“Seven hours worth of oil and gas talk led to a 6-to-4 vote by the Broomfield City Council to approve a new operator agreement with Extraction Oil & Gas Inc,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Multiple substitute motions were made, and failed, before the council made its decision in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Extraction attorney Eric Christ said every word of the agreement had been negotiated with Broomfield staff. ‘This is our last and final offer,’ he said after council members tried to work in changes to the agreement through their motions. ‘We’ve gone as far as we can.'”
“Colorado Rep. Ken Buck led an effort with dozens of members of Congress demanding answers from Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the justice department’s response to coordinated attacks on the nation’s oil and gas pipelines during the past few years,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The letter, sent Monday and signed by 84 members of Congress, including Colorado’s four Republican congressmen, calls the attacks a matter of national security, and demands answers to four basic questions: » Do existing federal statutes, including the Patriot Act and Pipeline Safety Act, adequately arm the Justice Department to prosecute criminal activity against energy infrastructure at the federal level?”
“Mesa County voters’ response in an election in which sales-tax and property-tax increases are on the ballot is the heaviest so far since 2011,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “There are no partisan measures on the ballot, but Republican turnout so far exceeds that of Democrats and unaffiliated voters, but turnout among members of each party is roughly proportionate to affiliation countywide. As of Wednesday, 13,626 voters, or 14.4 percent of all voters, had cast ballots in the off-year election. Included in the turnout were 6,296 Republicans, 3,364 Democrats, and 3,817 unaffiliated and members of other parties.”
“Brian Bagley continued to lead campaign spending among the 10 Longmont candidates running for mayor or City Council, according to the latest reports filed with the city clerk’s office on Tuesday,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Bagley, who’s in a three-way contest for mayor, reported having spent a total of $27,132 on his campaign through Sunday. Mayoral candidate Sarah Levison reported having spent $12,956 as of Sunday, while Roger Lange, the third candidate in the race, reported having spent a total of $1,184.”
“Steamboat Springs City Councilman Scott Ford wants to put the brakes on a planned cut to the city’s bus service that would end all of the late-night service in the spring,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Ford thinks the cut would sting locals, especially workers who depend on the bus to get to and from work in the late evening hours. “I want to protect this level of service,” Ford said Tuesday night as he proposed stopping the cut from going forward.”
“In a surprise move, a high-ranking official with Vail Resorts publically commended Breckenridge Town Council on Tuesday for its work to build a new, downtown parking garage at the Tiger Dredge parking lot,” reports The Summit Daily News. “The kind words spoken during a ski-resort update at Tuesday’s council meeting were a 180-degree turnaround from earlier public statements and letters to the editor issued on behalf of Vail Resorts, in which John Buhler, chief operating officer at Breckenridge Ski Resort, has not been shy about criticizing the town.”
“After 135 years of helping Pueblo moms to carry their unborn babies and deliver them into the world, representatives from St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center announced Wednesday that the hospital will discontinue its Birth Place and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, effective Dec. 15,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The move is a 180-degree reversal from the announcement made last month by St. Mary-Corwin CEO Brian Moore, in which Moore stated the hospital would continue its birthing and labor services after a months-long stakeholder’s process called Values In Action had concluded to keep the hospital’s OB and NICU services in place.”
“Though the temperature reached 82 in Loveland Wednesday, the thought of upcoming winter weather is not far from the minds of city staff organizing the City of Loveland Snow Squad,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Squad volunteers clear snow from the sidewalks belonging to residents who are physically unable to shovel and cannot afford to hire a service. Per the municipal code, Lovelanders are required to shovel the sidewalks in front of residential properties or risk being liable for injury or property damage.”
“Opponents of a ballot issue that would let Fort Collins provide high-speed internet services have nearly 20 times the money for their campaign than supporters,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Priorities First Fort Collins, which opposes Question 2B on the Nov. 7 ballot, received $201,000 in donations between Oct. 16 and 22, according to a campaign finance report filed Tuesday with the City Clerk’s Office. The Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association contributed $125,000 while Citizens for a Sustainable Economy, a nonprofit associated with the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, donated $75,000.”
“Fremont County Department of Public Health & Environment has a new director, but she’s a familiar face across Fremont County,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Emma Davis began the position Aug. 14, replacing Rick Miklich who resigned in June. Davis said it was her community involvement and previous work experience that led to her appointment as Health Director. “I am really invested in this community,” she said. “I moved here four years ago because this was a rural health community that needed help, and that is what drew me to Fremont County.” She said the department is trying to change the community’s culture and improve health outcomes, but it will be a long process.”
“The colorful jumble of graffiti that covers Rainbow Falls didn’t appear to deter visitors from flocking to the natural wonder during its first summer as a recognized historic site,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The falls, which will close for the season at the end of the month, has seen an average of about 300 visitors a day since the site opened in June, according to El Paso County. When the 5-acre recreation area reopens in April, visitors are likely to see a host of improvements, including trail upgrades, a footbridge over Fountain Creek and a retaining wall that will double as a seating area near the falls, said county spokesman Matt Steiner. But county officials and community groups are still grappling with how to best remove the profanity-peperred scrawl from the U.S. 24 bridge and rock surrounding the falls. The site, just northwest of Manitou Springs off Serpentine Drive, has been nicknamed “Graffiti Falls” because it’s long been a popular spot for spray painting. The problem is twofold: the cleanup comes with a hefty price tag and there’s no guarantee the graffiti won’t return once the work is done, said Lane Williams, who’s part of a community group dedicated to restoring the space.”
“The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision this month to overturn a decade-old law on immigrant smuggling could lead to the release of at least one person from prison,” reports The Denver Post. “But it doesn’t appear that the decision will have more widespread ripples through Colorado’s current justice system because prosecutors have all but abandoned filing the charge in recent years, according to a Denver Post analysis of data provided by the Colorado Judicial Branch. The law was passed during a contentious 2006 legislative session, and prosecutors immediately put it to use, filing dozens of cases a year for the law’s first two years — far more than legislative analysts had predicted. But prosecutors have filed only six cases since the start of 2013, and no one has been convicted and sentenced for the charge since 2012, according to the judicial data.”
