So here’s the story.Well, there are actually five stories. Those of Jacob Ind, Trevor Jones,Andrew Medina, Nathan Ybanez,and Erik Jensen. All of these individuals share a unique, and disturbing, story. They all received the same treatment in the Colorado justice system - a sentence of life without thepossibility for parole while juveniles. Most of them did not actually commit murder, but instead were convicted under the FelonyMurder Statute. On April 1^st in Hellems 246 we will besharing their stories, which were apart of a PBS Frontline special “WhenKids Get Life”.

Mary Ellen Johnson, founder of the Pendulum foundation,will also be there to talk to us about the Felony Murder Statute and juvenile sentencing in Colorado. Wehope to see you there. Check out the trailer here:: 

Screening of "When Kids Get Life"

April 1st

7pm - 9pm

University of Colorado Campus - Hellems 199 

A synopsis: Data collected from aerial surveys of the high elevation forests show that our tree problems are multiplying. In addition to the Mountain Pine Beetle, the Spruce Beetle, Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD) and the Western tent caterpillar are all wreaking havoc on our forests. The Mountain Pine Beetle infestation began in 1996. Since then, nearly 2.9 million acres have been destroyed with 400,000 acres of damage this past year alone. 

The importance of maintaining a healthy forest has some surprising points. There is the obvious aesthetic value that brings in tourism to the mountainous regions. Tourism is the second largest industry in terms of jobs for Colorado (Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association). The High Elevation forest provides economic benefits for timber and other natural resources. The mountains are a place to play and enjoy the outdoors. The unique biodiversity and wildlife that are indigenous to Colorado's high country adds to the majesty of the outdoors. The trees in the high country minimize erosion, provide snow cover and play a vital role in producing water and maintaining our watershed. The watershed in Colorado, provided by the melting snow and ice from the mountains, provides water for many other states.

The biggest threat to our ailing forest is the risk of wildfire...

The Renewable Energy Finance Act is moving onward and upwards at the Capitol! The New Era the intern legislative team has been working hard to spread the word and gain support for Senate Bill 51. This bill will improve an existing bill that passed last year that created a fund for low interest loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency upgrades. This bill has the added potential of improving the notoriously strained tenant-landlord relationships as well. There has been too long of a stale mate between the two parties over energy bills and efficiency improvements. Up until now there has been little incentive for either side to invest in improvements, but this bill could begin to make headway towards improvements by providing some marketing incentives that could benefit both sides. Imagine your landlord actually doing something to help lower those ever-rising energy bills!

The bill is going strong for the meantime, having recently passed the Local Government and Energy Committee, it is on its way to the Appropriations Committee on Friday the 26th.  With any luck and hopefully a lot of support, the bill will soon be headed to the Senate floor for its first round of readings.

 
Help us spread the word at CU by passing out these flyers. If you would like to help spread the word or if you would like info about a ride to Denver on Thursday, Feb 26th, for the lobby day, please call us at our office, 720 565 9317.

Check out all the legislation that we are working on!

Click to 'read more' for information on SB 225.

House Bill 1260, the Designated Beneficiaries bill, just passed second reading on the floor in the Colorado House. It has one more final vote in the House before it heads to the Senate.

This bill will make it easier for unmarried people to designate whom they want to make medical and end-of-life decisions on their behalf. It gives these basic legal rights to any two people (two dudes, two gals, a dude and gal, a bro and sis, what-have-you) who go into their local County Clerk's office, fill out a form, and pay a small fee.

We still need your help on the final vote. Click here to send a pre-written letter to your Representative urging a yes vote!

Press release below the jump.

Is it possible for a group of high school students to get a bill passed? I kid you not, a small group of high school students from Kent Denver School researched on the dangers of plastic bags, and were able to get a bill banning plastic bags proposed and passed in its first congressional hearing.  The students helped craft Senate  Bill 156, that will ban all plastic bags from large retail stores starting July 1, 2012. According to Kent students, "the bill is needed to reduce the bags, which consume oil, fill landfills, clog streams, choke animals and generally clutter the planet."  Plastic Bags have been banned in numerous states, in fact San Fransisco banned the usage of plastic bags from retail stores in 2007.  Last Wednesday, Kent students testified in front of the Labor and Technology Committee on the need for Colorado to be an active participant in environmental protection.  With persistent research, Kent students effectively answered all concerns from committee members, and SB 156 passed with a 4-3 party line vote.  The work is not done yet, stay tuned to track the progress of SB 156.  Please take a few minutes and watch the following YouTube video that will describe the effects of plastic bags in our environment.

The age-old debate continues to rage between dogs and cats... I personally am a "cats rule, dogs drool" person. Hopefully, there is one issue that we can all agree upon as loving pet owners. Many Colorado cities such as Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder all require that dogs have some form of identification (microchip or identification tag). The same does not hold for cats. HB 1019 is a bill that is trying to match the existing requirements for all cats over the age of 4 months. The bill stipulates that cats are either microchipped or wear an identification tag, outlaws individuals from removing cat identification tags and requires compliance by owner before an impounded cat can be released. It should also be noted that this bill only affects cats living within cities of a certain size.

To some, this may seem like a "no-brainer" or "dumb" bill.