NEWS, JANUARY 20TH

Glenwood Springs–The Glenwood Springs City Council got a look at a 14 million dollar, 60-unit affordable housing project for the Glenwood Meadows. A Denver-based developer with similar projects all over the country, unveiled the plans last night.

Aspen–Who’s been paying for an ad campaign criticizing Aspen’s plans for a new hydroelectric plant? That’s what city attorneys want to know. They claim the referendum effort to stop the Castle Creek project violates campaign finance regulations.

Aspen–Over a dozen Roaring Fork Valley business owners are urging Western Slope Congressman Scott Tipton to get behind the Hidden Gems Wilderness protection campaign. The Cortez Republican has voiced his opposition to the plan in the past but agreed to meet recently with local leaders to hear their concerns.

Denver–Governor John Hickenlooper wants to cut red tape regulations that he says are hampering small businesses and economic growth in Colorado. Yesterday he signed an executive order directing state agencies to review regulations that are heavy-handed and burdensome.

In other news…

DENVER (AP) – Colorado Republicans are reloading their holsters
on attempts to expand gun rights.
Some of their proposals this year are ideas that Democrats have
rejected in the past. Republicans are trying to give business
owners and employees the power to use deadly force against
intruders. Another proposal would allow people to have a concealed
weapon at schools or colleges if a person has a legal permit.
Other legislation would eliminate background checks from the
Colorado Bureau of Investigation for firearm purchases. The
lawmaker proposing the legislation says the state background checks
duplicate checks already done federally. Another bill would bar
state officials from prohibiting people’s use of firearms during a
declared state of emergency.
Democrats call the proposals a distraction from job creation.
Republicans say they’re protecting Second Amendment rights.

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) – A 9-year-old Pueblo girl who went missing
while on her way home from school has been found.
Calysta Cordova was found in Colorado Springs on Friday. It
wasn’t immediately clear how she was found.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation canceled an Amber Alert
that had been issued for her. Calysta’s mother reported her missing after she failed to return home from school Thursday afternoon.

Red Rocks in CO hosts 1st winter show with hip-hop
DENVER (AP) – Over the decades, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The
Grateful Dead, U2 and hundreds of other acts have played the
legendary outdoor stage at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, nestled between
two 300-foot sandstone monoliths in the Rocky Mountains foothills
outside Denver. On Jan. 27, thanks largely to a seasoned concert producer and a
growing Denver-based ski company dreaming big, the hip-hop group
Atmosphere and Grammy-winning rapper Common are headlining the
venue’s first concert in the middle of winter, coinciding with a
snow-sports trade show that will bring an estimated 20,000
attendees to town. The ski company, Icelantic, has been rallying dozens of
volunteers to shovel snow and chip away ice at Red Rocks –
originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps – every Sunday
to get ready for Winter on the Rocks.

MONTROSE, Colo. (AP) – A former district attorney sentenced to
one year in prison after being accused of harassing women in his
office says he isn’t a sexual offender. Myrl Serra told a judge at his sentencing Thursday in Montrose that he had engaged in consensual flirting. Serra said he didn’t see the power disparity between him and the women and that mistake led
him to court. The former 7th Judicial District DA entered an Alford plea in
October to criminal extortion and unlawful sexual contact. He
didn’t admit guilt but acknowledged that a jury might convict him.
He was also convicted of violating a restraining order and
harassing one of his accusers. The year sentence is for that
conviction. He will serve four years of probation on the sex
charge.

 

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