I missed the balloon boy saga that apparently took over the cable tv airwaves last week. Not having seen the coverage, I can't quite grasp why there are still 9,497 articles on Google News about it.

Authorities now think it was a hoax and are going to charge the parents with a potpourri of crimes. Coming in after the fact, here's what seem to me to be the salient points: [More..]

As expected by many lawyers, including me, President Obama has nominated Stephanie Villafuerte, a former AUSA, former Denver Chief Deputy D.A. and current Deputy Chief of Staff to Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, to be the U.S. Attorney for Colorado.

I expect her to be confirmed easily and a popular choice. (Her focus as a state prosecutor was on domestic violence and child abuse.) Some background details are here. The other two lawyers up for consideration were:

John Walsh, a white-collar criminal and civil attorney from Hill & Robbins in Denver who previously worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California; and William “Bill” Thiebaut Jr., a district attorney for Pueblo, Colo. who previously served as the Colorado Senate majority leader.

Once again it shows how the U.S. Attorneys' job is a political plum. Villafuerte took a leave of absence from the DA's office to work on Ritter's gubernatorial campaign. She permanently left the DA's office to become his Deputy Chief of Staff. Ritter has been one of Obama's strongest supporters. And so it goes. At least she's up to the task. [More...]

Kristen Parker, the hospital surgical tech infected with Hepatitis C, who stole syringes filled with Fentanyl intended for surgery patients, shot herself up, and then filled her dirty syringes with saline and replaced them on the rack in the OR, exposing thousands of patients to Hepatitis C and infecting at least 16, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Denver, agreeing to a 20 year sentence. Her trial was scheduled to begin Monday.

The plea agreement (which I just read but won't post in its entirety unless the MSM does) states the parties have agreed to a a 20 year sentence under Rule 11 ©(1)(c.) Her guidelines for the counts to which she pleaded guilty were 235 to 293 months. Had she gone to trial on just the counts she pleaded guilty to and lost, she wouldn't have received the 3 points for acceptance of responsibility and her guidelines would have been 324 - 405 months. [More...]

Kent Conrad loves the CBO (see Ezra's bouquets to Conrad.) So I wonder what he says about this (PDF) (via dkos diarist tax problems):

The proposed co-ops had very little effect on the estimates of total enrollment in the exchanges or federal costs because, as they are described in the specifications, they seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country or to noticeably affect federal subsidy payments.

So Conrad's Co-ops do nothing. By design one suspects. See also Sen. Rockefeller's letter to Baucus and Conrad pointing out that Conrad's Co-ops are a sham.

Speaking for me only

Via SaferChoice: In 2007, Denver voters passed a referendum amending a city ordinance so that law enforcement would make marijuana enforcement their lowest priority. In response, Mayor John Hickenlooper appointed a panel to implement the new ordinance.

The Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel recommended today that the fine for marijuana possession be set at $1.

"Upon reviewing the fine schedule, we have noted that a number of offenses carry a $50 fine -- including urinating in public, park curfew, and open container violations -- and others carry even lesser fines, such as disobeying a signal light ($40), light rail violations ($26), and spitting in public ($25)," the Panel wrote in the letter. "We are...requesting that you revise the schedule to reflect the lowest law enforcement priority approved by the voters. "[W]e believe the court should reduce the fine to the absolute minimum allowable, or $1."

If Denver's presiding judge Mary Celeste accepts the recommendation, the $1 fine would be the lowest fine for marijuana possession in the entire nation. The entire letter to Judge Celeste is pasted below.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been cropping up along the Front Range in Colorado. Already established in Basalt and Carbondale, two in Aspen are planning on opening.

Aspen's community development director issued an opinion Wednesday that the zoning code does not prohibit dispensaries just because it doesn't specifically recognize them. He says they should be zoned just like pharmacies.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed anywhere in Aspen that allows an office, the city’s top planning director said Thursday.

...Aspen’s land-use code does not specifically recognize marijuana dispensaries but Chris Bendon, the city’s community development director, said his office examined various zoning definitions and determined the dispensaries should generally be treated like pharmacies.

Bendon's report will now go to the City Council for approval. What's causing this "brave new world"? [More...]

Zach Lahn got a lot of attention yesterday for his question to President Obama in Grand Junction about how private insurance companies could possibly compete against a Government non-profit, and his cocky attitude, shouting out and play to the media.

He failed to disclose he was a staffer for one of Colorado's most right-wing Republicans in the State legislature. (He's taken his Linked-In profile down.) As Colorado Pols says,

It also takes some "chutzpah" to fail to disclose to either the President or to reporters interviewing you afterward that you're a staffer for one of the hardest-right Republicans in the Colorado Senate, Sen. Greg "Obama's Gonna Take Yer Guns" Brophy, wouldn't you say? It's not like that should have disqualified him from asking the question--much like the infamous Brooks Brothers riot of Florida 2000 legend, though, it would have helped explain why he was so, um, "passionate."

[More...]

Wrapping up President Obama's visit to Grand Junction yesterday:

• Photos of the protest signs

• While Obama was at the health care forum, Michelle Obama and their daughters toured High Country Orchards, famous for its peaches, in nearby Palisade. (You can order online, or buy them at Whole Foods and some King Soopers stores.)

• Both the Grand Junction Police Department and Mesa County Sheriff's Office assisted with security for the President's visit. The police department estimates it cost them $3,000 to $5,000 and the Sheriff's office puts its tab around $5,000 to $10,000. Both agencies said it was an honor to assist the Secret Service and will not seek reimbursement from the feds. There were no arrests.

President Obama will be in Grand Junction, CO today to talk about the health care reform bill. Right-wing activists are calling out their troops:

Organizers of what’s now known as a “Hands Off My Health Care” rally are expecting 3,500 to 4,000 people in Lincoln Park at 10 a.m., including tea-party and other activists from the Front Range and Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.

“We are asking everyone to wear a solid red, white or blue shirt, show our patriotism and to contrast the purple shirts worn by SEIU activists,” Nancy Rumelt of Loveland said in an e-mail, referring to the Change for America campaign of the Service Employees International Union.

[More...]

The FBI was busy in Denver today, raiding medical marijuana businesses, but, the U.S. Attorneys' office says they weren't after the pot -- even though they seized it.

FBI has busted an operation run by Russians who they say came up with an elaborate scheme to steal from credit card companies that somehow involves a local medical marijuana business and a local car dealership, according to sources and the U.S. Attorney's office.

Law enforcement officers arrested four people Friday morning across the metro area who were allegedly part of the bank fraud operation. FBI agents also served search warrants at more than a dozen locations, including personal residences, auto dealerships and the medical marijuana business called Alternative Medicine of Southeast Denver (AMSD), a company that is the same building as CannaMed, on Leetsdale Drive in Denver. CannaMed is where people can apply to get medical marijuana.

Four persons of Russian nationality were arrested and charged with bank fraud and making false statements on loan applications. [More...]

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), a first-term Congressman I like very much, held a townhall meeting on health care today outside a King Soopers grocery store in Brighton, CO, which is about 1/2 hour northeast of Denver.

Some of the signs these protesters carry are just nuts. Like, "Jesus is My Single Payer" and "Seniors, Get Your Death Pill here" (photos from Complete Colorado, whose coverage of the event is here.)

To his credit, Rep. Perlmutter actually sat down and listened to folks discuss health care.

Mike Ditto (Progress Now, former online communications director for Mark Udall and many others and former TalkLeft webmaster) had his car vandalized . His twitter feed of the event is here. You Tube video of damage here -- they got almost every panel of the car. Photo's below:

I just got back from the health care event at the Stout St. medical clinic for the homeless, sponsored by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and attended by Colorado Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I got lots of pictures outside and was allowed inside for the press conference. I got right up front with the network camera crews and took lots of video. I also interviewed a 16 year old protester on why he objected to the health care bill. It will take me a while to upload, so check back.

There was no disruption of anything by the protesters. They were outside the clinic. Only 70 people, mostly press, were allowed inside the clinic. When I left at the end of the press conference, the street was empty. They had no effect on what went on inside. A total waste of their time.

Update: Videos and Photos below (all uploaded now.)