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08_07_2024amheadlines Greta Kerkhoff
Colorado to give $2.7 million to aid teachers with school supplies
Colorado will give $2.7 million in aid to teachers, to help them buy classroom supplies for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year. Governor Jared Polis announced the funding yesterday, and said each individual educator can receive up to $600 for supplies.
According to Polis, this is to ensure educators don’t have to front the cost of classroom supplies out of their own paycheck.
Funding comes from the Governor Emergency Education Relief fund. The state is partnering with DonorsChoose, a website for teachers to post requests for classroom supplies, to streamline the distribution process.
Once on the website, educators can enter the code COLORADO during the project creation process to receive a part of the funding.
TIAA closing Denver operations center
TIAA, one of the nation’s largest financial firms, is closing its Denver operations center over the next two years. The company’s move to Frisco, Texas will put about 1,000 jobs at risk.
According to the Denver Post, TIAA will maintain its corporate centers in New York, Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., with Frisco replacing Denver.
Denver employees will be offered the chance to move there. However, decisions on what specific positions will move have not been decided upon yet.
Currently, Downtown Denver has an office vacancy rate of above 30%, largely due to the switch to remote work during the pandemic.
New motorcycle filtering law
Starting today, motorcyclists throughout Colorado will have the ability to filter through traffic, allowing them to legally pass cars and other vehicles on the roadways.
According to The Daily Camera, the new law allows for any driver of a two-wheeled motorcycle to overtake or pass another vehicle in the same lane – but only if the traffic is stopped. Lanes must also be wide enough to pass safely, and the motorcycle must make the pass at 15 miles an hour or less.
Motorcyclists also may not pass on the right shoulder of roads.
The new law is not to be confused with lane splitting, which is considered an often-dangerous practice. This is when motorcyclists drive between lanes, along the dotted white lines on highways.
Officials say they hope the new law will decrease the amount of motorcycles that are rear-ended, and may reduce traffic.
The law will remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2027. At that point, it will be reviewed to see if the law has impacted the number of crashes.
Judge lifts prohibition on meeting to consider ouster of Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams
Opponents of Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams will hold a gathering about two weeks from now to vote on whether or not he should be removed or replaced.
When those same opponents attempted to hold a similar gathering last month, an Arapahoe County District Court Judge blocked it with a temporary restraining order.
He rescinded that decision yesterday, saying that he was wrong to issue the order in the first place because he lacked jurisdiction.
The gathering has been scheduled for August 24. One-third of Colorado GOP’s central committee will need to be present in order to take a valid vote, and 60% of the entire committee will have to vote to remove Williams in order for the effort to be successful.
Williams’ work as chairman has been marred by disorganization and shady campaign financing, according to The Colorado Sun. He also stirred up public outcry back in June for homophobic rhetoric and calls to “burn all Pride flags.”
Draft of Colorado oil and gas rules guts key protection for impacted communities
The state Energy and Carbon Management Commission has gutted a key proposed protection for communities negatively impacted by oil and gas drilling. Environmental groups participating in the rulemaking say the decision comes after sustained pushback from the oil and gas industry. That’s according to The Colorado Sun.
The commission issued a new draft of so-called cumulative impact rules on Friday, wherein they removed a requirement that oil companies get approval of residents in disproportionately impacted communities before they drill, if they intend to do so within 2,000 feet of their homes.
The decision comes just one month before the commission’s official rulemaking hearings. Environmental activists told The Sun that tearing out the vital protection so close to the hearings gives a big advantage to oil companies.
The commission, meanwhile, says the draft includes QUOTE “robust protections” for residents of disproportionately impacted communities.
New lawsuit alleges Suncor repeatedly broke federal air pollution rules
Speaking of communities disproportionately impacted by oil and gas:
In the latest legal battle against Suncor Energy, environmental groups claim that the Commerce City refinery violated federal law by exceeding its air pollution permits, furthering the negative impacts of already “disproportionately impacted” neighborhoods nearby.
The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday, also accuses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental regulators of failing to stop the pollution.
The complaint was filed by Earthjustice, an environmental legal group, on behalf of GreenLatinos, 350 Colorado, and the Sierra Club. The groups informed Suncor and the EPA of their intent to sue under the U.S. Clean Air Act back in June.
According to the complaint, Suncor exceeded federal emissions standards more than 9,000 times since 2006. These violations include releases of hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and benzene – all of which are pollutants with serious negative health implications like cancer.
