Author: Nico Brambila
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Colorado Medicaid probe uncovers millions of dollars in alleged transport fraud ring
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Colorado Medicaid officials detected $25 million in abnormal billing over just four months two years ago — a surge that prompted a new state law and the suspension of dozens of providers in what authorities now describe as an organized fraud ring. State and federal prosecutors have since charged two transportation providers in separate indictments,…
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Colorado Medicaid spending doubled over the past decade, study finds
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Spending by Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing reached $16 billion in 2025 — a 101% increase from 2015 — while Medicaid enrollment has returned to nearly its 2015 level, according to an analysis by a think tank. Pointing to 182 health care bills Colorado lawmakers enacted since 2019, the report from the…
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Denver school board to consider property swap
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The Denver Public Schools board will consider replacing an administrative building with Pascual LeDoux Academy in the district’s 2020 lease-purchase structure, a financing arrangement tied to the sale and leaseback of several school buildings now under legal challenge. The deed swap is part of a financial maneuver to sell the administrative property on Yuma Street…
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Cherry Creek orders outside audit, tightens contract oversight amid leadership shakeup
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Amid heightened public scrutiny following recent leadership upheaval, the Cherry Creek School District will launch an independent audit of its internal controls and impose stricter contract approval rules, lowering the dollar threshold for board oversight and requiring additional executive and legal sign-offs on spending. Friday was the fifth time the board has met over the…
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Cherry Creek School District Assistant Superintendent Tony Poole placed on administrative leave
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Cherry Creek School District Assistant Superintendent Tony Poole has been placed on administrative leave, district officials confirmed Wednesday. Lauren Snell, a district spokesperson, declined to say whether Poole’s administrative leave was paid or not. Poole started with the school district in 1989 as a teacher and worked his way up the ranks to assistant superintendent…
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Cherry Creek assistant superintendent to leave full-time post amid district leadership upheaval
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Cherry Creek School District Assistant Superintendent Tony Poole will not return to full-time work at the end of the school year and will instead transition to a limited post-employment arrangement. Ashley Verville, a district spokesperson, said the move was not a signal that Poole is retiring while acknowledging “110s are often a transition into retirement.”…
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Wife of former Cherry Creek superintendent placed on paid administrative leave
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Less than a week after Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Chris Smith abruptly resigned following allegations of a toxic work environment, his wife, Brenda Smith, has been placed on paid, administrative leave, officials confirmed Tuesday. Brenda Smith is the district’s chief human resource officer, a position she has held since 2019. “As of Monday, February 2,…
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Conflict-of-interest safeguards at Cherry Creek Schools lacked clear oversight, memo shows
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To avoid a conflict of interest, the wife of Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Chris Smith — who resigned this week amid allegations of a toxic work environment — was supposed to report to Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Perry. In the wake of Smith’s resignation Wednesday, Perry was named interim superintendent. According to a Denver7 investigation, insiders…
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Cherry Creek Schools superintendent resigns after allegations of toxic workplace
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Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Chris Smith resigned abruptly during an executive session Tuesday, school officials confirmed, after allegations of a toxic work environment surfaced earlier this month. “We’ve had some tremendous achievements under Chris’ leadership including Traverse, the first of its kind mental health facility for students; passing school construction bonds that will allow the…
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Will Denver see stepped-up immigration enforcement next? | ANALYSIS
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Two years ago — as Denver grappled with a sharp influx of immigrants, many who arrived in the city after illegally crossing America’s borders — Mayor Mike Johnston joined the mayors of Chicago and New York City in criticizing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing campaign and called for a national strategy to address the crisis.…
