STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903
75cI
VOLUME 119
Issue 31
WEEK OF AUGUST 4, 2022
Where Colorado jobs would be if pandemic hadn’t happened Even with setback, state is at one of its highest levels ever BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN
Thanks to a gain of 4,500 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, Colorado has now recovered 110.1% of jobs lost in the first two months of the CO-
VID-19 pandemic. That helped push down Colorado’s unemployment rate to 3.4% in June, the lowest since February 2020’s very low 2.8%. The U.S. unemployment rate didn’t change for the fourth straight month, at 3.6% in June. But if the pandemic hadn’t happened, Colorado would have added another 100,000 more jobs by now, according to data compiled by the state Department of Labor and Employment. Before the pandemic, the state’s job growth trajectory was at
4,900 per month. However, getting to 2,857,400, as the state did in June, still puts the state at one of its highest levels of jobs ever. Colorado had a fast recovery, said Ryan Gedney, senior economist with the labor department. But that job growth is starting to slow. “I think we’ve gotten out of that recovery mode. The state has regained what jobs that were lost (after) February 2020,” Gedney said. But he added that had the pandemic not happened, there might
Big Boy comes roaring back BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
SEE TRAIN, P7
SEE JOBS, P14
Brighton opts for long term ward changes
Historic locomotive makes third annual trip down to Denver Having Big Boy 4014, Union Pacific’s massive 1940s-era steam locomotive, blast through Fort Lupton and Brighton is becoming an annual experience. This is the third year straight the rail company has sent the historic engine down the line between Cheyenne and Denver, with fans lining the train tracks along the way to catch a glimpse or take a picture. ”I’m videotaping Big Boy for my YouTube channel. I’ve seen him numerous times, and it is still an experience that blows you away,” said Brighton resident Eric Abramovitz. But this year, for the first time, Union Pacific opted to keep the engine at Denver’s Union Station for a couple of days. Big Boy left Cheyenne on July 28, traveling south through several towns with spectators lining the tracks along the way. Big Boy pulled into Union Station on Friday for display, with crowds awaiting its arrival to take video and photos. They also got the chance
have been a recession anyway, or at least a slowdown in new job creation. It was already challenging to hire enough workers before the pandemic. “Remember, at the end of 2019, the nation, the state, we were still at a historically long economic expansion,” he said. “Was 4,900 a realistic measure? Possibly not. Could there have been a recession that happened? You’d go crazy if you tried to
New map shifts boundaries between City Council wards after population shifts BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Ed Dickens is the engineer that operates Big Boy. Crowds came to see the massive train at Union Station. Photo by Belen Ward
Brighton voters — at least 1,000 of them — should expect to see bigger changes in their City wards and precincts this year, after councilors agreed to make a long-term update to the city’s political map. Councilors voted unanimously to shift the city’s ward boundaries with an eye towards future development. “We recognize we are making more of a change now, but we are looking for something that will have a likelihood of lasting for a longer period of time and doing this less frequently,” Councilor Peter Padilla said. SEE WARD, P4
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SPORTS • Eagle Ridge ready to run the distance
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