The Home Front: Deaths in Colorado’s oil-and-gas fields, the tobacco tax, and more

 

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel covers homeless issues above and below the fold today, with one piece about a shelter limiting stays by half, and another datelined from Portland about six health providers offering $21.5 million for homeless housing.

Mailed ballots are being sent to 5,700 Colorado military personnel serving overseas, reports the Longmont Times-Call. “Ballots also are on their way to about 13,700 other registered Colorado voters who aren’t in the military but are Colorado and US. citizens currently living overseas.” Some of them even come by email.

The Greeley Tribune fronts a story about a local senior nutrition program today.

Raising Colorado’s tobacco tax could affect you even if you don’t smoke, reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “The initiative would also increase taxes on other tobacco products by 22 percent. The so-called “sin tax” would cost the average pack-a-day smoker an extra $600 a year in taxes and would raise an estimated $315.7 million a year for the state. Funds would be split among various causes — with $54 million allocated annually to tobacco education, prevention and cessation programs.”

The Gazette in Colorado Springs reports on a new public viewing area of the state’s largest gold mine in Cripple Creek. “But some say it’s not the same as the historic American Eagles Scenic Overlook down the road and up a hill. Newmont Mining closed that attraction last year after purchasing the mine in August 2015.”

The Durango Herald profiles a local man who repurposes old cars.

“A dispute over who will moderate one candidate forum has prompted the local Republican Party to withdraw most of its candidates from an Oct. 6 event. The question of moderators may prompt a state legislative candidate to withdraw from another session,” reports Vail Daily. The biggest dispute is about an Oct. 6 forum sponsored by the Vail Valley Partnership and Vail Board of Realtors. Republicans — with one exception — have pulled out of that event. The dispute, which dates back to April of this year, is about who will ask questions to the candidates. The Republicans want two moderators, one Democrat and one Republican. The sponsoring organizations will have one moderator: Vail Valley Partnership CEO Chris Romer.”

A farmer’s market hits the front page of The Boulder Daily Camera.

The Denver Post fronts its second installment of “Digging Through Danger,” a series based on a yearling investigation of accidental deaths in Colorado’s oil-and-gas fields. “Oil and gas companies typically leave management of their sites to subcontractors, a practice that dilutes safety standards and protects companies from liability, making an already dangerous job even more so, a Denver Post investigation has found.”

The Cañon City Daily Record has a piece about a local race for the Colorado House between a local businessman named David Higginbotham and incumbent Republican Wilson.

1 COMMENT

  1. More than 90% of smokers become nicotine addicts by the age of 13 and thirteen year olds are easily priced out of the tobacco, e-liquid and e-cigarette market. Steep and sharp increases in taxes on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and e-liquids are an effective way to achieve this healthy outcome.

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