Author: Nicole C. Brambila
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Kaiser Permanente employees picket in Aurora to demand higher wages, more staff
Carmen Madrigal, a breast cancer survivor, gets choked up talking about the phone calls she’s made to cancer patients to cancel appointments because Kaiser Permanente was short staffed. “This is not OK,” said Madrigal, of Aurora. Madrigal, an optical business coordinator, has worked for Kaiser Permanente in Colorado for nearly nine years. She was one…
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DPS Board of Education Director Scott Baldermann wants to apologize, promises to do better
Denver Public Schools Board of Education Director Scott Baldermann regrets the behind-closed-doors March 23 executive session wasn’t held in public. And – unlike his board colleagues – Baldermann thinks the public is owed an apology. “I do apologize,” Baldermann said Thursday. “We made an error. I don’t think that it was ill intended. But it…
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In closed-door meeting, DPS Supt. Alex Marrero warns Michael Hancock will issue exec order to return police to high schools
Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero issued a stern warning to the board of education: Override his decision to temporarily return armed police officers to the district’s high schools and Mayor Michael B. Hancock would step in with an executive order. “It’s beyond our control,” Marrero told the board during the March 23 executive session…
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DPS board decides to release executive session recording
Following a string of violence in Denver Public Schools last academic year, the board held a closed door executive session. Tom Hellauer tom.hellauer@denvergazette.comTomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g The Denver Public Schools Board of Education unanimously voted Friday to release the March 23 recording of its executive session, 120 days after holding the secret meeting to discuss reversing a district…
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Safety concerns raised over DPS cuts to busing routes
Seven-year-old Jonathan Guffey raised his hand and held it up, patiently waiting to be called on. The soon-to-be second grader at Polaris Elementary School on Park Avenue wanted to ask officers a question Thursday during the monthly Community Advisory Group at Denver Police Department District 6 downtown. Denver judge finds ‘reasonable’ belief DPS executive session…
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Downtown residents, business owners irked at police inaction on homeless crisis
Four days into Mayor Mike Johnston’s new administration, city officials fielded angry complaints from a public weary of the steps being taken – or not – to address an incessant homeless crisis in downtown Denver. Roughly 50 people on Thursday attended the monthly Community Advisory Group at Denver Police Department District 6 on Washington Street, where…
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COVID-19 cases plateau, but still circulate in Colorado
The novel coronavirus that shuttered businesses and schools, upended travel and killed millions all over the globe hasn’t gone away. “It’s still out there,” said Dr. Michael Roshon, vice president of Quality & Clinical Operations for Centura Health. “It’s still cycling.” Roshon added, “It’s not gone by a long shot.” Many of the measures for…
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After a year of declining fentanyl deaths, Denver sees alarming increase
After seeing a reprieve, of sorts, from fentanyl overdoses last year with the number of deaths in Colorado reaching a plateau – a first in three years – the opioid appears to be making a deadly come back in 2023. Preliminary numbers in Denver show a roughly 16% increase in the number of fentanyl overdose…
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Media coalition files contempt motion against DPS for not releasing audio of secret meeting
Denver Public Schools has filed a motion to prevent the release of an executive session audio in which the board of education discussed reversing its policy prohibiting police on campus while the district’s appeal plays out. DPS was required to release the audio Tuesday. “This case is about a press coalition’s insistence on discovering the…
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Denver Mayor Michael Hancock drops $40 million contract for immigrant support
Denver will not move forward on a contract to outsource support for immigrants coming to the city, the mayor’s office said Thursday. Mayor Michael B. Hancock provided little explanation for the reversal, except to say there remained “much more work to do” and that he would not be submitting a proposed contract with GardaWorld Federal…