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Aurora passes ordinance that removes warning time before homeless camp sweeps
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Aurora passes ordinance that removes warning time before homeless camp sweeps

By Kyla Pearce | Colorado Politics, via The Denver Gazette Aurora lawmakers officially passed an ordinance in a final vote Monday night that gets rid of requirements to provide shelter options and 72-hour notice before sweeping homeless encampments. The ordinance, which was passed in an initial vote at the last council meeting and in a final vote Monday night, prevailed with three 'no' votes from councilmembers Alison Coombs, Ruben Medina and Crystal Murillo. Previously, city code read that "no city employee authorized to issue a citation shall issue a citation, make an arrest, or otherwise enforce this section against a person camping on public property unless the city has a shelter option available for the person ordered to move from the camp and the person has been offered plac...
Senate committee questions Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ response to ethics complaint
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Senate committee questions Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ response to ethics complaint

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The Senate Ethics Committee began its discussion on the ethics complaint against Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, on Tuesday but appeared to take a dim view of how she responded to the complaints. Last week, the committee released dozens of documents about the complaints against Jaquez Lewis, who was re-elected to her second and final term last November. Included in that release: a 14-page response filed by the senator, who has been accused of abusive behavior against five legislative aides dating back to at least 2022. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
House bill to allow Colorado’s public universities to compensate student-athletes passes committee
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House bill to allow Colorado’s public universities to compensate student-athletes passes committee

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The bill updating Colorado's laws on public collegiate sports "name, image and likeness" (NIL) passed the House Education Committee Thursday, but not without significant opposition. House Bill 1041 would allow a public institution of higher education or athletic association to compensate a student-athlete for using their name, image, or likeness in branding or marketing for the institution. HB 1041 passed on a 9-4 vote and now heads to the full House. But the bill's second section, carving out a new exception to the state's open records law, has drawn the most scrutiny. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Colorado honors Korean War veterans with resolution on Military Appreciation Day
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Colorado honors Korean War veterans with resolution on Military Appreciation Day

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Military, Veterans, and POW/MIA Appreciation Day is an annual event at the state Capitol in early February. It is a day for lawmakers in both chambers to recognize the sacrifices of Colorado's servicemen and women in combat. Traditionally, that's included joint resolutions on Military Appreciation Day, plus nine more recognizing Gold Star families, the USS Pueblo, the Tenth Mountain Division, the anniversary of World War II, appreciation for veterans of the Vietnam War and Persian Gulf conflict, and resolutions saluting the service of Latino/a, Native American, and African American veterans. What has never been recognized in that annual remembrance: service by those who fought in the Korean War. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
King Soopers strike will begin Thursday, impacting stores in six counties, Boulder and Louisville
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King Soopers strike will begin Thursday, impacting stores in six counties, Boulder and Louisville

By Bernadette Berdychowski | Colorado Politics, via The Denver Gazette Grocery workers at many King Soopers locations across the Front Range will begin striking on Thursday, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 announced Monday morning. The strike will begin at all unionized King Soopers stores in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, as well as stores in Boulder and Louisville. It's still not clear when El Paso and Pueblo county stores will go on strike. In a letter to members posted on Facebook, the union said it may announce strike dates for Colorado Springs and Pueblo in the "coming days."  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Sen. Faith Winter’s mea culpa to Senate related to past alcohol abuse
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Sen. Faith Winter’s mea culpa to Senate related to past alcohol abuse

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, publicly apologized in the state Senate on Friday over problems tied to alcohol abuse. Last July, a Senate ethics committee decided Winter had violated a Senate ethics rule when residents said she showed up drunk at a public meeting in Thornton on April 3. The ethics committee concluded, 4-1, that Winter violated Rule 41, which requires her, as a member of the Senate, to perform her “legislative duties at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and independence of the Senate and of the General Assembly.” READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Colorado GOP adjourns online meeting without considering controversial bylaws amendments
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Colorado GOP adjourns online meeting without considering controversial bylaws amendments

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics It took just over an hour and a half for the Colorado Republican Party's state central committee to decide it wasn't going to conduct any business on Thursday night. About 90 minutes into an online meeting of the committee, state GOP Chairman Dave Williams declared that he was going to adjourn after members voted narrowly to require Republicans on the Zoom call to verify their identities with government-issued ID's — something Williams conceded would be impossible to accomplish on short notice. "Even though everyone already knows that we're all here, who we claim to be, there's no way we can think of in the moment to do credentialing, so I will go ahead and adjourn the meeting," Williams said as other Republicans attempted to speak, including U...
U.S. Department of Education investigating if Denver Public Schools’ ‘all-gender’ restroom discriminates
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U.S. Department of Education investigating if Denver Public Schools’ ‘all-gender’ restroom discriminates

By Luige Del Puerto | Colorado Politics, via The Gazette The Trump administration's education department on Tuesday said it is investigating reports that Denver Public Schools converted a girls' restroom at its flagship high school campus into an "all-gender" facility, calling it "discrimination" against female students.     "As a result, East High School now has an exclusive restroom for male students and no restroom for female students on its second floor," the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said in a letter to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero. A spokesperson for Denver Public Schools defended the restroom as "(aligning) with our values of supporting every student." READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Adam Frisch may change direction after two failed bids at Congress, now seek DNC vice chair
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Adam Frisch may change direction after two failed bids at Congress, now seek DNC vice chair

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics After logging 77,000 miles on the odometer across two campaigns in one of the largest congressional districts in the country, Colorado Democrat Adam Frisch says he's learned a few things that can help his party return to what he calls a better version of itself — and in the process win back rural voters Democrats have been hemorrhaging for more than a generation. That's why Frisch has spent the last month or so running for one of three at-large vice chair positions on the Democratic National Committee, set to be decided at the party's winter meeting on Feb. 1 in National Harbor, Maryland, where the DNC will also elect a chair and other officers. Donald Trump anointed the Republican National Committee's leadership this week at an RNC meeting in ...
Denver appeals $14M jury award in 2020 George Floyd protest case
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Denver appeals $14M jury award in 2020 George Floyd protest case

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Denver has moved to appeal a nearly $14 million judgment against the city, after jurors found police officers violated a group of plaintiffs' constitutional rights in their response to 2020 protests. The case is one of several filed in Colorado's federal trial court over the use of projectiles and chemical weapons against demonstrations in downtown Denver. Protesters assembled in Denver and other cities after bystander video captured a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, causing his death. A 2022 jury trial before U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson resulted in a favorable verdict for the injured plaintiffs. The parties continued to address other issues after trial and Jackson entered a final judgment in ...