“The lobby of the Chase building where U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner had his Denver office until this week might be private property, but it’s public enough — people come and go without having to pay money or state their purpose — that police should not have cited protesters there for trespassing in a January protest, a Denver judge ruled Tuesday,” reports Denverite. “‘It’s a fantastic ruling by an excellent judge because this sends the message to law enforcement that if people are exercising their rights in a quasi-public forum, the police have to let them do it,’ said David Lane, a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Dawn Russell and Elizabeth Moseley in the case. Charges against people involved in more recent protests at Gardner’s office have been dropped in one of those cases and are still pending in the other.”

“Weld County commissioners on Tuesday hosted the first of several public meetings that could change the way the county regulates oil and gas,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The meetings have been promised for more than a year and a half, since a small working group helped commissioners develop standards and definitions related to oil and gas pipelines. The ensuing months have included a high-profile, deadly home explosion in Firestone, the result of a gas leak from a flow line, and led to a packed events center room at the Weld County Administration Building, 1150 O St.”

“You may very well get away with smoking in downtown Glenwood Springs, but you’re taking a pricey gamble,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Glenwood Springs police have issued 34 smoking tickets in downtown over the first year since the law took effect. The smoking tickets are up to $200 a pop for first offenders. Police Chief Terry Wilson said that expensive fine is probably sending the message, as officers haven’t issued many second-offense tickets.”

“Six Colorado counties would be among 90 nationwide that would benefit from legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet to assist communities struggling economically due to the slowdown in the coal mining industry,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Bennet, D-Colo., last week introduced the Coal Community Empowerment Act, which his office said seeks to encourage investment, workforce training, economic growth and job creation. It would designate 90 counties as Coal Community Zones, making them eligible for incentives provided by the bill. In Colorado, Delta, Gunnison, Las Animas, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt counties would be designated for assistance.”

“As art lovers wander around the big three art shows this weekend, they might take a second to look at how the pieces are staying upright,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The base might be from The Base Shop in Loveland. “We make all the bases and all the pedestals, and all the fun stuff to finish off the art. It’s like framing the picture,” said Bryan Wright. The Base Shop has been in business for 23 years, started by John Peonio. Wright took over the business almost seven years ago. He has been in the fine art and sculpture business since 1984, doing installation, casting and other manufacturing work for art pieces.”

“Dozens of local and federal investigators fanned out across the still-smoking ruins of the Windsor mill on Tuesday and began to piece together what caused the Sunday blaze,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deployed nearly 30 investigators to assist Windsor Severance Fire Rescue in the investigation this week. About 10 investigators are from ATF’s field offices in Denver and Cheyenne and the rest are part of the agency’s national response team.”

“Routt County residents are again facing an onslaught of scams from individuals looking to steal their money,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The Routt County Building Department issued a notice Monday warning of a scam where people posing as a roofing company have asked for half of the money up front and then never performed any work. The scam has specifically targeted elderly individuals. Assistant County Manager Dan Weinheimer said the scam was first detected in neighboring Eagle County, and officials there sent out a warning to neighboring communities because they thought it could spread.”

“In a split 4-3 vote late Tuesday night, Longmont City Council members upheld the Planning and Zoning Commission’s June 21 approval of the preliminary plat and preliminary planned unit development plan for the Shadowgrass Apartments project,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The council majority’s decision that the preliminary plat and PUD plan met the city’s review criteria will allow the developer to proceed with the next steps toward constructing a 256-unit apartment complex on 13 acres southwest of 17th Avenue and East County Line Road.”

“Boulder staffers have proposed a plan for funding the maintenance and enhancement of public infrastructure between now and 2023, calling for $484 million spread across 145 different projects and nine city departments,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “On Tuesday, the Boulder City Council held a study session to review the plan known as the city Capital Improvement Program — more commonly referred to as the CIP. The majority of CIP funding goes toward upkeep and basic improvements to existing city infrastructure, from roadways to water utilities to building retrofits to parking lot renovations.”

“More than half of the revenue from a proposed county-imposed marijuana tax would fund mental health programs, the interim county manager said Monday,” reports Vail Daily. “Bryan Treu, the county’s interim manager, estimated a countywide pot tax would generate $2 million per year. Of that, $1.2 million would fund mental health facilities and programs, Treu said. The tax question will probably be put before voters in the Nov. 7 election, Treu said.”

“A highly productive natural-gas well tested in the San Juan Basin could encourage more new drilling in the San Juan Basin’s Mancos Shale,” reports The Durango Herald. “The well test started in June about seven miles south of the Colorado state line and had the highest production rate seen in the San Juan Basin in the past 14 years, a BP news release said. The well achieved an average 30-day initial production rate of 12.9 million cubic feet per day. “This result supports our strategic view that significant resource potential exists in the San Juan Basin, and gives us confidence to pursue additional development of the Mancos Shale, which we believe could become one of the leading shale plays in the U.S.,” said Dave Lawler, CEO of BP’s U.S. Lower 48 onshore business in a statement.”

“The Fremont County Board of Commissioners unanimously denied a second request by Mile High Green Cross, LLC to expand an existing indoor marijuana grow operation in Penrose,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The board also presented written findings to support the decision. “The second modification application is virtually identical to the first modification application that we had before us,” said Commission Chair Debbie Bell. ‘The applicant offered no comments or explanations of how the circumstances have changed in the neighborhood to mitigate or eliminate the board’s findings that were expressed in a previous resolution.'”

“It’s a steamy Friday morning, and Christi Turner is elbows-deep in compost. Armed with yellow gloves and an equally sunny smile, she is undeterred as flies buzz and a strong stench rises around the Dumpster where she’s tossing animal skins, pizza dough and other heavy-duty food refuse,” reports The Denver Post. “Removing straws and recyclables from the fresh pile of waste, Turner cleans her gloves and the newly empty compost bins. Job done, she hops on her bike and sets off for another pick-up point. This smelly operation is all part of a day’s work for Scraps, a small-scale, bike-based composting company that Turner launched this year. She uses a bike with a trailer to collect compost from restaurants and apartment buildings that otherwise would throw their extra food in the garbage. Multiple times a week, she takes to the side streets and thoroughfares of Denver to wheel organic waste to a container in the heart of downtown.”

“Though acknowledging that questions and concerns still remain on the topic, the Colorado Springs City Council approved an ordinance revamping the city’s long-defunded stormwater enterprise fund,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The vote, opposed by Councilmen Don Knight, Bill Murray and Andy Pico, is the council’s first official step toward placing a set of stormwater fees on El Paso County’s November ballot. It also constitutes a hard-fought but preliminary victory for Mayor John Suthers, who has strongly advocated for the fees since June. The ordinance approved during Tuesday’s regular council meeting rewords the city’s existing code on stormwater fees, which is left over from 2009 when an earlier council put the enterprise in mothballs after voters approved a ballot measure leaving its legality in question. The enterprise fund was originally imposed in 2005 without a vote from city residents.”

“Former Weld County Council members on Monday banded together to urge county commissioners to disband the council via a ballot initiative in November,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Two former council members sent letters and two more spoke during the public comment portion of the Board of Weld County Commissioners meeting, citing concerns of partisanship, a slow audit process and general uselessness of the county council as reasons to ask voters whether the council should disband.”

“Suspected members of a recently busted Mesa County drug ring are accused of trafficking major amounts of methamphetamine into Mesa County by way of Nevada and California, then selling the product using local dealers and a Clifton-area storefront, according to recently unsealed court records,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Recently unsealed affidavits describe in detail the extensive investigation, which has been ongoing by local and federal drug investigators since October 2016. The investigation has so far netted 25 pounds of methamphetamine and resulted in 11 arrests, according to earlier reports.”

“A Longmont City Council member’s allegation that male council members have harassed female members is unfounded, according to an attorney whose Denver office of a national law firm the city hired to conduct an independent investigation of the complaint,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Laurie J. Rust has written council members that — under federal and state civil rights and anti-discrimination laws and Longmont’s own city regulations governing workplace harassment — she concluded that ‘the allegation of a hostile work environment based on sex … was not founded.'”

“The U.S. needs much more cooperation from China to deal with North Korea and its continuous threats toward this country, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said Wednesday,” according to The Pueblo Chieftain. “Gardner, a Republican is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, and has been focusing on North Korea in recent years. He authored a new law last year that mandated sanctions against North Korea.”

“Fort Collins voters are a step closer to deciding whether the city may provide high-speed internet service to homes and businesses,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “However, there are a lot more steps to be taken before the proposed service becomes a reality. The City Council on Tuesday approved on first reading an ordinance setting ballot language for a measure in the Nov. 7 election seeking voter permission to establish a telecommunications utility. Second reading of the ordinance is Aug. 15.”

“The employee who Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn claims made a $5.8 million error that deprived local taxing entities of millions of dollars worth of their revenue for more than two months is speaking out and contesting her recent dismissal from the county,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Rani Gilbert, who was fired from the treasurer’s office in July for reasons unrelated to the property tax error, said she thinks Horn is wrongly blaming her for the mistake. “I just want the people of my community to understand she has convicted me of something I did not do,” Gilbert said. “I’ve gone way out of my way to do the very best I can for Routt County.”

“One of three sitting Thompson School Board members has announced her intention to run for reelection, and two former district employees have joined the race for the remaining two seats that are up for grabs this November,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Wednesday was the first day to take out petitions to appear on the ballot for the school board, and candidates must return those with 50 valid signatures by Sept. 1. Paul Bankes, Barb Kruse and Lori Hvizda Ward drew petitions to run for seats on the board.”

“The first signs of the emerald ash borer beetle have been found in Lafayette, according to officials,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The discovery comes four years after investigators first found the invasive pest in Boulder in 2013. Officials said in a news release that on Aug. 3, a Boulder County forester identified an ash tree on private land in the vicinity of Arapahoe Road and North 95th Street as potentially infested with EAB. The suspect tree still is within a quarantine area established to try and prevent the human-assisted spread of emerald ash borer, officials said, noting that Tuesday, the insect specimen was confirmed by experts with Colorado State University as being emerald ash borer. Officials don’t know whether the bug arrived in Lafayette by natural spread or via accidental human transport, such as in firewood or other raw ash material. The pest also has been confirmed in Gunbarrel and Longmont.”

“Overtime costs at the Denver Sheriff Department continue to skyrocket, reaching $14 million last year despite a hiring spree that added nearly 200 deputies to the roster and pledges to change employment practices that could curb excessive spending,” reports The Denver Post. “The sheriff’s department is on track to spend nearly as much on overtime in 2017; the department paid $6.4 million for 133,933 hours of overtime during the first six months of the year, according to data provided by the Denver Department of Safety.”

“Spectranetics became part of Philips’ Image-Guided Therapy Business Group, which generated $2.2 billion in revenue last year,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Spectranetics was the largest of five local companies whose stock is traded on a major exchange, based on the total value of all of its stock. “Spectranetics is a highly complementary addition to our Image-Guided Therapy business group and will strengthen its position in a ($7 billion) growth market,” van Houten said in a news release. “The completion of this acquisition will accelerate the realization of our strategic expansion into therapy devices.”

“Among Republican candidates to be Colorado’s next governor, a common argument has emerged: Medicaid spending in Colorado, driven upward by the Affordable Care Act, is unsustainable,” reports The Denver Post. “Victor Mitchell talks about it in a campaign video. Doug Robinson references the concern on his website. George Brauchler spoke of it at the Western Conservative Summit last month: “We have lost the ability to prioritize any spending in our budget for roads, for education in rural areas because of what we’ve done with Obamacare,” Brauchler said. ‘It has gobbled up so much of our budget.’ Is Medicaid really eating the rest of the state budget alive? And could the state move large sums of money to other priorities by slashing Medicaid spending? The answers are complicated — some yes and some no. Let’s dig in.”

“Amid allegations of embezzlement, an effort is underway in the Town of Rockvale to recall the mayor and board of trustees,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. Rockvale, which has a population of just less than 500 people, also is facing a pending employment lawsuit filed by the former town clerk, Kimberly Greer. The allegations stem from proceeds made at “MudFest,” a two-day truck-driving event hosted in Rockvale. Community members seeking to recall the board allege that a trustee, Heather Criner, misused funds made during the event and did not document ticket sales.”

“Air Force fans no longer will have to wait for the singing of the Third Verse to raise a toast at Falcon Stadium,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The academy announced Thursday that alcohol sales will be introduced at the stadium during football games this season. Beer and wine will be sold in two sections, with fans allowed to take the drinks back to their seats. This will make Air Force the first service academy to allow the sale of alcohol at football games, though the practice is common in the Mountain West.”

“Greeley’s municipal judge was removed from the bench Wednesday after the Weld County Sheriff’s Office produced a summons against her for official misconduct,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Judge Brandilynn Nieto, who has been Greeley’s municipal judge since 2012, has been charged with official misconduct, a misdemeanor, after the Weld sheriff’s office investigation. She was removed from the bench and put on paid administrative leave. According to Cpl. Matt Turner of the Weld County Sheriff’s office, Nieto “used her position to have some of her employees go online and make comments that would benefit a local company.” Turner did not provide the name of the company, or any other information, and stated that the case may be turned over to the Larimer County District Attorney because of jurisdictional issues. Because of that, he said he couldn’t release many details.”

“Ernest Ricehill remembers the first time he realized that he might be alive to see a total solar eclipse,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Ricehill, a 68-year-old Rifle resident, spent his summers as a teenager inhaling books on astronomy at the library in Sioux City, Iowa. He was 14 years old when he saw the date of the next total solar eclipse in the United States — 
Aug. 21, 2017. “I thought, ‘I hope I’m still alive to see it then,’ ” Ricehill said. “I’ve been waiting a long time.” Ricehill will be one of millions of people who are expected to travel to see the total solar eclipse, which will cut along a 60-mile-wide path across the United States.”

“Lower-powered electric pedal-assist bicycles, or e-bikes, will be allowed on the lower section of the Rio Grande Trail during the upcoming 95-day Grand Avenue bridge detour — and even beyond, as it turns out,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority board on Thursday, after significant discussion and public input, agreed on a 6-2 vote to allow Class 1 and 2 e-bikes on the Rio Grande between Glenwood Springs and the Catherine Store Road gate east of Carbondale during the Glenwood bridge closure that starts Monday.”

“Emergency responders drew the attention of residents at Ashley Estates apartment complex on Eden Garden Drive in north Loveland twice this week,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “On Tuesday night around 9:30 p.m., a Loveland Police Department SWAT team was called to the apartment to apprehend a man who had allegedly threatened a woman with a firearm.”

“The Fort Collins man whose body was discovered in his apartment last week was stabbed to death, according to the Larimer County Coroner’s Office,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “William “Bill” Grabusky, 65, died of a stab wound of the chest July 23, the coroner’s office announced Thursday. He died 10 days before police discovered his body while responding to check on his welfare at the request of his wife.”

“Crestone Peak Resources’ bid to develop 216 drilling wells along Boulder County’s eastern reaches could be realized as soon as 2019, company officials indicated Thursday,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “A clearer timeline has emerged for the Denver-based operator’s comprehensive drilling plan — a thorough proposal to develop a 12-square-mile oil field near U.S. 287 and Colo. 52 between Longmont and Lafayette — since it first came to light in March. The company will release an “information package” containing all “conceptual and preliminary” drilling plan elements — including a detailed map of where certain wells, pipelines and roads used to develop the oil field will be located on the site — to the public by the end of September, according to a schedule recommended by the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.”

“The town of Nederland is poised to [become] the 42nd community in the country to commit to achieving 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “But Mayor Kristopher Larsen says he thinks the town can reach the target much sooner than that. “Personally, I’m arguing that we need to act more quickly,” Larsen said. “Two-thousand-thirty is 13 years from now, and from what we can see with climate change and the accelerating rate of change, we don’t have 13 years to wait. ‘We need to start thinking much bigger than that,” he added. “I’m going to argue that we should set a goal more on the order of five years from now.'”

“The City of Cañon City kicked off a new campaign Thursday that’s expected to help keep dog poo out of parks and off of walkways,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The Poop Fairy project provides Mutt Mitt stations at city parks so dog owners can easily clean up after Fido takes care of business.”

“Three men charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting in Grand Junction five months ago were upper-level members in a national outlaw motorcycle club’s local branch, according to a detective who testified about the gang’s structure in court,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

“Arson was the cause of a fire that destroyed the historic Windsor Mill, officials said, in what they say was the largest fire in the town’s recent history,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives held a news conference Sunday morning in Windsor, along with officials from Windsor-Severance Fire Rescue and the Windsor Police Department.”

“A national student housing developer is considering 765 beds next to a proposed subdivision that could bring thousands of new residents to north Fort Collins,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Georgia-based Landmark Properties filed preliminary plans for The Retreat at Fort Collins — 160 to 185 apartments with up to 765 bedrooms — on vacant land south of Conifer Street and east of Redwood.”

“A plan to redevelop the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Lincoln Avenue will go before the Loveland City Council on Tuesday to get the council’s take on potential incentives,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The redevelopment project has been dubbed Heartland Corner because the location was home to the Heartland Cafe for 30 years and, before that, Draper Drugs.”

“Boulder County voters may be asked this fall to authorize continued collections of a tax that assists nonprofit human services agencies, to increase term limits for the sheriff, and to allow the county to provide high-speed internet and other telecommunications and cable TV services,” reports The Longmont Times-Call.

“Colorado Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner turned up the heat on Donald Trump Sunday, demanding the president explicitly condemn neo-Nazis and white nationalists for the violence that left one dead and dozens injured in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “This is not a time for vagaries, this isn’t a time for innuendo or to allow room to be read between the lines,” Gardner told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview. “This is a time to lay blame – to lay blame on bigotry, to lay blame on white nationalists and on hatred, and that needs to be said.”

With Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman “seriously considering a run for governor – something that requires surviving a divisive primary – it seems surprising that she would so publicly advocate for gay rights,” reports The Durango Herald.

“The completion of the 470 beltway around Denver, delayed for decades by high costs and a slew of legal challenges, has hit another setback involving how close the proposed toll road would be to runways at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport,” reports The Denver Post. “In a July 5 letter, the Federal Aviation Administration tells the airport’s acting director that the Jefferson Parkway’s preferred alignment north of the airport “would introduce new safety risks that do not exist today” by being inside a runway protection zone, a buffer between the end of two runways and a nearby road.”

“Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and two City Council members on Tuesday said they reached an agreement on competing proposals to step up the city’s resistance to federal immigration enforcement,” reports The Denver Post. “But all three were mum on the details ahead of a planned release of a new council proposal Wednesday — while saying through spokespeople that they considered it a consensus proposal, not a compromise by either side.”

“Research is indicating that microbial sources such as wetlands and agriculture, rather than fossil fuels, are behind a recent global increase in emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “But one Colorado-based researcher says that doesn’t diminish the importance of continuing to look for ways to reduce fossil fuel methane emissions — which, while probably not increasing, likely are significantly higher than emissions inventories have suggested. Recent findings regarding methane emissions recently were summarized in a story at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website climate.gov.”

“A large section of the skeleton of the old Grand Avenue bridge in downtown Glenwood Springs collapsed Tuesday evening as crews worked on its demolition,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “No one was injured. Tuesday was the second day of demolition work. Steel girders underpinning the deck of the 1953 structure had been stripped of the concrete bed earlier, and fell at about 8:05 p.m. across Union Pacific railroad tracks and Seventh Street. Witnesses said workers and police officers scrambled and dust flew, but no one was hurt, Glenwood Police Chief Terry Wilson said.”

“U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was met with plenty of pressing questions from both pro-Trumpers and liberals at his second of three town halls across the state on Tuesday afternoon in Greeley,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “It’s his first town hall tour along the Front Range in more than a year, and the auditorium at University Schools, 6525 18th St., was at full capacity at about 400 seats with standers as well. His first meeting of the day was held in Colorado Springs, with the one following Greeley in Lakewood at Colorado Christian University. The tension at Greeley’s 90-minute meeting was apparent, as the U.S. Republican senator was met with shouting, booing and some applause. He anticipated the crowd to be ‘energized and probably not Trump supporters’ before the town hall meeting began. He wasn’t totally wrong.”

“Larimer County is considering asking voters to extend the sales tax for the county fairgrounds to pay for expansions of the facilities and help with operation costs at The Ranch,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The county commissioners debated ballot language during a Tuesday work session with the intent of putting the continued tax before voters this November. The elected board will vote on specific ballot language during the weekly administrative matters meeting either Aug. 29 or Sept. 5.”

“During a debate that included some raised voices and a hypothetical situation involving billionaire Bill Gates, the Steamboat Springs City Council decided the city is being fair to developers in how it charges them for their traffic impacts,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “But the decision to maintain the status quo wasn’t unanimous, and two council members sided with developers who think the system needs to be changed. The central question in the debate was whether the city should charge a developer a fee based on the overall cost of a future road project near their development, including state and grant funding, or only for the portion the city ends up actually having to pay for it.”

“Near the end of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s town hall here Tuesday, the senator made the declaration, ‘we cannot shout each other down in this country,'” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “The 400 or so people in the auditorium had spent the better part of an hour trying to prove him wrong on that point. It was Gardner’s second town hall of the day, after months of activists trying to get the Republican from Yuma to hold an in-person, general admission town hall. Describing the crowd as hostile would be apt, if hostile was a four-letter word.”

“Ten of the 15 Frederick residents either holding office or seeking to recall those officeholders and take their place took the stage inside Coal Creek Middle School in Firestone on Tuesday evening to discuss their qualifications and provide their take on issues facing the town, including water issues and whether to buy its own electrical utility,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Frederick voters are being tasked with deciding whether to recall Mayor Tony Carey and four of the town’s six-member Board of Trustees — Donna Hudziak, Salvatore “Sam” DeSantis, Rocky Figurilli and Fred Skates — and picking replacements. There are 10 candidates vying for spots on the board or in the mayor’s slot, and some of them are seeking both positions.”

“What should the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently declared Superfund listing on 48 mining-related sites around Silverton accomplish over the next several years?” reports The Durango Herald. “That’s the question a newly formed citizens committee hopes to address at its first meeting next week.”

“A hectic evening of workshopping culminated in the Boulder City Council advancing what may end up being the final version of a plan for allocation of theoretical future revenues from a Capital Improvement Tax extension the city hopes voters will pass this November,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “What the council is seeking support for is a four-year extension of the 0.3 percent sales tax, which would bring in about $41 million for 14 different projects, some of which benefit city infrastructure and some of which fund local nonprofits.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post said a story appeared in the wrong paper. 

“If nothing changes in the coming days, this fall’s Steamboat Springs City Council election won’t be a competition,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “And, the council may even have to appoint someone rather than see someone elected. With less than two weeks remaining until the filing deadline, only the three incumbents who are eligible to run again have submitted the paperwork they need to file for the election.”

“A group of five Buddhist monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery in southern India have stopped in Grand Junction as part of a two-year-long fundraising tour through the United States,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The monks, who arrived on Wednesday from Omaha, Nebraska, and will be here through Sunday, have spent most of their time at the Western Colorado Center for the Arts on North Seventh Street, where they are creating an intricate sand mandala for the Buddhist deity Green Tara, goddess of compassion.”

“The city will pay former teachers of the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts more than $20,000 in back wages, but only if the governing arts council agrees to end its contract with the city and give up its building lease,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “If the organization does not accept the offer within the next week, the city may take legal action to go after the arts council and, “if appropriate, individual board members, to collect misappropriated public funds,” according to a prepared motion put forward by City Attorney Karl Hanlon and read by City Councilor Kathryn Trauger at the Thursday City Council meeting.”

“Officer Chris Darcy, the Windsor Police Department’s school resource officer, is only about a week into his new assignment, but he already has more discretion than some of his predecessors,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “In the past, if a school resource officer became aware of a teen couple sending nude photographs to one another — even if the exchange was consensual — that officer had to report the crime as sexual exploitation of a child, a heavy charge that labeled juveniles as sex offenders and barred them from applying for federal financial aid for college. Thanks to a new state law, which will take effect Jan. 1, though, Darcy will have more options. The law refers to “sexting” or sending a nude photograph or video of oneself or someone else through electronic means — usually by smartphone. Both adults and juveniles engage in sexting, and many times it’s a consensual exchange between two people. This is fine in an adult relationship, but when kids do it, even if it is consensual, they’re technically distributing child pornography.”

“In the wake of violent clashes between neo-Nazis and other white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, memorials to confederate Civil War soldiers and generals are being torn down by protesters or quietly removed by local governments,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “In Boulder County, memorials to Civil War soldiers are complicated by the Union Army’s involvement in the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. Longmont Museum Curator Erik Mason noted that Longmont was mostly settled by Union veterans rather than Confederate veterans. This is probably the reason why Longmont has Lincoln, Grant and Sherman streets, but no Davis or Lee streets, Mason agreed.”

“Colorado test results show high overall scores for Boulder County students in most areas compared to the state, but mixed results for improvement plus continued low participation rates in Boulder Valley,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The state released district and school scores in language arts, math and science today, as well as PSAT and SAT scores. Only statewide results were released for social studies, with that test given to fourth- and seventh-graders in a sampling of schools. Altogether across the state, about 555,000 students, in grades three through 11, took the tests in the spring.”

“Colorado needs teachers. Thousands of them,” reports The Durango Herald, using a piece from Colorado Public Radio. “Colleges in the state are graduating 25 percent fewer licensed teachers than they did six years ago. The crisis is most acute in rural Colorado, where turnover is high. Which brings us to Dusty Mars of Ignacio. After spending years as an oil production foreman, where he oversaw a dozen operators and 1,000 wells, an even bigger challenge presented itself. He was tapped to teach middle school math on an emergency credential. Soon enough, he found himself with a teary student.”

“U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn further condemned hate groups Thursday in a visit to Cañon City, where he said he hopes people “know there’s no room in the Republican party for those kinds of groups,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Lamborn, who represents Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, was in Cañon City to learn about St. Thomas More Hospital’s newest additions, including the birth center and medical office building, which is currently under construction. After a tour of the hospital, he visited with the Daily Record about issues ranging from President Donald Trump’s tough talk on North Korea to the hate groups that filled Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.”

“Spurred by the violence in Charlottesville, Va., the nation is once again in the middle of a heated disagreement over our past — or, more accurately, how the nation should remember its past,” reports The Denver Post. “Communities across the country are having difficult conversations as Confederate monuments are toppled by local governments and protesters worried that statues in the public square are venerating figures linked to painful chapters in our shared history. People in Colorado have already been forced into this conversation. But when it happened here in the 1990s, the problematic Civil War figures commemorated in bronze were Union fighters and their crimes were against American Indians.”

“Three students from the International Correctional Management Training Center in Cañon City are reportedly missing, a news release said Sunday morning,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “According to its website, the International Correctional Management Training Center is a division of the Colorado Department of Corrections, “(that) has begun operation of a residential corrections training center to provide training to corrections officials from foreign countries.” On Sunday, Mark Fairbairn, the public information officer for CDOC said in an email that three of the programs’ students failed to appear Saturday night at a designated pick up point in Colorado Springs after a sponsored trip. “The three students are part of a group from Afghanistan that are correctional staff who are authorized to be in the United States for training,” Fairbairn said in an email.

“When political upheaval leaves voids in government leadership, Mark Garcia helps keep towns running across Southwest Colorado,” reports The Durango Herald. “In 2009, Garcia took over as town clerk and administrator in small-town Center in the San Luis Valley when its clerk Bill McClure committed tax fraud and went to jail. In 2014, Garcia stepped in as interim town manager in Silverton when the town board fired both the town manager and public works director after months of conflict. And now, Garcia is serving as part-time interim town manager in Ignacio, taking over after the town board fired Lee San Miguel in 2015, without cause.”

“Environmental organizations are gearing up to battle a company’s plan to drill 108 oil wells in the Whitewater Basin area, while local governments are looking to the project as a potential boon,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The Mesa County Commission today is to consider a letter to the Bureau of Land Management regarding the drilling plan proposed by Fram Operating LLC to produce about 8.7 million barrels of oil in 20 years, creating as many as 70 jobs. Opponents of the plan flew over the basin last week to point out what they said are flaws in the project, including questioning its potential effects on Grand Junction’s watersheds, air quality and views of Grand Mesa from Palisade and East Orchard Mesa. The complaints, however, are generic attacks that frequently are used against energy projects, an industry spokesman said.”

“The best seats in the house at the mellow, family-friendly 27th annual Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons may not be in the front row, but instead in the shallow St. Vrain River that flows near the stage,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “We came for the line-up of musicians, we came for the creek, we came for all of it,” said Lafayette’s Emily Clark. The three-day festival, at the 15-acre Planet Bluegrass Ranch in Lyons, wraps up today. Headliners for the festival weekend were Gregory Alan Isakov, The Revivalists and Dave Rawlings Machine.”

“This week’s Freedom Conference & Festival, organized and hosted by The Steamboat Institute, will feature artwork by a former president, a visit from a former presidential candidate and inspiring words from a Boston Marathon bombing survivor,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “New this year, the event will show two films free for the public to attend. ‘We are trying to broaden the overall audience for the event by broadening the message a bit,’ organizer Jennifer Schubert-Akin said.” She also told the paper, “Many people don’t realize that President George W. Bush turned out to be quite the artist after his presidency.”

“Renee Schell, program director of Frontier House and vocational services, said when people choose to join Frontier, it’s like joining a club,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “It goes beyond clinical mental health treatment and aims to approach mental illness and substance abuse holistically. It helps to create a natural support system, Schell said. Many folks who come through the doors, such as Baker, don’t have family or friends to turn to. Many times, in fact, addicts have to leave those friends and family because they use drugs, as well. At Frontier, folks develop healthy, positive relationships. Folks also can get help getting back into the workforce through the program. Frontier seeks out local businesses willing to offer jobs to people with criminal records.”

“As the owner of a tree-trimming service, Jason Writz knows what it’s like to take time out of the day to drive a truck full of wood chips to the nearest dump site and then pay a fee to get rid of the wood waste,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “And as an arborist, he knows that using organic mulch “is the single best thing you can do for your plants’ health.” So the Loveland resident decided to tackle two needs with one load of chips. Writz has launched FreeWoodChips.net, a web-based service that puts together tree services looking to take a load off and homeowners and gardeners who could use a free pile of wood chips.”

“In filings that followed the conclusion of Boulder’s nine-day municipalization trial, staff for the regulators now tasked with making a ruling offered a bit of positive news for the city,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The staff’s statement of position advises that the Public Utilities Commission “should move forward with the (city’s) plan to municipalize its electric utility service according to a multi-phased approach similar to the one already proposed by Boulder.” Even if Boulder is able to move ahead toward separating from Xcel Energy and form its own local electric utility, “there is still much work to be done” in the near future, staff wrote.”

“About 1,000 people attended a rally Sunday at the Colorado Springs City Hall to show solidarity with protesters who opposed white nationalists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “While they came with common cause, they didn’t always find common ground. Speakers called for unity, love and peace in the effort to keep violence and hate crimes out of Colorado Springs. But a group of anti-fascist activists, known as Antifa, called for stronger, less nonviolent measures. One of the Antifa demonstrators, many of whom were dressed in black, their heads and faces covered by hoods and gas masks, held up a sign reading, ‘Silence is violence Punching Nazis is self-defense.'”

“Hate never left Colorado,” reports The Denver Post. “From massacres of American Indians in the 19th century to the Ku Klux Klan’s control of state politics in the 1920s to modern acts of violence such as the 2013 assassination of the state prisons director by a white supremacist gang member, Colorado has dealt with its share of racism. Now, though, a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., that turned violent and a president who has struggled to outright denounce the racists or their actions have raised awareness across the country, including in Colorado. And people are ready to speak out.”

“Weld County Council Chairman Brett Abernathy had a point to prove Monday night at the county council’s regular meeting,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “It went something like this: The council-approved audit of Weld County commissioners and the Weld County Clerk and Recorder’s office was thorough, transparent and unbiased. It started with a statement on the night the council was prepared to present audit results. Although elected officials during the course of the audit had, at times, behaved in a way that would ’embarrass a teenager,’ Abernathy said it was time to put aside petty differences and work together to make Weld government work.”

“U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter has found the ‘fire in the belly’ again — or at least the desire to remain a member of Congress,” reports The Denver Post. “The Arvada Democrat on Monday said he would run for a seventh term in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, a declaration that comes five short weeks after Perlmutter dropped out of Colorado’s crowded race for governor and said he was done with politics. ‘Over the last few weeks, a lot has happened, both for me and in the world. I’ve taken some time to regroup and recharge, and in so doing, I’ve had many meaningful conversations with friends, neighbors, supporters and family who have encouraged me to run again,’ said Perlmutter in a statement. ‘And I’ve come to the conclusion to run again for re-election.'”

“Even as the search for a new Rifle city manager continues, the position of assistant city manager will soon be vacant,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Current interim City Manager Kimberly Bullen officially announced her resignation to City Council last week. She will become the Colorado northwest regional manager for the state Department of Local Affairs. “It’s been an absolute privilege working for the city of Rifle, working for City Council, and working with city staff,” Bullen said Wednesday. ‘This is a great organization and a great community.'”

“You don’t need to look any further than the numbers,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “They effectively tell the story of Loveland’s boys soccer program in recent years. The Indians have limped through the past four seasons, amassing just 12 wins in 60 games, including only five in the past two seasons with a conference record of 1-20-1. Loveland hasn’t posted a winning record since 2012, its only postseason appearance since 2009. Competing in the Front Range League, one of the deepest conferences in soccer the state has to offer, hasn’t made the Indians’ plight any easier. This season will see the third coach in the past four years at Loveland and with him just maybe a glimmer of hope at a step in the right direction.”

“The most significant challenge a new Fort Collins Police Services chief will face is maximizing transparency, according to city of Fort Collins survey results,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Of the 723 people who responded to a citywide survey about recruitment of a new police chief that closed last week, 63.6 percent — 432 residents (of 679 who answered the question) — listed transparency as one of the five most significant challenges for a new chief. The answer choice listed transparency of promoting good work and admitting mistakes.”

“Neo-Nazi rallies, a presidential faux pas and Confederate statues mixed with domestic and foreign terrorism to stun the nation last week,” reports The Steamboat Pilot in a piece pushed from the front page by eclipse news. “So it’s no wonder close to 200 people turned out Thursday night to discuss “Hope and Fear in America” with a group of spiritual leaders at the Bud Werner Memorial Library in Steamboat Springs. Moderators asked the panel and audience to describe the consequences of the fear that is surfacing in society. Their answers were first troubling but eventually turned to advice on how to manage fear and replace it with love and hope through rational communication.”

“Erie is poised to act on fracking regulation in a way that the Colorado legislature has not,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing Tuesday night for an ordinance requiring oil and gas operators to map their pipelines throughout the town after similar legislation fell along party lines at the state Capitol earlier this year. The proposal marks the latest in Erie’s expanding campaign to retake some semblance of what fracking opponents argue is the industry’s clasp over local control.”

“Early campaign finance reports show a wide range of fundraising activity for the 11 certified Boulder City Council candidates,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Three candidates — Sam Weaver, Jill Adler Grano and Eric Budd — have each raised more than $5,000 through reports made available Monday afternoon. On the other end of the spectrum, to this point, is candidate Ed Byrne, whose tally stands at $68. Every other candidate has reported somewhere between $1,576 and $3,828 in contributions.”

“Plans to renovate the former St. Scholastica into affordable housing units are expected to move forward within the next few weeks,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The Cañon City Council on Monday approved first reading of an ordinance that would allow a portion of the property to be rezoned, allowing for a total of 82 units. “We are proceeding with closing and hope to start construction shortly,” said Steve Savage, the project’s coordinator, after the meeting. He said construction should begin on the project in two to three weeks.”

“A marijuana industry group recently reported the sensational headline that Colorado had taken in a half-billion dollars in pot taxes since recreational stores opened in January 2013,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “But the windfall hasn’t been what some voters anticipated – perhaps because it is spread across so many recipients. The money has gone to schools as promised but also this year to help balance the state budget by offsetting a separate tax break for businesses, to help fund multiple state agencies and departments, including money for public safety, law enforcement and the judiciary. Also new, a program to help the homeless with housing. Colorado cities and towns that approved legal sales have passed their own sales taxes to be collected on top of state taxes. Municipal spending of pot funds is often highly visible – streets repaired, new fire trucks, local students receiving scholarships, downtowns spruced up.”

“Congress should be able to design protections for the disabled community as lawmakers look at shrinking the growth in the Medicaid program, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner said Tuesday to the Pueblo County Farm Bureau,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Gardner, a Republican who was part of the Senate GOP team that fashioned a failed Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, was targeted by the disabled community this summer to oppose reductions in the Medicaid insurance program they rely on for home health services. Gardner said Medicaid spending in both the federal and state budgets has swollen rapidly. “But we should be able to design protections for (the disabled) at the state level,” he said during a question period at the farm bureau meeting. That’s an answer he didn’t provide in June and July when disabled activists were besieging his office. Gardner said has met with those groups as well as heard from them last week in raucous town hall meetings in Greeley, Lakewood and Colorado Springs.”

“High turnover, low morale and mandatory overtime exacerbated by significant staffing shortages — with a side of favoritism and retaliation — are among the findings of an independent audit of the Weld County Clerk and Recorder’s office,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The 148-page audit, released late Monday during a Weld County Council meeting, makes nearly 20 recommendations for solving those problems. But the problems, to hear Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes tell it, aren’t hers. She was the first to speak during the public comment portion of the council meeting, thanking auditors for proving what she has been saying for three years, that the clerk’s office is understaffed. For that, she blames the Board of Weld County Commissioners, despite commissioners adding 5.5 employees to the clerk’s budget since Koppes took over in 2015. High turnover has prevented Koppes from utilizing those extra positions, and for that, Koppes blames the Weld County recruiter. Koppes said accusations of retaliation and favoritism belong to middle managers, who Koppes said didn’t have training before she took over.”

“After months of debates, arguments and unanswered questions, the Colorado Springs City Council voted Tuesday to cement a set of proposed stormwater fees onto El Paso County’s November ballot,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “With Councilmen Don Knight, Bill Murray and Andy Pico in opposition, the council approved an ordinance revamping the city’s existing code on stormwater fees alongside the official ballot language to be used. The council also approved a payment of $137,265 to hold the election. Knight and Pico opposed the payment. The move is a win for Mayor John Suthers, who has fiercely advocated for the fees’ resurrection since June. His true test, however, will come on Nov. 7, when voters will decide whether to follow through with the proposals and impose the fees on property owners once more.”

“Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts teachers have gone months without back pay for their services,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “That’s about to change. During a special meeting Tuesday night, the Glenwood Springs City Council reached a settlement agreement with the arts center. The city will pay teachers more than $20,000 in back pay. The arts council, which governs the center, will end its city contract and vacate the city-owned former hydroelectric building by the end of the year. That will allow the organization time to liquidate any assets.”

“Gov. John Hickenlooper wants the state to make some changes when it comes to abandoned wells and the flowlines that extend out of them,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Responding to April’s explosion of a home near Firestone that killed two people, Hickenlooper on Tuesday called for some regulatory changes that deal with flowlines from existing and abandoned wells. He also wants to expand the state’s 811 call line to include flowlines. That service helps property owners locate utility lines. The governor’s seven-point proposal also includes calling on the Colorado Legislature to create a nonprofit orphan well fund, which would be used to help pay for sealing abandoned wells and offering refunds for homeowners who want methane monitors.”

“Longmont voters will be asked in November to authorize the city to sell $36.3 million in bonds backed by water customers’ user rates, to raise the city’s municipal sales tax rate to pay for hiring more public safety personnel and to charge retail recreational marijuana customers a special pot tax. In separate votes, the City Council on Tuesday night approved advancing all three measures to the ballot,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The council voted 7-0 for a ballot question that will seek voters’ permission for the city to issue $36.3 million in bonds that would help pay the city’s remaining share of costs of the Windy Gap Firming Project, a multi-government water storage project that currently would include up to 10,000 acre-feet of water stored for Longmont’s use.”

“Colorado’s Office of Behavioral Health announced this week that Frisco and Montrose will both receive funding for new mental health facilities serving the Western Slope,” reports The Summit Daily News. “A senate bill signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper in May set aside millions in marijuana tax dollars for upgrades to Colorado’s mental health system and to help curtail the use of jails to house those in crisis who have not been charged with a crime. The deficiency in rural facilities was specifically targeted in the bill, which set aside nearly $2 million over two years to expand services.”

“Colorado State Representative Steve Lebsock (D) of Thornton was born in Sterling and considers northeastern Colorado to be more than just a place on the map,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “Lebsock is proud of his heritage and family influence on the Eastern Plains. While Lebsock’s family was the first to move away from the family farm in Logan County, he still credits his work ethic and sense of fairness to the “farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs” in his bloodline. “If there’s one thing I learned from my hard-working family,” Lebsock said, “it’s this: work hard and don’t lie.”

“Two longstanding Colorado institutions have applied to run Boulder County’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Initiative (SARII) as it transitions away from the use of genetically engineered (GE) crops on open space land,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “It is the second round of bidding on the project after the first round failed to produce a viable proposal. A previous bidder has dropped out of the running, and the involvement of the Rodale Institute, embroiled in a controversial bidding process , is unclear. Details of the proposals are not made public until after county commissioners have made a decision. Staff who have viewed them declined comment.”

“Finding an organization to oversee a permanent homeless camp in Durango has proved challenging, city staff told the Durango City Council Tuesday,” reports The Durango Herald. “Thus far, nonprofits focused on serving homeless residents in the area haven’t shown interest in managing a homeless camp and related efforts, Assistant City Manager Kevin Hall told council. Local nonprofits function on a shoestring budget and can’t take on something new, Assistant City Manager Amber Blake said. While the city has land that could be used for the project, it can’t manage that kind of facility because it is not a social services agency, Hall said.”

“To help protect the fragile ecosystem of Hanging Lake, where as many as 1,100 people visit on a busy summer day, the White River National Forest is proposing a visitor cap, fees, timed reservations and shuttles to the trailhead,” reports The Denver Post. “Hanging Lake is a Colorado treasure and really beloved by so many,” said Aaron Mayville, the Eagle-Holy Cross District Ranger for the most trafficked national forest in the country. Maybe too beloved by too many. That’s becoming an increasingly urgent theme in Colorado, where treasures such as the state’s 54 fourteeners, remote backcountry lakes and popular national parks have been swarmed by record numbers of visitors as the state’s population surged. Federal and state land managers are navigating a delicate dance in Colorado, balancing those record crowds with duties to protect natural resources.”

“Colorado residents fed up with what they see as the state’s failure to protect people and the environment are fighting fossil-fuel development inside their towns by making new rules requiring odor control, bigger setbacks and company disclosure of underground oil and gas flowlines,” reports The Denver Post. “But the industry and state government are ready to fight back. An odor-control measure in Erie, letting police hit companies with tickets for foul fumes, takes effect next week. Erie, Broomfield, Thornton and Lafayette are each developing map submission rules, with leaders saying the fatal April 17 house explosion in Firestone makes this a no-brainer. Broomfield residents also will vote on whether to change their charter to require protection of health, safety and the environment as preconditions before drilling inside city limits can be done.”

“At the urging of Councilwoman Polly Christensen, Longmont has posted a link on its city government home page to the City Council’s Dec. 13 resolution reaffirming ‘constitutional rights and community values,'” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Christensen on Tuesday night called for a more prominent display of Longmont’s eight-month-old resolution in light of the Aug. 12 violence during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a driver plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring more than 19 other people. There’s also been an increase in hate crimes nationally, she said.”

“A California brother and sister were arrested along with their 13-year-old cousin Tuesday morning after members of the Western Colorado Drug Task Force who stopped their car on Interstate 70 allegedly found 25 pounds of suspected methamphetamine hidden throughout the vehicle,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

“When Boulder officials discovered the emerald ash borer in the city in 2013, they’d been preparing for its arrival for almost 15 years,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “It was inevitable that the invasive tree-killing bug would spread there, given its rapid proliferation across the United States since it first appeared in the Midwest in the early 2000s and Boulder’s sizable population of the ash trees the bug kills. But they were surprised at the fight that faced them. “It was already everywhere; we just hadn’t found it,” said Laura Pottorf, who manages quarantine programs for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The emerald ash borer is coming to Greeley, too. It’s a question of when, not if, and as Boulder shows, it may be here now.”

“There’s a sign in front of ‘Brewery Hill’ near the corner of Portland and Norwood avenues that warns people of $1,000 fines for illegal dumping,” reports The Pubelo Chieftain. “The streets are barricaded behind an entrance sign to the empty Legends at River’s Run development project. Most streets leading to it also are blocked off. ‘None of it stops people from dumping their trash and junk out there,’ said Kathleen Rutten, who lives with Dale Hammond on the 1200 block of South La Crosse Avenue, less than a mile from the dump site on Pueblo’s Lower East Side.”

“There’s something wrong with our politics. That was the frank assessment of Democratic U.S. Senator Michael Bennet on Wednesday as he took a tour of the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70, perhaps the most important link in Colorado’s underfunded and overburdened transportation infrastructure,” reports The Summit Daily News. “We don’t even have the decency to maintain the roads and bridges, the assets and infrastructure that our parents and grandparents had the decency to build for us — much less build the infrastructure our kids are going to need in the 21st century,” he said as cars and trucks whizzed by.”

“At a lively town hall in Steamboat Springs on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet found a friendly audience to talk policy with and even shook hands and agreed with one of the area’s most vocal Republicans on a topic of national interest,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The Colorado Democrat and Republican Chuck McConnell were shaking hands at Bud Werner Memorial Library after the Senator said President Donald Trump should stop watching cable, put his phone down and stop tweeting about foreign affairs.”

“Richard Rule treated the Rev. Carl Sutter so well that Sutter thought he was one of Rule’s few special friends,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “On Wednesday, Sutter spoke about that mistake in front of hundreds of other of Rule’s special friends, many of whom also had stories to tell about the generosity shown by the Loveland man over his life and work in Northern Colorado. Rule died Aug. 16 after a 10-month battle with esophageal cancer. He was 56.”

“One of Boulder’s most significant redevelopment projects is beginning the slow morph from a rough vision to a concrete plan,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Following the City Council’s approval of a series of guiding principles for the 8.8-acre site along Broadway at Alpine and Balsam avenues, the former longtime home of Boulder Community Health, city planning staff say they now intend to head to constituents for advice on how the property should be revamped. The city’s stated goal, at the point, is for the physical redevelopment to get underway in 2019.”

“Eagle’s sales tax revenues for the first half of 2017 are up — that’s the good news. But those revenues have not increased as much as the town budgeted, which could necessitate year-end budget cuts,” reports Vail Daily. “In formulating Eagle’s 2017 budget, former town manager John Schneiger and town finance director Jill Ewing anticipated an 8 percent increase in sales tax revenues during 2017. They based that figure on recent history — sales tax collections grew 11.5 percent in 2016 and 11.2 percent in 2015. Additionally, state forecasts called for a 5 percent sales tax growth. Ewing noted this week that she initially proposed a 5 percent increase for the 2017 budget but Schneiger supported the 8 percent figure, and that was reflected in the budget approved by the Eagle Town Board.”

“Legal outdoors smoking might return to downtown Fort Collins. City officials are considering changes to rules governing the Downtown Smoke-Free Zone, including designated smoking areas and dropping the area’s smoking ban between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “The potential changes are in response to complaints from Old Town businesses about the impacts of the smoke-free zone, Delynn Coldiron, interim city clerk, told City Council members Tuesday.”

“Thanks to a recently awarded grant, a new program offered by Rocky Mountain Behavioral Health, Inc. now is available that aims to remove barriers standing in the way of clients’ successful treatment,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Recovery Campus is a recovery support approach that expands treatment beyond individual, group and family therapy. It includes frequent case management and integration of transportation and housing assistance, access to wellness and spiritual services, job coaching and training into the treatment plans of RMBH clients in recovery from substance abuse and domestic violence. Staff includes professional therapists, physicians, case managers and peer coaches.”

“The long-stalled redevelopment of downtown’s City Auditorium block could be revived, and might include a Hyatt-branded hotel and multistory commercial and residential buildings,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. A new redevelopment effort comes as Colorado Springs’ economy surges and as a flurry of public and private projects are under construction or on the drawing board in downtown. Some projects – an apartment building, the Pikes Peak Market and street upgrades along Pikes Peak and Nevada avenues – are pushing east from downtown’s Tejon Street retail and restaurant corridor. That puts renewed emphasis on transforming the auditorium block – bounded by Nevada, Pikes Peak and Kiowa and Weber streets.”

“Carbondale trustees have approved new town policies in an attempt to gain the trust of immigrants, while word has spread of arrests by federal immigration officials in the Roaring Fork Valley,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Ted Hess, a Glenwood Springs immigration attorney, said that several of his immigrant contacts reported numerous arrests early last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, though that activity is difficult to verify. Hess said all he has is anecdotal evidence, but he received seven phone calls Aug. 14 from people reporting ICE arrests and activity, and similar accounts followed later in the week. ICE has arrived, he said, and these kinds of raids will be a feature, periodically, of living in this valley. “Obviously, this makes life more risky and miserable if you’re undocumented. What it really does all too often is separate functioning families who are contributing to our society and economy.”

“On Tuesday, a police standoff in the 600 block of Greeley’s 13th Street drew a crowd, with some people recording the arrival of police vehicles on their phones,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The Aug. 6 Windsor Mill fire — which investigators believe was intentionally set — lured many out of their beds early on a Sunday morning to watch firefighters battle the blaze. Just a few days later on Aug. 9, a Fort Collins man died after his car collided with the sign at the intersection of U.S. 34 and Colo. 257 in the midst of rush hour traffic. Cars slowed as drivers strained to get a glimpse of the scene. The question is, why? What leads people to sneak up to a police perimeter at a SWAT standoff or a new mother to listen to a police scanner after midnight? These are negative situations, many of which turn tragic.”

“Construction of a $34 million psychiatric hospital in Grand Junction got a $2 million boost Thursday,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The donation toward the expansion of the Mind Springs Psychiatric Hospital is the largest single contribution ever given by the Colorado Health Access Fund of the Denver Foundation. It brings the construction fund to $12.7 million, or 70 percent of its $17.5 million goal. Construction on expanding the current 32-bed hospital at 515 28 3/4 Road to 64 beds is to begin this fall. “The need for this expansion continues to grow the longer we wait to begin construction,” said Sharon Raggio, president and chief executive officer of Mind Springs Health and West Springs Hospital. “This significant investment places us closer to our fundraising goal and allows us to start the process of moving dirt at the construction site, bringing us one step closer to rebuilding more lives.”

“Rulings on pretrial motions filed by both prosecutors and defense attorneys could be issued by a judge as early as Friday in the murder case against Berthoud teen Tanner Flores, accused of killing former Boulder County Rodeo Queen Ashley Dootlittle,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Flores, 19, was taken into custody at gunpoint June 10, 2016, by Mesa County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Doolittle’s body was reportedly discovered in Flores’ vehicle with three bullet wounds to her head. Flores, now being held at the Larimer County Jail, did not speak during his appearance at Thursday’s motions hearing in front of 8th Judicial District Judge Greg Lammons.”

“Crossroads School in Longmont has a Rumba that roams the halls during the school day, greeting students and picking up any stray morsels in the carpet,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “But it isn’t a Roomba vacuum that’s cleaning the floors. Rumba Hoover is a 2-year-old black labrador/boxer/Staffordshire terrier mix therapy dog in training at Crossroads. Crossroads is a small, faith-based school that helps middle and high school students who have had academic or behavioral struggles in other schools.”

“Yampa Valley Housing Authority may have crossed the threshold of a new era in the decades-long discussion about the need to increase community housing in Ski Town U.S.A,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “But the outcome will ultimately be decided by the voters in the November election. Motivated by the findings of the Community Housing Steering Committee report of December 2016, the YVHA board voted Thursday to seek voter permission to collect a 10-year, one-mill property tax within its district, which includes the city of Steamboat Springs and surrounding areas but no other towns.”

“According to results from the 2017 administration of statewide assessments by the Colorado Department of Education, students in Pueblo County School District 70 are performing under expectations but have, for the most part, improved from last year in tested areas,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The D70 students were among 550,000 Colorado students from the third through 11th grades assessed last spring. Third- through ninth-graders took Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments in English language arts and math, and fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders took science assessments.”

“Saturday will be test day for Colorado State University’s new on-campus stadium and the extensive planning that has gone into making the massive facility and its support systems ready for prime time,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “That will include the Rambassadors. The Rambassabor program is a collaboration involving Visit Fort Collins and CSU. It will place friendly volunteers around the perimeter of campus to direct visitors to the stadium and answer questions.”

“Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended Thursday that President Trump alter at least three national monuments established by his immediate predecessors, including two in Utah, a move expected to reshape federal land and water protections and certain to trigger major legal fights,” reports The Durango Herald. “In a report Zinke submitted to the White House, the secretary recommended reducing the size of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, as well as Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, according to multiple individuals briefed on the decision.”

“As controversy sizzles across the country over the removal of statues honoring Confederate heroes, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum is raising money to erect a sculpture of a local woman whose livelihood brought blacks and whites together during an earlier divisive era,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “A bronze tribute to beloved African American entrepreneur Fannie Mae Duncan will eventually greet passersby in front of the Pikes Peak Center, less than a block from where she opened the famous Cotton Club on West Colorado Avenue in the 1950s. The club was the first in the city to permit patrons of all races, who were greeted by Duncan’s black-and-white sign in the window that read ‘EVERYBODY WELCOME.'”

“Sunlight fills every corridor, the exit visible even from the opposite end of the apartment building,” reports The Denver Post. “Its 60 bedrooms have no doors to shut, but, instead, window-sized wall cutouts to see through to the living room. And the “safe courtyard,” filled with deep-pink rose bushes and shade umbrellas, is open to the sky yet fenced off to prevent outside entry from Federal Boulevard. The design is unique in Colorado and rare nationally, a “trauma-informed” apartment building that soon will house people who for years have lived on Denver’s streets, in and out of jail, detox and emergency rooms. There are no crevices, nothing that resembles a dark alley or shadowy stairwell. “These are the folks who are really resistant to treatment. They didn’t sign up for it,” said Joann Toney, director of clinical housing services for the Mental Health Center of Denver which will open Sanderson Apartments to its first residents next week.”

When Clarity Media bought The Colorado Statesman a couple months ago, the plan was to eventually strip the print-and-online politics trade journal of its name and replace it with Colorado Politics. This week it happened. Above is the Aug. 11 issue; below the Aug. 18th.

But this is just the latest iteration of a newspaper that has changed in name, ownership, and tone over a span of nearly 120 years.

The paper’s story begins in the late 1800s where it eventually became a trade organ of the state Democratic Party called the Denver Democrat. In the mid 1950s it changed, becoming The Colorado Democrat, and over the ensuing decades pivoted to a more journalistically independent pub. In 1977 it got a new name, publishing its first issue as The Colorado Statesman, according to archives and those who worked there. Ownership over the years changed, too. Cheryl Meyer and Walt Kinderman became owners in the late ’70s under The Statesman banner when Meyer hired Jody Hope Strogoff as a reporter who would, years later, herself buy the paper from a different owner and run it for 35 years. In the summer of 1980, Bob Sweeney, who calls himself a conservative Republican, bought The Statesman and held onto it for four years. “We had a good time running that paper,” he said with a chuckle this week. “The only problem was we could never make any money with it.”

But Sweeney, who today publishes The Villager in south metro Denver, called The Statesman a unique and potent paper that covered the people who made the news more than the news they were making. “It was kind of a cult newspaper,” he says. “People really loved it.” Under his ownership, Sweeney says the paper had about 2,000 loyal subscribers who paid about $35 a year. But for a political insider journal, the gap between elections meant financial dry spells. “The best year I had I lost $35,000,” he said. “It was always losing money.”

So in 1984, Sweeney sold The Statesman to Strogoff, whom he calls probably the most talented journalist he ever worked with. Strogoff became editor and publisher, where she says she strove to keep the paper nonpartisan. The finances were OK, she says, and there were even some years when it ran in the black. But it took plenty of her own cash to stay afloat and eventually she needed help, she says. So in the 1990s, she says she approached Larry Mizel, a wealthy, politically connected GOP donor and homebuilder whom she says she met at a social function, and Strogoff says he started investing in the publication.

Over the years the paper won plenty of Colorado Press Association awards, including the top editorial sweepstakes award the last three years Strogoff was there, she says, and the Public Service award almost every year since 1978. The Statesman, she says, also sent someone to cover each national political convention for more than three decades.

Strogoff says the arrangement with Mizel worked well until about 2014, when the paper underwent another change. That year, Jared Wright, a former police officer and Republican lawmaker who drew political cartoons for The Statesman, became publisher, Strogoff says, and she wasn’t sure what her role was anymore. She did not last. “I was with that paper so long and we had come so far and I loved the paper,” she says. “I loved The Statesman, it was my life basically. It just got to the point where it wasn’t working.” The Statesman made a big digital play and instituted a paywall. It held a big party at the start of the legislative session, hired some new reporters, and released a slick promotional video featuring political luminaries singing its praises— including Gov. John Hickenlooper saying, “Long live The Statesman.” It raised the eyebrows of close media watchers. The new reporters didn’t last, either.

A Mizel spokeswoman says Miizel doesn’t talk to the press. Wright didn’t comment.

Now the latest ownership change. In June, Clarity, which owns The Gazette newspaper among other publications and is run by Phil Anschutz, a conservative Denver billionaire and Republican donor, bought The Statesman “from its principal investor, MDC Holdings Inc. CEO Larry Mizel,” The Denver Business Journal reported at the time. Clarity last year launched ColoradoPolitics.com as a product of The Gazette in Colorado Springs and went on a hiring spree, poaching statehouse reporters from rival print outlets to carve out a niche as a go-to source for insider state politics news. Colorado Politics acquired longtime Statesman reporter Ernest Luning, brought on Wright for the business side, and merged their websites over the summer. And on Aug. 18, the words Colorado Politics replaced The Colorado Statesman on the print edition’s cover. Poof, history once again.

“I am very proud of my tenure at the newspaper and feel that we played a valuable role in covering politics here in the state,” Strogoff said this week on the occasion of the paper’s changing namesake. “I have received dozens of letters from prominent politicians and elected officials from both political parties who have let me know how much the little Statesman played in their own political paths over the years. I take great pride in all of that.”

Speaking of history… The Colorado Press Association made it by adding an online-only board member

Susan Greene, editor of The Colorado Independent, became the first online-only board member of any state press association in the country when she joined Colorado’s, says Colorado Press Association director Jerry Raehal. Greene, who for the past few years has run the statewide nonprofit politics news site your are currently reading, was a longtime reporter and news columnist at The Denver Post, where she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The CPA recently published a Q-and-A with her about her mission as a digital news editor and her board position.

I found this a salient part of the interview:

This is hands-down the most hostile time any of us, including the dinosaurs among us, have witnessed in American journalism. Reporters are getting banged up – in some cases quite literally. Access to public information is at risk. In too many cities, nobody’s watching city hall. It’s in all of our interests, regardless of business model, to stick together. I mean that mainly in terms of keeping a watchful eye on and a robust lobby at the Statehouse. But I also mean that in terms of partnerships and collaborations. These arrangements are saving news outlets throughout the country. They’re the future, for all of us. If you want to offer readers serious journalism, there’s simply not enough money — be it in print or online, for-profit or non-profit — to go it alone any more.

Greene also talked about what it means to become the first online-only board member of a state press association—”I find that factoid pretty stunning given how indispensable online and nonprofit journalism have become in the national media landscape,” she said— and about the current anti-press atmosphere for journalists. Read the whole thing here.

Denver lawyer Vanessa Otero updated her viral news chart

In the spring, Denver patent attorney Vanessa Otero got some attention when she created a news quality chart that places news organizations on a map relative to whether they skew left or right and gives them a value based on quality. For example, The Atlantic, Slate and Vox skewed liberal but were “still reputable,” “complex” and “analytical,” while AddictingInfo was “liberal,” “utter garbage,” sensational or clickbait and exists to “confirm existing biases,” according to the chart. On the other side of the chart were conservative news sites according to their own rank, and in the middle was a cluster of news outlets that meet “high standards” with “minimal partisan bias” like The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others.

Otero asked for feedback and updated the chart some. And now she’s revised it again as she works on ways to further analyze media sources and present them in a way readers can understand.

From her updated analysis:

In the past, national evening news programs, local evening news programs, and the front pages of print newspapers were dominated by fact-reporting stories. Now, however, many sources people consider to be “news sources” are actually dominated by analysis and opinion pieces. This chart ranks media outlets that people consider to be, at some level “news sources,” even though many of them are comprised entirely of analysis and opinion pieces.

“I assert that one of the biggest problems with our current news media landscape is that there is too much analysis and opinion available in relation to factual reporting,” she writes. Check out the new chart here, and let her know what you think.

A libertarian wants libertarians hired at CO Public Radio

Colorado libertarian newsmaker Jon Caldara, who runs The Independence Institute and hosts the “Devil’s Advocate” public affairs show on PBS, has been making some noise about Colorado Public Radio. He penned a guest column in The Denver Post and produced a short video criticizing CPR for what he sees as a lack of ideological diversity in its newsroom. Bottom line: he wishes they would “hire a couple of reporters who favor limited government.”

Kelley Griffin, Colorado Public Radio’s vice president of news, fired back, writing her own column in the paper and defending the station. “Our hiring process prohibits us from asking about ideological preference,” she wrote. Plus, she added, it’s “simply immaterial to being a journalist at CPR.” Griffin explained the CPR ethics code, and she offered a take that might appeal to a libertarian perspective about the marketplace of ideas. “As a community resource held accountable to our mission by those we serve — the Colorado community itself — we invite the public to evaluate our content at cpr.org and judge for themselves,” she wrote.

The back and forth led Michael Roberts of Denver’s alt-weekly Westword to reach out to Caldara and CPR for more. But CPR declined to comment, Roberts wrote, “in the apparent hope that Caldara will shut up, go away, or move on to pester someone else.” Here’s Roberts on his attempt to engage CPR for his piece:

Instead of responding directly to an interview request from Westword, Griffin dispatched Lauren Cameron, CPR’s senior vice president for communications. Following exchanges with yours truly over a couple of days, Cameron sent an e-mail in which she wrote that “after chatting, we collectively feel that her original written response is all there is to say about the subject. We simply don’t feel there’s much more to add at this time.”

Find the full Westword piece here.

Ex-Colorado reporter: Pot industry is more stable than journalism

Put this in your press pass and smoke it: In an interview with Westword, outgoing veteran statehouse reporter Peter Marcus — a.k.a. MediaMarcus — dropped this dank little nugget: “The cannabis industry is more lucrative and has more stability than journalism these days.” Marcus, as you might recall, recently left the biz after 13 years for a job as a spokesman for a cannabis company. “I don’t think that’s a secret — like, ‘Whoa! Journalism is a struggling industry?'” he told Westword. “But that’s not what motivated me to do this. I don’t think you do journalism for as many years as I have and be motivated by money.” He says he wasn’t looking to bolt the news business, and that the job just fell into his lap.

Meanwhile, he gave an exit interview to Jason Salzman of the BigMedia blog, saying a career highlight was being first to report that a congressman was going to run for governor, and then being first to report the candidate was going to drop out. That kind of made me wince, given the journalist’s previous reporting on the Gold King Mine Spill and the EPA, and his money-in-politics reporting on a big school board race. But this might show the state of some political journalism these days: Being first to report something the whole world is about to know anyway because your sources wanted you to know it is seen by some as a high water mark of success.

Behind the scenes in a fight for a new digital open records law

Last week, reporter Nick Coltrain of The Fort Collins Coloradoan, Nicole Vap of 9News, Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition director Jeff Roberts and Democratic Sen. John Kefalas gathered at The Denver Press Club for a retrospective of the recently instituted law requiring governments to produce digital open records in useful file formats. Business reporter and Press Club president David Milstead moderated the panel as they discussed the practical implications for journalists, how the sausage was made, and what the next fight might be in a state that scored an ‘F’ grade for access to information in the latest State Integrity Investigation. The new law, which went into effect this month, updates the Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA, which is a state version of the Freedom of Information Act.

Some takeaways from last week’s Press Club event:

• The governor’s office pushed back against the bill, Kefalas said. “Certainly politically it would not behoove the governor to say they were against open records,” he said. “But I know that they were pretty sort of stepping back at least while the bill was going through the Senate. It was concluded that one reason for that is because they were quite convinced that the bill would die.” But, Kefalas said, when it became clear the bill would pass, the governor and his office got on board.
• The new law gets rid of criminal penalties for willfully violating the Open Records Act, something Roberts said he’s “sad to see go” even though a case has never actually been prosecuted in 49 years. Some records custodians wanted it scrapped as they negotiated the new law and #opengov advocates let it go without much of a fight.
• Vap urged local journalists to #CORAaurora because of the city’s stance on open records.
• “A lot of bureaucrats are just terrified,” when they get a CORA request, especially one that cites state law, Coltrain said. So he implored journalists to call those they send them to and politely explain why they want the information. “You can almost talk them down from the ledge,” he said.
• An open data law could be the next open records fight. Roberts has an update on his CFOIC blog about that here.

Denver Post pops #COgov candidates for their Medicaid rhetoric

In case you missed the Aug. 11 story in The Denver Post by John Ingold titled “Is Medicaid gobbling up Colorado’s budget?: An argument from the Colorado gubernatorial campaign,” you should read it. The piece is a good example of digging into political rhetoric and providing context for readers. In this case, it’s a claim made by some GOP candidates for governor that able-bodied adults allowed into the Medicaid program under an expansion of Obamacare is a state budget buster.

Ingold, who previously introduced readers to the faces of the one-in-five Coloradans on Medicaid, reported in his explainer-style piece that Medicaid spending in Colorado is on the rise, but it also brings in revenue from the federal government. And he looked at something candidates have mentioned: Not covering able-bodied adults. “[T]he use of federal funds and the hospital provider fee in Medicaid spending means that for every dollar cut, there isn’t a full dollar saved that can be used in other areas of the state budget,” he reported, adding how savings from Medicaid spending cuts for able-bodied adults “would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, not in the billions of dollars.” Tackling “bigger areas of general-fund Medicaid spending means focusing on other groups,” he reported. “People with disabilities and people in nursing homes, for instance, make up 10 percent of the state’s Medicaid enrollment — but account for 42 percent of state Medicaid spending.”

Later, the Post’s editorial board followed up, urging candidates for governor to stick to the facts and discontinue what the paper called “the Colorado Obamacare lie.” The items didn’t sit well with Colorado’s GOP Senate spokesman, though, who opined that such fact-checking stories (he called them “yes, but” stories) are really just “another way for opinionated journalists to have the last word.” To which Denver Post editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett replied on Twitter: “The argument that fact-check journalism is a liberal plot comes from moonbeams and pixie dust and is not grounded in reality.”

Speaking of candidates for governor…

Four top-tier Democratic candidates angling to become the next CEO of Colorado met for the first time at a forum in Breckenridge over the weekend. Among the 100 or so Democrats there to see the contenders, Jared Polis drew institutional support as a five-term congressman with high name recognition. Others like Cary Kennedy (”Mary?” one woman called her in an interview), Mike Johnston (“Mike Connelly” a different woman called him), and Noel Ginsburg (“forgive me if I don’t know all the last names,” said a man), had to introduce themselves to voters for the first time. The four hashed out their ideas on healthcare, housing, transportation, water, and more. You can read my dispatch on it for The Colorado Independent here.

*This roundup appears a little differently as a published version of a weekly e-mailed newsletter about Colorado local news and media. If you’d like to add your e-mail address for the unabridged versions, please subscribe HERE.

“For yoga instructor Jess Saffer and the other happy hippies of Manitou Springs, last year’s presidential election was an emotional body blow – intense, raw and visceral,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “It felt like heartbreak,” said Saffer, 28, of the moment she learned that Donald Trump had taken the lead. Nine months in, a siege mentality has taken hold in this quaint, funky tourist town nestled at the foot of Pikes Peak. That’s because Manitou, known for its ancient healing waters and carefree vibe, is a blue dot in a sea of red. Though surrounding Colorado Springs is one of the most conservative cities in the state, Manitou, affectionately known as “Hippie Mayberry,” is one of the most liberal.”

“Taking the lead from the town of Breckenridge, Summit County government is deliberating whether to develop new guidelines on short-term rental units for the unincorporated areas it oversees to get a better handle on just how many exist,” reports The Summit Daily News. “Breckenridge created its first ordinances requiring owners obtain a business license on investment properties as far back as a decade ago to collect sales and lodging taxes on their use as vacation rentals. The fees go toward the town’s marketing budget as it continues to attempt to stay competitive with other resort destinations.”

“A proposal for a convenience store and fueling station off the interstate in Palisade might not come to fruition if the company cannot display its signage high enough,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The planned development by Golden Gate Petroleum hinges on the company’s ability to adequately advertise the fueling station to Interstate 70 motorists, said Craig Munson, general manager of operations for California and Nevada. Palisade’s Planning Commission allowed the company a sign variance to locate a sign at 60 feet, deviating from the maximum sign height of 20 feet, according to the town’s code. A few dozen Palisade residents have filed an appeal, opposing the commissioners’ Aug. 7 ruling to allow the variance. Palisade trustees may hear the matter during a Sept. 12 public meeting, at the earliest.”

“Chickens bobbed and clucked as Annette and Patrick Archambeau walked past the coop, taking the Windsor couple’s appearance as a signal it was time to eat,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Cats looped themselves around the couple’s legs as the pair went to visit their nearly grown foals. The pigpen was usually rowdy too, but they’d just culled the pigs for the season. After running their own nonprofit for more than two decades, they hope to teach others about how to live more sustainably. ‘One of the things we teach people is to slow down,’ Patrick said. ‘When you think you’re going slow, take your shoes off and go barefoot.'”

“Plans to initiate a mix of large-scale residential and commercial growth on Erie’s Dearmin East property, roughly 260 acres of grassland that’s home to an aging racetrack, have come down the pike,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Development plans feature 765 dwelling units, 13.5 acres dedicated to a future school site and 35,000 square feet for commercial space east of County Road 5 and north of County Road 6, according to the project’s initial sketch plan — a generalized land use plan and layout for a given area proposed to be included within a subdivision.”

“Ignacio School District’s standardized test results show an overall decline in performance in language arts and mathematics compared with last year,” reports The Durango Herald. In general, students tested below-average on the PSATs, SATs and CMAS exams. Kathy Pokorney, director of curriculum and assessment, said the numbers are not as alarming when looking at the accomplishments of individual grades. ‘Last year’s performance was phenomenal for us, but we have a slight decline this year in our median growth percentiles,’ Pokorney said. ‘But more than 50 percent of our students in all areas are making typical growth or higher. When we break it into subgroups, we see more stability.'”

“The Boulder City Council has scheduled an extra meeting to accommodate discussions on the Hogan-Pancost parcel, the intergovernmental agreement governing future city annexations and possible changes to the way officials engage members of the public,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The extra meeting will take place Monday, with the council returning for its regularly scheduled session on Tuesday. Monday’s council proceedings will begin with a study session, scheduled to run from 6 to 9 p.m., with a single agenda topic: review and discussion of the recommendations made by the Public Participation Working Group, a citizen advisory committee.”

“There was a time when marijuana was illegal everywhere and testing for it was as easy as could be,” reports The Denver Post. “It didn’t matter the level of cannabinoids found in a person’s body. If it was there, they were breaking the law. It’s different now. The tests have changed from depositing a urine sample into a cup to drawing blood or offering oral fluids. Also different is the particular type of cannabinoid — the chemical compound that reacts in the brain — detected by any of those tests.”

“Benjamin Davis, the founder of a white supremacist prison gang suspected in the assassination of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, has been found dead behind bars, the state Department of Corrections said Sunday,” according to a story in The Cañon City Daily Record that originally appeared in The Denver Post. “His death is being investigated as a possible suicide. Clements was gunned down on the doorstep of his home in Monument, just north of Colorado Springs, on March 19, 2013. He was killed by parolee Evan Ebel, who also killed 27-year-old Commerce City father Nathan Leon.”

“A hunter in South Routt County shot himself in the wrist early Monday morning after tripping on a tent stake,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Emergency responders were called to help the Parker man in the Flat Tops at about 5:30 a.m. According to the Routt County Sheriff’s Office, the man woke up before the other people in his group, and he was preparing to go hunting. The man had seen a sign in the area warning of bears, so the man took a single-action .45 long Colt revolver with him to use the bathroom. When the man returned to his tent, he tripped over a stake and dropped the revolver while stumbling forward. The revolver went off when it hit the ground, shooting the man in the wrist.”

“A ball python that was discovered under the hood of a Longmont resident’s car and then went missing for several weeks has been found,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The snake — which shelter volunteers have named Nagini after the Harry Potter character — could be up for adoption by the weekend at the Colorado Reptile Humane Society. A Longmont animal control officer took the 5-foot-long, 2-pound python into her care on Saturday afternoon after residents spotted it in a yard in the 700 block of Eighth Avenue, just west of where it had been found Aug. 8.”

“He packed plenty of survival gear, apparently ready for a long trip,” reports The Summit Daily News. “But for whatever reason, investigators say, he shot himself in the head on the west side of Peak 6 in 2012. Hikers found his skull four years later in July 2016, setting off a baffling death investigation that has yielded far more questions than answers. Why was the man carrying advanced survival gear, including a high-tech headlamp and foot traction devices, if he intended to kill himself? Why was he carrying three full magazines of ammunition for the Glock .45 he used? Perhaps most puzzling of all, why was the serial number on the gun defaced, rendering it impossible to identify?”

“In the wake of a performance audit recommending several changes in the way the Board of Weld County Commissioners does business, that board voted Monday to place the fate of the county oversight board responsible for that audit on the November ballot,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The ballot question, as drawn up by Weld County attorneys, would remove all reference to the Weld County Council, and would shift the majority of the council’s duties to existing state law. It passed 4-1, with Commissioner Sean Conway voting “no.” Commissioners voted on two ballot questions separately, and there was unanimous support for a ballot question that would require county officials to adhere to a state law on ethics and conflicts of interest.”

“A youth detention guard and former U.S. Marine has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting girls who were incarcerated in Grand Junction and scaring them into keeping quiet,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “According to the arrest affidavit for Brian Matthew Tate, 30, the abuse happened several times to at least two youth offenders at the Grand Mesa Youth Services Center. The girls told investigators that Tate started by offering them hugs when they were upset or having bad days, something staff is not allowed to do at the facility. The incidents escalated to involve grabbing them, fondling and sex in areas of the campus that were blind spots to the surveillance system,” the paper reports.

“Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church joined the sanctuary congregation movement Sunday with the overwhelming support of its members,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “The progressive, non-doctrinal church doesn’t have any undocumented immigrants moving into its halls just yet, though Rev. Gretchen Haley said Monday they are talking with a handful of people seeking sanctuary. They plan to welcome a sanctuary-seeker next month, she said. In the meantime, the church is working to train volunteers and make sure they’re able to accommodate the person they take in.”

“On Tuesday night, the Boulder City Council will discuss whether it wants to draft a new policy limiting where in the city people deemed ‘sexually violent predators’ can live,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Ahead of the meeting, District Attorney Stan Garnett urged council members to resist such a policy. ‘When (a sexual predator) does get placed in the community, we want to know where they are, and if you pass ordinances that try to limit where people can live in the city, that may complicate the efforts of police and parole to keep track of them,’ Garnett said.”

“Marijuana was the main topic of discussion for Penrose’s first town hall meeting Monday after taking a break during the summer,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Penrose citizens were given an overview over some of Colorado’s new marijuana laws passed in this year’s legislative session.”

“Anyone who works in an office can relate to the situation. A co-worker brings a leftover piece of fish for lunch, pops it in the office kitchen microwave and unleashes a stink that offends for the rest of the afternoon,” reports The Aspen Times in an item that was pushed from the front page of Vail Daily by a story about rising rental rates. “And while the offense often provokes heated protests from fellow employees, it doesn’t usually become enshrined in official rules of office conduct. Unless, that is, you work in either the city of Aspen or Pitkin County’s community development departments, where for years preparing fish sticks has been specifically and officially prohibited. “The city shall provide office space, at no charge, to the county community development department on the third floor of City Hall in the current amount and general configuration on the condition that microwaving fish sticks is strictly prohibited,” according to the newest intergovernmental agreement between the two departments approved by Pitkin County commissioners last week.”

“Promoting cannabis as a safer alternative to alcohol was a tenet of the marijuana legalization movements in Colorado and other states,” reports The Denver Post. “Early data indicate that attitude continues when people get behind the wheel. A recent Colorado Department of Transportation survey found that 72 percent of Colorado cannabis consumers thought it was safer to drive under the influence of marijuana than under the influence of alcohol.”

“Burglars stole about 70 weapons from the Dragonman gun range and paintball park located east of Colorado Springs on Sunday night into early Monday morning,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Mel Bernstein, owner of the business at 1200 Dragonman Drive, said the four thieves used a Dodge Power Wagon truck to smash through the front gate and garage door. The burglary is being investigated by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Lisa Meiman, ATF spokeswoman, said Monday afternoon that ‘most of the firearms’ had been recovered.”

“Xcel Energy would cut about 90 jobs in Pueblo under its proposal to retire early about half of the Comanche coal-fired power plant and replace the power by developing new natural gas, wind and solar plants,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The Comanche plant’s 7-year-old Unit 3 would keep operating but Unit 1 and Unit 2, refurbished within the past decade, would close by the mid-2020s, or at least a decade before their next scheduled refurbishment or ‘book life’ dates in 2032 and 2035, the utility said Tuesday in announcing the proposal.”

“Some conservation groups fear proposed oil and gas leasing north of Mack could eclipse, as it were, the possibility for solar energy development in an area the Bureau of Land Management has identified as having good potential for the latter,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The Wilderness Society, Conservation Colorado and Western Colorado Congress say oil and gas leasing there would preclude the ability of the area to be used for producing clean, renewable energy — a point disputed by the BLM and David Ludlam, executive director of the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association.”

“The Larimer County District Attorney’s Office has declined a request for more information about the case of a Greeley municipal judge accused of official misconduct,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Brandilynn Nieto, Greeley’s municipal judge, on Aug. 9 was removed from the bench and put on paid administrative leave after the Weld County Sheriff’s Office produced a misdemeanor summons against her for official misconduct. Almost no information was made public about the case. On Aug. 10, Cpl. Matt Turner of the Weld County Sheriff’s Office told The Tribune Nieto ‘used her position to have some of her employees go online and make comments that would benefit a local company.’ Turner did not name the company nor did he offer more information.”

“Longmont’s city staff on Tuesday night unveiled a $316.32 million package of spending proposals for city government in 2018,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Under the staff’s proposals, Longmont would start with an operating budget that represents an 11.9 percent increase from the $282.69 million budget the City Council originally adopted last October for the current 2017 calendar year. Next year’s budget would include some fee increases, including a 9 percent average hike in water users’ rates that the council had previously approved for 2018. The council also is expected, before adopting a final budget, to increase sewer fees percent by an average of 3 percent.”

“A local carpenter who has felt the impacts of this city’s affordable housing woes is running for a seat on the Steamboat Springs City Council,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Peter Arnold filed for the at-large seat before Monday’s application deadline. He will face incumbent Scott Ford in the only contested council race in the November election. ‘I’m just trying to be more involved and bring a different perspective to the council,’ Arnold said. ‘There’s a lot of discussion about certain issues (on council), but I don’t see a lot of action.'”

“A man was arrested in connection with a Timnath explosion that critically burned three people and triggered a major emergency response in June,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Two men and a 12-year-old child were injured in the June 13 explosion. Michael Williams, 35, reportedly began excavating an underground bunker several months before the explosion — a bunker that authorities say lacked proper ventilation or reinforcements to ward against collapse, new court documents show.”

“The public colleges and universities in Northern Colorado account for nearly one-tenth of the economic output in Larimer and Weld counties, local public officials learned on Tuesday,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “A new report on the economic value of the public institutions of higher education outlines the impact the schools have not only as employment centers of their own, but also as the creator of an army of graduates who start their own business or create innovations. The four leaders of Colorado State University, University of Northern Colorado, Front Range Community College and Aims Community College talked about the missions of the schools as well as how they offer taxpayers — and tuition payers — a strong return on their investments.”

“Nine-year-old Robbie Bond is on a mission to protect the country’s national monuments and parks, and in the process, he’s well on his way to visiting all 27 sites by the end of the year,” reports The Durango Herald. “On Tuesday, he checked Canyons of the Ancients in Southwest Colorado off that list. “They don’t teach national parks and monuments in schools, and I’d like to change that,” Robbie said on a visit to The Durango Herald offices Monday. ‘I hope to educate kids because I think it’s a really important subject.'”

“A horse was forced to be euthanized after it was hit by a motor vehicle Monday night, officials said,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Florence Police Chief Mike DeLaurentis said in an email Tuesday night that officers from the Florence Police Department responded to a vehicle versus horse on Colo. 115 and county road 117 in Florence at about 6:39 p.m. Monday.”

“A public hearing Tuesday night on the monitoring, and lack thereof, of ‘sexually violent predators’ in Boulder left many in the City Council chambers feeling more concerned than they were previously,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “No decisions were made at the meeting, but the council expressed a clear desire to take any of a number of possible actions to reassure citizens fearful of the fact that there are four sexually violent predators — all of whom assaulted either children or strangers — currently living in Boulder, and largely without supervision.”

“After scientists concluded the microscopic squiggles in samples of Green Mountain Reservoir water were dangerous mussel larvae, Colorado bumped up its war against a worst-case scenario that threatens fisheries, power generation, water quality, water distribution, access and recreation across the state,” reports The Denver Post. “If those little bugs become mussels, reservoirs and lakes will close to boats. Colorado’s water-based recreation economies will suffer. Water prices will skyrocket. Countless users downstream from Colorado — and the entire West is downstream — will be impacted.”

“If El Paso County does not get voters’ permission in November to adjust a state-mandated revenue cap, the resulting budget cuts could have ‘devastating’ effects, the county’s chief financial officer warned at a Tuesday hearing,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Members of the public expressed support at the meeting for a proposed ballot measure that would ask voters to allow the county to retain about $14.5 million in excess revenues to pay for disaster recovery repairs, park projects and infrastructure improvements, including the widening of Interstate 25 between Monument and Castle Rock. But the proposed question includes a more esoteric provision that officials say could hold equal importance for county residents’ quality of life.”

“The Hickenlooper-Kasich coalition is expected to present their ideas Thursday, and the duo promised substantive policy initiatives that can win support from Democrats and Republicans,” reports The Denver Post. “It’s a difficult task, given the inability of the Republican-led Congress to advance a plan earlier this year to repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, sometimes called Obamacare.”

“The last time a hurricane hit Colorado was — well, never. So it might come as a surprise to some that a CSU team produces the longest-running seasonal Atlantic hurricane forecast, which is in its 34th year,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “We called the team’s lead forecaster and research scientist, Phil Klotzbach, on Tuesday to talk about current Tropical Storm Harvey and how Colorado State University came to be home to the now-renowned CSU Tropical Meteorology Project.”

“More than 50 years after its last major investment in water infrastructure, Greeley is again planning for the future with multi-million dollar projects aimed at satisfying its residents’ thirst for decades to come,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Twenty-five miles of pipeline, 60 inches in diameter, will soon be capable of carrying all the water Greeley needs — for now. The new pipeline, the first installed in more than 50 years, runs from Greeley’s Bellvue Water Treatment Plant in the Poudre Canyon to Colo. 257, just 4 miles from Greeley’s Gold Hill treated water reservoir. That’s the big hill south of U.S. 34 with the water tower on top.”

“A former sheriff’s deputy arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting children allegedly victimized multiple boys over several years and used a mentoring program to gain access to some victims,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The investigation began in July when the Colorado Bureau of Investigation learned that a report of sexual abuse had been made by a boy on probation in South Dakota. The alleged victim told his probation officer that he had been “raped by a cop” in 2014, according to the affidavit.”

“City Councilwoman Joan Peck has suggested that Longmont look into the possibility of creating a ‘prairie dog village’ somewhere on vacant city-owned open space,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Peck, who brought the idea up during Tuesday night’s council meeting, said on Wednesday that such a site could benefit both the city — whenever it faces having to relocate or exterminate unwanted prairie dog colonies from its own municipal properties — and private property owners, whenever the city requires them to try to relocate prairie dogs as part of Longmont’s consideration of those owners’ development applications.”

“Xcel Energy’s announcement that it plans to shut down coal-fired Units 1 and 2 at the Comanche Generating Station and switch to more solar, wind and gas-fired energy set off a chain of reactions, with Republican state senators claiming Xcel was putting profits over customers, and environmental groups endorsing the decision,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Xcel executives told reporters Tuesday they intended to shut down the two older coal-fired units by the mid- 2020s, leaving Unit 3 to continue to serve customers, such as EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel. State Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, charged that renewable energy — like solar and wind — already get tax credits and other government preferences. He said Republicans believe the coal-fired power coming from Comanche is the ‘most affordable and dependable’ in the state.”

“John Centner doesn’t know if he could have escaped the Houston area and made it back to his home in Steamboat Springs immediately after Tropical Storm Harvey hit,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “But he didn’t try to leave. ‘These people needed our help,’ Centner said Wednesday from the Houston area, as he continued to run supplies and clothing to those affected by catastrophic floods. ‘It’s as simple as that.’ As he spoke about what it’s been like to help out in Kingwood in recent days, Centner watched a Blackhawk helicopter hover nearby performing a rescue mission. The rain had finally stopped in southeast Texas, but there was much work to be done. ‘We’ll be down here for as long as it takes,’ Centner said.”

“Annual attrition in public education is common across the nation, and the Summit School District is neither immune nor avoiding seeing similar trends coming down the pike,” reports The Summit Daily News. “To take on the growing challenge — what some have called a statewide crisis — two Durango state lawmakers, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, a Democrat, and Sen. Don Coram, a Republican, sponsored a bill in their respective congressional houses this past legislative session. House Bill 17-1003 was created to develop a strategic plan by the end of the year to address the mounting problem, and primarily along party lines the bill passed each house before Gov. John Hickenlooper signed it into law in May.”

“The Thompson School District jumped nearly 3 percentage points overall in performance frameworks with 14 schools improving by double digits, including the four lowest ranked schools in 2016,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “We’re moving,” said Margaret Crespo, the district’s chief academic officer. “It’s all about moving forward. We’re so proud of our schools. We can’t do it without the teachers and parents.” The Colorado Department of Education released its initial School Performance Frameworks rankings for 2017 on Wednesday with the final designations to be set in December. The rankings from highest to lowest are accredited, performance plan, improvement, priority improvement and turnaround status.”

“A former Fremont County Sheriff’s Office detective is discussing a plea deal with the District Attorney’s Office,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Robert Dodd, who has retired from the FCSO, faces two counts of second-degree official misconduct and abuse of public records. Charges were filed May 4 by District Attorney Molly Chilson. According to the complaint, between Dec. 25, 2016, and Dec. 30, 2016, Dodd knowingly altered a public record even though he had not been authorized as a custodian of the record. The details of what Dodd altered were not disclosed.”

“The Public Utilities Commission deliberated Wednesday in Boulder’s electric utility case, and stopped just shy of outright denying the city’s application to acquire Xcel Energy assets in the interest of operating a separate, city-run electric utility,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “In a four-hour proceeding that followed a nine-day trial earlier this summer, the three-member commission instead decided to give a conditional and only partial approval to Boulder’s list of proposed assets to be transferred.”

“Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner on Thursday told the Rocky Mountain Post that cybersecurity is a largely underreported topic in the state despite its potential to make Colorado a national and even international leader in one of the fastest growing tech sectors,” reports ColoradoPolitics.com. “’The issue of cybersecurity doesn’t always receive the attention it deserves, but is one that is critical to our national security and economic well-being,’ Gardner said via spokesman Casey Contres. ‘Every day, rogue actors are trying to launch cyber-attacks against our government and private businesses. Colorado has the workforce to continue to be a leader in this industry, and I’ll keep working to encourage these important jobs to be located in our state.'”

“In the months since Donald Trump was elected president, the Meyer Law Office has injected itself publicly and forcefully into the debate over immigration enforcement and how far local government should go to protect those who don’t have authorization to be here,” reports Denverite. “And, increasingly, the voice of the law office has been not just attorney Hans Meyer but his policy director, Julie Gonzales. Now Gonzales, who has more than a decade of experience in community organizing and advocacy, has thrown her hat in the ring to represent west Denver in the Colorado Senate, a seat currently held by Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman, who is term-limited.”

“The cliche image of a mail carrier tentatively approaching a house and opening the gate, only to be instantly charged and bitten by a vicious dog may seem like a scene from a comedy movie or old cartoon, but for U.S. postal carriers in Pueblo who go door-to-door delivering the mail, it’s an everyday possibility that poses an anything-but-comedic danger,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The problem is especially prevalent on the South Side, as eight mail carriers from the U.S. Post Office-Sunset Station have been attacked so far this year, one of which was so severe the carrier required nearly a month of extensive medical treatment. “The number of dog bites over the years are increasing,” said Pueblo Postmaster Minette Williams. “We need to make sure that we can let the public know, so we can have the neighborhood’s help. Dog attacks on postal workers at the Sunset Station have risen 62 percent over the past year and, on average, one out of every nine carriers at Pueblo-Sunset has experienced a serious dog attack incident so far in 2017. The ratio of carriers to dog attacks at Sunset is twice that of any other office in the two-state district of Colorado and Wyoming, according to numbers provided by the U.S. Postal Service. The district has seen a total of 114 dog attacks this year.”

“As rumors of a shutdown for a program intended to protect young immigrants from deportation swirl around Washington, the University of Colorado is calling for all hands on deck to defend its immigrant students,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “President Donald Trump ran on a promise to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides legal presence for young, unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. “Literally, the last 72 hours have been everybody on edge,” said Violeta Chapin, clinical law professor at CU’s law school. “Students are very concerned.”

“An enormous, black armored truck set on waist-high wheels towers over a host of other vehicles in the back parking lot at the Greeley Police Department,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Most of the time, it remains parked at the station, but sometimes — such as during SWAT standoffs — officers take the mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle to the city’s streets. The Greeley Police Department acquired the vehicle — and a host of other equipment — through the federal government’s 1033 program. The program allows local law enforcement agencies to receive equipment the military is no longer using. On Monday, President Donald Trump lifted restrictions placed on the program in 2015, meaning local law enforcement will have more access to surplus military gear.”

“Jurors on Thursday convicted Rafael ‘Shorty’ Garcia of first-degree murder in the 1989 shooting death of a Palisade man, siding with prosecutors who argued Garcia was out for vengeance on his ex-wife’s new boyfriend when he first stabbed, then shot the victim,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Mesa County District Judge Lance Timbreza will sentence the now 67-year-old Garcia to life in prison without parole on Sept. 8, the only option he has under the law, for the slaying of 38-year-old Charles Porter. Assistant District Attorney Rich Tuttle asked that sentencing be delayed until then to allow all of Porter’s children the opportunity to attend the hearing.”

“City Manager Harold Dominguez has authorized the extermination of a small number of prairie dogs that had moved onto part of a former city landfill east of Longmont, according to city spokesman Rigo Leal,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “There appear to be fewer than eight prairie dogs on the site, Dominguez said in a memo provided by Leal on Thursday. Information from city officials was not immediately available about when the extermination will take place, although Dominguez wrote that ‘we can guarantee that the city’s process will be done in a humane way, utilizing carbon monoxide.’ State regulations require Longmont to keep the onetime landfill’s cap intact, with no surface penetrations, which could be caused by burrowing prairie dogs.”

“The signs on the prairie are subtle. Native plants are a little too straight, a little too short, a little too meticulously spaced apart,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “All told, the scene is far cry from the piles and stacks of old car tires that previously stood in their place. ‘Everything is coming in the way it should,’ Roberts Ranch manager Zach Thode said on a recent walk-through with members of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That particular site, on the rolling prairies of northern Larimer County, had just a year earlier been a staging area for removal of thousands of tires. The scenic ranch had turned into an illicit dump site after owners took in the tires as a hopeful bulwark against erosion.”

“While a third of American adults and one in six children are obese, a report Thursday suggests the rate of increase could be stabilizing in some states,” reports The Durango Herald. “Colorado had the lowest obesity rate at 22.3 percent, but it was one of four states where obesity rates increased. The rate rose 2.1 percent, up from 20.2 percent in 2015, according to a report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.”

“A former Cañon City High School ROTC teacher will serve more than five years in prison followed by a possible lifetime of probation,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Robert Davidson, 45, was sentenced Thursday for having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student. He was charged and convicted of one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and one count of sexual exploitation of a child. ‘This is a parent’s worse nightmare,’ the victim’s stepfather said in a statement during the hearing.”

“Thousands of young Colorado immigrants are anxiously watching the White House to see whether President Donald Trump will undo an Obama-era program that shields them from deportation and allows them to legally work,” reports The Denver Post. “Trump hasn’t made clear what he plans to do with the 2012 initiative, officially known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which grants new rights to immigrants brought as children illegally to the U.S.”

“Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper established himself as a national policymaker Thursday by unveiling a bipartisan healthcare plan he co-authored with Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs.

A media angle on the Hickenlooper-Kasich 2020 pundit pipe dream 

Governors John Hickenlooper™ and John Kasich, aka The Johns, got enough ink last week to fill a bipartisan Buckeye brew pub barrel about a potential 2020 centrist swing state super ticket. (Say that 10 times fast.) The news is catnip in the Trump era and it bubbled up here and nationally for a day or so before both Johns flushed it. “Not a unity ticket, just working with a new friend on hard compromises,” Hick tweeted. “The answer is no, OK?” Kasich said on national TV. But the two did unveil a bipartisan plan to fix the nation’s healthcare system. Amid all the news about this bipartisan bromance was this, published by the insider Beltway news source Axios:

The two are talking to major media companies about a possible podcast or cable show to continue cementing their brand. Their conversations would include politics, policy, and pop culture.

Does a Colorado candidate for governor have a House of Cards problem?

Maybe not at this point, but it’s a ripe inroad to raise this larger question:

With whole fake news thing, wonder if real TV hosts will keep doing shows like House of Cards. There's an Underwood in Colorado gov's race pic.twitter.com/j7jEUsqxFo

— Corey Hutchins (@CoreyHutchins) August 25, 2017

The photo is from a scene in one of the later episodes of this season’s Netflix show “House of Cards,” featuring MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow acting like she’s doing a real segment about the fictitious president Frank Underwood. Guess what: There’s actually a real Underwood (first name Erik) running in this year’s Colorado governor’s race. He ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican last year, but he’s now running as a Dem.

Could an image like the one above cause problems for his candidacy if shared widely on social media? Probably not. But take it to a higher level. What if the text on the screen said something really awful? And got passed around on social media by political opponents who could say the image wasn’t even altered. Savvy people might not be fooled, but “fake news” isn’t for the super savvy, and while this is a pretty low-level example of what could happen, it’s a reason to point out why some news consumers believe “real journalists sell their credibility” when they “appear as themselves in TV shows and movies.”

What you missed on the Sunday front pages across Colorado

The Longmont Times-Call reported how an energy company is on a collision course with Boulder County. The Greeley Tribune localized a national story about school lunch shaming. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel broke news of a state senator potentially using his elected office as a threat in a business dispute. The Pueblo Chieftain covered the State Fair. The Steamboat Pilot profiled a high school cross country team. The Loveland Reporter-Herald reported how use of local warrants is growing. The Denver Post had an exclusive data analysis linking traffic deaths to marijuana. The Boulder Daily Camera looked at the small Nederland town marshal’s office struggling to keep staff. The Gazette reported how the El Paso County jail is bursting at the seams. The Durango Herald covered the latest in the FCC saga to get Denver TV stations to parts of Colorado.

Consultant to the government: Don’t buy that newspaper building

This spring was full of talk that city offices could move into old newspaper buildings. Like in Denver where a will-be vacated Denver Post newsroom could be home to downtown bureaucrats. They could rent space from the leased Post when the paper’s staffers bolt for Adams County to save the Post some scratch. Meanwhile, the Steamboat Springs newspaper, Steamboat Pilot & Today, reported in the spring that the paper’s former owner, Worldwest LLC, was thinking of selling the 23,222-square-foot newspaper building and 1.5 acres for $5.5 million. At the time, the local city council was intrigued about the possibility of gobbling it up. But now a few months later a consultant is waving the Steamboat City Council off the deal.

From the paper:

“Several department heads interviewed expressed a desire to stay downtown as a convenience to residents of Steamboat Springs; moving some departments but not all would further fracture city staff and create difficulties with collaboration between currently adjacent departments and staff members,” the consultants wrote. “After speaking with city staff department heads and learning about relationships between departments and their interface with the public, Anderson Hallas (the consultant) does not recommend mobilizing employees to the Pilot Building.”

A local newspaper just can’t help fracturing city government can it?

Are news outlets in the Springs getting troll rolled? 

This week, writing for the alt-weekly in Colorado’s second-largest city, Nat Stein reported how anti-fascists in the Springs believe they’re being framed by rivals. If that account is correct, then it’s a good reason for other local reporters in the city to be concerned about overly credulous reporting. In her story, Stein laid out a case that “a mounting propaganda campaign to villainize left-wing social movements has touched down in Colorado Springs.” The reporter quotes a “spokesperson” for a local anti-fascist group who “requested a pseudonym for security purposes.” The anti-fascists say they’re being set up by others who are vandalizing property and costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in ramped-up security. The unnamed spokesperson for Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists told the paper the group does tag with graffiti— and indicated they would vandalize private property— but says the group did not tag a community park with the anarchy sign, hammer and sickle, and the words “left solida” and “Antifa.” The group thinks it’s a propaganda effort to sow negative sentiment about left-wing social movements.

Later in the story, Stein notes how multiple local TV stations in Colorado Springs recently ran with broadcasts about a flyer posted at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs allegedly written by a Terry Steinawitz. (No student or faculty member with the name exists, but unscramble the letters and see what you come up with). The alleged author posted a flyer called the “Social Justice Collective Weekly” around campus that carried over-the-top commentary suggesting four-year universities like UCCS ban veterans for reasons that are so off-the-wall you have to wonder if the flyer isn’t fake. For instance, part of it reads about veterans: “Their socialization into the military culture is that of a white supremacist organization,” and “all veterans have far right-wing ideologies.”

A UCCS spokesman told the alt-weekly, “There’s a chance it’s satire meant to slander several groups.” But that didn’t make the coverage on TV and in the local daily. Instead initial reporting on the flyer took it at face value. One station went straight to getting reactions from veterans, and another said “being that Colorado Springs is such a large military community, this article and publication have been met with a lot [of] backlash.” A third station, said “several viewers asked 11 News to look into the origin of the newsletter,” but the station didn’t get far in doing so. Nor did it raise the question about whether the flyer might not be legit and could be an attempt to stir the pot.

How a small Colorado newspaper is dealing with city stonewalling

When  Walt Vanatta, the chief of police of nearly two decades was forced out in Craig, Colorado, a town of fewer than 10,000 about four hours northwest of Denver, the local Craig Daily Press naturally wanted to know why. The paper “made multiple attempts to learn the reason” through “several rounds of interviews” with Craig City Manager Mike Foreman, the mayor and members of the city council, “as well as through questions posed to council during the public comment period” at a meeting. But no luck. The paper got stonewalled.

So what did it do? The newspaper produced a textbook example for how to let readers know about the barriers a reporter is encountering from elected leaders in the news-gathering process and explaining how a reporter is trying to break through them.

From The Craig Daily Press reporter Lauren Blair:

Under the Colorado Open Records Act, public bodies are required to provide, upon request, all “writings” made in the process of carrying out official duties. On Tuesday, Craig Press requested copies of all emails and text messages exchanged between Foreman and council members — and also between individual council members — regarding Vanatta’s departure. The request applies to both personal and official accounts and covers the period between June 1 and Aug. 15. In so doing, the newspaper hopes to better answer the following questions.

The paper then runs down a series of specific Qs to try and uncover what happened. The paper also explains what the Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA, entails, what its limits are, and how it might be useful to obtaining information in this particular case. “A CORA request is not a subpoena, nor does it allege wrongdoing,” Blair wrote. “It is an avenue by which any citizen can ensure government is operating transparently, a value hailed by several council members at meetings earlier this month.” Boom.

Reporting like this can engage readers in the process so they feel they have a stake in the outcome. And it’s also suspenseful! I mean, don’t you now want to pay attention to what happens next? I’ll keep an eye out for you.

*This roundup appears a little differently as a published version of a weekly e-mailed newsletter about Colorado local news and media. If you’d like to add your e-mail address for the unabridged versions, please subscribe HERE.

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker for Creative Commons on Flickr.

“In Colorado, the difference between who can use water and who can’t is as simple as seniority,” reports Vail Daily. “Colorado’s water law is a complex set of rules and regulations, but Rule No. 1 is simple: First in time, first in line. Water rights on the state’s streams and reservoirs have been adjudicated and allocated since about the turn of the 20th century. People who have those oldest water rights have first claim on water. That’s crucial in dry years.”

“Nayda Benitez never decided to leave the high mountain Mexican town she called home at age 7,” reports The Denver Post. “But once in Colorado Springs, she resolved to graduate from high school near the top of her class, get a scholarship and go to college. Now a new White House plan may undo her work. President Donald Trump is expected to announce Tuesday that he will end protections for immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children. But Trump would delay that action for six months, people familiar with the plans told The Associated Press.”

“A sudden gust of wind and a disturbance in the hot, dry weather are suspected of causing four power poles to break and resulted in a power outage for thousands of homes in Grand Junction on Monday night,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The power poles, located on Bureau of Land Management property in the desert north of I Road on 25 Road, looked like toothpicks snapped off at their bases.”

“Longmont Humane Society volunteers opened the doors to a van that had made its way from Longmont to Austin, Texas, and back, and were greeted Monday evening by the cacophony of 22 different barks,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The Longmont Humane Society agreed to take 45 dogs from a shelter in Austin so that the Austin shelter could make way, if need be, for dogs displaced from their homes by Hurricane Harvey. As the first of three vans arrived in Longmont, volunteers huddled to figure out the order of operations for how to screen the first 22 dogs — some in need of vaccinations and others with matted fur or other issues. The dogs will be available for adoption in about a week or two, once staff has given them medical checkups and behavioral evaluations.”

“A suspect apprehended by Loveland Police Department’s SWAT team possessed a semi-automatic rifle, officers found after a lengthy standoff around a home near downtown Loveland on Saturday,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Larimer County Jail records show 30-year-old Loveland resident Gabriel Lee Rodriguez was arrested in the 1300 block of North Washington Avenue on suspicion of prohibited use of weapons, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, possession of prohibited large capacity magazines, violation of bail bond conditions, resisting arrest, refusal to leave a premises upon request and a warrant out of Boulder County alleging failure to appear in court on drug paraphernalia charges.”

“Routt County Sheriff’s Office deputies were going door-to-door Monday afternoon to let about 30 households in West Routt County know they should be prepared to flee a rapidly growing wildfire,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The Deep Creek Fire, initially referred to at the Steer Park Fire, grew from 2 acres to 419 acres in only a few hours Monday near the Wolf Mountain Ranch between Milner and Hayden. The blaze — which officials said might have resulted from a reignition of a wildfire started last week by a suspected lightning strike — was discovered about noon. Deputies gave pre-evacuation notices to residents who were within a 5-mile radius of the fire along Routt County Road 52.”

“Limited habitat and deadly plague infecting endangered black-footed ferrets and their prey have hobbled recovery in the wild despite a 25-year federal captive-breeding rescue run from Colorado,” reports The Denver Post. “The apparent survival rates of ferrets set loose on prairie have dipped below 50 percent in some areas, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data. Federal biologists say that after re-introducing 4,700 ferrets since 1991 at 28 sites nationwide, the primary problem of plague has limited the surviving population to between 400 and 500 animals.”

“An ex-advertising agent, a marine biologist and a mechanical engineer walk on screen,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The mix might sound odd. But this combination of minds, plus the lens of an Emmy-winning documentarian, proves effective — it’s a connection of perspectives with the capacity to change the way climate change is presented to the public. The three characters appear in “Chasing Coral,” a documentary that explores the mass death of coral reef systems across the globe, from Hawaii, to the Caribbean, to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Jeff Orlowski is the filmmaker behind the movie, and he is one of six people to be recognized on Sept. 9 at the Dairy Center Honors, a celebration of outstanding figures in Boulder-area arts.”

“Authorities found the bodies of two Custer County brothers in a pond Monday afternoon after they drowned in low-visibility waters, according to a news release,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Weldon Rusher, 20, and his older brother, Benjamin Rusher, 28, were swimming in 41-degree water Sunday night and died after struggling to stay above the heavy weeds that surrounded them. Their bodies were found in a family pond at Music Meadows Ranch at the base of Music Pass in rural Custer County, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office news release said. Before the brothers drowned, a group of adults gathered for a fire and began swimming in the pond when Weldon Rusher swam out ahead of everyone else.”

“With the fate of nearly 800,000 young immigrants, including 17,000 in Colorado, put neatly in the hands of Congress by President Donald Trump, local officials, regardless of their support for Trump’s decision, are calling for a legislative solution,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Trump on Tuesday announced he will phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows some level of leeway against deportation for children who were brought to the United States and haven’t obtained citizenship. The program was launched a little more than five years ago, and has served as a springboard for young immigrants to earn college degrees and pursue careers instead of being deported. They were called “dreamers,” named for the DREAM Act introduced in but never passed by Congress.”

“She’s 28 and her parents brought her from Mexico to California when she was 2 years old. She’s lived nearly all her life in the United States — except for one very bad year as a teenager in Mexico,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “She speaks English. Like other Puebloans who are legally enrolled in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that President Barack Obama established, this young woman is not in danger of deportation. Not yet. But unlike several years ago when she enrolled in DACA, she didn’t want her name used Tuesday when talking to a reporter. ‘That alone is a big difference in what’s happening,’ said Joe Mahoney, director of Pueblo Catholic Charities. ‘When DACA was created, people were happy to give their names in talking to the media. Now they’re scared again.'”

“In the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision Tuesday to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Mesa County’s top education officials reacted with a simple message — this doesn’t change anything. Colorado Mesa University President Tim Foster released a statement Tuesday that focused on schools and campuses as places of diversity, inclusion and safety,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “DACA, which was enacted in 2012 by former President Barack Obama, offers legal protection to nearly 800,000 people who are undocumented immigrants and who came to the United States as children. Trump’s order, which cited the need for legislative immigration reform, will end the program on March 5. Foster said Colorado Mesa will continue to welcome undocumented students on campus and admit students regardless of immigration status.”

“Diana Bustos-Garcia took the microphone at a rally in front of Longmont Civic Center on Tuesday evening to tell about 100 people that she graduated from Skyline High School and attends classes at Front Range Community College,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “I’m also undocumented and unafraid,” she said before becoming overwhelmed with emotion. “Si, se puede,” a man yelled out. “Si, se puede.” Two men joined Bustos-Garcia behind the podium and she continued to speak, telling the crowd that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has helped her in many ways. Her story was one of many told at the rally, held just hours after the announcement that President Donald Trump has decided to end the program. “I want to thank DACA for giving me the opportunity … to go to school, to go to work, to help my family pay rent,” Bustos-Garcia said.”

“Colorado’s senators issued a joint push-back to President Donald Trump’s decision to roll back protections for young undocumented immigrants on Tuesday,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner, a Democrat and Republican, announced Tuesday afternoon they would co-sponsor a new DREAM Act to protect people who immigrated to the United States before they were 18 years old. The announcement came hours after Trump announced his plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, giving Congress six months to enact legislation.”

“Just hours after the announcement of President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Boulder High student and DACA recipient Jose De Santiago shared his dreams of becoming a nurse,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “De Santiago, 16, was one of dozens of Boulder High students who walked out of school Tuesday morning after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced DACA would “wind down,” calling the Obama-era program “an unconstitutional exercise of authority.” De Santiago said the program, which has given legal presence to 800,000 young, unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, provided him and his mom with reassurance and opportunities.”

“Chanting ‘undocumented and unafraid,’ hundreds of undocumented immigrants, attorneys and their supporters rallied Tuesday evening in downtown Colorado Springs against President Donald Trump’s decision to end protections for so-called ‘Dreamers.'” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “He has turned his back on all undocumented youths and leaders,” said Luis Antezana, 25, himself a Dreamer from Bolivia who teaches at Harrison High School. “We will not stand for it. We will fight back and we will unite.” The march through downtown Colorado Springs came hours after the Trump administration announced plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in six months.”

“Brent Romick felt a lot better when the cavalry arrived to help him save the ranch,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “It’s been a pleasure watching these guys work,” the Wolf Mountain Ranch manager said Tuesday afternoon amidst the sounds of helicopters, low-flying planes, bulldozers and fire trucks that were fighting the Deep Creek Fire burning around the ranch. “Yesterday it was very scary. We feel a lot better today. The game changed when that air tanker arrived. And we’ve got all the ants on the hill now.” Fueled by strong winds, the blaze had consumed more than 2,000 acres of land on Wolf Mountain by Tuesday morning and spooked nearby residents who spent Monday night watching it advance down a hillside.”

“A Larimer County resident has died of West Nile virus, but county officials have not released any further details about the victim or the area of the county in which the disease might have been contracted,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “An announcement released Tuesday indicated that a Fort Collins resident died as a result of the neuroinvasive form of West Nile virus, in which the body’s nervous system is attacked. Because of privacy concerns, no other details — including the date of death — were released by officials from the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. However, the death is the first in Colorado attributed to the disease.”

“If visibility is less than five miles, then your air is unhealthy, say state health officials. That’s us,” reports Vail Daily. “The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality health advisory Tuesday afternoon for 10 Western Colorado counties. It will remain in effect until at least 9 a.m. Wednesday. The air quality in the Central Rockies is “moderate,” the agency said. It could be worse. You could be on the Front Range between Denver and Fort Collins, where the air is “unhealthy,” says the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.”

“It’s a little-known fact, but once upon a time, Durango offered year-round skiing,” reports The Durango Herald. “However, knowing what we know now, even the most extreme adrenaline junkies probably wouldn’t be up to hit these particular slopes. The supposed year-round attraction was on a hill just south of town, covered with uranium tailings, which, oddly, has fallout dust similar in texture to snow, said local historian Duane Smith. “That tailings pile was pretty hot (radioactive),” Smith said. “It was like dust. When the wind came up, it blew all over town. And it hurt tourism. Who wants to come to Durango when you could end up with a radioactive sickness?”

“Merchants along Main Street in Florence now will be required to have any outside sign, decoration or any other items placed against their building to not to obstruct the walking path,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “In a split vote, with Mayor Keith Ore being the deciding vote, the council amended Ordinance 09-05-2017A regarding obstructing sidewalks on encroachments on sidewalks within the city. The ordinance only applies to businesses located in downtown Florence. Councilmen Paul Villagrana, Mike Vendetti and Allen Knisley voted in favor for the amendment, while Councilwoman Pat Smith, Councilman Richard Upton and Larry Baker voted against the amendment.”

“Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper pledged to remain neutral in the Democratic race to replace him, but one candidate appears to be his favorite to win,” reports The Denver Post. “Donna Lynne, the state’s lieutenant governor, will launch her campaign Thursday with the governor’s blessing and, thanks to him, the advantages of an incumbent in the crowded 2018 contest. The two are appearing shoulder-to-shoulder at more events across the state, and Hickenlooper is lending Lynne his pulpit to make high-profile appearances that will boost her campaign — such as a keynote speaker at the recent energy summit in Denver and as the officiant of the coin toss for last week’s Rocky Mountain Showdown football game, which drew more than 70,000.”