“Wearing a tiara and posing for a camera, El Paso County sheriff’s Deputy Sandra Rincon smiled next to a cake with two candles on top displaying the number 50,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “It wasn’t her birthday. Instead, the Sheriff’s Office has confirmed, Rincon was being crowned champion of what one county jailer dubbed the “fight club” — an off-the-books contest in which deputies at the jail tracked each time they used force against an inmate, ranging from handcuffing to punching and kicking, and awarded bragging rights to the winners. Rincon, a deputy since 2007, won top honors in 2014 for more than four dozen such encounters, said Darold Killmer, a Denver civil rights lawyer who revealed the practice as part of a lawsuit alleging excessive force by jailers. Along with Rincon’s cake came a gift bag and paper plate that read ‘Princess,’ court records show. … Allegations of the so-called deputy ‘fight club’ spurred a short-lived kerfuffle for Sheriff Bill Elder last year, when the Colorado Springs Independent reported on his agency’s investigation.”

“A silent killer steadily encroaching on the most beloved of Western Slope fruit has moved into the crosshairs of peach growers and researchers,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “It’s a fungus so widespread that every orchard in the valley is infected, it’s estimated to cost the local peach industry about $6 million a year and there’s no silver bullet to eradicate it.”

“It’s a gray Sunday morning, and Omar Holguin is watching a bloodhound as it stands stock-still, snout pointed out toward a deep ditch and distant hay fields just east of Longmont’s Union Reservoir,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The dog, 5-year-old RC, suddenly darts down the side of the ditch, which is 10 feet deep and ends in marshy water covered in tall, green grass. His owner, dog handler Alan Duffy, tells him to come back up, and Holguin carefully heads down. Holguin is looking for anything suspicious that could lead him to his half-sister, Rita Gutierrez-Garcia, the Longmont woman who has been missing for nearly four months.”

“Dr. Deirdre Pilch, Greeley-Evans School District 6’s superintendent, was out of town last week, spending vacation with her family after a conference,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The first news she got about the Thursday crash involving a district school bus carrying 35 students and adults on Weld County Road 49 near Hudson was horrifying. It came in a text message from John Gates, the district’s security director.”

“The pain in Vincent Ramos Sr.’s knee went numb for a few minutes,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “With the bright stage lights at the Southwest Motors Events Center shining down on him, thoughts raced through the 58-year-old’s mind. Under his maroon graduation cap, he couldn’t help but reflect on the journey that took him from early struggles in life to this precious milestone. The pain, the hard work and the complications of life — as well as “a wonderful second chance” — ran like a slide show in his head.”

“The public will have its chance to weigh in at a special Glenwood Springs City Council meeting Monday evening regarding its sentiments about where the estimated $7.5 million 7th Street Beautification Project goes from here,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “For over two years, business owners and the public have been shown pretty pictures of a final project that would create a “festival street” along Seventh between Cooper and Colorado avenues, following completion of the new Grand Avenue Bridge.”

“A recently established endowment fund will benefit Routt County’s wildlife, from ‘fish to bugs to elk,'” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The fund will support a range of habitat projects, including capital projects, planning, research, studies, management, enforcement, education and other wildlife habitat improvement projects, the Yampa Valley Community Foundation wrote in a news release.”

“For Roger Barris, the Libertarian Party candidate running in Colorado’s 2nd Congress District this November, winning the race would be great — but coming in second would not be so bad, either,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Barris, 59, is a first-time candidate now living in Evergreen. He moved to Colorado last year after retiring from a career in entrepreneurship and investment banking in various European locations with firms including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. No Libertarian has ever been elected to the United States House or Senate since the party was founded in Colorado Springs in 1971. As part of what Barris calls the ongoing “professionalization” of the party, which is registered as a minor party in Colorado, he said a second-place finish would send a message that the party is strengthening.”

“It was a day of fun and laughter, a day of heavy pulling and pushing, and a day of giving to those who are battling cancer,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The Orchard of Hope Foundation presented the 18th annual Walk of Hope on Saturday at Veterans Park with the goal of raising money for local cancer champions and their families. “It’s local folks raising money for local folks,” Walk of Hope coordinator Lisa Drew said. The Walk of Hope had 18 teams that set up tents in Veterans Park for residents to donate money and some of those teams also competed in various events throughout the day.”

“A proposal for a “higher density, local-oriented housing” project in Edwards will go before the Eagle County commissioners on Tuesday, July 17,” reports Vail Daily. “The new Fox Hollow Planned Unit Development would change a previously approved land-use plan and combine four separate parcels located on the west side of Edwards. The proposal is for 87 new housing units on a nearly 4-acre site. Developer Populace Development LLC plans “attainability priced, for-sale housing” at the site.”

“It’s still a good time to sell a home in Fort Collins, but the tide may be shifting. A July market update from the Fort Collins Board of Realtors shows the supply of homes on the market is dwindling, even as the median sales price through June hit $415,000, up 4 percent from the first six months of 2017,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “In June alone, 254 Fort Collins homes sold for a median $425,000, up nearly 5 percent from June 2017 when the median price was $405,000.”

“The City Council on Tuesday will consider adding 442 acres of open space to Boulder, jointly purchased, owned and managed with Jefferson County,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The property, Lippincott Ranch, abuts four existing city open space parcels and could provide access to 80,000 acres of state, federal and locally protected public lands. “It’s one of the last remaining large acreage properties connected to city open space,” said Bethany Collins, a property agent in the city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks department. ‘It’s an exciting property and a great opportunity.'”

“On July 4, as a massive wildfire raged through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, about two dozen people sat around the front porch of the Lodge Motel along U.S. 160 eating hamburgers and drinking beer,” reports The Denver Post. “There were middle-aged couples from Texas who’d fallen so in love with this rural section of southern Colorado that they saved money to build vacation homes. There were people in jeans with long ponytails who moved to Costilla County to escape the hustle and bustle of a big city. As neighbors, the groups didn’t mix much. But the natural disaster had brought them together at the Lodge. “You’d think they’d known each other forever,” said Caroline Shafer, the motel’s manager.”

“The city of Durango could see some additional tax revenue thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on internet sales, but not enough to solve a projected municipal budget shortfall,” reports The Durango Herald. “The Supreme Court recently ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair that states and local governments can require remote retailers with no physical presence in a state to pay sales taxes. “The Supreme Court has recognized that our tax system has changed, our economy has changed and we need to modernize,” said Ali Mickelson, director of legislative and tax policy with the Colorado Fiscal Institute, a nonpartisan organization.”

At least seven of Colorado’s largest newspapers carried the news of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump’s news conference with Rusian President Vladimir Putin under bold headlines on their front pages this morning.

“Trump embraces Russia,” was the headline in The Longmont Times-Call and Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Trump embraces U.S. foe Putin,” blared The Pueblo Chieftain while The Cañon City Daily Record went with “Trump slams Russia Probe.” In liberal Boulder, the Daily Camera’s headline was “Trump embraces longtime U.S. foe Putin.” Colorado’s largest newspaper, The Denver Post, had “Trump embraces Putin, doubts U.S. agencies” above the fold, and the state’s second-largest paper, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, published, “Trump sides with Putin.” In Trump-friendly Grand Junction, The Daily Sentinel’s front page read, “Wave of condemnation hits after Trump-Putin summit.”

Here is what else made the front pages across Colorado this morning:

“The Fort Collins city attorney’s warning to other staff regarding an Old Town church’s plan to install lockers for homeless people to use has drawn scrutiny from the American Civil Liberties Union,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Fort Collins City Attorney Carrie Daggett issued the emailed warning on May 31, when the city postponed a hearing regarding the proposed lockers that was originally scheduled to happen later the same day. “Please be sure to coordinate with us regarding any further dialogue with the public or with (church pastor) Steve Ramer about this,” Daggett wrote to other city staff. “Because the approach being taken is not quite the same as our usual process, and because the special discussions amongst staff could be used as a basis for arguing that we are treating the Church less favorably than other applicants based on the Church’s religious practices (ministering to the homeless), we need to take special care in how we communicate about it.”

“Arvada mother Elizabeth Panzer says she fears radioactive plutonium in the dirt whenever wind blows at the former Rocky Flats nuclear bomb factory, now a federal wildlife refuge, 2.3 miles northwest of her house,” reports The Denver Post. “But she also wants to avoid alarming her three sons. One son was diagnosed in 2014 with heart cancer that she suspects was caused by breathing dust churned by big yellow trucks at house-building sites near Rocky Flats. A neighbor died in his 50s of a similar cancer, she said. Panzer will be among those testifying Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Philip Brimmer, asking him to block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s planned opening of the refuge for recreational hiking, horseback riding and biking.”

“Key members of Congress from both parties, including some from Colorado, are criticizing President Donald Trump’s performance at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Trump told reporters Monday that Putin said American investigators who have charged 12 Russian hackers with hacking the 2016 presidential election can come work with Russian investigators on the case. Trump called that an ‘incredible offer.’ A spokesman for special counsel Robert Mueller, whose office on Friday charged the hackers, declined to comment. Calling Putin an “adversary to the United States” and Russia a “state sponsor of terror,” Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, issued a press release Monday encouraging Trump’s administration to avoid ‘normalizing relations with Russia at zero cost to Putin and his regime.'”

“Members of an oversight board for Weld County’s elected officials declined to discuss the job performance of their secretary at Monday’s meeting, which came in the wake of a complaint filed by the secretary with the Colorado Division of Civil Rights,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Board secretary Linda Kane, who publicly expressed multiple concerns about the council while speaking in opposition of a potential Weld County Council whistleblower program at a June meeting, originally was on the council’s agenda to be discussed in a closed-door executive session. But during Monday’s meeting, board members declined to make a motion to discuss her employment, instead moving on to other business.”

“In front of a standing room-only crowd Monday night, the Grand Junction City Council agreed to consider referring to the April 2019 ballot a proposed sales tax increase to fund a $40 million to $50 million community center,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “More than 150 people packed the City Hall auditorium for the unveiling of a feasibility study for a community center, a project spearheaded by the grassroots group People for Local Activities & Community Enrichment and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.”

“A Regional Transportation District board member, a Longmont City Council member and a former Longmont council member are encouraging people to urge their local elected officials to lobby to include FasTracks’ Northwest commuter rail to a list of transportation projects that could get shares of funds from a proposed statewide tax hike,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “At issue is a projects priority list being considered for future funding from revenues from a 0.62 percent tax that would be added to Colorado’s current 2.9 percent state sales tax if backers of that proposal are able to petition it onto November’s ballot and convince voters to approve the tax increase.”

“The Steamboat Springs City Council will consider vacating several easements at the site of the RiverView development project,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The project is slated to include duplexes, a hotel and other commercial spaces surrounding a pedestrian plaza in the area near Third and Fifth streets at the east end of Yampa Avenue. Council will vote on the second reading of an ordinance vacating the easements at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, which starts at 5:30 p.m. in Centennial Hall.”

“In a special meeting Monday evening, the Glenwood Springs City Council, for the first time, heard from their constituents in an open, public setting following the controversial release of bid estimates associated with the Seventh Street beautification project,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “The meeting came following a lengthy, contentious discussion by council at its June 7 session and a 4-3 vote not to release the project bid estimates.”

“With the signature-gathering part of the student-led recall drive of three Pueblo City Schools (D60) school board members now complete, the petitions are now in the hands of Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Ortiz has 15 days to deem the petitions sufficient, allowing the process to move forward. If Ortiz finds a petition(s) insufficient, the proponents have 15 days to collect more signatures, or cure deficiencies, and resubmit the petition. The three targeted school board members are President Barb Clementi, Vice President Frank Latino and board member Bobby Gonzales. Per state statute, the number of signatures required to bring a recall question before voters must reflect 40 percent of the ballots cast for each in the 2015 election.”

“Campers, boaters and picnickers at Boyd Lake State Park are enjoying about $1.6 million in improvements at the state park in Loveland this year,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Just before the busy summer season started, crews finished a major roads project at the park, which cost $1.5 million total, from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife capital budget. This includes an extension of the road at the entrance and a reconfiguration so visitors can access the offices and the park from the same pull-in off the main road instead of two driveways.”

“Walls that took weeks to build came down in moments as demolition began on Eagle Valley Elementary School,” reports Vail Daily. “As they did, memories flooded in and flooded out, as memories do, to make room for new memories in a new building a few dozen yards away.”

“Hank Holloway wore many different types and varieties of hats while performing with his band, but the one that was constant was the one that branded him a loyal and steadfast community champion, promoter and supporter,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The service he gave to his hometown, and the joy he wished to share with everyone around him, is likely what will be treasured by those who knew him.”

“University of Colorado President Bruce Benson’s salary ranks well below the median of public university leaders, new survey data shows,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Benson’s salary for fiscal year 2016-17 places him at 191 out of 251 public university and system chief executives, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education survey released Sunday. Benson repeatedly has declined raises and took a five percent pay cut during the recession, so he is making less than when he started in the university’s top spot 10 years ago. He has made $359,100 per year in recent years. Based on the chronicle’s methodology, the publication calculated his base pay as $324,312.”

“Colorado U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton recommended during a congressional hearing last week that the government enlist help from ranchers and farmers to better protect federal lands. Congress is considering legislation that would open hundreds of thousands of additional acres of federal land to grazing by livestock,” reports ColoradoPolitics, published in The Cortez Journal. “Much of Western Colorado is federally-administered public land. Livestock grazing already is permitted across large stretches of federal lands in the West. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management authorizes livestock grazing on 155 million acres, more than half of the acreage it administers. The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also already permit grazing on some of their lands.”

“The man who accidentally fired his gun during a youth baseball game in Steamboat Springs on June 15 is a Wyoming police officer,” reports Steamboat Today. “Markum King, a 37-year-old officer with the Cheyenne Police Department, has been charged with disorderly conduct, a class 2 misdemeanor, and reckless endangerment, a class 3 misdemeanor. ‘No comment at this time while the case is pending,’ said King’s Steamboat attorney Sean Brown.”

“Between the costly infrastructure to treat, store and deliver water to the district’s tap holders and the rising costs of water itself, Jim Miller had his work cut out for him over the past five decades on the Board of Directors for the Central Weld County Water District,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Miller, 80, retired from the district in May after serving as president since 1980. The board of directors will recognize him later this month with a private celebration. Miller said his interest in the district began when he built a home near a feedlot operation he owned in the district. The district formed in 1965, with five board members who all had agricultural backgrounds like Miller. He later was appointed to the board in 1970.”

“Most attendees of a county-hosted meeting to discuss a proposed ballot measure that could open the door to potential funding sources for local projects without raising taxes shared a single question,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

“Requests by Broomfield officials to move Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc.’s proposed Livingston Pad out of Broomfield County and onto nearby Boulder County open space so far have been met with rejection,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The motive, according to Broomfield officials, is to move the pad — which would have 19 wells in its first phase, and another 15 in its second phase — farther away from Broomfield homes. In Broomfield, the Livingston Pad wells would be west of Lowell Boulevard near the Northwest Parkway. The hoped-for location is farther to the west, just over the Boulder County line on land owned by Boulder County north of Ruth Roberts Park.”

“The city of Glenwood Springs recently spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to learn about the taxpayers themselves — particularly how registered voters feel about a number of pressing, local issues that may or may not appear on the ballot this November or next spring,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “According to Glenwood Springs’ Chief Operating Officer Steve Boyd, the poll cost $16,000 and was funded from non-departmental expenses in the general fund. FrederickPolls, located in Arlington, Virginia — 1,610.61 miles from the steps of Glenwood Springs City Hall — was contracted to conduct the survey.”

“Mosquitoes in Fort Collins, Berthoud and Weld County are carrying West Nile virus. The most recent round of trap-testing found mosquitoes infested with the rare but potentially lethal virus for the first time this season, according to a city of Fort Collins press release,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Fort Collins hasn’t made plans to spray for mosquitoes because the city’s vector index, a figure that conveys residents’ risk of contracting West Nile virus, is much lower than city protocol for spraying. The current vector index is 0.004 citywide; city policy mandates a vector index of 0.75 in any of the city’s four zones.”

“City Council President Chris Nicoll said at a work session Monday night that recent Pueblo County memos provided by Commissioner Garrison Ortiz at his request show large amounts of voter-approved 1A funds being proposed to fund the YES baseball project,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “He said the memo has raised serious questions regarding the county’s real plan to use voter-approved funds for project. Nicoll and the rest of the council intend to have Commissioners Sal Pace and Terry Hart back to a council work session so they can talk about the concerns they have with the project and get answers from the two commissioners that support it.”

“Questions about grant availability, future development plans and even whether a sidewalk on the southwest side of the intersection of 43rd Street and Wilson Avenue in Loveland is currently a priority led members of the City Council to not make a decision Tuesday on how to proceed,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Councilors received an informational presentation from city staff concerning the logistics of constructing a sidewalk in the area where an allegedly drunk driver killed a local middle schooler last month while he was walking along Wilson Avenue at night. No public comment period was offered due to the absence of a vote.”

“Around the country, parent-teacher groups help schools pay for extras. It may be time for a similar group to help the local U.S. Forest Service pay for essentials,” reports Vail Daily. “At the Vail Town Council’s afternoon meeting on Tuesday, July 17, council members heard a presentation — and an early request for money — from Eagle Holy Cross District Ranger Aaron Mayville. The presentation laid out the challenges of managing the 704,000-acre district, which runs from the top of Vail Pass to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area and into Glenwood Canyon. The list of challenges starts with funding.”

“Floods and mudslides that emergency workers feared since rains started to hit the 416 Fire burn scar arrived Tuesday afternoon, with significant debris flows across U.S. Highway 550, railroad tracks and East Animas Road (County Road 250), north of Durango,” reports The Durango Herald. “The flooding was first reported around 5:15 p.m. as a strong rainstorm pelted the area. Though rain tapered off around 6 p.m., debris flows caused issues late into Tuesday evening. U.S. Highway 550 was closed near the East Animas Road intersection, which included the bridge at the base of Shalona Hill, where the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad passes underneath. The highway partially reopened to pilot-guided traffic about 8:45 p.m.”

“Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers says he supports the City Council’s quest for more transparency in settling high-dollar lawsuits, with two caveats,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Suthers said he couldn’t support public discussions of specific dollar amounts by the council before settlements above $100,000 are finalized, and the council must not debate the individual cases in public. The council asked City Attorney Wynetta Massey how best to change its practices after The Gazette reported that it had — in closed sessions — paid out about $5.4 million in lawsuit settlements since 2013. The settlements were for cases including claims of racial and gender discrimination.”

“The five Douglas County deputies who attempted to take a mentally ill man into custody on New Year’s Eve knew he had threatened law enforcement in the past and had access to rifles, but they made the right decision to enter his apartment rather than try to wait him out, Sheriff Tony Spurlock said,” reports The Denver Post. “On Tuesday, Spurlock talked openly about the New Year’s Eve shooting that left Deputy Zackari Parrish dead and four others wounded after two reports on the incident were released this week. The reports from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office provide details about shooter Matthew Riehl’s mental state, his stockpile of firearms and deputies’ decision-making. The DA’s report also clears 11 law enforcement officers of any criminal wrongdoing for killing Riehl.”

“Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation and local officials are welcoming confirmation that came Thursday about the Interior Department’s plans to move the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to the West,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The reassuring words came Thursday morning during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing when U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., questioned Susan Combs, a senior adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Gardner, who thinks the BLM’s national office should be moved to Grand Junction, asked Combs if, “bottom line,” Zinke does intend to move the office from Washington, D.C., to the West.”

“Here’s a dare for those who decide to attend the Northern Colorado Draft Horse Association’s Show Saturday at the Saddle Club Arena on the north side of the Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley: Try, just try, to keep the Budweiser theme out of your head,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “That will require a lot of self-discipline. The event, which starts at 9 a.m. and is expected to last until late afternoon, is a prelude to the July 25-30 Weld County Fair. Clydesdales will be among the major breeds featured in the show put on by the Northern Colorado chapter of the Colorado Draft Horse Association.”

“After several weeks of noticing fewer transients loitering in downtown Longmont, business owners in the area are wondering if the trend was attributable to the initiation of the city’s pilot ambassador program started in June,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “While merchants were glad to see the dispersion of homeless people day-camping in downtown alleys and the breezeway between Third and Fourth avenues, some saw a resurgence of vagrancy this week, and now are wondering how effective the patrols performed by Trident Protection Group staff on behalf of the city are in alleviating the businesses’ concerns. The Longmont Downtown Development Area and the city’s parks department this summer hired Trident for three months on a $29,000 contract for two “ambassadors” to patrol downtown as well as in parks and areas of the St. Vrain Greenway.”

“It’s been a contentious issue routinely raised by a succession of district attorneys who have served Las Animas and Huerfano counties over the years,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Chronic underfunding on the part of the Las Animas County board of commissioners that prevents the office from fulfilling its public safety obligation. It’s a concern shared by Henry Solano, currently serving as district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District. With repeated pleas for funds he says are earmarked for public safety continuing to go unheeded, Solano has advised the commissioners, law enforcement and the community that due to understaffing, he will begin dismissing pending cases “so that the remainder can be professionally prosecuted with the limited staff,” he wrote in a letter to the commissioners.”

“Marvin King says his father Tommy King fell on the way to the bathroom one day at Glenwood Springs Health Care,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Both men say Tommy laid on the floor for about 30 minutes before he was finally able to pull himself back onto his bed. King said he noticed red flags just hours before his father was admitted to the local nursing home in February. On the morning of his father’s admittance, staff was still scrambling to verify Medicare approval and payment, King said. When staff finally checked the 68-year-old into the facility, he was almost a full business day late, missing dinner, and his daily medications.”

“In a few minutes with a can of spray paint and a stencil, a vandal seriously damaged a piece of public art that Jeff Roth spent 10 days painting on a 130-foot stretch of the Natural Grocers building in downtown Steamboat Springs,” reports The Steamboat Pilot.

“The Loveland man accused in the death of 13-year-old Gavin Myers appeared in court for a disposition hearing Thursday morning, though both prosecution and defense attorneys requested more time on the case as they await an accident report from the Loveland Police Department,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Richard Swanson, 47, appeared out of custody with family and friends before 8th Judicial District Judge Carroll Michelle Brinegar. The teen was struck by a pickup the night of June 8 as he was walking along the 4000 block of North Wilson Avenue. He was later pronounced dead.”

“If Denver feels hotter than you ever remember, it’s not your imagination,” reports The Denver Post. “The Mile High City tied an all-time heat record in June and hovered around 100 degrees, topping out at 98, on Thursday, according to National Weather Service forecasters. Had temperatures reached 100 Thursday, it would have marked the third time this year that we sweltered in triple-digit heat. By comparison, temperatures only reached 100 twice between 1910 and 1920, NWS meteorologist Bernie Meier said.”

“So close. Fort Collins fell a few degrees shy of forecaster predictions and failed to hit triple digits on Thursday,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “It would’ve been our second 100-degree day of 2018, which is a bit of an unusual feat for the Choice City. Automated data from the Fort Collins weather station at Colorado State University showed highs in the mid-90s about 4 p.m., when the forecast said we’d hit 100. The official high temperature for Thursday wasn’t available at press time.”

“Police today named a man already charged in a violent Longmont rape case as the suspect in the disappearance of Rita Gutierrez-Garcia, the mother of three who vanished in March and is presumed dead,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Juan Jose Figueroa Jr., 29, was arrested on a warrant in the 2017 case while attempting to cross the border into Mexico nine days after Gutierrez-Garcia disappeared. Figueroa has not been charged in the Gutierrez-Garcia case, according to Longmont police Deputy Chief Jeff Satur. But he already is in custody on a $1 million bond for a case in which he’s accused of strangling and raping a woman he met in a bar in downtown Longmont last November.”

“After an initial announcement in December 2017, it’s official: Vail is the first resort in the United States — and first mountain resort in the world — to achieve certification as a ‘sustainable destination,'” reports Vail Daily. “The announcement was expected Friday, July 20, from Sustainable Travel International. The certification was years in the making and required work by the town of Vail, Vail Resorts, Walking Mountains Science Center the U.S. Forest Service and other public and private agencies and groups.”

“Frank’s Appliance Store will assume ownership of the Sears Hometown Store in Cañon City on Sunday,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “A press release issued by Frank’s Appliance Store states that Frank’s will continue to provide its excellent service at the Sears Hometown Store that is located at 1700 Rainbow Drive. Sears offers leasing programs, Sears credit cards and commercial pricing. A statement on Frank’s Appliance Service’s Facebook page says their service department will move into the current Sears building and work in conjunction with the retail side. “This is very exciting for us as we feel we will now have the capability to better serve this community and the wonderful folks in it,” the statement says. ‘Thank you for understanding the transition we’re in right now and accept our apologies for any hiccups we may encounter as a result of it.'”

“About 300 fish in the Animas River were saved Wednesday from the deadly runoff from the 416 Fire that in recent days has killed thousands of fish in the stretch north of Durango down to the New Mexico line,” reports The Durango Herald. “Now, they’ll have a second chance,” said Toby Mourning, manager of the Durango fish hatchery. ‘It was the right thing to do.'”

“Art aficionados who follow the bright yellow footprints on the sidewalk near Tejon Street and Pikes Peak Avenue will find only disappointment,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Somebody swiped Pikes Peek, the 8-inch bronze statue in an alcove by the downtown Colorado Springs police substation that was at the end of the painted footprints. “Somebody has stolen Pikes Peek, unfortunately,” said Laurel Prud’homme, vice president of communications at the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs.”

“A controversial sports and events center that 1½ years ago was deemed all but dead now is set to go, split between two downtown locations, Colorado Springs officials announced,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. A 10,000-seat outdoor stadium for the Switchbacks minor league soccer team will be at CityGate, a vacant block southwest of Cimarron and Sahwatch streets, said Nick and Ed Ragain, who own the team. The stadium will be accompanied by a seven-floor building to the south with hundreds of apartments and mixed-use businesses, they said. … As for the stadium, the coal-fired Martin Drake Power Plant nearby poses an air-quality concern, but not enough to delay construction, Ed Ragain said.”

“Kolten Rydbom, 28, and his fiancée, Ashlee McPherson, 25, were having a rough morning in April when they decided to go to an IV bar in Denver,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “They were hungover, and McPherson had been sick enough she thought she might have to go to the hospital: she was shaking and vomiting. But to the amazement of McPherson and Rydbom, an IV full of vitamins made her feel ‘100 times better.’ As McPherson was recovering, Rydbom was starting to plan. He’s been a businessman since he was a child, selling video games and baseball cards online, and he started his first company while he was studying business management at Colorado State University. As he looked around the IV bar, Rydbom decided they could run a similar business.”

“A protest targeting a grizzly bear show at the Mesa County Fair attracted few local participants and lasted about an hour before the show’s first performance of the week,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Animal-rights activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, arrived from Salt Lake City on Tuesday morning, passed out signs and stood in a designated ‘comment area’ positioned near the fair entrance as attendees walked past.”

“Ending collections of Longmont’s 3.53 percent municipal sales tax on groceries could cost the city $9.41 million in budget revenues next year, according to the latest estimates from Jim Golden, the city’s chief financial officer,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “That’s $2.2 million more than Golden initially had estimated last month, but he told the council that it’s based on more reports from Longmont grocers and other retailers within the city selling food for home consumption. It’s also higher than the latest $7.6 million estimate of reduced city revenues projected by Jim Ruff, a Longmont resident who’s been analyzing the potential impact of a grocery-tax repeal for UnTax Food, the organization seeking to ask Longmont voters in November whether to have the city stop collecting its sales tax on food.”

“A three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from The New York Times spoke to a Steamboat Springs audience about his topics of expertise: cyber warfare and national security,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “David E. Sanger started his policy speech on ‘Cyber Conflict’ with a nod to one of President Trump’s anti-media phrases, ‘The Failing New York Times.’ ‘On occasion, we’ve reminded him that what’s kept us from failing has been, well, him,’ Sanger said, in one of the few times the audience laughed during Monday’s Seminars at Steamboat event at Strings Music Pavilion.”

“Dozens packed the Larimer County Commissioners hearing room Tuesday,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “As commenter after commenter took the microphone, continuous pleas were made for the commissioners to allow voters to reconsider a ballot initiative they said was vital to the community — a tax to fund a new mental and behavioral health facility. During his turn to speak, Loveland resident Bob Massaro turned around and asked how many people in the audience knew someone who either died by suicide or attempted suicide.”

“Capital Dynamics is the second-largest owner of solar generation in the United States, and it is offering to write the check for Pueblo to establish its own municipal electric utility,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “We’re ready to do that, whether it’s $200 million or $300 million or more,” said Ben Allehaut, Capital Dynamics director, after making a presentation to the Pueblo Electric Utilities Commission.”

“Members of the Loveland City Council requested more information Tuesday about plans prepared by city staff and consultants for a new branch library,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The project was discussed during a regularly scheduled study session. Councilors Dave Clark of Ward IV and Jeremy Jersvig of Ward I were absent. Library Director Diane Lapierre told council the library is currently in the process of creating a new strategic plan, which includes some preliminary plans for expanding westward with a branch in Mehaffey Park, though the location is still under consideration.”

“Durango residents generally support a sales tax increase over a property tax hike to address the city’s long-term budget needs,” reports The Denver Post. “The results of a statistically valid survey found that 58 percent of respondents supported a sales tax increase and 33 percent supported increasing the property tax. The survey also found that more than 50 percent of respondents supported increasing fees and cutting services to address the problem of rising expenses. The 401 residents surveyed could select multiple options for addressing city budget needs, according to survey results.”

“Where alfalfa once grew on a plot in unincorporated Boulder County, fledgling hemp plants are pushing skyward,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “On a recent weekday, Bob Sievers settled under a white canopy to shield himself from the sun and watched as workers dug holes by hand to fill long rows with hemp plants. The 83-year-old is a part-time University of Colorado professor, former CU regent and researcher. The university once described him as “the former CU regent who catalyzed the move of the university’s medical campus to the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, … a leading force in transforming the CU-Boulder campus into a hub of environmental research and scholarship, (and) an indefatigable crusader in the effort to eradicate measles worldwide with dry, inhalable vaccines.”

“A few weeks ago, eastern Eagle County residents were given a dire warning,” reports Vail Daily. “With the Red Canyon II Fire sweeping through the area north of Wolcott, they were told to prepare themselves for a significant power outage — one that could last for hours or even days. Luckily, the fire didn’t down the vulnerable transmission line — this time. But Holy Cross Energy wants to make sure there isn’t a next time for this scenario.”

“Sharen Swagerty had nearly made it home from the gym Monday evening when she found herself stuck in her car during a swift-moving flash flood and hail storm,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “She had not yet eaten dinner, her blood sugar was plummeting and the water outside her stalled car was rising. “I hadn’t had my supper yet, and my blood sugar started crashing,” she said. “The water was way higher than I realized, and I was stuck.” Mike Calhoun, a Good Samaritan going around helping stalled motorists near the Wolf Park subdivision, located south of town, noticed Swagerty, 65, in her car. She said he approached her, telling her not to open the car door, but to crawl out of the window.”

“Armed with shovels, pressure washers and a skid loader, Manitou Springs residents dug and scrubbed their way out of the debris from another flash flood,” reports The Denver Post. “‘We’ve done this about four times [since 2013],’ Patsy’s Candy & Gift Shop owner Ellie Johns said. ‘We’re pros now.’ A severe thunderstorm Monday afternoon triggered flash floods, mudslides and pea-sized hail that piled higher than people’s knees. The flooding and mudslides temporarily shut down U.S. Highway 24. ‘It was a mess,’ Johns said as she sat for a moment on a planter outside the shop she’s owned with her husband, Jack Johns, for 15 years. ‘We were up to our knees in hail and water.’ But, at least, this time it wasn’t mud.”

“The recent notice in the Federal Register could be somewhat alarming on the face of it, given its consecutive use of ‘Superfund site’ and ‘Boulder County’ in the same sentence,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “But local officials and the Environmental Protection Agency agree that the Federal Register item is misleading, because, although a local environmental cleanup project is in the offing, Boulder County does not have a previously undisclosed Superfund site. The July 20 notice in the Federal Register — billed as ‘The Daily Journal of the United States Government’— carried the heading “Proposed Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent, Black Swan Restoration Reach Good Samaritan Superfund Site, Boulder County, Colorado.’ … Duc Nguyen, the EPA’s federal on-scene coordinator for the project, said use of the word “Superfund” was not accurate, and that the authors of the notice ‘I think did not have enough information.'”

“An Oregon project to build a liquefied natural gas export facility would be a boon to the Western Slope, a group of local economic development and elected officials told Republican gubernatorial candidate Walker Stapleton on Wednesday,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The state’s current treasurer said he understands that and intends to fully support the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project as other elected officials have, regardless of political affiliation, ranging from Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper to U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, and Cory Gardner, a Republican.”

“The New Year’s Eve shooting death of a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy has reignited the debate over the mentally ill and gun ownership in Colorado after two reports released last week laid out a step-by-step account of the killer’s mental state and the arsenal he kept in his apartment,” reports The Denver Post. “Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock and 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, who is the Republican candidate for state attorney general, said they want to renew efforts to create a ‘red flag’ law in Colorado that would allow guns to be confiscated from the severely mentally ill. And they want to use the case of Deputy Zackari Parrish in a second legislative effort to change the state’s mental health hold laws to make it easier for law enforcement to take a person having a mental health crisis into custody. ‘The status quo is not working,’ Brauchler said. ‘Should we change the status quo to accommodate this reality that we have an increasing number of people who are in this mental health crisis who have access to weapons who can hurt themselves or hurt others? The answer is yes, and we must take the steps.'”

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said North Korea is continuing to make ‘fissionable material’ for its nuclear weapons but told Sen. Cory Gardner he would prefer to discuss behind closed doors what steps the U.S. is taking to get North Korea to dismantle those weapons,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Pompeo gave his testimony Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, focusing on President Donald Trump’s recent meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Gardner, R-Colo., focused especially on North Korea and whether it was reducing its nuclear weapons capability. Under questioning, Pompeo insisted it is still U.S. policy to apply ‘maximum pressure’ on North Korea to give up its nuclear program, and he claimed the Trump policy is tougher than the efforts under the Obama and Bush administrations.”

“Every two years, Vail conducts a community survey,” reports Vail Daily. “The 2018 edition showed the town is doing a lot right. But there may be more enthusiasm for town housing efforts outside the city limits. The survey is conducted by RRC Associates, a Boulder-based research and consulting firm. This year’s survey showed strong support — 46 percent strongly support and 30 percent somewhat support — for town involvement in cooperative, deed-restricted housing projects outside of town. A total of 70 percent support allowing developers to meet their obligations for deed-restricted housing outside the town boundaries.”

“Samantha Sweetman and her family have traveled to Boyd Lake State Park about four or five times a year for the last five years,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “But, the Brighton family’s most recent trip two weekends ago was a little weirder than most. On July 14, Sweetman, her husband and son, and about 20 other family members and friends were celebrating a summer weekend together on their third trip to Boyd Lake so far this year. While the family was getting ready to go boating, Sweetman said her 5-year-old son Dalton kept telling her he saw a dead octopus on the beach. ‘He told me about five times before I actually looked,’ Sweetman said. ‘But when I finally walked over there, it was definitely an octopus.’ Over the course of the day, the family found two more unexpected, deceased cephalopods, Sweetman said. They guessed someone might have been using them as catfish bait.”

“Longmont city government has purchased $3,220-worth of noise-canceling headphones to alleviate for Civic Center staff a distracting cacophony caused by jackhammer drilling during renovations to the structure,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The sound of a jackhammer was clearly audible inside the Civic Center on Wednesday as well as over the phone during a call to the city’s utility billing department. Vibrations also can be felt in parts of the building during drilling, which is part of a $5 million renovation to the Civic Center started in May to reinforce the concrete slab over the underground parking garage that is the structure’s foundation, among other upgrades.”

“The Milner Landfill, operated by Twin Enviro Services, will be allowed to continue to accept liquid waste, including waste from oil and gas production, after Routt County commissioners voted to amend a land use permit for the facility,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The landfill’s permit was reviewed in light of a violation notice issued by the state earlier this year. Several of these violations impact the landfill’s solidification basin, the pool where nonhazardous liquid waste is mixed with coal ash to solidify it so it can be thrown away.”

“Debris lay strewn for about 50 yards on the side of U.S. 34 early Wednesday night after a pickup left the roadway and rolled about a mile east of Kersey, killing one person and critically injuring three,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “According to Sgt. Matt Turner of the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, authorities received a call about the single-vehicle crash at 5:48 p.m. Wednesday. After arriving on the scene, deputies determined a white Dodge Ram was traveling west on U.S. 34 when it exited the north side of the roadway and rolled, ejecting three people. A fourth person trapped in the pickup had to be extricated. Turner said authorities didn’t have more information about the victims, as they were taken to the hospital quickly. One person was pronounced dead on the scene. The other three were taken to North Colorado Medical Center in critical condition, Kersey Police Chief David Gottschalk said.”

“The Fremont County Department of Public Health & Environment was notified Wednesday of a positive rabies case,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “According to information provided by the FCDPHE, the rabies was found in a bat that was dropped off at the Humane Society and was recovered by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. The bat originally was found at a Cañon City residence. Officials with the FCDPHE remind Fremont County residents to make sure dogs and cats are current and up-to-date with all of their vaccinations, especially rabies and distemper, and other required or recommended vaccinations.”

“Responses from a voluntary, anonymous survey on risky teen behavior show suicide remains a pressing concern, along with underage vaping, which is mistakenly believed to be less risky than smoking cigarettes,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. ‘This survey provides a tremendous amount of data that is essential in following trends and developing programs and plans moving forward to meet the needs of our youth,’ Robin Johnson, medical director of El Paso County Public Health said in an email.”

“Last week, as dozens of prairie dogs marked for eradication sat caged for hours in the sweltering afternoon heat, advocates calling on Lafayette leaders to spare the colony were quick to cite protections afforded under the city’s Climate Bill of Rights — the same law invoked by protesters who, only weeks earlier, had hijacked a City Council meeting in an effort to thwart a vote new drilling regulations,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Officials eventually stayed the prairie dogs’ removal — and have since suspended any vote on new oil and gas codes for the time being — but the momentary drama — and lasting uncertainty about the colony’s future — has sparked a conversation about whether the anti-fracking bill’s environmental protections reach beyond the effects of energy extraction to shield the removal of wildlife.”

“While U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks at the Steamboat Grand, opponents to his policies will gather on The Routt County Courthouse lawn in downtown Steamboat Springs for a ‘Stand For Our Land’ rally,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Zinke, the cabinet official who oversees management decisions on most federal public lands, is speaking at The Steamboat Institute’s Freedom Conference on Aug. 10. Cody Perry, one of the rally’s organizers, sees Zinke’s visit is an opportunity to show Zinke the values of the Steamboat Springs community. Perry also explained some of the reasons he decided to work to organize a protest.”

“The U.S. House gave final approval to a $719 billion defense spending bill Thursday, a sign-off that won’t sit well with some northwest Colorado residents,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “A House and Senate conference committee struck out an amendment to the bill to hold harmless the four counties that received royalty money in long-delayed payments from the defunct Anvil Points Naval Oil Shale Testing Facility in Garfield County.”

“Mark Jones might be the first homegrown Greeley police chief in at least 50 years, but there was time when the veteran cop didn’t see the law enforcement profession as a viable career option,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Well, two times. Born in Kansas, Jones moved to Colorado with his family when he was a child and considers Glenwood Springs his hometown. An aspiring police officer since he was a toddler, Jones was a high school senior when he crossed paths with a Denver cop who pushed him away from the profession.”

“UnTax Food organizer Paul Tiger announced Thursday afternoon that he will not be turning in petition signatures he and others collected in their effort to get a Longmont grocery tax repeal question onto the city ballot,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “I possess 2,861 signatures, which is not sufficient to file,” Tiger wrote in an email to the Times-Call. Tiger and other advocates of his proposal to end Longmont’s collection of its 3.53 percent municipal sales tax on groceries needed to get at least 5,657 valid signatures from registered Longmont voters during their 21-day petition drive that began June 30 and ended last Friday. Tiger said in Thursday’s email that there were seven petition circulators who failed to return eight petition booklets.”

“Eugene Polk Sr. has the unique distinction of being one of only two black firefighters to work in Pueblo, and the only one since the 1800s,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “As such, he and the Pueblo Fire Department are working together to recruit and hire black men and women. “The response was very good,” Polk said of his meeting with Pueblo Fire Chief Shawn Shelton and Deputy Chief Rick Potter. “This group really wants to see more black applicants and wants black firefighters. I just asked if there’s anything I can do to help them out. It’s long overdue for a city this big. The fire department has been proactive in taking steps to attract more black applicants, Polk said. They have been working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and have met with several black ministers in Pueblo.”

“Native cottonwoods, mink, deer, wild turkey and brown trout inhabit a 12-acre natural area along the Big Thompson River in southeast Loveland,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Raptors soar over land that borders Boedecker Lake, acres filled with chokecherry and cottonwood trees as well as wild rose. Mule deer, elk, coyote and a variety of birds thrive on a vast expansive prairie, which is being restored with native plants southwest of Loveland. Residents are being asked to look at the specific features of each of these three natural areas as inspiration for names for the sites, which are owned by the city of Loveland and planned for future public access.”

“From the start, supporters have hoped Beloved Community Village would help people beyond the 13 residents who moved off Denver’s streets and into its 8-foot-by-12-foot tiny homes last July,” reports The Denver Post. “The village, 11 homes, a bathhouse, two portable toilets and a circular common building bounded by a brightly decorated chain-link fence at the corner of 38th and Blake streets, was meant to be a pioneer. It’s a pilot project designed to demonstrate tiny homes, arranged in a community where rules are set by the residents themselves, should be part of the solution to combating homelessness in Denver. It’s had its challenges. Two of the original residents returned to the streets after their neighbors asked them to leave for violating village rules. The village had to move about 200 feet in January — from one side of its lot to the other — at a cost of $25,000 because of now-changed city rules governing temporary residential structures. The city chipped in $10,000.”

“No one doubts the toughness of rodeo competitors, but at the Eagle County Fair & Rodeo on Friday, July 27, rugged cowboys will play tribute to folks who are every bit as tough as they are — breast cancer patients and survivors,” reports  Vail Daily. “For the past eight years, the Eagle County Fair & Rodeo has been part of Wrangler’s national Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign for rodeo and Western events. Since 2012, the program raised more than $45,000 locally for Shaw Cancer Center.”

“Restoring places and people and reviving small towns is what Unbridled Contractors does, and when company representatives saw the potential in the Hotel St. Cloud, they felt it was a natural fit with their mission,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The vacant hotel sold for $80,000 Thursday to Unbridled Contractors, a branch of its parent company, Emergent, during a live and online auction hosted by Top Dollar Realty & Auction, LLC. The bidding was between two on-site individuals and three online bidders from Colorado, California and New York.”

“Damage to Manitou Springs from Monday’s hail, heavy rain and flooding will cost at least $1.5 million — about 15 percent of the city’s general fund budget — prompting Mayor Ken Jaray to declare a local disaster emergency,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The disaster status will enable the city and local residents and businesses to apply for or receive state and federal relief funding. The amount of damage to local businesses and residents has not yet been determined. “The use of the word disaster doesn’t mean it’s not OK to come here,” Police Chief Joe Ribeiro said. “Everything else is working. We’ve just got some things going on in the background that are going to take us a while to recover from, that are very expensive to recover from.”

“The number of homeless campers has dwindled drastically at a site near Greenmount Cemetery since Durango police forced some protesting residents to leave earlier this week,” reports The Durango Herald. “About 10 residents remain at the site, a temporary overnight camp established by the city, and some say they plan to remain until the city closes the site on Aug. 25. “I am going to stick it out,” Alan Scaggs said. When the camp was established at the end of June, about 35 people were registered to stay there. It’s been quiet at the site since police visited Tuesday evening and required all those who were previously cited for failing to obey city rules to leave, he said.”

“When Colorado Springs created its strong-mayor style of government in 2011, it included a provision that said members of City Council needed to give up their seats to run for the mayor’s job,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “That happened most recently in 2015, when a council member resigned for an unsuccessful run in a seven-candidate contest that John Suthers ultimately won. The drafters of Pueblo’s mayor plan didn’t consider the no-council-member rule when they were writing their ballot measure a year ago. Nick Gradisar, an elected member of the Pueblo Board of Water Works and a mayoral candidate, led the mayor campaign that city voters endorsed in November. ‘We had past and current council members participating in our discussions, and it wasn’t mentioned as a potential problem,’ Gradisar said last week. Well, it’s getting discussed now. Probably because there are 25 candidates running for mayor with two council members in the crowd and a likely third to join next week.”

“The Animas River has received a barrage of incidents over the past week, but Durango’s rafting industry remains undeterred,” reports The Durango Herald. “The biggest problem the rafting industry faces isn’t the incidents themselves – which include mudslides to the north and sewage spills to the south – but the perception that the river is unusable despite the opposite being true. “It’s really a perception problem that we’ve been dealing with all summer,” said David Moler, owner of Durango Rivertrippers and Adventure Tours. “If the perception is that the river is contaminated, well then the river is contaminated.” Mudslides that occurred last Tuesday turned the Animas River into a murky brownish river filled with debris. However, discolorization is a normal indicator of higher water levels, which the river has desperately needed this summer. When runoff from the snowpack reaches the river, it changes color, Moler said.”

“Responding to the call from Colorado Springs city leaders to shelter more homeless people, the Springs Rescue Mission is seeking to add 150 shelter beds and increase the nightly population of people at its campus to more than 550,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “In the process, they hope to breathe new life into several stalled projects handicapped by a yearlong slowdown in new donations and other funding. That juggling act — answer the city’s latest plea for help while salvaging key aspects of its all-encompassing service hub — represents the latest challenge for Springs Rescue Mission, which has taken a lead in addressing homelessness in Colorado Springs when few other nonprofits could or would.”

“It was a new day last summer when Boulder announced it had hired Renata Robinson, the city’s first-ever diversity officer, to lead efforts to make Boulder more welcoming and inclusive,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The problem long had plagued the area, with survey results consistently showing that ethnic minorities faced a barrage of low-level and overt racism. Attempts to right the ship had been underway in various forms for decades, including, recently, the City Council’s creation in 2015 of the Human Relations Commission. Employees long had been tasked with ‘diversity initiatives,’ the city said in its news release touting Robinson’s hiring, but bringing a dedicated position online put ‘diversity and inclusion efforts in the forefront.'”

“Colorado health officials scrambled to determine whether a man who recently worked with sick people in eastern Congo and became ill Sunday in Denver had contracted the deadly Ebola virus — and doctors also isolated an ambulance crew for testing and were looking for another person in metro Denver who may have had contact with the man,” reports The Denver Post. “Denver Health and Hospitals officials Sunday night were waiting for test results from a state health lab but said that, based on an initial test in a special isolated unit, they do not believe the man has Ebola. A Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) bulletin late Sunday said testing “is negative for Ebola.” The man had been working with sick and dead people in an area of eastern Congo where a recent outbreak of Ebola had largely dissipated with no new Ebola cases reported over the past 45 days. On Sunday morning, he reported sudden severe symptoms at his residence in Denver, Denver Health chief medical officer Connie Price said.”

“A Rocky Mountain National Park ranger discovered a body Saturday in steep terrain northwest of the summit of Mount Meeker that is believed to be that of Brian Perri, the 38-year-old Fort Collins man who went missing after reaching the peak of the 13,911-foot mountain on June 30,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Park officials announced the discovery early Sunday morning, and said that while the Boulder County Coroner’s Office won’t release an official identification until after an autopsy is completed, the body is believed to be that of Perri.”

“The Thompson School District Board of Education will discuss ballot language for a $149 million bond and $14 million mill levy override to pay for backlogged maintenance, facilities, safety upgrades and technology as well as to keep current class sizes and boost salaries,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The school board meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday — the first meeting with the new superintendent, Dr. Marc Schaffer — and will dig into specific ballot language for the two tax increases that will be put to voters this November, though a vote on the language will come at a future meeting.”

“Two of Steamboat Springs’ tastiest eateries, a man dedicated to creating affordable housing and a successful property management executive have been named the winners of this year’s Navigator Awards,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The Navigator Awards have been awarded to business community members for 20 years by the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association and Steamboat Pilot and Today.”

“Garfield County commissioners have decided to join a class-action lawsuit with the goal of recovering underpayments by the federal government under its Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, while Mesa County is still considering the matter,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Garfield’s decision means it could recover an estimated $122,000 minus attorney fees potentially amounting to about a third of that amount. The recovery also is still subject to potential appeal by the federal government.”

“Usually, with sibling rivalries, it is the older sibling that gets the best of the younger one, but in the case of the French family, it has been the opposite,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “What started when Macy was 10 and her sister, Lyndsey, was 8 has favored Lyndsey, who has placed higher in senior English showmanship through the years at the Fremont County Fair.”

“The cake judging tent was adorned in all things purple on Sunday at the Carbondale Mountain Fair. Purple was the favorite color of Maureen Nuckols, a longtime cake judge who died from cancer earlier this year,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Despite losing their friend, the cake judges were all giggles and costumes, as per usual, as they carried on Nuckols’ love of joy, life and cake. “She was so wonderful,” Felicia “Flash” Trevor Gallo said of Nuckols. “It’s bittersweet. She was so strong and healthy the last cake contest.”

“When a severe thunderstorm dropped golf ball-sized hail on a large swath of Greeley on Sunday, two dozen people at Bittersweet Park had one place to go,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The pavilion on the west side of the park usually shelters picnic tables. On Sunday, it was a group of kids and parents taking part in a youth barbecue with Christ Community Church. Youth Pastor Stetson Beaman said he was checking his phone regularly, and had the kids under the pavilion about 10 minutes before the massive hailstorm hit. “It was pretty deafening underneath the metal roof,” Beaman said, adding that it was probably the largest hail he had seen.”

“Fremont County Undersheriff Megan Richards in an email Tuesday confirmed that Sheriff Jim Beicker tendered his resignation effective Sept. 1,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “No other information was included in the statement, but the Daily Record did reply to Richards, who also serves as the public information officer for the FCSO, asking for more details surrounding the announcement. Fremont County Commission Chairman Tim Payne said he received the letter Tuesday afternoon that cited ‘personal reasons’ for the resignation. The board will meet Wednesday to discuss the process to fill the position. … The sheriff’s office went through a difficult year in 2017 when several issues ranging from criminal charges to routine procedures resulted in a dozen officers being placed on administrative leave. With every officer that was placed on leave, the more the public began to scrutinize the FCSO and Sheriff Beicker. The scrutiny began when former FCSO detective Robert Dodd was placed on administrative leave after suspected murder evidence was found in a personal storage unit in December 2016.”

“A federal jury is in deliberations in Denver to decide if the family of Barton Grubbs is entitled to up to $10 million in damages following his 2014 death at the Weld County Jail,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Grubbs, 52, of Montrose, was arrested shortly after midnight March 28, 2014, by the Colorado State Patrol on suspicion of DUI. After failing roadside sobriety maneuvers and declining a breathalyzer, Grubbs was arrested and placed in the back of a state patrol cruiser. An out-of-work stonemason suffering from back, wrist and hand pain, Grubbs asked the arresting officer, Trooper Travis Tyndall, to retrieve his medication from his car so he might have access to it at Weld County Jail.”

“Jared Polis, the Democratic candidate for Colorado governor, is snubbing Club 20 — again. Polis has decided not to attend the group’s long-standing September debate, something that no gubernatorial candidate has done in the 30 years the Western Slope lobby and promotional organization has held them,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “‘It makes western Colorado feel like it’s such an afterthought, and that the (Polis) campaign is really focused on the Front Range,’ Club 20 Executive Director Christian Reece said. ‘He is, for whatever reason that I haven’t been given, choosing not to give the citizens of western Colorado the opportunity to hear from their potential next governor, and I think that’s a shame. All Republicans and Democrats, whomever, throughout western Colorado should feel slighted by this move.’ Instead of coming himself, Polis’ campaign said he will send Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, one of his opponents during the primary. Club 20, however, doesn’t allow surrogates at its debates, and its board will have to decide if the group will let Lynne speak in his stead. … ‘”We’re excited about doing 13 debates and forums, and we just can’t participate in everything,’ [Polis campaign spokeswoman Mara] Sheldon said.”

“Despite the objections of numerous Boulder County residents and elected officials, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday voted to approve two drilling and spacing orders that will drain minerals from 4,000 acres in east Boulder County,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Applications filed by Extraction Oil and Gas affiliate 8North to drill a total of 52 wells — including 20 within the town of Erie — from two separate surface sites were moved forward by the nine-member state agency with votes of 8-1 on each application. Commission member Erin Overturf cast the sole dissenting vote on each.”

“Fire officials believe it is going to take significant rain or maybe even snow to douse the Silver Creek Fire burning in Routt National Forest,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “As of Tuesday, the fire on Gore Mountain in Sarvis Creek Wilderness Area has burned about 250 acres and is growing. “It looks like it’s picking up a bit,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Aaron Voos said Tuesday. Lightning is suspected of starting the fire that was first reported July 19. There are about 25 firefighters managing the blaze, but none of them are directly fighting the fire because the remote location with beetle-killed lodgepole pine trees is unsafe.”

“Loveland grew up around railroads and agriculture. The northern Colorado city incorporated in 1877 along a line of the Colorado Central Railroad, and its early economy relied on crops such as sugar beets and sour cherries,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “The city’s Feed and Grain building, built in the 1890s, is one of its oldest remaining structures. Today, Loveland also is known for its public art. The city’s collection includes about 300 pieces, ranging from murals to sculpture. More than 100 of those sculptures are on permanent display in the Benson Sculpture Garden. And since the early 2000s, residents have worked to incorporate the city’s agricultural history with its artistic present.”

“When it comes to a shelter for Pueblo’s homeless, there apparently is no room anywhere in the inn,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Soon after word leaked out that the vacant Colorado Department of Transportation campus in the 900 block of Erie Avenue was one of the sites being eyed as a potential new home for the Pueblo Rescue Mission, a groundswell of dissent began to swirl. The overriding concern, voiced primarily by parents of children who attend Fountain International Magnet School and some East Side residents, is the proposed shelter’s one-block proximity to that Pueblo City School (D60) elementary institution.”

“Proponents of running the Thornton pipeline down Douglas Road have argued that route keeps the pipeline primarily in the public right of way, under a county road,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “But the proposed route would require the city of Thornton to acquire a section of resident Dick Brauch’s tree farm on Douglas Road — property he hopes to keep in his family. Standing in the driveway of his farm near the shop out of which he has worked for decades, Brauch pointed to a map and then to a large section of his property behind a row of towering cottonwoods. There, in a rectangle 380 feet long and 28 feet wide, Thornton hopes to build its pump house.”

“A Durango man has been ticketed for intentionally feeding bears – for the third time in eight years – resulting in a $1,000 fine and a likelihood the bears will have to be euthanized,” reports The Durango Herald. “’You just scratch your head why somebody would do this,’ said Matt Thorpe, wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “This selfish behavior is not only dangerous to his neighbors, but also to the bears.” Last week, a concerned resident told Colorado Parks and Wildlife that a person living in the Animas View Drive area, in northern Durango, was scattering pet and animal food in his backyard and using containers to feed bears. The resident took pictures and provided them to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Thorpe said.”

“A flat map is about the only place where it makes sense to place Basalt and El Jebel within the confines of Eagle County,” reports Vail Daily. “Even a topographical map will demonstrate the impracticality of the designation that’s existed for 135 years. The boundary line on the west end of the county, along with the majority of the southern and northern county lines, are as straight as the box that delineates Colorado itself. But in real life, the county’s southwest boundaries are decidedly impractical. … This geographic issue has been debated for decades, most recently on Tuesday, July 31, before the Eagle County commissioners, when a delegation from the Basalt and El Jebel area asked the county to bring a referendum to the voters this fall to see if there is support to change boundaries and have their part of southwestern Eagle County placed in Pitkin County. ‘We are bringing up an issue that is brought up every 10 years, honestly,’ said Michael McVoy, one of the Roaring Fork Valley residents proposing the vote. He suggested it’s time to determine the issue, once and for all.”

“The office tasked with handling Boulder County’s real estate transactions continues to decline as its financial crisis worsens and two of its three employees have submitted their resignations,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “No clear plans are in place for its rescue. Public Trustee Jim Martin on July 23 tendered his resignation to the governor, who appointed him, effective at the end of August, citing the ongoing budget fiasco and his own health. Martin is currently fighting cancer and has not received a salary since June 15. Deputy Trustee Christine Marsh followed suit Friday. Her last day will be Aug. 16. As of September, the office will have one employee.”

“The U.S. Olympic Training Center brought race walker Carl Schueler to Colorado Springs in the early 1980s,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Flexible employers kept him here. “I wanted to work. Frankly, I needed to work,” said Schueler, now the city’s comprehensive planning manager. “I started back in 1983 and haven’t left. A job did not get me here, but what kept me here was the career opportunities.” City officials want to repeat such successes by partnering with the U.S. Olympic Committee to find flexible city jobs for Olympians and Team USA athletes.”

“The man shot and killed by Aurora police was defending his family from a naked stranger who had burst through the front door of their East Montview Boulevard home in the wee hours of Monday morning, grabbing an 11-year-old boy who was sleeping on a couch and attacking him,” reports The Denver Post. “The 73-year-old man, who has been identified as Richard ‘Gary’ Black and was the boy’s grandfather, shot the intruder with a 9-mm pistol while the stranger was choking and trying to drown the boy in a bathtub, said Siddhartha Rathod, an attorney representing Black’s family. The intruder died. Soon afterward, an Aurora Police Department officer shot and killed Black after police arrived at the home at 10609 E. Montview Blvd. ‘This is a horror movie scenario,’ Rathod said. ‘There’s no question Mr. Black is a hero, that Mr. Black saved his grandson’s life. This truly is a tragedy.'”

“For the second time in just over a week, a group hoping to restrict oil and gas operations in Colorado says a contractor it hired to circulate petitions for Initiative 97 has hurt instead of helped get the measure on the ballot,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The pro-97 group, Colorado Rising, on Wednesday issued a statement saying that one of its signature-gathering contractors had admitted that “he was paid to stop circulating Initiative 97 and to immediately leave Colorado instead of fulfilling his commitment to collect thousands of signatures for the measure.” Colorado Rising provided an audio recording that it said documented an admission by a representative of petition contractor Petition Connection that it had been offered a buyout to back away from working on Initiative 97.”

“Lawyers representing the city of Lafayette have asked the Colorado Supreme Court to hear its case to condemn 22 acres at the corner of U.S. 287 and Arapahoe Road, an effort that could continue to tie-up Erie’s long-slated Nine Mile Corner development for the foreseeable future,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The litigation, stretching back more than two years, already has cost the two communities more than half a million dollars. The petition for writ of certiorari, filed last Wednesday, comes nearly two months after a panel of appellate judges ruled against the city’s claim to its neighbor’s land. A Boulder County judge originally dismissed the case in early 2017.”

“Noel Johnston was already stressed out when he received a call from the IRS about some tax violations,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “OK, we already know what you’re thinking. So does Johnston. Who hasn’t gotten one of those false phone calls? But hear him out. He had just arrived home from an appointment with his neurologist, where he discussed his family history of Alzheimer’s. He also knew that at the end of that day, July 10, he had to pick up his daughter from the airport after a long trip from Paris. She hates flying, he said, and he and his wife always have to talk her through getting on and off the plane. So, it’s easy for him to see why, on the same day, he let phone scammers clean out a large portion of his bank account, fresh with $8,000 intended to repair his hail-damaged roof. Johnston, a Greeley resident, just wants to make sure other people don’t fall for the same scheme.”

“Larimer County did not approve a permit allowing Thornton to build a water pipeline along Douglas Road north of Fort Collins — but the county commissioners didn’t deny the application either,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “All three elected commissioners on Wednesday, the third installment of a public hearing, said the application as presented was not best for Larimer County residents, did not delve deep enough into alternatives for delivering water to the Denver suburb and did not consider public input enough. But instead of outright denying the application for the stretch of the 75-mile pipeline that runs through Larimer County, the commissioners implored Thornton to work with residents to find an alternative that most residents and the county commissioners can endorse.”

“The Grand Junction City Council on Wednesday signed off on increasing the city’s budget with nearly $12.8 million in supplemental appropriations, adding to the $162 million 2018 budget the city had already approved,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Among the budget additions are salary increases for City Manager Greg Caton and City Attorney John Shaver. The appropriations approved during the Wednesday night meeting are a combination of city savings, increases in sales tax revenue, grant dollars and carryover funds from some capital improvement projects that were started this year but will run into next year.”

“Pueblo County Commissioners again have extended a moratorium on the licensing of any new commercial and medical marijuana businesses as well as any new marijuana cultivation facilities in Pueblo County,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The moratorium, which does not impact the city of Pueblo nor the town of Boone, was extended last year as well. The commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the moratorium to Jan. 1, 2020. It was set to expire at the end of this year.”

“New messaging from Logan County Economic Development seeks to lure city dwellers to Logan County,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “‘We’ve updated what we call our ‘one pager,’ which is for recruiting purposes,’ Laurie Jones, LCEDC, told a group of business leaders at the July Business Roundtable held at the CSU Engagement Center July 27. The new recruiting messaging can be found on the LCEDC website under the Living in Logan County tab. Clicking on the tab will open up the one pager with the new Logan County “Space to Find Your Place” logo and the bold header: ‘Only 100 Minutes from Metro Denver. Close enough to enjoy big city amenities. Far enough away to experience small town living.'”

“The haze that socked in the Yampa Valley on Wednesday can again be attributed to wildfires burning in Northern California,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Meteorologist Matt Aleksa with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction said there is a ridge of high pressure to the west of Colorado. That is causing wind to flow clockwise around the high pressure system and send smoke into Northwest Colorado. ‘That’s causing the widespread smokiness and decreased visibility,’ Aleksa said.”

“Summit County’s Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday that added a measure on November’s ballot asking voters to approve a mill levy that would raise $8.8 million a year for a variety of county programs,” reports Summit Today. “The funds would provide for wildfire mitigation, mental health services, affordable early childhood care and education as well as revamping the county’s recycling program. The 4.7 mill levy would raise commercial and residential taxes for county residents annually by $33.96 for every $100,000 of property value. So for a property worth $1 million, the owner will pay $340 in additional property taxes each year for the next decade.”

“The Fremont County Board of Commissioners is working to finalize the process that will determine who will serve as the county’s interim sheriff after the resignation of Jim Beicker, which will be effective Sept. 1,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Beicker tendered his resignation Tuesday, citing personal reasons. Fremont County Commission Chair Tim Payne said the board will seek letters of interest from qualified individuals until Aug. 15. Candidates likely will be interviewed the next week with an appointment expected to be made Sept. 4, Payne said. The board is expected to release more information on the qualifications and the selection process soon.”

“The push is on for supporters of an initiative to put a measure on the state’s November ballot that would prohibit the location of oil and gas wells within 2,500 feet of an occupied building to get the signatures they need by Monday’s deadline,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Colorado Rising, the Boulder-based advocacy group pushing Initiative 97, claims it has been targeted by an orchestrated campaign to send people out to sites where they are collecting signatures, in order to harass them and discourage them from signing. “What the harassers would do is they would get in between the signature gatherers and the signer, and they would start yelling and trying to intimidate the people, to scare the signers away — yelling things like, ‘You don’t know who these people are, or who are you giving your information to,” said Colorado Rising volunteer Holly Wheeler of Boulder. ‘They were, like, a foot away from people in their face, and yelling.'”

“Legendary actor and film director Clint Eastwood made a stop in Fort Morgan on Tuesday as he and his crew shot scenes for his upcoming film ‘The Mule,'” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “His team could be found camped out near the intersection of Morgan County Road R and Morgan County Road 17. Eastwood and his crew departed Fort Morgan on Wednesday morning in route back to New Mexico to continue shooting. According to Internet Movie Database, “The Mule” is a film about a 90-year-old horticulturist and World War II veteran caught transporting $3 million worth of cocaine through Michigan for a Mexican drug cartel. The film is being produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Eastwood, who is still going strong at 88-years-old, is both acting in and directing the film. Other Hollywood names starring in the film include Bradley Cooper, Michael Pena, Laurence Fishburne, and Eastwood’s daughter, Alison Eastwood.”

“The saying ‘if it’s not one thing, then it’s another’ can definitely be applied to the employment situation in Eagle County,” reports Vail Daily. “When the national recession hit in 2008, the bottom fell out of the local construction industry and lots of people were looking for work. A decade later, the national and local economy have rebounded, but the valley’s labor shortage has re-emerged. During a Tuesday, July 31, meeting with the Eagle County commissioners, Chris Romer, of the Vail Valley Partnership, relayed a recent discussion he had with the Colorado State Demographer’s office. The state estimates there are currently 1,600 open jobs in Eagle County.”

“As Environmental Protection Agency investigators turn their attention to Colorado and its perfluorinated chemicals that won’t go away, they face demands to determine how much of an infinitesimally tiny amount is too much,” reports The Denver Post. “At the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment — where state officials have begun making a list of sites where perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, may have been spilled — agency chiefs say they will enforce any limit the EPA sets. At a north metro Denver water supply plant, systems manager Kipp Scott focuses on 70 parts per trillion (ppt), a nonbinding health advisory target, as he dilutes and filters supplies for 50,000 residents following last month’s discovery that municipal wells are contaminated. ‘Our finished water now is around 27 ppt,’ he said, ‘… after shutting off the wells.'”

“It’s smoky out. So what does that mean for your health? The best approach is to limit exposure as much as possible, said Anne Eckhardt, a registered respiratory therapist with UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “People with heart and lung disease (including COPD or asthma) or those who tend to be more sensitive to air pollution are most at risk, she said, as are children, the elderly and pregnant women. Eckhardt recommends staying indoors and limiting strenuous activities when outside. Drinking plenty of water also helps flush out the system.”

“Lately, things just don’t seem the same in the skies over Summit County,” reports The Summit Daily News. “A yellow haze has been shrouding the mountains in gloom, a product of wildfires raging across the state, especially the still-raging Lake Christine Fire in nearby Basalt. For anyone worried about the impact the smoke is having on human health, the good news is that you can avoid it; the bad news is how.”

“The U.S. could not withdraw from NATO without a two-thirds vote of the Senate and a list of new sanctions would be imposed on Russia for cyber-attacks on U.S. elections or other interference, according to a new bill sponsored by Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and a bipartisan group of lawmakers,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The measure — the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act — comes only two weeks after President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and was sharply criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for initially appearing unconvinced that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election and still was attempting cyber-attacks. Trump subsequently stated Russia had tampered with U.S. elections.”

“A federal jury returned Wednesday a verdict in favor of a former Weld County Jail nurse who was being sued for deliberate indifference in the 2014 death of inmate Barton Grubbs,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Christin Hernandez is a former employee of Correct Care Solutions, a Nashville-based company contracted to provide medical care for inmates at Weld County Jail. Both Hernandez and Correct Care Solutions were defendants in the lawsuit, which was initiated by Tanya Smith, Grubbs’ daughter, in the U.S. District Court of Colorado in Denver. On Monday, after a week of trial, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer dismissed the claims against Correct Care Solutions. The jury returned its verdict in favor of Hernandez about noon Wednesday following more than a day of deliberations.”

“When stepping outside and looking east during the past few days, it’s easy to see that it hasn’t been a typical week in the Grand Valley,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Hazy skies and smoky air from fires surrounding the area obstruct usually clear views of the Bookcliffs and Grand Mesa. But the poor air quality does more than make the area a little less scenic for a few days. Grand Junction’s air quality was among the worst in the state on Thursday and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality health advisory until 9 a.m. today for much of western Colorado.”

“Three of four affordable staff-housing complexes are complete and another group of Roaring Fork School District teachers will soon have the opportunity to move into one-, two- or three-bedroom apartments — this time in Carbondale,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Community members, building architects and local teachers attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the 20-unit apartment complex on the school district’s property on Third Street in Carbondale.”

“Boulder County commissioners voiced support on Thursday for a proposal by Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle for a tax that would go toward a new facility for people serving alternative sentences and upgrades to the county jail,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “However, the three commissioners balked at a request for a ballot measure that would expand the commission from three to five members and another that would have the county convert to home rule. The commission will officially put items on the ballot later in August for November’s election. Pelle is asking for a new tax that would provide for the construction of a new facility that would house alternative sentencing programs for people who are, for example, serving work release sentences where they work during the day and are housed in the jail at night.”

“Thompson school board members said they want residents to clearly know how they would spend a $14 million mill levy override and a $149 million bond if approved, including to address a gap in fire code,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The elected board discussed ballot language for the November tax issues at its Wednesday board meeting and added two specific details — that there would be citizen oversight on spending for both measures and that a piece of it would be spent on meeting state fire code requirements.”

“As the population grows in the lower Eagle River Valley, there’s going to be an increased demand for public services,” reports Vail Daily. “But, for the moment, transit service won’t grow with the population. Eagle County’s ECO Transit system recently completed a 300-page transit development plan that looked at ridership, service levels, budgets and other elements of the system. That plan identified a number of needs — including a circulator system for the lower valley.”

“It wasn’t your typical rodeo with horses and bulls, but instead, it was with a loader, grader and excavator,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “About 26 contestants competed Thursday in Fremont County Fair’s equipment rodeo at Pathfinder Park. There were three different events using each of the machines and the contestants had to do various tasks with each machine. “Everybody is doing a good job and enjoying it,” Fremont County Department of Transportation Director Tony Adamic said.”

“How much input should the University of Colorado have on flood mitigation work to be done on property it owns?” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Discussion at a public hearing Thursday night before Boulder’s Planning Board hinged around that question, as one group of south Boulder residents accused city staff of prioritizing CU’s interests over safety, while another pleaded for forward momentum in a project — still at least four years from completion — that will protect thousands of residents from flooding. Three options have risen to the top as best choices, through an extensive public process and board appearances. Members of citizen group Save South Boulder are floating a fourth plan, and say city staff has not given it adequate consideration because they are more interested in protecting land that CU hopes to develop.”

“A mother and son officially are the top dogs in Log Lane Village, at least when it comes to the town’s elected officials,” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “Robin Mastin is the town’s mayor, and her son Shawn Greenwell, already a trustee, was appointed mayor pro tem at the July 11 board of trustees meeting. The vote on that appointment was 5-0-2, with Mastin and Greenwell both abstaining and the other five trustees all voting yes. That appointment means that if Mastin is unable to fulfill her mayoral duties, her son is the one who fills in. ‘That just means that I have more responsibility to the town,’ Greenwell said of the mayor pro tem appointment. ‘If the mayor can’t be here, I’m going to have to step up. It really won’t change anything I do as a trustee.’ ‘I pretty much think it’s awesome,’ Mastin said. ‘It’s not going to be any different.'”

“Colorado Springs police officers may face greater danger in the city’s ‘safer’ neighborhoods than in the traditionally rougher parts of town, criminal justice experts say,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Whether that was a factor early Thursday when Colorado Springs police officer Cem Duzel was gravely wounded by a gunman is unknown. But the shootout a few blocks east of the Olympic Training Center was outside a high-density crime area to the south along East Platte Avenue, said YongJei Lee, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Duzel was shot near East Boulder Street and Bonfoy Avenue, shortly after officers responded to multiple reports of shots fired.”

“Aurora police officers ordered the man they fatally shot while protecting his home early Monday to drop his gun multiple times, but they did not identify themselves as police before an officer fired four shots, Chief Nick Metz said,” reports The Denver Post. “Multiple officers already had heard gunshots from inside the home at 10609 E. Montview Blvd. and were standing near the front door’s threshold, looking into the well-lit home when they saw homeowner Gary Black come around a corner holding a gun and a flashlight, Metz said. ‘For the next 13 seconds, officers continued to give at least five commands to Mr. Black to drop the gun and to show his hands,’ Metz said Thursday at a news conference. ‘We don’t know why, but for whatever reason Mr. Black did not drop the gun.’ Black had significant hearing impairment because of his military service, Metz said. Also, the scene was noisy from people screaming, including Black’s 11-year-old grandson, who had been violently attacked by a naked intruder.”

“A lawsuit that accused Colorado regulators of quietly and illegally concocting a policy to police doctors who recommend medical marijuana to patients was entirely hidden from public view during a nearly three-year court battle, secreted behind a judge’s order to keep it that way, The Denver Post has found,” reports The Denver Post. “Nine physicians filed the lawsuit in Denver District Court in March 2015 against the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which regulates and maintains the state’s medical marijuana registry, and the Colorado Medical Board, which regulates doctors. A judge initially agreed with the doctors’ assertion that the policy was created illegally, but an appeals court overturned that decision late last month. ‘There is no justification for concealing the entire file of a case with such a high-degree of public interest,’ said Frank LoMonte, director of The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. ‘This is more egregious because you have a case that implicates the behavior of a government agency.'”

“As the dog days take hold, Boulder County’s summer stands as average in several ways, and that is both good news and bad news,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The positive news is that, as it relates to temperatures and moisture, statistically, the area has seen nothing too remarkable. Sure it’s been hot at times, but not too much more so than usual. And the rain that has fallen has been within a few drops of normal. However, the crisp mountain air and brilliant sunshine that draw so many to these climes have been muted in recent days by particulates in the smoke that is spreading across the western United States, including the massive Carr Fire in Shasta County, Calif., the sixth largest wildfire in that state’s history. That, too, is becoming commonplace for summer in the western U. S.”

“Today marks the one-year anniversary since Windsor residents were awakened in the wee hours of a Sunday morning to flames engulfing one of the town’s most well-known historic landmarks,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Around 2 a.m. Aug. 6, 2017, the Windsor Mill, 301 Main St., burned, and investigators continue to search for the people or person involved in starting the blaze. Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who were called upon to assist the Windsor Police Department and Windsor Severance Fire Rescue in the fire’s investigation, announced in a news conference in the week following the fire that it was intentionally set.”

“The Colorado River District has agreed to boost water levels to help fish in the Roaring Fork River watershed while also conserving water for use by local irrigators later in the season and improving the chances for boosting flows this fall for endangered fish,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The action also could help protect water quality in the case of anticipated ash in waterways due to expected flooding and debris flows resulting from the Lake Christine Fire near Basalt.”

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife offices statewide are gearing up for two of the biggest days of the year: ‘leftover day’ on Aug. 7 and ‘OTC day’ on Aug. 9,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “On leftover day, CPW sells licenses that have gone through the draw process but still have a quota remaining. In the past, lines for leftover day have resembled crowds waiting to purchase the newest smartphone or attend the opening of a Hollywood blockbuster. Some people even camp out at CPW offices to ensure they get first shot at prime hunting licenses left over from the draw. The crowds come because leftover day is a chance to buy tags that were previously offered during the draw and often represent prime hunting opportunities. CPW staff are reminding hunters that they can avoid the crowds this year by purchasing their license online at cpwshop.com. Hunters can also purchase by phone at 800-244-5613, at CPW offices, and license retailers.”

“Extremely low flows on the Crystal River near Carbondale have led to action by state officials, including turning down a diverter’s headgate and placing a call for water,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “On Friday, the Colorado Water Conservation Board placed a “call” on the Crystal River, asking Division of Water Resources officials to administer an instream flow right on the river. The CWCB has an instream flow right on the Crystal for 100 cubic feet per second between Avalanche Creek and the confluence with the Roaring Fork River from June 1 through Sept. 30 each year. The CWCB used the river gage near the state fish hatchery outside Carbondale to determine that flow conditions were too low. As of Friday morning, the Crystal at that location was running at roughly 8.8 cfs.”

“Routt County officials will consider advancing fire restrictions in unincorporated portions of Routt County to Stage 2 fire restrictions this week,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “‘We do perceive there being a trend developing that would lead us to go into Stage 2, but we’re not necessarily at that tipping point yet,’ said Routt County Emergency Operations Director David “Mo” DeMorat. If enacted, Stage 2 restrictions would take effect Wednesday morning.”

“The overall number of calls for service made to local law enforcement agencies steadily continues to rise in Pueblo,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The Pueblo Police Department has already fielded nearly 83,000 calls thus far in 2018 — more than 391 calls per day, and 4,700 more calls than the same period last year. The growing number of calls continues a trend that has seen the police department’s overall call volume rise more than 30 percent from 2011 to 2017. ‘It’s certainly up,’ said Pueblo Police Chief Troy Davenport about the number of calls for service. ‘It has continued to climb every year for as long as I can remember.'”

“Right on schedule, the Morgan County Treasurer’s Office submitted their quarterly report to the Morgan County Board of Commissioners,” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “With data from their accounting system, Morgan County Treasurer and Public Trustee Bob Sagel was able to provide to the board valuable information regarding the county’s financials. With the second quarter being the time that the county collects the most of its property taxes, there were several important figures in the report. “This year, it was about 70 percent of the total taxes due,” said Sagel, citing what was completed in the second quarter.”

“Glen and Shari Johnson truly embodied the heart of 4-H. The couple and their grown daughters, Jodi, Dakotah, Samantha, and Brandi, were named the 4-H Family of the Year on Sunday during the Fremont County 4-H Livestock Sale,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The award is presented each year to a family for meritorious service during the current and previous Fremont County fairs. “It was emotional for us,” Shari Johnson said about receiving the award. “We were very surprised.” The family has been involved in 4-H for about 25 years. Their daughters were active 4-H members in their youth, taking part in projects ranging from cake decorating to rabbits. They served their club as officers and were active in 4-H council. “It’s an honor to be selected by other 4-H families,” daughter Samantha said.”

“Louisville has rolled out its ‘encroachment campaign,’ reaching out to — and potentially penalizing — residents found to be in violation of the city’s open-space rules,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “According to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, which began reaching out to residents about the campaign on Aug. 1, encroachment can be perceived in a variety of ways. Among them, officials say, the installation of private renovations, including of “gardens, landscaping, fences, paths, compost piles, mowing in excess of the city’s 10-foot buffer allotment, or storage of any personal property, yard clippings, tree trimmings, or other debris on city-owned public land.”

“When Colorado College’s men’s hockey team moves to a new on-campus venue from The Broadmoor World Arena in a few years, Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom regional manager Todd Wyatt expects the loss to feel a little like a solid check against the boards,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs.” Old Chicago opened in a small, 10,400-square-foot retail building in Colorado Springs near the World Arena in December 2015 and gets plenty of Colorado College fans who stop in before or after hockey games for pizza, burgers, sandwiches and beer, Wyatt said. But without those fans, Wyatt said, Old Chicago could see a loss of several thousand dollars in sales on game nights, which typically take place on Fridays and Saturdays.”

“Longtime La Plata County resident Ed Zink is facing increasing criticism for illegally closing off access to a public road near Falls Creek, but it’s not clear what La Plata County or the Sheriff’s Office intend to do about it, if anything,” reports The Durango Herald. “About a decade ago, Zink put up a gate near his sister’s property on County Road 203 at the entrance of a dirt road known as Falls Creek Road, which people have historically used to reach the U.S. Forest Service’s Falls Creek trail system. The property was purchased about two years ago, and the gate was taken down by the new property owners after learning it was public. But the gate has since been reinstalled.”

“Boulder’s City Council wasted little time Tuesday night in advancing two measures aimed at potential oil and gas drilling, including a pollution tax on any future extraction and a statement condemning an industry-backed ballot initiative,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Both items, on the consent agenda, were discussed only briefly. The pollution tax would be levied against drillers: up to $6.90 per barrel of oil and 88 cents per thousand cubic feet of natural gas. The tax would apply only to resources extracted within city limits; there is currently no expressed interest or plans for such projects, and Boulder has a timeout on applications in place through June 2020. Councilwoman Cindy Carlisle was the only council member to speak about the tax, calling out statements made by industry group Colorado Oil and Gas Association in opposition. In remarks to the Camera, the group’s head Dan Haley called the measure a tax increase; Carlisle clarified that it was not a tax on citizens, but on drillers.”

“Longmont City Council was assured by the city staff Tuesday night that future fracking to free up oil and gas deposits deep underneath Union Reservoir — and the subsequent drilling and extraction of those minerals — pose minimal risks to the quality of the water it stores,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “During a study-session review of the staff’s research, however, several council members indicated they wish they had more of a guarantee that oil and gas companies drilling from surface sites far away from the reservoir and its shorelines could be held financially responsible for rapid and complete response to spills, leaks or other problems. Before the staff presented its report, however, a handful of residents stated their opposition to allowing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling under the reservoir east of Longmont, even though the city is currently in a binding agreement the council approved last spring to keep wells and related equipment off the actual surface of city-owned lands near the reservoir.”

“A lawsuit alleging top Anadarko Petroleum officials misled investors by failing to disclose safety risks has been renewed after it was dismissed in June,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Filed earlier this month in the United States District Court, the securities class action lawsuit details a company that ignored safety regulations and deceived investors, Colorado regulators and the public. Philadelphia Iron Workers, which purchased Anadarko common stock, filed the suit against the company and three executives, on behalf of all people who purchased or acquired common stock between Feb. 8, 2016 and May 2, 2017, the latter date being when the Frederick-Firestone Fire Department linked the company to a fatal explosion in Firestone.”

“Larimer County intends to file a lawsuit against companies that manufacture and distribute opioid drugs, seeking compensation for harms to Larimer County caused by illegal use of the prescription drugs,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The Larimer County commissioners voted 2-0 Tuesday to hire the national law firm Keller Rohrback out of Seattle to handle a lawsuit on behalf of the county — a firm chosen and to be hired by all 13 Colorado cities, towns and counties that are looking at lawsuits as part of a coalition. Each city and county will file a lawsuit on its own behalf, though they are working together to send a message to the companies about the deadly and costly epidemic caused by the misuse of these pain killers, resulting in overdoses and community impacts across the country.”

“Among the states with the largest Latino populations, Colorado has the largest disparity between white and Latino residents attaining post-secondary education, according to a new report,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Colorado is one of nine states with at least one million Latino residents, but it has the highest attainment gap of those states: Sixty-four percent of white residents have completed a high-quality certificate, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree or more, as compared to 39 percent of black residents and 29 percent of Latinos residents, according to a 68-page report released Tuesday by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. In the report, titled “Rocky Mountain Divide: Lifting Latinos and Closing Equity Gaps in Colorado,” the authors list findings and recommendations for the state to achieve educational equity.”

“Garden City Town Administrator Cheryl Campbell keeps expecting marijuana sales in the town to level out,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “But every time she says that out loud, it doesn’t happen. “At some point, it’s got to level out,” she said. The money accounts for 59 percent of Garden City’s total revenue. For Garden City, the industry in 2017 generated $1.48 million in sales tax. That’s a lot for such a small town, especially when you consider the town collected $537,000 in 2014. The town of 250 people is .11 square miles, landlocked between Greeley and Evans. Neither of the surrounding cities allow recreational marijuana sales, giving the town’s four marijuana shops — LivWell Garden City, Nature’s Herbs and Wellness, XG Platinum Dispensary and Smokey’s 420 — control over the local market.”

“Loveland’s Winter Holiday Council volunteers are considering hanging up their Santa hats due to persistent financial problems that have made it increasingly difficult for the group to spangle the city for the holidays,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Council president Mary Hall said Wednesday that the group might turn over to the city their decorations, which have decorated the Lake Loveland area since 1989, if they cannot secure a dependable funding source. ‘If we don’t get funding … I will go over to the city and hand over the keys to the storage units (that hold the decorations),’ Hall said. ‘What else can we do?'”

“When Stacy Razzano had to decide between continuing to remain with her employer of 27 years or sticking up for the industry that has sustained her family and her community, she handed in her notice,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Razzano, branch manager and vice president of the Bank of the West in Craig, is finishing up her work there and considering her future job options after telling the bank last week that she was resigning. That was shortly after becoming aware of a social media post the bank made laying out its position to largely eschew investments in coal, oil and gas.”

“The burned-out wreck of a house at 1124 E. Eighth St. will be coming down in the next few days. City Manager Sam Azad said a demolition crew will knock down the two-story hulk this week or early next week,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Neighbors confirmed they have been notified of the impending demolition. “We’re going to knock down the building because it’s a public nuisance and we’ll cover the debris until we have the necessary disposal permits from the state,” Azad said Wednesday.”

“The Sterling Lions Club once again took time to honor those who’ve contributed greatly to agriculture and Logan County at its annual Cowboy Breakfast, held Wednesday at the Sterling Elks Lodge. Recognized as this year’s Pioneer Award winner was Maurice John Schaefer,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “Schaefer was born on March 20, 1926 to Killian Schaefer and Elizabeth (Korth) Schaefer in Humphrey, Neb. He is 92 years old. His father was born in 1883 in Humphrey, Neb., and his mother was born in 1886 in Wayne, Neb. They were married in 1906 in Nebraska.”

“A special bond forms between the men and women who dig line and get covered with soot while fighting wildfires,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Kevin Thompson, a fire management officer with the Routt National Forest, is one of about 200 people helping fight and manage the lightning-caused, 2,061-acre Silver Creek Fire that is burning southeast of Steamboat Springs. Earlier in his career, Thompson worked for seven seasons with the Craig Hotshots crew based west of Steamboat in Craig. The Hotshots are elite firefighters based in different parts of the country who are expected to be in top physical shape and to work hard.”

“A grant to design new city offices for Fort Morgan has arrived, but it is $200,000 less than what city officials expected,” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “So now the city is looking at spending $1.6 million just to design the complex, instead of the $2 million it originally budgeted for design purposes. Councilman Dan Marler said he feels both ‘hoodwinked’ and ‘surprised’ after receiving the news at Tuesday’s city council meeting. “I’m feeling a little hoodwinked,” Marler said. ‘We’re spending all of our reserves here. We were anticipating on finishing out the roads around Centrepoint Plaza for about $2.5 million and now we’re talking $7 million. In two more months, are we going to be at $9 million?’ he questioned.”

“The proposed Vail Trail Extension will be removed from the town’s open lands plan after council members heard concerns from the community on Tuesday, Aug. 7,” reports Vail Daily. “The new trail was to be cut through the town-owned Katsos Ranch Open Space in East Vail along a route that would run parallel to the existing Gore Valley Trail, a paved path. The Vail Trail Extension was proposed as a soft-surface alternative to the Gore Valley Trail, to be used by hikers and mountain bikers.”

“Current redevelopment in the 1300 block of U.S. 50 is expected to not only breathe new life into the vacant corner but also contribute to city coffers and expand the local workforce,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The structures at 1303 and 1315 U.S. 50 have been demolished to make way for a new Starbucks that is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2019, according to Cañon City Economic Development Director Ryan Stevens. In addition to improving the highway by removing two under-performing buildings, Stevens said it is estimated that the project will generate about $18,000 per year in general sales tax and $9,000 per year toward the 2A streets project.”

“Boulder’s City Council delayed a decision on flood protection after hours of public comment Tuesday night that included concerns over lack of transparency in the city’s engagement with citizens,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Several community members spoke during Tuesday’s public hearing to criticize the lengthy, twisting path to a flood solution for south Boulder creek, a journey that may grow longer as citizen groups including Save South Boulder and PLAN, the city’s open space and planning boards, and some members of council are calling for another concept to be considered along with plans already developed through a three-year public process.”

“A proposed substance abuse treatment center in Woodmoor has given rise to a groundswell of opposition from residents who feel the facility would draw criminals and unbridled drug use to the area,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Their concerns were spotlighted at a Wednesday night public meeting held by Sunshine Behavioral Health, the California-based company that has purchased the area’s former Ramada hotel property to house the high-end facility that it hopes to open early next year. About 130 people packed into a meeting room at the Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce in Monument, and more people flooded into the hallway. Within the first 10 minutes, opponents of the project had begun circulating a petition to stop the facility from opening. At one point, a man asked for those opposed to the center to raise their hands, and nearly everyone in the audience did.”

“Denver police took a 16-year-old girl into custody in connection with the death of 7-year-old Jordan Vong after finding the boy’s body hidden in his family’s Montbello home Tuesday night,” reports The Denver Post. “Officers had twice previously searched Jordan’s family home on the 4900 block of Fairplay Street in Montbello after he was reported missing around 4:30 p.m. Monday. Officers had hoped Jordan was hiding somewhere in the house, said Denver Police Department Division Chief Joe Montoya. ‘Generally, in these types of cases, we hope the child is hiding or playing a game,’ Montoya said. But Tuesday night, after more than 24 hours of searching that also involved the FBI, Denver police asked a judge for a search warrant. They started a deep search of the family’s home at 8:20 p.m., and after 30 minutes, found the boy’s body “intentionally concealed,’ Montoya said.”

Following last month’s implosion of The Denver Post’s politics team, the paper has rebuilt the desk, pulling in hires from Oklahoma, Cincinnati, and elsewhere.

Ben Botkin, formerly of the nonprofit Oklahoma Watch, is already on the beat along with Anna Staver who migrated over from a producer role at KUSA 9news. Cindi Andrews, who comes from The Cincinnati Enquirer, oversees the desk as an editor. The latest to join is Nic Garcia, who spent the past five or so years at Chalkbeat Colorado. “One more hire, and the politics team will be firing on all cylinders once again,” said Jon Murray, who is the city hall reporter on the team.

A couple things to note here. One is that it doesn’t yet look like The Denver Post has hired a new reporter in Washington, D.C. after the departure of Mark K. Matthews. (If it stays that way, we can start calling him the DC bureau angel of death: Matthews was the last D.C. correspondent for The Orlando Sentinel, he told me, and he says he hopes he won’t be the last for The Denver Post.) Another notable aspect of this rebuilding is that since two of the former team — John Frank and Jesse Paul — will still be covering politics at the newly formed Colorado Sun, if the Post team builds all the way back up to six then there would actually be more reporters on the politics beat during this election season then before the Big Collapse. So a contrarian take, ready-made for a #SlatePitch: Alden Global Capital indirectly created more political journalism in Colorado.

Meanwhile, Colorado Public Radio expands…

This station with an annual budget of around $18 million is on a hiring spree, looking to fill nine positions, which will increase the Colorado Public Radio newsroom by a third and swell its news staff to “nearly 40 journalists.” Among the positions are regional reporters based in Colorado Springs and Grand Junction. “We were able to add these nine positions in news this year without having to cut elsewhere,” the station’s executive editor Kevin Dale told me, adding that an increase in listener support allowed it. “We were going to probably add about four positions this year and I just said ‘You know, it’s really important to grow now while other places are struggling.’ And leadership and the board all agreed with that.”

Dale said he hopes to start building an investigative unit and augment CPR’s digital team. “We need to become a 24/7 newsroom, which we’re not right now,” he said. “Our goal is to build this up to a newsroom of — my dream is around 70 or more … that is covering all parts of the state all day every day.”

On freelance journalism in off-the-Front-Range Colorado

Speaking of covering all parts of the state, David O. Williams, a freelance journalist in Eagle County, went off on his Real Vail site this week after seeing his work in the pages of The Denver Post where he used to earn a “pittance” as a far-flung contributor. He recently had a story in the Vail Daily that localized the effects of Trump’s tariffs on Eagle County, he wrote, and then he saw it re-published in the Big City Paper in Denver.

From his post:

Instead of paying me whatever pittance they used to dole out back in the day when I was a regular contributor to the Post from Eagle County, the “Voice of the Rocky Mountain Empire” just strikes reciprocal deals with newspaper chains that are still doling out alms to the poor in places they no longer send staff writers.

Ouch. He says he commends the original paper where he published the piece, however, because “in these darkest of dark times for print journalism, the Daily and its parent company Swift has found a way to survive and still ‘support’ freelancers.” He’s also waiting for a little Sun, too. Read the whole thing here.

Colorado reporter: ‘The background problem is real’

In an effort to “shed more light” on how journalism works, The New York Times has launched a series where it explains some of its practices. Some of its recent pieces include how the paper uses anonymous sources and what “off the record” really means. Here’s the nut, from the Times: “There is no universally agreed-upon meaning for many of these terms — and The Times has no precise descriptions in its own internal guidelines — making it difficult to sketch out even working definitions.” Bingo. So you have to work it out with your sources about how you want to proceed —  “off the record,” “on background,” “not for attribution,” “embargoed,” “for planning purposes only,” etc. —  and do so in clear language so there’s no misunderstanding.

This preamble is to highlight what popped up in some local reporting here in Colorado recently involving the story of an Iraqi immigrant who is accused of shooting a Colorado Springs police officer in the head, leaving him in critical condition. In a solid, triple bylined story, The Gazette, citing court records, reported the suspect, who was “free on bond was known to immigration enforcement officials, yet evaded deportation despite a string of crimes.”

The Aug. 3 story comes with this, (emphasis mine):

El Paso County sheriff’s spokesman Jacqueline Kirby said Al Khammasi was an Iraqi citizen who was born in Iraq. She had previously said Al Khammasi was a refugee, but she later said she was mistaken, and that she wasn’t certain of his immigration status.

Then, on Aug. 6, Blair Miller reported for Denver7:

The man accused of shooting Colorado Springs Police Officer Cem Duzel last week is a refugee from Iraq who has been in the United States since 2012, racking up a host of charges during that time. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told Denver7 Monday that Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi, 31, came from Iraq in December 2012 after receiving a RE-1 refugee status that May. The official only agreed to speak on the condition they not be named. The Associated Press additionally reported Monday that Khammasi was set to be deported before a federal court ruling, though the DHS official did not confirm those details to Denver7. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson directed Denver7’s questions to DHS.

This is from The AP story:

A refugee from Iraq charged with shooting a Colorado police officer last week was set for deportation before a federal appeals court ruled in 2016 that a portion of immigration law defining violent crime was too vague, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. The DHS official, who was not authorized to discuss the case on the record and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Monday that federal immigration authorities began deportation proceedings against Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi after he violated probation terms of a felony trespassing plea in 2015.

In tweeting out his story Monday, Miller of Denver7 told his followers:

Also, the “reportedly” part comes because had to source the AP on the deportation bit. Assuming the DHS official who demanded background sourcing for refugee part from me is same official who spoke to AP about the deportation stuff. The “background" problem is real.

— Blair Miller (@blairmiller) August 6, 2018

Miller didn’t seem like the only frustrated Colorado journalist Monday. Earlier in the day, Denver Post editor Lee Ann Colacioppo tweeted:

People in press offices who give information to reporters and then demand anonymity for no good reason are actively hurting the news media's ability to be transparent and show how news was collected. Worst are press people in DC.

— Lee Ann Colacioppo (@LAColacioppo) August 6, 2018

To which Miller replied: “What I was really trying to say about the way political comms shops operate, put much more succinctly”.

Crashes vs. landings: Donna Lynne on press coverage of her campaign for governor

The moderate, Hickenlooper 2.0 campaign of Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne in the Democratic primary for governor never caught fire — and the lite guv has some ideas about why she came in fourth on Election Day. Big Money was clearly a factor, she told Denver’s alt-weekly Westword in a recent debrief, but she also “doesn’t exempt the media from criticism,” wrote Michael Roberts.

Here’s Lynne in her own words from his story:

“For me, it’s very much about a belief that voters should want to know more about the candidates than you can get in a thirty-second commercial, or what you get from some of the mailings, which tended to get a little more inflammatory or dirty, because they were mostly coming from the independent-expenditure side. I never called people names or made up stories, but that wasn’t the case in some of the debates and some of the mailings and ads that I saw. And in the absence of the press or some organization that might say, ‘Is this really his or her position?,’ you can really say anything you want.”

Granted, “some of the press did fact checks,” she notes. “But most people aren’t paying attention to the fact check when they’re getting all these mailings and seeing all these ads. So maybe it’s a combination of the press having a lack of staff or that they weren’t as engaged in the issue. As I always say, some people like to cover the airplane crashes versus the airplane landings. But I would have hoped it would have been more about policy issues.”

Behind the scenes, “we spent a lot of time on our side developing very in-depth policy positions,” she explains. “We assembled people with very diverse interests and put together very thoughtful papers, trying to be very clear about the issues, because that’s what a candidate is supposed to do. But in a campaign, you can say anything. You can say, ‘I’m going to give you free this or free that,’ without any sense of reality about what our voters in Colorado have done with respect to tax increases over the past 25 years. A candidate can appeal to voters by saying they’re going to give them free something. So it’s not only about the way campaigns are financed. Maybe it’s also about how we get our information and how much time reporters can actually spend saying, ‘Here are the real differences in education policy, on marijuana policy, on whatever.’ That’s as much of a concern as the amounts of money that are being spent.”​

Lynne, it should be noted, aired a TV ad in which she got a tattoo as part of her campaign. Because landings not crashes.

The Colorado Sun soft published and got profiled in Poynter

The 10-person digital startup, which just published its first story in its newsletter last week, got some more national ink, this time from Poynter.

From the piece:

To establish the Sun’s presence throughout the state, the editors are exploring partnerships with local outlets and asking readers about their concerns in weekly newsletters. More than a quarter of reader responses to newsletters have come from outside the Denver area and surrounding cities, [editor Dana] Coffield said. The journalists said they don’t see themselves as competitors to the Denver Post, and emphasized that they still appreciate the work the Post is doing. There are plenty of stories going unreported across the state, [Sun reporter John] Ingold said. He’s said he’s looking forward to being part of a more collaborative news environment to serve the people of Colorado.

…

Other Denver media startups like the InDenver Times, the Rocky Mountain Independent and Colorado Public News failed due to lack of interest or subscribers after the Rocky Mountain News folded. Coffield said she thinks the Sun will be different because of the timing. The journalists understand better how audiences consume news digitally, and readers aren’t surprised to hear that the Sun will be online only.

As the team continues to build its website, its journalists are also out in the field reporting. The first published story, in last week’s newsletter, came from Jennifer Brown and was about a federal plan “to remove the ovaries of wild horses as part of a controversial birth-control roundup” with the help of Colorado State University. The format is less on-the-ground narrative than it is digital-news-style explanatory with five subject headings like “The history,” “The problem,” and “What’s next.”

What you missed on the Sunday front pages across Colorado

The Greeley Tribune had a big takeout on a severe shortage of childcare in Weld County. The Longmont Times-Call reported on a potential mill levy for fire districts. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported on a checkered history of a California man connected to a company hired to print ballots for more than a third of Colorado’s counties. The Durango Herald reported a halfway house director has a “history of sexual harassment complaints,” relying on documents leaked to the paper anonymously and acknowledged by the board president. The Loveland Reporter-Herald covered the cutting down of beetle-infested spruces. The Steamboat Pilot reported how water managers are boosting the reservoir flow into the Yampa River. The Pueblo Chieftain covered a national home-made rocketry event. The Coloradoan in Fort Collins reported on how a couple bought a local home for $10,000 under the asking price. The Gazette in Colorado Springs covered a national honor bestowed on a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad who is buried in the city. The Boulder Daily Camera reported on its city considering preemptive moves on oil-and-gas drilling. The Denver Post dug into how police respond to “armed law-abiding citizens.”

The Pueblo Chieftain on past reporting conflicts

A call to the GateHouse-owned Pueblo Chieftain’s editor Steve Henson this week led him to pen a column about what happens when the paper’s reporters run into conflicts of interest. The caller said he believed his wife was unfairly treated during a traffic arrest and he wanted the paper to “‘expose’ the wrongdoing,” Henson wrote. The editor said he wasn’t going to write about it and the caller accused him of having relatives on the police force (Henson says he doesn’t) and therefore covering for the cops. The incident led Henson to recall how his paper dealt with conflicts in the past.

From the column:

A few years back, a city government reporter told me she had a concern. She had begun dating a candidate for the City Council and wanted to disclose that. It was an easy issue to resolve. We took her off the city beat temporarily until the election was over. It turns out her friend didn’t win and she returned to the beat after the election. It was an obvious conflict of interest, and as long as I can remember, we’ve worked hard to disclose and resolve such conflicts. Recently, one of our reporters said he felt he couldn’t cover the controversy at El Pueblo adolescent treatment center as he was friends with an El Pueblo board member. No problem. We assigned El Pueblo coverage to other reporters.
…
Many years ago, we used to publish a list of shoplifting arrests in the misguided belief that would deter such actions and help merchants. One day, the wife of a prominent Puebloan was arrested and the husband called to ask us to keep it out. The big boss said ‘Yes,’ and the newsroom’s response was simple: No more publishing shoplifting arrests then, because, we reasoned, if you don’t publish every arrest, you shouldn’t publish any.

“We make mistakes and things slip through the cracks,” Henson wrote. “But we try very hard to be consistent, fair and to handle conflicts of interest as best we can.”

Letters are flying over the handcuffing of a Colorado journalist

Following the detention and handcuffing of Colorado Independent editor Susan Greene after she took photos of police officers in public, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and other journalist representative groups sent a letter to the Denver Department of Public Safety urging it “to institute intensive First Amendment training for its employees … so that an incident such as that experienced by Ms. Greene … is not repeated.”

“La Plata and Montezuma counties are among six in Colorado selected to participate in collaboration to create a model for suicide prevention that could be used nationwide,” reports The Durango Herald. “The goal of the Colorado-National Collaborative is to create a suicide-prevention model to reduce suicide 20 percent statewide by 2024, said Jarrod Hindman, deputy chief of the Violence and Injury Prevention-Mental Health Promotion Branch of the state health department. National suicide-prevention groups wanted to work with Colorado because it has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation, 20.3 people per 100,000 in 2016, Hindman said. Across the country, the suicide rate is 13.5 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Colorado also has a high number of suicides, with 1,140 suicide deaths in 2016, according to the Office of Suicide Prevention. This sets it apart from other Western states with lower populations that have high rates but don’t have a high number of deaths by suicide, he said. State leaders are motivated to address the state’s growing problem, which also factored into its selection, he said.”

“A license plate that will be available to Coloradans later this week is connected to Marcus McCauley’s 2,000 chickens that are being raised for meat at the McCauley Family Farm in Longmont,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The McCauley chickens are part of a relatively new effort in Colorado called carbon farming. In carbon farming, farmers and ranchers try to mimic the natural cycles of the earth in order to keep carbon out of the air and in the soil, where it can help to grow plants that can neutralize carbon dioxide.”

“On June 28, Cameron Eldridge reported to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Sir, yes, sir. Ma’am, yes, ma’am. He sure did. “It was pretty abrupt,” the 19-year-old recent graduate of Johnstown’s Roosevelt High said in a phone interview Saturday. “You walk in and the first words they tell you are, ‘From this point forward, the first and last words out of your mouth will be sir or ma’am.'”

“Before Harold Cressler died in 2015, he told his family he wanted his body donated to science, in the hopes he could help provide a cure for the lung cancer that took his life,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The former uranium miner from Nucla felt good about having his body used for cancer research and he didn’t want to be buried in the family plot, said his daughter, Judy Williams of Grand Junction. But now the family wonders what, in fact, happened to the 84-year-old man’s body.”

“Kristine Edland bought two pygmy goats in May as pets and to teach her son animal husbandry, thinking that they are legal within the city limits of Loveland as long as they are show animals,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Frankie and Ellie May Sue, nearly full grown just below knee-high, have become beloved pets that she cuddles, walks on leash and considers part of her family. But in the three months she has had them, she has not yet shown them. And because of that, the Larimer Humane Society, responding to neighbor complaints, has given her eight weeks to find a new home for her kids, leaving Edland devastated and feeling targeted.”

“If approved, the proposed Black Hills Energy transmission line west of Pueblo would be under construction in the spring 2019 and set to go online in 2021,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The utility, which operates more than 640 miles of transmission line in Colorado, has filed a House Bill 1041 application with Pueblo County, which would allow for the construction of the 39-mile, single-circuit 115 kilovolt transmission line that would travel from Pueblo West toward the Canon City area. The Canon West Reliability Project would cross about 18 miles of land in Pueblo County: 14.8 miles on private land and 3.4 miles on property owned by the Pueblo West Metropolitan District.”

“Schools in Morgan County are getting really close to their start dates,” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “In fact, Weldon Valley School and many of the schools in Fort Morgan are set to begin classes grades yet this week, and Brush and Wiggins will start the following week. For families, that means getting together the school supplies and everything needed for beginning a new school year. At least 550 of the students heading to these classes have new backpacks filled with school supplies after attending the recent Back to School Bash that the Morgan County Interagency Oversight Group and its many partner agencies held at Morgan Community College.”

“George Brauchler stopped by the Logan County Fairgrounds Saturday after participating in the fair parade on a campaign tour of northeast Colorado,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “Brauchler, the 18th Judicial District Attorney who is seeking to be Colorado’s next Attorney General, grabbed a cheeseburger and eyed the competition at the NJC Young Farmers’ Pedal Tractor Pull, but wasn’t able to get on the tractor before he had to depart. Brauchler touts himself as a “Colorado kid;” he grew up in Lakewood with two working parents and attended public schools, from elementary through law school at the University of Colorado. His wife is a small business owner; his four children, ranging in age from 8 to 15, also attend public school and are involved in Scouting. Brauchler tried his first case 24 years ago, and his prosecutorial experience includes the Columbine School massacre, the Kobe Bryant rape case and the Aurora movie theatre shooting. In 2006, he started a private law practice that grew to five attorneys and three support staff.”

“Every second, one million new nuero connectors are formed in an infant’s brain, said Tami Haverly, executive director of the Discovery Learning Center,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “And about 90 to 95 percent of brain development occurs by the time a child enters kindergarten. It’s “an amazing time,” she said, when kids learn critical thinking and social-emotional skills and “set the stage for the rest of their lives.” While research leaves no doubt about the magnitude of development in the first five years of life, there is a lack of prioritization nationally, and it remains a persistent challenge locally for families to find affordable, high-quality childcare. It impacts not only families, but the entire economy as parents weigh the cost of working and paying for child care — if they can find it — versus staying at home.”

“Former Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton was born the same year Ulysses S. Grant took the presidential oath of office,” The Denver Post reported in a story on the front page of today’s The Cañon Cty Daily Record. “Colorado treasurer and gubernatorial hopeful Walker Stapleton, Benjamin’s great-grandson, was born the same year Gerald Ford became the nation’s 38th president. The sweep of time between both men exceeds a century, and neither strode the earth when the other did. But Benjamin Stapleton’s notorious role as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, while serving five terms as mayor of the Mile High City in the first half of the 20th century, lurks just below the surface of this year’s race for governor and presents pitfalls for the both Stapleton and his Democratic opponent, Jared Polis. Last month, The New York Times published a story titled “Family History Haunts GOP Candidate for Governor in Colorado,” while other news outlets have raised the issue of ancestral roots with Stapleton, who in past political campaigns has lauded his great-grandfather for helping bring the former Stapleton Airport and Red Rocks Amphitheatre to Colorado. Several seasoned election watchers told The Denver Post last week that voters are discerning enough to recognize that the younger Stapleton is not his great-grandfather and grew up in a different time in the state’s history. Still, the dark chapter in his family’s past is an issue that the Republican brushes aside at his own peril, they said.”

“An ambitious plan for development that includes a 55-plus community and a smaller home development on property south of the Eagle County Regional Airport will go before the Gypsum Town Council on Tuesday night, Aug. 14,” reports Vail Daily. “Siena Lake, planned on a 170-acre site that was annexed to the town in 2002 as the former Saddleridge proposal, includes a total of 591 residential units in a mix of housing types. Earlier this summer, the Gypsum Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the plan.”

“Longmont’s and Boulder’s chambers of commerce will host separate presentations about the potential local impacts on the funding of area transportation projects if Colorado voters approve either of a pair of competing measures likely to be on November’s statewide ballot,” reports The Longmont Times-Call on the front page of today’s Boulder Daily Camera. “The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is still counting the petition signatures turned in by backers of the two measures to verify whether enough were submitted to qualify for the ballot.”

“This is a good year to be a Democrat running for state and federal offices in Colorado, campaign finance filings show,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “‘They have a lot more contributions and a lot more enthusiasm than on the Republican side,’ said Robert Duffy, a political science professor at Colorado State University. The blue wave anticipated by many political experts and pundits is reflected in Democrats’ fundraising for the Nov. 6 election, said Matthew Hitt, another political science professor at CSU. The wave is particularly strong among Democrats facing Republican incumbents, candidates who usually face significant fundraising challenges.”

“A slew of approved and potential tax measures for Denver’s November ballot are poised to test the tax tolerance of one of the state’s friendliest counties for spending measures,” reports The Denver Post. “Campaigns are gearing up to pitch sales tax increases in support of several causes that, on their own, each sound noble. Already approved for the ballot are a City Council-referred sales tax increase to support more parks and an initiative by education, nonprofit and business leaders to fund college scholarships for the city’s youth. Initiative petitions for another tax that would support mental health and drug treatment programs now are under review, and on deck is the filing, in coming days, of petitions for a fourth tax that would raise money for healthy food programs serving at-risk children. Add in an amendment that would raise the state income tax on higher-wage earners for education and a likely statewide tax measure for transportation, and the state’s largest county has the makings of a tax pileup on its Nov. 6 ballot. Will voters flinch?”

“No matter how Coloradans vote Nov. 6 on whether to change how the state draws congressional district boundaries, the people who draw the lines after the 2020 Census likely will have a little more work to do,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Colorado is expected to gain an eighth seat in Congress after the next national headcount, according to the latest census estimates as analyzed by The Washington Post. The Post says Colorado is one of six states projected to gain one or more congressional districts after the next census. If so, the first election for that eighth seat would come in 2022.”

“Smartwool employees are still processing news of the company’s planned move from Steamboat Springs to Denver,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “‘It’s a very sad day to have to move out of this amazing community that we have here in Steamboat,’ Smartwool President Jen McLaren said. Over the weekend, Smartwool’s parent company, VF Corporation, told company leadership that the brand’s headquarters would be relocating to the Denver metro area within the next two years. Employees and city and county officials learned of the move Monday morning. ‘This was really a VF decision, first and foremost, and it is a strategic decision that was made by the senior leadership team,’ McLaren said. VF Corporation owns the outdoor brands The North Face, Alta, Eagle Creek and JanSport. These companies will relocate with Smartwool to a yet-to-be-identified location in the Denver area. This decision is intended to increase collaboration and connectivity between brands, McLaren said.”

“Boulder County voters in November will be asked to extend an 0.185 percent sales and use tax to fund an alternative sentencing facility and programs as well as improvements to the county jail,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “County commissioners Tuesday morning are slated to take formal action to advance the issue to the ballot. The tax, if approved, would generate a projected $10 million a year between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2024. The tax would essentially continue collections of the 0.185 percent sales and use tax Boulder County voters approved in 2014 to fund flood-recovery efforts, although revenues would no longer be spent on flood recovery and mitigation.”

“Trina Kauk spent the bulk of her childhood scampering with her older brother between the buildings of downtown New Raymer, from the tavern that later became a post office to the grocery store where kids picked up the mail and probably some treats on the way home from school,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “She, Bob and her parents, Kenneth and Betty Thompson, lived in the tavern, where, like most businesses on the street, living quarters were set up in the back. It was a busy, flourishing town, serenaded by a train, back in the mid-1950s to the early ’60s as she grew up. As she got older, she sadly realized her childhood wouldn’t last forever. That’s something we all face, of course, but Kauk was forced to come to terms with a more visceral reminder as she watched that train station close, the school move two miles east, the grocery store move to a new building on Colo. 14, and the other businesses die off. She is now 62, and she is one of the founding members of Friends of Raymer, a group of people like her who grew up in the town and don’t want to see their family history crumble down to dust.”

“About 200 Loveland residents took to Facebook last week to share their shock upon opening their most recent city utility bills,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Some report that though they feel their households are using less water and energy compared to years past, or at least keeping to the status quo, their bills report meter readings that feel far out of step with their lives. Some customers speculate about what might be changing in how the city assesses utility bills, but city staff say that with the exception of a 9 percent increase in fees over last year, nothing is different — except, perhaps, that it’s an especially hot summer.”

“Grand Junction city councilors asked staff to work with community center campaigners to hash out details on a potential ballot question asking voters to fund the project and possibly develop part of Matchett Park at the same time,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “At a work session Monday night, three councilors also indicated they were in favor of asking voters to consider funding a community center, presumably with a sales-tax increase. Exact numbers have not been determined and no official decision was made, but Phyllis Norris, Duke Wortmann and Bennett Boeschenstein voiced support for putting a referred measure on the April municipal ballot.”

“By 6:30 a.m., they were rolling east down the highway, the familiar yellow buses en route to Pueblo County High School, Vineland Middle School and Avondale Elementary School,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Along the way, sharp-dressed youngsters bearing backpacks and bookbags stood off the side of the road, alertly awaiting the bus that would usher them to the start of a new school year. For students and staff in Pueblo County School District 70, Monday signaled the official beginning of classes and the end of summer break. As children made their way to their respective school — the younger ones by bus and parental transport, many of the “bigger kids” in personal rides — the Mesa was abuzz with the signs of a fresh academic beginning. For Pueblo County High School Principal Brian Dilka, the 2018-19 school year formally started at about 6:45 a.m. Monday, although the personable leader didn’t stray far from his office throughout the summer.”

“Public health officials are reminding northeast Colorado pet owners to ensure their animals are up to date on their rabies vaccinations after confirming a rabid domestic bat in Morgan County,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “According to a press release from the Northeast Colorado Health Department, a Fort Morgan woman was sleeping and felt something on her upper arm. After swatting at the object, she realized it was a bat when it flew across the room. The woman called the Fort Morgan Police Department, which responded and captured the bat. The police sent the bat in for rabies testing and NCHD confirmed that it had the fatal disease. “Fortunately, all of the pets in the home were current on their rabies vaccinations so they do not need further treatment,” the release states. ‘The victim of the bat encounter immediately started Post-Exposure Prophylaxis to prevent the onset of the rabies virus.'”

“Federal authorities today announced prosecution results from marijuana grows on federal public land last year, as they prepare for this year’s marijuana harvest season,” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, U.S. Forest Service Special Agent in Charge Kent Delbon, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Special Agent in Charge Gary Mannino announced all three agencies are working together with local law enforcement to make public lands safer, to prevent environmental damage, and to combat illegal marijuana trafficking. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) provided substantial assistance. During 2017, Forest Service agents and BLM officers, in concert with local law enforcement, dismantled marijuana operations on public land throughout the state, with several defendants receiving sentences of up to five years in prison.”

“Eagle County will remain under Stage 2 fire restrictions until weather conditions change,” reports Vail Daily. “Those restrictions essentially ban all outdoor fires, including on private property. Propane-powered stoves are still allowed. The local restrictions were imposed in late June and have applied to the entire county. Despite the county’s varied terrain — from high desert to high alpine — Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek said uniform countywide restrictions make it easier from both an enforcement and user perspective.”

“There is an open seat on the Cañon City School Board after Kristyn Econome resigned during Monday’s meeting to accept a position at Cañon City High School as a Spanish teacher,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “‘I thoroughly enjoyed serving on the board the past few years, but this new opportunity is also exciting at the same time so I’m looking forward to getting back in the classroom and working directly with kids,” Econome said. Econome has served three years on the school board as the assistant secretary and treasurer. She has eight years of teaching under her belt and her most recent teaching position was at Cañon City Middle School and Harrison K-8 in 2010 as a Spanish teacher.”

“Summer is winding down, which means it’s almost time for students to return to Boulder,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “University of Colorado students are already trickling back into town and freshmen begin their move-in in earnest this weekend, which makes this weekend the best time to avoid U.S. 36, any major artery around campus and the checkout lines at Target. CU officials said they’re continuously tweaking the move-in procedure, and this year is no different. They’ve scheduled more students to move in this weekend to lessen weekday traffic jams, and they’ve changed up the order that students move into their residence halls. They’ve divided the campus into regions, and to ease congestion around any one part of campus students will only move into one residence hall per region per time slot.”

“VF Corporation, the parent company of popular outdoor brands like The North Face, JanSport and Smartwool, announced Monday it will move its global headquarters to Denver, bringing 800 high-paying jobs with it,” reports The Denver Post. “Just how soon all those big earners could be on the ground in the Mile High City is up in the air, VF officials say. If all of those positions are squared away by 2026 there is more than $27 million in tax incentives in it for the company. In a new release issued Monday, VF chairman, president and CEO Steve Rendle called Denver “a great strategic fit for our business.” “We believe that the creation of our new headquarters in the area will help us to unlock collaboration across our outdoor brands, attract and retain talent, and accelerate innovation,” Rendle said. About 85 VF executives are expected to move to Denver next spring. They are the first wave of a relocation and consolidation plan that will see The North Face, JanSport, Eagle Creek and Altra move their headquarters into Colorado from elsewhere and see Steamboat Springs-based Smartwool move its leadership to Denver.”

“The risk of erosion from the Plateau Fire’s burn scar into McPhee Reservoir is considered low, according to a recent hydrology report,” reports The Cortez Journal. “Burn specialists and hydrologists flew over the fire area Saturday, focusing on Plateau and Beaver drainages. Monsoonal rains could push some sediment into channels that feed McPhee Reservoir, but it will not be a significant amount, said San Juan National Forest hydrologist Shauna Jensen.”

“Boulder’s City Council wasted little time Tuesday night in advancing two measures aimed at potential oil and gas drilling, including a pollution tax on any future extraction and a statement condemning an industry-backed ballot initiative,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Both items, on the consent agenda, were discussed only briefly. The pollution tax would be levied against drillers: up to $6.90 per barrel of oil and 88 cents per thousand cubic feet of natural gas. The tax would apply only to resources extracted within city limits; there is currently no expressed interest or plans for such projects, and Boulder has a timeout on applications in place through June 2020. Councilwoman Cindy Carlisle was the only council member to speak about the tax, calling out statements made by industry group Colorado Oil and Gas Association in opposition. In remarks to the Camera, the group’s head Dan Haley called the measure a tax increase; Carlisle clarified that it was not a tax on citizens, but on drillers.”

“Longmont City Council was assured by the city staff Tuesday night that future fracking to free up oil and gas deposits deep underneath Union Reservoir — and the subsequent drilling and extraction of those minerals — pose minimal risks to the quality of the water it stores,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “During a study-session review of the staff’s research, however, several council members indicated they wish they had more of a guarantee that oil and gas companies drilling from surface sites far away from the reservoir and its shorelines could be held financially responsible for rapid and complete response to spills, leaks or other problems. Before the staff presented its report, however, a handful of residents stated their opposition to allowing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling under the reservoir east of Longmont, even though the city is currently in a binding agreement the council approved last spring to keep wells and related equipment off the actual surface of city-owned lands near the reservoir.”

“A lawsuit alleging top Anadarko Petroleum officials misled investors by failing to disclose safety risks has been renewed after it was dismissed in June,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Filed earlier this month in the United States District Court, the securities class action lawsuit details a company that ignored safety regulations and deceived investors, Colorado regulators and the public. Philadelphia Iron Workers, which purchased Anadarko common stock, filed the suit against the company and three executives, on behalf of all people who purchased or acquired common stock between Feb. 8, 2016 and May 2, 2017, the latter date being when the Frederick-Firestone Fire Department linked the company to a fatal explosion in Firestone.”

“Larimer County intends to file a lawsuit against companies that manufacture and distribute opioid drugs, seeking compensation for harms to Larimer County caused by illegal use of the prescription drugs,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The Larimer County commissioners voted 2-0 Tuesday to hire the national law firm Keller Rohrback out of Seattle to handle a lawsuit on behalf of the county — a firm chosen and to be hired by all 13 Colorado cities, towns and counties that are looking at lawsuits as part of a coalition. Each city and county will file a lawsuit on its own behalf, though they are working together to send a message to the companies about the deadly and costly epidemic caused by the misuse of these pain killers, resulting in overdoses and community impacts across the country.”

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“Among the states with the largest Latino populations, Colorado has the largest disparity between white and Latino residents attaining post-secondary education, according to a new report,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Colorado is one of nine states with at least one million Latino residents, but it has the highest attainment gap of those states: Sixty-four percent of white residents have completed a high-quality certificate, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree or more, as compared to 39 percent of black residents and 29 percent of Latinos residents, according to a 68-page report released Tuesday by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. In the report, titled “Rocky Mountain Divide: Lifting Latinos and Closing Equity Gaps in Colorado,” the authors list findings and recommendations for the state to achieve educational equity.”

“Garden City Town Administrator Cheryl Campbell keeps expecting marijuana sales in the town to level out,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “But every time she says that out loud, it doesn’t happen. “At some point, it’s got to level out,” she said. The money accounts for 59 percent of Garden City’s total revenue. For Garden City, the industry in 2017 generated $1.48 million in sales tax. That’s a lot for such a small town, especially when you consider the town collected $537,000 in 2014. The town of 250 people is .11 square miles, landlocked between Greeley and Evans. Neither of the surrounding cities allow recreational marijuana sales, giving the town’s four marijuana shops — LivWell Garden City, Nature’s Herbs and Wellness, XG Platinum Dispensary and Smokey’s 420 — control over the local market.”

“Loveland’s Winter Holiday Council volunteers are considering hanging up their Santa hats due to persistent financial problems that have made it increasingly difficult for the group to spangle the city for the holidays,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Council president Mary Hall said Wednesday that the group might turn over to the city their decorations, which have decorated the Lake Loveland area since 1989, if they cannot secure a dependable funding source. ‘If we don’t get funding … I will go over to the city and hand over the keys to the storage units (that hold the decorations),’ Hall said. ‘What else can we do?'”

“When Stacy Razzano had to decide between continuing to remain with her employer of 27 years or sticking up for the industry that has sustained her family and her community, she handed in her notice,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Razzano, branch manager and vice president of the Bank of the West in Craig, is finishing up her work there and considering her future job options after telling the bank last week that she was resigning. That was shortly after becoming aware of a social media post the bank made laying out its position to largely eschew investments in coal, oil and gas.”

“The burned-out wreck of a house at 1124 E. Eighth St. will be coming down in the next few days. City Manager Sam Azad said a demolition crew will knock down the two-story hulk this week or early next week,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Neighbors confirmed they have been notified of the impending demolition. “We’re going to knock down the building because it’s a public nuisance and we’ll cover the debris until we have the necessary disposal permits from the state,” Azad said Wednesday.”

“The Sterling Lions Club once again took time to honor those who’ve contributed greatly to agriculture and Logan County at its annual Cowboy Breakfast, held Wednesday at the Sterling Elks Lodge. Recognized as this year’s Pioneer Award winner was Maurice John Schaefer,” reports The Sterling Journal-Advocate. “Schaefer was born on March 20, 1926 to Killian Schaefer and Elizabeth (Korth) Schaefer in Humphrey, Neb. He is 92 years old. His father was born in 1883 in Humphrey, Neb., and his mother was born in 1886 in Wayne, Neb. They were married in 1906 in Nebraska.”

“A special bond forms between the men and women who dig line and get covered with soot while fighting wildfires,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Kevin Thompson, a fire management officer with the Routt National Forest, is one of about 200 people helping fight and manage the lightning-caused, 2,061-acre Silver Creek Fire that is burning southeast of Steamboat Springs. Earlier in his career, Thompson worked for seven seasons with the Craig Hotshots crew based west of Steamboat in Craig. The Hotshots are elite firefighters based in different parts of the country who are expected to be in top physical shape and to work hard.”

“A grant to design new city offices for Fort Morgan has arrived, but it is $200,000 less than what city officials expected,” reports The Fort Morgan Times. “So now the city is looking at spending $1.6 million just to design the complex, instead of the $2 million it originally budgeted for design purposes. Councilman Dan Marler said he feels both ‘hoodwinked’ and ‘surprised’ after receiving the news at Tuesday’s city council meeting. “I’m feeling a little hoodwinked,” Marler said. ‘We’re spending all of our reserves here. We were anticipating on finishing out the roads around Centrepoint Plaza for about $2.5 million and now we’re talking $7 million. In two more months, are we going to be at $9 million?’ he questioned.”

“The proposed Vail Trail Extension will be removed from the town’s open lands plan after council members heard concerns from the community on Tuesday, Aug. 7,” reports Vail Daily. “The new trail was to be cut through the town-owned Katsos Ranch Open Space in East Vail along a route that would run parallel to the existing Gore Valley Trail, a paved path. The Vail Trail Extension was proposed as a soft-surface alternative to the Gore Valley Trail, to be used by hikers and mountain bikers.”

“Current redevelopment in the 1300 block of U.S. 50 is expected to not only breathe new life into the vacant corner but also contribute to city coffers and expand the local workforce,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The structures at 1303 and 1315 U.S. 50 have been demolished to make way for a new Starbucks that is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2019, according to Cañon City Economic Development Director Ryan Stevens. In addition to improving the highway by removing two under-performing buildings, Stevens said it is estimated that the project will generate about $18,000 per year in general sales tax and $9,000 per year toward the 2A streets project.”

“Boulder’s City Council delayed a decision on flood protection after hours of public comment Tuesday night that included concerns over lack of transparency in the city’s engagement with citizens,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Several community members spoke during Tuesday’s public hearing to criticize the lengthy, twisting path to a flood solution for south Boulder creek, a journey that may grow longer as citizen groups including Save South Boulder and PLAN, the city’s open space and planning boards, and some members of council are calling for another concept to be considered along with plans already developed through a three-year public process.”

“A proposed substance abuse treatment center in Woodmoor has given rise to a groundswell of opposition from residents who feel the facility would draw criminals and unbridled drug use to the area,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Their concerns were spotlighted at a Wednesday night public meeting held by Sunshine Behavioral Health, the California-based company that has purchased the area’s former Ramada hotel property to house the high-end facility that it hopes to open early next year. About 130 people packed into a meeting room at the Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce in Monument, and more people flooded into the hallway. Within the first 10 minutes, opponents of the project had begun circulating a petition to stop the facility from opening. At one point, a man asked for those opposed to the center to raise their hands, and nearly everyone in the audience did.”

“Denver police took a 16-year-old girl into custody in connection with the death of 7-year-old Jordan Vong after finding the boy’s body hidden in his family’s Montbello home Tuesday night,” reports The Denver Post. “Officers had twice previously searched Jordan’s family home on the 4900 block of Fairplay Street in Montbello after he was reported missing around 4:30 p.m. Monday. Officers had hoped Jordan was hiding somewhere in the house, said Denver Police Department Division Chief Joe Montoya. ‘Generally, in these types of cases, we hope the child is hiding or playing a game,’ Montoya said. But Tuesday night, after more than 24 hours of searching that also involved the FBI, Denver police asked a judge for a search warrant. They started a deep search of the family’s home at 8:20 p.m., and after 30 minutes, found the boy’s body “intentionally concealed,’ Montoya said.”

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