The Home Front: Pot law loopholes, farmers vs. pipelines, pesky bears and budgets

It’s loopholes in local pot laws, eminent domain for gas pipelines, bear problems, budgets, and stolen bikes on the front pages across Colorado newspapers today.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel fronts a story about the federal Bureau of Land Management “considering leasing tens of thousands of acres for oil and gas development in the Granby area, the western portal to Rocky Mountain National Park.” Commissioners in Grand County “will consider next week whether to oppose the proposal, which Jeremy Nichols of the conservation group WildEarth Guardians said ‘kind of comes as a shock.'”

The Longmont Times-Call has a piece about the city maybe closing a loophole that would allow unregulated marijuana home grows.  “Longmont law “generally prohibits marijuana cultivation, distribution, production, manufacturing, testing, retail sales, etc.,” according to a city staff memo written by, among others, Assistant City Attorney Teresa Tate.” But a subsection in the law doesn’t apply to medical marijuana card holders.

The Greeley Tribune has a story about a new pipeline becoming the sixth to cut through a single farmer’s land. “When the Board of Weld County Commissioners introduced some updates to the county’s oil and gas pipeline regulations earlier this summer, it ripped off a scab for area farmers.” Farmers out there are looking for more protections as companies threaten to use eminent domain.

Under The Pueblo Chieftain’s front-page coverage of the end the end of the State Fair is a national story about a poll showing support for the Black Lived Matter movement.

A photo of a bear tipping over a dumpster on wheels graces the front page of The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent today along with a story about rising bear conflicts and iffy re-location efforts.

A three-mile section of roadway between Loveland and Estes Park will be closed from Oct. 17 to June, reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald.

The Boulder Daily Camera has a look at Boulder’s budget, one that includes less capital spending for 2017, but “while the $321 million the draft proposes may technically be a drop-off, the budget would actually go up by approximately 2 percent across city departments, once capital improvement spending — which tends to fluctuate wildly year to year — is removed from the picture.”

Bikes top the list of stolen items at Colorado State University, reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins.

The Cañon City Daily Record has an A1 story about a local winery at the Holy Cross Abbey.

The Gazette in Colorado Springs fronts a piece about a local hot-air balloon festival.

The Denver Post has a front-page story about a grant that creates a farm-to-table program at schools in Weld County. “In school districts throughout Colorado, demand for fresh local produce far outpaces supply. School nutritionists want to plan menus using locally grown fruits and vegetables, but there aren’t enough farmers.”

Denverite localizes a national story about ITT tech closing down after failing to meet standards.