Headlines — August 2, 2022

August 2, 2022

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Coloradans Hold Local Climate Action Protest in Superior Today

Colorado climate activists will gather today in Superior to call on President Joe Biden to officially declare a climate emergency on a national level. The organizers will join victims of the Marshall Fire at the site of a destroyed home.

This event is organized by several statewide climate groups including 350 Colorado, Clean Energy Action, and Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate. Speakers will include three victims of the Marshall Fire as well as Madhvi Chitoor, a youth climate activist, and the leaders of some of the state organizations.

The demonstrators say a climate emergency declaration would signal that the president is ready to use his full executive power to hasten the transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.

Tabor Rebate Checks in the Mail

Colorado taxpayers who filed their 2021 taxes can expect their TABOR refunds in the coming days and weeks. The TABOR – or Taxpayer Bill of Rights – refunds are issued whenever the state collects more than the state constitutional cap of tax revenue. People who filed as individuals will receive $750 checks, while joint filers will receive $1,500 checks.

This is the first year Colorado will issue standard checks rather than ones pegged to a percentage. While the traditional percentage-based model leads to higher returns for high income earners and lower returns for low income earners, the new system was adopted to give some financial relief to struggling low income families.

Two Boulder City Council Members Announce Intent to Run for House District 10 Seat

Boulder City Council Member Junie Joseph and Mayor Aaron Brockett have both declared intent to run in the 2022 race to represent Colorado’s District 10 in the State House of Representatives. Incumbent candidate Representative Edie Hooton withdrew from the race Saturday. She will be joining us live after the headlines to discuss her decision and her time in office.

Coroner Identifies Mother and Daughter Murdered Last Week 

The Larimer County Coroner’s Office has identified two people murdered inside a home in Loveland last week. The victims were 41 year-old Lindsay Daum and her 16 year-old daughter, Meadow Sinner. Both died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Their killer was the mother’s ex-boyfriend, who led police on a chase to Erie, which ended with the gunman fatally shooting himself.

Denver’s 9News reports Daum had a court-issued protective order and restraining order against her ex-boyfriend. Daum’s four other children were in the home at the time of the double murder.

According to a report from Everytown Research & Policy, almost half of female firearm homicide victims in the U.S. die at the hands of a current or former intimate partner and nearly two-thirds of all domestic violence–related mass shootings end with a perpetrator committing suicide.

Boulder County Commissioners to Hold Public Hearing on Gun Violence Prevention Ordinances

Gun violence prevention ordinances will be at the center of a Boulder County Commissioners meeting this afternoon. The hearing will discuss five ordinances, including one prohibiting the sale and purchase of assault weapons, one prohibiting the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than twenty one, and one requiring a waiting period prior to the sale of firearms. The full text of the five proposed ordinances is available online at boco.org/2022GunOrdinances. You can also sign up to attend and/or comment at the public hearing via a link on that website.

Prairie Dog Relocation

After years of lobbying, residents in Gunbarrel have saved a prairie dog colony. The colony faced termination as a result of a development on a field next to Celestial seasonings. Instead developers will relocate the animals to another location.

The new development, which Boulder green-lit last year will create 230 apartments, affordable housing units, a cafe and common space. 

Woman Found Dead Near Realization Point Trailhead Identified

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of the woman as a homicide. 9News reports that the victim is identified as 25-year-old Alexis Baca.

Baca was from New Mexico and was traveling through Colorado with a friend when her body was found Sunday July 23. Her cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, according to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office.

Deputies haven’t released the suspect’s name, but they believe that the victim and suspect knew each other. Deputies said just before 10am Sunday July 23, they got a call about a possible deceased person near the Realization Point trailhead, a Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks property West of the city.

When first responders arrived, they found Baca’s body near the trailhead, just off the road.