Welcome back to The Spot, where The Denver Post’s politics team captures what’s happening this week — from the Colorado legislature to Denver city hall, with a stop through the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.
It’s another edition of “Who’s on the ballot, anyway?” in Colorado politics. (More on the soap opera that is election 2018 below.)
Sign up for The Spot newsletter for a weekly rundown of Colorado politics.
At the Colorado Capitol, lawmakers are gearing up for the legislative session’s final push, tackling everything from drones to teacher strikes and gerrymandering. We’re all starting to go a little crazy under the gold dome…
‘Nuff said. #coleg pic.twitter.com/0uNBtJqaIm
— Charles Ashby (@OldNewsman) April 25, 2018
In Denver, the harassment scandal embroiling Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is still … boiling. Reporter Jon Murray has been keeping close tabs on that.
And if you’re looking for stories about selling human body parts, gravel mining and abandoned shopping carts — well, we’ve even got those too. I’m babbling; you want the news, and I’m going to stop talking now.
Fresh news: His back against the wall, six-term U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn challenges Colorado court ruling that tossed his name from the GOP ballot.
Also: Doug Robinson is back on the Republican ballot for Colorado governor, a Denver judge has ruled. (Here’s who is running for governor.)
Also also: Democrats will again try to expel GOP Colorado Sen. Randy Baumgardner after a new report has validated more harassment allegations against him.
ROLL CALL
COLORADO: THE STATEHOUSE & BEYOND
- And then there were two. Democrats Amy Padden and Brad Levin are out of the Colorado attorney general’s race. (For now…)
- Why Colorado state employees are mad and lawmakers are under pressure. (How would you like getting a partial paycheck?)
- Colorado victims now must be told where out-of-state inmates are locked up after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law this week. Proponents were happy he signed it, but not happy about how he signed it.
- Democrats have a candidate on the ballot in every single major 2018 race in Colorado. Republicans are brushing it off.
- What you need to know about why Colorado teachers are walking out of classes and into the Capitol.
- Speaking of which, these Colorado school districts are canceling classes for teacher protests Thursday, Friday.
- Also speaking of which: Two GOP state lawmakers have brought a bill that would bar educators from striking. Those who do so anyways — under the legislation — could face fines or even jail time.
- Colorado’s small towns have seen their tax money dry up. State lawmakers know it’s a problem, but no fix is in sight.
- The Suncor oil refinery spews 8.5 tons a year of cyanide gas over low-income north Denver neighborhoods, state records show.
- Colorado lawmakers want to ask voters to outlaw gerrymandering in the state’s constitution, The Associated Press reports.
- Former Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll is packing heat as a Colorado Ranger. But the training these reserve officers get is murky.
- Should a gravel mine be allowed next to a Colorado Springs wildlife preserve?
- They’ve been a problem, for years and now the Colorado legislature is trying to deal with them: rogue drones near wildfires and other emergency situations.
- State lawmakers are moving to make the state one of the first in the country to regulate companies that sell human body parts. (Yes, you read that right…)
DENVER & THE SUBURBS
- This week brought a bombshell in the harassment scandal involving Mayor Michael Hancock: Some of his suggestive texts to a security detail officer were seen by the city’s legal office as early as 2013.
- A City Councilman says the text-message disclosure timeline gave him “heartburn.”
- Speaking of claims, the payouts to the police officer and to a former city attorney in an unrelated case were just the start. Denver also paid big fees to outside lawyers who assisted with the cases.
- The Colorado Supreme Court has upheld the legality of taxes for special districts, like RTD.
- Greenwood Village will be taking a close look at what to do about drones flying over, through and in the city. The city manager says the Denver suburb doesn’t want to become the “drone police,” but it does want to stop people from using the vehicles inappropriately.
- Denver police Chief Robert White is retiring.
A high-ranking city official just told me there will not be a national search for a new Denver police chief. The mayor believes there are qualified candidates within the ranks.
— Noelle Phillips (@Noelle_Phillips) April 24, 2018
- In a rare joint letter, Denver’s mayor and nearly all members of City Council chided Attorney General Jeff Sessions over a federal decision to suspend funding for a program that aids detained immigrants.
- It’s official. Lakewood is cracking down on abandoned shopping carts.
- At Denver’s annual 4/20 festival this year, the massive gathering was devoid of marijuana politics. That’s despite last year’s highly publicized problems.
D.C. POLITICS FROM A COLORADO PERSPECTIVE
- The Barack Obama Highway? It could be a thing if one Democratic state lawmaker gets his way.
- The day net neutrality died in Colorado.
- Students from around the country gathered to remember the Columbine High School shooting last week — and to rally other teens to vote.
- This Denver brewery is mixing beer and Trump politics.
- Colorado senators throw their support behind Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s hemp bill.
- Two cannabis organizations are coalescing to further legalization causes on Capitol Hill.
- U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backs decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level
- U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s political career is in serious jeopardy after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled the six-term, Colorado Springs Republican should be kept off the ballot.
- Meanwhile, behind the lawsuit imperiling Lamborn’s re-election are key figures who gave thousands of dollars to the congressman’s GOP rival, state Sen. Owen Hill.
A few important things to note for the #copolitics world:
— Lamborn could still challenge this
— Lamborn's seat is unlikely to leave GOP hands despite this ruling (he beat his Dem challenger by more than 30 points in 2016)
— Lamborn is just 58 signatures short https://t.co/QLK8peOaaw— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul) April 23, 2018
THE WIRE
- Denver is expected to pay as much as $13,000 per person in travel costs for a recent trip to Paris and a French sister city for a delegation that included Denver’s mayor. — CBS4
- What did the Colorado GOP assembly showcase? A weak party, says University of Denver political science professor Seth Masket. — Vox
- Democrats’ chances of reclaiming the U.S. House may rest on flipping GOP strongholds in cities across the U.S. — The Associated Press
- See where members of Colorado’s congressional delegation scored on a bipartisan index. — The Lugar Center
- “In the corridors of American power, it can be as easy to find a man named John as it is to find a woman.” — The New York Times
- Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former state senator Mike Johnston covered a lot in this extended interview. — Colorado Public Radio
- The segment below is just downright scary. I can’t speak for it, so just watch. — CBS This Morning
By 2020, China plans to give all its 1.4. billion citizens a personal score, based on how they behave. Some with low scores are already being punished if they want to travel. Nearly 11 million Chinese can no longer fly and 4 million are barred from trains pic.twitter.com/iFiwQb0RGx
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 24, 2018
- Colorado immigrant advocates are praising a federal judge’s DACA ruling. — Denver7
- The Colorado House of Representatives has approved a bill to let towns and counties hike their minimum wage. — The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
- A small band of Five Points residents won a victory this week as the City Council rezoned a large area in a way that prevents the building of apartments and large houses. — Denverite
- National Democrats picking winners and losers in party primary fights. — The New York Times
- Former FBI Director James Comey was giving interviews left and right last week. Here (below) is one of the better/funnier ones. — The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
GET IN TOUCH
Questions, comments, feedback about this newsletter? Cool stories? Send them our way.
And thanks for reading!
P.S. Please consider backing The Denver Post (you can subscribe here) or journalism wherever you might be. And thanks for your support, whatever it might be.
P.P.S. Here is your GIF reward for making it to the end of this newsletter.
Current mood: pic.twitter.com/QHAbWzFeWw
— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul) April 24, 2018
Staff writers John Frank, Jon Murray, Mark K. Matthews and John Aguilar contributed to this newsletter.