Colorado Politics

 Aspen Acres fire destroys 850 structures, including 254 homes in Pueblo County

The Aspen Acres fire has destroyed about 850 structures, making it among the most destructive in state history, fire officials said Friday. Firefighters count all structures lost in a fire, including barns and sheds, while county officials have focused on...

 Routt County DA’s office faces multiple investigations after it drops high-profile rape case

Routt County’s district attorney and deputy district attorney are now under increasing scrutiny on multiple fronts for their handling of the alleged drugging, rape and strangulation of a nationally ranked cross-country skier. The fallout from their decision not to prosecute...

 Aurora sees ‘incredible compliance’ on water restrictions from residential users, less from commercial users

Aurora Water has issued more than 1,750 warnings in three months In the three months since the Aurora City Council passed a Stage 1 drought declaration and watering restrictions, Aurora Water is seeing “incredible compliance” from residential properties. But the...

 Colorado partners with tech organization to simplify tax filing process

Colorado is partnering with the tech nonprofit Code For America to make its free tax-filing program for low-income residents more accessible, Gov. Jared Polis announced this week. According to Polis, the partnership will make the SimpleFile tool, which helps taxpayers...

 Gov. Polis outlines vision for Colorado’s higher ed, workforce development

Gov. Jared Polis spoke with the Colorado Commission for Higher Education on Friday about his vision for the future of the state’s higher education and workforce training programs, telling the commission that the state needs to do a better job...

 Federal judge postpones CU regent’s request to lift censure restrictions

A federal judge on Thursday canceled an upcoming hearing to decide whether to block the restrictions the University of Colorado’s governing body has placed on one of its members, indicating that he would instead pivot to the defendants’ motion to...

 Appeals court reverses ‘particularly brutal’ sex assault convictions due to flawed warrant

Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a Jefferson County defendant’s sexual assault and kidnapping convictions last month after concluding that police relied on an unconstitutionally broad search warrant to obtain evidence from the man’s cell phone. Jurors convicted Joseph Gabriel Van Eck...

 Trump wrote instructions for massive bombing campaign if he’s assassinated by Iran

President Donald Trump said he “left instructions” for a massive bombing campaign against Iran in the event he’s assassinated by the Islamic regime. “I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with,” he told the...

 Denver won’t see budget reductions, but mayor’s office says city will need to ‘get creative’ in 2027

Last year, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston characterized the 2026 budget as cut “to the bone.” But if there is nothing left to cut without affecting core services, as he warned the Denver City Council, what exactly changes in 2027? Not...

 Many U.S. Jewish adults have experienced assault or harassment over the past year, poll finds

WASHINGTON • Many Jewish adults feel unsafe in the United States, a new AP-NORC poll finds, with a majority saying they feel less safe than they did before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The survey from The Associated...

 Shackled ICE detainees seen escorted from downtown Colorado Springs bank building

Incident follows an uptick in immigration arrests in the city, watchdog group says Four men shackled at the chest were shuffled into a GEO transport van at an unmarked immigration detention facility on Thursday in downtown Colorado Springs. After one...

 Rock Creek fire 50% contained on Cheyenne Mountain as dry conditions improve

Favorable conditions aided firefighters in reaching 50% containment of the Rock Creek fire on Thursday after it began burning on Cheyenne Mountain Tuesday evening. Crews made “significant progress” in their efforts due to cooler temperatures and rainfall, according to a...

 Gabe Evans challenger Manny Rutinel makes House Democrats’ ‘Red to Blue’ program in Colorado’s 8th CD

The House Democrats’ main campaign arm on Thursday added state Rep. Manny Rutinel to its “Red to Blue” program, saying the party’s freshly minted nominee in Colorado’s battleground 8th Congressional District is primed to flip the seat held by Republican...

 Victor Marx defeats Barb Kirkmeyer as Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial primary crosses finish line

Republican Victor Marx won Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial nomination on Thursday after maintaining a razor-thin lead over state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer for more than a week as county clerks finished reporting final, unofficial vote totals. Marx, a missionary leader and first-time...

 Aurora police traffic enforcement campaign reduces crashes by 86%, officials say

An Aurora Police Department enforcement campaign resulted in an 86% reduction in crashes at a problematic intersection. A study done by the APD traffic department, which analyzed two years of crash data, showed that the intersection of I-225 and South...

 Rate reductions force Jefferson Center to close key recovery program as Colorado reimbursement rates change

A second Front Range community mental health center is eliminating services due to new reimbursement rates set by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) that will go into effect on Oct. 1. The Jefferson Center for...

 Colorado Supreme Court intervenes in 3 ongoing cases

The Colorado Supreme Court recently intervened in the prosecution of a juvenile defendant and will decide whether he is entitled to have prosecutors demonstrate probable cause at a hearing after a grand jury already determined probable cause existed. The justices...

 Republican congressman says he’s unsure if Mitch McConnell is alive: ‘Very discouraging’

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) on Thursday said he’s unsure if Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is alive following weeks of speculation since the lawmaker’s hospitalization following a medical emergency last month. McConnell was hospitalized in June for a medical event that...

 Denver launches $100 million effort to support 10,000 new jobs

The City of Denver is aiming to support 10,000 quality jobs citywide over the next three years, Mayor Mike Johnston announced on Thursday. The Denver Jobs Agenda is a new city-backed strategy that will invest $100 million to support in-demand job training...

 Appeals court clarifies meaning of ‘at-risk’ victim based on breathing disability

Colorado’s second-highest court clarified last month that victims qualify as “at-risk” under state law if they required mechanical assistance to breathe on the date of the offense against them. El Paso County prosecutors charged Jon Claude Crow with third-degree assault,...

 Aurora mayor warns of shutting off water to Aurora Public Schools because of ‘very green’ lawns

Aurora’s mayor is warning Aurora Public Schools that it could have its irrigation water shut off, saying he saw green lawns at schools that “were being watered in defiance” of the city’s watering restrictions. Mayor Mike Coffman was driving past...

 Q&A: From grassroots underdog to national spotlight — Colorado democratic socialist Melat Kiros on her path to Congress

Melat Kiros, the 29-year-old Democratic Socialist who unseated a 15-term incumbent in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District primary on June 30, frames her victory as a mandate for structural political reform rather than a rejection of her predecessor, Diana DeGette. In...

 Trump demands rehearing after Supreme Court’s ‘insane’ birthright citizenship ruling

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his legal team will “immediately” seek a rehearing before the Supreme Court on his efforts to overhaul birthright citizenship after a majority of justices ruled the White House’s executive order on the matter was...

 Aspen Acres fire damaged drinking water systems in Beulah area

The Aspen Acres fire damaged drinking water systems in the Beulah area and likely private wells, health officials said. Residents served by the Pine Drive Water District, Signal Mountain Ranch Property Owner Water Company and those with private wells should...

 Cherry Creek School District paid law firm $114K, including $40K for political consultant, over superintendent allegations

The Cherry Creek School District paid $114,000 to hire outside counsel to provide the Board of Education with legal advice as it navigated the allegations that were swirling around the former superintendent. Fisher Phillips invoices obtained through a Colorado Open...

 Ex-attorney cannot remain anonymous while suing Colorado judicial branch, says 10th Circuit

The Denver-based federal appeals court concluded last month that a former attorney cannot mask her identity while suing the Colorado Judicial Department for alleged improprieties in her disability and disbarment proceedings. “Jane Roe,” representing herself, sued the Judicial Department and...

 DOJ announces ‘inmate tablets’ despite California prison pornography scandal

The Justice Department’s Federal Bureau of Prisons announced Wednesday that it is rolling out a new inmate tablet program designed to expand communication, education, and rehabilitative services across federal prisons, despite growing scrutiny over similar technology used in California’s prison...

 Mark Carney says Trump has ‘won the argument’ on NATO defense spending

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that President Donald Trump has “won the argument” on NATO defense spending, successfully pushing members to spend more on defense. Carney, one of Trump’s most articulate critics, conceded on Wednesday that he had been...

 Convicted ex-Judge Hannah Dugan sentenced to no prison time for helping illegal immigrant evade arrest

Former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was sentenced to a $5,000 fine Wednesday for helping an illegal immigrant evade arrest last year but avoided prison time in her criminal case. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Clinton appointee, declined to give Dugan a...

 DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero misses cut for Miami-Dade job

Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Alex Marrero did not make the short list of candidates vying for the top job with the Miami-Dade County Public School District. The Miami-Dade school board narrowed the field from 21 applicants to six semifinalists....