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Your Evening News - January 26th, 2015

Sick Mountain Lion Put Down in Carbondale

The Carbondale Police Department says it put down a sick mountain lion this past weekend. The department says it received a call that the big cat was lying under the bridge on North Bridge Drive on Saturday afternoon. The Tom Cat was about a year or two old and could only move its head. After contacting the Division of Wildlife, the cat was put down. The mountain lion was not believed to be suffering from a communicable illness. It was mangy, malnourished and had sores over its body. The Carbondale Police say the cat could have been hit by car. The department reminds motorists that if they hit an animal in an accident, they should notify their local police.

After Q&A Session, Aspen City Council Considering Hunt’s Proposals

Downtown Aspen developer Mark Hunt will go before City Council tonight to take one of his affordable lodge proposals off the table for at least a month. Hunt will also ask for approval to build the other.

Last week, Hunt held a question-and-answer session and was met with a fairly warm reception on his lodge plans. Tonight, it may be a bit cooler. Some council members are critical of the exceptions Hunt is asking for in order to build the lodge on Cooper Avenue. He is seeking relief from the city of Aspen’s land use code to take parking off site.

At an event held last Thursday at BB’s Kitchen, Aspen resident Basil Falcone asked Hunt about his plans for the 15 buildings he has purchased in downtown Aspen. He was concerned that redevelopment could change the character of town. Afterwards, Falcone suggested that Hunt faces an uphill battle.

“This could be a long put.”

But many attendees came away excited about the lodge proposals. Twenty-something Reuben Sadowsky said he liked Hunt’s plans.

“As like they youngest people at this meeting, we’re really excited about what he’s bringing to the community. We’re excited about a place where we can actually go hang out, when we invite our friends from across the country and globe and the state to come hang out in Aspen they will actually have a place where we can say “you can here instead of my couch.”

Alice Pendelton said she was glad she attended the community meeting.

“From some of the things you read about in the paper, you know, he comes across as a development monster and what not, but he’s really got great intentions, absolutely. And I might even go to city council … to stand behind him because I think what he’s doing is, you know, great.”

Todd Shaver hosted the meeting with Hunt. He said almost 100 people showed up — about twice the amount of attendees he originally expected. Shaver says it shows a strong interest in Hunt’s intentions for Aspen.

“I think it was an opportunity for the public to actually see him and who he is a real person and I think he came across quite well.”

Hunt goes before the Aspen City Council this evening. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the basement of City Hall.

Garfield County Library District Considers a New Gun Policy

Early next month the Board of Directors for the Garfield County Library District will decide whether to adopt a new gun policy. The District is considering outlawing open-carry, or exposed firearms.

The District’s current policy bans guns from its six libraries “except as permitted by law.” Library Executive Director Amelia Shelley says that means people with concealed carry permits and those carrying firearms in plain view, can enter the library.

Shelley says the board will consider leaving the policy as is or banning open-carry, so those with exposed weapons wouldn’t be allowed in.

“I want to just assure people that the libraries are safe but that we also are trying to do our best to make sure that we’re following what the state has set forth are the laws. For us, banning open-carry might be a way to help people feel more comfortable.”

The District’s also trying to avoid potential court trouble. Last year, a library in Windsor, Colorado dodged a lawsuit after an employee unlawfully asked a patron to remove her firearm from the library. The Garfield County Library board will take up the issue at its February 5th meeting at the Carbondale branch.

Colorado Women See Pay Gap Widen

Republican state senators voted last week to disband a commission meant to find ways to bridge the earnings gap between women and men. Now data from the federal government shows that the pay disparity in Colorado is widening.  Women in the state are paid 78 cents for every dollar men make for the same work. That’s down from 84 cents about a decade earlier according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This follows a Republican voted to eliminate the state’s four-year-old Pay Equity Commission.

Compass Colorado is a free-market advocacy group. It supports the decision saying the commission wasn’t effective. Representative Jessie Danielson is a Wheat Ridge Democrat. She introduced legislation to continue the commission’s work.

“This bill is an effort to maintain the status of the commission and really help it to continue to monitor and address the issue of pay inequity across the state.”

So far, supporters of the bill include all the female members of the House Democratic caucus.

Colorado Public Radio contributed to this report.

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