The Home Front: ‘Imagine a morning commute from Colorado Springs to Denver in 10 minutes’

“Imagine a morning commute from Colorado Springs to Denver in 10 minutes,” reports The Gazette. “Just a quick break to respond to emails, read the morning paper and finish up that first cup of coffee from a passenger seat of a bus-like pod as magnetic levitation lifts the capsule and electric propulsion sends it whooshing through a tube to Colorado’s capitol city. And no traffic jams. The proposition, more like a detail in a science fiction novel than anything in today’s transportation landscape, gained momentum in September when the state’s transportation department announced it would be partnering with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to see if it’s possible to build such a system from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Pueblo.”

“Exactly how conservative is U.S. Justice Neil Gorsuch? A wide range of legal scholars said the next term of the Supreme Court, which begins Monday, probably would go a long way toward answering that question and foreshadowing how far to the right Gorsuch, 50, could shift the bench in the decades ahead,” reports The Denver Post. “Going into nomination and confirmation, his proponents were confident that he would be a very conservative justice and his opponents seemed to have the same view,” said Richard Collins, a constitutional law professor at the University of Colorado Law School. It’s a prediction that so far has held true.”

“Ten years ago, Jessica Bennett and a group of her female friends got together in a New York City apartment to start a fight club,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “‘We don’t fight each other, in case that wasn’t obvious,’ the NYC-based journalist and author said with a laugh Monday. Instead, they talked. ‘We were all working in pretty male-dominated fields … and struggling to rise up,’ Bennett said from Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center. ‘We would talk about the struggles we were facing and try to trade advice for how we might combat some of those struggles.’ The monthly meetings evolved over time. Eventually, they were given a name: Feminist Fight Club.”

“They came by the hundreds to the Salt Creek Ranch in Collbran in July. Some were farmers, wanting to expand their repertoire from corn and hay into a more profitable crop,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Others had never attempted to grow a plant in their lives, but figured maybe they could get in on a hot new investment. Some were looking for investors for their new ideas and had good prospects, others had money and were looking to spend. In some ways, the second incarnation of Hemp on the Slope was like any other trade show or convention, with business cards flying from pocket to pocket, banner-lined booths with entrepreneurs hawking their products, and seminars on topics attendees wanted to absorb into their brains. The attendees sat on bales of straw in the arena, flanked by farm machinery, tractors and combines on the farm. Little did they know these bales, made of dried hemp, were put to use as seating for the conference after the ranch’s hemp crop the previous year was tested by state inspectors and deemed to be unfit for market.”

“A large metal horse bows its head as it strains against a metal harness to a pull a backhoe outside Bill Foy’s house in Platteville,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “For the past couple weeks, neighbors and strangers have pulled over to get a closer look and snap some photos. Foy found his inspiration from a photo, too — one he saw on Pintrest of the metal horse. “I looked at that picture, and it was just so well done,” Foy said. “I didn’t think I could do it. It was so beautiful to me.” Foy is a welder. He specializes in repairs, but he’s dabbled in art before. He made metal tree branches with delicate, metal leaves to decorate the inside of his house. But he hadn’t yet tried to create something so big. He decided to give it a shot.”

“A drought salvaged the Speed Queen, at least partially. The 18-foot speedboat sank to the bottom of Lake Dillon in the early 1980s after an afternoon squall turned mild chop to whitecaps,” reports Summit Daily. “‘When a big storm comes it gets pretty rough out here real quick,’ explained Kevin Kelble, a Summit County Sheriff’s Office boat patroller who grew up sailing on the lake. On Sunday morning, a thunderhead was forming above Peak One, but the water was calm as he steered his boat to a public dock where the highest-elevation dive team in the state, the Summit County Water Rescue Team, was meeting for its weekly training. The erratic conditions on Lake Dillon keep them busy, as glassy water can turn to 4-foot waves in minutes.”

“Fort Collins police officers shot and killed a man who reportedly wielded a gun at police at a Fort Collins motel on Sunday morning, according to a press release from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “A man who was in a room at the Best Value Inn, 1809 N. College Ave., called police at 4:50 a.m. to report that “he heard a loud noise and a hole appeared in the ceiling above him,” the press release states. Fort Collins officers responded and attempted to make contact with a man who was deemed a suspect in the suspicious circumstance, the press release states. Authorities did not say how they went about contacting the man.”

“The wildfire season might be coming to an end in Northwest Colorado, but state officials want homeowners to begin planning for future years,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Even the urban areas throughout Steamboat Springs are threatened by wildfire, and smoke from fires this summer, which brought smoke into the Yampa Valley, served as a constant reminder. Steamboat Springs district forester John Twitchell with the Colorado State Forest Service said a lot of work has been done as a result of the mountain pine beetle epidemic that ravaged the lodgepole pine tree population, but there is still much more that can be done.”

“A group of Broomfield residents have announced they are forming an organization that opposes the Home Charter amendment that will be up for a vote in Broomfield’s November municipal election,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “An issue committee, “Vote No on 301, Don’t Let Them Divide Broomfield,” filed with the Election Division and listed Broomfield resident Karen Nelson as the registered agent. Supporters said they see Ballot Question 301, which they call ‘the latest in a long line of ploys by anti-oil and gas activist groups attempting to make Broomfield a statewide battleground on energy issues.'”

“For the second year in a row, it was all beer, brats and lederhosen as the Florence Brewing Company hosted its second annual Oktoberfest Festival on Saturday,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “The Oktoberfest event was the equivalent of a block party for the town of Florence as friends and neighbors gathered for food, games and beer. The annual event blocked off a portion of the street in front of the brewery as large tables were set up for people to sit back and watch the surrounding festivities. The celebration also featured the Marzen, new brew for the brewing company, which was described as an orange-amber.”

“All the news you need to know for greater Rangely can be found in the Rio Blanco Herald, and this weekend the reliable paper reported on local support for hemp in the context of “community, workforce and economic development,” reported ColoradoPolitics. “A local organization called Better City held a forum last week to talk about what would boost fortunes in the northwest Colorado town of about 2,100. A new grocery store topped the list, but the second highest need named by residents was ‘marijuana/hemp cultivation.'”

“Denver has released the comprehensive housing plan that will guide its investments and programs for the next five years and seek to turn the tide of what officials are deeming a housing crisis,” reports Denverite. “Assuming federal and local funding remains consistent — something officials acknowledge is an “if,” particularly on the federal level — the plan aims to create or preserve 3,000 units of affordable housing and help 30,000 households with programs that provide stability for people at risk of displacement.”