Across the United States, meatpacking plants were an early source of coronavirus outbreaks, including the JBS USA beef processing plant in Greeley. As the first cases of the virus were being reported in Seattle, officials at the plant and in Colorado were slow to prepare and to react when workers started showing symptoms.

As of July 9, 286 of the 3,200 workers at the plant have tested positive for COVID-19, and six have died. A seventh JBS employee at the company’s corporate offices in Greeley also died.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Shelly Bradbury took a look at how the company and public health officials responded and how their responses impacted the lives of workers. She filed requests via the Colorado Open Records Act and the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain more than 500 pages of emails, letters, memos and other records to see what took place as the virus took hold inside the plant.

Please take time to read about the impact coronavirus has had on the people who help feed the United States. Thanks for reading The Denver Post.

— Noelle Phillips, breaking news editor

How coronavirus spread through JBS’s Greeley beef plant

JBS Greeley plant employees who died ... — Family photos

JBS Greeley plant employees who died from COVID-19: (top row, from left) Eduardo Conchas de la Cruz, with his wife, Guadalupe Rojas; Saul Longoria Sanchez; Daniel Avila Loma; (bottom row, from left) Tibursio Rivera Lopez; Tin Aye; Way Ler.

Five of our best stories from the past week

More Colorado families consider online education as COVID-19 risks loom over upcoming school year

Greg Nidy kisses his daughter Cora ... — Rachel Ellis, The Denver Post

Greg Nidy kisses his 3-year-old daughter, Cora, on the forehead after coming back from a lunch meeting to their home in Arvada on July 2. Nidy says he’s likely to opt for remote learning for his children this fall because of concerns about whether Jeffco Public Schools can adequately protect children from the coronavirus.

As districts across the state unveil plans to reopen schools, more Coloradans are considering foregoing traditional education and instead enrolling in online academic programs. The risks associated with sending kids back to school for in-person instruction are too great, parents said, even with new mask, distancing and sanitation protocols. Read more from Tiney Ricciardi.

Tay Anderson is bold, brash and unapologetic about seeking change in Denver

Tay Anderson, board secretary for Denver ... — Rachel Ellis, The Denver Post

Tay Anderson, Denver school board member, poses for a portrait in Central Park in Denver on June 20.

Over the past month and a half — as historic protests engulfed the Mile High City, prompting sweeping police changes as part of a national reckoning on race — Tay Anderson has become one of Denver’s most recognizable faces. A man who only this year could buy a beer legally is building a fervent following and a national audience as he inserts himself into hot-button issues. Read more from Sam Tabachnik.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners founder Dudley Brown steps down as GOP criticism mounts

Joe Amon, Denver Post file

Gun lobbyist Dudley Brown of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners speaks to reporters on the steps of the Capitol in 2013.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners announced a change to its top leadership Wednesday — a week after many candidates backed by the group lost their primaries, Saja Hindi reports.

The hard-right gun advocacy group says the leadership change has been in the works since February and had nothing to do with the primaries. But some Republicans believe the group’s losses indicate voters want to see a different kind of GOP candidate in office and that a change is needed satisfy those voters.

Denver artist Raverro Stinnett’s career was taking off; then he was beaten by Union Station security — The Know

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Artist Raverro Stinnett is photographed at the offices of his attorney on July 1 in Denver.

Art is subjective, creative professionals say. Here’s something else they say in the metro area: Raverro Stinnett may be Colorado’s best unknown artist.

But there is no way to talk about Stinett’s art without acknowledging a harsh reality. A little more than two years ago, Stinnett was sitting at Union Station after attending an art gala. When Stinnett left Union Station three hours later, he had suffered a traumatic brain injury after being beaten in a bathroom by one of the Allied guards, according to a lawsuit. Stinnett was unarmed and suspected of no crime. Read more from John Wenzel…

A year after Senate Bill 181 was OK’d, regulators are poised to tackle heart of sweeping oil-gas changes

Denver Post file

Climate change activist Morgan Anker, second from left, speaks during a rally outside of the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s monthly meeting in September 2019.

State regulators writing new oil and gas rules have carried on through a global pandemic and massive turmoil in the industry. That might have been the easy part for the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, now poised to plunge into the heart of the law that mandates sweeping changes.

Soon, a new, full-time commission will take the hand-off from a volunteer commission to take on what’s being called “mission change.” Read more from Judith Kohler.