The Home Front: FLC biz school dean: ‘It makes me happy to know I work at an institute that takes climate change seriously’

“A day after President Donald Trump’s choice for the White House’s top environmental official expressed doubts over the link between human activity and climate change, an event at Fort Lewis College targeted exactly that argument,” reports The Durango Herald. “’I’m not a scientist, but in my personal capacity, I have many questions that remain unanswered by current climate policy,’ Trump’s nominee to lead the Council on Environmental Quality, Kathleen Hartnett White, said Wednesday. The Washington Post reported that Hartnett White told the Senate at her confirmation hearing that, ‘I think we indeed need to have more precise explanations of the human role and the natural role.’ Had Hartnett White attended FLC’s ‘Symposium on Climate Change on Thursday, she may have had some of those questions on climate change answered repeatedly. There, more than 200 people crowded into the Student Union Ballroom to hear from distinguished local and national scientists, whose studies focus on climate change and its impact on the planet. ‘It makes me happy to know I work at an institute that takes climate change seriously,’ said Steven Elias, dean of the FLC School of Business Administration.

“A proposal to convert a longtime restaurant alongside Colo. 66 between Longmont and Lyons to a retail marijuana sales business has stirred opposition from dozens of area residents,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Boulder County commissioners decided Thursday to schedule a public hearing on the change-of-use application from the owners of the property at 7521 Ute Highway, currently the home of the Praha Restaurant & Bar. However, the commissioners warned that marijuana establishments are one of the uses by right in the business zoning district where the property is located and that they’d be unlikely to violate the county’s Land Use Code by rejecting the proposed change.”

“As daylight saving time draws to a close, this is the most dangerous time of year for both drivers and wildlife,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “November is historically the worst month for collisions with deer, elk and even bears, said Rebecca Ferrell, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The time change brings dusk to most drivers’ evening commute, and that’s when those larger animals are most active. Drivers are simply more likely to be on the road at the same time as the wildlife. “They’re used to moving around the dark, and they’re not used to us being around there with them,” Ferrell said. Elk and deer are still in mating season, while bears are on the prowl for food before they hibernate, exacerbating the problem.”

“If the Loveland election campaign finance reports released Friday, Nov. 3, tell one story, it’s that money may talk, but the people don’t necessarily listen,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Downtown business owner Jacki Marsh beat out her high-spending competitor, current council member John Fogle, in the Nov. 7 election mayoral race. Marsh did it for less than half the price of Fogle’s campaign, and without the support Fogle received from an independent funding committee. Marsh took in $11,734 in total campaign funds as of Nov. 3, and spent $11,711 on signage, labor hours for campaign helpers and advertising by telephone and on the internet. Marsh had $23 remaining of her campaign funds.”

“Hayden School Superintendent Christy Sinner confirmed Nov. 9 that the school district has obtained the list of 11 voters who could make a difference in the outcome of Hayden’s deadlocked school bond election,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “However, it isn’t district officials, but instead, community members, who are contacting those voters to encourage them to make the 46-mile roundtrip to the Routt County Courthouse to clear-up discrepancies with the signatures on their ballots, allowing their votes to count. ‘We are optimistic that (the outcome) will be in the positive,’ Sinner wrote in an email.”

“Some environmentalists say toxic and ozone-contributing pollutants emitted along with methane from a North Fork Valley coal mine should be regulated and are pushing state and federal agencies to do so,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “An inspector for the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division also concluded the West Elk Mine has to comply with requirements applying to emissions of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, but agency managers disagree, at least for now, citing lingering uncertainties surrounding the issue. The conservation group WildEarth Guardians has been pushing the matter, and is now asking for the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety and the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to consider its contention that the mine is violating air pollution rules.”

“A panel of experts are working to spread awareness about the health risks associated with air pollution, focusing on national, state and local scenarios,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The group included professionals in the fields of environmental science, economic development and sustainable energy headlined a community forum at Patrick A. Lucero Library on Wednesday night. “We’re here to talk about how air quality impacts our health, particularly around coal plants because of the emissions they produce,” said Vicente Martinez Ortega, community organizer for the Center for Health Progress. ‘And, also, we’re discussing how pollution disproportionately impacts people of color and folks in our community.'”

“Different ideas of property rights dominated a recent discussion about what form Vail’s short-term rental regulations might take,” reports Vail Daily. “The town currently requires only that owners who rent their units obtain town business licenses. But the growth of internet rental services including Airbnb has Vail and other communities looking at ways to regulate the business. During a discussion about the proposed regulations at the Tuesday, Nov. 7, Vail Town Council meeting, town finance director Kathleen Halloran briefed council members about requirements that are likely to be included in an ordinance. Given the time taken to draft the regulations, passing an ordinance to make those regulations the law of the town may take more time than the three council meetings left in this year.”

“Adam Fulford is staring down decades in prison. Nearly eight months after Fulford led law enforcement officers on a massive manhunt across Fort Collins, around Horsetooth Reservoir and into Loveland, Eighth Judicial District Judge Gregory Lammons sentenced the 34-year-old man to 35 years in prison and 24 years of mandatory parole,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “During the evening of March 30, police say Fulford fled from a central Fort Collins apartment complex when they tried to serve an arrest warrant related to a missed court appearance in a felony drug case. He fled on foot before hailing a taxi and directing the taxi driver to evade police, they said. During that time, the taxi driver was shot in the leg — though Fulford’s defense said Thursday both the driver and Fulford said the gun discharged accidentally.”

“Xcel Energy last week announced plans for a 6-megawatt solar array at the IBM campus in Gunbarrel, which, when complete, will be the largest solar project in the city,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “As part of its Solar*Rewards program for large-scale projects, Xcel issued a request for proposals this summer, and 15 different bids were returned. IBM was chosen as the single beneficiary. On 54 acres of the IBM Boulder campus, which were formerly used for farming, a massive solar array will be constructed. It should be finished by late next year, Xcel said. The area around the array will become grazing land for sheep.”

“Dozens of seniors face imminent eviction by the new owners and managers of an Ivywild apartment complex where some tenants have lived for decades – leaving them scrambling to keep from being homeless right after the holidays,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Most – and possibly all – of the Emerald Towers Apartments tenants were told to leave within 60 days while the 1960s-era building underwent “exciting and upscale upgrades,” according to residents, who provided copies of the eviction letters taped to their doors Wednesday. The letter said each resident could apply to return once the renovations at the roughly 70-unit building at 107 W. Cheyenne Road were complete. But it gave no guarantee that the seniors would be accepted back – nor that the complex would still cater to people 55 and older.”