Editor’s Note: Since this post was published, Hickenlooper also announced he’ll stump Saturday with Jeanne Nicholson in SD-16 and Sara Gagliardi in HD-27. These races and Rice’s are hotly contested. See Hickenlooper’s Saturday schedule below.

STATE BILL COLORADO

Colorado gubernatorial frontrunner John Hickenlooper will test out the length of his coattails Saturday by making a public appearance with incumbent Rep. Joe Rice in Littleton’s House District 38.

Rice, a colonel in the Army Reserves, is a Democrat who has twice been elected in the majority Republican district. As anti-incumbent fervor takes hold in this election year, his rival, Kathleen Conti, a Republican, may be a bigger threat, despite her political inexperience. (She is a businesswoman.)

The Rice campaign sent out the Facebook notices below.

Time
Saturday, October 2 · 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Location Merle’s Restaurant
2609 West Main Street
Littleton, CO
Created By
Joe Rice, Ryan Collins, House MajorityProjectShow all (12)
More Info Please join John Hickenlooper, Candidate for Governor, and State Representative Joe Rice for an afternoon reception in Historic Downtown Littleton.

Hickenlooper and Rice will mingle with the crowd and make brief comments to the group regarding their respective campaigns and issues of importance to Colorado, Arapahoe County, and the business community.

This will be a fun and informal event. Everyone is is invited! Appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks provided. Cash bar.

Subject: Important Note on Hick & Joe this Saturday
START THE DAY BY VOLUNTEERING!

Before the reception with Hick & Joe, please come help them out by going door-to-door in House District 38 this Saturday. We only have this weekend and next weekend before voters receive mail ballots (Oct. 12), so it’s absolutely critical that we get our message out to as many voters as possible right away. Especially since we all know Joe’s race will be a close one. Can you help us out?

*** Rice/Hickenlooper Door-to-Door ***

THIS SATURDAY, October 2nd from 11am-3pm

Meet at Joe’s campaign office
1500 W. Littleton Blvd
Littleton, CO 80120
(in the Woodlawn Shopping Center next to Family Dollar)

I’ll have all the materials ready – you just need to show up.

Thanks very much – hope you can make one or both of our activities on Saturday!

Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010

7:30 a.m. – John will join Jeanne Nicholson, candidate for state Senate District 16, and supporters at the Jefferson County Democrats Rise and Shine Breakfast. Location: 6169 Flat Creek Drive in Evergreen.

11:00 a.m. – John will attend state Rep. Sara Gagliardi’s, D-Arvada, town hall meeting focused on career training opportunities. Location: Susan M. Duncan Family YMCA, 6350 Eldridge St. in Arvada.

2:30 p.m. – John will attend the 2nd Annual Oktoberfest hosted by the Douglas County Democrats. Location: Lodo’s Bar and Grill, 8545 S. Quebec St. in Highlands Ranch.

3:30 p.m. – John will join supporters at a post-canvassing reception with state Rep. Joe Rice, D-Arapahoe, and meet with residents to discuss local issues. Location: Merle’s Restaurant, 2609 W. Main St. in Littleton.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

The Clark County school board Wednesday evening chose Colorado education Commissioner Dwight Jones as its next superintendent, formally voting 6-1 to open negotiations with him for the Nevada job.

The only no vote was cast by trustee Linda Young, who said she objected to the speed of the selection process, not necessarily to Jones.

The other candidate was Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas, Texas, schools.

In a statement issued after the vote, Jones said, “I sincerely appreciate this opportunity to work with the Clark County school district to improve student achievement. I am humbled by the choice, knowing the board had another outstanding candidate.

“It is clear to me that Clark County wants what we all want, to ensure that all children have access to inspiring learning environments that set high standards and successfully prepare all students for college or careers.

“I look forward with enthusiasm to working with the educators, school staff and community in Clark County, and I will make the transition to Nevada as soon as I can ensure a smooth exit from Colorado. I am keenly excited about the work and challenges ahead.”

With the Nevada board’s decision, finding a successor will be a top priority for the Colorado State Board of Education, which will have at least two new members after the election in November.

State Board of Education member Randy DeHoff, R-6th District

Board Vice Chair Randy DeHoff, R-6th District, said he and fellow Republican Peggy Littleton have suggested an interim commissioner be appointed until new members take office. DeHoff and Littleton both are leaving the board.

“It’s probably not a surprise, given his record, his reputation,” DeHoff said. “I’m happy for him; we’re certainly going to miss him here.’’

Elaine Gantz Berman, D-1st District, agreed that Jones’ move wasn’t a surprise. “I think we all expected it. He’s star talent.”

She said “the board has had no conversations at all about what happens next.” Berman noted that the next scheduled board meeting is Oct. 6. “We’ll have an executive session next week, and we’ll start the conversation. … I expect the commissioner will recommend an interim commissioner.”

Member Angelika Schroeder, D-2nd District, said, “I know this is what he wanted to do. I do wish him well.” She also said the board hasn’t yet discussed what to do next. (Schroeder is the only SBE incumbent on the ballot this year, facing Republican Kaye Ferry.)

Jones revealed on Sept. 16 that he was a finalist for the job and was in Nevada for two days last week for public meetings and interviews. Clark County board members later visited Dallas and Denver.

The commissioner said previously that he didn’t seek the Las Vegas job but finally agreed to let a search firm submit his name.

Jones, previously superintendent of the Fountain-Fort Carson school district, has made no secret of his interest in someday heading a large urban district.

At the time of the announcement, members of the state board praised Jones’ work and said they supported him interviewing for the Nevada job.

Jones, 48, the state’s education commissioner since June 2007, is widely credited with improving relations between the state Department of Education, local school districts and the Colorado Education Association.

He’s been a central player in education reform efforts over the last three years, including the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, improved data systems, the new method for accrediting school districts, the educator effectiveness law and the ultimately unsuccessful Race to the Top bid.

Jones started career as teacher

Jones began his career in education as a teacher in Junction City, Kansas, before becoming a principal in elementary, middle and high schools and then assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in the Wichita district.

He then became a vice president for the Edison Schools charter network and, in 2004, became assistant superintendent and later superintendent of the Fountain-Fort Carson School District south of Colorado Springs. He was recognized during his three-year tenure in the 7,400-student district for closing achievement gaps.

As commissioner, Jones works with 178 school districts educating 830,000 students.

Retiring Clark County Superintendent Walt Rulffes’ salary is $277,000, down from $307,000 after he took a voluntary 10 percent pay cut in October. Jones’ current pay is $223,860.

According to data on its website, the Clark County School District is the fifth largest in the U.S., with nearly 310,000 students, more than 350 schools, some 38,000 employees and an annual budget of about $2.9 billion.

For years, Clark County has led the nation in student growth and building schools. In 1998, Rulffes, then the district’s CFO, is credited with helping win passage of a $3.5 billion bond issue, one of the nation’s largest.

But enrollment dipped in fall 2009, the first time the district had reported a drop in its student count in 25 years. District leaders blamed the recession.

Changing of the guard in Colorado

No interim Colorado commissioner was named in 2007 when William Moloney left and was succeeded by Jones. After Jones, the senior executives in the department are deputy commissioners Robert Hammond, in charge of finance and administration, and Diana Sirko, who recently joined to department in charge of learning and results.

Speculation about a permanent successor to Jones began swirling as soon as he let his secret out two weeks ago. Names in the air have included outgoing Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien. Three prominent superintendents – Tom Boasberg of Denver, John Barry of Aurora and Mike Miles of Harrison – all have told Education News Colorado that they’re not interested.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien

In departing the state scene, Jones joins Gov. Bill Ritter and O’Brien, both of whom played major roles on education issues during the last four years. They chose not to run for second terms. House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, who played a prominent role in charter school legislation and in passage of the educator effectiveness law, is leaving the legislature because of term limits.

Vegas board notes

Video of the Clark County trustees meeting was streamed live on the Internet, including public testimony from several people, most of whom were critical of the pace of the board’s selection process.

The speaker most critical of Jones was Stephen Augspurger, an official of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-technical Employees.

Augspurger maintained there are “nagging issues relating to his transparency and integrity,” claiming Jones wasn’t fully candid with Clark County trustees when asked whom he’d talked to about the job in Nevada.

Augspurger also argued that Jones wasn’t transparent in handling recent raises for CDE executives. He was referring to a recent KCNC-TV story in which state Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, complained about raises in a time of budget cuts. CDE officials note that Jones had the authority to set the salaries, that raises went to employees who were assigned additional staff members to supervise and that two assistant commissioner positions weren’t filled, yielding net payroll savings.

Responding to the various public comments, Clark County trustees were polite but made it clear they disagreed.

Archived video of the meeting wasn’t available late Wednesday, but you can watch video of the board’s Sept. 23 interviews with the finalists here.

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By Greg Campbell, FACE THE STATE

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is helping the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office track down the person or persons behind a cyber attack that took out Larimer County’s Web site last week.

On Thursday, the county was hit with a “distributed denial of service” attack, or DDOS, on its computer servers, resulting in Internet service disruption throughout the county’s system.

Steve Schneider, the county’s infrastructure group manager, said IT staff had blocked the malicious traffic by noon on Friday and Internet response is back to normal. Eloise Campanella, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said information identified as part of the attack shows that it was specifically aimed at the Larimer County site.

Typically, a distributed denial of service attack utilizes multiple sources to flood a computer server’s ability to respond to information requests, rendering the target site temporarily—or sometimes permanently—paralyzed and ineffective. A common DDOS attack uses an army of compromised computers (known in hacker lingo as “botnets”) that have been infected with Trojan horse malware coordinated to launch their attack on a specific date and time.

“DDOS attacks have the potential to significantly disrupt the county’s ability to provide services to our citizens. We take this very seriously,” Schneider wrote in an e-mail. “The county’s IT department has strong security measures and systems in place to protect its IT infrastructure and data. We also have skilled staff who are trained to monitor, deter and react to any external threats.”

Campanella said the investigation involves, in part, a forensic computer investigator from the Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents. The agency maintains a specialized cyber-crime division at each of its 56 field offices, including in Denver.

Earlier this year, computer hackers hit the Colorado Secretary of State’s campaign finance Web site as well as the City and County of Denver site in May.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

The discussion about how much tuition Colorado college students will pay next fall kicks off in earnest on Friday, the deadline for state colleges and universities to submit tuition flexibility plans to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

A new state law allows colleges to raise resident undergraduate tuition as much as 9 percent a year for each of the next five school years. And, institutions that want larger increases can request permission to do so from CCHE. (Prior to the law the legislature set tuition increase caps every spring when it prepared the annual state budget bill. See background story on the new law.)

It’s such requests that are due Friday, setting off two months of analysis and discussion by Department of Higher Education and college officials, followed by CCHE decisions no later than its Dec. 2 meeting.

Colleges can’t request just the power to raise tuition more than 9 percent – they have to submit five-year plans detailing the proposed increases and how they propose to maintain accessibility and affordability for low- and middle-income students, control student debt, address the needs of under-served students and maintain academic quality. (See DHE template for the applications.)

Department of Higher Education Director Rico Munn

Rico Munn, director of the department, briefed reporters on the process Wednesday, saying it’s “brand new for all of us” and predicting the department and the colleges will learn a lot as they do this for the first time.

“We don’t know if they [applications] will be two pages or 300 pages,” Munn said, joking that “We expect plans will come in at about 4:58 p.m.” on Friday.

Munn and other department officials cautioned that tuition proposals in the flexibility requests won’t necessarily turn out to be the rates approved by college boards next spring. “The numbers that are put out in these plans … may not be the actual tuition,” Munn said. “We expect a lot of changes to submissions as we go along.”

The director said he doesn’t know how many colleges will apply but noted, “nobody definitely has said no.” He added, “I promise you we’re geared up for this. We’re planning for the maximum number.” (The state system has 10 governing boards, the bodies that set tuition.)

College leaders have kept their plans close to their vests, and no requests had been filed as of Wednesday.

There’s been some tension between the colleges and the department over the schedule for the flexibility plans, with some campus leaders feeling the Oct. 1 deadline was too early, particularly since they won’t know until at least April exactly how much state tax money will be available for higher education. A lower level of state support creates pressure for larger tuition increases.

Because of that budget uncertainty, some colleges have talked about filing “contingent” plans containing multiple proposals based on different levels of state support. Munn said, “I hope the plans have a variety of assumptions.”

Colleges have to file plans by Friday in order to be eligible for tuition flexibility next school year, but the plans can be amended in the spring, based on updated budget prospects, Munn said.

He also said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if other institutions propose plans similar to a program announced by CSU last June, which increases financial aid for many lower- and middle-income students to offset rising tuition.

A committee of department staff members will review each request and pass it along to a subcommittee of the CCHE, which in turn will make recommendations to the full commission. The new flexibility law allows institutions to appeal CCHE decisions.

Colorado’s colleges and universities

The state system includes 25 colleges but only the 10 governing boards with tuition-setting authority.

Adams, Fort Lewis, Metropolitan, Mesa and Western state colleges have individual boards, as do the School of Mines and the University of Northern Colorado. The University of Colorado has three units, Colorado State University has two campuses plus an online unit and the Community College System includes 13 institutions.

Two other community colleges, Aims and Colorado Mountain, and three technical colleges also receive some state funding under different formulas and are not covered by the new tuition law.

Virtually all state campuses increased resident undergraduate tuition 9 percent for the current school year.

Colleges and universities are free to set whatever tuition they like for out-of-state undergraduates and for all graduate students.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

Congressman Jared Polis has introduced a $1.35 billion piece of legislation to extend the controversial Race to the Top federal education grant competition that Colorado leaders said was “flawed” and “frustrating.”

Even Democrats like Gov. Bill Ritter, who had backed the competition, criticized the program after Colorado lost out in two rounds of the competition.

State leaders conformed in just about every way to align Colorado with federal guidelines to better position the state to win the competition. State lawmakers passed some of the toughest teacher tenure reform legislation in the country, the state Board of Education adopted national academic standards, and campaigns were run to bring unions on board with the state’s application.

But despite the state’s best efforts, Colorado was denied a $377 million proposal in round one, and a $175 million proposal in round two.

Following the August decision on round two winners, Ritter lashed out at the program for its judging process, arguing that it was “flawed.” There was a 100-point variance between the scores of the three most favorable judges and the two least favorable judges.

But Polis, D-Boulder, who has introduced the extension proposal with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said yesterday in a statement that there are no losers in the program, despite Colorado losing the competition not once, but twice.

“The biggest winners are America’s children, especially the millions of underserved students who suffer unacceptable achievement gaps,” he said.

In a follow-up interview with the Denver Daily News, Polis said his legislation addresses possible flaws in the judging system by increasing transparency of the scoring process. The secretary of education would be charged with ensuring that the evaluation of applications is transparent and objective, as opposed to being conducted solely behind closed doors.

“We provide a new level of transparency for the judging and evaluation process in response to Colorado’s experience,” said Polis. “We were able to learn a lot from these last two rounds to ensure that future rounds are more transparent and fair.”

The $1.35 billion would begin funding the extension in 2011 and last over five years.

Republicans had fought Colorado’s participation in the contest from the beginning. They believed that Democrats in Colorado were pandering to unions in order to get them to sign on to the competition. Republicans believed that Democrats wanted unions on board because that would look favorably to the Democratic Obama administration.

Republicans were also concerned that participation in the program would take away state rights and make Colorado servants to federal education standards, rules and guidelines.

But Polis yesterday aimed to debunk those concerns.

“There’s no federal control of any of these processes, this is about proposals that communities and school districts engage in É” said the congressman. “The federal government is never in any type of driving position with regard to any type of decision-making through this Race to the Top process.”

Polis added that the competition itself inspires education reform by compelling states to tackle the issue. States enacted more education reform legislation in 18 months than they had in the previous eight years, according to a joint news release from Polis, Lieberman and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

“There’s no doubt that Colorado’s students are enormous winners from the second round of Race to the Top because we’ve improved our standards, improved our teacher evaluations, and really raised the bar on student achievement,” said Polis. “So, the money at the federal level is a tool to encourage the right kind of reforms to help students achieve and succeed.”

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWs

Law enforcement officials today will begin collecting DNA samples from suspects arrested for felony offenses in an attempt to crack cold cases.

The controversial so-called Katie’s Law will take full effect today, over a year after Gov. Bill Ritter signed the bill into law. The first half of the law took effect on July 1, 2009 when the state established a fund to pay for the program.

A news conference will be held in Colorado Springs today at the Colorado Springs Police Department headquarters to celebrate the full implementation of the law. A tour of the on-site DNA crime lab there is scheduled.

Katie’s Law allows police to take DNA samples from suspects arrested for rape, burglary and other felonies. Current law only allows police to take DNA samples from convicted felons.

The law is named for 22-year-old New Mexico murder victim Katie Sepich. Supporters say the measure will help prevent lives from being lost and keep the innocent from being wrongly prosecuted by expanding the state’s DNA database.

“DNA is a powerful tool for law enforcement,” said Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, co-sponsor of the legislation. “This law will save lives, prevent crime and ensure that criminals are brought to justice.”

Opponents, however, say the bill is an “assault” on the Fourth Amendment. The ACLU of Colorado led an active campaign in 2009 to oppose the measure and convince lawmakers not to back the proposal. But with bipartisan support, the bill passed the Legislature.

Critics say it is wrong to take DNA from a suspect who is presumed innocent. Figures were presented last year indicating that nearly 25,000 innocent people will be added to the state’s DNA database every year.

The law allows police to use “reasonable force if necessary” to collect the DNA.

If a suspect is not formally charged within 90 days, they have the right to ask for their DNA to be removed from the database. The state will need to pay $25,000 to anyone who does not have their DNA removed from the database upon request.

The law is paid for through a fund that stems from a $5 surcharge paid by criminal offenders.

Morse, a former police chief, said lessons should be learned from cases such as that of Katie Sepich.

“Katie’s story demonstrates how DNA can be used to find and convict violent criminals,” said Morse. “As a police chief I witnessed how horrific crimes can go unpunished when we couldn’t identify the perpetrator. I’m proud to have my name on this law that allows police to bring justice to victims and their families.”

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STATE BILL COLORADO

Please join State Bill Colorado for a free training to refresh your skills, get your questions answered, and learn about State Bill’s newest features.

There’s a seminar at 2 p.m. today at The Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm Place. E-mail meg@circuitmedia.com to let us know you’re coming.

State Bill will hit the road in mid-October; we’re going to Aurora, Boulder, Castle Rock and Littleton. More seminars will take place in November.

We’ve made improvements specifically for iPad and other tablet computers, as well as enhanced some of our other services (like our new Virtual Bill Box). Other changes are on the way and you can help drive those changes by sharing your ideas and suggestions at these seminars. These seminars are open to the public, so please come join us.

Event Details
When: (choose one of the following to attend)
Tuesday, October 12 at the Aurora Sentinel Office from 9 to 11 a.m.
Wednesday, October 13 at the Boulder Public Library from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 14 at the Castle Rock Public Library from 2 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday, October 20 at the Littleton Bemis Public Library from 2 to 4 p.m.
For more Information or to RSVP: Meg Satrom (meg@circuitmedia.com, 303.292.1212)

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STATE BILL COLORADO

Bill Ritter, who is entering his last three months as Colorado’s governor, announced today that he and several other state leaders and economic-development officials will visit Finland and Denmark, in part to seek new clean-tech investments.

Several Colorado companies and organizations also will be in Denmark and Finland at the same time as Gov. Ritter, including Tendril, Spirae, Schneider Electric, Smart Synch, Power Tagging Technologies, Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, Colorado State University, the City of Fort Collins, and Hogan Lovells, Ritter’s former law firm.

The governor’s full statement is published below.

GOV. RITTER TO VISIT VESTAS, PROMOTE COLORADO IN NORDIC REGION

Gov. Bill Ritter embarks on an economic development mission to Denmark and Finland this week to promote Colorado clean-tech companies, seek new investments into Colorado and visit the world headquarters of Vestas Wind Systems.

“In this tough economy, with countries around the globe continuing to struggle, Colorado’s New Energy Economy remains a powerful engine that is helping to drive our state forward,” Gov. Ritter said. “Through this Nordic visit, we hope to raise the profile of Colorado’s New Energy Economy on the world stage, encourage investment in the state and support Colorado’s clean-tech exporters.”

Joined by Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. Executive Vice President Tom Clark, Gov. Ritter will be meeting with European and Nordic companies interested in investing and expanding into the United States, while also promoting and building relationships for existing Colorado clean-tech companies. Gov. Ritter will be in Denmark and Finland from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4.

Clean energy and clean-tech have been bright spots in Colorado’s economic recovery. The state now has the fourth-highest concentration of clean-energy workers in America and is home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Local economist Pattie Silverstein said last week renewable energy is one of the few sectors that has continued to grow in Colorado throughout the recession.

One reason for Colorado’s New Energy Economy success is Denmark-based Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, which has made Colorado its North American production hub. The Governor will tour Vestas while in Denmark and thank executives for investing $1 billion in Colorado’s economy. The company is building four production plants and a research-and-development center in Colorado with a combined workforce of 2,500 employees.

“Colorado has done an exceptional job in building a clean energy economy that supports business development and growth opportunities for companies such as Vestas,” said Martha Wyrsch, president of Vestas-American Wind Technology Inc. “We located our factories in Colorado and are actively hiring in the state because we believe in Colorado’s vision. We are grateful for Gov. Ritter’s leadership and look forward to his visit to our corporate headquarters in Denmark.”

In addition to meeting with business leaders in Denmark and Finland, Gov. Ritter will take part in several events spotlighting Colorado’s clean-tech sector, including keynote addresses at the International Cleantech Cluster and World Climate Solutions conferences.

“From my first day in office, whether the economy was good or bad, I have been focused on creating jobs and strengthening Colorado’s economy,” Gov. Ritter said. “Marketing our state is one of the key functions of a Governor.”

Gov. Ritter has participated in several international economic-development missions, including outreach efforts in Israel, Spain, China, Japan and Canada.

“A mile above sea level, Colorado is one of the most significant states with regard to clean-tech investment and job-creation,” said Clark of the Metro Denver EDC. “With the great brainpower based here with NREL, leading research universities and a tech-savvy workforce, we really are the only state that’s able to produce innovative clean-tech ideas out of thin air.”

Several Colorado companies and organizations also will be in Denmark and Finland at the same time as Gov. Ritter, including Tendril, Spirae, Schneider Electric, Smart Synch, Power Tagging Technologies, Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, Colorado State University, the City of Fort Collins, and Hogan Lovells.

Gov. Ritter will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Colorado and Schneider Electric regarding electric vehicles and energy performance contracting. Schneider is based in France with operations worldwide, including an emerging market in Colorado.

Gov. Ritter also will preside over the signing of an MOU between the Danish city of Kalunborg and Spirae, a Fort Collins-based smart-grid technology company, to support Kalunborg’s Smart Grid and Smart City development activities.

In addition, Gov. Ritter will meet with U.S. Ambassador to Finland Bruce Oreck, executives of clean-tech companies, and with high-level European Union officials, including the EU Commissioner for climate action.

Also joining Gov. Ritter and Clark as part of the Colorado delegation: Tom Plant, director of the Governor’s Energy Office; Sandi Moilenan from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade; and Alice Madden, the Governor’s deputy chief of staff and climate change adviser.

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By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO

The Denver filmmaker who did a much-praised history of Denver’s Union Station next will tackle the history of Colorado’s Capitol.

Havey Productions’ Jim Havey, working in partnership with Historic Denver Inc., recently received a $50,000 state Historical Fund grant to do a 30-minute film on the golden-domed building, which was constructed in the late 1800s. The fund’s money comes from taxes on state gaming revenues.

“It’s a documentary, a half hour, on the history of the state capitol building,” Havey said. “This is not a film about the dome. It’s about the history of Colorado as reflected in our state capitol. The early legislatures went to great pains to make sure the whole state was represented in the art and architecture. That’s what our story is going to bring out.”

Havey referenced the dome because it is set to undergo a $12 million restoration project beginning later this year that will have it covered in scaffolding for the time being. The dome project will require Havey to begin filming immediately to get the “glamor shots” of the dome before the restoration begins.

Nevertheless, Havey’s company is working closely with Colorado Preservation Inc., the nonprofit that’s heading up the dome project. “We want to help them with their effort,” Havey said. The $50,000 grant will be matched in part with donations from Colorado Preservation Inc. and other grant-makers; the film’s total cost will be $100,000, he said.

The documentary is expected to premiere in early 2012.

The Havey film was discussed at the Sept. 17 meeting of Colorado’s Capitol Building Advisory Committee.

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The Colorado Education Association may be the 800-pound education group in Colorado politics, but that doesn’t mean other interest groups aren’t trying to weigh in on 2010 legislative races, Education News Colorado reports.

To get a sense for who’s supporting whom, Education News Colorado reviewed legislative candidate contributions by the CEA-affiliated Public Education Committee and the AFT Colorado Federation of Teachers, School, Health and Public Employees Small Donor Committee, along with endorsements or contributions by three other groups.

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