Post Premium: Our best stories for the week of Sept. 30

Getting your player ready...

Reporter Judith Kohler covers aerospace for The Denver Post, among a host of beats. Recently, while reporting on a new electric plane being developed by a Colorado company, she heard about a looming pilot shortage.

That piqued her interest, so she started making phone calls. The pilot workforce is aging, and as pilots begin to retire, there aren’t yet enough trainees in the pipeline to offset the losses. Estimates are that there will be a worldwide shortage of 800,000 pilots worldwide in 20 years, more than 200,000 in North America.

Kohler examines what the impact has been in Colorado, and what some institutions are doing help the aviation industry stay ahead of the curve.

— Donovan Henderson, Denver Post business editor

Pilot shortage in Colorado and U.S. looms as current flyers are aging out and trainees face steep costs

Preparing for an upcoming precision competition ... — Preparing for an upcoming precision competition, Matthew Cape, 25, Captain of the MSU Denver precision flight team heads toward his sweet line on the runway during a power off touch and go at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield on Sept. 25, 2019. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)

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Five of The Denver Post’s best stories this week

Proposition CC: Sorting out the arguments for and against TABOR measure

The Colorado state captiol looks beautiful ... — Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Colorado lawmakers sent Proposition CC to the ballot during the 2019 legislative session to ask voters if the state could retain taxpayer refunds that are required by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.

The debate over Proposition CC, which is on the November ballot, is littered with claims from both sides that require voters to know how the budget process works, what happened to the money from a 14-year-old ballot measure and how a state constitutional amendment called the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights impacts governments large and small across Colorado.

This is your guide to sorting it all out. Read more from Anna Staver.

Growth concerns on metro Denver’s fringe spark effort to recall Elizabeth’s entire elected government

Home construction in the Gold Creek ... — Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post
Home construction in Elizabeth, Colorado, on Oct. 4, 2019.

Forty miles from downtown Denver, where horse properties are plentiful and urban aggravations few, Elizabeth is starting to feel the city’s hot breath on its municipal neck.

Growth is coming — and some folks in this Elbert County town of 1,700 don’t want it. So much so that they have launched an unprecedented effort to boot from office the town’s entire elected government, John Aguilar reports.

Real estate experts mystified by PERA-owned building in Denver not occupied for a decade

A building owned by PERA at ... — Alex Burness, The Denver Post
A building owned by PERA at 1300 Logan St. in Denver's Capitol Hill has not been occupied for a decade.

The 40,000-square-foot, five-floor building, which sits at 1300 Logan St. near the Capitol, would be worth about $8 million in a sale, according to a city appraisal. But the building owned by Colorado’s Public Employee Retirement Association has sat unoccupied for about a decade, The Denver Post has learned — an irresponsibly long time that represents millions in lost potential revenue, real estate experts say. Read more from Alex Burness.

Ruben Valdez, Colorado’s first Latino House speaker, dead at 82

Provided by Valdez family
Ruben Valdez became Colorado's first Hispanic House speaker in 1975, when, in the wake of Watergate, Democrats briefly seized control of the House of Representatives. He stayed on as minority leader when Republicans reclaimed the majority two years later. (Photo courtesy of Valdez family)

Ruben Valdez, a Trinidad native who dropped out of high school to support his family, was a major presence in Colorado Democratic politics for decades. He worked either for or with the likes of Jimmy Carter, Dick Lamm, Ken Salazar, Bill Ritter, Michael Bennet and many others, Alex Burness reports.

“Some people demand respect or impose it on you. He earned respect,” said Rob Witwer, a Republican state lawmaker in the 2000s. “There was no question that he was respected throughout the halls of the Capitol.”

A guide to Colorado corn mazes, pumpkin patches and fall farm festivals

Asher Fukayama, 4, tries to pick ... — Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Asher Fukayama, 4, tries to pick up a heavy pumpkin in the pumpkin patch at the Denver Botanic Gardens Pumpkin Festival at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms on Oct. 21, 2018, in Littleton.

The weather has finally cooled off and the leaves are turning, which means it��ap time to explore Colorado’s many pumpkin patches and corn mazes. While most events are family-friendly, a few locations offer scares for older kids and adults, and many farms also offer the opportunity to pick-your-own pumpkins and fall produce. .

RELATED: — The Know

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