Minggu, 26 Juli 2026

4th Firefighter Dies, Colorado Inventions, and 1923 Chairs For Sale

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1880, the mining camp of Columbia got a post office under a name it hadn't chosen: Telluride. The Post Office Department wouldn't approve "Columbia," fearing mail mix-ups with a California camp.

In case you missed it, this week on The Flyover Podcast, Ayla tackled the weather pattern that could rewrite the entire winter. Forecasters now put the odds at 81% that El Niño reaches "very strong" status by winter, potentially one of the largest on record, and every corner of the country will be affected. When a pattern this powerful takes over, it doesn't just tweak the forecast, it decides which states get soaked and which dry out. Ayla broke down the five ways forecasters say this El Niño will shape the months ahead. So which side of the split does your state land on? Tune in here!

Today's sponsor, BluSky AI, is sharing how it aims to address the growing demand for AI infrastructure by developing data centers designed to come online faster and support the computing power behind modern AI applications.

Fourth Firefighter Dies From June Burnover

Nathan Matthews, 43, died Friday of burn injuries suffered June 27 on the Knowles Fire in Mesa County, the fourth firefighter killed in that burnover.

The Interior Department announced the death Saturday. Matthews, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was assigned to the Rifle Helitack crew and was one of five firefighters overtaken by flames during initial attack.

Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Arizona; and Sydney Watson, 27, of Warrior, Alabama, died at the scene. Officials haven't released the fifth firefighter's condition.

The Knowles Fire was later overtaken by the Snyder Fire, which burned 30,202 acres and is fully contained. Investigators are still reviewing the burnover. Matthews is the fifth firefighter to die on a Colorado wildfire this year.

Rural Colorado Worse in Health

Rural Coloradans fared worse than their urban neighbors on 15 of 20 health measures in a new state report, including premature death, heart disease, and suicide.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment titled the report The Well-Being of Place. It put the average age-adjusted death rate in rural counties at 826 per 100,000 from 2021 to 2023, against 728 in urban counties.

Resort counties are a different story. They averaged 521 deaths per 100,000 and beat urban counties on 87% of indicators.

Southern and eastern Colorado logged the worst outcomes. Native Americans in rural Colorado carried a premature death rate nearly double the rural average.

Celebrating Colorado Inventions for the 150

Colorado turns 150 on Aug. 1, and the list of things dreamed up here runs longer than most residents realize.

Louis Ballast trademarked the word "cheeseburger" in 1935 from a drive-in on Denver's Speer Boulevard, and a stone marker still sits at the spot.

Denver physician Earle Haas wrapped cotton around a cardboard applicator around 1930 and invented the modern tampon. He later sold the patent to the founder of Tampax.

Bill and Dorothy Harmsen opened a Jolly Rancher ice cream shop in Golden in 1949, then switched to hard candy when Colorado winters killed cone sales. Hershey owns the brand now.

Not every invention earned affection. Frank Marugg, a Denver Symphony violinist, built the first wheel clamp for police friends tired of chasing parking scofflaws. The world calls it the Denver boot.

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The $7.6 Trillion Flowing Into AI Is Not What You Think

Goldman Sachs is projecting $7.6 trillion in AI investment by 2031.

The common assumption is that all of the AI money flows to names like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But that is not where the infrastructure dollars are going.

Every AI model, chatbot, and recommendation engine needs compute power to run. And compute power needs physical infrastructure. Data centers. Lots of them.

The problem: AI demand has increased 1 million times in the last two years, stated Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO. Meanwhile, traditional data centers take 3 to 7 years to build. The infrastructure cannot keep up.

BluSky AI has developed a premanufactured solution ready in months, not years. They have a robust portfolio of sites with negotiated power ready for deployment. BluSky AI utilizes less power, smaller footprints, little to no water, and minimizes the impact on communities.

For the first time, everyday investors can back BluSky AI as they build the backbone of AI.

➤ Statewide: State election officials pushed more than 140 campaign finance complaints against Republican gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx into an investigation, alleging his campaign accepted $78,000 in excess contributions. Nearly all the complaints came from a former state GOP official. (See Details)

➤ Jefferson County: Colorado Task Force 1 headed home Friday after roughly a week in Texas. The over-40 member search and rescue team staged in San Antonio, worked the Laredo area, then stood by as Tropical Storm Bertha came ashore. (See Video)

➤ Denver International Airport: Attorneys for Chantal Morales Rojas filed a federal habeas petition Thursday asking a judge to order her release. ICE detained the 27-year-old Ecuadorian on a Southwest jetway July 20, saying she overstayed a visa. (See Details)

➤ Garfield County: Westbound Interstate 70 shut down again Friday morning between New Castle and Silt, a day after crews reopened every lane from Monday's flash flood. The westbound lanes reopened before noon, with traffic detoured onto Highway 6. (More)

➤ Statewide: No Colorado-grown produce has been tied to the multi-state cyclospora outbreak, the state Department of Agriculture said Friday, telling growers to keep operating normally. (More)

➤ Boulder County: A 57-year-old man found hurt in his camper near Beaver Reservoir wasn't mauled by a bear after all. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says a pre-existing medical emergency caused his injuries, and the bear got in chasing rotting food. (See Details)

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➤ Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper’s arraignment date has been set for Aug. 31, giving him the chance to plead “guilty” or “not guilty” following his arrest on domestic violence charges. (More)

➤ The Colorado Rockies kicked off their five-game road trip with a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, the current leaders of the NL Central. (More)

➤ Denver Nuggets restricted free agent Spencer Jones has agreed to terms on a two-year, $12 million offer with the Oklahoma City Thunder, though Denver will have until Sunday to match the offer if they wish to retain Jones. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Golf

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Data Centers Built For Coexistence

Communities across the country are pushing back on data centers, and for good reason. Massive facilities are draining local water supplies, straining power grids, and disrupting neighborhoods, all while offering little in return.

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➤ The original 1923 seats from the Colorado Springs City Auditorium went on sale Friday, priced from $150 for the best-preserved chairs down to free for salvage. Each one has a wrought-iron rack underneath, built to hold cowboy and top hats during a show. (See Details)

➤ Mesa County Libraries marked 125 years on Saturday with a ribbon cutting at the Central Library. Grand Junction's first library opened in the early 1900s, after a group of local women petitioned Andrew Carnegie to pay for it. (More)

➤ Colorado Parks and Wildlife reopened the Monarch Park Ponds complex west of Salida after a multi-year cleanout, stocking 300 catchable rainbow trout. The San Isabel National Forest site now has a new parking lot and an ADA-accessible fishing pier. (See Details)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Delivery giants are rushing to keep weight-loss drugs cold. (Hear More)

➤ Thousands celebrated the birthday of the internet's favorite little monkey. (Listen Now)

➤ A beloved honey farm teetered on collapse, but one beekeeper refused to quit. (Podcast Available)