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As businesses flee downtown Denver, Johnston points to falling homicide rate
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Local, Top Stories

As businesses flee downtown Denver, Johnston points to falling homicide rate

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Mayor Mike Johnston has been pointing to a 44% drop in homicides in the first half of 2025, calling it proof his crime plan is making a difference. The figure is a sharp improvement from last year, but it’s recent and doesn’t show where things stood before the pandemic. In the city’s core, the gains are harder to find. A report from the Common Sense Institute shows murders in District 6, the downtown police district, have risen 133% since 2020. Aggravated assaults, drug crimes, public disorder, and larceny are also up. While some neighborhoods have seen improvement, downtown has not kept up the same pace. Citywide Gains, Downtown Losses Data from DenverCrimes.com shows citywide violent crime down more than 30% from last...
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Full video shows attack on elderly pro‑lifers outside Planned Parenthood
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Daily Wire, Approved, National

Full video shows attack on elderly pro‑lifers outside Planned Parenthood

By Leif Le Manieu | Daily Wire The man who avoided jail time after brutally beating two elderly pro-life advocates in Baltimore accused them of bothering “vulnerable people” seconds before attacking them, according to surveillance footage obtained by The Daily Wire. Patrick Brice, 28, was sentenced by Baltimore Judge Yvette Bryant on Thursday to just one year of home confinement and three years of probation for attacking 73-year-old Mark Crosby and 84-year-old Richard Schaefer as they stood outside Planned Parenthood doing pro-life sidewalk counseling. Crosby was left with serious injuries to his face and multiple fractures. Before attacking the elderly men, Brice engaged in a heated argument with Schaefer where he told him to “quit bothering vulnerable people.” He then ...
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Colorado Springs leaders weigh in as pastors’ political speech could expand
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The Gazette, Approved, Local

Colorado Springs leaders weigh in as pastors’ political speech could expand

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette A recent proposed settlement in a federal court case out of Texas that would change how churches intersect with politics has become what supporters call restoring free speech rights and opponents call breaching the separation of church and state. If the filing by the Internal Revenue Service stands in a 2024 lawsuit that several religious groups brought against the IRS, churches and other houses of worship would be allowed to endorse political candidates from the pulpit during religious services without danger of losing their tax-exempt status. Reactions from pastors and politicians are mixed. The Rev. Steve Holt, founder and senior pastor of The Road Church, a large nondenominational congregation in Colorado Springs, supports the idea and said he...
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Report: CIA sought heavy redactions as Gabbard declassified Trump-Russia files
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Breitbart, Approved, National

Report: CIA sought heavy redactions as Gabbard declassified Trump-Russia files

By Olivia Rondeau | BREITBART Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard overrode officials from the CIA and other intelligence agencies to release a “minimally redacted” version of declassified documents that shed light on the Obama administration’s fabricated Trump-Russia collusion narrative, sources told the Washington Post.  President Donald Trump reportedly gave Gabbard his blessing to publish a highly classified House Intelligence Committee report last month with the support of CIA Director John Ratcliffe and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, while sources said other members of the intelligence community warned that a greater portion of the files should have been redacted. Gabbard said the 46-page House Intelligence report re...
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Abbott Blasts Fleeing Democrats as “Un-Texan” Cowards
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National, Approved, The Daily Signal

Abbott Blasts Fleeing Democrats as “Un-Texan” Cowards

By: Lorenzo Prieto | The Daily Signal Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Tex., accused Democrat state representatives of being cowards for fleeing Texas to break quorum on calling their actions a “most un-Texan thing.” The governor, who appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” explained in the interview that these lawmakers’ actions will only further strengthen the lawsuit he filed on Aug. 5, which requests the Texas Supreme Court Court remove House Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Gene Wu. This was followed on Friday by Attorney General Ken Paxton asking the court to declare at least 13 seats vacated. Abbott argues that because Democrats have abandoned their seats, “we are incapable of conducting business for the people of Texas.” “This is the most un-Texan thing we’ve ever seen in Texas from the time of the...
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Colorado Faces $800 Million Budget Gap With No Deal In Sight
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State, Approved, denvergazette.com

Colorado Faces $800 Million Budget Gap With No Deal In Sight

By: Luige Del Puerto | The Denver Gazette Colorado legislators will convene at the state Capitol in about two weeks without first having secured a deal — with the governor or among themselves — outlining how to plug an $800 million budget deficit, which means the upcoming special session could be more open-ended and the fiscal prescriptions, whatever they may be, less defined. An agreement might materialize between now and the special session later this month, as policymakers scramble to line up ideas on how or where to cut the state budget. Gov. Jared Polis said his proclamation a few days ago set the parameters of what the legislators will discuss — but it will be up to the latter to decide the details of the fiscal remedy. "The legislators decide what bills to pass...
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Kaiser Permanently Ends Gender Transition Services for Colorado Minors
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Kaiser Permanently Ends Gender Transition Services for Colorado Minors

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette Citing pressure from the Trump administration, Kaiser Permanente is the latest health system to acquiesce to demands that it cease providing gender transition services to minors that includes chemical or surgical procedures. Kaiser CEO Greg A. Adams announced the change in an email to executives, saying “there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care” for minors since President Donald Trump assumed office. “After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause gender-affirming surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers,” Adams said in the email. While the p...
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O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  January 2023 was a changeover month of sorts in the United States because it marked a division between the taxpayer subsidized COVID economy and the less subsidized post-COVID economy. According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the United States added 3,149,000 jobs between January 2023 and June 2025, a 2.0 percent increase for the nation as a whole.  Employment growth so far this century has averaged just under one percent a year, so the 2.0 percent figure is roughly on track (although preliminary July BLS data are less positive and subject to revision). At the same time, unemployment increased by 1,268,000, a 22.1 percent rise. This is a less positive aspect of the economy that few seem ...
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University of Colorado Faces Labor Complaint from Medical Residents
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Local, Approved, The Colorado Sun

University of Colorado Faces Labor Complaint from Medical Residents

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun The University of Colorado Housestaff Association, which represents medical and surgical residents and fellows, has filed a complaint with state labor officials. The organization that represents doctors-in-training at the University of Colorado has filed a complaint with state labor officials alleging that the school retaliated against it over its quest for collective bargaining rights. The organization, the CU Housestaff Association, says the university broke off long-running discussions on a document that would have codified the Housestaff Association’s relationship with the university after the association announced its unionization goal. It says the university also excluded it from meetings, blocked it from organizing activities and ended t...
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Over 100K Acres Burn As Lee Fire Ranks Among State’s Worst
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Over 100K Acres Burn As Lee Fire Ranks Among State’s Worst

By: Jonathan Ingraham | The Gazette The Lee fire southwest of Meeker, Colorado in Rio Blanco County has become the sixth largest wildfire in Colorado history, eclipsing the 2012 High Park fire, which burned 87,284 acres west of Fort Collins. The fire grew from over 88,000 acres to over 92,000 acres throughout the day on Saturday, with no containment, state fire officials said. By Sunday morning, the fire had burned 106,672 acres, however, some progress had been made and the fire was at 6% containment, according to state fire officials and federal fire maps.  A map published by the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 shows the growth of the Lee and Elk Fires near Meeker, Colorado. Credit: Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, Facebook Mand...
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