VOL. 01 NO. 190 | NOVEMBER 21, 2016 | COLORADOSTATESMAN.COM/THE-HOT-SHEET | © 2016

DENVER – Let thanks giving begin!  Happy Monday on the beginning of what will surely be a short work week for most of us. Whether you’re traveling or inviting company into your home … We hope it is a safe and peaceful holiday for you and yours.

Putting comments from the Broadway cast of Hamilton aside, anti-Trump protests appear to have calmed a bit in recent days. Fewer demonstrations in the streets and more media introspection. We’ve included a few here that examine possible changes and impacts a Trump presidency will have on Colorado. Some reporters choosing to use the “F” word … Fear.

Let’s get started!

The First Shot

“Turn off MSNBC and CNN and grab a turkey leg and relax.”

– Patrick Davis – Trump’s senior adviser in Colorado – with a suggestion for anyone concerned about the new administration.

Is Washington’s war on Colorado coal coming to an end?

Colorado’s energy producers are banking on promises made by Donald Trump during his campaign for president that, once elected, he would be a friend of coal. That as president, he would roll-back regulations that some believe are killing several Colorado communities.

With coal production down in Colorado by nearly two-thirds, the state’s energy sector could use a few powerful friends in Washington.

As reported in the Denver Post, Republican state Sen. Randy Baumgardner believes he beat his challenger by more than 9 percentage points earlier this month to a pro-energy message.

Other possible positives … The change of administrations overlaps with Colorado’s two largest coal producers, Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, coming out of bankruptcy protection.

To Detractors: “Grab a turkey leg and relax”

Legalized pot, Obamacare, immigration, energy production … you name it, Colorado’s left is apparently concerned for what a Trump presidency will mean for the state.

State Sen. Ray Scott, of Grand Junction said – as reported in the Gazette – the arrival of Trump’s policies can’t come soon enough to amp up the state’s energy economy, bring better-paying jobs to help keep pace with housing prices in metro Denver and scrap a health care policy that’s driving more people onto Medicaid, which is breaking the back of the state budget.

Many in Colorado who supported restrictions and policies implemented during the Obama administration warn that a move to the right by Trump could have negative consequences.

DOR harshing Colorado pot smokers mellow

Despite the recent passage (by a hair) of Initiative 300 by voters, the Colorado Department of Revenue has thrown up some new restrictions on “social marijuana” use. The new regs will prevent bars, restaurants and any business who serves alcohol from allowing m pot use on the premises.

While supporters of social use in public are calling foul and bureaucratic meddling in the will of the voters, detractors are applauding the oversight.

The Executive director of MADD Colorado Fran Lanzer reportedly told the Denver Business Journal, “Detecting the combined impairment from marijuana and alcohol would be very difficult for servers at bars and restaurants. It’s just not reasonable to expect that servers could effectively identify the combined impairment from alcohol and marijuana and prevent impaired customers from driving.”

Colorado voters get bragging rights

Call it apathy or just voter fatigue, but as many across the country chose not to vote during the November election … Coloradans bucked the national trend (good for us).

More Colorado voters did cast their ballots, according to the reporting of the Denver Post – 241,981 more ballots were cast than in 2012. And among registered voters, turnout increased to 75.29 percent from 2012, when 71.2 percent voted. In 2008, 75.5 percent of registered voters turned out, compared to 71.6 percent of the eligible voters.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, more people voted by mail in Colorado … more than 2.6 million of the total 2.8 million ballots cast. Like or don’t like the outcome of #Election2016, more people in Colorado were engaged in the process.

Thanksgiving: Serving those who serve us

As a final thought, we want to share an important project to support our military this Thanksgiving. Because many of the young military men and women serving in Colorado but far away from their own homes, a Colorado Springs charity is hoping to match charitable Colorado families with these brave service members for the holidays.

So – if you have an extra seat at your holiday table this year, you may want to offer it to a member of our military who might be all alone.

“We have a lot of soldiers who are a long ways from home,” retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terrance McWilliams, who heads Citizen Soldier’s board, told The Gazette.

If you would like to host a Fort Carson soldier this Thanksgiving, you can sign up here.

Today in History

1992 – A major tornado strikes the Houston, Texas, area during the afternoon. Over the next two days the largest tornado outbreak ever to occur in the U.S. during November spawns over 100 tornadoes before ending on the 23rd.

1986 – Iran-Contra affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

1969 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sat? agree in Washington, D.C., on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

1959 – American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term “rock and roll” and music of that style, is fired from WABC-AM radio for refusing to deny allegations that he had participated in the payola scandal.

1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

1620 – Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.)

Don’t miss any of the hot political scuttlebutt going on with Colorado’s politicos on the presidential campaign trail, in Congress, inside the state Capitol and from around the state. Sign up for The Hot Sheet? today. The Hot Sheet? is Colorado’s premier political insider newsletter, delivered to your inbox daily.

NEWS TIPS WELCOME: Tell us what you know! – To submit a tip, event, happening, gossuping, chattering or other interesting tidbit to The Hot Sheet, click here to send us your wealth of knowledge … yes, even anonymous tips are welcome if you’re feeling all cloak and dagger.