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Your daily roundup of the biggest stories from newspapers across Colorado

“The renewable energy future that Platte River Power Authority has previously assured is coming is now officially part of the utility’s guiding documents,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The PRPA Board of Directors on Thursday unanimously approved a policy that calls for Platte River to pursue a 100 percent non-carbon energy portfolio by the year 2030. Platte River Power Authority provides wholesale power to its owner cities of Loveland, Fort Collins, Longmont and Estes Park. The board of directors consists of the four mayors of PRPA’s owner cities and one additional appointee from each city.”

“Tonks, the baby aye-aye whose introduction to the world began with the words ‘ugly’ and ‘omen of evil,’ is ready for her public debut,” reports The Denver Post. “The young lemur has started to emerge from her nest box at the Denver Zoo and is ready to greet visitors. Tonks was born Aug. 8 to the zoo’s two other aye-ayes, Bellatrix and Smeagol, and conservationists and journalists around the country heralded her birth as an important addition to the endangered species.”

“Six unrelated people are not considered a family in multifamily housing units such as apartments and condominiums, the Steamboat Springs City Council decided Tuesday,” reports The Steamboat Pilot & Today. “A change to the definition was proposed after the city received a complaint of a code violation last year at Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.’s employee housing, the Ponds, where six people each were living in 30 of the apartment complex’s two-bedroom units. Steamboat Resort spokesperson Loryn Kasten said the company was disappointed by the outcome. ‘We will have to re-evaluate how we can find additional housing for the ski resort’s workforce needs,’ Kasten said.”

“The first interview with Shanann Watts’ parents since the August murders of their pregnant daughter and two granddaughters will air at 8 p.m. Friday on ABC’s 20/20,” reports The Longmont Times-Call.

“With room running out in the city of Durango, more marijuana dispensaries are moving into the unincorporated areas of La Plata County,” reports The Durango Herald. “The move, according to those in the marijuana industry, allows businesses to expand while at the same time catching other potential customers as they travel to and from the city. Recently, Durango Organics opened the first dispensary to be located in La Plata County. Grandview/Three Springs area, east of Durango. And, three more dispensaries are trying to open: another in Grandview, one north of town near Purgatory Resort and another just north of the New Mexico state line.”

“University of Colorado officials have come to a resolution with the student who said they censored his artwork when they demanded he move it out of a prominent display in the Visual Arts Complex lobby,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Kaelen Williams, a senior seeking a Bachelor of Fine Arts, created 22 paintings and 15 small drawings for an exhibit called ‘Less Than Nothing’ but drew complaints from students about numerous pieces, including one that displayed a noose.”

“The Bureau of Land Management has unveiled proposed revisions to greater sage-grouse management plans in the West, including a Colorado plan that would open about 350 square miles to oil and gas leasing that’s now off limits,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The Colorado measure would eliminate a provision in the current plan that bars leasing within a mile of leks, the breeding grounds where male greater sage-grouse strut in an attempt to win over potential mating partners. However, the acreage that the revision would open to leasing — about 224,200 acres — would be subject to a restriction barring surface occupancy by oil and gas developers. Such a restriction already applies to more than 900,000 acres of priority greater sage-grouse habitat in the state.”

“The Summit County Sheriff’s Office have announced the discovery of a deceased person at the Vail Pass Rest Area, located at Interstate 70 milepost 190,” reports The Vail Daily. “Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area at 10:52 a.m. on Thursday after report of a dead body at the scene, which was confirmed. Deputies, detectives, the county coroner and Colorado State Patrol are all at the scene. Any further information will be released by the Summit County coroner. The sheriff’s office said there is no risk to the public and that detectives are currently investigating and processing the scene.”

“Sixty firefighters knocked down a fire that charred a four-story home early Friday in southwest Colorado Springs,” reports The Colorado Springs Gazette. “Flames leaping from the home at 390 Wedgewood Court reached as high as 30 feet, and black smoke could been seen from across the southern half of the city.”

“A Johnstown high school student has been arrested in connection with a reported bomb threat at the school Tuesday,” reports The Fort Collins Coloradoan. “Roosevelt High School was evacuated Tuesday morning after police received an anonymous bomb threat during a planned student walkout through the Safe2Tell hotline. Northern Colorado Bomb Squad responded to the incident and searched the school, but nothing was found, according to police.”

 

The Colorado Independent is a statewide online news source operating in a time when spin is plentiful, but factual, fair and unflinching news in the public interest is all too rare. Our award-winning team of veteran investigative and explanatory reporters and news columnists aims to amplify the voices of Coloradans whose stories are unheard, shine light on the relationships between people, power and policy, and hold public officials to account. We strive to report the news with context, social conscience, and soul, and to give Coloradans the insight they need to promote conversation, understanding and progress in this square, swing state we call home.