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Denver considers $1M contract with Denver Health for homeless response
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coloradopolitics.com, Local

Denver considers $1M contract with Denver Health for homeless response

By Noah Festenstein | Colorado Politics, via Denver Gazette The Denver City Council on Monday will consider a $1 million contract to better utilize the city’s hospital system for homeless response efforts. If approved on second reading Monday, Denver Health will receive $990,900 from the city to become more involved with homeless response efforts and Roads to Recovery until at least Sept. 30, 2026. The money is planned to “support and strengthen existing internal infrastructure focused on partnerships with Denver homelessness resolution partners and the Roads to Recovery project to better align housing and health supports for some of the most at-risk persons experiencing homelessness,” city officials said in the council’s resolution request. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLI...
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Huerfano County discovers ballot scanning error stemming from vendor
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Fox21, Local

Huerfano County discovers ballot scanning error stemming from vendor

By Norishka Pachot | Fox 21 News The Huerfano County Government announced on Monday, Oct. 28 it discovered an error in some ballots that resulted in a scanning issue. Huerfano County said via Facebook the error came from the vendor, Fort Orange Press. They further explained some of the ballots received in the mail had damaged timing marks, causing a scanning issue. According to the County, the issue was detected recently and there is a process in place to ensure every ballot is scanned and every vote is counted, reiterating every ballot returned is being processed. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 21 NEWS
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Why Western Colorado stands opposed to the Dolores River National Monument
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Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Why Western Colorado stands opposed to the Dolores River National Monument

By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice On Saturday in Nucla, Colo., hunters emerged from the wilderness. They paused from their morning hunt and headed to the town park in camouflage, joining with neighbors and locals to meet candidates for election. At the heart of this gathering was a shared concern: the proposal to designate the nearby Dolores River as a national monument. Environmentalists praise its potential for conservation. But, it has sparked a fierce debate in Nucla.  Sean Pond, a Navy veteran and former nuclear engineer, leads the opposition through Halt the Dolores. Pond has criticized news media for ignoring those who would be most impacted by the Dolores Monument designation. He expressed gratitude to Rocky Mountain Voice for responding to the chall...
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Denver’s mayor ‘factually incorrect’ as he argued for sales tax hike, state senator says
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Denverite, Local

Denver’s mayor ‘factually incorrect’ as he argued for sales tax hike, state senator says

By Andrew Kenney | Denverite Mayor Mike Johnston recently faced a tough question about his proposal to pay for affordable housing by raising taxes, and he appeared to get a significant fact wrong when he gave the answer. The question was about Ballot Measure 2R, which would collect about $100 million a year by raising local sales taxes. Paul Karolyi, a host of the City Cast Denver podcast, asked Johnston in an interview why he wanted to increase sales taxes. Sales taxes are regressive, meaning they have a greater proportional impact on lower-income people. Karolyi asked why the measure didn’t tax property owners instead. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVERITE
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How three fraudulent ballots got through the mail-in voting process in Mesa County
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Local, The Business Times

How three fraudulent ballots got through the mail-in voting process in Mesa County

By Craig Hall and Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times Even with several tiers of signature auditing in place, the sheer volume of votes in process leaves Colorado’s system open to fraud and mistakes while putting the onus on individuals. According to Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross, the 12 fraudulent ballots under current investigation were all set aside for the envelope signatures not matching by the automated equipment used by the county. “And while that’s all part of the process, the factis our equipment sets aside about 50% of early ballot envelopes due to signatures not matching. Unless it’s an exact, or almost exact, match, the equipment kicks the envelope out,” said Gross, “And not all counties in Colorado even have the automated equipmentneeded for the first step in the autho...
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Aurora police e-mails reveal internal conflicts, political concerns with Tren De Aragua
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coloradopolitics.com, Local

Aurora police e-mails reveal internal conflicts, political concerns with Tren De Aragua

By Nicole C. Brambila | Colorado Politics Aurora officials knew, or strongly suspected, for much longer than previously disclosed that the Venezuelan gang operating in their city was much larger than a handful of members at a single apartment complex, according to emails obtained by The Denver Gazette. Authenticated by city officials, the cache represented more than two dozen internal Aurora Police Department emails dating back to Sept. 11, 2023. This is nearly a year before it was publicly known that the Venezuelan prison gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA) was operating in the Denver metro area and before city officials shuttered an apartment complex. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Senate District 16 Showdown: Robyn Carnes vs. Chris Kolker
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Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Senate District 16 Showdown: Robyn Carnes vs. Chris Kolker

By Heidi Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice In the race for Colorado’s Senate District 16, which represents Denver’s western suburbs, residents have a choice between incumbent Democratic Sen. Chris Kolker or Republican challenger Robyn Carnes. Each candidate brings a unique perspective, but they differ sharply in approach and priorities. Carnes, a Centennial City Council member and business leader, aims to tackle affordability, housing and public safety with a fresh and service-oriented mindset. Kolker, elected in 2021, seeks to continue his legislative work, but may face scrutiny over his effectiveness on core issues like cost of living, housing and his approach to public safety. Carnes brings a wealth of community-oriented experience, serving as a Centennial City Council member and a...
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Denver may ease needle exchange restrictions near schools and day cares
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Local, Newsmax

Denver may ease needle exchange restrictions near schools and day cares

By David Heitz | Newsbreak The Denver City Council may remove some restrictions on needle exchange centers. The Budget and Policy Committee of the council will consider an ordinance next week that would remove the 1,000-foot buffer requirement for needle exchange centers from schools and day care centers. It also would eliminate a rule that only three needle exchange centers to operate in the county. “These restrictions have no public health or public safety benefit,” according to a presentation by city staff to the committee. State lawmakers already removed a requirement that local boards of health grant permits for the needle exchanges, the presentation states. Council members Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzales Guttierez sponsored the ordinance. They say the changes are ...
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Return to Nature owners plead guilty to wire fraud charge at federal court hearing
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coloradopolitics.com, Local

Return to Nature owners plead guilty to wire fraud charge at federal court hearing

By Zachary Dupont | Colorado Politics, via The Gazette Return to Nature Funeral Home owners Jon and Carie Hallford appeared in federal court on Thursday to accept a plea deal, which could land the couple in prison for up to 15 years.  In September, Jon and Carie Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home, filed a notice of disposition and a motion requesting a change of plea on the 15 counts of wire fraud the pair face in federal court.  The funeral home, about 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, came under a multi-agency investigation in October after reports of a complaint about a foul odor in the area. Investigators said they found nearly 190 bodies in various states of decomposition that were not properly stored. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO...
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Report: Venezuelan TDA gang ‘decided to make Denver their headquarters in the U.S.’
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denvergazette.com, Local

Report: Venezuelan TDA gang ‘decided to make Denver their headquarters in the U.S.’

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette The Venezuelan prison gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA) eyed Denver as its headquarters in the U.S., according to internal communications within the Aurora Police Department. The internal communications were citing federal intelligence reports.    “Intelligence from ICE is that TdA has decided to make Denver their headquarters in the U.S. and will be violent toward anyone who encroaches on their territory,” one police bulletin from October 2023 said. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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