The incoming leader of the Regional Transportation District has overseen huge budgets and dug into daily operational details at other transit agencies. She has negotiated difficult labor contracts, including in a city notorious for union strife.
She’s also managed a board of directors rife with complexity and conflicting interests.
Debra Johnson will need all of those skills in Denver when she takes the reins as RTD’s new general manager and CEO, inside and outside observers say. She’s coming aboard at a time when the metro area’s transit provider faces not only tremendous fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but also budget imbalances, underfunded rail projects, and an outside review that kicked off this month.
That review could recommend drastic changes to the setup of the 51-year-old district, which has struggled to repair fraying public trust caused in part by service cuts and fare hikes.
The last time RTD hired a new boss from outside the agency was in 1995, when it tapped Cal Marsella in another time of turmoil. He would become the father of FasTracks, the massive transit expansion approved by voters in 2004. Read more…
— Jon Murray, The Denver Post
RTD’s new chief faces big challenges at cash-strapped transit agency
Five in-depth looks at Colorado in the age of coronavirus
Billionaire Robert Smith, Denver native and richest Black American, reportedly under criminal tax investigation
Denver-born billionaire and philanthropist Robert F. Smith is under criminal investigation for potential tax crimes, according to reporting by Bloomberg.
In a story published Friday, Bloomberg reporters detailed a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into whether or not Smith paid U.S. taxes on about $200 million in assets moved through financial structures based in the Caribbean. The investigation began in 2016, late in President Barack Obama’s administration, according to Bloomberg. Read more here…
A running list of COVID-19 cases in Colorado’s K-12 schools
It was a question of “when,” not “if,” the coronavirus would make its way into Colorado schools, as many K-12 districts reopened for in-person learning this month. In some, it took just days for students and staff to be forced into quarantine.
The Denver Post is keeping a running list of the school-related COVID-19 cases we learn about. School districts are not required to publicly disclose when cases pop up, although outbreaks are reported weekly by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That means this list may not be comprehensive, and reporting may sometimes lag.
If you know of a case not listed here, please email Tiney Ricciardi at cricciardi@denverpost.com. Read more here…
Boulder fraternity to be fined over large gathering of CU students without masks or social distancing
The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in Boulder will be fined for a gathering that drew 120 students to the organization’s house on University Hill this week, flouting COVID-19 health protocols.
Marc Stine, who oversees the Interfraternity Council on the Hill, said the governing organization will fine Sigma Alpha Epsilon $10 per member, or about $1,750 total, for this first infraction.
“That fine is for violating public health rules, but itap also for embarrassing the fraternity community so publicly,” Stine said Thursday. “Yesterday was the first time that we had evidence of a large gathering of students on a fraternity property without masks or social distancing.” Read more here…
Two Colorado K-12 schools report COVID-19 outbreaks among staff, two outbreaks tied to CSU still ongoing
Two Colorado K-12 schools have reported outbreaks of the new coronavirus since restarting in-person classes earlier this month, both involving infected staff members.
While just two schools made the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s weekly outbreak list — updated Wednesday — more have found cases as they preemptively test students.
The state health department defines an outbreak as two or more cases of COVID-19 within two weeks that are linked to the same location or event. Read more here…
Colorado wildfire update: Latest on Pine Gulch, Grizzly Creek, Cameron Peak and Williams Fork fires
A cold front at the end of the week has been a welcome reprieve for fire crews around Colorado, as cooler temperatures, rain and higher humidity have helped stifle wildfire growth.
The change in weather has allowed containment to rise on the state’s two largest fires — Pine Gulch near Grand Junction and Grizzly Creek in Glenwood Springs — and improved air quality up and down the Front Range. Read more…
Click here to skip to a specific fire: Pine Gulch fire | Grizzly Creek fire | Cameron Peak fire | Williams Fork fire | Wildfire map
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