Colorado Week in Review

• • The Denver Zoo has a new baby rhino. 
  • Sports Illustrated calls Vail’s Mikaela Shiffrin the world’s most dominant athlete. 
  • A Loveland sculptor will design a monument to women’s suffrage in Washington, DC. 
  • The Colorado Senate votes to tighten vaccine exemptions. 
  • The Colorado legislature repeals the death penalty. 
  • Recent polling before Super Tuesday shows that Colorado voters prefer Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. 
  • Snakes on the plains: 150+ snakes removed from under couple’s home in Elizabeth, CO. 
  • Americans are so scared of the Coronoavirus that 16% of them think that Corona beer is somehow connected. 
  • A longtime Cortez resident fighting for sanctuary from deportation reaches her one-thousanth day staying in a church. 
  • An argument over dog poop escalates into a shooting in Arapahoe County. 
  • A Denver school bus driver calls the police on a 6-year-old girl. 
  • A white nationalist at Schriever Air Force in Colorado Springs base will (finally) be fired. 

• Denver restaurant El Taco de Mexico receives the prestigious America’s Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation. 
• Denver Restaurant Week runs from February 22 to March 3.  
• Civic Center Park hosts the first annual Downtown Open Rail Jam, featuring a 90-foot snow slope structure and musical performances. 
• 11,000 people show up to a Bernie Sanders rally in Denver. More Presidential candidates have scheduled visits to Colorado as our March 3rd primary inches closer. 
• A bill to lower Colorado’s dangerously low childhood vaccination rate passes its first hurdle but faces organized opposition. 
• The CROWN Act, a bill to end racial hair discrimination by employers, passes in the Colorado legislature. 
• Westminster Strangler captured in Houston after manhunt. 
• No one was hurt after two people shoot at each other at a Broomfield Walmart. 
• NHL Stadium Series game between the Avs and the Kings at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is marred by an Avs loss, awful traffic, and a death. 
• Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich released from Colorado prison after Trump commutes sentence. 
• Denver Mayor Michael Hancock vetoes pit bull legalization bill. 
• Cory Gardner and Donald Trump praise each other at Colorado Springs rally. 

• Blucifer celebrates 12 years of freaking out travelers at DIA. 
• Colorado’s 2020 presidential primary ballots hit the mail this week. 
• A dog becomes honory Mayor and Police judge of Georgetown. 
• The Denver City Council overturns the city’s pit bull ban, but the Mayor remains undecided. 
• A historic powder day causes huge lift lines at Vail. 
• Tests confirm a wolf pack is living — and pooping — in Colorado. 
• Thieves steal 30,000 bees from a Northglenn farm. 
• Trump’s changes to a key environmental law bring conservation and indigenous activists together in Denver. 
• Sen. Michael Bennett drops out of the Presidential primary after a dissapointing finish in New Hampshire 
• Bills to restrict reproductive rights and descriminate against LGBTQ Coloradans fail in the state legislature. 
• Michael Bloomberg’s racially charged comments on “stop and frisk” from a 2015 Aspen Institute panel cause problems for his presidential campaign. 
• Mel Tucker leaves CU after a single season to coach football at Michigan State 

• A team in Steamboat prepares to send off the world’s largest firework.
• CSU-Pueblo will be the first solar-powered university in the state.
• Kids across the state cheer as major snowfalls cause school cancelations.
• Kids across the state cheer as major snowfalls cause school cancelations.
• Broncos’ rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, win the Super Bowl.
• Garden of the Gods draws controversy for fees, drainage project.
• After Iowa, Coloradans are thrilled that the state switched from caucuses to a presidential primary.
• The Iowa caucuses end in a virtual tie between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
• The STEM School shooting suspect pleads guilty.
• The problematic mobile app that created problems in the Iowa Democratic presidential caucus has Denver ties.
• A state lawmaker, with no evidence, foolishly claims that wolves will attack hikers and skiers.
• An anti-vax Facebook group tells a CO mom to give her son elderberries instead of Tamiflu, and the boy dies days later..
• Arapahoe county DA won’t charge the Aurora cop who was found drunk and passed out in his car.
• Cory Gardner votes to acquit President Trump, Michael Bennett votes to convict, as the impeachment trial comes to an end.

• Pueblo finally opens a permanent shelter for people experiencing homelessness. 
• “Dolly Day” event sets world record for most people dressed up as Dolly Parton in the same room.
• Colorado cannabis and beer industries partner to recycle CO2.
• Colorado struggles with teacher representation. 87% of teachers are white but 40% of students are people of color.
• Denver B-cycle program ends after 10 years.
• Garden of the Gods draws controversy for fees, drainage project.
• No coronavirus cases in Colorado, as a third patient tests negative.
• Broncos fans unsure of who to root for in the “Big Game” this weekend: the Kansas City Chiefs or the San Francisco 49ers.
• Death penalty repeal passes through the Colorado Senate.
• Lawsuit alleges that the Kansas Highway Patrol targets out of-state-cars, particularly ones coming from Colorado.
• Sen. Cory Gardner tows the party line and votes against additional impeachment witnesses.
• Colorado has one of the highest police shooting rates in the country.

• • Senator Brittany Pettersen becomes one of the first female legislators in Colorado history to give birth during the legislative session. She, her husband Ian (PNC’s director), and their son, Davis James, are happy and healthy.
  • Breckenridge hosts the 30th Annual International Snow Sculpture Championships. 
  • Larry walker becomes the first member of the Rockies inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • Denver Public Schools will be the first school district in the state to require at least one all-gender bathroom in each of its schools.
  • Boulder City Council updates building code to allow tiny homes in residential areas.
  • Lafayette City Council will most like allow residents to own two miniature pot-bellied pigs. Current law only allows for one.
  • Bill in the Colorado Legislature would end puppy mills in Colorado.
  • An American firefighter, originally from Colorado, died in a plane crash while fighting rampant wildfires in Australia.
  • Woman’s 15 pet bunnies cause neighborhood conflict
  • Most Coloradans can’t watch the Avs and Nuggets on TV, as Comcast and Altitude Sports continue their fight over broadcasting rights.
  • How now Brown Cloud? Front Range air quality is especially awful this week. 
  • Hospital prices are driving up health care costs in Colorado more than anywhere else in the country.

• Halfway through the NBA season, the Nuggets stand at #2 in the Western Conference.
• Denver has two important marches this weekend: (1) The Womxn’s March on Saturday and (2) The MLK Day “Marade” on Monday
• While the Broncos didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, Aspen from Rocky Mountain Puppy Rescue will represent Colorado in the Puppy Bowl.
• This weekend ic Colorado’s second-worst when it comes to ski-traffic along I-70. Expect major delays.
• Durango School District 9-R considers banning cell phones for all middle schools.
• An Aurora police officer pleads guilty to driving and holding a weapon while drunk.
• Denver city council considers the legal registration of pit bulls. Denver banned pit bulls in 1989.
• Rep. Jason Crow (CO-6) will help prosecute President Trump as one of seven impeachment managers.
• Kids try to hold onto sheep as long as possible in the National Western Stock Show’s Mutton Bustin’ event.
• Denver police break up a homeless encampment near Civic Center Park because of “environmental health” concerns.
• CU Study finds that global warming will lead to an increase in violent crime.
• Jorge Zaldivar Mendieta, a father of five who arrived in the U.S. in 1997 and has no criminal record, was deported from the private ICE facility in Aurora after a long battle for residency.

• Mysterious drones continue to puzzle authorities and residents in northeastern Colorado
• Bob, the 175 pound turtle from the Denver Zoo, has died
• TV watchers groan and advertisers cheer as $163 million is predicted to be spent on political ads in Colorado in 2020
• The ski train to Winter Park starts this weekend
• The National Western Stock Show kicks off with their traditional parade of livestock through downtown Denver
• Cherry Creek mall stops first-hour free parking
• The Colorado Legislature started on Wednesday. Democrats retain control of the House, Senate, and Governorship.
• A pack of gray wolves cross into Northwest Colorado
• Three dozen people arrested during a climate-change protest at Gov. Jared Polis’ “State of the State” address

• The Colorado Avalanche Went From Worst To First In No Time Flat
• Hundreds of local officers participate in toy drive at Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Anonymous donor pays off nearly $2,000 at a Colorado Walmart Layaway for strangers, joining others in selfless giving
• Here’s Another Thing Colorado Might Vote On In 2020: Reintroduction Of The Wolf
• Colorado Weather: The ‘Pineapple Express’ Causes Snow Machine, Prompts Avalanche Warning
• President Donald Trump plans to visit Colorado ‘a lot’ to campaign for Cory Gardner
• Suncor takes responsibility for raining yellow particles; neighbors question material safety
• Aurora officer keeps job, not charged with DUI after being found drunk in patrol car while on duty
• Ryan Kamada, Former Weld County Judge, Resigns Amid Cocaine Investigation
• Colorado Springs Sign Vandalized With Graffiti Referencing De’Von Bailey Shooting
• Accused Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear indicted by federal grand jury
• There Aren’t Enough Good Samaritans to Shovel Snow in Denver

• 9NEWS Parade of Lights returns Friday, Saturday
• Study Says Median Income In Colorado Ranks In The Top 10 In The U.S.
• 8 New Murals Decorate Denver Streets Thanks To The Urban Arts Fund
• CDOT’s Snowstang Bus Service To Loveland, A-Basin And Steamboat Starts Next Weekend
• Proposed fee on plastic, paper bags moves forward in Denver
• 7 Colorado Cities Are Among Fastest-Growing In The Country, Longmont Ranked No. 1
• Health Officials: Boulder Has 78 Cases Of Pertussis So Far This Year
• Spike in benzene levels found at Greeley elementary school
• Kirk Widlund: The Nazi In 710 KNUS’ Closet?
• Mayor Michael Hancock says Denver does a better job cleaning up snow than any other similar city
• Denver says geese culling will resume in the future if necessary
• “Sad and somber moment” vs. smear campaign: Coloradans in Congress divided on drafting of impeachment articles