The Coloradoan in Fort Collins has the eye-catching headline of the day with “Judge: Women can go topless” appearing on A1 above the fold. U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson wrote a local ordinance — “which mandates women will not knowingly expose their breasts in public — is rooted in discrimination against women,” the paper reports, quoting the judge saying, “Thus, it perpetuates a stereotype ingrained in our society that female breasts are primarily objects of sexual desire whereas male breasts are not.” The judge “granted the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction and said it’s likely to succeed at a permanent injunction,” according tot he paper. “He wrote he would likely find the ordinance unconstitutional when the case goes to trial.”
Today’s Gazette in Colorado Springs fronts a national Associated Press story about the Trump administration rolling back federal protections for transgender students that “allowed them to use school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities, as the Trump administration stepped into a long-simmering national debate.”
The Greeley Tribune profiles a local woman whose family relies on the Affordable Care Act as federal lawmakers consider repealing it. “My husband and I now have insurance,” she said. “Because of the fact we’ve had that, we’ve been able to pay off debts that we were floundering under. It’s a huge peace-of-mind thing for us to know if we get really sick, we won’t go really under.” If the act is repealed, the paper reports, “she’s worried coverage for Jack will change and she and her husband will lose their safety net.”
A weather story bumped one about state lawmakers killing a bill to boost rural broadband from the front page of today’s Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Three years ago, the Colorado Legislature approved a package of bills designed to improve broadband in all parts of the state, including creating a new fund to help pay for it,” the paper reports. “But because of issues surrounding getting that done, only $2 million has been moved into that new fund by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Sen. Kerry Donovan told the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee on Wednesday.” The paper quotes Sen. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, who is a member of a committee that debated the bill, saying, “We made it very clear to the PUC what we wanted as a General Assembly, and I find it very concerning that they, one more time, have decided to do it on their own timeline. I think it is worse than pathetic that only $2 million has so far gone into the fund. I think we need to send a strong message that it is not OK for them to ignore what we as a General Assembly said was what we wanted. It’s sad that we have to give them further direction.”
The Longmont Times-Call published a story about local activists holding a town hall-style event “with or without” Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. “A lot of people have been trying to get some face-to-face time with Sen. Gardner — especially in the last month,” said Boulder resident Eve Rose, cites as an event organizer a member of SoBo Rise, an offshoot of Indivisible Front Range Resistance. “We’ve been calling his office,” she said. “We wanted a chance to talk to him about all of the urgent issues unfolding in Washington, D.C. So far, he has not set up any face-to-face town halls.”
“If the Steamboat Springs City Council’s recent discussion about revising a public art policy was a painting, it would have been a very splattered Jackson Pollock, not a neat, easy to understand Winslow Homer,” reports The Steamboat Pilot & Today. “They are really all over the place,” government programs manager Winnie DelliQuadri said of the council members’ views on a proposal to update the city’s public art policy, according to the paper. The City Council “is currently weighing the possibility of ending a moratorium that has prevented new pieces of public art from being added to the city’s diverse collection.”
“Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts will close its 300-worker customer service call center in Pueblo in April, a company spokesperson confirmed Wednesday,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. The move comes as more clients use the company’s online services and utilize call centers, company spokesman Brian Henry told the paper, saying, “We have improved our website technology capabilities and have more of our members who use websites.”
The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports how city council members “still do not support the Northern Integrated Supply Project, but have shifted away from blanket opposition and agreed to work with Northern Water to look for solutions to concerns Fort Collins has with the reservoir project.”Councilman Ray Martinez said, “It’s important that we, as a city, are at the table,” according to the paper. “If you’re not at the table, some say, you’re on the menu.”
“Two Boulder Junction developers and property owners who sued the city last week for more than $1 million have been removed from their positions on City Council-appointed advisory boards due to what officials deem a conflict of interest,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “In a suit filed Friday in Boulder County District Court, Scott Pedersen and Jeff Shanahan claim the city owes them money for completed housing and parking projects at Depot Square, a key Boulder Junction parcel they redeveloped. Both served on the Boulder Junction Parking Commission, and Pedersen also served on the Boulder Junction Transportation Demand Management Commission. Their company, 3001 Pearl LLC, is pursuing claims against the city and the Boulder Junction Access District.”
The Durango Herald reports The San Juan County sheriff said Wednesday he “won’t file charges against the pilot of a drone that may have spooked a horse at Saturday’s skijoring competition in Silverton, causing the horse to run into a crowd and injure three spectator. Sheriff Bruce Conrad said he reviewed the incident with the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and concluded the pilot’s actions don’t meet the criteria for criminal charges – at least not on a local or state level. Conrad said he will notify the Federal Aviation Administration of the incident so it can investigate and decide whether to pursue federal charges.”
“During Wednesday’s Cañon City Vision Committee meeting, Mayor Preston Troutman said moving forward, he would like the face of city government to be the elected officials,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “He requested that citizens begin to direct their questions to city council members and/or himself, and he asked the city staff and administrators direct media to the council or himself, as well.” “That is who the face of the city should be,” Troutman said, according to the paper. “The fact is that I believe you were elected by the people, you should be the ones that are the face, it should be expected that the press and the citizens come talk to you.”
The Denver Post reports how Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper and Mayor Michael Hancock welcomed dozens of new refugees to Colorado during a reception at the downtown Union Station. “The first-of-its-kind reception included about 75 refugees from Afghanistan, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic, as well as Iraq, Syria and Somalia — three of the seven predominantly Muslim nations named in President Donald Trump’s travel ban,” the paper reports. “I don’t see a risk to our way of life or a threat or a danger,” Hickenlooper said, according to the paper. “I see neighbors, friends, colleagues, the expanding family that really is Colorado.”
