Colorado Primary Election Tuesday; Mail Ballots Due
HIGH LOCAL IMPACT
Source: Colorado Secretary of State · Boulder County Elections
The Colorado primary election is Tuesday, June 30. Mail ballots must be received by county clerks by 7 p.m.; in-person voting locations are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Key races include the Democratic gubernatorial primary (Phil Weiser vs. Michael Bennet), the Republican gubernatorial primary (Barbara Kirkmeyer, Scott Bottoms, Victor Marx), and the Attorney General primary. Unaffiliated voters may participate in one party's primary.
Plain Language
Colorado holds open primaries. Unaffiliated voters receive both party ballots but may return only one — returning both invalidates the ballot.
Wildfires Burning on Western Slope Send Smoke Toward Front Range; Three Firefighters Killed
HIGH LOCAL IMPACT
Source: CBS Colorado · CPR News · 9NEWS · Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management · Boulder County
Gov. Jared Polis declared disaster emergencies this weekend for two separate Western Slope wildfires: the Snyder Mesa Fire, which crossed into Mesa County from Utah and has burned more than 28,000 acres, and the Gold Mountain Fire near Ouray, now estimated at about 570 acres with evacuations in place. Three wildland firefighters were killed and two more injured Saturday in a burnover incident while fighting the Snyder Mesa Fire, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. A third fire, the Ferris Fire in Montezuma and Dolores counties, has burned nearly 6,000 acres with no containment as of Sunday.
Smoke from the Western Slope fires is creating hazy skies and pushing air quality readings higher across the Front Range today. State forecasters expect conditions to worsen into Sunday evening as the smoke plume continues moving east. As of midday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment had not issued a formal air quality advisory for the Front Range, but monitors showed particulate levels in the Moderate range. People with asthma, heart or lung conditions, and other sensitive groups should limit prolonged outdoor exertion and watch for updates.
The same hot, dry, windy conditions driving the wildfires have kept Boulder County's mountain and foothill areas under Stage 1 fire restrictions, which prohibit open burning, campfires outside designated areas, and outdoor smoking except inside an enclosed vehicle or building.
Plain Language
None of the active fires are burning near Longmont, Firestone, Frederick, Dacono, or the rest of the coverage area — today's local effect is air quality, not direct fire danger. Stage 1 restrictions are the lightest of three escalating levels Colorado counties use to limit fire risk during dry periods; they don't close trails or roads.