Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Wednesday January 6th, and we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories, and a quick summary of other important things happening in our state.

Today - families who lost homes in wildfires this year are starting to rebuild.

Before we begin, let’s take a look at what happened on this day in Colorado history - adapted from Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we take you back to January 6th, 1942 when a new industry debuted in El Paso County. The US Army announced their plans for a training facility on donated land south of the city, The local newspaper described the news as a belated Christmas present.

Now, our feature story. 

Hundreds of homes were lost in Colorado's record-breaking wildfires last year. For those families, the process to rebuild has only just begun. Colorado Sun reporter Lucy Haggard has the story of one family's house and what life is like after losing almost everything.

To read more stories of wildfire recovery, go to coloradosun.com.

Thanks for listening. Before we go here are a few stories you should know about today:

It will take two to four weeks for the state to begin distributing new federal unemployment benefits, though it may be a little sooner because the state is upgrading its outdated computer system this week, according to Joe Barela, executive director of Colorado’s Department of Labor and employment, in a surprise visit during a call with reporters on Tuesday. 

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The Colorado Department of Transportation estimates it will receive $150 million from the coronavirus pandemic relief bill Congress passed late last year. 

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. Now, a quick message from our editor.

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