Today is Feb. 7, 2024, and here’s what you need to know:

Poll: Trump closes gap in Colorado, though he still lags Biden

With Donald Trump all but certain to become the Republican nominee, a recent poll shows he has closed some of the gap against President Joe Biden in Colorado since losing the state by double digits four years ago.

But the Republican still lags behind Biden by a margin well outside of the poll’s margin of error.

In a head to head matchup between Biden and Trump, the Democrat wins 47% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 40%, according to the annual Colorado Political Climate Survey.

In 2020, the Colorado Political Climate Survey painted a different picture, with Biden winning 47% of the vote and Trump finishing with $37%.

Funeral services announced for former state Sen. Keith King, and some memories from those who served with him

Services for former Sen. Keith King, who died Saturday, Feb. 3, at age 75, in Colorado Springs, have been announced.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Radiant Church, 4020 Maizeland Rd., Colorado Springs. His funeral will begin at 10 a.m. in the same location.

Gov. Jared Polis has ordered flags lowered to half-staff until the day of King’s funeral service.

King was known as a champion for school choice. He served eight years in the House, including as Majority Leader in 2003-04; and four years in the Senate, from 2009 to 2013. He followed that with a term on the Colorado Springs City Council, including as president.

Former DA George Brauchler throws hat in Republican primary for Colorado's new judicial district

Parker Republican George Brauchler, the former district attorney for Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, announced on Monday he wants his old job back, kind of.

After facing term limits three years ago as the top prosecutor in the state’s largest judicial district — covering Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties — Brauchler is vying to become the inaugural district attorney from the new judicial district that will be created at the beginning of next year, when the old 18th district splits in two.

Brauchler is running for the 23rd Judicial District, the state’s first new judicial district in 60 years, which will encompass Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, while Arapahoe County will have the old 18th district to itself.

Denver council approves contract for up to $25M to house immigrants

A roughly $400,000 contract to provide shelter for newly-arrived immigrants in Denver has now ballooned to up to $25 million, another sign of the crisis that has placed the city under tremendous fiscal strain within the past year.

Under the contract that the Denver City Council approved on Monday, Denver guarantees to spend at least $23.4 million between the beginning of 2023 and June 30, 2024, and perhaps up to $25 million.

The contract with Colorado Hospitality Services will pay for hotel units for immigrants arriving in Denver after illegally crossing the country’s southern border.

How Colorado became the focal point of 14th Amendment efforts to disqualify Trump from the ballot

The extraordinary Colorado election case now headed for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if former President Donald Trump is disqualified from the ballot had its humble beginnings three years ago in the Maryland basement office of a self-proclaimed legal nerd.

It was around New Year’s Day 2021. Constitutional scholar and University of Maryland law school professor Mark Graber was putting the finishing touches on a chapter delving into the then mostly forgotten Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

Just the kind of thing Graber, a historian at heart, loved. The rarely used section had been crafted more than 150 years ago to disqualify former Confederate leaders from holding office because they had engaged in an insurrection.