Friday, May 15, 2026

Good Morning! This day in 2019 was declared Kendrick Castillo Day by Gov. Jared Polis in honor of Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old who died saving others in a May 7 shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch.

State lawmakers adjourned the 120-day legislative session Wednesday. Of the 600-plus bills considered, those that passed range from gun laws and AI regulation to rideshare safety and consumer protections. Get the rundown in today’s Top Stories.

Today’s sponsor, Doroni, is developing a personal electric aircraft designed to make everyday air travel more practical with a compact flying vehicle that charges like an EV, fits in a standard garage, and is built for consumer use rather than commercial fleets.

Take The Flyover with you. Busy day? Listen to our daily 15-minute podcast while commuting, cooking, or walking the dog—your Flyover fix, anywhere.

Legislative Session Ends

Colorado’s 2026 lawmaking session wrapped up Wednesday, capping 120 days of voting on roughly 650 bills. Those that passed impact everything from housing and gun control to pet sales and AI in health care and therapy. Here’s a list of standout bills.

This session was viewed by business groups as unusually business-friendly, as lawmakers killed a host of would-be regulations, as well as a major tax-break rollback, amid industry opposition. Of the regulatory bills that passed, Gov. Jared Polis hinted he may veto HB 1210, a ban on surveillance pricing.

After last year’s veto, a second, narrower attempt to boost oversight of rideshare companies now awaits Polis’ signature. Lawmakers also passed SB 189, which scales back Colorado’s controversial AI law.

SB 4, already signed and in effect, broadens the state’s red flag gun law. HB 1144, effective July 1, bans 3D-printed guns. SB 149 would overhaul Colorado’s criminal competency processes, which have garnered national controversy.

Several bills failed, including efforts to regulate and incentivize data centers. This session was the last for many outgoing lawmakers, as well as Polis, who is term-limited and in his final regular session as governor.

Beer Garden Shuts Down Anti-Vax Mixer

A Denver bar canceled a meet-up organized by Unjected, a dating app for the anti-vaccination community, after the event sparked backlash online.

Unjected announced the mixer, slated for May 29 at Recess Beer Garden, via Instagram, billing it as a stop on a multi-state tour. Hundreds commented on the post, many criticizing the event and calling for Recess to cancel.

In a statement Wednesday, Recess canceled the meet-up, saying it never authorized the event and citing safety concerns spurred by a wave of “hateful language, online attacks, threats toward the business and harassment of the staff.”

Unjected said it still plans to host an event in Denver and is looking for a new venue.

El Niño Offers Drought Relief

Coloradans could see a slightly cooler, wetter summer this year as climate patterns shift toward El Niño, forecasters say.

The added moisture could bolster Colorado’s late-summer monsoon season, slightly offsetting the effects of a record-low snowpack and widespread drought.

There’s also the possibility of a far stronger super El Niño, which, if it develops later this year, could improve the odds of a snowy 2026-27 season.

Roughly 82% of the state is in severe drought or worse, including 46% in extreme drought and about 15% in exceptional drought, according to the latest data.

Flying together with our sponsor

Morgan Stanley Calls This a $9 Trillion Opportunity

If Morgan Stanley’s right, the flying car industry will grow 185,850% by 2050. In fact, they say it will reach $9 trillion in size, more than twice as valuable as today’s global car market.

And 5,500+ investors believe Doroni will lead the charge.

While competitors chase air fleets and taxis, Doroni’s H1-X aircraft is designed for everyday life. It plugs in and charges like an EV, fits in a two-car garage, and requires just 25 hours of training to pilot.

Others are peddling blueprints and renderings. Meanwhile, Doroni just unveiled a full-scale showroom prototype in March. It was so impressive, FOX Business called it the “‘flying car’ set to revolutionize personal air travel.”

600+ people have already reserved one, good for $240 million in potential revenue for Doroni. Now’s your chance to claim a piece of this growth as a Doroni investor today.

➤ DIA: Michael Mott, the man fatally struck by a Frontier airliner after scaling a perimeter fence, had been arrested 25 times since 2002 and was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in three cases since 2020, according to court documents. (See Details)

➤ Denver has recorded 18 homicides this year, up slightly from last year’s decade-low total of 14 homicides during the same period. (More)

➤ Statewide: A suspension of federal and state gas taxes and fees could drop Colorado's average price as low as $4.15 per gallon, according to a state-by-state analysis. (See List)

➤ San Luis Valley: In a compromise ruling, descendants of a historic land grant won the right to keep grazing sheep and cattle on La Sierra, land they share with a billionaire landowner, but lost the right to collect firewood in a 233-acre buffer zone around his home. (See Details)

➤ Statewide: The Trump administration will release $47 million in federal funding, previously frozen pending review, for four state water projects seeking to mitigate the effects of drought. (See Details)

➤ Jefferson County: Parents are demanding more transparency from the school district after learning a student safety audit—which flagged 153 imminent threats prior to the Sept. 10 shooting—was not shared with police at the time. The sheriff’s office found no link between the audit and the shooting. (See Details)

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➤ Colorado lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill that would ban credit card deposits for sports betting, prohibit sportsbooks from sending push notifications to solicit wagers, and restrict marketing to people under 21. The bill now heads to Gov. Jared Polis. (More)

➤ Colorado football is projected to finish 15th in the Big 12 next season by college football insider Jon Wilner, second-to-last in the conference. (More)

➤ The University of Denver women's golf team opens play today at the Women's National Golf Invitational in Maricopa, Arizona. (More)

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➤ Alma Fonda Fina, a Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant in Denver, was named the second-best restaurant in the U.S. in Food & Wine’s 2026 Global Tastemakers Awards. A local bar and Denver’s airport also made the list. (See List)

➤ Pueblo chile farmers kicked off this year’s planting season, planting 150,000 chile sprouts to set the stage for a July harvest. (More)

➤ Niwot, an unincorporated community in Boulder County, is debating whether to incorporate and govern itself after a controversial county minimum wage hike reignited the longstanding issue of local control. (See Details)

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Personal Flight Just Became Street Legal

The White House signed an executive order on flying cars. The FAA created new Light Sport Aircraft rules. And Doroni Aerospace just became one of the first personal eVTOLs approved for manned testing.

Their H1-X personal aircraft fits in your garage, charges like an EV, and flies 120 mph for 100 miles. It’s designed for everyday life, not professional pilots, requiring just 25 hours of training to operate its intuitive joystick controls.

They just unveiled the full-scale showroom prototype, a milestone 9 years coming. In that time, they saw 600+ pre-orders, $240 million+ in potential revenue, and $14.5 million+ in capital raised from 5,500+ investors.

Now they’re tracking to begin delivering H1-X units by 2028. Become an early-stage investor in Doroni’s growth before the world fully catches on.

This is a paid advertisement for Doroni Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.doroni.io/

➤ A baby eastern bongo was born at the Denver Zoo this month. Eastern bongos are a critically endangered type of antelope found in mountain forests in Kenya. (See Photos)

➤ A 6-year-old girl from Grand Junction is in the quarterfinals of the Junior Ranger competition, a national competition decided by online voting for children who love nature. (See Details)

➤ Lenny Pearce, a DJ and a dad, is hosting a “toddler techno” family event at Red Rocks, transforming nursery rhymes into high-energy music for families. (See Details)

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