March 31, 2018

There is no limit to the gross, sexually explicit questions Big crowd marches through SLC

‘There is no limit to the gross, sexually explicit questions’ — Big crowd marches through Salt Lake City calling for an end to one-on-one Mormon bishop interviews with youths


Marissa Smith sat in her Mormon bishop’s office in the same chair her boyfriend had the week before. He had looked across the same wooden desk as she was now. He had stared at the same plain walls. Maybe he had nervously played with his hands, too — she wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t sure, though, if he had been asked the same questions.

“What time of night do you kiss?” the local lay leader pressed Smith about her relationship. She answered, but she didn’t want to. He continued on:

“Where do you go with your boyfriend?”

“Are you sitting up or laying down?”

“Was any clothing off?”

“Then he asked me if I was surprised by what happens when boys orgasm,” Smith recalled. “I didn’t even know how to answer that question. I didn’t want to talk to my bishop again.”

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/local/2018/03/30/mormons-set-to-march-through-salt-lake-city-calling-for-an-end-to-bishops-interviews-with-children-about-sexual-matters/

March 31, 2018

SpaceX launches 10 Iridium satellites from California

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 10 next-generation satellites Friday for Iridium Communications from California.

The rocket, including a previously used first stage, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force at 7:13 a.m. PDT and arced southward over the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles.

About an hour later, the rocket's second stage released the satellites into low Earth orbit, circling from pole to pole.

"All 10 new satellites have successfully communicated with the Iridium Satellite Network Operations Center and are preparing to begin testing," the McLean, Virginia, company said in a statement.

Read more: http://gazette.com/spacex-launches-10-iridium-satellites-from-california/article/feed/552798

March 31, 2018

Colorado House approves state budget on bipartisan vote

The Colorado House of Representatives on Thursday approved the 2018-19 budget on a 42-22 vote, sending it on to the Senate.

And based on the packet of spending amendments to the "Long Appropriations Bill" the day before, Colorado lawmakers are seeing dollar signs for the first time in years, courtesy of a budget surplus of $1.3 billion estimated by state economists.

All House Democrats voted in favor of the measure, along with six Republicans, including state Rep. Bob Rankin of Carbondale, who represents the Republican caucus on the legislature's Joint Budget Committee.

Rankin was the only Republican in the House last year to vote for the long bill, but this year, he had company from fellow Republicans who have voted against it in the past: Reps. Jim Wilson of Salida, Marc Catlin of Montrose, Polly Lawrence of Roxborough Park, Hugh McKean of Loveland and Dan Thurlow of Grand Junction.

Read more: http://gazette.com/colorado-house-approves-state-budget-on-bipartisan-vote/article/1623497

March 31, 2018

Republicans' effort to create Colorado Medicaid work requirement fails at first hurdle after drawing

A Republican effort to create a work requirement for Colorado’s Medicaid recipients failed in a GOP-controlled committee Thursday after its first hearing, drawing outrage along the way from Democrats and people enrolled in the health care program.

Senate Bill 214 sought to mandate that “able-bodied adults” seeking Medicaid benefits be employed, be actively seeking employment, volunteer with a nonprofit or be receiving job training. It also would have established a lifetime limit of five years for Medicaid services and a monthly income verification mandate.

Those requirements would not have had to be met by anyone in high school or pregnant or a caregiver for a family member under 5 years old. People receiving temporary or long-term disability benefits also would have been exempt.

“The able-bodied person who lives in the state — we’re not saying that they need to be off (Medicaid),” said Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, one of the bill’s main sponsors. ” … We’re looking at a fairly small percentage of the total Medicaid (pool).”

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/29/colorado-medicaid-work-requirement-fails/

March 31, 2018

Colorado Supreme Court suspends appellate judge following sexual harassment complaint

The Colorado Supreme Court on Friday temporarily suspended Colorado Appeals Court Judge Laurie Booras with pay, pending an investigation of allegations raised by a man claiming to be her former lover — including that she called a fellow appeals judge “the little Mexican.”

In the court order, the Supreme Court said an investigation by the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline would remain confidential. However, The Denver Post received a copy of the complaint from the man claiming to be Booras’ former lover, John Sakowicz, of City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Calif.

The high court gave Booras three weeks to respond in writing explaining why “she should not continue to be suspended temporarily from any and all judicial duties pending the outcome of preliminary or formal proceedings,” the order says. The high court has not reached a conclusion about the validity of the allegations against Booras.

The court, acting with approval of all seven justices, appointed three judges to serve as special masters to oversee the commission’s investigation: 19th Judicial District Judge James F. Hartmann Jr., 12th Judicial District Judge Pattie P. Swift and Senior Judge Gregory J. Hobbs.

REad more: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/30/colorado-appeals-court-judge-laurie-a-booras-suspended/

March 31, 2018

Mining exec: 'bad actor' label is bid to delay Montana mines

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The head of an Idaho mining company said Friday that Montana officials appeared to be seeking to delay two mines proposed for a remote wilderness area by designating him a "bad actor" because of past pollution at other sites.

Hecla Mining President Phillips S. Baker, Jr. is former vice president and chief financial officer for Pegasus Mining, which went bankrupt in 1998, leaving taxpayers to pay for costly pollution cleanups that included the Zortman-Landusky gold mine.

Montana regulators said last week that Hecla or Baker could have to reimburse more than $30 million in cleanup costs before it can proceed with two silver and copper mines beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

The claim is based on Montana's so-called bad actor law that blocks individuals and companies that do not reclaim or pay for the reclamation of old mines from starting new ones.

Read more: https://www.chieftain.com/business/mining-exec-bad-actor-label-is-bid-to-delay-montana/article_f332c990-c51a-535a-8136-d8313f54ac13.html

March 30, 2018

What's an NCAA Tournament upset worth?

UMBC made more than history in the NCAA Tournament.

By becoming the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1, the Retrievers made about $1.7 million for the America East Conference. Loyola-Chicago's buzzer-beating run to the Sweet 16 will be worth double that to the Missouri Valley Conference. Nevada's consecutive comebacks were also worth about $3.4 million for the Mountain West. The MVC and Mountain West will pocket at least as much from NCAA Tournament units as the Pac-12, which had three teams in the field, all bounced after one game each.

Units are what the NCAA calls its revenue distributions from the basketball performance fund, which rewards teams for tournament performance. The NCAA Tournament generates more than $700 million in revenue for the association and its schools, the vast majority from its media rights deal with CBS and Turner.

Units for this year's tournament are worth approximately $273,000, according to the NCAA, but their value ends up being greater than that.

Read more: http://www.coloradocommunitymedia.com/stories/whats-an-ncaa-tournament-upset-worth,259602

March 30, 2018

Democrats underscore differences at forum in governor's race

A crowded governor's race that has seen more than three dozen declared candidates has pared down to a handful of top contenders, and those on the Democratic side carved out different niches for themselves just weeks away from the state assembly.

“I'm applying for a very small promotion,” said Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, to laughs from the audience at the Democratic Governor Candidate Forum in Denver.

The event at the History Colorado Center on March 29 saw Lynne playing up her experience in her second-to-the-governor role, as U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder cast himself as keeping businesses on his mind and former state Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, took the audience into the details on policy.

Former state treasurer Cary Kennedy — who is giving Polis a run for his money in polling and grassroots support — made the most plays for relatability in the forum, which was hosted by the Denver Business Journal and the Colorado Business Roundtable, an organization that advocates for business interests in legislation.

Read more: http://www.coloradocommunitymedia.com/stories/democrats-underscore-differences-at-forum-in-governors-race,260102

March 30, 2018

Even More Outrageous Treatment of GOP Sexual Harassment Victims

Republican State Sen. Randy Baumgardner.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen increasingly audacious attempts by Republicans in the Colorado Senate and their surrogates in the media to discredit proven-credible claims of sexual harassment against two Republican Senators: Sens. Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs and Jack Tate of Centennial.

After the original allegations of widespread sexual harassment in the Colorado General Assembly broke last fall, there was a well-organized PR campaign quickly organized to defend Tate in particular–first by enlisting lobbyists to defend Tate, which backfired after their massive conflicts of interest were exposed, and more recently by a an extremely unethical attack via a “legitimate” news outlet, the Phil Anschutz-owned Colorado Springs Gazette, citing the “personal indiscretions” of the victim in Tate’s case by a Republican legislative aide. That aide was fired the next day after his own highly insensitive comments about sexual harassment were released to the media, but the damage was done.

This weekend, a blog associated with the right-wing Independence Institute released a new story seeking to undermine the credibility of one of the victims of Sen. Randy Baumgardner and the investigation that determined the allegation against Baumgardner is credible. That story was picked up by Marianne Goodland of the same Colorado Springs Gazette involved with the questionable defense of Tate, and run uncritically with the headline “Report on sexual harassment allegations against Baumgardner raises questions of credibility.”

You might notice that we aren’t linking to those stories directly in this blog post. There’s a reason: the Independence Institute is circulating a “redacted” copy of the investigative report that positively identifies the victim in Baumgardner’s case. Needless to say, or at least it should be, to out a victim of sexual harassment who wishes to remain anonymous under any circumstances is an enormous breach of journalist ethics. We’re not accusing anyone at the Independence Institute of journalism, of course, but Goodland and the Gazette is another matter.

Read more: http://www.coloradopols.com/diary/106074/even-more-outrageous-treatment-of-gop-sexual-harassment-victims#sthash.biV5TkEp.dpbs

March 30, 2018

A criminal allegation. A secretly recorded call. The GOP race for governor takes dramatic turn.

Walker Stapleton, the front-runner in the Republican race for governor, is facing accusations from a GOP rival that he broke state law when collecting signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.

Doug Robinson, a first-time candidate and nephew of Mitt Romney, is demanding the secretary of state’s office conduct a formal investigation after a secretly recorded phone call raised questions about one person circulating petitions for Stapleton, the current state treasurer.

“We spent so much time and money trying to do this the right way it makes me upset that people were doing it the wrong way,” Robinson said in an interview after claiming Stapleton’s petitions were “gathered illegally.”

The extraordinary move comes as Robinson struggles to gain traction in a crowded field in which Stapleton tops the early polls and fundraising reports. The dispute echos concerns from 2016, when forged voter signatures marred the Republican primary for U.S. Senate — a move that contributed to the party’s loss in November.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/30/walker-stapleton-doug-robinson-petitions-signatures-investigation/