Democratic Power Broker Pleads Not Guilty

Denver Initiated Ordinance 308 on the Nov. 5 ballot asks voters to pass a fur ban that would prohibit businesses from making or selling a range of animal-based products in the city. The Denver Fur Ban initiative was placed on the ballot by Pro-Animal Future, which is also behind a proposed slaughterhouse ban. Proponents of the proposed ordinance argue a ban is merited for an industry that mistreats and abuses animals.

Metro Denver voters in the Nov. 5 election will decide whether to let the Regional Transportation District keep tax money that otherwise, under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, would need to be returned to taxpayers. It’s a ballot question that is common for local governments, and RTD has sought similar voter approval in the past. What would 7A do if passed? The ballot measure asks voters within the area served by the transit agency’s buses and trains, in all or part of eight counties, whether to permanently exempt RTD from TABOR revenue limits — a so-called “de-Brucing” measure.

Colorado lawmakers last year voted to reform the way Colorado’s judges are investigated and disciplined for professional misconduct on the bench — but now voters must give final approval for the reforms to take effect. The proposed reforms require changing the state’s constitution, and that has been proposed to voters through Amendment H on the ballot for the November election.

Under Colorado law, parents can request that their children attend any public K-12 school in the state for free, even in other school districts. Now, backers of Amendment 80 in the November election are asking voters to enshrine families’ right to school choice in the Colorado Constitution. The measure was petitioned onto the ballot by Advance Colorado, a conservative advocacy group, and it needs 55% support to pass since it would amend the constitution. What would Amendment 80 do if passed? The measure would protect the right to school choice for K-12 students and allow Colorado parents to choose whether their children attend public district-run schools, charter schools, private schools or homeschools. If passed, Amendment 80 would not immediately change state law or enrollment policies for school districts.

More than a week after Hurricane Helene decimated the rural mountain communities of Western North Carolina, residents are still searching for missing loved ones and grappling with the destruction of their homes and businesses. On social media, meanwhile, powerful accounts are turning the disaster into the latest vehicle for politically coded conspiracy theories about the failures of the Biden administration—and the righteousness of the Trump campaign. One group that has picked up this narrative is composed of Christian influencers, many of whom are part of the quickly growing New Apostolic Reformation, which I wrote about last week.

This story was originally published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Something’s shifted. And it’s not just the climate. Even before being named a tropical storm, I knew that what would become Mean Helene was set on a mission to be yet another multibillion-dollar disaster.