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04_29_24_am_headlines Kennedy Pickering
Protest on CU Auraria campus
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators continued an encampment on the Auraria campus in Denver yesterday, but the campus remains open, according to Fox 31.
Officials for the campus, shared by CU Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the Community College of Denver, said in a statement that they support the right to peacefully demonstrate in accordance with the law. The statement also said the encampment was still in front of the student union as of yesterday.
Forty-four people were arrested on the Auraria Campus Friday for violating a campus ban on camping.
On Saturday, veteran political activist Angela Davis told demonstrators that their actions made a breakthrough in Gaza possible. According to the Colorado Sun, Davis was at the Auraria campus after speaking at Colorado College the day before.
The demonstrators in Denver want the CU system to divest from corporations who are doing business in Israel, according to the CU Independent. They also want a meeting with Chancellor Michelle Marks.
The Denver demonstrations are among protests on university campuses nationwide, including some in California, Arizona, Missouri, Indiana, and New York.
Second paramedic in Elijah McClain case sentenced to 14 months of work release
The second of two paramedics convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain has been sentenced to fourteen months of work release.
According to 9News, Former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic Jeremy Cooper will begin serving his work release this June. At a hearing on Friday, he was also given four years of probation.
Cooper and former Aurora paramedic Peter Cichuniec were convicted together, with Cichuniec sentenced to five years in prison last month. The two of them injected a fatal dose of ketamine into Elijah McClain. McClain was walking home from a convenience store, but three police officers stopped him after someone called 911.
The officers forced him to the ground, and one put him in a carotid hold. He was handcuffed and restrained. After the paramedics arrived, he was injected with ketamine. His heart stopped, and he later died.
One of the three police officers was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and received 14 months in jail. The two other officers were acquitted.
Trial verdict clears Sheriff Deputy of murder charges in Christian Glass case
Jurors found former Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy Andrew Buen guilty of reckless endangerment last week during a trial over the killing of 22-year-old Christian Glass.
According to the Denver Post, reckless endangerment is a misdemeanor that usually results in a sentence of no more than 120 days in jail.
The jury deadlocked on second-degree murder charges. The jury foreperson says that only one juror opposed conviction on that charge and may have been biased in the former deputy’s favor.
The jury foreperson told 9Newsthat soon after deliberations began last week, most of the jurors wanted to convict Buen on the second-degree murder charge. It was the most serious charge against him, and the foreperson said bodycam video showed conclusively that he shot 22-year-old Christian Glass in June of 2022.
The holdout juror would not budge, and the foreperson said the juror may have had a bias they would not admit to.
Buen’s supervisor, Kyle Gould, was not at the scene on the night of the killing. But he live-streamed it and later pleaded guilty to failing to intervene in the use of excessive force. Gould was fined and sentenced to two years of probation and lost his police certification.
Texas Uvalde mariachi band in Boulder
An award-winning high school mariachi band from Uvalde, Texas, wrapped up a six-day trip to Boulder County with a Skyline High School in Longmont concert yesterday.
The visit was the brainchild of Dr. Vicki Burrichter, the artistic director of Boulder Chorale, who was inspired to invite the group to Colorado after reading about them in Rolling Stone magazine.
The Boulder Concert Chorale performed with Los Coyotes, the Uvalde High Mariachi Band, at several concerts during the week. Tune in to the Morning Magazine tomorrow, to hear more about this tour which brought healing to two communities still reeling from mass shootings that took place just months apart.
Another possible wolf attack
State wildlife officials are investigating another possible livestock killing by a wolf in Grand County.
The rancher whose calf was killed saw a wolf, according to 9News.
If it’s confirmed as a wolf attack, this latest incident will bring the number of young cattle killed by wolves in Grand and Jackson Counties in April to seven.
The string of killings has sparked controversy between ranchers who want the state to do something about the predators and those who want to protect the wolves.
Colorado lawmakers introduced 10 gray wolves last year. Colorado Parks and Wildlife have tracked more than one of the wolves in the areas where livestock have died.
The head of Parks and Wildlife, Jeff Davis, said last week that the state will not kill any wolves, as ranchers have requested.
Davis told the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association that the state is working to minimize conflicts. He indicated at the time that he thought the efforts had been working.
Boulder County wildfire mitigation
Boulder County has released $2.4 million in grant money for wildfire mitigation projects.
According to a county press release, the funds, part of a new round of Strategic Fuels Mitigation Grants, are available for projects by local governments, fire protection agencies, and community organizations.
The current cycle runs through June 6th, with a new cycle beginning in the fall.
County officials call it an opportunity for communities and partners to improve wildfire protection.
