FEATURE: A bystander died in a shooting during the No Kings protests in Salt Lake City over the weekend. Reporter Saige Miller was there for the Mountain West News Bureau. She spoke about what happened with K-U-E-R radio’s Caroline Ballard.
Colorado had 62 registered No Kings events for last weekend. Estimates have nearly 92,000 Coloradoans attending the one day event. In Montrose over 2,000 persons gathered at the Rotary Park to begin the rally and march. According to a press release from Montrose and Ouray Counties Indivisible and Friends of Democracy Indivisible of Telluride, the event centered around the Declaration of Independence. As similar event held in Grand Junction drew roughly 3,000 participants
NEWS: Montrose United Methodist Church is heading back to municipal court on July 23rd to face a number of citations leveled by the City of Montrose over the homeless encampment it ran during the winter months. However, the trial won’t be under former municipal court judge Erica Maxwell. In March, the city parted ways with the judge who in February sided with the church.
According to reporting in the Denver Post, on June 6th, Montrose’s attorneys offered a deal to church leaders: Plead guilty, pay reduced fines and serve 12 months of probation, which would prevent the church from sheltering people this winter. Pastor Kevin Young told the Post that the church is not inclined to take the deal and lamented the strained relationship with the city.
Delta County Commissioners approved the hiring of two additional detention center deputies during its June 10th meeting. Delta County Sheriff Mark Taylor told the board the facility has shut down a couple of times due to a lack of staff despite initially hiring six additional deputies as part of the remodel efforts. Cost for the two additional deputies will run about $140,000 per year. According to the county’s finance manager money will come from the Safety Improvement Fund until at least 2030 when the “Back the Badge” tax expires.
Little Bear Campground and the Island Lake day-use area on Grand Mesa will be closed this summer for reconstruction and rehabilitation according to a press release from The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests’ Grand Valley Ranger District The closure started on June 2. During closure, site improvements at Little Bear Campground will include new restrooms, picnic tables and fire rings. Infrastructure improvements will also be made to the roads, walkways and kiosks to enhance public accessibility and recreation. The shoreline of Island Lake will remain open to fishing while a number of infrastructure improvements take place. Both projects will be funded by the Great American Outdoors Act.
A federal jury in Denver has found MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell liable for defaming a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems Employee. The ally of President Trump was ordered to pay 2.3 million dollars in damages. 2.3 million is a fraction of what Eric Coomer's attorneys were asking for. The jury rejected a number of defamation claims against Lindell, his company My Pillow and a streaming platform he ran. Lindell celebrated the outcome. Lawyers for the former Dominion voting employer ALSO said they were thrilled with the jury's decision. Lindell claimed that Coomer rigged the 2020 election for Biden.
