Overdose deaths in Denver are climbing again, topping 2024 numbers
DENVER — The number of people overdosing and dying in Denver is up compared to last year. Now, advocates say something needs to change.
After another year of hundreds of people dying of overdoses, those on the front lines are worn out.
“It’s a lot. And you kind of get numb to it a little bit because you see it so much,” said Dr. Sterling McLaren, Interim Chief Medical Examiner for the city and county of Denver.
So far this year, the Denver Medical Examiner’s office reported, nearly 500 people have died from overdoses in Denver.
For more on this story, and others, visit the Denver Gazette’s news partner 9NEWS.
National Western Junior Livestock Auction sets record
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
The 120th National Western Stock Show, which closes Sunday, saw a standing-room only crowd in the CoBank auction arena at the new Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center. Bidders set a record Friday for the top eight livestock – steers, lambs, goats...
Governor’s lobbyists should be banned from the house floor, legislator argues | A LOOK BACK
Rachael Wright
rachael.wright@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 days ago
Forty-Five Years Ago This Week: State Rep. Bob Stephenson, R-Colorado Springs, created an uproar in the chambers of the House of Representatives after he proposed a rule change that would ban the governor’s lobbyists from the House floor during the...
Sundance kicks off in Utah with premieres, emotional tributes to Robert Redford | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 days ago
UTAH Redford hailed at Sundance kick-off PARK CITY — Robert Redford liked to say that everybody has a story. He’s not the only person who said it, but he is one of the few who did something to celebrate it,...
Capitol M: Return to Gold Dome High, 2026 edition, and a salute to old IU
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 days ago
Welcome back, campers! The 2026 legislative session is upon the good citizens of Colorado, and for a few, the first Monday of the session, Jan. 19, was pretty special. There are at least four folks in the Capitol who are...
The biggest accelerant of our political tribalism | SONDERMANN
Eric Sondermann
eric-sondermann@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 days ago
In years past, my go-to word in describing our political condition was “polarization.” I used it endlessly and still do on occasion. But as time has moved on, and the divide has only grown in depth and toxicity, polarization no...
Republican candidates debate how to win the governor’s seat in Colorado — a position the GOP last secured in 2002
Thelma Grimes
thelma.grimes@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
Colorado has not elected a Republican governor since 2002. On Thursday night, four candidates offered competing visions for how the party can reverse its 20-plus years of failing to secure the seat. The discussion hosted by the Women of Weld...
Colorado’s charitable gaming board to study Denver Gazette’s findings
David Migoya
david.migoya@gazette.com
Updated 1 day ago
Colorado’s freshman board overseeing the state’s $110 million charitable gaming industry on Friday created a committee to tackle issues raised in a Denver Gazette investigation that exposed, among other issues, poor supervision and illegal operators. The Colorado Charitable Gaming Board,...
10th Circuit to address resentencing of probation violators in rare all-judges hearing
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court agreed on Thursday to hold a rare all-judges hearing to determine the proper procedure for resentencing a criminal defendant who has violated the terms of his probation. In the federal appellate courts, the vast majority...
Vape shops challenge Denver’s flavored tobacco ban in court
Deborah Grigsby
deborah.smith@denvergazette.com
Updated 1 day ago
The smoke has yet to settle in the battle over the city’s flavored tobacco ban as local vape shop owners have sued the City and County of Denver, asking the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and stop its enforcement....
US officially leaves the World Health Organization
Washington Examiner Staff, Washington Examiner
washington.examiner.staff.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 2 days ago
The United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organization on Thursday, slightly over a year after President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO via an executive order on the first day of his...