​ On a small stage on the steps of the Capitol this morning, surrounded by more than a hundred local film industry folks, House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino ticked off movies made in Colorado: City Slickers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and one he called "the seminal piece of film work that really talked about the legislature -- Dumb and Dumber." That drew a laugh from the crowd, there to support a bill to increase Colorado's incentives for filmmakers.

More >>

​It's official: 2011 was a record-busting year in the oil industry, with the five largest companies -- BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell -- reporting all-time-high profits of $137 billion. That's a 75 percent jump from the year before, even though the giants produced less oil than in 2010.

It's the multinational way to go in a slumping economy: Get paid more for doing less.

More >>

Boulder City Council.

​Tuesday night, Boulder City Council reduced fines and approved no jail time for first and second convictions on sixty municipal offenses -- an effort to prevent a flood of minor cases (like Occupy Boulder camping tickets) from filling courtrooms.

Some aspects of these changes please the ACLU of Boulder. Others don't.

More >>

​Update: Yesterday, we reported about the rash of skier deaths in Colorado this year -- nine of them by our count.

But after the post went live, we learned about yet another death yesterday, bringing the total to ten.

More >>

Graphic below.

​The Denver Police Department is reporting an early morning homicide on the 3400 block of West 9th Avenue -- and judging by the information the DPD has collected thus far, there's every possibility that it could be ruled justifiable.

After all, the account revolves around a home resident and an intruder, two basic ingredients of Colorado's Make My Day law.

More >>

​Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared unconstitutional California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. But the ruling, on view below, has a distinctly local flavor, since the jurists' argument is largely based on the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent-setting rejection of Amendment 2, a 1992 Colorado measure.

More >>

​For decades researchers have attempted to fathom how the "criminal mind" differs from that of the average citizen. Now it appears there's often one critical physiological difference -- a significant percentage of convicted felons may be suffering from impaired thinking because of banged-up brains.

More >>

Big photos below.

​Durango High student Sydney Spies's protest over her yearbook's rejection of two sexy photos landed her on the Today show. Afterward, Miki Spies, her mom, told us Sydney had submitted a third photo, but that, too, has been nixed in favor of the shot from her school ID card.

As a result, Miki and family plan to file a complaint over the entire matter.

More >>

Big photo below.

​This morning, a colleague texted me to ask if I wanted a lift. Why would I? I've got snow pants, double layer gloves, and a fixed gear bike. 

I ride my bike to work every day, and as with recycling and eating local, there's a certain self-satisfaction that comes with an eco-friendly commute. But on days like this, when the snow nearly closed the office, I'm not just smug, but nearly invisible.

More >>

​A running gag in the classic comedy Raising Arizona is that just about everybody in the vicinity of Tempe is packing heat -- even the pimple-faced kid at the convenience store, who whips out a Dirty Harry special and starts blasting away at stickup man Nicholas Cage. But it's no joke that statehouse Republicans would like to extend the sanctions offered by Colorado's "Make My Day" law to allow citizens to use deadly force to defend their businesses as well as their homes.

More >>