Colorado
Colorado Christian camp sues over new rules on gender identity accommodations
A Colorado Christian camp is suing the State of Colorado over licensing requirements that the camp claims violate its religious beliefs. Camp IdRaHaJe is located south of Evergreen off Highway 285 and has been operating since 1948.
A camp tucked amongst the mountains holds summer memories for Leah Rohwer.
“I actually worked there as a horse wrangler in 2001 over the summer,” said Rohwer
When her two daughters were old enough to go, Camp IdRaHaJe once again became a part of her family’s life.
“They love it,” said Rohwer. “They’ve gone since after the pandemic. They’re set to go this year.”
In less than a month, campers will return to Bailey, Colorado, and kick off the summer at Camp IdRaHaJe, including Rohwer’s two daughters. However, families like hers also wonder what will happen to the future of the camp in the wake of a lawsuit challenging new state licensing guidelines that the camp says do not align with their religious beliefs.
“I fully support the camp in this decision,” said Rohwer.
The new rules, issued by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, outline requirements for camps to allow campers in attendance access to toilets, bathroom facilities, rooms, and other spaces that align with the person’s gender identity.
“This regulation requires it for bunking, for bathing, for changing, for anywhere where they would be separated biologically,” said Rohwer.
The camp resisted those changes and initially asked for an exemption from these new regulations based on the camp’s religious ideologies.
When the state refused to grant this exemption, the camp’s defense team filed a lawsuit against the CDEC.
“Camp is in jeopardy that they’re going to continue operating in what they believe is consistent with freedom of religion and what they should be allowed to do as a religious organization,” said Rohwer.
The executive director of the camp released a statement in response to their lawsuit filed:
Camp IdRaHaJe has faithfully served and ministered to Colorado children of all backgrounds and faiths since 1948 and has successfully maintained its resident camp license since it first received one in 1995. The new policy of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, however, is asking IdRaHaJe to choose between upholding its Biblical beliefs about biological sex and risk losing its license or abandoning its beliefs and mission by forcing girls and boys to shower, dress, and share sleeping quarters with campers of the opposite sex. We are asking the court to allow us to operate consistent with our beliefs and protect our campers from a gender ideology agenda.
ADF Legal Counsel Andrea Dill, representing the camp, also released a statement:
The government has no place telling religious summer camps that it’s ‘lights out’ for upholding their religious beliefs about human sexuality. Camp IdRaHaJe exists to present the truth of the Gospel to children who are building character and lifelong memories. But the Colorado government is putting its dangerous agenda—that is losing popularity across the globe—ahead of its kids. We are urging the court to allow IdRaHaJe to operate as it has for over 75 years: as a Christian summer camp that accepts all campers without fear of being punished for its beliefs.
The CDEC did not respond to a request for comment pending litigation.
For Rohwer, she says the state’s policy is overreaching, especially when it comes to an institution that’s had the same values instilled for nearly 80 years.
“They feel like they’re honoring god in what they’re doing, and I feel like they should do that, to operate in a way that’s consistent with that,” said Rohwer.
Having a family member that is transgendered, Rohwer says she empathizes with children who may identify outside of their biological gender, but she says she does not support a change that forces an organization to change its religious values.
“I have a heart for the kids that feel like they don’t fit in their body,” she said. “I love those kids and I’m not saying anything bad about any of those kids or family members, whoever it might be, but I feel like we shouldn’t stomp on someone’s religious freedom to try and help those folks.
Colorado
Kids escape unscathed after van slips off Colorado mountain road and down Blue River embankment
A van carrying campers from a hike near Blue River rolled down an embankment Thursday afternoon, but everyone inside escaped without major injuries. According to the Keystone Science School, the 15-passenger van was transporting 13 campers and two adults back from Mohawk Lakes when it slid off a wet road and rolled over.
Emergency crews responded to Spruce Creek Road after receiving reports of a single-vehicle rollover.
“We’re fortunate that it was low speed, and there was no intrusion into the passenger cabin,” Matt Benedict, division chief of wildfire and community preparedness for Red, White and Blue Fire said.
Investigators believe muddy conditions created by recent rainfall contributed to the crash. The van rolled down a steep embankment before coming to rest against a tree. Two people suffered minor injuries, but neither required transportation to a hospital, according to fire officials.
Keystone Science School confirmed emergency responders arrived quickly and that no major injuries were reported.
“The safety and well-being of our campers and staff is our highest priority,” Executive Director Eric Rightor said in a statement. “We are grateful that there were no major injuries, and we are committed to fully supporting all those involved and their families.”
Fire officials also credited seatbelt use for helping protect those inside the vehicle. “We always encourage everyone to wear their seatbelts… and they did. And everybody left,” Benedict said.
The Keystone Science School is located in Summit County.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Two weeks have passed since officials closed four blocks of Uintah Street to repair damage under a bridge over Shooks Run Creek, and we’re now learning specifics about the response.
Officials said that the city was the lead entity in the repair response, with Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) providing a supporting role.
The closure began late in the afternoon of June 10 for what officials described as emergency bridge and utility repairs between Prospect and Institute streets, east of the Colorado College campus.
Officials said that on the previous day, a routine bridge inspection by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) discovered a large “void,” or sinkhole, under the bridge that compromised a utility line.
But officials didn’t explain how the void developed or how they repaired it until earlier this week, when Richard Mulledy, the city’s public works director, elaborated on the situation.
“It was about a six-foot by eight-foot void,” he explained. “That void was really caused by an abandoned storm sewer line and then a leaking manhole. It’s something that we see from time to time, but really doesn’t happen often.”
Crews approached the problem from under and above the bridge, with workers excavating into the street to access the utility lines.
“The utility line being compromised was an active storm sewer line,” Mulledy said. “It was sort of hanging out in the open and was unsecured. The old storm sewer line had been abandoned for decades and was starting to fail.”
Crews removed the old stormwater pipe, repaired the manhole, and backfilled the void with a material called “flow.”
“Flow fills almost like a kind of liquid concrete,” Mulledy detailed. “And that’s a really great structural solution. So, we filled that entire thing up, made sure the void is closed, and made sure it’s structurally sound.”
He added that the bridge is around a century old, the same age as most bridges across the creek.
“This was identified and got fixed in 48 hours, rather than let something structural fail, and then we’d be in a big, giant construction project,” Mulledy said. “The structure itself, I don’t think, was ever really threatened.”
The closure ended on Saturday, June 13.
A Colorado man died on Tuesday when a boulder fell on him and crushed him. That’s according to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, who identified the man as 59-year-old Paul Frasch.
Frasch is a resident of Silverthorne. The sheriff’s office says he was walking in an area along the Arkansas River in Buena Vista in the middle of the day with his coworker when rocks fell and hit him.
According to investigators, the boulder that landed on Frasch weighed at least 1,000 pounds.
The coworker received injuries to his arms after trying to help Frasch.
When first responders got to the scene, the boulder was still on top of Frasch. He was declared dead at the scene.
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