DENVER – The organization backing Referendum I, which would give certain domestic-partnership rights to same-sex couples, broke the $1 million mark in Wednesday’s latest fundraising report.
Coloradans for Fairness has raised more than $1.14 million, with the latest large infusions coming from the Gill Action Fund and Fort Collins philanthropist Pat Stryker.
Backers of Amendment 43, which would effectively ban gay marriage, aren’t far behind.
Coloradans for Marriage has raised a little more than $265,000, but Colorado Family Action Inc., the Focus on the Family-funded committee that also opposes Referendum I, has reported more than $700,000.
Both sides expected the battles on the same-sex issues would run into the millions for large advertising campaigns as Colorado becomes the first state to feature both a marriage amendment and domestic- partnership measure on the same ballot.
MORE DENVER & THE WEST BRIEFS
COLORADO SPRINGS
Petitions to recall two on school board OK’d
Recall petitions submitted by a group hoping to oust two District 11 school board members are sufficient, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink said Wednesday.
Balink said protests filed by three people regarding petition signers, circulators and procedures “failed to meet the required burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence presented.”
The group, called “End the D-11 Chaos Committee,” wants to recall board members Eric Christen and Sandy Shakes.
The school board will decide Wednesday whether to conduct a mail ballot election Dec. 12 or a polling place election Dec. 19.
DENVER
Mass-transit projects to share $22 million
The Colorado Transportation Commission endorsed a plan Wednesday to distribute about $22 million this year to local officials for 11 mass-transit projects across the state.
The largest award is to acquire 16 buses for Front Range Express, or FREX, commuter bus service between Fountain and Denver.
Denver is getting $4.2 million for commuter-rail improvements and other work related to the redevelopment of Union Station.
The Transportation Commission voted to pay a total of $65 million for at least 18 transit projects over the next five years, if money is available.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Radio signal study adds to tower debate
Lookout Mountain residents who live closer to or can see the broadcast towers have higher radio frequency levels in their homes than people who live farther away, according to a published Colorado State University study.
A second CSU study, which has not been published, found radio frequency radiation on Lookout Mountain did not decrease one immune system hormone but did increase some types of immune system white-blood cells.
Debate about possible health effects from living near the Lookout Mountain towers has been raised frequently during the seven years that a consortium of Denver TV stations has sought to replace three towers and build a 730-foot-high tower.
The results “raise more questions, but that’s the nature of science,” researchers said.
LOVELAND
“Dynamite” threat helps bank robbery
A woman claiming to be armed with a stick of dynamite robbed a Loveland bank Wednesday morning, taking an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
The woman approached a teller at Front Range Bank, 3900 E. 15th Ave., about 11:30 a.m. and handed the clerk a note demanding money. She then opened a black backpack to display a bundle of what appeared to be dynamite, said Loveland police Detective Chuck Sutterfield.
The clerk handed over the money, and the woman told her not to say anything for five minutes. Sutterfield believes the woman had a bundle of road flares in her backpack.
DENVER
State forecasts point to continued recovery
State economists released quarterly forecasts Wednesday that showed the state is continuing to recover.
Economists from the legislature and the governor’s office released two separate reports showing strong job growth.
The state’s 2006-07 general fund revenue forecast increased by $74 million, due largely to bigger income tax collection projections, according to legislative economists.
The forecast from the governor’s office did not substantially change since projections were made in June.
Legislative economists predict the state will keep $4.7 billion because Referendum C’s passage last year allowed the state to keep more money.
The governor’s office put the number at $3.9 billion over the five-year period.
GRAND JUNCTION
I-70, I-25 commuter rail vote anticipated
Voters could be asked as soon as 2008 to help pay for commuter rail service along Colorado’s two primary interstate highway corridors, rail proponents meeting in Grand Junction on Wednesday said.
A $1.25 million grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation will pay for a study of the feasibility of commuter rail lines in the Interstate 70 corridor from Denver to the Utah state line and along Interstate 25 between the Wyoming and New Mexico borders.
