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06_25_24_am_headlines Greta Kerkhoff
Gregory Canyon wildfire extinguished
Firefighting crews put out a wildland fire in Gregory Canyon last night, after containing damage from the blaze to an area of about a hundred feet by a hundred feet.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says the fire was probably started by fireworks. A twenty-one-year old suspect was arrested near the scene and is in the Boulder County Jail this morning, facing a charge of second degree arson.
Crews from the Sheriff’s office, Boulder Fire-Rescue, Boulder Police, and Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks responded to the fire last night shortly after 9:30, according to a press release.
The base of Flagstaff Road was closed during the incident, but has since been reopened. The fire remains under investigation.
Kilyn Lewis protest at Aurora council meeting
About 70 demonstrators rallied at the Aurora City Council meeting last night to protest the police shooting of 38-year-old Kilyn Lewis.
The unarmed black man died two days after being shot by Aurora Police in late May. Newly-released body camera footage shows officer Michael Diek firing a deadly shot at Lewis as Kilyn holds his hands in the air and says he is unarmed, according to the Denver Post.
The edited video also shows the shooting happened less than eight seconds after the confrontation began, and that Lewis held a cellphone in one hand.
Aurora City council members stopped last night’s meeting several times, as protestors chanted Kilyn’s name.
After an hour of public comment Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman ended the session, despite about a half-dozen people still waiting to speak – including Lewis’ sister.
The mayor relented after protestors rushed the podium and sat, chanting Lewis’ name.
The shooting death remains under investigation. 9News says that Kilyn Lewis’s family plans to sue Aurora police.
Boulder oil company lawsuits can continue
The Boulder District Court has cleared the way for the City and County of Boulder to pursue a lawsuit against ExxonMobil and two Suncor entities.
The city and county first brought the suit against the oil companies in 2018, on the grounds that their actions have contributed to climate change. They argue that the costs of dealing with climate change is an unfair burden on taxpayers.
The oil companies had sought to get the case dismissed.
In a joint press release yesterday, the city and county are calling the District Court ruling a landmark moment in the case. They said they have worked hard to keep the lawsuit in a local court, rather than in a federal court.
Election day
Today is primary election day in Colorado, as voters choose candidates for U.S. Congressional races, the state House of Representatives, state Senate, and other city and county offices.
Ballots were sent out by the Colorado Secretary of State weeks ago, and we’re now past the deadline for mailing them back. But, completed ballots can be dropped off in-person at polling places all over the state.
Voting can also be done in-person. Polls opened at seven o’clock this morning, and will remain open until seven o’clock tonight.
The latest available numbers indicate a little more than 530,000 ballots have been returned so far. That’s about fourteen percent of eligible voters, according to Colorado Newsline, and is somewhat less than at this same point in the 2022 primaries.
This morning on the Morning Magazine, we’ll speak with Boulder Weekly editor-in-chief Shay Castle about today’s election – and the dark money that has made its way into the primaries.
Fourth Congressional District elections
One of the most closely-watched races that voters will decide on today is in Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District.
There are actually two elections in Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District today.
One is a special election to fill the seat vacated by Representative Ken Buck, who left the House of Representatives earlier this year, before his term was up.
Four candidates are running to complete Buck’s term: Democrat Trisha Eloise Calvarese, Republican Greg Lopez, Libertarian Hannah Goodman, and Approval Voting candidate Frank Atwood.
That’s the special election. Today’s primary election will determine who will run for the Fourth Congressional District seat in the next congress, which begins in January.
Democrats Trisha Calvarese, Ike McCorkle, and John Padora Jr. are on the ballot. The Republican candidates are Lauren Boebert, Deborah Flora, Richard Holtorf, Jerry Sonnenberg, and Peter Yu.
The Fourth Congressional District covers most of Colorado’s Eastern Plains, but also includes the front range cities of Loveland, Wellington, Castle Rock, Parker and Highlands Ranch.
Gender-affirming care ban kept off Colorado ballot
A proposed ballot measure to ban gender-affirming care for children will not appear on the November ballot in Colorado, after a ruling by the State Supreme Court.
The justices reached their decision on narrow procedural grounds. The state constitution requires that ballot initiatives be single-issue, and the court ruled that the ballot measure to ban gender-affirming care for children did not meet this standard.
The ballot initiative would have outlawed the provision of gender-affirming surgery and medicine for minors.
According to Colorado Politics, a three-member Title Board, which screens citizen-initiated measures, initially approved the initiative. But the Title Board reversed their decision after challengers argued the measure’s language was not limited to a single subject, as required by the state constitution.
Rather than start from scratch, the gender-ban proponents tried to meet the single-subject requirement by deleting some of the bill’s language.
The Title Board said that instead of deleting language, the proponents modified, and added to, it.
Extreme heat
Another day of scorching temperatures is expected along the Front Range today, and some local governments are doing what they can to help people escape the heat.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the second straight day today. Temperatures are expected to get into the mid-nineties.
In Denver, the city is opening cooling stations at each of its rec centers. They’ll be open during normal business hours, and provide access to water, restrooms, and somewhere to sit, according to a city press release.
The city also says its public library branches can also be used by those needing a spot indoors to cool off.
In Boulder, city officials told KGNU that there are no cooling stations per se. But people looking to escape hot temperatures can go to Boulder’s government and public buildings, like the courthouse and libraries. Unhoused people can go to the Day Services Center at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.
Extreme heat can cause illness, and health officials caution people to stay indoors as much as possible.
Wolf kill rule
Newly-approved rules are giving Colorado ranchers more latitude to kill wolves that attack their livestock.
Under the new rules approved by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, ranchers can use artificial lighting to help them kill wolves caught in the act of attacking livestock at night, when most wolf attacks occur.
Under current rules, ranchers can only use artificial lighting to harass wolves. They’re already allowed to kill wolves during the day, if they catch them attacking livestock.
Ranchers have been concerned about protecting livestock since wolves were reintroduced to Colorado late last year. The Colorado Sun says there have been at least eleven fatal wolf attacks on livestock since then.
Critics of the new rules say it’s only been six months since the wolves were reintroduced, and ranchers already want new tools to kill them.
Boulder artist census
The City of Boulder wants to learn more about the lives of professional artists who live and work in town.
The city is conducting an Artist Census to learn more about the role that artists play in the local economy and society.
For the census, the City is defining an artist as a creative professional who earns income from creating or performing visual art, design, music, film, photography, literature, and other creative disciplines.
Interested Boulder artists can find out more, and fill out the census questionnaire, at Bouldercolorado.gov/artist-census.
Denver E-bike rebates
A new round of e-bike rebates will be made available to Denver residents today.
The rebates will be released at eleven o’clock this morning, on the Denver Climate Rebates.com website.
The city offers three levels: low-income rebates, moderate income rebates, and standard rebates. The low- and moderate-income rebates require proof of income, or proof of participation in other state or local income-qualified programs, according to a city press release.
The rebates can be used at participating bike shops. They cannot be stacked with the State of Colorado e-bike tax credit.
The rebates are made possible through the voter-approved Climate Protection Fund. After today, Denver’s next round of e-bike rebates is set for August 27th.
