Good morning. It's still wet, still cold. I hope you have coffee or the warm drink of your preference. I have your news for you: housing help, immigrants reporting fewer crimes, a step forward at Confluence Park, better treatment for people in mental health crisis and more.
Housing next steps:
Denver announced 30 concrete actions it's going to take to help people find and keep housing. Those range from protecting renters from evictions to offering employment to homeless people. (Denverite)
Pot on porches:
There was a surreal moment in the closing hours of the Colorado General Assembly's 2017 session as legislators argued passionately about how many people should be able to smoke pot on a porch. We're in this position because Amendment 64 says you can't smoke in public, but what exactly does "public" mean? John Frank looks at the core values behind the debate. (DP)
Immigrants in fear:
Stats-focused news site FiveThirtyEight looked into the claims that immigrants are reporting fewer crimes out of fear that, even as victims, they'll end up on the wrong side of immigration authorities. Denver was one of the few cities to supply relevant data and, as it turns out, Latinos are reporting fewer crimes than at this time last year, while non-Latino residents of Denver are reporting more crimes. Denver police say they're doing their own analysis to understand this better and reassure the community. (Denverite)
Confluence Park:
We might have to have Andy trademark the term "cluster-up," his bowdlerized, safe-for-the-children version of, well, you know. That's what the bike and pedestrian paths around Confluence Park have been, but our long national nightmare is nearly at an end. In fact, some parts are looking better already. (Denverite)
Living in sin:
The L.A. Times pulled this AP story from their archives. It recalls the very long fight against Denver's ordinance that banned unrelated people from living together. The city used to conduct toothbrush counts to enforce this law, and one council member predicted that overturning it would be the ruin of the city. This happened in 1989, people! (AP)
Mental health crises:
Colorado has been one of just a few states that allowed people in mental health crisis to be kept in jail, even if they hadn't committed a crime. That practice ends Aug. 9 under bipartisan legislation signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper. Money from marijuana taxes will help fund new services. (DP)
That's a lot of snow:
Rocky Mountain National Park reported 2 1/2 feet (feet!!!) last night. (AP)
