The town of Dillon, Colorado, is garnering national attention over concerns surrounding the separation of church and state. It stems from a local church that occasionally holds services at the Dillon Amphitheater. For years, the Dillon Community Church held Sunday services at the Dillon Amphitheater, but the legality of the practice is being questioned.
The town’s now-former attorney Kathleen Kelly advised Dillon Town Council to change its policy regarding the church to avoid violating freedom of religion protections. The council initially ignored this advice but has since reversed course, now halting the church services and looking into a new policy for amphitheater use among nonprofits.
Public reception has been mixed. Some, like David Everly, urged the council to avoid preferential treatment towards any particular religion and supported the plan to draft new policies for future reservations with the amphitheater.
Others, like Wendy Myers, believe the church’s services should be grandfathered into any new policy due to its long history at the amphitheater.
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the town, highlighting its vulnerability to lawsuits if the church truly is being given special treatment compared to other nonprofits. The FFRF argues that other nonprofit groups should have the chance to rent the amphitheater and that the church should pay the same rental rate, if there is a cost at all.
People participate in a yoga session hosted at Dillon Amphitheater in Dillon, Colorado on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
Photo by Zachary Spindler-Krage/The Denver Post
Chris Line, a staff attorney for FFRF explained their stance on the services allowed on city property.
“The town can definitely rent the amphitheater out to the church. That’s not an issue,” Line said. “But if the church is given exclusive access and the town appears to be promoting and affiliating itself with the religion by giving special treatment to a church, that’s where you kind of run into constitutional issues.”
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The FFRF has requested public information about rental schedules and fees related to using the space to determine if other groups are being turned down in favor of the church or if there’s no competition at all. Line said the town needs to emphasize the importance of a neutral policy to avoid preferential treatment.
So far, a spokesperson for the town has not agreed to an interview regarding the topic with CBS News Colorado. The Dillon Community Church has not responded to our requests for comments.
Spencer Wilson
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Spencer Wilson is CBS News Colorado’s mountain newsroom reporter. Read his latest reports or check out his bio and send him an email.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
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The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
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Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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Just a few short days after landing tight end Houston Thomas from the NCAA transfer portal, Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies have now added reinforcements on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage.
Former Colorado Buffaloes safety Tawfiq Byard has officially announced his move from the Big 12 to the SEC, just a handful of days after entering the portal himself.
After A&M safety Bryce Anderson’s recent announcement of his own portal entry, Byard could be just the replacement that Elko and new defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill need in the “Wrecking Crew’s” defensive backfield.
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A&M Lands Safety Tawfiq Byard From Colorado
Byard will now play football for his third school in his college career, having also spent some of his playing days with the South Florida Bulls before making the move to Boulder to play for NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.
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Colorado Buffaloes defensive back Tawfiq Byard (7) reacts in the first quarter against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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Byard’s sophomore campaign in 2025 was much more telling than that of his previous efforts with the Bulls, appearing in all 12 games for the Buffs while starting in eight of those games.
The defensive back would lead the Colorado defense with 85 tackles and was tied for 26th in the nation in the solo tackles category, with 57, and his eight tackles for loss were the third-most by a safety in the history of the program.
His performance, which also included two forced fumbles, an interception, and 0.5 sacks, earned him an honorable mention on the All-Big 12 team.
For a Texas A&M team that has struggled with injuries in recent years, including one to Anderson, a head injury during the win over Notre Dame, Byard’s durability is exactly what Texas A&M needs on defense, and his efficiency will help tie together what should be a younger A&M secondary in the 2026 season.
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During his pair of years in South Florida, Byard appeared in 16 games while starting 10, all of which came in his redshirted freshman season, where he finished with 54 tackles (34 solo), eight tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, and a fumble recovery before transferring to Colorado.
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The Buffaloes had a rough ride of a season in their first without quarterback Shedeur Sanders and former Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, with only a 3-9 record (1-8 conference) to show for in 2025, their lone conference win coming against a ranked Iowa State Cyclones team.
With the defensive backfield back in decent order, the Aggies now look ahead to a grinding offseason before starting their third season under head coach Mike Elko with a hosting of the Missouri State Bears at Kyle Field on September 5.
