pandemic
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Colorado’s lost lessons from Spanish flu revisited as COVID-19 pandemic turns 3 years old
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As Colorado marks another COVID-19 anniversary, the takeaway for historians and epidemiologists is as simple as it is jarring: Americans haven’t learned the lessons from history. Three years ago Sunday, Colorado reported its first COVID-19 case – a 30-something male skier who had traveled to Italy. Eight days later, on March 13, an El Paso…
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State Supreme Court takes unusual step of soliciting public comment for virtual hearings policies
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In an atypical move not afforded to most judicial policymaking, the Colorado Supreme Court has invited the public to comment on a pair of proposals that aim to preserve access to live streamed court proceedings across the state and lay down uniform guidance for virtual hearings. The policies, known as chief justice directives, reflect the…
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Colorado justices to consider financial penalties on lawyers, notice for evictions under COVID rules
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear an appeal implicating the ability of law firms to financially penalize their attorneys for leaving for another job and taking clients with them. The justices also signaled they will decide whether a federal law enacted during the early COVID-19 pandemic still requires certain landlords…
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Colorado’s property tax system hangs in balance as state Supreme Court mulls COVID-19 challenges
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Colorado’s Supreme Court justices on Wednesday spent three hours pondering a pair of questions that could open the door to widespread, perhaps even perpetual, property revaluations across the state: Did COVID-19 and the accompanying public health orders in 2020 constitute “unusual conditions” necessitating a reexamination of property values? And did those revaluations need to happen…
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Appeals court says COVID-19 trial precautions were constitutional
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time on Thursday that pandemic-era health precautions during jury trials, specifically masking and distancing for jurors, did not violate a defendant’s constitutional rights. Kenneth L. Garcia’s jury trial in July 2020 was the first to take place in Denver after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the…
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10th Circuit mulls reinstating lawsuit against Vail Resorts for early COVID-19 closure
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As the federal appeals court based in Denver considers whether to revive a lawsuit against Vail Resorts from passholders seeking refunds for the 2019-2020 ski season, the company’s lawyer defended its actions to halt operations at the dawn of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. “People were gonna die. So we closed,” Michael J. Hofmann told the U.S.…
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Colorado sees flat unemployment rate, signaling a return to normal
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Colorado’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in September at 3.4%, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported Friday. The number of unemployed fell by 2,200 from the month before, but the unemployment rate stayed unchanged due to rounding, according to the report. Colorado Springs hotel lodging sees boost in September Ryan Gedney, a senior economist with…
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Appeals court finds El Paso judge misunderstood law, orders case reinstated
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An El Paso County judge failed to follow the law when she preemptively dismissed a low-level drug case during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s Court of Appeals has determined. Although former District Court Judge Deborah J. Grohs was convinced the ongoing public health emergency and ensuing backlog of jury trials meant defendant Marckus Antonio Maxwell…
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Judge tosses anti-masking lawsuit against Cherry Creek schools
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A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against the Cherry Creek School District over its now-rescinded mask-wearing policy, finding the allegations backed by dubious scientific assertions were not viable legal claims. The controversy stemmed from the district’s compliance with an Aug. 31, 2021 public health order for Arapahoe County that required people to cover their…
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10th Circuit tosses inmate’s lawsuit over COVID-19 prison protocols
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A Colorado inmate has not plausibly claimed that prison officials’ allegedly-deficient COVID-19-prevention measures amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, the federal appeals court based in Denver has decided. Delano Marco Medina, who is incarcerated at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City, first filed a petition in federal court in June 2020, claiming the Colorado…