Automatic Budget Cuts Have Spotty Record

An “essential” Colorado River water conservation program faces duel threats as the new Trump administration attempts to freeze its funding and a lapse in authorization creates delays that may make participation unfeasible this year for many farmers. The pilot program has paid water users — mostly farmers and ranchers — in the four states in the Colorado River’s Upper Basin to voluntarily use less river water than their water rights allow.

By LISA MASCARO and CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal disaster aid for wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles unless California leaders change the state’s approach on its management of water. In a Fox News Channel interview on Wednesday, Trump repeated false claims that the state’s fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state are responsible for fire hydrants running dry in urban areas.

The auto auction firm that bought the Bandimere Speedway property last year has acquired another large site. Copart snapped up several industrial properties spanning roughly 40 acres at 4400 S. Clay St. just outside Englewood city limits last week, paying $32 million, according to public records. The company did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The site, which sits to the north of Centennial Park along the South Platte River, had been home to an RV storage facility. The seller – 4400 Clay Fund III LLC – was a partnership between local real estate players Andy Klein of Westside Investment Partners and Ryan Good of Good Investment Partners.

A celestial event being hyped by some internet sites as an extremely rare planetary alignment has been oversold, astronomers are saying, but it should be a cool show if the sky is clear Saturday evening. The event has been portrayed by some as if six planets are queuing up one after another in a conga line, making it an epic event not to be missed.

An Aurora activist who helps run an overdose prevention group was elected to the state House by a Democratic vacancy committee Wednesday night. Jamie Jackson beat two opponents to represent Aurora’s House District 41. She succeeds now-Sen. Iman Jodeh, who won a separate vacancy appointment to the state Senate in early January. Jackson will serve essentially a full term in the House and will be up for a full election in 2026. “I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected to serve as the next Representative for House District 41,” Jackson, who is the chief operating officer of the Naloxone Project, said in a statement released by the Colorado Democratic Party.

After being closed for renovations since late October, Wilderness Exchange is slinging outdoor gear again. But in its 25th year, the Platte Street staple has a new look. The main floor upstairs is now a Black Diamond store, featuring new mountaineering and backcountry skiing gear from the brand. Downstairs sells what Wilderness Exchange has been known for over its nearly 25 years of business: an array of consignment and second-hand gear under its name. “(Consumers) can experience the latest and greatest of core gear and then come downstairs for discounted and used options,” said Wilderness Exchange founder and owner Don Bushey. The store at 2401 15th St.