The Sunriser | State budget gap gets even wider
Good morning, Sunriser readers! I’m on the road to Pueblo, which means this intro is actually coming to you from a past Parker. Past Parker is sitting on her couch, kind of sleepy and full of kung pao tofu (h/t to Sun editor Lance Benzel who recommended the recipe).
That’s actually what I want to talk about this morning: tofu. Or, recipes in general. One of my natural responses to chaotic times is to cook more. It started when I was in grad school, overworked and underslept, just looking for something to do with my hands. Since then, it’s become sort of a comfort activity that helps me turn the volume down a couple notches at the end of the day. Some people flip on a nature documentary, others go for a walk. I open the New York Times cooking app and start filing away recipes in my little digital recipe box. And lately I’ve got a lot of dishes saved up.
Let’s see what our reporters have whipped up for you this morning.
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
A few months ago, lawmakers were already bracing for the task of cutting $1 billion from the state’s budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Now, as Brian Eason reports, higher-than-expected Medicaid costs with no relief in sight added a 20% increase to the gap lawmakers were already struggling to bridge.
SPORTS
From ancient Scottish highlands to the outskirts of Lafayette, the sport of curling’s long evolution is picking up speed like a stone on a well-swept guide path. Dan England caught up with some of the passionate part-time curlers who are hoping to toss and sweep their way to Milan.
WATER
Snow, snow everywhere but not enough drops to drink. Water reporter Shannon Mullane breaks down the latest snowpack reports that do not bode well for a healthy runoff season.
CULTURE
After Heather Szucs lost her home in the Marshall fire, the lists began to weigh on her. Lists of items to refill a home after losing it to the fire, lists of paperwork to keep up with insurance claims and more. Parker Yamasaki writes that the process of rebuilding is documented in a short film, “Way the Wind Blows,” which will get a screening this weekend at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival in Golden.
MORE NEWS
THE COLORADO REPORT
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CARTOONS
In “What’d I Miss?” the cartoonists imagine the verbal gymnastics confronting TV guests of a certain persuasion in the current political climate.
Drew Litton observes that despite all that’s happening, from weather to the end of the football season to politics, things just might be about to get worse.
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CONVERSATION
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Here’s a gift link to the above mentioned tofu. I couldn’t leave you hanging like that.
— Parker & the whole staff of The Sun
Corrections & Clarifications
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