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Colorado

  • Colorado’s recycling and composting rate has been stuck at half the national average for several years. That’s according to a new report released recently called The State of Recycling and Composting in Colorado. It’s put together every year by EcoCycle, a nonprofit recycler, and the Colorado Public Interest Research Group. Rachel Setzke with EcoCycle is one of the co-authors of the report. She says in Colorado, 16% of waste is being diverted from landfill to compost and recycle. This is compared to the national average of 32%. Setzke says legislation passed last year in Colorado will help. And the Colorado Board of Health has passed new penalties for abuse, neglect, and preventable death cases at assisted-living facilities.
  • Farmland sales prices show strong land values, proposed legislation in Iowa over SNAP food allowances could leave pork producers in a bind, and a recent survey shows that Coloradans want to support the state’s agricultural industry.
  • A new documentary released by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless shows how, from better health to food security to good education, housing is foundational to every aspect of well-being, building stronger communities, promoting economic growth and opportunities for all Coloradans.
  • Public servants frequently receive lower pay than workers in the private sector, but for Colorado teachers that pay gap is particularly striking.
  • Students and teachers are heading back to classrooms this week. Keeping schools staffed - from cafeteria workers to instructors - is an ongoing challenge. The high cost of living in many parts of Colorado has become a huge issue.
  • Colorado’s economy is growing faster than most states in the nation. And LGBT adults in the Utah are more likely to experience food insecurity than their non-LGBT counterparts.
  • Colorado voters will decide in November whether to legalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms. And the window to apply for Utah’s one-time child care worker bonus closes in three weeks.
  • Colorado is ramping up its efforts to distribute the monkeypox vaccine after President Biden declared it a health emergency. And fourteen tribes in the Colorado River basin say they’re being kept “largely in the dark” about plans to conserve an unprecedented amount of water amid historic drought.
  • An update this week to Colorado's water plan finds shortages are likely to intensify in Colorado as temperatures get warmer due to climate change. Colorado’s updated water plan comes as the southwestern part of the state actually got some drought relief thanks to an unusually wet June.
  • Ballots for Colorado’s upcoming primary election are being mailed out starting Monday and voters face a deadline to switch their party affiliation. And a wildfire broke out on Friday near Ignacio on the Southern Ute Reservation.