Disconnecting
Connect for Health Colorado — the state’s health insurance exchange — announced that around half its in-person assistance sites are getting axed this year. Guides who help customers navigate the exchange have been crucial in getting Coloradans insured, but the agency can’t afford as many guides now that federal funding has ended. Via The Gazette.
Bursting bubbles
Ski resorts and water districts alike are warming up to “cloud-seeding” — a weather modification technology meant to create more precipitation in the arid West. Via The Durango Herald.
Bad deal
A former deputy from Lake County got sentenced for trying to sell a semi-automatic handgun from the Sheriff’s evidence room last Friday. He got the gun from the victim in a domestic abuse case by trading her $500 and assuring it was legal because he’s a representative of the law. Via The Denver Post.
Frack that
Neither side on the fracking debate feels like the local control issue was settled by Gov. Hickenlooper’s lackluster task force, so statewide measures may well show up on the ballot in 2016. Outspoken anti-fracking Boulder congressman Jared Polis stopped short of saying whether he’d organize the initiatives. Via The Aurora Sentinel.
Taxing situation
Federal prosecutors sent another tax-dodger to prison on Monday in an ongoing effort to stamp out a Colorado protest movement that’s been scheming to “dismantle the IRS” for nearly twenty years. Via The Denver Post.
Hiring committee
The Republican vacancy committee tasked with selecting a replacement for Marcia Neal’s seat on the State Board of Education has begun interviewing nine candidates. Deliberation will happen behind closed doors, and the committee will announce the new member August 8. Via The Pueblo Chieftain.
Happy trails
Vegan ultra-runner Scott Jurek from Boulder popped a bottle of champagne on the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine this Sunday to celebrate his record-breaking through-hike of the Appalachian Trail. He covered 2,189 miles along the Eastern Seaboard in 46 days, 8 hours and 7 minutes. Via The Daily Camera.
Photo credit: Markus Grossalber, Creative Commons, Flickr.
