IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► If anyone fared worse than President Trump from the Comey testimony, it was Sen. John McCain. The Arizona Senator’s rambling, nonsensical questions for Comey were not a good look for the former GOP Presidential candidate. From Chris Cillizza with CNN:

The strangest moment of the nearly three-hour Senate Intelligence Committee hearing featuring testimony from fired FBI Director James Comey came at the very end. And it came courtesy of a somewhat-unlikely source: Arizona Sen. John McCain…

…I’ll admit that I was — and am — as lost as Comey appeared to be as to what McCain was driving at.  The two investigations — Clinton’s decision to establish a private email server and the Russians meddling in the 2016 election — are not the same thing.

► Governor John Hickenlooper has until late Friday afternoon to decide on how he will proceed with a civil asset forfeiture bill passed by the Colorado legislature.

► Sorry about body-slamming you, bro. From NBC News:

Republican Montana Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte on Wednesday apologized to a reporter that he body slammed on the eve of last month’s special election, admitting his conduct was “unprofessional, unacceptable and unlawful.”

“Notwithstanding anyone’s statement to the contrary, you did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you,” Gianforte said in a letter to reporter Ben Jacobs. “I am sorry for what I did and the unwanted notoriety this has created for you. I take full responsibility.”

Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian newspaper accepted the apology. Gianforte also said in the letter dated Wednesday that he will make a $50,000 donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Gianforte won the May 25 special election to take Montana’s single U.S. House of Representatives seat, which was vacated by Ryan Zinke, who was nominated and confirmed as Interior Secretary.

► The Colorado Mills Mall in Lakewood remains closed following last month’s massive hailstorm, but as 9News reports, it’s difficult to find out more information about the status of the mall — and the many hundreds of jobs related to the situation:

The parent company of Colorado Mills Mall in Lakewood is giving the city mayor as much of the cold shoulder as it is giving to Next.

At a study session on Monday night, Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul ended the meeting by lamenting the lack of information he’s getting from the mall’s parent company, Simon Property Group…

…It’s that same lack of information that forced Next to do an open records request with the city of Lakewood to see what Simon Property Group was doing in the weeks after the hailstorm.Colorado Mills owner won’t give many answers, so we looked at their emails

In those emails, we found out there is an HOA-like organization exists that helps determine how Colorado Mills gets rebuilt, at least on the outside.

► President Trump’s proposed federal budget is bad news for rural America — and could create particular problems related to flight connections with smaller communities.

► As with most things surrounding the issue of legal marijuana in Colorado, there’s good news and bad news. From The Cannabist:

A three-judge panel for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Wednesday largely upheld lower courts’ dismissals of several cases seeking to overturn major parts of Colorado’s marijuana laws, including efforts by two neighboring states.

The appeals court panel did, however, reverse a district court decision against a Pueblo-area ranch that sued a neighboring cultivation facility, claiming noxious odors and diminished property values. In remanding that case to district court, the judges left the door open for something that legal experts and case attorneys say could rattle the legal marijuana industry: that private-property owners could potentially bring federal racketeering claims against neighboring marijuana grows and dispensaries.

► Sage grouse!

► President Trump formally nominated Denver judge Allison Eid as the replacement for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

► CBS Denver reports on Sen. Cory Gardner’s recent dinner meeting with President Trump at the White House. These are not particularly happy times for Gardner.

► Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback may go down as one of the worst state leaders in modern U.S. history…but he refuses to admit that his boneheaded fiscal ideas were a bad idea.

► Republican state Rep. Paul Lundeen will run for the open State Senate seat in Colorado Springs. Senator Kent Lambert (SD-9) is term-limited in 2018.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Unemployed? At least you live in Colorado, reports the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

► The Denver City Council has advanced a proposed tax measure aimed at expanding the Colorado Convention Center.

ICYMI

► House Speaker Paul Ryan demonstrates how NOT to respond to the Comey hearings.

Click here for The Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!