BROPHY CALLS RITTER ‘OUT OF TOUCH’: Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, expressed disappointment after Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed House Bill 1180, legislation that would have allowed owners of concealed carry permits, who have already cleared extensive background checks, to purchase a firearm without being subject to additional checks. Brophy said Ritter should have to looked to other western governors that came down on the other side of the law and added that Ritter has “proven once again how out of touch he is with the common sense values of Colorado.”
RITTER SIGNS ELECTION AND VOTER REFORM BILLS: Gov. Bill Ritter signed five bills on Friday aimed at changing election rules and enacting voter reform. House Bill 1326 is designed to strengthen identity requirements by requiring petition circulators to provide specific forms of identification and strengthen laws against using third-party circulators. House Bill 1335 requires that all new voting equipment be paper-based and that acquisition of electronic voting systems be suspended for a period of five years. House Bill 1336 seeks to make it easier for members of “group residential facilities” to vote and requires the secretary of state to consider best practices in the design and development of election forms to try to eliminate some of the confusion voters have had with previous elections forms. House Bill 1337 makes several changes to ballot processing deadlines, gives voters more time to cure a problem with their ballots and aims to ensure that voters in any county voting by mail will receive their ballots at about the same time. The bill also allows clerks to start counting ballots earlier, which will save overtime and costs for temporary workers and lead to faster returns on election night. Finally, Ritter signed House Bill 1160, which allows any legal voter with a Colorado driver’s license or state identification card to register to vote through the secure Secretary of State’s Web site. Colorado will become the third state in the country to establish online voter registration.
UDALL DISAPPOINTED IN AIR FORCE BASE LOCATION: In response to the Air Force’s announcement that Lackland Air Force Base, in Texas, has been identified as the “preferred alternative” for the location of the Cyber 24th Air Force, Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said he was “deeply disappointed” that Peterson Air Force Base, near Colorado Springs, was not chosen. “As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’ll keep working to ensure that this new mission will benefit the region’s economy and bring more aerospace defense and cyberspace work to Colorado Springs so the cyber focus of the Pikes Peak region will continue to grow,” said Udall.
PRISON SENTENCE IN MONEYGRAM FRAUD: A Denver man was sentenced last week to serve 33 months in federal prison wire fraud. Patrick Hamilton, 41, was also ordered to pay $625,000 in restitution to MoneyGram. From 2004 through April 2008, Hamilton, along with others, devised a scheme to obtain money by false and fraudulent pretenses from MoneyGram and its merchant vendors. Hamilton pretended to be a MoneyGram employee to orchestrate over 200 fraudulent transactions totaling nearly $625,000.
RITTER SIGNS NEW ENERGY ECONOMY BILLS: On Friday, Gov. Bill Ritter visited students at Foothills Elementary School to sign three “New Energy Economy” bills. House Bill 1312 creates a “Renewables for Schools” loan program to help schools afford clean-energy projects and electric or hybrid buses. House Bill 1126, the solar thermal jobs bill, aims to create green-collar jobs by offering incentives to lower the cost of manufacturing and installing solar hot-water heaters. Finally, Ritter signed Senate Bill 124, which allows the state’s Department of Agriculture to extend the “Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy Program,” which develops energy-related projects designed to help farmers and ranchers use renewable energy.
STATE WAIVER FOR ‘NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND’: The Colorado Department of Education will provide a statewide waiver for some of the fiscal requirements of “No Child Left Behind.” These waivers will only be available to schools, districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services that accept American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Specifically, the waiver would allow local education agencies to carryover more than 15 percent of its 2009-10 Title I-A ARRA allocation into the 2010-11 fiscal year and allow such carryover even if the local education agency had obtained a carryover waiver in the past three years. Visit www.cde.state.co.us for more information.
COLORADO COMPANY HELPING MILITARY CHILDREN: An Englewood-based company, Cadence International, has organized a program that will deliver over 2,000 handmade cards to children of military families in an effort to bridge the distance between them and some of their parents who are serving overseas. The greeting card kits will be delivered to Fort Hood this week where volunteer soldiers will sort the card kits at the Cadence Soldiers’ Hospitality House. Visit www.cadence.org for more information.
UNION STATION FORUM: The Denver Union Station Project Authority will present its project report concerning the redevelopment of Union Station tonight from 6-7:30 at the Wynkoop Brewing Company’s Mercantile Room, located at Wynkoop and 18th Streets. There will be a cash bar at 5:30 p.m. Visit www.ddro.org for more information.
FREE SMALL BUSINESS SEMINARS: As part of National Small Business Week this week, the Denver Office of Economic Development will offer free seminars to educate aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners about running a successful company. The seminar topics include: learning how to utilize the Denver Business Assistance Center’s community resources to help start, grow and manage a small business; finding out how small businesses can tap into opportunities with the City and County of Denver; a panel discussion about what the economic stimulus bill does for small businesses; and a “Business Survival Forum” that aims to show how entrepreneurs and small business owners can learn what steps they can take to navigate challenging economic times. Seminars will run today through Friday. Visit www.MileHigh.com for a complete schedule.
