DENVER – A couple hundred homeowners living within a block of what will soon be the massive Central 70 construction project could be getting help from Denver and the state Department of Transportation to renovate their homes and stave off poor air quality that might come with years of nearby construction.

Denver is offering up more than $1.3 million to supplement the home improvements in Elyria-Swansea, which 268 property owners could see. The money comes in addition to $2.3 million from CDOT meant for the renovations.

The 268 properties all sit within one block of the I-70 viaduct that stretches from Brighton Boulevard to Colorado Boulevard—the stretch of I-70 that will see the most construction once the project gets underway next year.

No money will exchange hands, according to the city and CDOT, though the agreement still has yet to be finalized. A city council committee advanced contracts that could finalize the proposal on Wednesday.

CDOT had already promised to offer to the homeowners new windows, air conditioners, insulation and power credits, but the extra money Denver might add to the pool would put city assessors at the properties to see if the homes need extra doors, heating/cooling systems, or HVAC air filtration systems.

Homeowners would be eligible for improvements worth up to $10,000 each, but the improvements must be aimed at improving the homes, noise mitigation or energy efficiency.

CDOT says it will be going door-to-door in coming days and sending out information fliers to the homeowners. It said that the assessments will start soon, and that the goal is to finish all the improvements and repairs before construction gets underway next spring.

The assessments will be conducted by Energy Outreach Colorado, according to CDOT.

“We want to make this as easy as we can on homeowners. We know it will be an intrusion to be in their homes,” said CDOT’s Rebecca White.

Alex Locker will be among the homeowners eligible for the improvements, and says they are welcome.

“The air quality is a concern,” she told Denver7. “New windows would be great. A/C—I don’t really have A/C in here.”

She also said that she’ll only believe the improvements are happening once they get underway.

“I don’t even know if it’s going to happen, but if it did, it would be awesome for them to compensate people that live around here,” Locker said.

Kiewit Meridiam Partners was awarded the contract for the Central 70 project last month, but a handful of lawsuits still pending in federal court might end up pushing construction back—though CDOT says it expects the schedule to continue as planned despite the suits.

DENVER – U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will make stops in Denver and Colorado Springs Wednesday as part of her tour to “rethink” education.

DeVos will visit the Firefly Autism House in Denver Wednesday morning for a tour of the school and a roundtable talk with its administrators and teachers.

She’ll then head down to the U.S. Air Force Academy for a tour before going to Omaha, Nebraska for a visit to a university.

Firefly says it plans to show DeVos and her team the wide array of treatment and education programs offered for students with autism, some of which work to someday have the students placed in a public school environment.

“I welcome Secretary DeVos and thank her for requesting to tour Firefly and learn about the amazing work happening here that is changing the lives of children and families living with autism,” said Firefly Executive Director Jess Ogas. “We welcome anyone who has interest in learning about autism and how we work to support education for children on the autism spectrum.”

DeVos visited a school in Casper Wyoming Tuesday to kick off her tour of Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas to promote her “Rethink School” tour.

DeVos was most recently in Colorado when she gave a speech mid-July at the American Legislative Exchange Council conference in Denver.

She pushed for more school-choice and voucher programs during the speech, but both her appearance and speech were met with protests from educators from across Colorado.

DeVos criticized Denver Public Schools in March during a speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, which ranked the DPS school choice system as tops in the nation for the second straight year this year.

But DeVos implied at the time that DPS was pushing a false agenda when it comes to school choice. She said Denver does not provide parents a voucher program, which the state Supreme Court has twice ruled was unconstitutional.

“Choice without accessibility doesn’t matter, just as accessibility without choices doesn’t matter. Neither scenario ultimately benefits students,” she said.

She also faced criticism from the DPS superintendent, and several of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress for those comments.

Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner split their votes to confirm DeVos in early February after weeks of protests against her confirmation. Vice President Mike Pence had to break a tie in the Senate to confirm her as the new education secretary.

DENVER – Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne is set to make a “major announcement” regarding her possible candidacy for governor in 2018 Thursday morning, she announced Wednesday.

She is expected to announce her run—or her less-likely decision not to run—after months of speculation over whether she’d try to succeed her current boss, John Hickenlooper, who is term-limited in 2018.

Lynne filed her “Lynne for Colorado” campaign committee on Aug. 1, and officially filed her candidacy for the governorship on Aug. 11 as was required after filing her committee.

Her press officer, Curtis Hubbard, sent out a press release Wednesday morning alerting to Lynne’s announcement, which will happen at 8:30 a.m. at the Spring Café near 14th Avenue and Grant Street in Denver.

She is expected to be joined by “friends, family and supporters,” according to the announcement.

After Lynne registered her candidacy, her registered agent, Ethan Susseles, said Lynne was still in an “exploratory phase to identify supporters and to hear from key Democrats across the state.”

She has hinted at a 2018 run for months after saying in 2016 she wouldn’t try to succeed Hickenlooper, but faces a crowded primary field should she decide she’s running.

Rep. Jared Polis, ex-state Sen. Mike Johnston, Colorado’s former Treasurer Cary Kennedy, and Noel Ginsburg, a Colorado businessman, have already declared their candidacy on the Democratic side.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter was also running as a hopeful to replace Hickenlooper, but dropped out of the race not long after he initially announced he was running.

The Republican field is already packed as well, with 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, former state lawmaker Victor Mitchell, and Doug Robinson, who is Mitt Romney’s nephew, among the candidates who have declared.

Lynne served 20 years in the New York City government before she moved to Colorado and became an executive at Kaiser Health.

Hickenlooper has said in the past he would stay neutral in the governor’s race in 2018, but dropped more hints recently that he supported her run.

However, he told the Denver Post he doesn’t want to tip the scales: “The last thing she needs is for everyone to say, ‘The governor is trying to get her elected’ or ‘pushing her out there to do this.’”