[LOCAL]

• Person breaks into and fires a gun inside the Colorado Supreme Court, causing extensive damage but thankfully no injuries
• Loveland to pay out $400,000 for DUI arrest in which driver was not actually under the influence of a substanceColorado conservatives have gone off the deep end, calling for law enforcement to enforce “obscenity laws” to remove books in Colorado Springs school districts
• Officer Nathan Woodyard, who was acquitted in the death of Elijah McClain, has been reinstated back on the Aurora police department
• In another right-wing assault on democracy, an La Plata County elections official and the Boulder County GOP have refused to certify the November election results
• Colorado House Speaker McCluskie has Representatives Epps and Marshall, all Democrats, removed from Judicial Committee over their actions supporting protests against the Israeli war in Gaza

[NATIONAL]

• UC Berkeley scientists make breakthrough in understanding the language of whales by identifying vowels and other linguistic ways to encode information, ie. communicate
• Colorado invokes the 14th Amendment to block Trump appearing on the ballot for his attempted coup, Michigan allows him to remain on ballot
• Anti-gay Mom’s for Liberty founder is found to have filmed lesbian sex tapes when she was younger, we’re not kink shaming, just pointing out her hypocrisy
• Biden pardons marijuana offenses that have occurred on Federal lands, adding to his pardons for non-violent drug offenses from last year
• Harvard President Claudine Gay, resigned after credible allegations of plagiarism emerge from her academic past

[INTERNATIONAL]

• Earthquake strikes Japan killing dozens right after New Years
• In a step forward for the Catholic church, the Pope allows priests to bless same-sex marriages
• Thailand, already known as being an LGBTQ+ friendly nation, moves towards legalizing same-sex marriages. They are the first to do so in Southeast Asia
• NASA data shows that Russia has stolen nearly 8 million tons of wheat from occupied territories in Ukraine, disrupting global supply
• US, allies strike Houthi targets in Yemen in response to attacks on cargo ships as part of wider Israel – Gaza war

By the Numbers

5 – Gray wolves released into the wild on the Front Range in an effort to rehabilitate the natural lands through a balanced ecosystem

900+ – Threats of abuse, including 64 death threats, aimed at Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold after Trump is barred from running for President in the State

300 – Miles away Boebert’s new district is from her current home. She is switching to seek a safer seat to expound her ideas from

10 –Years ago Colorado legalized recreational cannabis use, the first state in the nation to do so

$90,000 – Amount embezzled by Eugene Weekly employee, forcing the 40 year old weekly magazine to shut down

Small Talk

“I didn’t want to believe it at first, but God may allow our nation to enter into a time of judgment for our collective sins… America needs to recognize that we have much to repent for if we want to avoid the judgment we so clearly deserve…”

– House Speaker Mike Johnson threatens the US may be smote by God

“When it comes to the orangutan, 4-month old Siska, Berani, you are the father!”

– Maury Povich announces DNA results of paternity test on young Denver Zoo orangutan

“Any civilian deaths are regrettable, [but] it is inevitable that mistakes will be made.”

– Israeli government spokesperson on Christmas Eve airstrike that hit refugee camp, killing nearly 90 people

“Once we realized some of the statistics in these mountain regions, in the Rockies in particular with people calling it the Suicide Belt, it was like, if we do this right, this is something that can help people”

– Filmmaker Brett Rapkin on his film, The Paradise Paradox” that highlights the high suicide rates in Rocky Mountain states

“Donald Trump, while holding the office of president, used his business entities to pocket millions of dollars from foreign states and royalty and never once went to Congress to seek its consent.”

– Rep. Jamie Raskin on the Oversight Committee’s report that Trump violated emoluments clause by accepting foreign money from China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other nations