Colorado’s two U.S. Senators are backing the President’s call for a line-item veto to eliminate what he thinks is wasteful spending…The Justice Department says it’s reviewing a request by Colorado and 12 other states looking for the government’s help obtaining supplies of a scarce execution drug…and, a federal judge is hearing arguments on whether to block a prayer luncheon planned at the Air Force Academy Thursday.

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The job of balancing Colorado’s roughly 1.1 billion dollar budget shortfall largely falls on the shoulders of just six lawmakers. This bi-partisan group sits on the powerful joint budget committee that’s charged with writing the budget. Most of the members are new to the committee this year, and for the first time in several years it’s evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Bente Birkeland examines the committee’s large task ahead and the challenges members face.

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With temperatures still hovering around the zero degree mark, energy companies in the region are clearly experiencing in a spike in natural gas consumption…According to a release from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, nearly 50 students at the college are relocating from the UCCS Housing Village to new rooms due to a break in water lines that serve fire sprinklers…Republican Representative Scott Tipton paid a visit to his former colleagues in the Colorado legislature today.

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A blast of arctic air is keeping the temperature below zero in much of Colorado. With the wind, those sub-zero temperatures have felt around -30 in Colorado Springs…and, Senator Mark Udall says legislation making its way through Congress will help create jobs in Colorado and upgrade local airports.

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A winter weather advisory is in effect for much of the listening area, and temperatures are expected to plunge to near record lows tomorrow night…Five faculty members at the Air Force Academy and a religious watchdog group are filing a civil rights suit against the school, saying it’s violating the constitutional separation of church and state…and, farmers and ranchers could be seeing a tax break reinstated on insecticides and other items.

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A bill that aims to ban people from using public assistance money at strip clubs overwhelming cleared a house committee on Thursday. The Democratic sponsor of the bill says it’s a relatively rare occurrence but still a loophole in the law. Bente Birkeland has more from the state capitol.

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The acting commander at Fort Carson says the Army has no current plans to expand a 370-square-mile training site in southeastern Colorado…Republican state lawmakers say a federal judge’s decision to block a Colorado law affecting larger out-of-state, online retailers shows it’s unconstitutional and should be repealed…and, Senator Mark Udall has been appointed to the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, which is responsible for overseeing federal intelligence activities.

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Coloradans are marking Martin Luther King, Jr. day with marches and parades as well as a rodeo…Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is wrapping up his tour of the state in Limon and Loveland today as he talks to local officials, business leaders and residents about his economic plan…Electrical power to Fort Carson has been restored after being cut off this morning when high winds knocked over a utility pole…and, the Air Force Academy says more than $143 million in construction projects are under way at the school despite a 12 percent budget cut expected in the current fiscal year.

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Governor John Hickenlooper says he plans to redefine the role of state government. He outlined his plans during his first state of the state address to the legislature…and, Colorado congressman Mike Coffman wants to furlough federal employees for two weeks and cut senators’ and U.S. representatives’ pay by 10 percent.

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The wreckage of a small plane has been found in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains…Colorado health authorities say they’ll hear from a mine owner this week about how it plans to correct water contamination at a mine near Crested Butte…The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a gray wolf that strayed from the Yellowstone region into Colorado where it died in 2009 was killed by the poison Compound 1080, or sodium fluoroacetate…and, Governor-elect John Hickenlooper plans to present his goals and principles for the next four years during his inaugural tomorrow and his state of the state speech on Thursday.

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