Sam Brasch

A data center developer ditched a meeting over ‘safety concerns.’ Hundreds of neighbors showed up anyway The development of a data center in north Denver met dramatic backlash on Tuesday night, with hundreds of residents packing a meeting in Elyria-Swansea to

The data center drama continues in Denver.

You might have heard the city is poised to enact a moratorium on the facilities.

But residents want construction halted on a facility next door to a park and an affordable housing complex.

denverite.com/2026/02/25/d...

Fire near I-25 and US 36 prompts evacuations of high school, nearby businesses Traffic cameras show black smoke billowing across the highways, recalling earlier images from the 2022 Marshall fire.

Emergency radio communications indicate first responders are on the scene and responding to the fire.

Will Colorado give data centers a warm embrace, or a cool reception? | Colorado Public Radio As community resistance to data centers grows, Colorado legislators weigh competing visions on the issue.

Y'all, OG Purplish host @sambrasch.bsky.social returns to Purplish this week to dig into data centers and the competing visions for them at the State Capitol this session. He's joined by @taydolven.bsky.social of @coloradosun.com and KUNC's @lucasbradywoods.bsky.social

🎧 www.cpr.org/podcast-epis...

It's mind-boggling until you remember Polis' family built their fortune in e-greeting cards.

National Lab of the Rockies, formerly NREL, lays off more than 130 employees The cuts impacted staffers engaged in both research and operations at the lab.

NEW: There's been another round of layoffs at the lab formerly known as NREL.

Weeks after scrubbing “renewable energy” from its name, the National Laboratory of the Rockies in Golden has cut 134 staffers.

www.cpr.org/2026/02/09/n...

Don was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles.

I grew up with Alex Pretti The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by federal agents was my childhood best friend.

You work in a newsroom long enough and your heart hardens a little bit, even if you don't want it to. Pieces like this break it back open.

www.theverge.com/policy/86856...

NSF Intent to Restructure Critical Weather Infrastructure

www.nsf.gov/funding/info...

The NSF just released a "dear colleague" asking for ideas to inform its plans to restructure the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

This includes proposals to repurpose NCAR's Mesa Lab, an architectural icon below the Boulder Flatirons, for "private use."

Colorado lawmakers brace for their biggest battle yet over AI data centers The data center boom is coming for Colorado. Lawmakers are set to decide whether to incentivize it or guard against the potential impacts.

Colorado lawmakers brace for their biggest battle yet over AI data centers www.cpr.org/2026/01/20/c... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to ‘put an end’ to protests in Minneapolis Trump made the threat after a federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Breaking: President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act allowing him to deploy troops as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement persist in Minneapolis.

Today is a moment to celebrate the ouster of the brutal socialist dictator of Venezuela, who has cruelly impoverished this once-prosperous country that sits on greater oil wealth than Saudi Arabia. I join our fellow Coloradans who have suffered so severely from this thug in calling for a democratic Venezuela where freedom and opportunity can again flourish. This is a time of great uncertainty, promise, and peril across dangerous political terrain as the regime’s Vice President and Minister of Interior seek to retain power with violence and repression. In July 2024, the people of Venezuela overwhelmingly elected as their president Unity Democratic Platform candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who succeeded the party’s candidate María Corina Machado after she was unlawfully disqualified from running. Now is the time for President-elect González to receive the support he deserves from the U.S. in cooperation with the international community and the people of Venezuela to assume his rightful place and powers as president. Venezuelans deserve to determine their own future and select their own government. Today, I stand with the Venezuelan people in Colorado and in Venezuela. Following the President’s remarks today and the actions taken by the United States overnight, it is not at all clear what the plan actually is, or even who is in charge. I am further troubled by the lack of Congressional oversight and engagement up to this point. It is crucial that the United States present a clear plan for what a transition to genuine democracy and self-rule entails, and involve Congress in planning next steps to help ensure stability and freedom for the long oppressed people of Venezuela. We cannot have a failed foreign policy misadventure; the Venezuelan people and region deserve better. We respect everyone’s right to peaceful demonstration including celebrating the fall of Maduro and ask all to do so without violence.

Gov. Polis on Venezuela:

The White House promises to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research Congressman Joe Neguse claims the move is retaliation for Colorado's refusal to release former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.

Many other reporters are ahead of me of this story, but some critical local context:

Rep @joeneguse.bsky.social thinks dismantling NCAR is partially motivated "by a desire to retaliate against CO" for refusing to release former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.

www.cpr.org/2025/12/17/t...

The White House promises to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research Congressman Joe Neguse claims the move is retaliation for Colorado's refusal to release former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.

The White House promises to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research www.cpr.org/2025/12/17/t... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

NCAR once represented a commitment to make U S. the world's leader in atmospheric science.

Now the White House has announced plans to disband it — hours before it will likely lose power to prevent wildfires on another extremely dry, hot, windy day around Boulder.

Join A Virtual Information Session December 8 on Wetland Restoration in Rocky Mountain National Park - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

If you're really into all this , there's a couple neat coming up.

RMNP is holding a session on their wetland research and moose plan tonight: www.nps.gov/romo/learn/n...

CU Boulder hosts a broader panel discussion in Estes Park tomorrow: calendar.colorado.edu/event/moose-...

Have Colorado’s moose restoration efforts been too successful? Around 3,500 moose now wander Colorado. The hungry herbivores are also threatening a once-wetland-rich valley in Rocky Mountain National Park.

After Colorado started reintroducing moose in 1978, the species is thriving statewide.

Ecologist also suspect the ungainly ungulates are behind a collapse of willow habitats in Rocky Mountain National Park.

www.cpr.org/2025/12/08/c...

Trump administration renames Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Lab: the National Lab of the Rockies U.S. Department of Energy officials say name change reflects an “expanded mission” for the research hub under President Trump.

Trump administration renames Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Lab: the National Lab of the Rockies www.cpr.org/2025/12/01/n... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

Faith Winter is why Colorado has a paid family leave program. My enduring memory: breaking the news to her that the AP had called it and the measure had passed, five years ago this month.

She was killed in a car crash today. I wish her loved ones solace and comfort. coloradosun.com/2025/11/26/f...

Police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of package theft. She had her own evidence "Like I said, nothing gets in or out of the town without us knowing."

Surveillance in action:

"You know we have cameras in that jurisdiction and you can’t get a breath of fresh air, in or out of that place, without us knowing, correct?”

denverite.com/2025/10/27/b...

Police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of package theft. She had her own evidence "Like I said, nothing gets in or out of the town without us knowing."

(1/x) This Denver woman found a police officer from a neighboring town on her doorstop.

He was there b/c someone had stolen a $25 package, and Flock cameras put her in the vicinity. He was convinced she was guilty.

But the evidence points to her innocence.
denverite.com/2025/10/27/b...

Windows smashed at multiple Denver LGBTQ businesses Queer-owned businesses say they are on edge and are well aware of the pattern.

“A motive has not been determined, though queer-owned businesses say they are on edge and are well aware of the pattern.”

denverite.com/2025/10/27/d...

Does the AI boom threaten local air quality? A north Denver neighborhood is about to find out A new data center campus is currently under construction in Elyria-Swansea — a neighborhood already struggling with pollution from major highways and Colorado’s only oil and gas refinery.

The AI boom isn't just a massive drain on water and electricity.

In north Denver, local residents worry future data center could be the area's latest air pollution source. My latest:

www.cpr.org/2025/10/14/a...

After Spain's blackout, critics blamed renewable energy. It's part of a bigger attack When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact.

This story was inspired by a conversation with a fossil fuel exec in Paris a few days after the big outage in Spain. He blamed too much renewable energy as the cause.

Was that really it? Turns out: No.

@npr.org takes you through a new report on what happened + impacts of renewable misinformation.

Fatal?

The Celebrity-Backed Green “Fintech” Company That Isn’t as Green as It Seems Aspiration is among a group of companies that provide banking and financial services, and promise to help the environment. But so far its marketing is greener than its reality.

Aspiration Inc. is at the center of the alleged $28M no-show gig for LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.

Back in 2021, years before Aspiration went bankrupt, @propublica.org revealed how the company appeared to inflate claims about the many millions of trees it had planted.

Federal tax credits for electric vehicles are ending, leading to spike in sales Federal discounts for electric vehicles expire at the end of the month. The deadline has led to a spike in EV sales and whiplash for auto dealers.

Plus the NPR radio version:

www.npr.org/2025/09/02/n...

In EV-crazed Colorado, drivers rush to dealerships before tax credits disappear The federal EV tax credit is set to expire on Sept. 30, luring a surge of customers to dealerships in Colorado and across the country.

Colorado red-hot EV market is burning bright before it fades away.

Here's my report from hanging out at dealerships before federal EV tax credits expire at the end of the month. CO's generous incentives are also on steep, downward trajectory.

www.cpr.org/2025/09/03/s...

Always feel welcome to say then to us at CPR News!

Conservatives Get the PBS and NPR Cuts They’ve Wanted for Decades

This isn't happening because public media is irrelevant in the digital age.

It's happening because PBS and NPR offer free news and educational programming--and keep finding ways to do it despite a shifting media landscape.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/b...