Round-Up: Texting Ban, ICE Agency Opens, and more
A new law banning texting while driving takes effect tomorrow…An Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency office opens in Colorado Springs…and, the head of Colorado’s Republican Party is asking Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman to explain alleged threats to Governor Bill Ritter during his 2006 campaign.
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Filed under: AP, Andrea Chalfin, Immigration, Legal Affairs, Politics, Round-Up — Andrea Chalfin, News Dir. @ 5:35 pm
Colorado’s booming medical marijuana industry is doing more than just benefiting dispensaries that sell the drug for a profit. Some media outlets hit hard by the recession are cashing in on the so-called gold rush, finding a new source of advertising. Others are taking a wait and see approach to the somewhat controversial revenue stream. Bente Birkeland reports from the state capitol.
Today’s “Citizen Report,” brings an encore from resident Joe Uveges, who suggests the idea of “reaching across the isle” is not confined to Capitol Hill.
H1N1 or “swine” flu continues to decline in Colorado, and is now at the lowest level since stepped-up monitoring for the virus began in September. The state’s chief medical officer says the health care community here responded “very well” to the two-month surge in flu this fall. Dr. Ned Calonge spoke with 
Colorado’s ski industry is gearing up for the season and this year some of the biggest resorts are upping their efforts to promote the use of helmets. Vail Resorts is requiring all employees to wear helmets, and Intrawest, which operates Winter Park and Steamboat, is requiring helmet use by children in ski school. The increased focus follows the high profile death of actress Natasha Richardson at an Intrawest resort in Canada last year. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
Bark beetles continue to be a problem in Colorado and the Western US. The bug kills trees by introducing a fungus and eating away at the living portion of the trees. The beetle is native to the region, but years of warmer than average winters have allowed its numbers to soar. That, coupled with the uniform age of the state’s lodge pole pines has created a potential tinderbox. On Monday, Senator Mark Udall announced legislation that he hopes will slow the bark beetle epidemic.