🥵 Happy hot Thursday! October seems to have missed the memo.

👻 Today's weather: It's spooky season, but make it sweaty.

• Sunny — high of 85.

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Today’s newsletter is 773 words — a 3-minute read.

More than a year after Nederland struck a deal to buy Eldora, the $120 million purchase is still up in the air.

Why it matters: Eldora is Boulder County's only ski area, and Nederland leaders see owning it as key to its long-term vitality.

What they're saying: Town officials insist the deal is still alive despite missing the closing deadline.

• "This type of municipal acquisition has NEVER been done before," Nederland Mayor Nichole Sterling said in an update to residents at the end of September. "So, with that comes a bit of figuring things out along the way."

Flashback: Nederland missed an April 30 deadline to close the deal with Eldora parent company Powdr, which put the mountain up for sale in 2024, per BusinessDen.

The latest: Investors balked at the risk of municipal bonds Nederland planned to sell to finance the purchase.

• Officials are restructuring the deal to reduce overall borrowing through a sale-leaseback arrangement.
• They now hope to fund upgrades like a mountaintop lodge through $20 million in donations, possibly from the state.

What we're watching: Key details, like who'd buy and lease back the property to the town, aren't yet public.

• It's also unclear how realistic the town's fundraising goal is and whether the state has the appetite to pitch in.
• Neither Eldora officials nor representatives of Powdr responded to a request for comment this week.

Of note: Nederland will owe about $2.5 million in transaction costs if the deal collapses, according to the town.

What's next: Eldora plans to open Nov. 13. The mountain previously told Axios the sale process shouldn't affect operations.

Got a noise complaint? Get ready to talk to the robot.

The big picture: Boulder Police say they're going to start directing non-emergency calls to an AI agent at month's end.

Why it matters: Non-emergencies represent 70% of calls currently handled by Boulder dispatchers, per the Daily Camera.

• Police say diverting that stream to an AI assistant will let human dispatchers answer emergency calls faster and spend more time with those callers.

What they're saying: Officials framed the new system as an upgrade from the current phone tree, which requires callers to make it through eight menu options.

• "This technology is designed to sound like a natural conversation while it determines the caller's needs and quickly addresses their request," dispatch manager Brad Riggin said in a statement.

Of note: If you want to complain about the new system, you'll have to talk to it first.

• To lodge a complaint or flag an issue, the dispatch center is directing people to call the non-emergency line and say they have feedback regarding a previous phone call

🌡️ An unseasonably warm October continues, with highs in the 80s forecast through Saturday. (NWS)

🤖 Faculty and students are urging CU Boulder to let them vote on whether to renew the school's OpenAI contract. (Daily Camera 🔑)

💸 Lafayette City Council took a step toward unwinding its contract with Flock, voting to advance a budget that removes funding for the company's license plate readers. (Daily Camera 🔑)

🧒 A measure on November's ballot would raise new revenue to help fund county child care and early childhood programs. (KGNU Community Radio)

😬 About 800,000 voters in Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas and Weld counties mistakenly received ballots with Issue 7A, a tax hike to fund the CoCo train.

• State officials blamed the Front Range Passenger Rail District for failing to adequately alert county clerks about legislative boundary changes. (9News)

⚡️More than 80% of residents who responded to a city survey said they'd experienced at least three power outages in a year. (Daily Camera 🔑)

It's time to plant bulbs for a lovely spring surprise.

Why now: Spring-flowering bulbs need cool soil to establish roots before the ground freezes.

• That makes mid-September through late October prime time, per Colorado State University Extension.
• Tulips, daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths thrive here.

A good rule of (green) thumb: Plant bulbs three to four times as deep as they are tall, pointed end up.

🐿️ Pro tip: If critters treat your bulbs like a Golden Corral, CSU recommends covering the soil with mesh or screening after planting.

🌈 Mitchell is likely somewhere over the rainbow.

Gigi Sukin is umping, and Ned Oliver is pinch-hitting.