The Home Front: Colorado GOP in turmoil, higher ed hits, and craft beer stock options

The Greeley Tribune reports bond ratings at the University of Northern Colorado have been dinged by the Moody’s credit rating agency. “The lower rating for the bonds means UNC will pay a higher interest rate on the debt, but university officials see it as a small difference over time.”

“A University of Colorado fundraising employee resigned last week after being arrested on suspicion of theft and forgery because police allege she created fake receipts for more than $18,000 worth of child care at her previous job at Colorado State University,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald.

A Grand Junction police officer has been cleared in last month’s fatal shooting of a man holding two children hostage, reports The Daily Sentinel. “After an investigation into the officer-involved shooting, Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein announced that Cpl. Ryan Piotrowski was justified in his use of deadly force against 44-year-old Simon Gomez. The incident was investigated by the Critical Incident Response Team, headed by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.”

The Longmont Times-Call reports how the European pharmaceutical firm AstraZenica has bought a 70-acre campus in Longmont for $64.5 million. “The acquisition of the Longmont campus comes amid reports that Amgen is preparing to restart production of Epogen there as it waits for its facility in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to ramp up.”

Public meetings are ghost towns in Cañon City, reports The Daily Record. “The Cañon City School Board heard comments from just one parent Monday during a public hearing about the future of two schools, less than one month before it makes a final decision.”

The Boulder Daily Camera reports how “The owners of the Sterling University Peaks apartments — the complex that came under scrutiny over allegations of illegally subdivided rooms — have pleaded not guilty to violating Boulder’s building codes.”

The National Cyber Security Center in Colorado Springs has named its CEO, The Gazette reports. “The center’s board selected Ed Rios, vice chairman of its Cyber Institute and a Colorado Springs-based cybersecurity consultant, to head the center as of Saturday.”

The Fort Collins Coloradoan looks at the employee stock ownership plans of local breweries. ““This is a celebration of employee ownership of breweries,” Wynne Odell told the gathering Wednesday at the brewery she co-founded, the night before the 2016 Great American Beer Festival. “Odell, Deschutes, New Belgium, Left Hand and Harpoon have committed ownership to the people who work at the company.”

The Colorado Republican Party is in turmoil after leaked recordings of Donald Trump disparaging women, according to The Denver Post.