Police who shot and killed Christian Glass in court and pollution from Valmont power plant leaks into Boulder water

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Election security experts nationwide are warning of possible voting system breaches in the 2024 elections.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI, a coalition including Free Speech for People and Black Voters Matter called for an investigation into voting system breaches in Georgia that may expand to other states next year, including Colorado.

The letter says that alleged voting system breaches in the 2020 presidential election, identified by Georgia prosecutors and linked to former President Donald Trump, are part of a, quote, “broader, coordinated plan” to affect election outcomes, according to Colorado Newsline.

The letter says the plan involves unauthorized copies of voting system software from multiple states, including Colorado. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called it an attack on democracy but added that Colorado’s elections are safe and secure.

Dozens of Swissport cargo workers strike at Denver International Airport

The one-day strike, over what Service Employees International Union Local 105 called unsafe working conditions, began Sunday night and continued into Monday. The work stoppage stemmed from a months-long dispute that began with worker petitions to the company last August. The Denver Post said the petitions cited faulty and broken equipment, dangerous working temperatures, and poor safety training.DIA media relations said that airport operations were not disrupted by the strike, which ended by noon, according to the Denver Gazette.

Swissport works with airfreight and airport ground services at the airport.

Chrisitan Glass Cops In Court

Four of six law enforcement officers charged in connection with the shooting death of Christian Glass, a Boulder man in Clear Creek County last year, are due in court today. KGNU’s Steve Miller reports.

All six officers are charged with failing to intervene in the excessive force by another officer. Four of the six are due to be arraigned today, with the other two scheduled to appear in January.
22-year-old Christian Glass of Boulder was shot to death on June 10, 2022. Glass had called 911 for help late in the evening of June 10, 2022, after his car got stuck near Silver Plume.

Glass was experiencing a mental health crisis, and officers tried for over an hour to coax him out of his vehicle. Former Clear Creek County Sheriff deputy Kyle Gould then authorized deputies at the scene to use force to remove Glass from his car. Glass was shot by former Clear Creek deputy Andrew Buen fatally after Glass swung a knife he had in his possession, that he used for amateur geological work, several times.

According to Denver 7, both Buen and Gould were criminally charged following a grand jury indictment last month, which also found that Glass committed no crime and was acting in self-defense. Gould pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years of probation, while Buen pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is free on bond. The father of Christian Glass said last month that as far as he is concerned, everyone involved in his son’s death should be in jail.

Colorado Gas PricesDecline

Gasoline prices in Colorado continue to drop and are among the lowest in the United States. The average price for a gallon of gas in Denver is $2.60, down thirteen-and-a-half cents from last week, according to the gas pricing app GasBuddy. The state’s average price per gallon is $2.78. Nationally, the average price per gallon is $3.11.

A GasBuddy analyst said the national average is down for the twelfth straight week. Their survey of nearly 80,000 gas stations nationwide shows an average price below three dollars per gallon.

The drop in gas prices is just in time for increased holiday travel. AAA projects that more than 115 million Americans will be on the road between December 23 and January 1. Air Quality Proposals The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission this week will consider proposals that could limit the use of gas-powered lawn and garden equipment. KGNU’s Myrna Morales has the story.

At a meeting tomorrow, the state Commission will look at proposals that could ban the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment along the Front Range. Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment includes chainsaws, leaf blowers, and other hand-held lawn and garden equipment. According to The Denver Post, the machines contributed 671 tons of fine particulate matter pollution in 2020, which is equivalent to the amount produced by 7 million cars in a year. The state’s Air Pollution Control Division and the nonprofit Regional Air Quality Council are proposing two bans to establish minor statewide limitations that would have minimal impact on homeowners and landscaping companies.

Avalanche Risk Is Higher Than Usual

The risk of human-triggered avalanches in Colorado is higher than usual this week in several Colorado counties. The Avalanche Information Center says there have been more than two dozen avalanches in Vail and Summit counties in the last week. No injuries were reported in any of them. They say that the chance of natural avalanches is low right now. But there’s a good chance for avalanches triggered by back-country skiers, hikers, and snowshoers. They caution that anyone venturing into the backcountry during winter should pay close attention to whether they’re in potential avalanche terrain

Pollution from Valmont Power Station leaking into Boulder water

A new investigation from Boulder Reporting Lab and the CU Boulder Center for Environmental Journalism has uncovered environmental and health effects from a nonoperational power plant located just east of Boulder city limits. Valmont Power Station was operational for more than 90 years and dumped the coal ash in a landfill that spans 15 acres between Valmont Butte and Leggett Reservoir.  According to the Boulder Reporting Lab, contaminants from the landfill have leaked into Boulder water wells at unsafe levels. The contaminants can lead to liver and kidney damage. 

Xcel began testing underground water at the power plant in 2017. The Environmental Protection Agency requires Xcel to make their findings public, but the Boulder Reporting Lab found that much of the data was missing. Xcel hasn’t commented on the situation. Xcel has voiced concerns about the contamination of Boulder water but has not formed concrete plans for tackling the issue. 

Affordable Housing Welcomes Its First Tenants

A new affordable housing building welcomed its first permanent residents Friday. The building, located south of downtown Denver, served as a Denver Health medical office building before the conversion.

Denver Housing Authority purchased the building from Denver Health in 2020 for $5 million. The housing authority then received $18 million for the affordable housing project from Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, a nonprofit.  The building is nine stories, with 110 units in total. According to Axios Denver, 96 of those units are restricted to adults aged 55 or older and adults with disabilities. 

The second floor is reserved for unhoused patients discharged from Denver Health.  Rent ranged from $950 to $1,250 a month, dependent on income.