alcohol

Appeals court finds no evidence judge told man to abstain from alcohol, reverses alcohol-related conviction

Feb 7, 2022

—

by

Michael Karlik

A jury in La Plata County convicted a man of a felony for violating his bond conditions after police found him intoxicated in a parking lot. As evidence, prosecutors pointed to his bond paperwork, with a check mark next to the phrase “No Alcohol.” But the state’s second-highest court overturned Jeffrey Jon Hamerly’s conviction last…
FEEDBACK | Our guv is one to point fingers at pot

Apr 26, 2018

—

by

Colorado Politics

Gov Hickenlooper says that if data indicates and supports that an intoxicant contributes to a public-safety problem, then he will rethink what the voters have approved and as a public servant work to recriminalize it. Well, the jury has come back and alcohol is the scourge that everyone knew it was. Domestic violence, drunken-driving deaths,…
Colorado bill allowing bars to stay open past 2 a.m. dies in legislature

Apr 24, 2017

—

by

Peter Marcus

The Colorado Senate on Monday killed legislation that would have allowed local governments to allow bars to stay open past 2 a.m. The Senate delayed a vote on House Bill 1123 until after the legislative session, which effectively killed the measure. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, expressed concerns with the measure in a letter last…
Insights: Dear Colorado liquor lobby: You’re drunk – go home!

Mar 10, 2017

—

by

Peter Marcus

There are way better drinking games than debating prohibition-era liquor laws. Yet for some reason most of the lobbyists and lawmakers working on a booze “cleanup” bill have opted for legislative war instead of beer pong. The discussion over the last few weeks has resembled a nonsensical drunk stumbling home from the bar, muttering, “No,…
Failure of alcohol ‘cleanup’ bill opens up the possibility of a ballot drive

Mar 6, 2017

—

by

Peter Marcus

In killing a grocery store alcohol sales “cleanup” bill on Monday, some in the Capitol argue the Senate dismantled a “historic” compromise reached last year and renewed talks of a ballot drive. On an 18-17 vote that split the parties, the Senate killed a bill to extend liquor licenses to stores such as Walmart and Target that…
Colorado alcohol debate still bubbling despite new law

Mar 1, 2017

—

by

Kristen Wyatt

Colorado isn’t done arguing about where alcohol should be sold. A bill moving through the state Senate would allow more Walmarts and other big-box stores to sell liquor, not just beer and wine. It’s a spirited debate less than a year after Colorado made its biggest alcohol change since the end of Prohibition by allowing…
Supermarket booze talks in legislature opens big-box stores to attacks

Feb 27, 2017

—

by

Peter Marcus

A debate over a measure framed as a “cleanup” of full-strength alcohol sales in supermarkets devolved Monday into a referendum on big-box versus small retailers. Democrats were at odds with each other over whether the measure from Sen. Angela Williams, D-Denver, would result in “wiping out” small liquor stores. “What are we doing to our…
Building off of buzz from last year, efforts underway to expand Colorado alcohol laws

Feb 14, 2017

—

by

Peter Marcus

Less than a year after lawmakers passed a grand compromise gradually allowing the sale of full-strength alcohol in grocery stores, a buzz has again hit the Capitol to expand efforts. The legislation last year represented the biggest change to state liquor laws since Prohibition. It marked progress after decades of failures trying to reform outdated…