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Plea deal gives former producer at Sounds True lenient sentence for possession of 6,000 images of sexual child abuse
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice

Plea deal gives former producer at Sounds True lenient sentence for possession of 6,000 images of sexual child abuse

By Heidi Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice Mitchell Clute, 57, a former senior producer and editor at Sounds True, has agreed to a plea deal, according to various media reports, on charges of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. He was arrested in July, following an investigation by the Boulder County Digital Forensics Lab, which discovered child sexual abuse material downloaded from an IP address associated with Clute's residence on Dewey Avenue. Initially facing 11 felony charges, including sexual exploitation of a child, Clute accepted a very lenient plea deal last week, pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, both class 4 felonies. The remaining charges were dismissed as part of the agreement. The sentencing, on March 8, saw Clute re...
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Ahead of Tuesday deadline, only three have sufficiently met signature threshold for a place on ballot for Congress
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Ahead of Tuesday deadline, only three have sufficiently met signature threshold for a place on ballot for Congress

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice Signatures needed to petition for a place on the primary ballot has been met by just three candidates for Congress to have pulled a petition, a report by the office of the Colorado secretary of state reads. Democrat Joe Neguse in the 2nd District, Republican Curtis McCrackin in the 3rd District and Republican Lauren Boebert in the 4th District have each met sufficient signatures needed to be placed on the ballot. The deadline for petitions to be filed with the secretary of state’s office is Tuesday, March 19, the online form reads. The form details a deadline, if the petition has been filed and petitions that have been deemed sufficient. In addition to Boebert, a petition for Republican Deborah Flora in the 4th District and for Jeff Cr...
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Overbeck: Democrats in Colorado Legislature push bills endangering your children
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Overbeck: Democrats in Colorado Legislature push bills endangering your children

By Joy Overbeck | Special to the Rocky Mountain Voice Most of us want to see the most vicious child predators and the monsters who use children for sex locked in the slammer for a good, long time. But, not the Democrats in the Colorado Legislature. They unanimously killed Rep. Brandi Bradley’s, R-Douglas County, House Bill 24-1092 that would increase sentences for criminals convicted of pimping a child for prostitution, keeping a place of child prostitution and similar crimes to sentences of at least four years in prison. The bill would also increase sentences for the worst predators using menacing or criminal intimidation – that is, violence or threats of violence – to induce a child to commit prostitution to at least eight years in jail. This seems reasonable. But, since the Bra...
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Studies show Colorado property taxes are ‘extremely low.’ So why do they feel so high?
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Studies show Colorado property taxes are ‘extremely low.’ So why do they feel so high?

By Brian Eason | Colorado Sun Over the past year, property taxes have dominated Colorado’s state politics like rarely before. Public outcry over a 40% jump in homes’ taxable values spawned a multi-million dollar ballot fight, a special legislative session and a bipartisan commission to study tax relief for homeowners. And there’s more to come, with a number of property tax measures vying for voter approval on the November 2024 ballot.  There’s just one detail that’s difficult to square with the political panic: Study after study from researchers across the political spectrum shows that Colorado’s property taxes aren’t all that high. In reality, they’re close to the lowest in the entire country. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN...
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Fort Collins City Council to vote on rules to change public commenting
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Approved, Local, Northern Colorado, The Coloradoan

Fort Collins City Council to vote on rules to change public commenting

BY REBECCA POWELL | THE COLORADOAN Fort Collins City Council will decide whether to change the way public participation is handled in future meetings during a special meeting Monday. City staff says the proposed changes are meant to deal with disruptive crowds or high volumes of public comment that impede city business, but groups who have been prominent fixtures at council meetings say the new proposal limits public input and undermines transparent government and responsiveness. At the March 18 special meeting, which will start at 5 p.m. at City Hall, council members will consider proposed changes that would give them the ability to: READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADOAN
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AI-guided robot used to sort recylables in Colorado Springs
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Approved, CBS 11 KKTV, El Paso County, Local

AI-guided robot used to sort recylables in Colorado Springs

By Kasia Kerridge | CBS 11-Colorado Springs A local recycling facility is the first in southern Colorado to use a robot to help sort materials. 11 News visited Republic Services, near I-25 and Garden of the Gods, to see the AMP Cortex in action. Republic Services says the AI-guided recycling robotic system helps sort food and beverage containers from El Paso, Pueblo, Chaffee and Elbert counties. “It uses a vision system and it recognizes materials that [are] coming up through the stream, and it will decide what to pick,” said maintenance safety tech at Republic Services Thomas Brackett. “It has a vacuum tube, and what it will do is it registers, it will go down and pick it and then it will shoot it down into the shoot that it needs, so it uses air.” READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS 1...
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Fake identity documents being sold to illegals in Colorado desperate to find work, CBS News investigation finds
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Fake identity documents being sold to illegals in Colorado desperate to find work, CBS News investigation finds

By Kati Weis | CBS News Colorado The Investigators with CBS News Colorado have uncovered a scheme that's taking advantage of migrants in Denver, and potentially causing innocent Americans to fall victim to identity theft, all while city, state, and federal government agencies miss out on income tax revenue.  Criminals are printing and selling fake identification documents – like social security and permanent resident cards – to migrants who are desperate for documentation, so they are able to find work.  Nearly 40,000 migrants from South and Central America have crossed rivers and jungles to come to Denver in recent months, seeking better lives. Many of those migrants told CBS News Colorado they felt they had no other choice but to buy the fake documents, because otherwise, t...
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New Colorado stop sign: Buc-ee’s, the big, beloved convenience store opening its first location
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Approved, Northern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

New Colorado stop sign: Buc-ee’s, the big, beloved convenience store opening its first location

By Parker Yamasaki | The Colorado Sun JOHNSTOWN — As a kid, Randy Pauly’s favorite barbecue in Texas was served out of a window. He’d order a brisket sandwich, step back and wait for a hand to slide a plate out in front of him. He never saw what he called “the action.” The chopping, slicing, saucing and slamming it all together. When Pauly became the full-time pitmaster for Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based gas station known for its fresh-cut brisket sandwiches and buck-toothed beaver mascot, he wanted to turn the sandwich assembly into a show.  “Freeeeeeeshhhh brisket on the board!!!” a man in a red polo shirt, denim apron and fake tattered cowboy hat yells out from the Buc-ee’s butcher block. “Fresh brisket on the board!” The other deli counter employees around him echo, with va...
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Teller County declares local disaster emergency as result of power outages, snowfall
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Approved, CBS 11 KKTV, Southern Colorado

Teller County declares local disaster emergency as result of power outages, snowfall

By Lauren Watson | CBS 11 KKTV Teller County officials declared a local disaster emergency on Friday as a result of the winter storm. According to officials, the declaration was issued because “a public emergency exists in Teller County based on the severe winter storm and extremely high snow accumulation, which started on March 13, 2024, and continues, which poses an imminent threat of widespread and severe damage, injury or loss of life and property.” They added that the storm has created a strain on first responders and public services, as well as blocking travel on and preventing access to roadways. READ THE FULL STORY AND THE DISASTER DECLARATION AT CBS 11
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Legislators at odds on broadband right-of-way fees
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Legislators at odds on broadband right-of-way fees

By Ed Sealover | Colorado Politics While state broadband officials ready their action plan to expand fiber to 99% of Colorado, a dispute over the amount of fees that telecommunications companies must pay to install lines along public rights of way has stalled dueling legislative efforts to define those fees. A bipartisan quartet of legislators introduced Senate Bill 91 just two weeks into the 2024 session on Jan. 24 at the behest of Colorado Counties Inc. and rural telecom companies. The bill lets the Colorado Department of Transportation impose a one-time permitting fee to lay broadband fiber along rights of way but prohibits it from charging annual fees — reversing a policy enacted in December by the Colorado Transportation Commission. Meanwhile, the Joint Technology Committee c...
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