News Miner 81
Congressional candidates, Trump on the ballot, open meetings, Ken Buck on Jan. 6, a police shooting, hate crimes, conservatives against parental choice, and more.
Congress: Republican Gabe Evans is running against Yadira Caraveo. Meanwhile, I received a text message announcing that Ron Tupa, a former Democratic state legislator, is running as an “independent candidate in CO CD-7,” against Democrat Brittany Pettersen. See also Tupa’s announcement letter. Tupa’s candidacy is probably the only thing that could give the Republicans a shot in the district. I’m not sure why he’s doing this. Maybe someday Democrats will get serious about approval voting, which would allow voters to vote both for Pettersen and Tupa if they wanted.
Trump on the Ballot: Krista Kafer and Mario Nicolais are among those suing on Fourteenth Amendment grounds to block Donald Trump from appearing on the Colorado presidential ballot.
Open Meetings: Andrew Kenney: Under a settlement, “State lawmakers in the House would no longer be allowed to use auto-delete functions on any messaging apps when discussing public business. And they would be banned from having secret meetings to hash out political strategies or plan votes, an alleged violation of Colorado’s Open Meetings Law.” My prediction: This extreme openness will discourage more-thoughtful, shier members of the legislature from speaking up and give more power to those best at demagoguery.
Buck Up: Ken Buck had some strong words against Republicans riling people up over the January 6 prosecutions: “There has been significant misinformation proliferated on the Internet about the status of the January 6 defendants. . . . It is sad that Republican leaders are misdirecting their energy and resources of Republican activists at a time when this country is facing crises after crises as a result of the failed policies of the Biden administration.”
Regulations: Business leaders are not happy with the Democratic onslaught of economic controls.
Fired Principal Sues: Melanie Asmar: “Kurt Dennis, who was fired in July from his job as principal of McAuliffe International School, sued Denver Public Schools. . . . The lawsuit, filed on Dennis’ behalf by civil rights attorney David Lane, alleges that DPS fired Dennis in retaliation for a televised interview he gave to 9News in March. In the interview, Dennis expressed concerns about a district practice that required McAuliffe staff to pat down a student charged with attempted murder to check for weapons.” But Dennis’s school also used a controversial “seclusion room.”
Police Shooting: The police fatal shooting of 14-year-old Jor’Dell Richardson is a horrible tragedy. It is not, in my view, a crime. Richardson committed armed robbery, and police initially reasonably thought that he was armed with a semi-automatic handgun (actually a pellet gun) and posed an extreme danger to the community. If Richardson had thrown down his gun, stopped, and put his hands up (or just not have committed armed robbery in the first place), he would not have been shot. Could police nevertheless have stopped the boy without shooting him? Probably. But it’s often hard to second-guess split-second decisions in extremely stressful conditions. Democratic Socialist Rep. Javier Mabrey called the shooting a “murder”; George Brauchler criticized him for that.
Libraries: Newsline: “Douglas County library board rejects calls to ban four LGBTQ-themed books.” Give it a rest, conservatives.
Hate Crimes: John Frank: “Hate crimes in Colorado reached record levels in 2022, a new report finds, with the spike exceeding nationwide increases. . . . Both Colorado Springs and Denver saw significant increases in bias-motivated crimes against LGBTQ people.”
Transgender: Jesse Paul and Sandra Fish: “Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams formed an issue committee late last month to support a forthcoming 2024 ballot measure that would ban ‘child gender reassignment medical procedures’ in the state.” Because the culture wars have played out so well for Republicans in Colorado so far. . .
Trust Parents: Kyle Clark: “Able Shepherd’s Jimmy Graham appeared on former DA [George Brauchler]’s KNUS radio show today where Graham said he supports charging parents with child abuse for bringing their children to the Aug 25 family-friendly drag show at DougCo PrideFest.” In other words, this conservative message is, “Trust parents if they agree with us; otherwise impose a police state on parents.” Shameful. See also Clark’s interview and related article, which begins, “A tactical training group is no longer participating in a planned event with the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office after Able Shepherd’s leaders disrupted a PrideFest celebration last weekend.”
Copyright: I think it’s stupid that the feds won’t recognize the copyright of an AI-generated artwork that won a Colorado contest. It takes significant human input to direct AI systems.