July 08, 2015 11:02 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Wednesday (July 8)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Rockies shortshop Troy Tulowitzki won’t campaign for a final spot in the Major League Baseball All-Star game next week. Let’s Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols! If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Recall petitions have been approved in Jefferson County for an effort to remove three right-wing Board of Education members who have accomplished little aside from angering the community since their election in November 2013. The petition drive for the recall of Ken Witt, Julie Williams, and John Newkirk formally kicks off tonight at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

► A Colorado appeals court heard arguments Tuesday about whether or not bakers have the right to refuse to make cakes for same-sex weddings. From the Denver Business Journal:

Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based Christian legal nonprofit organization representing the cake shop, said a key point in the case is whether an artist should be compelled to create a product for something the artist finds offensive.

Judge Berger quizzed Tedesco about that point. Is it about a cake? Or a fancy wedding cake? Or is the case about same sex marriage?

It’s about being compelled to make a piece of art to celebrate something you don’t believe in, said Tedesco.

Many legal observers have another opinion here: Choosing whether or not to obey the law is not “freedom of expression.”

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► State Senator Morgan Carroll will challenge Rep. Mike Coffman in CD-6. The Cook Political Report quickly re-classified the Aurora district as a “toss-up” for 2016.

► If you had money on “6 days,” it looks like you can collect on your wager. Peter Marcus
of the Durango Herald has more on the same-sex marriage blowback:

Observers wondered how long it would take before some in Colorado would try to erode same-sex marriage, which was recently declared the law of the land by the nation’s high court. The answer: six days.

Two initiatives for the 2016 ballot were proposed July 2, both of which seek to limit same-sex marriages. Gay-rights advocates aren’t surprised. Even as they were celebrating the landmark June 26 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, they were preparing for battles in the wake of the decision.

The first initiative would redefine gay marriage in order to limit it to only a civil union. The second proposal would allow businesses providing wedding services to contract jobs to another business if same-sex marriage violates their principles.

Drafting language for ballot initiatives is harder than it looks. As ThinkProgress notes, these two proposed ballot measures could ultimately have the effect of preventing any marriages in Colorado — straight, gay, or otherwise.

► As the U.S. Army finalizes plans to cut some 40,000 soldiers, officials from Fort Carson near Colorado Springs are waiting to hear about the impact on Colorado’s largest military base.

► It’s probably a good thing that state Senator Ellen Roberts (R-Durango) decided against a run for U.S. Senate in 2016; you shouldn’t run for statewide office with onion-thin skin.

► La Plata County Surveyor Larry Connolly died on Monday of apparent natural causes.

► Congressional Republicans are crowing loudly about opposing President Obama’s nuclear containment agreement with Iran, but they don’t have the votes to do anything about it.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Facts? We don’t need no stinking facts!

► The South Carolina legislature continues to debate whether to remove the Confederate Flag from the State Capitol grounds. The state Senate has approved a plan to remove the flag, though the state House is expected to put up a fight.

ICYMI

► Greek leaders are asking Europe for a new three-year bailout plan.

► Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, one of eight dozen or so Republicans running for President in 2016, works as his own political consultant.

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