The Home Front: Dozens of Denver officers disciplined for ‘violating the department’s body camera policy’

“Dozens of Denver police officers have been disciplined so far this year for violating the department’s body camera policy, and the city’s police watchdog is urging the department to provide more training to officers on when to activate their cameras,” reports The Denver Post. “Independent monitor Nick Mitchell identified at least 55 occasions in early 2017 when officers potentially violated the department’s body camera policy, according to his semi-annual report released Oct. 11. The monitor did not elaborate on each of the 55 cases. Police commanders believe they are getting the problem under control. They identified the issue after the department’s rollout of body cameras was completed in early 2017, said Cmdr. James Henning of the investigative support division.”

“Dylan Kirkpatrick spends most October nights covered in fake blood and dirt,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “It’s part of a costume that took hours to research, years to put together and $1,000 to collect the pieces. He’s still looking for a couple pieces, but each night he’s part of the attraction at Scream Acres at Fritzler Corn Maze. Kirkpatrick, 18, of LaSalle, takes on the character of Edward Richtofen, a Nazi responsible for creating a zombie outbreak. Richtofen originated as a character in 2007 in a zombie version of the video game franchise “Call of Duty.” In the game, Richtofen is a German scientist also known as “The Butcher” by his victims. He uses himself as a test subject for an experiment and comes in contact with a device that eventually causes him to hear voices and go mad.”

“A paper cut was to blame for the band aid that ended up in the au jus being served at the UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center cafeteria,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “YVMC officials said steps have been taken to ensure everyone is safe and it does not happen again. “Hospital food and nutrition services play an important role in the experience of our patients, their family members and our community,” said Lindsey Reznicek, YVMC’s communications coordinator. “Safety for everyone is a top priority, and we will continue to ensure the highest quality of our dining services and facilities.” The Steamboat Today learned about the incident after being contacted by Routt County resident Erik Lacasse, who had been at YVMC visiting someone with his 2-year-old grandson.”

“A Palisade man who trusted his mother as his bookkeeper is suing his parents for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his oil field business, leaving him without health insurance and foreclosing on his home without telling him,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Adam Giese, 32, who has since changed his name to Adam Adams, is the owner and sole employee of his company Black Diamond Well Services. He filed a civil lawsuit in August in Mesa County District Court alleging his mother Julianna Savoni Giese and his adoptive father, local attorney James Giese, left him broke. Adams also named the Grand Junction certified public accounting firm Soronen Donley Patterson CPAs in the lawsuit, alleging the company mishandled some of his tax returns. ‘The worst part of it is not the money, it’s the betrayal,” Adams said by phone recently of his mother. “The extent she went to deceive me.'”

“You can trust Russ Schumacher to answer any Colorado climate question,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Actually, you can trust the new state climatologist to answer just about any question. He’s won “Jeopardy!” five times, including four regular games and one Tournament of Champions competition. Schumacher, an atmospheric science faculty member at Colorado State University since 2011, took over as the state’s go-to climate expert and leader of the Colorado Climate Center on Oct. 6. He succeeds Nolan Doesken, who has been with the office in various roles for 40 years. We sat down with Schumacher to talk Colorado climate, severe weather and — of course — those ‘Jeopardy!’ wins.”

“The writing is on the wall across Summit County’s third-grade classrooms, and the need for two massive school-expansion projects currently underway here can best be explained by the numbers,” reports The Summit Daily News. “Altogether, the Summit School District serves about 3,500 students, and Summit High School houses about 926 of them. It’s not a huge problem for the high school right now, according to the principal and other district officials, because the school was built to hold about 1,000 kids.”

“Three Boulder County cities facing major oil and gas development have seen zero dollars from energy companies and big donors flowing into upcoming city council races,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “But low dollar donations from individual contributors show that efforts are underway to ensure forces on both sides of the battle have candidates’ attention, according to campaign finance reports filed early last week. Out of more than $125,467 raised for candidates in Longmont, Lafayette and Louisville, $2,545 appears to be from voters with strong opinions on energy in their cities.”

“As skiers and snowboarders celebrate early season snow at Arapahoe Basin and Loveland Ski Area, avalanche forecasters are watching the snowfall with apprehension,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “‘I’m never psyched when we get early season snow,’ said Pete Lardy, the owner and chief guide at the Pikes Peak Alpine School. ‘It usually sets us up pretty poorly for avalanches throughout the rest of the year.’ The first major early-season storm, which passed through Colorado Oct. 1 and 2, dropped 15-20 inches of snow in the Steamboat Springs-Routt County area, according to snow forecasting website OpenSnow. The Loveland Basin got 11 inches, while Pikes Peak only received 3 to 4.”

“One of the hallmarks of living in a civilized society is we have rules,” reports Vail Daily. “When it comes to modern civilization, we are all well aware that we are governed by many, many regulations. Eagle County’s Land Use Regulations are a prime example. The rules governing development in the county are a written labyrinth that can be contradictory and confusing. But the great thing about rules is they can be changed, and that’s exactly what Eagle County is contemplating.”

“The city’s recently released draft Durango Housing Plan lays out strategies to encourage construction and to address the increasingly unaffordable housing market,” reports The Durango Herald. “The city of Durango is aiming to increase affordable housing options for everyone, create market-friendly regulations, prioritize density, set up a housing trust fund, create a land bank program and establish 1,000 long-term affordable units by 2035.”

“Labeling it a ‘cruel practice,’ Denver City Councilwoman Kendra Black has authored a bill that would make declawing cats illegal,” reports ColoradoPolitics. “The bill would make it unlawful to declaw cats unless it is deemed medically necessary, including to treat physical illness or injury or to correct a congenital abnormality. Then, only a licensed veterinarian could perform the procedure on a cat placed under anesthesia. The bill is slated to be discussed in Denver’s Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness Committee on Wednesday. If it wins approval, it would then move on to the full council.”

“When it comes to pain treatment, some patients are getting their advice from marijuana dispensary employees instead of medical doctors,” reports Denverite. “That might finally change as new research projects get underway in Colorado and beyond. “Their patients are telling them that they’re trying or wanting to try cannabis as an alternative, but our providers don’t have any evidence-based research to say, ‘Here’s what’s been shown, here’s the route to take,’” said Dr. Emily Lindley, who’s working on a cannabis research project at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.”