– Hi, I’m Isabella Janney with the Colorado Springs Daily and today is July 9th, 2020. Our first segment today, we’ll talk about a fire just outside of Canon City. Our second story today is about a vaccine trial happening here. And, our last story of the day is about PPP loans here in Colorado Springs.
– Our first story today takes us to outside of Canon City where a wildfire started on Wednesday afternoon. The fire was reported around 3:40 p.m. on Bureau of Land Management land in the Grand Canyon Hills area 4 miles southwest of Canon City. I has been named the YMCA Fire for its location on YMCA Mountain. The fire has moved southeast overnight but remained entirely on Bureau of Land Management land south of the Arkansas River and is not threatening any structures yet. Firefighting crews are attacking this blaze from both the ground and in the air, with two helicopters and two single-engine air tankers joinging ground crews today. The fire was 120 acres at last estimate on Wednesday night. Officials believe it has grown but have not gotten an accurate estimate as of noon today. Highs today were in the upper 90s and the region remains in a heatwave that will see an extended period of 90 and even 100-degree weather. Fire danger will become increasingly high every day.
– [https://www.kktv.com/2020/07/08/air-support-called-for-small-fire-burning-west-of-canon-city/](https://www.kktv.com/2020/07/08/air-support-called-for-small-fire-burning-west-of-canon-city/)
– For our second story today, we’re talking about a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial that’s beginning in Colorado Springs. UCHealth and CU School of Medicine will take part in this trial and will enroll 1,000 patients, and the Lynn Institute will enroll about 200. The trial will focus on people who are most at-risk for contracting COVID-19, whether through their occupation or pre-existing health conditions. This vaccine doesn’t have the virus in it. Patients will instead journal their symptoms and do check-ups with researchers. Part of this study is to monitor the number of people who develop COVID-19 during the process to prove this vaccine is going to help them.
– [https://krdo.com/health/coronavirus/2020/07/09/covid-19-vaccine-clinical-trials-to-begin-in-colorado-springs/](https://krdo.com/health/coronavirus/2020/07/09/covid-19-vaccine-clinical-trials-to-begin-in-colorado-springs/)
– And our last story today is about the Paycheck Protection Program loans, or PPP loans. More than 13,000 businesses and nonprofits throughout Colorado received more than $150,000 in PPP loans from the federal government. This program was made to help employers retain employees after the COVID-19 pandemic. 1,114 businesses in Colorado Springs received funding, but many have said that they would still have to let go of some employees. The Colorado Department of Education released how much each school district received from a Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) through the CARES Act and the data shows that charter schools received more funding from the PPP per school than their public counterparts, highlighting the ever present disparities in education funding here in Colorado and the U.S. as a whole.
– [https://www.fox21news.com/health/coronavirus/cares-act-funding-allocations-released-publically/](https://www.fox21news.com/health/coronavirus/cares-act-funding-allocations-released-publically/)
– Thank you so much for listening today. I’m Isabella Janney with the Colorado Springs Daily.
