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Loveland voters to be asked whether to change charter on rules to fire city manager, attorney
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Approved, BizWest, Local

Loveland voters to be asked whether to change charter on rules to fire city manager, attorney

By BizWest Staff Voters in Loveland will get to decide in November whether it should take five or six votes on the nine-member City Council to fire the city manager or city attorney. According to the Loveland Reporter-Herald, the council voted 5-4 on Tuesday to direct the city attorney’s office to draft the ballot language. Council member Troy Krenning, who introduced the motion, said such a change from a five-vote to a six-vote threshold could have prevented the large severance payments the city had to make to former City Manager Steve Adams and former City Attorney Moses Garcia, since just five council members, not a “super-majority” of six, wanted to see them fired. The four dissenting members contended that Garcia’s and Adams’ departure proves the five-vote requirement wo...
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‘Hostile and discriminatory’: 10th Circuit slams CU for treatment of religious vaccine exemptions
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

‘Hostile and discriminatory’: 10th Circuit slams CU for treatment of religious vaccine exemptions

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics In a fiery opinion on Tuesday, the federal appeals court based in Denver tore into a pair of COVID-19 vaccination policies the University of Colorado imposed on medical staff in late 2021, concluding they discriminated against certain religions and affected plaintiffs were consequently entitled to exemptions. By 2-1, the all-Republican panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit directed unusually sharp barbs at each other and at the trial judge who initially declined to block the university's mandates. Judge Allison H. Eid, writing for the majority, believed the policies governing religious exemptions at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus were "permeated with animus." CU "has not even attempted to explain why its interest is served by...
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450-student Catholic high school to be constructed on 44.1-acre parcel in Johnstown
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Approved, BizWest, Local

450-student Catholic high school to be constructed on 44.1-acre parcel in Johnstown

By BizWest Staff  The Archdiocese of Denver has purchased a 44.1-acre parcel of land in Johnstown and plans to construct a 450-student Catholic high school along with a chapel, athletic field and gymnasium. Scottsdale, Arizona-based real-estate investor, developer and manager Caliber Cos. (Nasdaq: CWD) announced the $7.7 million sale Tuesday. The property at U.S. Highway 34 and Colorado Boulevard was part of an approximately 190-acre parcel purchased in June 2021 by a Caliber-sponsored single-asset syndication, Encore FundCo LLC, for $7.67 million. Since that time, pre-development work has been conducted on the land. Construction on the remaining portion of the larger parcel is expected to begin by the middle of this year and include multifamily, retail and industrial develop...
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Property tax bill on track to reach governor’s desk by final day of session
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Property tax bill on track to reach governor’s desk by final day of session

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics With just one day left in the legislative session, an eleventh-hour property tax deal has unanimously cleared two House committees and secured approval at its second reading on the floor.  The bipartisan Senate Bill 233, announced the day before, marks the culmination of months of conversations between the governor, legislators and groups like Colorado Concern, Colorado Counties Inc. and the Bell Policy Center.  This bill gradually decreases commercial property assessment rates from 29% to 25% over three years and introduces two reductions in residential property valuations: from 6.8% to 6.7% for multifamily units and from 7.06% to 6.7% for all other residential properties. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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In move criticized as ‘too woke’, Boy Scouts of America dropping ‘Boy’ from its name in nod to DEI
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Approved, National, The Washington Times

In move criticized as ‘too woke’, Boy Scouts of America dropping ‘Boy’ from its name in nod to DEI

By The Washington Times The Boy Scouts of America, a staple of youth organizations for over a century, is renaming itself Scouting America. This significant shift reflects the organization’s renewed focus on inclusivity and diversity, following a period of legal and financial challenges. Based in Irving, Texas, the 114-year-old organization has been a symbol of tradition and youth development since its inception. “In the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs,” said Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and chief executive officer, in an interview with the Associated Press. READ THE FIULL STORY AT THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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Driver was traveling 100 mph in Colorado Springs-area construction zone while intoxicated, state patrol says
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Approved, CBS 11 KKTV, Local

Driver was traveling 100 mph in Colorado Springs-area construction zone while intoxicated, state patrol says

By Lindsey Grewe | CBS 11 Colorado Springs A driver is facing hefty fines and potentially even jail time after driving 55 mph over the speed limit ... While intoxicated ... While in a construction zone. Colorado State Patrol’s Colorado Springs office posted a photo from the scene on social media Tuesday, the number “100″ prominently displayed on the radar sitting on the trooper’s dashboard. READ FULL STORY AT CBS 11 COLORADO SPRINGS
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Boulder County launches $400K pilot program to repair, rehab mobile homes
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Approved, BizWest, Local

Boulder County launches $400K pilot program to repair, rehab mobile homes

By Dallas Heltzell | BizWest Staff Boulder County is using $400,000 in federal funds to launch a pilot program to repair and rehabilitate mobile homes at the Columbine Mobile Home Park and Orchard Grove Mobile Home Park in Boulder. “The intent of the pilot program is to support individual households and better understand the repair needs of local mobile home communities, which have been historically underserved,” according to a county news release.  Funding for the pilot project comes from Boulder County’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation. READ THE FULL STORY AT BIZWEST
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States scramble to close legal loopholes squatters use to take homes from owners
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Approved, National, The Washington Times

States scramble to close legal loopholes squatters use to take homes from owners

By Matt Delaney | The Washington Times Lawmakers in states across the country are belatedly moving to restore the property rights of owners who have been forced into lengthy and often costly court battles to reclaim their houses from squatters exploiting pandemic-era tenant protections to take over empty houses. Savvy scammers invoke squatter’s rights by entering unoccupied homes and falsifying residency documents. The process can suck rightful homeowners into a monthslong eviction battle while the squatters sell off appliances and turn houses into drug dens, leaving landlords with thousands of dollars in repairs and lost rent once all is said and done. The formula for stealing a house is so foolproof that one illegal immigrant became famous on social media by sharing his step-by-...
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Colorado lawmakers reach last-minute bipartisan property tax deal that averts cuts to K-12 funding
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado lawmakers reach last-minute bipartisan property tax deal that averts cuts to K-12 funding

By Jesse Paul and Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Colorado’s property tax code would be reimagined — with long-term rate cuts for homeowners and businesses and a local revenue cap — under a fiercely negotiated, last-minute bipartisan bill introduced in the legislature Monday that aims to provide tax relief while protecting funding for K-12 schools.  The measure, Senate Bill 233, comes with just three days left in Colorado’s 2024 legislative session — the minimum amount of time needed to pass a bill. And it was the product of negotiations with Colorado Concern, a nonprofit representing CEOs in the state that was working on a plan to ask voters on the November ballot for an even bigger property tax break.  Lawmakers, Gov. Jared Polis’ office and interest groups we...
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Denver City Council delays spending $8 million on homeless hotel
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Denver City Council delays spending $8 million on homeless hotel

By Alexander Edwards | Denver Gazette The Denver City Council has requested a delay in voting for funding for a shelter run by the Salvation Army. The Tamarac Family Shelter, located at 7525 E. Hampden Ave. in a repurposed Embassy Suites hotel building, was set to receive an $8 million contract with the city. That is almost three-fourths of the amount invoiced to the city by the Salvation Army last year. The $8 million contract is only good for one year and expires on Dec. 31, 2024. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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