The Home Front: Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner want to help Colorado hemp farmers

“In a case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing, the 2014 Farm Bill authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to license farmers to grow industrial hemp,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “At the same time, however, the federal Bureau of Reclamation prohibits water in lakes and other storage facilities that it controls to be used on cannabis crops. As a way of ending that incongruity, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators from three Western states introduced a bill Tuesday that would change all that. The senators — Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. — say that dichotomy has gone on long enough.”

“The Longmont Housing Authority’s attorney has concluded that police should have known better than to accompany property managers during warrantless inspections of apartment units in May,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. Attorney David Herrera, in a letter released Tuesday, detailed the findings of his internal investigation, which had been requested by the housing authority’s board following allegations police brought dogs to conduct drug searches at The Suites subsidized apartments at 2000 Sunset Way. Residents of The Suites have said they were unaware they could refuse the request by police and housing authority staff to search their apartments.”

The Pueblo Chieftain continues its local look into the opioid epidemic.

“Rodney Hollandsworth, administrator of Garfield County Community Corrections, says his program has been taking on “riskier individuals,” prompting him to upgrade security at the Rifle facility,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Garfield County commissioners this week approved an additional $10,000 to help the program improve security after a recent threat on one of the program’s officers. Commissioners unanimously approved Hollandsworth’s request for the money, which would in part go toward new card readers at the facility.”

“Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been detected in Fort Collins for the first time this season,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Trapped mosquitoes in northeast and southeast Fort Collins were found to be infected with the virus, city officials announced Tuesday. The city and Larimer County still haven’t logged any human cases of West Nile virus this season, and the discovery of infected mosquitoes isn’t enough to trigger mosquito-spraying. Here’s what you should know about West Nile virus and mosquito-spraying in Larimer County.”

“The Steamboat Springs School Board voted unanimously July 18 to direct Superintendent Brad Meeks to draft ballot language needed to go to the district’s voters in November seeking approval both to take on $12.9 million in bonded indebtedness and a $1 million ongoing capital construct mill levy,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The former would target district facilities in disrepair, including the roofs of five buildings, and the latter is meant to ensure the district doesn’t fall behind on facilities maintenance again in the future.”

“The City Council agreed unanimously Tuesday to the creation of a flexible zoning overlay for the area to be known as The Brands, and The Brands West, which is a proposed retail area in northeast Loveland south of The Ranch on both sides of Interstate 25,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “With the flexibility, the development would be able to have taller buildings at a higher density than are allowed in other neighborhoods of the city. However, the buildings would still be bound by height requirements set by the FAA because of the development’s proximity to Northern Colorado Regional Airport. The west side of the development is currently zoned as heavy industrial.”

“Cheers erupted at Broadlands Golf Course where Broomfield Ward 4 Councilman Greg Stokes gathered with friends and supporters as the first round of ballot returns for his potential recall were reported,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Nearly two-thirds of those were in favor of keeping Stokes in office. Mayor Randy Ahrens read the first-round results — 1,509 voting to recall Stokes and 2,722 voting to keep him in office. By 9 p.m., the Broomfield Elections Division posted unofficial final counts of 1,583 votes to recall Stokes and 2,874 in support of him. Stokes hosted the poll-watch and thank-you event at Broadlands, 4380 W. 144th Ave., for friends, family and supporters who helped him canvass, send out mailers, write letters to newspapers, and raise money for his campaign.”

“Integrity Health Plus, a health care services company with offices in Durango, has declared bankruptcy and is moving out of a building owned by the county, to which it owes at least $125,000,” reports The Durango Herald. “La Plata County and San Juan Basin Health are among the estimated 100 to 199 creditors the company claimed in its Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings on July 7. The company estimated it owes between $1 million and $10 million in business debts, according to the documents.”

“Denver’s jail population is on the decline after reaching near-crisis levels last winter, and officials hope that several new practices will continue to reduce the number of people who spend time in the city’s two jails,” reports The Denver Post. “In February, the Denver Sheriff Department faced criticism from its deputies’ union and community activists, who said crowded conditions were leading to an increase in violence between inmates and against jail staff members. In some sections of the Downtown Detention Center, inmates were sleeping on pallets on the floor.”

“Frontier Airlines unveiled major changes Tuesday to its Colorado Springs schedule to begin this fall, when it will add service to Fort Myers and Tampa, Fla., but suspend flights to Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and reduce service to San Diego,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The changes were part of a major shakeup in the Denver-based carrier’s schedule for flights from Nov. 1 to April 7, which were posted Tuesday on flyfrontier.com. Frontier also announced plans to expand service from its Denver International Airport hub with 85 flights to 21 new cities. Richard Oliver, a Frontier spokesman in Denver, said the changes to the carrier’s Colorado Springs schedule were unrelated to the Denver expansion and instead were part of a “normal seasonal adjustment” to its entire schedule, which also suspended service to eight cities from Denver and Cincinnati. He said the Chicago, San Francisco and Washington flights will resume in the spring as part of another seasonal schedule change.”