NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks paid a visit to the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Fountain on Sunday to deliver a passionate sermon in the wake of what may have been an attempted bombing at the Colorado Springs chapter of the NAACP earlier this month. “We refuse to be intimidated,” he roared to the congregation, which whooped and hollered in response. Via the Gazette.
The Colorado office of public defenders filed three lawsuits against Denver County Courts, alleging that judges indiscriminately set bail too high and refuse to have timely hearings on the matter thus unfairly prolonging low-level offenders’ time in already over-crowded jails. “These are people who usually have mental illness, were wrongfully arrested or are of a race other than white,” Iris Eytan, a public defender who has signed onto two of the cases, said. “It reeks of injustice.” Via the Denver Post.
A Pueblo man fleeing police after allegedly breaking into a home was shot and killed during a firefight near a church. Very few details are available as the investigation gets under way, but the entire incident was captured on film by the Pueblo Police force’s newly issued body cameras. Via the Pueblo Chieftain.
A new policy starting Monday will require any welfare recipient in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program – or Colorado Works — to pass a drug and alcohol screening if he/she is suspected of using benefits to fuel an addiction. Rick Bengtsson, executive director of the El Paso County Department of Human Services, said that “[the measure] is not punitive. It’s therapeutic, and it’s about family safety.” Mark Silverstein, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, said the program was based on an implicit assumption that welfare recipients are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. “Not only is this a solution in search of a problem, it’s a bad, misguided and possibly unconstitutional solution in search of a problem.” Via the Durango Herald.
EPA administrator Gina McCarthy addressed the crowd assembled at the X-Games in Aspen last week. “Climate change does threaten skiing, it does threaten snowboarding, it does threaten winter recreation as we know it.” In addition to appealing to the attendees’ love of snow-sports, McCarthy also framed the issue in economic terms, pointing out that the industry adds about $67 billion to the economy every year and supports more than 900,000 jobs. “We need to take action, not tomorrow, but today,” she said. McCarthy also gushed about the opportunity to explore the mountain with snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler who she called “her hero.” Via Aspen Daily News.
Top photo: Cornell William Brooks.
