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Colorado GOP sues county Republican officers to block effort to remove Dave Williams as party chair
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado GOP sues county Republican officers to block effort to remove Dave Williams as party chair

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics The Colorado Republican Party sued two county GOP officers late Thursday in an attempt to block a group of Republicans from removing Dave Williams as the state party's chairman. In a lawsuit filed in Arapahoe County District Court, Williams, on behalf of the state GOP, asks the court to rule that an upcoming meeting of the state party's central committee — called by Williams' critics to consider whether to fire Williams — won't qualify as official party business. The lawsuit also asks the court to prevent defendants Nancy Pallozzi, the Jefferson County GOP chair, and Todd Watkins, the El Paso County GOP vice chair, from using party email accounts, the state GOP's logo and the official party database to pursue their efforts to oust Williams...
A look inside a dyslexia screening program for some of Colorado’s rural students
Approved, Chalkbeat Colorado, State

A look inside a dyslexia screening program for some of Colorado’s rural students

By Ann Schimke | Chalkbeat Colorado When teacher Cindy Haralson would point at her preschool class with a stuffed owl named Baby Echo, most children quickly repeated the letter, word, and sound they’d just heard her say. Think “B, bat, b.” But one little girl — a good listener and natural problem-solver — stared blankly at her teacher day after day last year, unable to reproduce what she was hearing and seeing. Haralson recalled the girl looking at her classmates, as if to say, “How do you guys do that? How do you know that?” The girl’s struggle with alphabet lessons was the kind of red flag that can signal problems learning to read, problems that Haralson believes too often go unaddressed for years. “It seems like we always wait till kindergarten or first grade, and somet...
Normal operation resumes at DIA following overnight grounding related to Microsoft outage
Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Normal operation resumes at DIA following overnight grounding related to Microsoft outage

By Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado Flights are getting back to regular operations at Denver International Airport although there may still be lingering problems from an overnight global Microsoft outage. Some flights were grounded in the overnight hours and into the morning. American, Southwest and Frontier flights were operational by 7 a.m. and United and Delta flights were no longer grounded at 8 a.m. Companies that rely on Microsoft 365 apps reported widespread outages early Friday, and that includes airlines across the country and across the world. FAA and TSA operations at Denver International Airport were functioning normally. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
Morgan County case overturned on prosecutor’s improper commenting on defendant’s right to silence
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Morgan County case overturned on prosecutor’s improper commenting on defendant’s right to silence

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A Morgan County prosecutor undermined the fairness of a defendant's trial by making improper comments about his decision to invoke his constitutional right to silence, Colorado's second-highest court ruled last week. The prosecution charged Ronald Wayne Gentry with felony menacing after he allegedly put a bullet in the chamber of a gun and pointed it at a neighbor who was feuding with Gentry's mother. Jurors considered whether Gentry acted in self-defense, but convicted him. He received a sentence of probation, jail and community service. Jurors heard Gentry had received a Miranda warning but then agreed to speak with a sheriff's deputy. She told Gentry there were multiple eyewitnesses saying they saw Gentry point a gun, at which point Gentry ...
Federal judge rules, ‘sideshows’ aside, no Colorado voter intimidation by ‘election integrity’ organizers
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Federal judge rules, ‘sideshows’ aside, no Colorado voter intimidation by ‘election integrity’ organizers

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge on Thursday concluded three civic organizations failed to provide evidence that the leaders of an "election integrity" effort illegally intimidated Colorado voters through a door-to-door canvassing project to search for election fraud in the wake of the 2020 presidential race. After three days of testimony, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney granted the motion to end the case after noting both sides seemingly wanted to litigate matters beyond the narrow question she had to decide. "It is not about the Jan. 6 insurrection or the history of voter intimidation in this country. It is not about the defendants' collective belief about election fraud. It's not about the security or lack of security of elections in Colorado...
Paralyzed mountain lion found in Colorado is first case of “staggering disease” in North America
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Paralyzed mountain lion found in Colorado is first case of “staggering disease” in North America

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun In May 2023, a homeowner in Douglas County was astonished to find a partially paralyzed mountain lion taking cover between her basement window well and a spruce tree, dragging itself forward with its front paws. The year-old female couldn’t stand up, a phenomenon clear in the video the owner took while safely inside the house. Wildlife officers tranquilized the debilitated lion, then euthanized her with a gunshot to the chest to protect brain cells for a necropsy.  After a year of studying the animal, researchers are declaring her the first North American case of “staggering disease” in a mountain lion, according to Colorado State University veterinarian and former Colorado Parks and Wildlife pathologist Karen Fox. READ THE FULL STORY AT...
Adversaries turned allies tell RNC Trump is right for job, Biden right for “Weekend at Bernie’s”
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Adversaries turned allies tell RNC Trump is right for job, Biden right for “Weekend at Bernie’s”

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Actions speak louder than words and on the second evening of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisc., a few of former President Donald J. Trump's rivals acted through their words. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, who offered Mr. Trump the greatest challenge in the primary season, joined with his toughest competition from the 2016 primary, Sen. Ted Cruz, as an expression of the party coalescing around Trump. "Never before has an election mattered so much," Cruz said. Mr. Trump is the Republican Party's nominee for President. On Monday, he announced Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate on the Republican ticket. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Trump's home state of Florida, set a tone. "Joe Biden has fa...
In Day 2 of voting rights trial, plaintiffs struggle to prove intimidation
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

In Day 2 of voting rights trial, plaintiffs struggle to prove intimidation

By Michael Karlik  | Colorado Politics The plaintiffs who are trying to prove an "election integrity" effort resulted in the illegal intimidation of Colorado voters ran into multiple stumbling blocks in federal court on Tuesday, including the aggressive questioning of the lone voter who claimed she was intimidated and the judge's skepticism about an attempt to introduce new victims at the last minute. Three civic groups — the Colorado Montana Wyoming State Area Conference of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Colorado, and Mi Familia Vota — sued the founders of U.S. Election Integrity Plan (USEIP), which was an organized effort following the 2020 election to visit voters at more than 9,400 homes to inquire about their registrations and past voting behavior. The plaintif...
More than 100 poultry workers likely exposed to avian flu, Colorado health officials say
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

More than 100 poultry workers likely exposed to avian flu, Colorado health officials say

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette State health workers distributed antiviral medication earlier this week to more than 150 workers who were potentially exposed to poultry infected with avian flu at a commercial egg facility in Weld County. Last week, state officials tested more than 50 symptomatic workers, Annemarie Harper, a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment spokesperson, said in an email to The Denver Gazette. At least four poultry workers have tested positive for avian flu. A fifth is case is presumed positive, pending confirmation. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
Greg Lopez will serve on U.S. House Budget, Science committees during brief, 6-month term
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Greg Lopez will serve on U.S. House Budget, Science committees during brief, 6-month term

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez has been appointed to the House Budget and Science, Space and Technology committees, the Colorado Republican announced Tuesday. The newest member of the state's congressional delegation, Lopez was sworn into office last week after winning a June special election to fill the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck's term. Lopez said he will take a conservative approach to federal spending on the budget panel while shining a light on his district's "significant and robust" tech sector as a member of the science panel. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS