Good Morning, Colorado, you’re listening to the Daily Sun-Up with the Colorado Sun. It’s Friday June 25th.

Today - Although the state has been trying to move away from coal, one Southern Colorado coal mine is doing the unexpected. The New Elk Mine in Trinidad reopening after being closed for decades. 

But 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 take you back to June 25th, 1923 when Warren G Harding, who historians consider one of the worst American presidents, drew a crowd in Denver. Escaping a plethora of scandals in Washington DC, Harding and his wife set out on what was called a “Voyage of Understanding”. The journey was intended to connect the president to a less critical public. 

Now, our feature story.

Colorado has been trying to move away from coal, with all but one of its seven remaining coal-fired power plants slated to close in the next few decades. But one Southern Colorado coal mine is bucking the trend, with the New Elk Mine in Trinidad reopening this week after being closed for decades. Colorado Sun reporters Jason Blevins and Thy Vo talk about why the mine fired up last week with plans to ship as much as 2.5 million tons of coal a year to overseas steel plants.

To read more of Jason’s reporting on the coal industry, go to coloradosun.com.

And Before we go, here are a few stories that you should know about today:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended the federal eviction ban for another month to July 31. This is good news for thousands of Coloradans still waiting to be approved for -- or receive -- rental assistance. According to a recent household survey by the U.S. Census, 30.4 percent of Colorado households -- or about 77,000 -- are behind on rent or mortgage payments and face “very likely or somewhat likely” foreclosure in the next two months.

Thornton’s city council is expected to vote next week to use its status as a utility funding and building a critical piece of infrastructure to overturn Weld County’s denial of a permit to build a pipeline to bring water to the city from a reservoir near Fort Collins. Weld County’s commissioners denied the city’s request to run about half of the 75-mile pipeline through an unincorporated part of the county. Thornton believes state statute gives it legal status to overturn that denial. This fight has been going on since 2015 and Thornton would like to have the pipeline complete by 2025.

A police officer involved in the shooting left three people dead in Olde Town Arvada on Monday has been put on administrative leave. This suggests the officer shot and killed Johnny Hurley, the good Samaritan credited with preventing more bloodshed, sources say. Officers are typically placed on leave after shooting people until an investigation can determine if the shooting was justified. The investigation is being conducted by a team of area law enforcement agencies led by the Jefferson County district attorney's office.

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. And don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow for a special holiday episode. Now, a quick message from our editor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.