Sen. Bennet and Rep. Pettersen hold community town hall at Red Rocks Community College

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A community town hall turned into a lively conversation between elected o cials and constituents about TikTok, immigration and legislative priorities.

Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen answered many questions and heard comments from constituents at their town hall hosted at Red Rocks Community College on April 10.

Pettersen, a member of the freshman class of congress, outlined some of her priorities such as addressing the opioid epidemic, rising costs for families, workforce shortages, gun safety and abortion legislation.

Bennet stressed his commitment to mental health for youth and his support of SB 686, also known as the RESTRICT act. is bill looks to restrict security threats that risk information through technology; the bill itself does not cite any speci c app, but Bennet has been vocal about his disapproval of the Chinese owned TikTok video app. e senator heard multiple comments from attendees about his strong stance against the popular app TikTok, but he maintained that he is concerned about many digital platforms.

“I am deeply worried about what our own national digital platforms are doing to our teenage mental health,” he said.

He went on to say that TikTok is not the only o ender, in his eyes.

“Mark Zuckerberg (owner of Meta) is regulated less than your average business in Je erson County and I think that’s wrong,” he said. e elected o cials heard comments from constituents wondering what they are doing to “secure the southern border,” and both Bennet

Nominations for the 2022 Officer and Citizen of the Year for the Lyle Wohlers’ Law Enforcement Award

Organizers of the annual Lyle Wohlers’ Law Enforcement Luncheon and Awards Ceremony are soliciting nominations for the 2022 Officer and Citizen of the Year. The annual event will be hosted by the Empire and Georgetown Police Departments. Law Enforcement included in this luncheon are Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Department, Colorado State Patrol, Empire Police, Georgetown Police, and Idaho Springs Police which commemorates Colorado State Trooper Lyle Wohlers who was killed in the line of duty near Georgetown in 1992.

An interdepartmental awards committee seeks to identify those officers who serve the citizens and visitors within greater Clear Creek County, and particularly that member of the law enforcement community who has shown exemplary service during 2022. The committee will also select the 2022 Citizen of the Year who supports area law enforcement and public safety or has engaged in an extraordinary feat to safeguard another.

Nominations must be received by 5:00 PM, Monday April 24, 2023. Nomination forms may be found at the following locations: Idaho Springs Police Department, Idaho Springs City Hall, Empire Town Hall, Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Department, Georgetown Town Hall. To request nomination forms, please email nominations@empirecolorado.us or call EPD at 303-569-2281.