Officials in Longmont, Colorado are expressing support for minorities following the election of Donald Trump for president, reports The Longmont Times-Call. Overcoming racism will take more than just public authorities defending minorities, Longmont Public Safety Chief Mike Butler said, according to the paper. “Accountability doesn’t just exist at the top,” he added. “It exists with all of us.”
“Heartland Biogas, a company that turns trash and farm waste into gas, has been in the hot seat since this summer,” reports The Greeley Tribune. And now it’s back in the headlines— and in front of local officials. “The smell emanating from the facility — which uses bugs to digest the waste and turn it into natural gas — has left neighbors crying foul for months. On one day in April, the smell was so bad county officials said it violated the company’s permit. They’ve gotten hundreds of complaints since.”
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports on a Colorado Mesa University professor being disciplined for inviting an activist to recruit students to stump for a candidate. “Using state resources for political campaigns, such as promoting candidates or issues during work hours, is not allowed under state law,” the paper reports. The professor allowed someone from Work for Progress to “recruit students for jobs campaigning for Hillary Clinton.”
The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports how city leaders learned police officers there “issued 1,400 fewer summonses and complaints in July, August and September than they had the year before.”
A Chinese immigrant will talk about immigration reform in Steamboat Springs, reports Steamboat Today. “Helen Raleigh arrived in the United States from China in 1996 on a student visa, but because of what she sees as an outdated, poorly organized immigration system, it was 17 years before she became a naturalized citizen.”
The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reports on a small airplane having to make an emergency landing on I-70 near the town of Rifle. “Troop 4C Sgt. David Evridge said that the plane essentially ran out of fuel and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on the interstate.” No one was injured and the plane did not hit a vehicle, he told the paper.
“Boulder will take part in a national effort to help cities exchange best practices regarding the use of data to improve municipal government,” reports The Daily Camera. “The effort is called What Works Cities, and it’s initiative of ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group Bloomberg Philanthropies. What Works Cities launched in April 2015 as a way to help midsize cities — defined as having populations between 100,000 and 1 million — “enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making and engage residents.”
The Coloradoan in Fort Collins asks what’s next for mental health in Larimer County. “Advocates of a ballot proposal that would have filled a local void in behavioral health and substance abuse treatment — potentially easing pressure on jails, hospitals and emergency services — have vowed to continue the fight.”
Cañon City’s school district saw a slight decline in enrollment, which could impact the city’s budget, The Daily Record reports. “It’s unfortunate that we’re down a little bit,” said Buddy Lambrecht, the district’s director of business services. “We’ve projected flat enrollment for the last few years.”
The Gazette in Colorado Springs reports on a defense contractor merger that could bring more jobs to the area.
