ABORTION BAN SHORT ON SIGNATURES
An anti-abortion group did not turn in enough valid signatures to place a 22week abortion ban on Colorado’s November ballot, the secretary of state’s office says.
The group, Due Date Too Late, will now have 15 days to collect more signatures. Because of a Denver judge’s order Thursday in favor of the activists, those 15 days will not begin until after the state’s emergency stay-at-home order is lifted.
The proposed Initiative 120 would make performing an abortion after 22 weeks a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, with an exception if it’s to save the mother’s life. A woman receiving an abortion cannot be punished under the proposed law.
Last month, Due Date Too Late turned in 137,624 signatures. An initial sampling found the group was likely short of the 124,632 valid signatures needed. Line-by-line verification of the signatures was conducted, concluding Friday, and 114,647 signatures were accepted.
“Coloradans have repeatedly rejected abortion bans by landslide margins, so it’s not a surprise that this one failed to gather enough signatures to make the ballot,” said Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt, a Colorado abortion-rights group.
Family missing from Thornton is found crossing border into Mexico. Parents and a toddler missing from Thornton have been found crossing the border into Mexico.
Reported missing Wednesday, the family is “safe and unharmed,” said Matt Barnes, a police spokesman.
Thornton police were notified Friday that Zaiqiao Feng, 48, Liu Nei Li, 40, and their 2-year-old daughter, Anny, were encountered crossing the border south of San Diego, Barnes said.
They have been detained pending questions about their sudden and mysterious departure, which included leaving a 5-year-old child behind in their Thornton home. They failed to tell members of their extended family in the area that they were leaving and why they left suddenly, police said.
On Wednesday night, police serving a search warrant at the home found an illegal marijuana grow.
Thornton investigators are seeking answers to the questions about their disappearance and are working to have the family returned here, Barnes said.
The 5-year-old who was left behind is safe with his extended family.
Roadwork on U.S. 36 on tap between Federal and Pecos. Extensive road work is scheduled to begin Sunday on a 2-mile stretch of U.S. 36 from Federal Boulevard to Pecos Street.
The work will require double lane closures in each direction, with one lane remaining open each way, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Drivers should expect delays.
The work, which will be round-the-clock, begins Sunday afternoon and will run through Friday.