenty six.
• 35:00
  And here's a picture of a bear using a wildlife underpass to cross Colorado Nine in twenty twenty four.
• 35:17
  Housing is slightly more affordable in Colorado, a report shows you may not have noticed.
• 35:23
  This is reported by Tamra Chuang.
• 35:29
  Falling home prices, higher wages may be helping ease housing affordability challenges, but the data still shows we're not there yet.
• 35:38
  Colorado was called out for, of all things, being a bit more affordable, according to the National Housing Conference's latest report on housing.
• 35:47
  It's a very thin silver lining for workers and the housing industry that have been through an economic whirlwind since the pandemic.
• 35:55
  But in a state where affordability has worsened annually,
• 35:58
  Since NCH began tracking various jobs in the pandemic, the change was notable.
• 36:04
  Quote, it's still a bit of a balance because Colorado is still unaffordable, to be clear, said Brittany Webb, NHC's senior research director who worked on the report titled Priced
• 36:16
  Out When a Good Job Isn't Enough.
• 36:19
  It's not back to the levels of affordability it saw back in around twenty twenty, and that's true of every single state in the US.
• 36:26
  But what did stand out was home ownership showed an improvement for the first time in several years.
• 36:34
  NHC, a Washington, DC based nonprofit that focuses on housing affordability, takes a different slice of federal data to define affordability.
• 36:43
  It tracks three hundred occupations in three hundred ninety metro areas to determine whether an average worker can afford to pay twenty eight to thirty percent of their annual
• 36:54
  income.
• 36:55
  To buy or rent in their community?
• 36:57
  The answer, according to NHC's analysis, is a resounding no nationwide.
• 37:03
  But it's been especially so among states where affordability has gotten worse each year since 2020.
• 37:09
  Colorado was in that group, but last year saw affordability improve by 1.98 percentage points for home ownership and 1.56 point gain for renters last year.
• 37:24
  Colorado topped the list for homeowner affordability improvement up 2.36 points.
• 37:30
  South Dakota had an 8.46 point gain in renter affordability, the highest in that category in one year.
• 37:39
  Nineteen occupations, including dentists in Colorado Springs, sales managers in Greeley, detectives in Pueblo, and computer and information systems managers in Grand Junction that
• 37:52
  couldn't afford a home.
• 37:53
  In twenty twenty four saw enough wage gains last year to be able to put ten percent down to buy a house.
• 38:04
  These jobs are part of the four percent Colorado occupations that can afford a house in their town, down from thirteen percent in twenty twenty, according to NCH's analysis.
• 38:16
  Meanwhile, only forty-one percent of the occupations in Colorado are paid enough for a worker to rent a two-bedroom apartment without paying more than thirty percent of their
• 38:25
  income or getting a roommate.
• 38:28
  In twenty twenty it was fifty percent.
• 38:35
  Nationwide, only fourteen percent of occupations track can afford a home, while fifty two percent can afford to rent.
• 38:45
  Nearly all fifty states have seen housing become less affordable, and there's a chart here that shows um twenty twenty data versus twenty twenty five data and of how many uh
• 38:58
  percentage of the population could afford a home.
• 39:05
  In theory, everyone should be able to afford housing, Webb said.
• 39:08
  That's the idea.
• 39:10
  We're always going to have a percentage of folks that are just on the lowest end of the earnings spectrum and probably not going to be able to afford housing without some sort of
• 39:18
  government assistance.
• 39:19
  Well we certainly don't want to see things getting worse and worse.
• 39:23
  fifty percent of renters is absolutely not acceptable.
• 39:29
  While the NCH the NHC analysis is one way to look at data, another is the real estate industry September Home Sales Report, which came out Thursday and documents the continued
• 39:41
  slowdown of the Colorado housing market.
• 39:45
  Overall median sales statewide dropped to five hundred and forty thousand last month, down one point six from a year ago.
• 39:52
  The number of homes and condos sold sell fell
• 39:56
  Twelve point three percent, according to the Colorado Realtor Association, the Denver metro area had similar declines, with median prices down 1.7% to $750,000, while the
• 40:08
  overall number sold fell 18.7%.
• 40:15
  Declining prices have made housing more affordable.
• 40:18
  CAR's affordability index, which is based on medium sales prices and medium income by county, shows that September affordability is nearly back to where it was before the
• 40:28
  Federal Reserve began increasing interest rates in March of twenty twenty one.
• 40:34
  But it is not your typical buyer's market, Denver realtor Cooper Thayer said.
• 40:39
  There are fewer homes for sale and even fewer are actually selling.
• 40:43
  Buyers are exhibiting increasingly little urgency to act, Theyer said in an email.
• 40:51
  Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we have uh for this week.
• 40:55
  Thank you for joining us for the Colorado Sun for Wednesday, October fourteenth, twenty twenty six.
• 41:03
  My name is Candace Einbeck.