Searching for sunshine and barely hotter temps, I headed south to part of Colorado I had by no means explored earlier than and went for a hike Saturday with completely zero expectations. It’s my favourite technique to hike — not figuring out what flora you’ll discover or vistas you’ll see — and I left Royal Gorge Park in Cañon Metropolis pleasantly shocked. With my sheepdog by my facet, I hiked for almost 5 hours (passing solely 4 folks), with views of snow-dusted ridgelines and funky-looking cacti. I now perceive why they name the gorge, which is among the deepest canyons in Colorado, the “Grand Canyon of the Arkansas.”
Do your self a favor and add these trails to your record.
However earlier than you embark on any journey, we’ve bought a terrific lineup of tales to learn to show us concerning the hopes for San Luis Valley’s tourism financial system, why our utility payments preserve rising and extra.
Let’s get studying.
P.S. — We’ve bought a free dwell occasion scheduled for six p.m. Wednesday, when well being reporter John Ingold will communicate with a panel of consultants about selecting the best medical insurance plan, simply in time for open enrollment. RSVP totally free right here.
HIGH COST OF COLORADO
Since 2009, the common month-to-month residential invoice, for 600 kilowatt-hours of vitality, has risen 38% to $92. For The Colorado Solar’s newest installment of the Excessive Value of Colorado collection, Mark Jaffe digs into what’s inflicting the associated fee to repeatedly rise and why consultants don’t see a break for shoppers any time quickly.
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Even after three consecutive years of pay raises, state staff in Colorado might nonetheless be making extra money in the event that they had been working a comparable job within the public or personal sectors, based on the state’s newest pay examine. Political reporter Brian Eason explains a brand new tiered system that may present common raises primarily based on years of service and why it is going to nonetheless be onerous for the state to catch as much as different workers.
ECONOMY
You might wander the San Luis Valley, slowly and methodically, for days, taking within the artwork, tradition and historical past, Tracy Ross writes. You might evaluate it to a smaller, quieter model of Taos, although the valley doesn’t have a fraction of the tourism financial system that Taos does. City of San Luis leaders are hoping the most recent $500,000 grant, from the Environmental Safety Company, helps flip that round.
WATER
Kevin Rein, who has served as a key adviser in Colorado’s greatest water debates for the previous six years, is ready to retire and let one other individual take the helm as state engineer to make sure important water assets movement to Coloradans, 19 states downstream and Mexico. He’s leaving as Colorado and 6 different U.S. states within the Colorado River Basin are negotiating the foundations that may govern how the basin’s greatest reservoirs, lakes Mead and Powell, will function after 2026 and for years to come back, Shannon Mullane writes.
One truck driver’s failure to make use of a ramp in 2019 led to state and trade collaboration on elevating consciousness of the precipitous hazard of mountain driving. Kevin Simpson has extra on this week’s version of Colorado Sunday.
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COLUMNS
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We hope your week is off to a terrific begin and sit up for seeing you right here tomorrow!
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Corrections & Clarifications
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