Colorado: Arapahoe County

A House committee Monday night, after hearing hours of emotional testimony, approved a bill that would ban the death penalty in Colorado.

In a more than six-hour hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, families of murder victims along with former prosecutors and others argued for and against HB 1274, which would make life in prison without parole the highest punishment available to prosecutors.

Under the bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, any savings from not trying the expensive cases in court would go to investigating unsolved homicides.

"You can debate the morals (of the death penalty) forever," Weissmann said.

The Colorado Transportation Commission has approved a list of "ready to go" highway projects to be funded with federal stimulus dollars.

Colorado will receive a total of more than $500 million for road, bridge and transit projects statewide. Of that total, the Colorado Department of Transportation will get $317 million for highways and $12.5 million for transit projects in rural areas.

CDOT must have at least 50 percent of its stimulus money for highways committed to projects within 120 days. The remaining money must be allocated to projects within one year.

The following is a list of highway projects to be funded with stimulus dollars by region (a map of the regions can be found online at: http://www.

Outgoing U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar has suggested the names of nine Colorado lawyers to his replacement and Sen. Mark Udall as possible nominees for federal judgeships.

Salazar, who is set to become Interior secretary in Barack Obama's administration, chose to suggest the names to Udall and incoming senator Michael Bennet rather than forwarding them to Obama as recommendations from a still-sitting senator.

"Over the last 30 years, the U.S. District Court has often been plagued with vacancies that have prevented the court from functioning at its full capacity," Salazar said in a statement released by his office. "I hope that our work over the last four years to identify highly qualified candidates to fill judicial vacancies will be of help to Sen.

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Both Republican and Democratic officials agree the Denver suburbs will be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the Nov. 4 general election.

But while Republicans see the south suburbs as the key battleground, Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak is looking to the western and eastern suburbs.

"I think if you start talking about swing counties, I think you keep looking at Jefferson County and Arapahoe County," Waak said Saturday at a coffee shop in Colorado Springs.