“Vice President Mike Pence told a Colorado Springs crowd Monday that America will reach new heights in space under the Trump administration, including a pledge for manned missions to the moon and Mars,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Pence’s speech kicked off the 34th Space Symposium at The Broadmoor, where more than 14,000 people are expected to gather over four days of talks on all things in orbit and beyond. A special focus this year will fall to military handling of satellites amid growing threats of war spreading to orbit. Pence stayed away from most military issues, instead calling for civil space exploration and a new role for business in orbit.”
“Amanda Eppler opened the front door to her home Monday morning, picked up her black cat, Hobo, and sobbed. It was the first time in two weeks she was legally allowed back into the Grand Avenue home she owns,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
“A bit of mayhem is always expected at Copper Mountain Resort’s annual Slopesoakers pond-skimming event, but no one was prepared for one skier’s disastrous attempt to jump a crowd of spectators Saturday afternoon,” reports Summit Daily. “Hayden Wright, 26, was descending a run shortly after noon when he launched into the crowd, breaking a woman’s collarbone and lightly injuring several others. Authorities now say they expect to charge him with felony assault. “It was not even close,” said Chris Logan, who was standing in the crowd and hit the deck as Wright flew toward him. “You’d have to be Red Gerard and not drinking to clear that.” The crash was a grim shock in the midst of an event known for its zaniness, featuring skiers and riders in absurd costumes trying to skim across a water pond — often unsuccessfully.”
“There are 10 family members in Tayler Schledewitz’s family who worked as hairdressers, including her mother and her grandmother, who opened one of the first salons in Greeley,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “They inspired her to work as one herself. But Schledewitz, 23, learned how to be a hairdresser from Lee Williams. Now she and five others hope to carry on his legacy by working together again, this time in Illuminations, a new salon in Greeley. Williams owned Scruples, one of the more well-known hair salons in Greeley, located across from Fat Alberts in the Cottonwood Square shopping center. Schledewitz heard Williams’ name in her beauty school, and at Cost Cutters, where she worked for a while. When she heard Scruples had an opening, she jumped at it, because she wanted to learn from him.”
“Glenn Arnold thought the old barn in Steamboat Springs where he took care of cows as a child and sought shelter from thunderstorms would just fall down someday and fuel a big bonfire,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “So there was still a sense of surprise in Arnold’s voice Monday after he learned that barn is set to be preserved and become a new iconic landmark guiding tourists to the base of Steamboat Ski Area ‘I’ll be darned,’ Arnold, now 84, said from his home in Grand Junction. “I’d never thought anything like that would ever happen.'”
“As many as 1,000 teachers across Poudre School District gathered before school started on Monday to stage a ‘walk-in,’ reports The Coloradon in Fort Collins. “Wearing red shirts and waving signs, teachers gathered to bring community awareness to education funding at the state level. Their main concerns: teacher pay and retirement benefits. They gathered outside various schools before class began. They waved to parents as they dropped off their kids. Many teachers held signs as students arrived in carpool lines, and then walked in to hold class for the day.”
“The Thompson School District did not see a surge in teachers absent from the classroom Monday, the day teachers around the state were to meet with legislators at the state Capitol to ask for better school funding and salaries,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “A school district spokesman reported that teacher absences were “nothing out of the norm” on Monday. The Colorado Education Association predicted about 500 educators were expected to demonstrate at the state Capitol on Monday. About 15 from the Thompson Education Association planned to be part of a morning meeting with legislators with more traveling to Denver after school for a 4:30 p.m. rally.”
“A study that suggests eliminating an intersection of major roadways by elevating Colo. 119 over Hover Street in southwest Longmont was criticized last week by residents who say it underestimated its count of bicyclists using the area’s roads,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “In a public forum, Longmont officials presented information collected by city-hired consulting firm Short Elliott Hendrickson and its recommendations, but cyclists claim the data on which its report was based is flawed due to it being gathered in December. Including the entire study area, which forms a triangle with Colo. 119, Hover and Nelson Road as borders, only 30 cyclists total were counted between the morning and evening peak travel periods, according to study’s online version, but that number was noted during a slow period for biking.”
“A number of Vail Valley property owners are taxed without representation. A bill in this year’s Colorado Legislature seeks to change that,” reports Vail Daily. “A pair of state officials, Rep. Larry Liston and Sen. Jack Tate, both Republicans, have sponsored HB18-1181. That bill passed the Colorado House of Representatives last week and is now before the state senate. If passed and signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper, then the bill would allow people who live out of state, but own property in a special district, to vote in those district board elections.”
“Kaitlin Turner was sworn in as the Cañon City Council’s new District 4 representative during Monday’s meeting,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Turner replaces former councilman Mark Gill who resigned in March after announcing his plans to move outside the area. The council unanimously selected Turner during a special meeting Thursday.”
“The city and county of Boulder, along with San Miguel County in southwestern Colorado, will hold a joint rally Tuesday to announce an as-yet-unspecified ‘crucial effort in the fight against climate change,’ reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Though officials are declining to comment on what that effort will entail, there are numerous signs indicating the announcement likely may concern legal action against fossil fuel-producing corporations.”
“Denver marijuana buyers would help pay for an expansion of the city’s 10-year, $150 million affordable housing fund under a plan that includes borrowing to amp up apartment production,” reports The Denver Post. “If approved, the proposal would boost the city’s shorter-term plan — to subsidize the building or preservation of 3,000 income-restricted apartments and other housing units in the next five years — to 6,400. Mayor Michael Hancock and other city officials have been under pressure from City Council members and affordable housing advocates for more than a year to bolster the city’s commitment to addressing Denver’s housing crisis, and they unveiled their plan Monday. If key components win council approval this summer, the city would double an annual $15 million commitment that began last year, and it would partner with the Denver Housing Authority to issue $105 million in bonds to subsidize affordable housing projects and acquire new land across the city for income-qualified housing.”
