Good Wednesday morning, Boulder.
Leading today: A special edition of BRL Today. We’re stepping back from the daily news cycle to go deep on an issue that has fingerprints across our community:
When E.M. needed help, the system failed her. A crisis team arrived too late. Insurance cut treatment short. A mental health provider dropped her after missed appointments, leaving her without medication. Then came a psychiatric break. She was arrested and booked into the Boulder County Jail, where she spent weeks terrified and alone in a cell despite a state law intended to limit solitary confinement.
Cases like E.M.’s prompted a yearlong investigation by Boulder Reporting Lab senior reporter John Herrick in partnership with Bolts, a national newsroom covering criminal justice. We published the series this week.
Our investigation found that people with serious mental illness continue to be held in solitary confinement for weeks at a time despite reforms lawmakers passed to curb the practice. By piecing together court records from across Colorado, we created the first statewide accounting of requests to exceed the law’s limits. The findings suggest the law is not working. Boulder County filed 42 of the 61 petitions submitted statewide, more than any other county in Colorado.
But the reporting uncovered a deeper problem. Today, about 60% of women and 62% of men in the Boulder County Jail have a diagnosed mental illness. The investigation asks how that happened and why a jail has become our county’s largest de facto mental health facility.
The answer points to a system that too often fails people long before they enter a jail cell. The result is a cycle in which people in crisis end up behind bars, jails are asked to provide care they were never designed to provide, and reforms meant to protect vulnerable people exist more on paper than in practice.
Scroll down to read the full series or listen by clicking the audio button at the top of each story. We’ve also included a summary of the key findings.
Also today, Below the Fold:
- BoulderCAST: Storms this afternoon, more coming tomorrow.
- Ozone: Action Day Alert remains in effect.
- Culture Club: A new BRL arts, culture and events newsletter launches tomorrow.
- Xcel: Undergrounding project begins along 75th Street.
- Wildfire: HOAs have one month left to claim juniper-removal rebates.
- Fireworks: Seeing them? Don’t call 911.
Thanks, as always, for reading,
– The BRL team
Rachel Friend is an attorney and former Boulder Mayor Pro Tem running for Boulder County Treasurer. For the past decade, Friend has championed affordability, transparency, and responsible fiscal stewardship in local government. She is endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, DA Michael Dougherty, Mayor Aaron Brockett, Senator Judy Amabile and many other local leaders. Learn more at friendfortreasurer.com.
The jail that replaced Boulder County’s mental health system
Colorado’s dysfunctional system for restoring competency for defendants with serious mental illness leaves people cycling in and out of jail, where harsh conditions can further erode their mental health. Continue reading…
Colorado limited solitary confinement for people with mental illness. Boulder County keeps using it.
Despite a 2021 Colorado law meant to curb solitary confinement, judges almost always approve requests to isolate people with serious mental illness, often because there is nowhere else to send them. Continue reading…
Five takeaways from Boulder Reporting Lab and Bolts’ investigation into solitary confinement in Colorado jails
We spent months investigating how people with serious mental illness are isolated in the Boulder County Jail and other Colorado jails despite a state law intended to limit the practice. Continue reading…
Severe storms again this afternoon, more on deck tomorrow
Today keeps the week’s theme going with another round of late‑day severe thunderstorms along the Front Range. Storms will fire early this afternoon and linger into the evening. Any of them could produce golf-ball hail, gusts exceeding 60 mph, and intense downpours. Highs top out in the mid‑80s. If you’re riding for Bike to Work Day, keep an eye on the sky for your trip home.
A few showers may linger overnight, but Thursday morning starts quiet with lows in the upper 50s.
However, another round of severe storms is on tap for tomorrow. Overall coverage might be a touch lower, but it only takes one supercell to cause significant problems. Highs cool back into the mid‑70s.
We’ll dry out and warm up heading into the weekend. Our attention quickly shifts to what may become a high‑impact fire weather pattern across Colorado and much of the Southwest as warm, dry, gusty conditions take hold.
Alongside ongoing ozone alerts, thick smoke from out‑of‑state wildfires will keep skies hazy, visibility muted, and our sunsets looking like oil paintings through week’s end.
Ozone Action Day Alert remains in effect for Boulder area
An Ozone Action Day Alert is in effect for Boulder and much of the Front Range through at least 4 p.m. today, as hot temperatures and light winds drive up ozone pollution levels. The highest concentrations are expected in the southern and western parts of the Denver metro area, and visibility may be reduced.
State health officials advise children, active adults and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma to limit prolonged outdoor exertion through the evening. Elevated ozone levels can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, trigger coughing and breathing difficulties, and increase the risk of asthma attacks.
Introducing Culture Club
A heads up: Tomorrow we’re launching Culture Club, a new weekly newsletter focused on arts, culture and events across Boulder County.
The newsletter grew out of reader surveys in which many of you told us you wanted help discovering what’s happening in the community — not just the hard news, but the arts, events and community life that make Boulder a great place to live. Culture Club will arrive most Thursdays and will also create new opportunities for local organizations, events and businesses to connect with BRL readers.
Not interested? No problem. You will be able to opt out at any time while continuing to receive BRL Today.
Xcel breaks ground on undergrounding project aimed at reducing wildfire risk
Xcel has begun construction on a powerline undergrounding project along 75th Street, part of its wildfire mitigation plan.
The 1.7-mile line runs from the city’s wastewater treatment plant south of Jay Road to a substation on Lookout Road, passing through an area of open space, agricultural land and heavy vegetation. If a wildfire sparked from the line, it could threaten nearby communities including Lafayette and Erie, said Carolyn Elam, Boulder’s senior sustainability manager.
The project was identified following analysis of the disastrous April 2024 public safety power shutoff, Xcel’s first in Colorado.
The work is one of several undergrounding and grid-hardening projects underway as Boulder seeks to reduce wildfire risk and improve electric reliability. Boulder Reporting Lab recently examined why roughly 140 miles of powerlines remain overhead in the city despite decades of efforts to bury them as part of its Rewiring Boulder series.
During construction, travelers may encounter lane shifts, noise, and sidewalk or shoulder closures as crews work Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Weekend work may also be required. Once the line is buried, the overhead poles will be removed.
BRL will have more reporting soon on this project and other major power grid upgrades underway in and around Boulder.
July 24 deadline nears for HOA wildfire rebate program
Homeowners associations and property managers across Boulder County have until July 24 to apply for a wildfire mitigation rebate program that helps cover the cost of removing juniper bushes from neighborhood common areas.
The Wildfire Partners program offers rebates of up to $500 per household unit for qualifying projects at condo, townhouse and apartment communities. County officials say nearly 40 communities have already been approved since applications opened in April.
Junipers are considered particularly hazardous in wildfire-prone areas because they contain volatile oils, retain dead material and can ignite easily. Communities accepted into the program receive guidance from Wildfire Partners staff, who identify eligible vegetation for removal before contractors are hired to complete the work. The rebate program is funded by Boulder County’s voter-approved wildfire mitigation sales tax.
Seeing fireworks? Don’t call 911
As July 4 approaches, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is reminding residents to report fireworks to its non-emergency line, 303-441-4444, unless there is an actual emergency.
Dispatchers say the communications center is routinely flooded with fireworks-related calls around the holiday, tying up emergency resources.
“The problem with that is that we only have so much staff and so many 911 lines,” said Ashley Zimmer, training supervisor for the sheriff’s communications center. “Unless something is on fire or there’s a true emergency, please call our non-emergency line.”
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