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02_24_25_Headlines Gabrielle Mendoza
Boulder Development Plan Approved
The Boulder City Council has given preliminary approval to a new development code that would allow for more housing in East Boulder.
The plan passed eight-to-one at the City Council’s meeting last Thursday, according to Boulder Reporting Lab.
The code is part of the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan. If given final approval, it, and could allow the construction of some five thousand new housing units.
Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkers supported the new code, and said that it allows for business and housing projects.
Boulder Reporting Lab says that council member Mark Wallach cast the only vote against the new development guidelines. He said that it could be problematic for developers who are raising capital to develop what he called “high-end research facilities” in Boulder.
The ordinance still needs final approval.
Curling trials in Lafayette
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Mixed Doubles Curling wrapped up in Lafayette on Sunday.
10 teams from around the country competed over the course of 5 days, including a team from Denver.
Cory Thiesse (TEE-sea) and Korey Dropkin from Duluth, Minnesota, the 2023 World champions, secured the gold medal on Sunday afternoon.
Thiesse says she was excited to compete in Colorado, where the sport has been gaining momentum.
Following their victory in Colorado, Thiesse (TEE-sea) and Dropkin will represent the U.S. at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in New Brunswick, Canada, in May
A high enough score at that event will qualify them for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Pro-Ukraine Rally in Denver
At least 100 people rallied in Denver yesterday on the Capitol steps, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Marina Dubova, the president of Ukrainians of Colorado, said at yesterday’s rally that Ukraine needs help in defending itself against Russia: not just with weapons, but also humanitarian help. Dubova told 9News that innocent people in cities throughout Ukraine are suffering from loss of life, and damage.
Another demonstrator said that changes in the political landscape are shifting “in a very scary direction,” due to Trump administration policies. Trump has falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war.
Today marks the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Andrew Buen Conviction
A jury has found a former Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
Andrew Buen is facing sentencing in April for fatally shooting a Boulder man two–and–a–half years ago.
With the latest homicide conviction, he could get up to three years in prison.
In a separate trial last year, a jury convicted Buen of reckless endangerment, but could not reach a verdict on a murder charge. Because of that, the recent trial that ended last week was focused solely on the second-degree murder charge.
Buen shot and killed Christian Glass in June 2022, after the Boulder man’s car got stuck in Clear Creek County and he called 911 for help.
The Denver Post says that seven law enforcement officers responded to the call, and spent more than an hour trying to talk Glass out of the car. The Post also says that at the time of the incident, Glass was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Buen broke a car window in an attempt to force Glass out, and fatally shot him in an ensuing struggle. Buen’s attorney said during closing arguments last week that the former deputy made a split-second decision to fire his weapon because he thought Glass, who had a knife, was about to stab another officer.
In 2022, a grand jury investigation that was separate from the criminal prosecution concluded Christian Glass committed no crime, and didn’t come close to harming any of the officers. The law enforcement agencies involved agreed to a $19 million settlement with the Glass family.
Andrew Buen has a sentencing hearing on April 14.
Fatal Avalanche kills one in Berthoud Pass
A fatal avalanche in Mines Peak killed one person on Saturday evening. A snowboarder triggered the avalanche near Berthoud Pass in Grand County.
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the snowboarder triggered the avalanche at 4:45 p.m. in an area known as “the Fingers” or the “High Trail Cliffs”. This area is a set of steep, rocky paths that skiers and snowboarders can access from the summit of Berthoud Pass.
The snowboarder who was killed has not yet been identified by the Grand County Coroner’s Office.
Earlier on Saturday afternoon, another Grand County avalanche trapped several snowmobilers near Grand Lake. Four people were caught in that one, but were able to rescue themselves. None were injured, according to the sheriff’s office.
Billions in grants and loans to Colorado New ERA frozen
Six Colorado rural electric cooperatives can’t access billions of dollars in grants and loans due to a Trump administration’s disbursement freeze.
The awards were a part of the $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America Program, or New ERA. That initiative was started by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The funds are meant is to allow utilities to close coal-fired power plants, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and generate more renewable output.
The funding would, among other things, help finance the closing of 1,100 megawatts of coal-fired plants in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.
The Trump administration ordered the freeze on Jan. 27. In a memo from the Office of Management and Budget, the Acting Director of that office said that “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Details about New ERA awards have been removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website, according to The Colorado Sun.
The freeze comes in the wake of Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order called the order, which includes a section called “terminating the Green New Deal.”
Mike Kruger, the executive director of the Colorado Solar and Storage association, told The Sun that even if the funds are eventually restored, damage will have been done.
