The Book Club: Susan Orlean’s “the Library Book” And More Short Reviews From Readers

Colorado ranchers are urging state wildlife officials to define what constitutes a wolf that chronically hunts livestock and to kill or remove a wolf that has killed several cattle in Grand County. A wolf killed or injured seven cattle along the Williams Fork of the Colorado River near Kremmling between April 2 and May 11, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have declined to kill the wolf citing, in part, evidence that the wolf is part of a breeding pair that likely has pups. “If this ain’t chronic depredation, what is?” Conway Farrell, who has lost six cattle to the wolf, asked Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners during an hours-long meeting on wolf control Thursday. Commissioners and agency staff punted the question of defining “chronic depredation” on Thursday and said a newly created committee would weigh in on the definition, but not necessarily make a formal recommendation, said Reid DeWalt, assistant director for CPW’s Aquatic, Terrestrial, and Natural Resources branch. The Colorado Wolf Restoration Temporary Working Group will consist of a hired mediator, four ranchers, four wolf advocates and four representatives from CPW and the state Department of Agriculture.

An open seat in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District has led to open warfare within the state Republican Party. On one side of the GOP primary is Dave Williams, who was elected state party chair last year and now running for Congress. He claims the mantle of the bare-knuckle conservative fighter — and, in doing so, is leveraging the party’s resources to sling invectives at his opponent. On the other is his rival, Jeff Crank, a longtime radio host and vice president with the influential conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, with a comparatively simple pitch: Let’s push the Republican cause forward, without turning the party against itself. Both men have run for the seat before, and both lost to retiring U.

Colorado high school students seem to be feeling better mentally, with the number reporting signs of poor mental health not only falling from its pandemic high, but in some cases hitting the lowest level since the state started surveying youth in 2013, though it also found youth don’t always feel safe in school, and problems with body image are widespread. The Healthy Kids Colorado survey found about 26% of high school students in 2023 reported they felt sad or hopeless enough to stop doing their usual activities over at least two weeks, a possible sign of depression.

Denver Public Schools has revised its discipline matrix, which was criticized after last year’s shooting at East High School, but the district stopped short of making significant changes to its guidance on when students should be expelled or suspended, according to a presentation Superintendent Alex Marrero gave the Board of Education on Thursday. District officials began reviewing the matrix, which is a guide for school administrators to use when deciding how to discipline a student, last year before the East shooting, but did further revisions following the incident.

Two DTC office buildings have sold at a loss — even compared to what they fetched in the 1990s. The neighboring structures at 8350 E. Crescent Parkway and 8390 E. Crescent Parkway in Greenwood Village were purchased last week by Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners and Denver-based Knightbridge Capital. The firms paid $11.85 million for the larger of the two: the 135,000-square-foot building at 8390 E.

Denver voters and elected officials haven’t been timid about setting higher standards for the services and oversight they expect their city to deliver. In mid-2022, the City Council set in motion the launch of a pay-as-you-through trash collection program that also promised expanded compost and recycling pickup. Then, in that fall’s election, voters directed the city to take responsibility for sidewalk repairs and construction citywide — while also passing a mandate that apartment buildings, offices, restaurants, construction sites and special events follow new recycling and composting requirements.