Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1942, 34 miners were killed in the Wadge Mine Explosion, Colorado's eighth-deadliest mining disaster.

In the ski town of Park City, Utah, tens of thousands of filmgoers are attending the 2026 Sundance Film Festival—the very last before the event moves to its new home in Boulder. Find out more below.

The Flyover family of newsletters surpassed 4 million total readers on Friday, a new milestone for us. That includes The Colorado Flyover you're reading now, plus editions covering the news in eight other states—and our flagship newsletter, The Flyover, which covers national news. If you have friends or family who want to stay up to date on the news that matters, we encourage you to invite them to join The Flyover family.

🎧 The long-awaited great wealth transfer may fall short of expectations, economists say, as Baby Boomers begin turning 80 this year. The shift is raising questions about why trillions of dollars may never reach heirs. Host Ayla Brown unpacks it all on today's episode of The Flyover Podcast. Tune in here.

Today's sponsor is Xtreme One Entertainment, the team behind XFC, MMA's first publicly traded developmental league. Right now you can tap into their limited-time offering and even secure up to a 20% bonus stock.

Take The Flyover with you. Busy day? Listen to our daily 15-minute podcast while commuting, cooking, or walking the dog—your Flyover fix, anywhere.

Governors Summoned to D.C. for River Talks

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has invited the governors of all seven Colorado River states to meet in Washington, D.C., on Friday. The meeting comes two weeks before a deadline to submit a proposed agreement on the future management of the water supply under pressure from prolonged drought.

Upper Basin states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—have been at an impasse with Lower Basin states—Nevada, Arizona, and California—over which faction should cut back on water use and by how much.

The current operating guidelines for the river's key reservoirs expire at the end of 2026. Recent negotiations have largely focused on terms for an initial five-year period after 2026.

If a seven-state consensus can't be reached by Feb. 14, the federal government may implement its own plan. A final decision must be made no later than September 2026.

Traffic Deaths Rise, Reversing Decline

Data released by CDOT shows 701 people were killed on Colorado's roadways in 2025, up from 689 in 2024. Here's a chart breaking down the data by location and other factors.

Though slight, the uptick ends a two-year decline in traffic fatalities, underscoring the need to redouble safety efforts to prevent avoidable deaths, CDOT said in a news conference.

According to the agency, traffic deaths were on track for a 7% decline until November and December, when unseasonably warm weather contributed to a late-year surge.

The department plans to employ a range of strategies to meet its goal of reducing fatalities and serious injuries by 5% per year, or 22.6% by 2030.

Festivalgoers Attend 'Last Sundance'

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival, which opened last Thursday and runs through Sunday, Feb. 1, is the last to be held in Park City, Utah—its home for more than 40 years—before it moves to Boulder.

This is also the first festival since the death of Robert Redford, founder of the Sundance Institute. Before his death, Redford, who attended the University of Colorado Boulder, gave his blessing for the festival to relocate.

For many longtime attendees of the nation's premier independent film festival, this year is bittersweet. Some dubbed it "the last Sundance," expressing concern that the festival could lose its identity outside Utah.

At the same time, Sundance is certain to impact Boulder, possibly reshaping the city, as Park City Mayor Ryan Dickey advised: "Boulder, get ready. We have tens of thousands of people who come here for Sundance, and they're coming for you next."

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MMA has a larger global fanbase than American football by 200 million+ fans.

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➤ Crested Butte received nearly two feet of snow from the weekend storm. Parts of San Miguel, Chaffee, and Mineral counties reported similar totals, while Denver saw just under two inches. (See List)

➤ Statewide: A federal judge extended a two-week order blocking the Trump administration from freezing $10 billion in child care and social services funding for five Democrat-led states, including Colorado. (More)

➤ Larimer County: A semi-truck driver is facing vehicular assault and homicide charges after a head-on collision on US 287 northwest of Laporte left one person dead and another seriously injured. (More)

➤ Manitou Springs: A search for a local 57-year-old woman who disappeared last August is now considered a criminal investigation based on suspected foul play. (See Details)

➤ Aurora: Meadow Point Elementary School closed Monday due to a water main break. Dozens of other schools along the Front Range had a delayed start due to freezing temperatures. (More)

➤ Summit County: An out-of-state skier died last Friday after colliding with a tree at Copper Mountain Resort, the sheriff's office said. (More)

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➤ Broncos head coach Sean Payton said he regrets going for it on fourth-and-1 instead of kicking a field goal in the second quarter of their AFC Championship Game loss on Sunday. "I think the feeling was, man, let's be aggressive." (More)

➤ Deion Sanders announced that the University of Colorado will begin fining players for missing practices, violating team rules, or social media misconduct. Fines range from $400 to $5,000. (More)

➤ Gunnison native Coleman Shallbetter suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung after being thrown from a bucking bronco at Friday night's National Western Stock Show Rodeo. He's expected to make a full recovery. (More)

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➤ Colorado is one of the top 10 states with the highest share of self-employed households, with 12.9% reporting self-employment income, according to a new study. (See Map)

➤ State utility regulators lifted a generating cap on Xcel Energy's Comanche Unit 2, a coal-fired power plant in Pueblo. The plant had been scheduled to shut down in 2025, but regulators extended its operations after another unit, Comanche 3, broke down. (More)

➤ The National Center for Atmospheric Research, a Boulder climate lab the Trump administration intends to dismantle, could be privatized as part of its restructuring, according to a Jan. 23 letter. (See Details)

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➤ Mushers and huskies competed over the weekend in the 2026 Grand Mesa Summit Challenge, a sled dog race atop the 10,000-foot-high Grand Mesa. (See Video)

➤ Ice skating season has arrived in Evergreen with the long-awaited opening of Evergreen Lake, which has finally frozen to a safe depth after weeks of warm weather. (See Details)

➤ A ladder-like, 100-foot-tall sculpture in the Denver Tech Center has drawn both social media daredevils and, more recently, individuals in crisis. Dubbed the "Stairway to Prison" by urban climbers, the monument has now been the site of two emergency rescues in the past month. (See Details)

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