The Home Front: Sage grouse in peril, Temple Grandin talk sells out, teen dies after Flatiron fall

The imperiled sage grouse is now at even greater risk, reports the Denver Post this morning. The Trump administration yesterday announced a plan to overhaul land-use rules to open more of the West to fossil-fuels development, “shifting the nation’s strategy for saving imperiled sage grouse away from protecting habitat in favor of counting birds that could be captive-bred.” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced the move despite objections from Gov. John Hickenlooper, igniting “a storm from conservationist critics who accused the administration of kowtowing to the oil and gas industry at the expense of science-based stewardship.”

A 17-year-old boy has died after climbing alone and falling from Boulder’s First Flatiron on Sunday evening, the Boulder Daily Camera reports. “Sheriff’s Cmdr. Mike Wagner said the teen was free-soloing — climbing alone, without the use of ropes or gear — on the First Flatiron when he fell possibly more than 100 feet and suffered ‘massive traumatic injuries.'”

A talk by legendary author and speaker Temple Grandin sold out within 30 minutes and caused the Longmont Public Library’s website to crash, reports the Longmont Times-Call. The Sept. 12 event is free, but registration is required — and “all in all, there were about 1,000 people who tried to register for 350 seats.”

The Colorado Springs Gazette writes today that the local Seeds Community Café closed Sunday due to outstanding debts and other money problems. The restaurant, which used a pay-what-you-can model to address food insecurity, attributed the shutdown to “past financial decisions coupled with a lack of donations and customer traffic,” the Gazette reports.

Two ballot measures could bring more than $120 million to Colorado’s School District 51 — but advocating for the measures could get teachers in trouble, reports the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. The district’s 3,000 employees must walk a fine line: “According to Colorado election law requirements under the Fair Campaign Practices Act, school district employees can’t campaign or advocate for the ballot measures during working hours or using school resources.”

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