Colorado lawmakers and rail officials are looking to limit who gets a say in a potential November referendum on a Front Range passenger train.

Why it matters: The vote will determine the fate of the train service, a major priority for Gov. Jared Polis and a key element in the state's efforts to reduce air pollution.

Driving the news: The Front Range Passenger Rail District — recently named Colorado Connector, or CoCo — included most cities along the Interstate 25 corridor from Fort Collins to Pueblo.

• The district's voters will decide whether to hike the sales tax by half a cent to fund the train service.

Yes, but: A bill at the state Capitol would remove more conservative cities, like Castle Rock and Greeley, and most unincorporated areas from the district, the Colorado Sun first reported.

• What's left is more urban and liberal — and more likely to back a massive transit project.

Zoom in: Sal Pace, general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District, told the Sun the new map is more likely to pass the sales tax increase, though it wasn't "the driving criteria."

• Each municipality on the list has at least 20% of its residents within five miles of a railway stop.
• The planned stations are in Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Louisville, Broomfield, Westminster, Denver, Littleton, Sterling Ranch, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, according to a preliminary map.

What we're watching: In its first hearing Monday, the legislation won approval despite numerous questions about which communities would pay the tax and benefit from the service.

Go deeper

The metro Denver-area ranks as the eighth-most ozone-polluted region in the U.S., with an average of 30 high-ozone per year, according to the American Lung Association's 2026 "State of the Air" report.

Why it matters: Hundreds of thousands of people in the metro area — including Aurora and Greeley — have health conditions such as asthma that make them more susceptible to air pollution.

• Infants, children and teens are at increased risk because their lungs are still developing, experts say.

State of play: As a whole, Colorado's air quality is improving, the report found, but ozone and particle pollution in certain areas remain problematic.

• Fort Collins and Loveland rank as the 18th-worst metro area in terms of ozone-polluted cities
• Jefferson County ranks 10th for ozone pollution, while Douglas County ranks 20th.

The other side: Colorado Springs is one of just three metro areas in the nation to see improvements and drop off the worst list. It moved from 23rd worst to 54th.

• Grand Junction and Pueblo–Cañon City are at the top of the 25 cleanest cities for year-round particle pollution.

The big picture: Nearly half of Americans (44%) live in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.

• That's over 152 million people — despite "decades of successful efforts to reduce sources of air pollution," the report says.

🛴 Denver City Council approved a deal with Veo Micromobility as its new shared scooter and bike partner, replacing Lime and Bird. (Denverite)

🚘 Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill last year to improve safety measures for ride-hailing apps like Lyft and Uber, but the lawmaker behind the bill is pushing it again. (Colorado Sun)

🏥 Kaiser Permanente announced yesterday that it is hiring Greg Burman, a physician, as its president and executive medical director of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group. (DBJ 🔑)

😋 Johnny Curiel's much-anticipated new restaurant changed its name to Milpero ahead of its debut, John reports.

The Bovine Baron took on the Lord of Lactose in a milk-chugging duel last Saturday at Washington Park.

State of play: An April Fool's prank turned 24-year-old Liam Poultney (aka the Bovine Baron) into a Mile High milk-swilling sensation — luring challengers and side-eyes, as the joke quickly curdles into something bigger.

Catch up quick: A friend secretly plastered Denver and Arapahoe County with flyers daring strangers to out-chug him earlier this month. One event, April 19 at Observatory Park, drew 100-plus challengers.

• But the Baron got his bovine butt beaten, drinking about two-thirds of a gallon in five minutes.
• He also barfed.

Zoom out: Enter the Lord of Lactose.

• Matthew Garis, 26, an accountant from Denton, Texas, saw the loss on Instagram, booked a flight, and arrived Saturday in a pinwheel hat.

In the room: Two half-gallons. Five minutes.

• The competitors stood back-to-back, took three paces, turned and chugged.
• Both started fast.

Poultney paused — then paused again. Garis kept chugging.

• In the end, the Lord of Lactose finished his half-gallon in 2 minutes, 9 seconds, and Denver's own Bovine Baron made it only halfway.

Winners: Everyone.

• "It feels like there's whimsy in this, and we're missing a lot of whimsy in the world right now," the Baron said.

What's next: Poultney wants to turn milk-chugging into an annual event — possibly tied to a breast cancer fundraiser.

The bottom line: No one puked — this time.

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