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MorningMagazine_2025-03-18 Gabrielle Mendoza
CEA Day Of Action; No BVSD School Thursday
A statewide Day of Action against education cuts has led at least two local Colorado school districts to cancel classes later this week.
Boulder Valley School District teachers will participate in the No More Education Cuts statewide Day of Action this Thursday, according to a BVSD press release. The Day of Action is being led by the Colorado Education Association.
While there are no classes for all of its schools, BVSD says Thursday remains a workday for all school and district employees. Classes are scheduled to resume on Friday.
Denver7 reports that Colorado is facing a $1 billion budget deficit, and that Governor Jared Polis is proposing changes in the way that school districts are funded as a result.
Colorado Education Association President Kevin Vick said the proposed changes would create deficits for a number of Colorado schools, and that affected districts would, in turn, be forced to make immediate and drastic cuts, including teacher layoffs and school closings.
The governor’s office claims the opposite, saying in a press release that the proposal will increase education funding by $138 million, and that “any assertion that the governor … would support a cut to education” is false.
The Adams 12 Five Star Schools have also canceled classes for students on Thursday, aligning with the No More Education Cuts Day of Action.
You’ll hear from Colorado Education Association president Kevin Vick tomorrow morning on the Mag.
Local community activist Jeanette Vizguerra detained by ICE
Protesters gathered outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Aurora early this morning after hearing reports that local immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra had been detained.
Demonstrators outside the facility told CBS News Colorado that Vizguerra was taken by federal agents outside her place of employment on Monday morning.
Vizguerra has been a community voice and immigration activist for more than 20 years, since she arrived in the U.S. from Mexico City without documentation in the late 90s. She’s continually sought a path to citizenship.
Vizguerra was scheduled for deportation back in 2017, but took refuge in a church in Denver and was eventually granted a stay of deportation in 2021 by the Biden administration.
Vizguerra has been outspoken about changes in immigration policy by the Trump administration, especially the guidelines that allow ICE to arrest people in “sensitive locations” like schools and churches.
Xcel At Boulder City Council
Boulder City Council members are urging Xcel Energy to improve its communication with the public when the company shuts off electricity in emergency situations.
Officials from Xcel met with City Council last week, nearly a year after the company cut power to thousands of customers during a period of high winds, in order to keep power lines from touching off a wildfire. The action drew wide criticism because there was so little notice given to the public.
Boulder Reporting Lab says city council members told Xcel that in the future, they should try to restore power more quickly.
They also told Xcel that they should speed up their transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy.
Boulder has set a goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2035.
Nuke Bill Heads to Polis
A bill that designates nuclear energy as clean energy in Colorado is headed to Governor Jared Polis, after state lawmakers gave it final approval.
House Bill 25-1040, also known as “Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource,” reached State Senate on Friday. The bill seeks to include nuclear energy within Colorado’s definitions of “clean energy” and “clean energy resource.” This inclusion would make nuclear energy projects eligible for clean energy project financing at the county and city levels, and allow qualifying retail utilities to use nuclear energy to meet the state’s 2050 clean energy target .
There are currently no operating nuclear power plants in Colorado. But according to Colorado Politics, they are beginning to look viable to some public utilities, because the demand for electricity is expected to double nationwide over the next twenty-five years. Federal officials say that currently, the United States is facing a “rapid, unsustainable, dangerous loss of dispatchable generating resources,” mainly coal and gas.
Environmental advocates in Colorado say that instead of viewing nuclear power as a solution, public utilities should focus on sources of renewable energy. Pueblo organizer Jamie Valdez says labeling hazardous expensive nuclear power as clean energy could jeopardize the renewable projects that have already proven their efficacy and are well on their way to powering Colorado’s energy needs.
House Bill 25-1040 passed with bi-partisan support. Colorado Politics says it isn’t clear whether Governor Polis will sign the bill, or if he does, whether public utilities in Colorado would embrace the idea of building nuclear power plants.
Berthoud Grass Fire
Firefighters have contained a grass fire that burned more than thirty acres near Berthoud in Larimer County yesterday.
The fire started in the early afternoon during a “Red Flag Warning” period of high wind. It led to mandatory evacuations in the area, which have since been lifted.
At least one home was damaged, but no injuries were reported, according to The Daily Camera. The cause of the fire is under investigation.