It’s deja vu all over again, but in reverse: A Colorado baker now faces a discrimination complaint for declining to decorate a cake with an anti-gay message. Last year, Colorado made national news when a cake baker refused to make a wedding gay for a gay couple. Cake crazy Colorado! It began this time around when Bill Jack of Castle Rock placed an order at Azucar Bakery in Denver for a Bible-shaped cake, which owner Marjorie Silva happily made. Then, as she put on the finishing touches, Jack asked her to write “God Hates Gays” in frosting on the cake and stick two groom figurines on top covered with an “X”. Silva gave Jack a pastry bag of frosting and told him he could do that kind of decorating himself. Did Jack really want the cake or did he want something else? He filed a formal complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, saying on KUSA-TV that he believes he “was discriminated against by the bakery based on [his] creed.” Neither Jack nor Silva can comment on the case before the CCRD releases its findings. Via the Gazette.
Frank Gale, one of the most decorated officers at the Denver Sheriff Department, was laid off on Wednesday — for the third time. The former second-in-command in the department who once oversaw the Downtown Detention Center was also fired in 1991 and 2000, both over allegations that he assaulted an inmate, intimidated deputy witnesses and lied about it. Both times, he appealed the termination and was reinstated. This time, his firing comes after he gave preferential treatment to a department captain who was facing criminal charges. Gale is the third high-ranking official in the Denver Sheriff Department to be fired or demoted this year. Will it stick? His attorney says Gale will appeal his latest termination. Via the Denver Post. (Photo of Gale via DPTV.)
A 55-year-old Colorado Springs man is recovering in the hospital after being shot in the leg by a Colorado State Patrol trooper. According to Sgt. Joel Kern of the Colorado Springs Police Department, which is investigating the incident, the man resisted arrest and assaulted the trooper during a traffic stop. The CSPD won’t say whether the man was armed. The trooper, who suffered minor injuries in the scuffle, is on administrative leave. Via the Gazette. (Photo by Kassondra Cloos.)
More colleges and universities in the West are starting to offer more classes on environmental philosophy, perhaps in response to a “real hunger” among students to question the ethical framework in which the civilized world marches onward toward ecological disaster, according to Colorado State University philosophy professor Philip Cafaro. High Country News‘s Alex Carr Johnson walks through some of the West’s most cutting-edge programs charting the new course. (Photo from Prescott College archive.)
