By Quentin Young | editor
“We have low exposure. Other co-ops do not.”
- Chris Hansen, La Plata Electric Association CEO
Blue Mesa Reservoir sits behind the Blue Mesa Dam, at left, in this image from 2012. (Google Maps)
By Hank Lacey
The Wayne N. Aspinall Unit, Colorado’s only stake in a federal hydropower system that sells power across the West, is on pace to generate nearly 30% less electricity than its historical average dating to 1978, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. The shortfall is the latest sign of a decades-long decline eroding a system that accounts for about 3% of Colorado’s energy supply. Blue Mesa Reservoir, the largest body of water entirely within Colorado and a part of the unit, is expected to end the year at just 17% of its live storage capacity. As water flows shrink under the stresses of climate change, so does the unit’s output.
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan, left, and Amy Coney Barrett testify before the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on July 14, 2026. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
By Jennifer Shutt
Members of Congress from both parties indicated Tuesday they will support additional security funding for the U.S. Supreme Court after two justices testified about a sharp rise in threats. Associate Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers on the House panel that writes the court’s annual funding bill an increase is needed to ensure around-the-clock security wherever they go and for upgrades to the building. “Maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” Barrett said.
A crowd gathers at Horseshoe Park for the dedication ceremonies for Rocky Mountain National Park on Sept. 4, 1915. (Courtesy of Denver Public Library Special Collections, Rh-259)
FIFTY FOR 150
By Lindsey Toomer
Colorado became home to the country’s 10th national park when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act into law on Jan. 26, 1915. Sandwiched between Grand Lake on the west side and Estes Park on the east, the park has long been a major draw of Colorado’s outdoor recreation industry. Enos Mills, known as the “father of Rocky Mountain National Park,” led efforts to establish the land around Longs Peak as a national park, traveling the country to give lectures and lobby Congress to protect the region. Mills summited Longs Peak nearly 300 times. He was 15 the first time he climbed the mountain.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Empty Colorado prison to become new ICE detention center, GEO Group says | By Chase Woodruff
Fifty for 150: Historic 1921 flood in Pueblo devastates downtown | By Sara Wilson
Commentary: A renewables milestone for Colorado | By Allen Best
15 states sue Trump administration to block school mental health funding cuts | By Anna Claire Vollers
Trump guts election commission in move seen as increasing his sway over midterms | By David Lightman
Commentary: Unfit judge could erode justice for all Coloradans | By Quentin Young
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