Good Morning, Colorado, you’re listening to the Daily Sun-Up with the Colorado Sun. It’s Monday August 30th.

Today - Hear from the Sun’s politics team as they discuss the 2022 election, redistricting and COVID-19.

Before we begin, let’s go back in time with some Colorado history adapted from historian Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today we’re going back to August 30th, 1931 - the birthday of Jack Swigert. No Coloradan has ever had a better perspective of their state than Swigert. Granted, as the command module pilot of the Apollo XIII mission, he had little time to enjoy the view. Swigert graduated from the University of Colorado and went on to serve in the Air Force. Then, In 1966 NASA chose him as an astronaut for the Apollo missions. 

 Now, our feature story. 

Welcome to a special edition of the Daily Sun Up podcast with a roundup of recent political news. 

Colorado Sun politics reporter Daniel Ducassi hosts his colleagues on the Sun’s politics team Jesse Paul, Thy Vo and Sandra Fish as they talk about the 2022 election, redistricting and COVID-19.

 

To keep up with the latest from the Colorado Sun’s politics team go to coloradosun.com

 

Thanks for listening. Finally, here are a few stories you should know about today:

 

The Martin Drake power plant in downtown Colorado Springs burned its last coal on Saturday, with natural gas fired turbines continuing to meet the electricity demands of the state’s second largest city. Colorado Springs Utilities has been under pressure to transition to cleaner fuels, especially as the city contemplates redevelopment in neighborhoods near the plant, which is close to America the Beautiful Park and the new U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. The utility’s other coal-fired plant, Ray D. Nixon, near Fort Carson, is expected to transition to cleaner fuel in 2029.

 

There are 705 people in Colorado hospitalized because of COVID-19 at the end of last week, the highest level since January 21. Confirmed coronavirus cases have been spiking as the delta variant spreads, with about 99 percent of all case caused by the variant that is thought to be as contagious as chickenpox. COVID hospitalizations in Colorado still remain well below their peak of 1,847 reached on December 1, but the trend of increasing admissions is not showing signs of slowing. On Thursday, Colorado reported that its seven-day average of new daily cases was 1,490. Colorado’s highest seven-day average of new daily cases was about 5,400 in November.

 

Jobs that disappeared during the pandemic are coming back in Colorado at a faster pace than in most other states. But even with only about 80 percent of the 362,000 jobs lost when Colorado shut down in 2020 back, employers say they are having a hard time filling openings. That may change when federal pandemic unemployment benefits end on Saturday. Colorado’s unemployment rate is around 6.1 percent.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good Morning, Colorado, you&rsquo;re listening to the Daily Sun-Up with the Colorado Sun. It&rsquo;s Monday August 30th.
Today - Hear from the Sun&rsquo;s politics team as they discuss the 2022 election, redistricting and COVID-19.
Before we begin, let&rsquo;s go back in time with some Colorado history adapted from historian Derek R Everett&rsquo;s book &ldquo;Colorado Day by Day&rdquo;:
Today we&rsquo;re going back to August 30th, 1931 - the birthday of Jack Swigert. No Coloradan has ever had a better perspective of their state than Swigert. Granted, as the command module pilot of the Apollo XIII mission, he had little time to enjoy the view. Swigert graduated from the University of Colorado and went on to serve in the Air Force. Then, In 1966 NASA chose him as an astronaut for the Apollo missions.&nbsp;
&nbsp;Now, our feature story.&nbsp;
Welcome to a special edition of the Daily Sun Up podcast with a roundup of recent political news.&nbsp;
Colorado Sun politics reporter Daniel Ducassi hosts his colleagues on the Sun&rsquo;s politics team Jesse Paul, Thy Vo and Sandra Fish as they talk about the 2022 election, redistricting and COVID-19.
&nbsp;
To keep up with the latest from the Colorado Sun&rsquo;s politics team go to coloradosun.com
&nbsp;
Thanks for listening. Finally, here are a few stories you should know about today:
&nbsp;
The Martin Drake power plant in downtown Colorado Springs burned its last coal on Saturday, with natural gas fired turbines continuing to meet the electricity demands of the state&rsquo;s second largest city. Colorado Springs Utilities has been under pressure to transition to cleaner fuels, especially as the city contemplates redevelopment in neighborhoods near the plant, which is close to America the Beautiful Park and the new U.S. Olympic &amp; Paralympic Museum. The utility&rsquo;s other coal-fired plant, Ray D. Nixon, near Fort Carson, is expected to transition to cleaner fuel in 2029.
&nbsp;
There are 705 people in Colorado hospitalized because of COVID-19 at the end of last week, the highest level since January 21. Confirmed coronavirus cases have been spiking as the delta variant spreads, with about 99 percent of all case caused by the variant that is thought to be as contagious as chickenpox. COVID hospitalizations in Colorado still remain well below their peak of 1,847 reached on December 1, but the trend of increasing admissions is not showing signs of slowing. On Thursday, Colorado reported that its seven-day average of new daily cases was 1,490. Colorado&rsquo;s highest seven-day average of new daily cases was about 5,400 in November.
&nbsp;
Jobs that disappeared during the pandemic are coming back in Colorado at a faster pace than in most other states. But even with only about 80 percent of the 362,000 jobs lost when Colorado shut down in 2020 back, employers say they are having a hard time filling openings. That may change when federal pandemic unemployment benefits end on Saturday. Colorado&rsquo;s unemployment rate is around 6.1 percent.
For more information on all of these stories, visit our website,<a href="http://www.coloradosun.com/"> www.coloradosun.com</a>. Now, a quick message from our editor.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Welcome to The Colorado Sun's daily podcast, The Daily Sun-Up. Every day we’re sharing an in-depth look at one of our top stories, followed by a quick summary of important things happening in our state. For more visit us at https://coloradosun.com/.

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