The Rocky Mountains in Colorado. (Getty Images)
Share Feb 8, 2021 | STATESCOOP
The Colorado Digital Service’s first year in existence did not go as originally planned. But the new small agency, a self-described “SWAT team of nerds,” would up playing a vital role in designing and managing the technology behind the state’s COVID-19 response.
“Bummer is that COVID has taken away from some of the projects that we’d hoped to work on,” Kelly Taylor, the director of the seven-person shop, told StateScoop in a phone interview.
Taylor, a former employee at the U.S. Digital Service, pitched Gov. Jared Polis on a state-level replica of the USDS in 2019, following the federal agency’s “tour-of-duty” model in which civic-minded technologists lend their skills to public service for a year or two.
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have recommended the White House nominate Regina M. Rodriguez to be a federal district judge in Colorado, and have presented six candidates for the positions of U.S. Attorney and U.S. Marshal, including the city attorney of Denver and two county sheriffs.
âThese positions are vital to ensuring we have a fair criminal justice and judicial system that protects public safety, promotes equity, and upholds the rule of law,â wrote Hickenlooper and Bennet to President Joe Biden on Wednesday. âWe believe that this diverse group of attorneys and law enforcement officials represent some of the most thoughtful, dynamic, and hard-working leaders in our state. Weâre confident that theyâll serve the people of Colorado with humility and integrity.â
Attorney General Phil Weiser and local law enforcement officials, along with many others statewide, are launching a statewide campaign to remind firearm owners to make sure they are securing their weapons properly.
Because of an increase statewide in burglaries and motor vehicle thefts, some of which involve stealing unsecured firearms, the law enforcement officials â including Mesa County Sheriff Matt Lewis and District Attorney Dan Rubinstein â are asking firearm owners to adopt safer habits when it comes to making sure their weapons donât end up in the wrong hands.
âAcross the state, law enforcement professionals know that responsible and safe gun storage saves lives,â Weiser said. âSecuring firearms appropriately means that they canât be stolen or misused by persons, especially children, who should not have access to them.â
Despite the partisan battles in 2020, there was one thing we could all agree on: Let s order takeout. As it turned out, it became our civic duty to ensure that restaurants, where 10% of Coloradans work, could survive the pandemic.Â
Politicos statewide were happy to tell us where they got their favorite meals, so we ve compiled them all into one smorgasbord of options.
Let s dig in:
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver:
A patron enters Cherry Cricket, located in Denver s Cherry Creek neighborhood. Courtesy of Cherry Cricket via Instagram The Cherry Cricketâs burger and frings have been a family favorite for decades.
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