The Home Front: Is Colorado a swing state again for the next four days?

 

“After months of doubt, Colorado is rocking as a swing state once again. The proof is in the polls, the uptick in political advertising and the all-star team of surrogates crisscrossing as Election Day next Tuesday closes in,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Polls this week suggest a dead heat in Colorado between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and the double-digit lead incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has enjoyed over Republican El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn has narrowed.”

Political yard signs are on the decline in Weld County, reports The Greeley Tribune. But. “The phenomenon doesn’t seem limited to Weld County,” the paper reports. “Around the state and country, opinion pieces, blogs and letters to the editor ask the same question. “Where are the political signs?” Over the past few election cycles, the popularity of yard signs and bumper stickers has declined, said Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer. “In fact (political signs are) so few that it catches your eye when you see them,” he said. “They used to be all over the place like flowers in spring. Not so much now.”

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports on a comedian with local ties hitting the campaign trail. “Not many folks can say they’ve been kicked out of dozens of political rallies for accusing Donald Trump of being boring, demanding that Jeb Bush pay them for filling seats, or attempting to exorcise Ted Cruz. But Grand Junction native Davram Stiefler can add that to his resume now, all in the name of entertainment and sending an important message to a divided electorate.”

The town of Mead’s Board of Trustees “will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 to hear the results of an investigation into alleged harassment of a town employee by Mayor Gary Shields,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Town Manager Mike Segrest said that an employee filed a harassment complaint against the mayor but he couldn’t go into more details than that. The Times-Call has filed a Colorado Open Records Act request for the complaint.”

The Pueblo Chieftain reports how attacks by Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton are “looking more like reality TV” as Election Day closes in. “Donald Trump warned Thursday that a cloud of investigation would follow Hillary Clinton into the White House, evoking the bitter impeachment battle of the 1990s in a closing campaign argument meant to bring wayward Republicans home. Clinton and her allies, led by President Barack Obama, told voters to get serious about the dangers of Trump.”

No perk for you. “The Steamboat Springs City Council has relinquished a longstanding ski pass perk that had caused some angst and created friction between the council and city staff in recent years,” The Steamboat Pilot is reporting. “The council on Tuesday approved the first reading of a 2017 spending plan that nixed six ski medallions from the council’s operating budget. The city will still purchase four medallions to the ski area with money from the general fund, but the benefit will be exclusive to city staff and not the city’s elected officials.”

The Loveland Reporter-Herald has the story of a body of a teen found in the Berthoud High School yesterday. “Deputies said there is no known threat to the public. “We are, however, taking every precaution that it stays that way,” Moore told the paper yesterday. “Larimer County Coroner’s Office will release the identity of the teenage boy as well as the cause and manner of his death. Berthoud High School will remain closed.”

“The president of the board of directors for the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District says that the $1.15 million budget shortfall could have been prevented but that there was no attempt to deceive voters in the district who passed a mill levy increase in 2015,” The Boulder Daily Camera reports. “There was no deception,” Board President Kurt Gattmann told the paper.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports on King Soopers “forging ahead with plans for a 119,000-square-foot store at the former Kmart site in Midtown, eschewing the city’s desire for a more intense use of the property along the MAX bus rapid transit line.”

The Republican U.S. Senate campaign of Darryl Glenn is “seeing momentum,” with four days to go until the election, reports The Durango Herald. “It makes sense that a former powerlifting champion and retired Air Force officer would refuse to leave the race without a fight.”

The Denver Post reports how the “turnout game” has sharpened into focus in the home stretch toward Election Day. “Political campaigns have come a long way in the last decade, but there’s still something no tweet or algorithm can do — knock on doors.”