by Sean Bowditch

A few convention notes from Denver...

The Rocky Mountain News reports that, for months, the city of Denver has allowed DNC hosting committee staffers to fuel up their vehicles at city pumps, thus giving them a pass on gas taxes. The Colorado Attorney General indicated that the practice "would seem" illegal. City officials announced yesterday that the freebie would no longer be offered and that the DNC is expected to pay up.

The Denver City Council, at the urging of local law enforcement, has given its initial approval to an ordinance that would make it illegal to carry items such as chains, padlocks, weighted PVC pipes, quick-drying cement, and noxious substances including "feces bombs" during the convention. City councilors took up the measure after police began seeing a sharp increase in internet chatter from groups who hope to disrupt the DNC. The ordinance now goes to the public safety committee for a final vote.

It turns out Denver Police are not buying any high tech weapons for the convention as was speculated by the ACLU of Colorado. They are, however, spending $2 million on "personal protection equipment" and $738,000 on "crowd control equipment". No details are given.

And the qualifications of Andrea Robinson, the DNC's first-ever Director of Sustainability and Greening, have come under some scrutiny. In her official bio, the DNC touts her "more than 25 years in the environmental field". But she's only 38 years-old. When the Rocky Mountain News dug a bit more, they found that she had, in fact, started an environmental non-profit at the age of 13. But that was apparently omitted on her resume. Also omitted was her extensive acting career. From 2001 to 2004, she starred opposite Billy Ray Cyrus in the TV show "Doc". Her most recent gig: portraying a "cyber-lebrity" in a 2007 episode of "CSI: Miami".