Colorado
Colorado Supreme Court orders children’s hospital to resume gender-affirming care for minors
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered Colorado’s largest provider of gender-affirming care for young people to resume medical treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy despite threats that providing the care could lead to losing federal funding.
Children’s Hospital Colorado suspended medical treatments for transgender patients under 18 in January after it said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opened an investigation into its treatments following a series of clashes between President Donald Trump’s administration and advocates over transgender health care for children.
WATCH: Trump administration seeks to cut off access to transgender health care for U.S. children
The hospital said in a statement that it is reviewing Monday’s court ruling and considering its next steps. It previously said it would continue to provide mental health treatment for minors and also medical treatment for patients aged 18 to 21.
Four transgender girls, ranging from age 10 to 17, sued the hospital, through their parents, alleging that the hospital was violating the state’s antidiscrimination law by refusing to provide them treatment both because of their gender identity and their disability, gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is the distress caused when someone’s gender expression doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth.
The girls said they feared not being able to get medication and monitoring to prevent them from undergoing puberty and developing male traits. And they cited mental health fallout, including depression and suicidal ideation.
The court sided with the girls in a 5-2 ruling, finding that the decision to shutter the services for minors violated a state antidiscrimination law. In the majority opinion, Justice William Wood III said, “We conclude that the actual immediate and irreparable harm to petitioners outweighs the speculative harm CHC may face if the federal government further acts against it.”
In a dissent, Justice Brian Boatright said the hospital didn’t make its decision to stop the case because of the gender identity of the patients. Rather, he wrote, “It was a decision driven by the direct threat to the viability of the entire hospital.”
A Kansas judge also sided with transgender minors in a ruling last week.
The Colorado hospital’s TRUE Center, which focuses on gender-affirming care, is one of the largest programs in the country and the only comprehensive care center in the Rocky Mountain region, according to the lawsuit.
Children’s Hospital Colorado said the HHS opened the investigation of the hospital after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a declaration that called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria, or the distress when someone’s gender expression doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth.
An Oregon-based federal judge ruled in March for Colorado and 20 other states that Kennedy’s declaration went too far.
Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.
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Colorado
Colorado man dies after dislodging rocks, getting crushed by 1,000 pound boulder
A Colorado man died on Tuesday when a boulder fell on him and crushed him. That’s according to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, who identified the man as 59-year-old Paul Frasch.
Frasch is a resident of Silverthorne. The sheriff’s office says he was walking in an area along the Arkansas River in Buena Vista in the middle of the day with his coworker when rocks fell and hit him.
According to investigators, the boulder that landed on Frasch weighed at least 1,000 pounds.
The coworker received injuries to his arms after trying to help Frasch.
When first responders got to the scene, the boulder was still on top of Frasch. He was declared dead at the scene.
Colorado
Longmont declines to join Superior airport noise appeal before Colorado Supreme Court
The Longmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to decline a request from the town of Superior to support its appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court in a long-running lawsuit over aircraft noise from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
The decision comes about a week after the council met in a closed-door executive session to receive legal advice regarding Superior’s request that Longmont join an amicus brief supporting the appeal.
Councilmember Jake Marsing moved to adopt the city’s proposed response to Superior, and the motion passed 7-0 after a brief discussion.
Superior is seeking Colorado Supreme Court review of a Colorado Court of Appeals decision that found federal law prevents courts from ordering Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport to restrict aircraft operations because regulation of air traffic falls under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Superior and Boulder County sued the Jefferson County-owned airport in 2024, arguing that training flights create excessive noise and lead emissions for nearby communities. While a district court dismissed the lawsuit in 2025, the Court of Appeals this year revived part of the lead contamination claim while upholding the dismissal of the noise-related claims.
In the statement adopted Tuesday, Longmont acknowledged it has also heard complaints from residents about airplane noise and said the city takes those concerns seriously. However, the statement said, Longmont’s position differs from neighboring communities because it owns and operates Vance Brand Airport.
“The city believes that local control over airport operations is important and these rights should not be taken by the courts,” the adopted statement reads. The city also said it is continuing efforts to address noise concerns through voluntary measures, including updates to its voluntary noise abatement procedures and a voluntary saturated pattern policy that limits the number of aircraft in the traffic pattern.
Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring also noted the city is continuing discussions about its long-term vision for airport operations.
The statement leaves the door open for future collaboration with regional partners and the FAA but concludes that Longmont will not file an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court at this time.
Before the vote, Councilmember Matthew Popkin asked City Attorney Eugene Mei to clarify for residents who, exactly, had provided legal advice to the council during the executive session. Mei said Longmont’s outside aviation counsel did not advise the city because that firm is representing Jefferson County in the appeal and therefore has a conflict of interest. Instead, the council received advice solely from the city’s legal staff.
Longmont’s decision contrasts with those of neighboring Lafayette and Louisville, whose city councils have approved joining an amicus brief supporting Superior’s petition. Broomfield has also indicated support for the effort.
Colorado
Erie Town Council approves sale of Colorado mineral rights for major oil and gas development
Erie Town Council approved the sale of its mineral rights to SM Energy Company during its regular meeting late Tuesday night. This will allow SM Energy to conduct its major oil and gas project within the Draco Pad well site that will stretch from Weld County into Boulder County.
With the plan falling into place for SM Energy, this will mark the future development of what is to become one of the largest oil and gas developments in the state.
According to the town’s press release, “The agreement provides for the plugging and abandoning of 17 wells, allows Town staff to conduct site inspections on the Draco Well Pad on a regular basis, transfers three parcels of land (for a total of 158 acres) to the Town of Erie, assigns a 3% share of revenue from the production of these minerals to the Town, and a cash payment of $4.5M will be made to the Town. SM Energy will gain ownership of mineral rights equal to roughly 182 acres, or 4.9% of the overall Draco drilling area.”
The agreement passed in a close 4-3 decision after it had recently failed in a 3-3 council vote June 16.
The state originally approved the Draco Pad well site development in 2025.
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