Amid gun debate, Colorado sheriff angry at ‘liberal politicians and Hollywood elite’ he says are hypocritical for not speaking out against abortion

“Garfield County’s sheriff says he’s angry at ‘liberal politicians and Hollywood elite’ who are calling for gun control after last week’s shooting deaths of 17 people at a Florida high school, and suggests they’re hypocritical for failing to similarly speak out against abortion,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Sheriff Lou Vallario, a Republican, voiced his views Monday in his latest “Just the Facts” video posted to the county Sheriff’s Department Facebook page, drawing dozens of comments from critics and supporters. He said while he’s angered by yet another tragic school shooting, ‘I’m also angry about how almost immediately people want to politicize this topic and liberal politicians and Hollywood elite want to jump on this bandwagon of gun control. They immediately want to blame guns; they don’t want to look at the real issues. They don’t want to look at the evil, they don’t want to look at the criminal mind, they don’t want to look at things like that. They want to just immediately go to guns.'”

“The president of Adams State University has been placed on leave amid accusations that she bullied faculty and staff, failed to stem declining student enrollment and mocked blue-collar workers with an offensive Halloween costume that sparked an uproar when photos began circulating on campus,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Beverlee McClure, who became the university’s first female president in April 2015, was placed on leave last week by the school’s board of trustees, leaving the small San Luis Valley school struggling financially and critics angry — and still fearful — in her wake. McClure, hired for her business acumen, has been attacked by detractors as being abrasive and combative. Critics say her dismissive attitude toward anyone but those in her inner circle was put on display at an Oct. 26, 2016, Halloween party. McClure attended dressed as an obese plumber and outfitted in a prosthetic fat suit and rotting buck teeth.”

“The pilot of a small plane that crashed on Friday remains in serious condition and the flight instructor has since been released from the hospital, according to hospital officials,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “A GoFundMe campaign created Monday for Jay Davis — an engineer, cyclocross competitor and longtime pilot — says that he underwent surgery in the intensive care unit the same day of the crash and has ‘lost the use of his legs due to a spinal cord injury and multiple spine fractures.'”

“Routt County Search and Rescue volunteers were called early Monday morning to rescue a man who possibly had frostbite,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Search and Rescue member Kristia Check-Hill said they were paged at 4:50 a.m. to help the 36-year-old man north of Hayden. She did not know where the man lives. Check-Hill said they were told the man parked at the intersection of Routt County Roads 76 and 80 and planned on snowshoeing about 16 miles to a friend’s cabin near Quaker Mountain. The man had also brought a snowboard to get to the cabin, which is remote and inaccessible by car during winter.”

“Members of the Loveland City Council might decide Tuesday to finalize several measures that will allow city staff to move forward with developing a municipal broadband utility,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “If adopted, the three ordinances scheduled for a second reading would allow city staff to direct time and resources toward fulfilling seven recommendations by the Loveland Broadband Task Force. Following the recommendations would result in the city having a build-ready network design, a detailed business implementation plan and the structures in place for governance of an enterprise utility, as well as a more accurate cost-to-build estimate, in the next four to six months.”

“Winter has returned to the central Rocky Mountains, and looks to be bringing some snow this time,” reports Vail Daily.

“A Denver police union president linked immigration to the opioid crisis during a congressional hearing Thursday,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “But it’s not an idea that Larimer County law enforcement is rushing to embrace. Det. Nick Rogers, the president of the Denver Police Protective Association, argued  that sanctuary cities — cities in which local governments limit how much they will work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on immigration enforcement — make it more difficult for police to deal with and deport drug dealers. “… it became apparent the source of the heroin was coming from Mexico and the parties selling it were also from Mexico and Honduras,” Rogers wrote in his written testimony for the subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives. ‘Early on, I found that almost all the buyers of the heroin were middle class, white, young adults from the three suburbs.'”

“The Boulder City Council will revisit on Tuesday the question of how much money commercial developers should be required to pay into the city’s affordable housing fund,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Just 14 months ago, the council, under a different makeup, raised what is called the affordable housing linkage fee from $9.53 per square foot — at the time, already the highest in any city between the country’s coasts — to $12. The vote was 6-3. But in November, voters delivered a new, slow-growth majority on the council, and four of the five candidates who won seats had included in their platforms promises to raise the linkage fee, which they and many others in Boulder believe is inadequate.”

“Denise Stalford never expected to fall in love with a convicted killer,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. The 31-year-old Northern Ireland-native recalled the disgust she felt when she saw “Lost for Life,” a 2013 documentary about juveniles who committed crimes and are serving life in prison without parole. The film started with the gory details of Idaho killers Brian Lee Draper and Torey Michael Adamcik, who in 2006 killed their high school classmate Cassie Jo Stoddart. “I had no sympathy whatsoever for the first people who came on,” she told The Gazette earlier this month in a video interview from her home in Ireland.”

“One suspect died in a shootout with a Montezuma County Sheriff deputy Thursday afternoon near the Utah border. Two others were arrested,” reports The Cortez Journal. “There were no reports of injured deputies. Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said a traffic stop by a deputy on County Road G turned into a high-speed chase that ended in Utah just west of the Ismay Trading Post.”

“Karen Doll sang since she was 5. She worked as a singer for at least a decade and probably longer,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “And yet, a month ago, she took her first lesson. “I feel like I can do more with it,” Doll said from her west Greeley home. “I’m not sure what my future holds. But I want to do my best in everything. “I want to honor him.” She shared that home with Jay, her husband. Jay died suddenly of natural causes during a hunting trip four months ago. She was in survival mode for most of the time that followed — Christmas decorations remain in her front yard — but now things have settled down, and she’s grieving. So she’s making herself better. She wants to be an example for their children, Zach, 18, Rhiannon, 16, and Jacob, 13, to send a message that a loss, no matter how painful, doesn’t need to define them.”

 

The Colorado Independent is a statewide online news source operating in a time when spin is plentiful, but factual, fair and unflinching news in the public interest is all too rare. Our award-winning team of veteran investigative and explanatory reporters and news columnists aims to amplify the voices of Coloradans whose stories are unheard, shine light on the relationships between people, power and policy, and hold public officials to account. We strive to report the news with context, social conscience, and soul, and to give Coloradans the insight they need to promote conversation, understanding and progress in this square, swing state we call home.

2 COMMENTS

  1. 1) It’s too soon to politicize the tragedy
    2) Our thoughts and prayers are with these kids
    3) It’s a mental health issue
    4) We should arm teachers
    5) It’s the Hollywood elite

    No, no, no, no and no.

  2. Abortion is legal.

    Murdering babies is illegal.

    Abortion does not equal murdering babies.

    Anyone claiming otherwise is selling something.

    This guy is trying to sell equivalency.

Comments are closed.