Good morning. Today's news roundup includes a fatal train-automobile collision on the A Line, a feature on Fort Morgan, standardized testing news and much more.
Fatal A Line collision:
A passenger train running on the University of Colorado A Line collided with a passenger van early this morning, killing the van’s driver, according to Aurora Police Department. It's unclear whether any malfunction contributed to the crash. (Denverite)
Boulder plaintiffs excluded from Auschwitz trial:
Two Jewish men living in Boulder will not be allowed to join the trial of a 96-year-old former medic who worked in the Auschwitz death camp. The court found that Walter and William Plywaski's mother "was not killed in the death camp's gas chambers during the time covered in the indictment." (AP via Denverite)
Why Fort Morgan is the future:
Luke Runyon has a solid feature out of the plains city where Latino residents have become the majority and refugees are common. (KUNC)
Move to drop standardized test gains momentum:
"Colorado high school freshmen no longer would be required to take the state’s controversial standardized English and math tests under a bipartisan bill that has the governor’s support," as Nic Garcia reports. (Chalkbeat)
Ice cream for Congress Park:
Ashley takes you inside and into the history of Sweet Cooie's, the latest venture from the Little Man folks. They have cones with some dang cotton candy on them. (Denverite)
Snooze to Westy:
The constantly busy breakfast joint wants to add at least 40 restaurants in the next five years, as Amy DiPierro reports. Next up: one in Westminster Promenade and one at 144th Avenue and Interstate 25. (BusinessDen)
Washington Park changes:
Denver will remove parallel parking along the Washington Park Loop and add extra lanes to separate pedestrians and faster users, as Joe Vaccarelli reports. (DP)
This should be interesting:
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican, is going to hold town-hall meetings with constituents about health care. He promises not to vote for an ACA repeal without a replacement. (Denverite)
Sanctuary sheriffs:
Kelsey Ray is working to get every sheriff's office in Colorado on the phone about their policies for reporting undocumented immigrants to the feds. Ray finds that most have ended the practice of detaining people on behalf of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Worth a read. (Colorado Independent)
The newest candidate for governor:
Victor Mitchell, a Republican who didn't vote for Trump, wants to be the outsider who fixes things up, as John Frank reports. (DP)
About that floor-wrecking party at Regis:
The song playing at the time of the collapse apparently was Kid Cudi's Pursuit of Happiness," which college kids are still somehow listening to? Nobody was injured, but residents were displaced, as Stan Bush reports. (CBS4)
Trump admin continues to fight Gold King claims:
Like Obama's administration, President Donald Trump's Justice Department is arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency can't pay out on $1.2 billion of claims related to the mine-waste spill in southwestern Colorado. (The Hill)
He was the first black quarterback of the modern era – for a season:
Christian has an excellent interview and related story about what happened to Marlin Briscoe after the Broncos made him quarterback in the 1960s. (Denverite)
Stoner Hill sequel:
I was on Changing Denver with Paul Karolyi to follow up on our earlier reporting on "Stoner Hill," a gathering point for young, homeless kids in a tony neighborhood. We'll tell you – OK, mostly Paul will tell you about the big potential changes in the works. (Changing Denver)
More:
-
Opponents of the Platte to Park Hill stormwater project worry Denver will slip the work into on-call contracts. (Denverite)
-
The Nuggets were really, really good last night. Something big is happening, Christian reports. (Denverite)
- University of Colorado regents will not approve the three-year, $16.125 million extension the school awarded head football coach Mike MacIntyre while the results of an investigation into the handling of former assistant coach Joe Tumpkin’s alleged domestic abuse are pending. (Denverite)
