Jake Carias, PhD

Opinion | We Have a Way to Pay for Free Buses. It Means Free Street Parking Is Over.

Many people are saying www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...

Early Signs Point to a Harsh Flu Season in the U.S.

“We’re likely a few weeks out from things getting really serious, and that means now is the time to get vaccinated, because it takes a couple of weeks for full protection,” said Sam Scarpino, a public health expert at Northeastern University.

(1/4) Lakewood just adopted one of Colorado’s most significant zoning updates: legalizing middle housing citywide and making room for the kind of compact, affordable homes the city has been missing.

Big win in Lakewood: middle housing is now legal citywide + smaller lots, parking reform and more!

A win for climate, affordability, and pathways to homeownership, and a model for other Colorado cities. Read about it here 👇

Colorado AG Weiser pitches streamlined permitting, renter protections in affordable housing plan | Colorado Newsline Weiser's plan to increase housing affordability prioritizes speeding up construction permitting processes and streamlining government housing programs.

Colorado should aim to add 40,000 “attainable” owner-occupied homes and decrease costs for 100,000 renters by 2035, Attorney General Phil Weiser said Thursday as his campaign for governor rolled out a housing platform he said would cater to the needs of all Coloradans.

The Penny Dies at 232

“The American penny was preceded in death by its smaller sibling, the half cent (1793-1857), and its cousin the Canadian penny (1858-2012). The British one-pence coin, born in the seventh century, somewhat incredibly, survives it.”

Will adding more lanes fix I-270 congestion? CDOT’s favored fix will test its new mission, opponents say. CDOT wants to widen I-270 to speed traffic and heighten safety, but clean transportation advocates say the old solutions are no longer relevant.

“We should acknowledge that we’ve prioritized cars over transit for decades. We have less bus service today than we had in 2003, and the region’s grown by a third. And at the same time, how many highways have we widened?” coloradosun.com/2025/11/11/i...

City changes Alameda road diet plans after backlash (including from an Anschutz) The city still plans to make other safety improvements.

A proposal to narrow the Alameda from four lanes to two directional lanes has been dropped.

Colorado's governor hopes hail warning and speed cameras will bring down car insurance rates According to figures from the company Bankrate, which provides rate quotes for insurance shoppers, Colorado’s average annual premium for full auto coverage is $3,233

Colorado’s governor hopes hail warning and speed cameras will bring down car insurance rates coloradosun.com/2025/11/10/c... #copolitics #coleg

If reversing the fertility decline were my thing, I would have this tattooed on my forehead.

Jurors Find Sandwich Hurler Not Guilty of Assault

“…the hurling of a sandwich that can sell for less than $10 quickly snowballed into a case with significant costs to the public, including a full-scale armed raid, a failed effort in front of a grand jury and a multiday trial that concluded with no conviction.”

She Was Ready to Have Her 15th Child. Then Came the Felony Charges.

“In quiet moments, she entertains the possibility that she made some mistakes. But a crystal clarity always returns. She plucked the twins from a frozen, celestial limbo and put them on this earth. She gave them life.”

Public transit could expand in northwestern Colorado. First, it’s up to voters From Craig to Steamboat Springs to Yampa, a coalition of small communities will decide on the joint effort.

I'm apparently on the local ballot questions beat this election cycle, and there's more than 100 municipal-level measures this year and dozens of county-level issues. That includes an effort in northwestern Colorado to form a regional transportation authority.

www.cpr.org/2025/10/29/y...

Opinion | Pauses in Ph.D. Admissions Are a Blessing in Disguise The overproduction of doctorates in the humanities has ruined the job market.

“Of course, obtaining a Ph.D. is supposed to be challenging, but there is a major difference between tackling an adventure with adequate tools and embarking on a journey in which your map (funding) and destination (jobs) are in the process of vanishing just as you start walking.”

RTD bans ads covering windows of metro Denver buses and trains The prohibition means losing revenue at a time when agency officials are grappling with financial constraints.

RTD nixes window-obscuring ad wraps on Denver buses and trains. "When you cannot see out the windows clearly, it denigrates the experience of riding," one of the transit agency's elected directors says

Opinion | The Empty Promises of Trump’s Imperial Presidency

consider this part one of what will be an ongoing series making the case for an imperial congress (gift link)

At Least 64 Dead in Rio de Janeiro as Brazilian Police Crack Down on Drug Gangs The authorities said the deadliest operation in Rio’s history had killed four police officers and at least 60 other people. It was an attack on “narco-terrorists,” the state governor said.

A police operation targeting drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro killed at least 64 people, including four police officers, on Tuesday.

The #RTDBoard has voted to BAN ad wraps from transit vehicle windows!

This is a MASSIVE victory for riders - thank you so much to Director Paglieri for leading this initiative and for the Directors who supported it!

After police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of theft, she had to prove her own innocence Chrisanna Elser spent days collecting evidence, from apps on her phone to dashcam footage in her vehicle, to prove her whereabouts

Have you ever been accused of a crime that you did not commit? It can be challenging to prove your innocence, but just imagine how hard it can be when law enforcement claims they have surveillance camera footage as proof. Chrisanna Elser spent days collecting evidence to prove her whereabouts. 1/3

Ridership on New York City's bus system, showing share paying versus non-paying.

An interesting investigation in @upshot.nytimes.com today evaluating some of the challenges to improving buses in NYC—whether through speed or fares www.nytimes.com/interactive/... (gift link!)

Interesting tidbit: Bus ridership is basically back to pre-pandemic levels—but fare payment is way down.

It’s hard to build housing in Littleton. When the council tried to make it easier, residents revolted. After months of acrimony, Littleton voters this November will get a more direct say in city housing policy through city charter amendment 3A and a slate of mayor and council races that have become a r...

“‘Zoning has been captured by people who own property, and they’ve taken control of zoning to keep other people out,’ said Patrick Santana, a city planning commission member, who works with the campaign to defeat 3A.”

These 14 Colorado cities aren’t complying with state housing laws. It could cost them $280M in grants. Some of the cities that aren’t in compliance filed a lawsuit against the Polis administration earlier this year over its threat to withhold grant funding if they didn’t comply with the affordable...

These 14 Colorado cities aren’t complying with state housing laws. It could cost them $280M in grants.

TABOR refund checks in 2026 will be a lot smaller than in recent years One reason is that the state is paying out more to lower-income residents through targeted tax credits.

One reason is that the state is paying out more to lower-income residents through targeted tax credits.

as someone who is a hater, i accept and welcome the fact that i have haters. what is good for the goose, etc. in fact, i think people in this business should be more open about their hating. if we think our words matter, then we should feel some kind of way about people who do bad work.

Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.

“We can mourn Kirk. We can send prayers to his friends and family. We can take stock of the gravity of this event. We can — and should — do all of this and more without pretending he was something, as a public figure, that he was not.”

By my napkin math, since rents have dropped $71 on average this year, and since there are 409,684 occupied rental units in metro Denver, then the recent drop in rents means that 71*409,684*12= Denver-area renters saved roughly $350,000,000 just this year.

Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in a Brazil prison for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election. nyti.ms/47FfqmN

Palmer Lake planning commission says Buc-ee’s current proposal does not fit small town’s master plan Annexing 41 acres for an El Paso County store off I-25 brings light and water concerns, but town’s Board of Trustees will have the final say

Palmer Lake planning commission says Buc-ee’s current proposal does not fit small town’s master plan

Untapped Potential of RTD’s Neighborhood EcoPass A low-cost policy to speed Colorado’s shift to sustainable, affordable communities | Housing Forward Colorado, a project of SWEEP

“Metro Denver has collectively spent billions on its rail and bus system and billions more constructing apartment buildings near them. Apartment-based transit passes are a missing piece that can ensure these investments deliver as intended.”