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Welcome back to The Spot, where The Denver Post’s politics team captures what’s happening this week — from the Colorado legislature to Denver city hall, with a stop through the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.

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Greetings from this world of chaos that we call Colorado politics, where state lawmakers are rushing to pass major bills in the waning days of this year’s legislative session and the听2018 campaigns have been scrambling in court to get their candidates on the ballot.

Meanwhile, pit bulls are allowed in Castle Rock now, school kids have been barred from a former nuclear weapons production site in the Denver area and the听Denver NFL draft 2019 watch is, like, so underway.

Also — because we are everywhere at every moment — reporter John Frank literally witnessed Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne getting a very real and very permanent tattoo as part of her bid to become the state’s next governor. (Here’s who is running for governor.)

If you keep reading this newsletter, there’s even a video of the tattoo being administered (I think that’s the right word?) below.

Fresh news:听The so-called 鈥渂eer wars鈥� are back. And without a truce, you won鈥檛 be able to drink beer in Denver parks.

Also:听Thousands of residents across three metro-Denver counties are about to see the end of a longtime government fee.

ROLL CALL

COLORADO: THE STATEHOUSE & BEYOND

• Democrats and Republicans in the state Senate came together to reach a compromise on the future of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. And then House Democrats quickly threw cold water on the whole thing.
• Remember that GOP bill that would have prohibited teacher strikes and threatened educators with fines and even jail time for doing so anyways? Well,听炉\_(銉�)_/炉.
• The measure came as thousands of teachers across the state were gearing up to gather at the Colorado Capitol for what was a rowdy two days of demands for more education funding.
• Meanwhile, there is a quiet culprit behind the teacher protests in Colorado and across U.S. (Hint: Everything — and I mean everything — eventually comes back to PERA.)

Time lapse of the growing teacher protest on the West Steps of the Colorado Capitol. Definitely Secretary thousand people out there. Business as usual inside.

— Jesse Aaron Paul 鈽� (@JesseAPaul)

• A PERA overhaul bill passed the Colorado House and now heads back to the Senate and likely a conference committee. The saga continues…
• Along the lines of ongoing legislative debates, a transportation funding bill is shaping up to be the most partisan battle听left leading up to the legislative session’s end on May 9.
• Here’s a look at by what’s known as sine die — or what I like to call the “moment of freedom.”
• An effort by state lawmakers to clamp down on “games of skill” arcades that are popping up around the state took a step forward this week in a state Senate committee.
• A “red flag” bill making its way through the legislature is roiling the gun rights advocates in Colorado.
• Speaking of the red flag bill, Assistant House Minority Leader Cole Wist, R-Centennial, really ruffled some feathers by putting his name on the legislation.
• Should Colorado cops be forced to open internal affairs cases to the public?
• Cary Kennedy and Jared Polis landed top endorsements in the Colorado governor’s race.
• Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne has a new tattoo.
• Here’s the reason Donna Lynne has a new tattoo. (It’s not her only tattoo, FWIW.)

Colorado鈥檚 Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne 鈥� an underdog candidate for governor 鈥� just made her campaign permanent in a tattoo

— John Frank (@ByJohnFrank)

DENVER & THE SUBURBS

• The Interstate 70 project in northeast Denver will bring a lot of noise and dust, and a joint city-state program is targeting nearly 250 homes will help shield residents听from the mess.
• The official result is in — pit bulls are now welcome in Castle Rock.
• Nearly $1 billion will be spent over the next decade to fix up Denver’s roads, parks, libraries, public buildings and cultural facilities in Denver. We now know听which projects will get money first.
• New research shows many American cities continue to grapple with depressed home values in neighborhoods that were subject to 鈥渞edlining.” But that’s not the case in Denver.
• While we wait for city and state leaders to decide whether to bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, a group of opponents — called “NOlympics” —听wants to require voter approval听to spend city money on any effort.
• The concept of building managed toll lanes to alleviate ever-increasing traffic on Colorado highways could get another boost.
• The question of what will become of Denver’s Park Hill Golf Course already is a mess, and its private operator听threw the latest curveball听last week.
• Denver wants to host the NFL spring draft next year or in 2020. Mayor Michael Hancock听visited last week’s draft in Texas to make a final pitch for the event.
• Boulder has advanced its proposed听ban on the sale and possession of assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines in the city.
• Denver’s school board decided last week to bar students from making field trips to Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge over concerns about the risk from past contamination. That means there are now a total of nearly 300,000 students from half a dozen school districts under the same restriction.
• Meanwhile, environmental activists and an ex-FBI agent are trying to block the long-planned opening of the former nuclear weapons site for recreation.

D.C. POLITICS FROM A COLORADO PERSPECTIVE

• U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has endorsed state Rep. Joe Salazar in the Colorado attorney general’s race. (Here’s who is .)
• Colorado has joined a lawsuit seeking to听block the Trump administration from asking citizenship question on the 2020 census.
• Ty Cobb, Donald Trump鈥檚 Denver lawyer working on the Robert Mueller case, is retiring.
• A federal appeals court dealt a blow this week to makers of CBD-rich cannabis extracts.
• A soldier from Loveland was killed in Afghanistan.
• The is-he-isn’t-he saga surrounding U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s ballot access was debated in federal court this week.
• In the end, a judge’s ruling placed the Colorado Springs Republican back on the ballot, much to the chagrin of his political opponents. Below is a video of Lamborn discussing the case, but declining to talk about the politics behind it. (I promise my hands are steadier in real life.)

THE WIRE

• State officials are pushing for a longer treatment window — — to care for mentally ill inmates in county jails. — Colorado Public Radio
• A look at why many in the marijuana industry making its way through the legislature. — The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
• Legislation seeking to to unify how Colorado colleges and universities respond and prevent campus sex assault . — KUNC听
• Here are the President Donald Trump. — The New York Times
• Expect to see these for political ads in Colorado, too. — Politico
• A new study suggests voters who only speak English to political ads in Spanish. — Harvard听Shorenstein Center
• Amid a backlash against Denver’s development boom,听city officials 听— a prospect that excites some while worrying others.听— Denverite
• Denver听听in its bid to host the NFL draft from Canton, Nashville and other cities.听— 9News
• — The Pueblo Chieftain
• Colorado’s cannabis industry : Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. — Colorado Public Radio

Questions, comments, feedback about this newsletter? Cool stories?听Send them our way.

And thanks for reading!

P.S.听Please consider backing The Denver Post () or journalism wherever you might be. And thanks for your support, whatever it might be.

P.P.S. Here are your GIF rewards for making it to the end of this newsletter.

Current mood

— Jesse Aaron Paul 鈽� (@JesseAPaul)

My mood has remained the same:

— Jesse Aaron Paul 鈽� (@JesseAPaul)

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Staff writers John Frank, Jon Murray, Mark K. Matthews and John Aguilar contributed to this newsletter.