Heightened security at Denver today for pro-Israel conference and the paramedics who sedated Elijah McClain go to trial.

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Jewish National Fund Conference

There is heightened security in parts of Denver today, ahead of a four-day conference by a pro-Israel group. The Jewish National Fund-USA is holding a conference at the Colorado Convention Center. Sections of 14th Street between Stout and Welton will be closed through Sunday evening.

According to 9news, protests are expected from pro-Palestinian groups. The Denver Police Department says it is working with conference organizers to ensure a safe event.

On Monday, more than a hundred activists disrupted a Denver City Council meeting, demanding council members denounce the Jewish National Fund-USA conference. The incident forced the council to postpone the rest of their meeting.

New State Rental Funds

A newly-enacted state law nearly doubles the amount of assistance money available to low-income renters in Colorado.

Governor Jared Polis, who signed the law on Tuesday,  proposed the rental assistance funding after Coloradans voted down Proposition HH earlier this month. 

The Denver Post reports the newly-added $30 million provides $10 million more than would have been available under Proposition HH, the property tax relief measure voters rejected  earlier this month. The money adds $30 million to the existing $35 million for state rental aid in the current fiscal year.

BVSD Board Member Payments

The Boulder Valley School Board on Tuesday approved a plan to allow incoming board members to request payment for their services.

The Board voted 4-3 in favor of the idea Tuesday. The vote acts on a 2021 state law that allows payment to school board members. Historically, those positions have not been paid.

The law allows for stipends of up to $150 a day, up to five days a week, in compensation for official duties. It would cap at about $3,000 a month, according to the Daily Camera.

Biden Visits Pueblo

Biden spoke after a tour at CS Wind, which employs nearly 600 people in Pueblo.  He praised recent and near-future investments in the plant that  were made possible by funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.   Biden said that jobs like these are a part of what he called expanding the economy “from the middle out.”  He emphasized the importance of  middle class jobs.

Biden also discussed other planned hiring in the green energy sector in Colorado including continued expansion of wind power manufacturing.  

His visit to Pueblo came after a fund-raiser in Denver on Tuesday in Cherry Hills Village at the home of the head of a private investment firm.  At that event, he decried recent restrictions on women’s access to health care and also chastised Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for voting against the Inflation Reduction Act.

McClain Paramedics Trial

The trial of two paramedics accused in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain began yesterday.

Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper are both charged with reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and assault.

In opening statements, prosecutors said both defendants violated protocol by injecting McClain with too high a dose of ketamine, and by not checking his medical condition.

The defense opened its case by saying the paramedics did, in fact, have medical control of the situation, but had no authority over the police officers. The defense also said the paramedics were reacting to the information they had at the time.

On the night of the incident, the two paramedics were called to the scene by Aurora police, after McClain lost consciousness when one of the officers put him in a chokehold. Police had stopped McClain, who had done nothing wrong, because someone called 911 to report a suspicious person.

One of those officers was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third degree assault last month. The other two have been cleared of all charges.

The trial FOR the two paramedics is expected to last about a month

Opposition To Woodyard’s Return To Aurora P.D.

Advocates are protesting over the return of Nathan Woodyard to the Aurora Police Department.

Woodyard, one of the officers acquitted in Elijah McClain’s death, has elected to go through what’s called a “reintegration” process that, under the Aurora city charter, permits him to return to the police force.

The president of the Denver Ministerial Alliance says the city charter is outdated, and that Woodyard cannot be trusted in a position of public safety.