By Quentin Young | editor
Senior reporter Chase Woodruff was in Steamboat Springs this week to cover the annual summer conference of the Colorado Water Congress. Good news was hard to come by. As Woodruff noted, the conference coincided with a grim milestone: Water levels in Lake Powell, on the Colorado River, had officially fallen to a record low. A decades-long, climate change-fueled megadrought in the Southwest and the crisis of low streamflows overshadowed the proceedings in Steamboat. Woodruff’s other coverage this week illustrates the vast scale of a related problem: How millions of acres of mountain watersheds across western and central Colorado are threatened by more intense wildfires. Below are some of our other top stories from the week.
Crowds gathered in downtown Denver for Colorado Day celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of statehood on Aug. 1, 2026. (Photo by Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)
By Chase Woodruff
A record number of Coloradans sought medical treatment for heat-related illnesses this summer, amid unprecedented extreme heat fueled by climate change — a trend that’s projected to continue to intensify for years to come, as governments around the world struggle to curb the greenhouse gas emissions pushing global temperatures higher and higher. Between May 3 and Aug. 8, a total of 1,124 patients in 18 of Colorado’s most populous counties were hospitalized or visited an emergency department or urgent care because of heat stroke, heat exhaustion or another heat-related illness.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, announced a $1 million settlement with a Colorado property manager for unlawful charges to tenants Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 at the Colorado Bar Association office in Denver. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
By Sara Wilson
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Wednesday sued the private company that runs the Aurora immigration detention center over its noncompliance with a state public health order. Since June, The GEO Group has refused access and information requests related to a confirmed tuberculosis case in the detention center it operates for U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The company ignored a June public health order from Adams County and missed a Monday compliance deadline for a second public health order issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Volunteers at the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s office remove ballots from a ballot box container during the Colorado primary election on June 30, 2026. (Photo by Andrew Fraieli/Colorado Newsline)
By Lindsey Toomer
The Trump administration Monday appealed a federal judge’s decision to dismiss its case against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, from whom it’s trying to pry sensitive voter information. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., for their refusal to turn over unredacted voter rolls to the federal government. Federal judges have dismissed 22 of the cases so far. The department sued Colorado in December to demand a copy of its statewide voter registration list that includes full names, dates of birth, addresses and identification numbers. The department first requested that information in May 2025, and then again in December after Griswold shared only publicly available voter information.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Denver named top 3 finalist for Democrats’ 2028 national convention | By Lindsey Toomer
Cities turn to AI to speed housing permitting | By Robbie Sequeira
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