A high-level aide to former President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spoke to the Congressional Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol repeatedly in the last two months. Cassidy Hutchinson claimed Colorado Congressmember Lauren Boebert participated in early meetings on how to overturn the election. Denver Post reports Hutchinson said U.S. reps Scott Perry, Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene were also present, and tossed around ideas for what options vice president Mike Pence had when faced with certifying the 2020 election, like stalling the certification of results or delaying the inauguration to falsely claim Trump won. Lauren Boebert did not respond to Denver Post’s request for comment.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Dan Prenzlow made a racist comment from the microphone at the agency’s annual Partners in the Outdoors conference in Vail last week. He was thanking lead organizer of the conference, “Aloe” Lee for her work as statewide partnership coordinator. Grand Junction Sentinel reports Prenzlow exclaimed, [quote] “there she is! In the back of the bus, Aloe!’” in front of 600 participants. Prenzlow apologized in an email the day of the incident to conference attendees and in comments at a breakfast the next morning. But Lee and supporters are calling for his firing.
TV news anchor Kyle Clark and the company that owns 9NEWS are suing the Douglas County School District’s records custodian for refusing to disclose a Colorado Open Records Act request seeking the names of teachers who called in sick February 3rd to protest actions by majority members of the school board. The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition reports that on February 16th, the district waspreparing to release the names of more than 1,500 teachers and other employees who asked to be absent the day of arally at district headquarters, on February 3rd. After an executive session that evening, the school board’s presidentannounced the names would not be released, even though the Colorado Court of Appealsruled in 2016 records showing a public school teacher’s sick leave are not part of a teacher’s confidential personnel file and must be disclosed. 9NEWS wants to know who filed the CORA and whether or not the plan was to retaliate against teachers for protesting the school board’s actions. Their rally was held in part to protest the firing of Superintendent Corey Wise by four of the seven-member school board. Wise has alleged discrimination in a complaint against the school board. He says he was fired for advocating for students with disabilities and students of color during the pandemic. Last month, a judgeissued a preliminary injunction against the board majority, finding they circumvented Open Meetings Law by holding one-on-one meetings to discuss and decide the superintendent’s job status.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ Emergency Rental Assistance Program is still providing help to renters and landlords impacted by COVID. That can include past due, current, and two additional months of rent up to 15 months of assistance maximum as far back as April 2020. A tenant or a landlord can start the application process, but receiving assistance requires documentation from both. So far the State has processed over 90,000 applications awarding more than $229 million dollars in housing assistance.
At different points throughout the year, it may feel like your whole state or all of the Mountain West is on fire. But officials say that during times of increased fire danger, they have a plan. Emma Gibson of the Mountain West News Bureau has more.
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Cassie Knust, reporter for the Delta County Independent and the Montrose Press, summarizes what she learned about the 4 candidates running for 3 seats on the North Fork Recreation District board.
