Good Wednesday morning, Boulder. Today’s BRL Today is sponsored by Visit Boulder. Learn how to open your home for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival in Boulder with a City of Boulder Festival Lodging Rental License.
Leading today’s edition: About a month after wind-driven power shutoffs left thousands of Boulder residents without electricity once again, Boulder City Council is preparing to send a sharply worded letter to Xcel Energy warning that prolonged outages, missed climate commitments and rising costs for customers are “simply not acceptable.” The letter explicitly says Boulder is not seeking to exit its franchise agreement with Xcel, which voters approved in 2020 after a yearslong municipalization fight. But it alludes to the agreement’s off-ramps and mentions Xcel’s missed emissions targets, which under the franchise agreement could allow the city to revisit the deal as early as 2026. That leaves open questions about what, if anything, the council is prepared to do next. John Herrick reports.
In BRL Opinion today: Clif Harald, who co-founded and led the Boulder Economic Council, traces how Walter Orr Roberts helped turn Boulder into a global hub for climate science by building NCAR and the city’s first federal research labs. That legacy now faces new federal threats that could take generations to undo.
And in Nibbles yesterday, John Lehndorff traced a very different kind of Boulder history: a sweet origin story of National Pie Day and how it all began in a Boulder classroom with one man who preferred pie over cake. Don’t miss the next edition of Nibbles, delivered to your inbox every Tuesday.
Plus more, Below the Fold:
- BoulderCAST: Teens, single digits and a chance of light snow this week.
- Meals return: Colorado FriendShip resumes meals after permit halt.
- City + AI: Boulder joins national pilot on government use of AI.
- Park play: Proposals open for nature-based kids programs.
- Local news: NYT op-ed explains BRL’s nonprofit model.
Thanks, as always, for reading,
– The BRL team
Open your home for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival in Boulder and be part of a cultural moment. With a City of Boulder Festival Lodging Rental License or regular short-term rental license, Boulder homeowners can host Festival guests and help meet lodging demand — while earning income and supporting local businesses. Visit Boulder has partnered with trusted property management companies to make hosting simple, safe and stress-free, or you can self-manage on your own terms.
‘Simply not acceptable’: Boulder City Council warns Xcel over prolonged power shutoffs, missed climate targets
A letter cites missed emissions targets, wildfire-related outages and rising costs, while stopping short of recommending exiting the franchise agreement. Continue reading…
Walter Orr Roberts and NCAR: How Boulder built a global climate science hub, now under federal threat
One scientist’s legacy helps explain how Boulder became a global center for atmospheric research — and why damage unfolding now could take generations to undo. Continue reading…
Winter to return following a series of cold fronts
Last night’s weak cold front was just the opener, with a couple more lined up to drag Arctic air into eastern Colorado over the coming days. Yes, winter is set to finally act like winter — at least briefly.
Today brings sunshine and highs near 50, with downslope gusts up to 25 mph and humidity below 10% boosting fire danger. Our pinch of snow earlier in the week is still helping keep Red Flag Warnings away for now, but don’t let your guard down.
Another front arrives around sunset today with a burst of northeast wind, sending us into the teens tonight and only the 30s for tomorrow.
Cold fronts will keep rolling through into the weekend. A stronger push Thursday evening will bring sub‑freezing highs for a few days and a chance of light snow Friday night into Saturday. Moisture is limited, so we’re likely looking at only an inch or two of the white stuff, but the real story is the Arctic chill: For a few days we’ll see highs in the teens and 20s and lows dipping into the single digits and even below zero.
The end of the impending cold snap is still TBD. Dense Arctic air is notoriously unpredictable, especially with Boulder perched right on the edge at the base of the Foothills. However, we should start to see a warming trend take hold by early next week at the latest.
Colorado FriendShip allowed to resume meals in downtown Boulder after permitting halt
Good news following Boulder Reporting Lab’s reporting last fall: Colorado FriendShip has received a permit from Boulder County allowing the longtime volunteer-run meal program to resume serving food in the Justice Center parking lot on Sunday evenings.
The approval comes after the county ordered the group to stop serving meals in November over a permitting issue, temporarily disrupting a program that has provided weekly hot meals to people experiencing homelessness for more than 25 years. At the time, Colorado FriendShip leaders said the decision would leave dozens of people without their only reliable Sunday meal as the group scrambled to find an alternative location. The organization had operated at the site for 27 years without a permit and without prior enforcement action.
For about three weeks, the organization did not serve hot food while it applied for a permit and updated their insurance policy to meet county standards, according to Liz Friedenson, the executive director of Colorado FriendShip. Read more on BRL.
Boulder joins nationwide study on AI use in local government
Boulder is one of 10 cities nationwide participating in a new three-year initiative exploring how generative AI could be used in local government, according to a city press release.
As part of the $3 million program, Boulder will host a fellow who will work with city staff to evaluate potential uses of AI, develop policies for responsible and equitable implementation, and pilot early applications. City officials say potential uses could include responding more efficiently to public questions, improving access to city information and streamlining internal processes.
The initiative is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and led by the Data-Smart City Solutions program at Harvard Kennedy School. Other cities in the cohort include Charlotte, Philadelphia, San Jose, St. Paul, Long Beach, Lexington, Columbia, West Palm Beach and Detroit. Boulder, Philadelphia and San Jose will host in-house data fellows as part of the program.
City opens applications for nature-based play programs in Boulder parks
Boulder is looking for community groups and educators to bring nature-based play and learning programs to local parks this year, as part of a new city pilot focused on getting kids and families outside.
Applications are open through Feb. 1 for the Nature Exploration Park Facilitators program, which will support ideas like supervised free play, outdoor learning workshops, small pop-up events and intergenerational activities centered on nature. Programs must take place in city-managed neighborhood or community parks and align with goals around youth development and community connection.
Some high-traffic areas — including Central Park and the Civic Area, Pearl Street Mall, Boulder Reservoir and Flatirons Golf Course — are excluded. Selected programs will be notified by Feb. 13, and the city may waive fees and offer limited support, such as storage.
New York Times op-ed explains the local news model we’re building in Boulder
Not everyone knows how Boulder Reporting Lab works, or that we’re a nonprofit newsroom. So we’re sharing an opinion piece that ran in The New York Times over the weekend that explains why this model matters at a moment when traditional newspapers are closing, and how local news is being rebuilt in new, sustainable ways.
The column lays out the nonprofit, digital, community-supported model that BRL is pioneering right here in Boulder, alongside newsrooms across the country. In this model, journalism is funded by readers, philanthropy and community-aligned sponsorships, published online and in inboxes, and deeply rooted in the communities it serves. It rejects the incentives of click-driven media in favor of journalism as a public good, focused on accountability, service and civic life, an approach that has demonstrated real, measurable impact.
As the piece puts it: “Under this model, local journalism is treated as a public good, essential to civic life, akin to a museum or a food bank.”
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