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MorningMagazine_2024-11-19 Jack Dawson
Lawsuit alleges Club Q shooting could have been prevented
Survivors and families of the victims who were killed at Club Q in Colorado Springs back in 2022 have filed lawsuits alleging the mass shooting could have been prevented.
The lawsuits are targeted at the El Paso County Board of Commissioners, former sheriff Bill Elder, and Club Q itself, and were filed nearly two years to the day that the deadly shooting occurred.
One lawsuit claims the shooting could have been prevented if law enforcement used Colorado’s red flag law. The law, known as “Extreme Risk Protection Orders,” allows people to petition a court to remove firearms from a person found to be at risk of harm to self or others. During the shooting, five people were killed and 25 were injured.
Another lawsuit against the club alleges that the owner, Matthew Haynes, did not have proper security when Anderson Aldrich – the gunman – opened fire. That suit also says that in 2022, there was an increased awareness of the need for high security at LGTBQ+ nightclubs after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Florida.
Both lawsuits allege that the shooter had a history of violent threats and “behavior that clearly warranted intervention,” and say law enforcement’s inaction and failure to limit Aldrich’s access to weapons “enabled” the mass shooting.
Aldrich pleaded guilty in June this year and was sentenced to 55 concurrent life sentences without parole, as well as a 190-year consecutive sentence.
Denver homeowners can more easily build ADUs now
Denver City Council members brought the city mostly into compliance last night with a new state law that allows accessory dwelling units – or ADUs – in residential neighborhoods statewide.
They also cut down the number of rezoning hearings they’ll have to preside over.
ADUs are smaller, secondary residential structures that can be built on the same lots as traditional single-family homes. Denver has generally embraced ADUs as a strategy to add more affordable housing options in residential neighborhoods where apartment buildings may not be allowed.
Up until last night, building an ADU required going through a time-consuming and expensive rezoning process, as well as getting approval from City Council. Now, that process isn’t necessary.
Denver still has design standards that clash with the new state law for ADUs, and Monday’s vote did not change those standards. While the law says cities cannot mandate ADUs be set back from property lines by more than 5 feet, suburban neighborhoods in Denver still require homeowners to abide by 10-foot setbacks for ADUs so structures do not encroach on neighbor’s properties.
Arizona and California push study of forced-cuts policy on the Colorado River
Lower Basin states are putting pressure on Colorado and its Upper Basin partners to compromise in negotiations on management of the Colorado River. They’re threatening forced cuts under a “compact call,” which – if initiated – would force Upper Basin states to significantly cut their water usage if they’re found to not be delivering enough water to Lower Basin states. This type of call was established over 100 years ago, through the 1922 Colorado River compact.
In a meeting yesterday, Arizona officials warned that a compact call could force Upper Basin states to cut about twice as much water as they’d have to if they followed the cutbacks outlined in a proposal put forward by Lower Basin states earlier this year.
This pressure comes during negotiations to replace a set of rules from 2007 that outline how the basin manages water in its key reservoirs when levels are low. These rules expire in 2026, at which point officials will decide how reservoirs store and release Colorado River water amidst a changing climate.
The Colorado Sun reports that stakes are high for the already overstretched river will all-time low water reserves, and that whatever decisions come out of this will impact 40 million people and Western economies.
Lower Basin states refer to Arizona, California and Nevada. Upper Basin states include Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
According to The Sun, Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell said the Lower Basin officials’ strategy to leverage the threat of a compact call will not push her to budge. She added that the Upper Basin does not use its full water allocation currently, with some water users in Upper states still getting supply cut off early. At the same time, Upper Basin states have listed ways that they plan to make voluntary reductions in water use.
Colorado UPS workers losing jobs
Hundreds of UPS workers will lose their jobs in the new year as the company moves towards more automated systems. UPS says it will temporarily close half of its package processing facility in Commerce City beginning January 15 of next year while it makes those changes.
404 workers will lose their jobs – 401 of them are on the package processing side, and the remaining three are revenue recovery employees.
UPS said in a statement that they’re working to place as many dislocated employees as possible in other positions, adding that the upgraded facility should fully reopen in 2026. In the meantime, they say service to Denver customers won’t be impacted during the transition.
According to CBS Colorado, some workers could be hired back in new roles once the facility’s updates are made.
This is a part of UPS’s “Network of the Future Plan,” which seeks to automate more package processing facilities and save $3 billion in costs by 2028. They announced back in March their plans to close 200 hubs across the country under this plan.
