Assault weapons bill, CU concealed carry ban weighed, and new CU building

State lawmakers have approved a bill that bans the sale, purchase, and transfer of certain high-powered semi-automatic rifles and pistols.

HB 1292 passed the state House of Representatives on a 35-27 vote in a Sunday session yesterday and now goes to the state Senate.

The measure defines assault weapons as certain semi-automatic rifles and pistols with fixed, large capacity magazines, or with the ability to accept detachable magazines, according to Denver Post. It does not ban possession of those weapons.

A private plane made a successful emergency landing on the southbound lanes of Highway 287 near Niwot Road Sunday.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said the emergency landing occurred just after 3 p.m. yesterday when the plane, en route to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, experienced mechanical issues.

According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer speaking to KGNU, 287 was closed in both directions for about a mile before the landing attempt was made.

The 36-year-old pilot safely landed the single-engine Mooney aircraft. He was uninjured, as were any individuals on the ground. The pilot was the sole person on board the flight, which originated in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Responders including the Boulder County Sheriff, Colorado State Patrol, members of Lafayette Fire Department, and various public safety departments arrived at the scene to move the plane off the highway. The highway later reopened to traffic.

The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation.

CU Boulder will break ground this fall on its first new academic building in six years.

The new building comes with a $175.4 million price tag and will house the university’s chemistry and applied math departments.

It will occupy 79,200 square feet on the main campus, off Regent Drive.

According to the Daily Camera, the building will include office and lab space, as well as an auditorium.

Designed with sustainability in mind, the building will align with CU Boulder’s climate action plan, potentially earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

Construction is scheduled to begin in October.

A new study by a CU doctoral student has found that climate change is forcing certain ant species to move out of their original habitats in Gregory Canyon near Boulder.

The study by Anna Paraskevopoulos and her research team is set to be published in the journal Ecology, according to a CU press release.

The new study compares ant life to a similar CU study on Gregory Canyon ants conducted six decades ago.

Because ants are sensitive to changes in temperature, they provide a good indicator for studying the effects of climate change on ecosystems. Paraskevopoulos notes that Gregory Canyon has remained largely unchanged since the earlier study, presenting an opportunity to research the isolated impacts of climate change.

The finding supports the notion that changes in ant biodiversity could be occurring worldwide in both urban and wild spaces due to climate change.