Colorado Springs City Council Scraps Pot Ban

The Colorado Springs City Council has scrapped a proposed ordinance that would have banned marijuana from city buildings. The council voted 6-3 against the ordinance on Tuesday because it did not distinguish between recreational and medical marijuana. The ordinance would have banned pot from city buildings, and reduced fines for violators. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports the council gave preliminary approval on Feb. 11, but some council members expressed concern that people who need medical marijuana will be penalized if they have pot in city buildings.

Gardner/Udall Race

GOP Cong. Cory Gardner plans to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall in a last-minute entry into the race.  The front-runner in the race against Udall, Weld County D.A. Ken Buck, says he's dropping out of the Senate race and running for Gardner's open House seat.  Buck narrowly lost a challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in 2010, and some Republicans have been concerned that the mistakes Buck made then would doom him against Udall.  Gardner's a well-regarded congressman viewed as his party's brightest star in the state.

Port-a-Potty Peeping Tom

A registered sex offender from Grand Junction who took hundreds of pictures or videos of women in a portable toilet faces more than four years in prison. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports, Joshua Vohs pleaded guilty Tuesday to invasion of privacy for secretly filming 25 women using a camera he set up inside a portable toilet on the Colorado Riverfront Trail, beginning Aug. 15. The investigation began when a 13-year-old girl spotted the camera inside the toilet and notified her father.

Special Plates

State lawmakers are keeping their special license plates.  A proposal to eliminate the plates over concerns lawmakers don't get some traffic tickets failed to get any traction this year.  The bill's sponsor, GOP Rep. Chris Holbert allowed the proposal to miss deadlines because he couldn't persuade fellow lawmakers to get rid of the plates completely.  Another bill to allow lawmakers to keep the plates, but ensure they get photo radar tickets, is still pending. That bill would tie vehicle registration to the legislative plates.

Tanning Beds and Kids

A ban on the use of commercial tanning beds by children has won initial approval in the Colorado House.  The House approved a bill today barring anyone under 18 from using a tanning salon. Colorado is one of the few states with no restrictions on minors in tanning beds, though many Colorado salons place voluntary limits on childhood use.  Democrats rejected a GOP amendment to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to use them with parental permission, saying doctors and cancer advocates who say tanning beds are like tobacco and should be considered off-limits to children.  The bill needs one more vote before it goes to the Senate.   

Budget Surplus

The city of Fort Morgan came out ahead of the budget game last year. The city finished the year with just more than $5.91 million in collected sales tax revenue, making it the most the city has ever pulled in over a single year from sales tax, according to the City Treasurer's office. The previous record for one year's take came in 2011, which saw almost $5.37 million, followed by $5.31 million in 2012. The surplus is being credited in part to the success of the second year of Fort Morgan's Christmas Capital of the Plains campaign, which is a partnership between the city, area businesses, and media outlets.

Fracking Vote

A judge will now decide the fate of Broomfield's embattled election and whether to throw out a fracking ban that passed by just 20 votes.  Lawyers today wrapped up closing arguments in the two-day trial that focused on how ballots were handled during and after the election. Questions were raised about possibly ineligible voters and uncounted ballots, leading ban opponents to file the lawsuit.  Unofficial results indicated the ban failed by 13 votes, but a recount showed it passed by 20 votes out of more than 20,000 votes cast. Even if the results are invalidated, it's not clear if the judge could order another election.

Logan Co Judge Retiring

There's a spot to fill on the Logan county court bench... Judge Robert B Smith of the 13th judicial district court has announced he plans to retire this spring...applications are being taken for the opening... you can get them online at courts.state.co.us... it has to be in by march third. The 13th judicial district nominating commission will meet march 17th at the Logan county combined courts to consider a replacement for judge smith... ultimately, governor Hickenlooper will choose who gets the spot, after the commission interviews candidates and submits their nominations... he'll fill the opening at the end of April. the journal advocate says the position is a 65 percent position... it's initially a provisional term of two years, then if voters approve, the judge has a term of four years.

Air Quality Standards

New air-quality controls on the oil and gas industry mark a major compromise between environmentalists and large energy producers. The rules include the nation's first statewide limits on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry and call for infrared cameras to detect air pollution at oil and gas sites. Gov. John Hickenlooper plans to tout the compromise at an event this afternoon.