Gas prices drop, even with EPA mandate

Good morning and welcome to everyone’s favorite holiday: the awkward Friday after a Thursday federal holiday.

I hope yesterday was as full of food and fireworks as your heart desired, but we do have to get through today before we make it to the weekend.

So let’s have a scoop of leftover potato salad for breakfast and get to it, shall we?

Eric Lubbers

CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE NEWS

CLIMATE

No, EPA’s ozone-fighting mandate did not raise Colorado gas prices

Despite warnings from Gov. Jared Polis and others that consumers would be paying a big surcharge due to the EPA’s mandated sale of reformulated gas, average gas prices for the holiday weekend were lower than a year ago. Michael Booth explains the mandate and what its real-world effects have been so far.

READ MORE

ELECTION 2024

Nearly $6 million was spent on Colorado’s legislative primaries. Here’s how it affected the outcome.

Spending on this year’s legislative primaries was more than triple the amount spent in 2020, and Sandra Fish has crunched the numbers to show where the money came from — and who it helped make it to the general election.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• Fact Brief ☀️ Is the state flower Columbine illegal to pick in Colorado? It’s almost a rite of passage. If you’re headed up for a hike in Colorado’s high country, somebody will inevitably say “don’t pick the Columbines, it’s illegal!” Well Justin George dug into the flower’s protected status and explains the truth about Colorado’s favorite bloom.
• How students can take advantage of Colorado’s new tax credit for college. Students who live in a household that makes $90,000 or less a year are now eligible for a Colorado tax credit that will help pay for the first two years of college. Chalkbeat Colorado explains how to access it.
• Four die in rural Colorado crash. Four people riding in a Polaris RZR, a four-wheel utility vehicle, died in Morgan County after the driver failed to stop at a stop sign and was hit by a Dodge Ram. The driver of the Ram was seriously injured.

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Emergency rooms prepare to treat Fourth of July firework injuries. AdventHealth reports each of their Colorado hospitals and emergency departments typically treats five to 15 people for fireworks injuries each year.
  — 9News
• Denver police will start cracking down on expired registration and plates later this month. “DPD consistently hears complaints from residents about these violations, and this enforcement period is responsive to those community concerns.”
  — Denverite
• Colorado Libertarians designate RFK Jr. to state’s November ballot after snubbing party’s own ticket. The Libertarian Party this week voted to name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the state’s general election ballot in a bid to “break the stranglehold of the two-party system.”
  — Colorado Politics
• Large rodent native to South America spotted at Lakewood park. Colorado wildlife officers are on the lookout for a Patagonian mara, though it’s unclear how the large rodent native to South America made its way to Colorado.
  — The Denver Post 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Kevin Jeffers | Product Team

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Colorado’s universal preschool program is admirable, but it has some serious deficiencies.  Among them are the cutoff date and the state allowing districts to decide who serves 3-year-olds with qualifying factors
  — Chris Fletcher, Denver

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” Ossie and Myra mull the implications of a Supreme Court decision that seems counter to everything Independence Day stands for.

CARTOON

Jim Morrissey identifies the monolith as a desperate — and perhaps otherworldly — source to fill the nation’s leadership void.

CARTOON

Drew Litton illustrates that, as recent events highlighted, the stakes surrounding the 2024 presidential campaign have become increasingly clear — and anxiety inducing.

CARTOON

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

Podcast Playlist

CONVERSATION

Each weekday The Daily Sun-Up podcast brings you a bit of Colorado history, headlines and a thoughtful conversation. We keep it tight so you can quickly listen, or stack up a few and tune in at your leisure. You can download the Sun-Up for free in your favorite podcasting app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or RSS to plug into your app. This week we look ahead to the general election and look back on the ski season.

• Unpacking Colorado’s primary election results. Sun political reporters Jesse Paul and Brian Eason break down what happened — and why. They also look ahead to November and how what happened on June 25 could affect the general election.
  LISTEN
• Colorado works on crumbling all those cookies. Colorado has some of the strictest laws for online privacy settings to protect your data. Sun business and tech reporter Tamara Chuang has updates and advice for consumers and business.
  LISTEN
• It’s full-on summer, so let’s talk skiing. Covering the skiing industry is a year-round endeavor, and outdoors reporter Jason Blevins takes a break from the hot days to talk about summer developments in snowsports.
  LISTEN
• Heart transplants for young patients. We like to take the holiday off too, so Thursday’s episode is one from earlier this year when reporter Jennifer Brown talks about a family whose child had a heart transplant, but only after the tragedy afflicting another family.
  LISTEN
• State of mind for Colorado’s mental health. Reporter Tatiana Flowers recently hosted a panel of Colorado experts about how they see mental illness falling through the cracks, what are some solutions or ways to address the issues. We’ve got the highlights.
  LISTEN

🗣️ Remember, you can ask Siri, Alexa or Google to “play the Daily Sun-Up podcast” and we’ll play right on your smart speaker. As always we appreciate your feedback and comments at podcast@coloradosun.com.

Section by David Krause | Editor

See you next week!

— Eric & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.