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SB276 would fine deputies $50K for helping ICE—Sheriff Mikesell says enough is enough
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SB276 would fine deputies $50K for helping ICE—Sheriff Mikesell says enough is enough

By Pat Hill | Pikes Peak Courier via Denver Gazette Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell is so concerned about the effects of Colorado Senate Bill #276 he appealed in a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week. The bill, if signed by Gov. Jared Polis, prohibits law enforcement from sharing information with the federal government about illegal immigrants who have committed crimes. At issue is the bill’s interference with Mikesell’s 287(g) agreement with ICE. The only sheriff in Colorado to have signed the agreement, Mikesell was sued over the issue by the ACLU in 2019. After a series of wins, losses and appeals by both parties, in February, Mikesell retained his ability to work with ICE to detain illegal immigrants who commit crimes. However, if the governor do...
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Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners
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Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners

The Gazette editorial board | Denver Gazette Colorado’s governor and Legislature may claim they want more affordable housing — but they aren’t about to let it stand in the way of their headlong rush toward green energy. Their zero-emissions-at-any-cost dogma seems to trump all other policy priorities. Which helps explain why the state’s Energy Code Board is poised to impose extreme energy standards — even more stringent than those already in effect — on new home construction. The pending rules would turn the screws on wide-ranging aspects of the building code — and are projected to add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home in Colorado. That’s right — it’ll add $25,000 to $35,000, by one estimate, in what is already the most expensive state for housing that is not ...
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Fighting for a country that doubted them—but never broke them
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Fighting for a country that doubted them—but never broke them

By Vince Bzdek | Denver Gazette In his 99 years on the planet, Ken Akune has been sorted into many bins. The first was Nisei, the term for second-generation Japanese Americans born in the United States. Akune had lived in both the United States and Japan and his family was divided between the two. The second bin was “evacuee.” That was the term given to 18-year-old Akune, his brother Harry and 7,000 other Japanese Americans shipped out to the Granada Relocation Center in Colorado at the start of World War II because of worries about their loyalty. Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 forcibly removed them from their home on the West Coast to a remote plain of sage and dust in southeastern Colorado, known simply as Amache. “I was mad, jealous, whatever you want to call i...
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Memorial Day at Fort Carson reminds us what freedom truly costs
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Memorial Day at Fort Carson reminds us what freedom truly costs

By Mary Shinn | Denver Gazette "I go, not to win the war, but to come home to my wife and children." The first Fort Carson soldier to die in Iraq, Pfc. Jesse Givens, wrote those highly relatable words in his journal. And while his time in the Army was short, his sentiments resonate today, said Fort Carson's Maj. Gen. David Doyle during a Thursday morning ceremony ahead of Memorial Day.  "I took an oath to protect my country, not for the sake of saving the world, but for the hopes that my family wouldn't have to live in a world filled with hate, fear or sadness, a world in which America can triumph," Doyle said, quoting Givens' journal.  Givens died when his tank plunged into the Euphrates River, the general said. The soldier who had served for 15 months was recov...
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Denver Public Schools leased schools through shell corporation, hiding almost $1B in off-book financing
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Denver Public Schools leased schools through shell corporation, hiding almost $1B in off-book financing

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette Denver Public Schools transferred ownership of at least 31 schools to a shell corporation, then leased them back for hundreds of millions of dollars Denver Public Schools has quietly taken on hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt without voter approval — money that could otherwise be used to lower class sizes, increase teacher pay or expand student support services, an investigation by The Denver Gazette has found. The spending comes as contract negotiations between the district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) have stalled, with union leaders pointing to the district's failure to fully fund last year’s cost-of-living adjustment. Educators have repeatedly called for smaller class sizes, better compensation a...
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Governor rejects rideshare reform bill amid corporate exit warnings
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Governor rejects rideshare reform bill amid corporate exit warnings

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis on Friday vetoed House Bill 1291, a bill that would have put more teeth in regulating rideshare companies. Sponsors heavily criticized the veto, saying his claims that he cares about victims fell short and that he didn't engage with the sponsors on the bill until three days before the end of the session.  House Bill 1291 was intended to beef up consumer protections for those who use ride share companies, such as Lyft and Uber. The bill would have required rideshare companies to conduct criminal background checks on drivers at least once every six months and review drivers who have had complaints filed against them by riders. If the company determined that the allegation is "more than likely to have occurred," it...
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Colorado sued over law punishing ‘misgendering’: Doctors, parents cite First Amendment
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Colorado sued over law punishing ‘misgendering’: Doctors, parents cite First Amendment

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette Several organizations and a western Colorado dermatologist have filed a lawsuit seeking to block specific provisions of a recently signed state law that, as originally introduced, would have defined "deadnaming" and "misgendering" as discriminatory acts but whose final version had been heavily modified.   The plaintiffs in the lawsuit included Defending Education, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Protect Kids Colorado, and Do No Harm. Travis Morrell, a Grand Junction dermatologist and member of Do No Harm, is also a plaintiff. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Colorado Civil Rights Division members are named as defendants. All five groups believe that a person's gender identity "cannot differ from their sex ...
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Denver Mayor Johnston walks back raises, braces city for cuts amid $50M budget gap
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Denver Mayor Johnston walks back raises, braces city for cuts amid $50M budget gap

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette Facing a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is expected to announce significant cuts to the city's budget at a news conference this morning. The city is facing a $50 million gap in this year's budget, while the projected deficit is $200 million next year, according to sources, who shared information with The Denver Gazette. The city blames an economic downturn, flat revenues and "growing government costs" as reasons for the deficit, according to sources.  To deal with the shortfall, Johnston is proposing furloughs and a hiring freeze, in addition to limiting discretionary spending and reducing and restructuring contracts. The furloughs will save the city $10 million this year, according to city estimat...
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Hate crime hoax trial continues with Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade on the stand
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Hate crime hoax trial continues with Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade on the stand

By Mackenzie Bodell | Denver Gazette DENVER • The openly emotional mayor of Colorado Springs was asked to testify Tuesday about the details of his 2023 mayoral campaign season before and after a hate crime “hoax.” In November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado announced that three individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury for “maliciously conveying false information about a threat made by means of fire” to draw support for the eventual mayoral race winner, Yemi Mobolade, who is Colorado Springs’ first elected Black mayor. The indictment alleged the crew staged a hate crime by defacing one of Mobolade’s campaign signs with a racial slur and placing a small burning cross in front in the early hours of April 23, 2023. Videos and photographs of the incident were sent in ...
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Mayor testifies in hate crime ‘hoax’ trial tied to 2023 election incident
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Mayor testifies in hate crime ‘hoax’ trial tied to 2023 election incident

By Mackenzie Bodell | Denver Gazette Right after the defense alleged the hate crime “hoax” that made headlines during the 2023 Colorado Springs mayoral runoff election was an act of “political theater,” Yemi Mobolade, now the city’s mayor, got emotional during his testimony Monday. With only an hour left in the day’s proceedings, the prosecution called Mobolade to the stand. During his testimony, Mobolade teared up at times when identifying Derrick Bernard Jr., in the courtroom and seeing his defaced campaign sign again. In November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado announced that three individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury for “maliciously conveying false information about a threat made by means of fire” to draw support for the eventual mayoral race winner, Mob...
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