The Home Front: Denver Mayor’s ‘inappropriate’ texts to female cop: ‘You look sexy,’ ever taken ‘pole dancing’ classes?

“Denver Mayor Michael Hancock sent suggestive text messages to a police officer on his security detail during his first year in office, behavior he now acknowledges as ‘inappropriate’ six years later after the detective alleged in a new interview that she suffered sexual harassment,” reports The Denver Post. “In several text messages from 2012 that the Denver police officer provided — and which Hancock did not dispute — the mayor told her that she made it hard for him to concentrate at work. After spotting her on TV at a Denver Nuggets game, he texted: ‘You look sexy in all that black.’ Another time, he complimented her haircut and said: “You make it hard on a brotha to keep it correct every day.’ Another text asked her about pole-dancing classes: ‘So I just watched this story on women taking pole dancing classes. Have you ever taken one? Why do women take the course? If not have you ever considered taking one and why? Your thoughts?’ When she didn’t respond, the officer said, she received a followup text from Hancock: ‘Be careful, I’m curious. LOL!'”

“State regulators earlier this month issued a corrective action to an oil and gas operator for exceeding the sound limit while fracking near Highland Lake between Longmont and Mead after nearby residents complained,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Cub Creek Energy, based in Highlands Ranch and owned by a German company, was ordered on Feb. 19 to hire a qualified sound expert to analyze the noise as well as keep levels below 65 decibels at the Litzenberger well pad, which has 24 wells. If operations continue to exceed allowed levels, the company could be required to install additional mitigation measures. Cub Creek Energy President Scott Baily said he did not know exactly what has been done there in response to the action, but said they’ve likely moved and added sound walls and redirected traffic, as they have done throughout the development.”

“In the wake of the latest school shooting that killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida, Sheriff Garrett Wiggins is proposing putting armed marshals in Routt County’s 11 public school buildings,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The idea is we just can’t sit idle and wait for the state or federal government to come up with a solution,” said Wiggins, who has been sheriff since 2011 and is seeking re-election for another four-year term. “We’ve made some progress, but we’re not where we want to be.” Wiggins typed up his proposal and shared it with community leaders and law enforcement officials.”

“The Larimer County commissioners, by a split vote, authorized Coulson Excavating to extract gravel from two pits near 2534 after several hours of testimony late Monday,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The mine site, tucked in the middle of 1,000 homes in Thompson Crossing and Thompson River Ranch and next to an upcoming development, is located just east of Interstate 25 and south of U.S. 34. Residents of those homes rallied hard against the application to mine the site for up to seven years, and, using the criteria in the permit review, said it was not ‘compatible’ with their neighborhood and would have “adverse effects” on their health, quality of life and property values.”

“Hazardous materials calls in Summit County increased to 197 in 2017 compared with 157 the year before, a 20 percent increase that officials say could reflect the county’s well-documented building boom last year,” reports Summit Daily. “Serious spills, meanwhile, remained relatively stable, with only three accidents requiring extensive cleanup, including a sanitation truck that spilled roughly 100 gallons of raw sewage after toppling near Blue River in November. Overall, the Summit County Hazardous Materials Response Team 2017 annual report indicates that while Summit’s growth continues to push incident calls higher, the area has stayed relatively safe from the toxic materials routinely passing through.”

“The drive to fund Colorado schools more equitably and at a higher level is underway. On Monday, the local arm of the bipartisan grass-roots movement Great Schools Thriving Communities launched its petition drive to place Initiative 93 on the 2018 ballot,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The kickoff was led by Barb Clementi, who said her involvement is as a retired educator and concerned citizen and not as president of the Pueblo City Schools (D60) board of education.”

“Employees working at City Market stores in the Roaring Fork Valley are getting good at diversion,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “It’s been almost three weeks since area stores began composting, and many of them are pretty amazed at the impact it is having. “I had a rude awakening about how much we were throwing away,” said Robynn Woodward, produce manager at the Aspen City Market, where so far close to 3,000 pounds of waste has been diverted from the Pitkin County landfill, which has an estimated eight years of life left. The Glenwood Springs store is one of the top diverters in the region, collecting more than 3,500 pounds of compostable waste per week since operations began at the end of January.”

“As the Denver Olympic Exploratory Committee gathers feedback from around Colorado regarding the proposal to have the city host the 2026 games, representatives are both sharing information and asking a basic question,” reports Vail Daily. “The information piece details the infrastructure and experience the state already has in place to host the games. The question builds on that information. “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should,” said Reeves Brown, a consultant for the exploratory committee who is hosting a series of discussion meetings for Colorado mountain communities.”

“They weren’t willing to wait around for the adults anymore, so they took matters into their own hands,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “They wanted to make their voices heard loud and clear: The time for change is now. About 1,500 Fort Collins-area students and their supporters packed Old Town Square on Tuesday to advocate for gun law reforms, school safety improvements and to honor the 17 victims gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In what was the largest student-led demonstration in recent Fort Collins history, students from the city’s high schools and middle schools left their classes to gather in Old Town. Some students from Loveland schools also joined the demonstrators.”

“Shortly after Mead hired its first police officer in early 2017, town officials asked Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett if he could rescind a letter prepared by his office disclosing credibility issues about the former deputy, the prosecutor confirmed Tuesday,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “Garnett, who is stepping down as DA and leaves office Wednesday, said he declined the request to remove the so-called “Brady letter” — designed to be turned over to defense attorneys — from his office’s files. After refusing for weeks to discuss the hiring of Officer Ismael Aldana, Town Attorney Rick Samson acknowledged in a statement Tuesday that town leaders knew about Aldana’s past as a Boulder County sheriff’s deputy when they hired him, and have since temporarily promoted him to sergeant while they search for a new police chief.”

“The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has kept people in jail ‘for days, weeks, even months’ after they posted bond or resolved their cases – solely at the request of federal immigration officials, says a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union Colorado,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. At the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office routinely detains those suspected of being undocumented immigrants without a warrant or probable cause, says the class-action lawsuit filed in 4th Judicial District Court. The allegations appear to reveal the resurgence of a practice that many thought had fizzled in Colorado: holding immigrants without a signed order from a judge. The Sheriff’s Office, along with others across the state, previously said it would no longer honor administrative detainer requests issued by ICE.”

“It turns out the song “Legalize It” by Peter Tosh, which hints at the financial benefits of legalized marijuana, got it pretty much spot on,” reports The Durango Herald. “City councilors, economic leaders and industry representatives agree: Recreational marijuana has brought a lot of smiles – both as a successful business venture and a boon to sales tax collections. Recreational marijuana in Durango has meant more than $1.7 million in added sales tax collection since the first sale on Sept. 25, 2014. Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District, estimates about 200 jobs have been created in La Plata County.”

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