The Home Front: Fort Collins might support lawsuit that ‘would make it much harder, or perhaps impossible’ to drill

“Fort Collins might support a lawsuit that would make it much harder, or perhaps impossible, to drill oil and gas wells in our backyard and beyond,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “The goal of Martinez v. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, initiated by Boulder 18-year-old Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, is to implement a rule that would bar drilling of new oil and gas wells that impact human health or contribute to climate change. The lawsuit will come before the Colorado Supreme Court this year or early next year. City Council member Bob Overbeck asked council last week to consider joining a group of 15 local governments backing the Martinez group in its court challenge.”

“The Board of Weld County Commissioners on Wednesday unanimously rejected an appeal filed by a Fort Collins-based construction company that sought to build a $38 million expansion of the Weld County Jail,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Bryan Construction, which filed two appeals after the board selected Greeley-based Roche Constructors to complete the project, appeared at the board’s regular meeting Wednesday, two days after making a case for the appeal during a hearing. There, company officials argued the board didn’t adhere to its own processes when it chose Roche.”

“The Fruita police corporal who was filmed punching a man in the stomach earlier this month was determined to have been acting appropriately, department Chief David Krouse said Wednesday,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “A video taken by a bystander and provided to a local TV station appeared to show Cpl. Garrett Henderson and Officer Clem Rodriguez, a 13-year police veteran, helping a man to his feet near the intersection of Pine Street and Aquarius Avenue shortly after 10 a.m. May 3.”

“Sarah Levison, an unsuccessful candidate in Longmont’s 2017 election contest for mayor, believes she followed campaign finance disclosure requirements ‘ethically and completely,’ according to a written brief her attorney filed in Longmont’s Municipal Court this week,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Levison, a former City Council member, is challenging City Clerk Valeria Skitt’s decision that Levison owes $16,000 in fines for four alleged violations of the Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act by failing to file accurate reports about her spending on “electioneering communications” whenever those spending amounts reached or exceeded $250. But Angelique Layton, Levison’s attorney, argued in the brief submitted on Monday that “ordinary persons can interpret the ordinance in different ways,” so the Fair Campaign Practices Act “is void for vagueness.” Assistant City Attorney Jeffrey Friedland, however, wrote in his own Monday brief that the act is constitutional.”

“At some point in the near future, Pueblo residents will start seeing a small extra fee added to their water bills as the city of Pueblo has entered into an agreement to have the Board of Water Works provide billing services for the city’s street repair utility enterprise fund. City Council approved the deal at its regular meeting Monday night,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Water Works currently provides billing and remittance processing services for the city’s wastewater and stormwater enterprises, and those services now will extend to include the street repair utility.”

“If Steamboat Springs City Council agrees this summer to put a new air service sales tax before the voters in November, there may be something in it for the city’s own mass transit system as well,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Mark Walker, co-chairman of the campaign committee, Steamboat Citizens to Ensure Air Service, appeared before council Tuesday night on behalf of the Local Marketing District board to propose placing a question on the November ballot seeking voter approval for restoring a previous general sales tax to maintain and grow commercial air service in and out of the Yampa Valley.”

“Next year will be the last school year at the Thompson School District’s two smallest schools after board members voted Wednesday to close Van Buren and Stansberry Elementary schools after next year,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “After more than a year of discussion, the school board on Wednesday voted 5-2 to close the schools at the end of the 2018-19 school year, which is estimated to save the district about $2.4 million based on expenses at the schools in 2016-17.”

“Parents, staff members and students at a Denver alternative high school are up in arms over a police search in late April in which officers drew guns and conducted a classroom-to-classroom search for a student who administrators said was not in attendance,” reports The Denver Post. “Lucas Ketzer, principal at Rise Up Community School, told The Denver Post that Denver police officers pulled a gun on a staff member during the incident. Denver police officers also pushed a science teacher away from her classroom door after she told officers they could not search her room without a warrant, Ketzer said. Officers also compared students to a photo of a juvenile wanted for attempted first-degree murder, pulled students out of their chairs, removed their hats and asked them for their IDs as they searched.”

“Every year, a small handful of units come up for sale from the town’s deed-restricted housing pool,” reports Vail Daily. “Just about every year, the potential pool of buyers shrinks. That’s going to change. Vail’s deed-restricted housing program is more than 20 years old. During that time, possible buyers have been largely limited to those who have lived and worked in town the longest. Over the years, the town’s current requirements have steadily shrunk the possible pool of buyers.”

“Senior housing projects tied up together in Boulder’s planning process are stirring a debate among officials over what matters more when it comes to affordable housing: quality or quantity? City Council on Tuesday night took up a concept review for 1665 33rd St., the former site of Fruehauf’s Patio,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Planned is a mixed-use project that would include restaurant, retail and office space and, most crucially, 100 permanently affordable senior apartments. The development is a sister to one at 311 Mapleton, which would provide 93 market-rate rentals, a skilled nursing facility and a rehabilitation center. The Fruehauf’s facility would provide the required affordable housing for Mapleton, and developers — who also own The Academy senior living in Boulder — have said the fates of the two may be intertwined.”

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