BETTING from Page 9
Colorado — although most of the going to be a very good market. It’s concerns have come from out-of-state really hard to tell — we’re going to as well. In March, Al Sharpton sent a have to get into a somewhat normal letter to Gov. Jared Polis asking him world again and then I think it’s safe to reconsider implementing sports to start talking about what the estibetting because of concerns of workmates should be.” ers’ rights. But the program does have some “In looking at who specifically financial thresholds it needs to meet. benefits from the legislation, it’s diffi- It needs to pay the State back for the cult to understand why the state cost it took to set up the program would want to reward bad behavior,” ($1.7 million), and then it needs to Sharpton wrote. “Out-of-state hedge meet certain targets before money funds with long records of mass fircan be transferred for use in the ings and shady dealings have come Colorado Water Plan ($2.8 million in into the state to capitalize on mobile fiscal year 2020-21, for instance). sports betting and Hartman says based on their he anticipates the state took funding of the track record — in about $96,000 in tax Water Plan from middle-class workers and minorities sports betting revrevenue, which was will be the first to enue to begin in levied off about $25.6 July of next year be negatively million in total wagers. (the start of fiscal impacted. My job is to spot those year 2022). Sara And that’s with pingproblems before Leonard of the pong being the main they occur and to Colorado Water sporting attraction. speak up about Conservation them before it’s Board (CWCB) too late.” says Water Plan All of that projects will have serves as a background for what is funding from other sources until supposed to be the payoff for legalizthen, and because sports betting reveing sports betting in Colorado: nue has not yet been tied to any projmoney to fund implementation of the ects, it won’t cause any extra delay in Colorado Water Plan. implementing the plan. In May, the State took in about Last year, critics of Prop DD (and $96,000 in tax revenue, which was it passed by only a slim margin) cited levied off of about $25.6 million in a lack of identification of water projtotal wagers. And that’s with pingects as a point of contention. Would pong being the main sporting attracthis additional money, say, be used to tion as COVID-19 has shut down further imperil the Colorado River by most major sports. damming or diverting it more? But there has been disagreement Leonard says “it is too soon in the about how much revenue taxes from process,” to determine what types of sports betting can generate; early water projects the sports betting reve(hopeful) estimates skyrocketed to nue will fund, or how much the revetens of millions of dollars annually, nue will contribute to the Water Plan. but more realistic targets settle in the But those in the sports and sports $1-$2 million per year range. betting industry are laying the Hartman says he can’t predict a groundwork for post-pandemic boom number right now, particularly with times. The Denver Broncos have the pandemic getting in the way, but already taken the unique step of partthat there’s hope it can be lucrative. nering with three sports books to cre“What we’re seeing right now for ate entertainment and build specially sports betting is that I think it looks branded betting lounges in the team’s and appears to be a pretty robust stadium. You won’t be able to place a market, based on the level of what bet at a counter, but you can open they’re betting on now and the type your phone and place a bet on any of income we have now,” Hartman betting app you choose. After digitalsays. “I think once you get the big ly bouncing around the world, some four sports (NFL, NBA, NHL and of that money will trickle back to MLB) back in and playing somewhat Colorado. We’ll see what happens normally, I think that Colorado is with it then.
In May,
BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
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Boulder County Commissioners extend oil and gas moratorium until 2021
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oulder County will not consider any new oil and gas development applications until at least 2021. That’s the result of a vote by the Boulder County Commissioners on July 14 that extended the moratorium set to expire this month through Dec. 31, 2020. The moratorium will allow staff to review and update the county’s oil and gas regulations in light of the passage of Senate Bill 181 last year, which provided some measure of local control over natural resource extraction. The new process will include opportunities for further public input throughout the fall — in the virtual public hearing this week, comments from community members widely supported extending the moratorium. “With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing everything down, we simply need more time to ensure we get our regulations right,” Commissioner Elise Jones said in a statement announcing the moratorium extension. “Extending our moratorium on new oil and gas development to the year’s end is both responsible and necessary in order to fulfill our duty to our constituents. They deserve the strongest possible protections and a pause on any applications until those are in place.” Commissioner Deb Gardner cited the fact that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) hasn’t finished it’s own rulemaking as another reason to extend the moratorium. “With too much still unknown about what the [COGCC] will do this fall with its new rules and how those might affect our local regulations, it doesn’t make sense to rush finalization of our regulations or lift the moratorium until we know we have the best possible regulations we can put in place,” Commissioner Deb Gardner added. The moratorium extension comes as several heavily indebted oil and gas producers in the U.S. have filed for bankruptcy in recent weeks.
County health officials warn of rising COVID-19 numbers
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n July 13, Boulder County experienced the highest one-day spike of new COVID-19 cases in a month, prompting health officials to issue a warning to remain mindful of common-sense safety measures. “These trends are highly concerning,” Carol Helwig, Boulder County Public Health Communicable Disease Control program manager, said. “We are seeing an explosion of new cases in many of the states around Colorado. If we want to avoid going backwards, every single one of us needs to do what we can: Stay home if you can, and if you must go out, please be very diligent about social distancing, wearing a face covering and washing your hands.” There were 25 new cases reported on July 13 — until then, cases had plateaued at about 12-13 per day. About 1,540 Boulder County residents have tested positive or are considered probable for COVID-19, according to County data. About seven people have been hospitalized per day over the last two weeks, slightly higher than the rate of hospitalization in weeks prior. The recent increase in cases is not linked to college students — fewer than 25% of the reported cases were found in that demographic. “Transmission seems to be limited person-to-person and within the community, but residents have also reported recent travel out-of-state and to Colorado mountain communities during their interviews with our disease investigators,” Emily Payne, Boulder County Public Health data epidemiologist, said.
JULY 16, 2020
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