Good Friday morning, Boulder. Today’s BRL Today is sponsored by the Center for Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder. Check out the Ackland Lecture on Tuesday, March 24: “Environment, Politics, and the Press: Reporting in Unprecedented Times.”
Leading today’s edition: Boulder created a program to help middle-income residents buy homes in a market where home prices are rising faster than incomes. The city council priority was meant to give residents a foothold and add more deed-restricted homes to the city’s housing supply. The pilot offered buyers up to $200,000 in interest-free down payment assistance, but required a deed restriction limiting appreciation. Nearly three years after launching, no one has applied, and city officials are now considering shutting the program down as soon as June. John Herrick reports.
Also today: Gov. Jared Polis is urging businesses and organizations to submit comments supporting NCAR before today’s deadline, as the Trump administration considers proposals that could break up the Boulder-based federal lab. Brooke Stephenson reports.
And what Boulder City Council decided Thursday night on potential 2026 ballot measures, including a proposed vacant home tax and possible changes to property taxes.
More, Below the Fold:
- BoulderCAST: Critical fire danger through Saturday.
- Xcel: Possible power shutoffs also Saturday.
- Ballot measures: Vacant home tax, property tax shifts eyed for 2026.
- Tina Peters: Lawmakers urge Polis not to grant clemency.
- Table Mesa: Park-n-Ride plaza closing for repairs.
Thanks, as always, for reading,
– The BRL team
Join the Center for Environmental Journalism for the fifth Ackland Lecture on Tuesday, March 24, at 5:30 p.m. on the CU Boulder campus at Old Main Chapel. The panel, titled “Environment, Politics, and the Press: Reporting in Unprecedented Times,” features Sadie Babits, senior supervising climate editor at NPR; Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi, Indigenous affairs editor for High Country News; and Jimmy Tobias, investigative journalist whose work has appeared in Public Domain, The Nation and The Guardian. The event is free and open to the public.
Boulder’s middle-income down payment program drew zero applicants. The city may end it.
The pilot offered interest-free loans to homebuyers and is one of the few city programs that promises to create more deed-restricted homes for middle-income residents. Continue reading…
Polis urges public comments to keep Boulder’s NCAR intact as deadline arrives
The National Science Foundation is accepting public comments on proposals that could restructure or break up the Boulder-based climate research center, with a deadline of March 13. Continue reading…
Red Flag conditions through Saturday, cold and snowy by Sunday
If you’re over the wind, brace yourself: We’re not done with it yet. There is an end in sight, but it’s still a little ways off, and we still have a few more rounds of strong gusts to push through.
There’s no mountain wave setup today. Instead, winds will mix out across the entire area with frequent 30 to 40 mph gusts from the west-northwest. With temps in the low 70s, fire danger stays critical and a Red Flag Warning is active.
Saturday won’t offer much relief. Another mountain wave will develop, bringing the chance for 45-plus mph gusts in Boulder, along with more 70‑degree warmth and repeat Red Flag Warnings.
Finally comes the tide of change: A wind‑driven cold front will blast in Saturday evening. Gusts could top 60 mph across much of eastern Colorado.
If you can believe it, this front will carry snow as well. While the setup is pretty messy, Boulder could see a dusting to 2 inches late Saturday night into Sunday morning. Sunday’s highs will only reach the mid‑30s — a whopping 40 degrees colder than Saturday.
And looming behind all of this: a historic, long-duration heatwave next week, with numerous days well into the 80s set to make the start of spring feel more like mid-summer.
Xcel warns of possible power shutoffs Saturday
Xcel Energy is warning that dangerous fire weather and strong winds along the Front Range could lead to additional outages and possible preventive power shutoffs this weekend.
The utility said Thursday it is considering a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) for parts of Boulder and Jefferson counties on Saturday, March 14, as forecasts call for high winds, low humidity and extremely dry vegetation.
About 18,000 customers across northern Colorado were without power Thursday afternoon, including outages affecting parts of Boulder County, after strong winds damaged power lines and poles.
Preventive shutoffs have become controversial in Boulder. Power shutoffs during windstorms in December left thousands without electricity for days, sparking anger from residents and businesses and drawing sharp criticism from Boulder City Council, which called prolonged outages “simply not acceptable.”
Xcel said it will update customers Friday as it decides whether to implement preventive shutoffs ahead of Saturday’s forecast peak in fire weather conditions.
Boulder City Council moves ahead with 2026 tax measures, including one on vacant homes
The Boulder City Council on Thursday, March 12, directed city officials to begin developing ballot measures for the November election that would impose a tax on vacant homes, potentially raise property taxes to fund parks, open space and other public projects, and restructure existing taxes to give the city more spending flexibility.
The vacancy tax would apply to homes that sit empty for more than half the year. The goal would be to encourage property owners to rent or sell their homes in a city with a shortage of housing. Revenue would go toward general city purposes.
The city’s Utilities Department reviewed water usage data and found about 500 single-family homes that were vacant for more than six months. A $2,000 annual tax on those homes would generate between $1 million and $2 million, city officials estimate. Staff said it was difficult to get vacancy data for multifamily buildings and excluded them from the estimate. The city could also tax vacant commercial properties. Read more on BRL.
Boulder lawmakers urge Polis not to grant clemency to Tina Peters
All 66 Democrats in the Colorado General Assembly signed a letter urging Gov. Jared Polis not to grant clemency or reduce the sentence of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters after he signaled a willingness to consider commuting her sentence.
In a letter sent this week, lawmakers wrote that clemency is intended for people who take responsibility for their actions. “Ms. Peters has made no efforts to these ends,” they wrote. “Instead, she refuses to take accountability for her crimes and continues to push election-denial conspiracy theories.” They also warned that reducing her sentence could further fuel election conspiracy theories and undermine confidence in Colorado’s elections.
Among the signers were lawmakers representing Boulder County: state Sens. Judy Amabile and Janice Marchman, and state Reps. Junie Joseph, Karen McCormick, Lesley Smith and Kyle Brown. Peters was convicted in 2024 for her role in a breach of Mesa County’s election systems, a case that drew national attention from election denial groups. Lawmakers said the courts, not the governor, should handle any remaining legal questions in the case.
The case has taken on broader political significance. Some Colorado Democrats say the Trump administration’s push to break up NCAR in Boulder is retaliation tied to the controversy surrounding Peters.
Table Mesa Park-n-Ride plaza to close for repairs starting March 23
The Regional Transportation District will begin an 18-month construction project at the Table Mesa Park-n-Ride on March 23, temporarily closing the station’s boarding plaza and relocating some bus stops.
The project will include structural repairs to the parking structure, the stair tower and the awning over the plaza, along with roofing and concrete work inside the garage.
During construction, riders on routes including the Flatiron Flyer and the RTD AB bus route will use temporary boarding locations near the station. RTD says signage will direct passengers to the correct stops.
The work is expected to continue through September 2027.
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