Good Wednesday morning, Boulder. Did you like yesterday’s rain and that sticky 80% humidity? You’ll see more today, but with it, a higher flash flood risk.
Leading today’s edition: Boulder County is weighing a new 0.15% sales tax that could generate $15 million a year for mental health services. Debate is already flaring over how to spend it. Supporters say the money would bolster crisis response, prevention and treatment programs as federal aid runs out. Critics warn it might simply plug holes in current services and still leave out long-term solutions.
Boulder City Council will discuss whether to endorse the tax this week, with some members wary after saying the city got “screwed” (one councilmember’s words) by how the county handled revenue from the 2023 Affordable Housing Tax. Commissioners will hold a public hearing Aug. 12 before deciding whether to put the measure on the ballot. John Herrick reports.
In BRL Opinion: Boulder City Councilmembers Nicole Speer and Ryan Schuchard on confronting antisemitism they once left out of their equity work, the June 1 attack, and why they believe naming harm must now guide how they lead. It follows their colleague’s Instagram posts (see below).
Lastly: Colorado’s biggest indoor pickleball club — and a new dining destination — has opened in Louisville, McKenzie Watson-Fore reports. Relish, housed in the former Sam’s Club on South McCaslin Boulevard, features 19 courts, eight chef-led food stalls, a bar, event space and even a live music stage, aiming to be both a pickleball hub and a community gathering spot.
Much more, Below the Fold:
- BoulderCAST: Flash flood risk sticks around through Thursday.
- Council dispute: Councilmembers condemn posts by colleague.
- City council filing: Candidate period opens Aug. 5.
- EPA rollback: Agency plans to revoke key legal basis for climate rules.
- Wildfire grants: County awards $1.6M for mitigation projects.
- Coach Prime: Sanders opens up about cancer surgery, recovery.
- Mountain lion: Dog killed on Balsam Ave., lion returns next day.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
– the BRL team
Boulder County considers $15M mental health tax, but critics question how funds will be spent
The measure could pump new funding into addressing mental illness. But it’s already stirring debate over which services need it most. Continue reading…
Colorado’s largest indoor pickleball club opens in Louisville — with food hall and event space in former Sam’s Club
Relish features eight chef-led food stalls, a bar, event space and more indoor pickleball courts than anywhere else in Colorado. Continue reading…
Nicole Speer and Ryan Schuchard: Holding the hurt, naming the harm in Boulder
A personal reckoning with antisemitism, civic grief and the challenge of navigating complexity — and why we can’t leave it out of our equity work any longer. Continue reading…
Cool, with elevated flash flood risk through Thursday
Late July to early August is prime time for flash flooding around here, and the next few days are giving us all the classic ingredients. We know — we’ve warned of the flood risk before and then saw underwhelming rainfall — but Wednesday and Thursday are shaping up to offer strong storms across the Front Range, with heavy rain possible just about anywhere.
A moisture-packed cold front moved through overnight, and now that humid air is pooling up against the terrain. That ups the risk of flash flooding through the day, especially near the foothills and burn scars.
Expect areas of low clouds Wednesday morning, but they’ll burn off by midday, giving way to some sunshine and — yep — afternoon thunderstorms. Storms will pop over the mountains first, then roll east into Boulder later in the afternoon and evening. Rain totals will vary widely, but the hardest-hit spots could pick up more than 1.5 inches. Rain chances wane late in the evening.
Thursday looks like a repeat performance, though maybe a little less dramatic. Temperatures both days will stay in the upper 70s, so while it won’t be hot, it will feel sticky.
Please stay weather-aware the next couple of days!
Councilmembers condemn Adams’ Instagram posts as antisemitic
Two Boulder City Councilmembers, Mark Wallach and Matt Benjamin, issued a joint statement Monday accusing fellow Councilmember Taishya Adams of a “troubling pattern” of social media activity and saying two recent Instagram posts “crossed a serious line into antisemitism.”
One post asserted that “the biggest genocide in human history didn’t happen in Nazi Germany,” drawing a comparison between the Holocaust and the treatment of Native Americans, and was set to music from Schindler’s List. Another accused the City of Boulder of “funding genocide” through its investments. Wallach and Benjamin described the posts as “divisive” and showing a “profound insensitivity to our Jewish community,” calling the language a “modern form of antisemitism” relying on “double standards, dog whistles and coded messages.”
Adams defended her posts in a statement issued July 29, saying, “I will not dignify the misinformation shared by Councilmember Matt Benjamin and Councilmember Mark Wallach in an attempt to distract from the real work and conversations our Council has ahead of us.“ Read more on BRL.
Meanwhile, candidate filing for the next election begins soon…
Interested in serving on Boulder City Council? Candidate filing opens next week
Boulder residents considering a run for city council in the Nov. 4, 2025, election can officially file between Aug. 5 and Aug. 25.
Four council seats are on the ballot this year, each for a three-year term as the city transitions to even-year elections. (The next mayoral election will be in 2026.)
To qualify, candidates must be U.S. citizens, at least 21 years old, have lived in Boulder for at least one year before the election, and not have served three or more prior terms on council.
To appear on the ballot, candidates must submit an Intent to Run form online starting Aug. 5, meet briefly with the City Clerk to take an oath and receive a nomination petition, collect 25 to 35 signatures from registered Boulder voters, and return the petition by 5 p.m. on Aug. 25 to the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building.
The City Clerk’s Office will review all petitions and confirm who qualifies. And as the filing period begins, you can also learn about who’s already planning to run in BRL’s election coverage.
EPA to revoke key legal authority for regulating climate pollution
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to rescind its 2009 “endangerment finding,” the scientific determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health — and the legal foundation for U.S. climate regulations, The New York Times reported Tuesday. (You can read the proposed rule here.)
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the move “the largest deregulatory action in the history of America,” saying the finding has cost “Americans a lot of money.” The reversal would strip the EPA of its ability under the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars, power plants and other major sources — a cornerstone of Obama- and Biden-era climate policy.
The change could unravel decades of climate efforts. Commissioners formally announced the proposal Tuesday in Indianapolis alongside Gov. Mike Braun.
Boulder County awards $1.6M for wildfire mitigation projects
Seven new wildfire mitigation projects — from Coal Creek Canyon to Sunshine and Pinecliffe — are getting a boost this spring, with more than $1.6 million in county funding aimed at thinning forests, carving out fuel breaks and protecting neighborhoods at risk.
The grants, funded by Boulder County’s voter-approved wildfire mitigation tax, will pay for work like clearing overgrown trees around Four Mile and Sunshine fire districts, cutting shaded fuel breaks near Boulder Mountain, and reducing fuels in the Wonderland Lake area, where homes border grasslands and open space.
Partners — including local fire districts, the Boulder Watershed Collective, and the cities of Boulder and Longmont — will kick in another $2.1 million in matching funds. Together, they’ll treat hundreds of acres, link up with previous mitigation projects, and create buffer zones designed to slow fast-moving fires.
“This is landscape-scale work,” one county official said. “We’re building a patchwork of treatments that make the whole area more defensible.”
Coach Prime talks candidly about bladder cancer, surgery and comeback
CU Boulder head football coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders disclosed Monday during a press conference that he underwent major surgery earlier this year after being diagnosed with “very high risk” bladder cancer, and that he is now cancer-free.
Doctors found the tumor during a routine vascular scan. Follow-up tests led to an aggressive diagnosis and a difficult choice: a yearslong treatment process with a high risk of recurrence, or removal of his bladder entirely.
Sanders chose surgery, which doctors performed robotically, creating a new bladder from part of his intestine. “The results from the surgery are that he is cured from the cancer,” his doctor said during the press conference.
The recovery has been grueling and deeply personal, he said. Sanders spoke candidly about losing 25 pounds, struggling with a catheter, and even having to relearn basic routines. “I’m going to be transparent — I can’t pee like I used to pee. It’s totally different,” he said. “But let’s stop being ashamed, and let’s deal with it head-on. Because it could have been a whole other kind of gathering if I hadn’t gotten checked out.”
Sanders used the moment to urge others, particularly men, to get routine medical checkups. “We don’t like going to the doctors,” he said, looking into the cameras. “But I’m telling you, get checked out.”
Sanders returned to practice this week, still down about 12 pounds but, as he put it, “too blessed to be stressed.”
Mountain lion kills dog in Boulder neighborhood
A mountain lion attacked and killed a dog on the evening of July 25 in the 2400 block of Balsam Ave., Boulder Police posted on X. No humans were threatened or harmed, but the dog was killed and its remains were found in a nearby backyard before being returned to its family.
The same mountain lion reappeared in the area on Saturday, presumably returning to a prey cache for later consumption. Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Boulder Police Animal Protection Officers and Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Rangers responded. After hours of observation, the mountain lion left and had not been seen as of Monday.
The solitary and territorial nature of mountain lions makes relocation ineffective for reducing conflict. There is only one lion in an area and another lion will fill its place if one is removed. Even though mountain lions are common in Colorado, attacks are rare. Authorities advise that if you encounter one, do not approach, back away slowly and try to make yourself look large. If a mountain lion does attack, throwing sticks or stones or fighting back can help drive it away.
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