State to pay $2M a year to keep gold mine site clean
SUMMITVILLE – The state of Colorado is set to take on the $2 million a year financial burden of a cyanide gold mine that became an environmental disaster.
The Denver Post reports Colorado must pay the $2 million for Summitville Mine, a bill that the EPA has been handling for the last 27 years, starting in 2021 for cleaning a fluctuating flow of up to 2,100 gallons (7.949.1 liters) a minute of toxic water that drains down a once-pristine mountainside.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will use the money to run a $18 million industrial water treatment plant.
The plant houses huge stainless-steel vats of burbling brown sludge. Toxic metals are chemically coaxed and filtered out.
Colorado also must oversee the artificial covering and drainage ditches 1.7 square miles of tundra scarred by open-pit mining.
E&P names Chris Reen Publisher of the Year
Vince Bzdek
vince.bzdek@gazette.com
Updated 6 minutes ago
By The Gazette At the America’s Newspapers conference being held at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs this week, Editor & Publisher Magazine officially named Chris Reen as the 2025 Publisher of the Year. Reen is president and CEO of Clarity...
10th Circuit revives retaliation claim against Jeffco sanitation district
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court on Monday reinstated an attorney’s retaliation claim against her former employer, a special district based in Lakewood, alleging she was fired for statements she made about board members’ malfeasance. Courts have recognized that public employees’...
‘How does that make sense?’ Federal judge demands answers from lawyer on faulty citations
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 6 hours ago
A federal judge aggressively interrogated a lawyer on Monday for her use of flawed citations in a legal filing and her response after it was brought to her attention. “Do you agree with me now that those citations are not...
Dick Cheney dead at 84: One of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in US history
Associated Press, Washington Examiner
associated.press.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 9 hours ago
Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at age 84.Cheney died Monday night due to complications of...
Return to Nature: Judge rejects Carie Hallford’s state plea deal, 2026 trial
Mackenzie Bodell
mackenzie-bodell@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 8 hours ago
Return to Nature owner Carie Hallford is heading to trial next year after an El Paso County judge rejected her state plea agreement Monday, a similar ruling in recent months for her co-defendant, Jon Hallford. Carie and Jon Hallford came...
Colorado Springs receives $2.3 million federal anti-terrorism grant
Brennen Kauffman
brennen-kauffman@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 8 hours ago
For the first time, Colorado Springs has qualified for a federal grant designed to secure high-risk cities against acts of terrorism. The city announced Monday that it had received $2.3 million from the Urban Area Security Initiative grant provided by...
Aurora lawmakers move forward with ordinance to limit ‘predatory’ businesses in underserved communities
Kyla Pearce
kyla.pearce@gazette.com
Updated 8 hours ago
Aurora City Council moved forward with an ordinance that, if passed at a future regular meeting, would address the clustering of “high-risk” businesses in low-income communities. The socioeconomic sales and services impact permit ordinance, proposed by Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, would...
Appeals court orders new trial after Denver judge wrongly let defendant represent self
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
A Denver judge incorrectly found that a defendant understood what he was doing by giving up his constitutional right to counsel, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday in overturning the man’s assault convictions. Criminal defendants are allowed to represent themselves...
Gov. Jared Polis’ plan to privatize Pinnacol Assurance comes with legal questions
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
Gov. Jared Polis recently announced that, as part of his proposed 2026-27 budget, he would allow Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s quasi-public workers’ compensation insurance division, to go private. However, questions on whether it’s possible or legal remain. The Polis administration previously...
Appeals court reverses murder conviction after Denver judge violated public trial right
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s murder conviction on Thursday because a Denver judge violated his constitutional right to a public trial. Due to an unusually large jury pool at Edward R. Sandoval’s 2022 trial, Chief Judge Christopher J. Baumann...
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FBI agent charged in shooting while dancing gets gun back
An FBI agent accused of accidentally dropping and firing his gun while dancing at a Denver nightspot, hitting a bystander in the leg, can carry his work weapon again as he considers a possible plea deal. A judge allowed the change to Chase Bishop’s conditions for release from jail during a short court hearing Tuesday. […]
Colorado Springs City Council gives final approval to creekside camping ban
Countless homeless people across Colorado Springs have two weeks to pick up stakes and move after the City Council gave final approval Tuesday to a crackdown on creekside camping. The deadline comes after the council reaffirmed its decision last month to ban camping within 100 feet of city waterways and concrete drainage canals. The vote, […]