The beginning of a new year also brings the start of a new series of regulations and laws here in Colorado. Colorado Newsline has listed many of them and I’ve highlighted a few here:
- Transparency in event ticket sales: House Bill 24-1378 requires ticket sellers to guarantee refunds should an event be canceled. It also requires sellers to disclose the total cost of a ticket up front and prohibits an event organizer from denying entry to someone who bought a ticket from a reseller.
- Towing regulations: House Bill 24-1051 requires property owners to explicitly authorize non-consent tows and prohibits towing companies from patrolling properties to enforce parking restrictions. It also requires companies to return wrongfully towed vehicles to their original location within 48 hours at no cost to the vehicle owner, among other provisions intended to protect consumers.
- Biological data privacy: House Bill 24-1058 is a first-in-the-nation law that expands the Colorado Privacy Act to include biological data and neural data within the definition of “sensitive data.” Companies must disclose how they use sensitive data. Entities that use biological data for identification purposes will need explicit consent from consumers to use it.
The last one is to protect Coloradoans from wearing something that might be gathering information about the wearer that they have not given permission for. The lawmakers are concerned about advancing technology that might not only collect data, but then maybe influence consumer behavior. I’m not sure if this is happening now, but I like the idea of being proactive and trying to get protections set up before they’re needed rather than after things go wrong.
There are a number of other laws including ones on taxes, on concealed carry, on coroner qualifications and Gig driver protections.
For a complete list of Colorado’s laws, go to the Colorado General Assembly’s website.
From ColoradoPolitics.com: Denver district attorney won't pursue criminal charges over election password breach
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has decided against pursuing criminal charges over the breach in election equipment passwords by the Secretary of State's Office.
McCann said her decision was the result of a seven-week investigation into whether the office of Jena Griswold violated the statutes dealing with the publication of passwords related to a voting system and second degree official misconduct.
…
“After an extensive investigation by prosecutors and investigators in my office, we have concluded that there were no criminal violations of the law regarding the publication of the voting machine passwords,” McCann said.
From Grand Junction: Bail and court date set for man charged with strangling a KKCO/KJCT reporter in bias-related attack.
A sick report of a man ruining his own life by acting out on his hatred of another person’s perceived nationality in this time of Trump.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Patrick Egan, the man arrested after allegedly attacking a KJCT employee, is still behind bars as of Monday.
In a new development today, court officials stated that Egan’s bail has been set at $20,000. He will appear in court on January 2, 2025, at 8:15 a.m.
Egan is facing charges of bias-motivated crimes, 2nd degree assault by strangulation, and harassment by following and ethnic intimidation. Bias-motivated crimes and 2nd degree assault are both felonies. The harassment charge is a misdemeanor.
According to police, Egan followed the reporter for several miles. Upon reaching the station, Egan rushed and tackled the victim and began choking them until he was restrained by several KJCT employees.
From the Grand Junction Police Department on this incident:
Officers with the Grand Junction Police Department responded to a report of an assault in progress call on the 2500 block of Blichmann Avenue on 12/18/24 at approximately 2:20 p.m. Through the course of initial investigation, officers learned a male was driving from Delta to Grand Junction, Colorado, when another driver began following him in another vehicle. In the area of HWY 6 and 50 and 25 Road, the suspect asked the victim for his ID and if he was an American citizen. The suspect followed the victim to the 2500 block of Blichmann Avenue, where he approached the victim, tackled and choked him before several people were able to intervene and restrain the suspect until law enforcement arrived on scene. Patrick Egan (age 39) was taken into custody without further incident. The victim was evaluated on scene.
According to police, the victim was driving from Delta to Grand Junction when Egan began following him.
At a stoplight on Highway 6 and 50 near 25 Road, Egan rolled down his window and shouted at the victim, allegedly saying, “Are you even a U.S. Citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!” according to the arrest affidavit from the incident.
The victim then called the manager of the station who instructed him to drive back to the TV station. When he arrived, Egan again confronted him, asking for the victim’s ID. When the victim ran toward the door, he was tackled by Egan, according to the affidavit. Egan then began to choke the man before other KKCO employees intervened and held Egan until police arrived.
I don’t know what to do in cases like this bias-attack. Does Egan need to undergo psychiatric treatment? Anger management classes don’t (to me) seem like enough to dissuade him or any others from trying this again (I have never had to take an anger management class, so maybe it can drive home how serious and inappropriate his actions were). Does he need to be relieved of his freedums for some period of time? I do believe that Egan needs to be relieved of any weapons he might possess, like a gun, permanently since he appears incapable of controlling himself. I’d appreciate your thoughts below.
Have yourself a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Winter Solstice (ok, that one has passed), Happy Wednesday or whatever you might wish to celebrate at this end of the year. Joe Biden still has over three weeks left in his term.
I look forward to hearing how you are celebrating — my sister is here and we’re planning on eating a delicious dinner Wednesday afternoon, and perhaps going over to the neighbors’ house for desserts after we regain some space in our tummies.
The floor is yours...