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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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Bent County declares Second Amendment Sanctuary, defies SB25-003
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Bent County declares Second Amendment Sanctuary, defies SB25-003

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette An eastern Colorado county has passed a resolution declaring itself a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” in opposition to a bill passed by the legislature this year that requires individuals to participate in safety training to be eligible to purchase certain types of firearms. On May 15, the Bent County Board of Commissioners and Bent County Sheriff unanimously passed a resolution declaring that no county resources will be used to enforce provisions of Senate Bill 003 that have not been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill, which was signed into law last month, requires individuals to take a hunting safety course through Colorado Parks and Wildlife to be able to purchase semiautomatic firearms with detachable magazines. Sheriffs’ departments ...
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A tale of two cities: How two Colorado mayors stand far apart on immigration
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A tale of two cities: How two Colorado mayors stand far apart on immigration

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette Colorado's two most populous cities are separated by fewer than 60 miles, but when it comes to their approach to immigration law enforcement, the mayors of Colorado Springs and Denver stand much farther apart. To some extent, both mayors are merely articulating their respective cities' positions, though the crackdown on illegal immigration by the Trump administration has put the spotlight on their contrasting views. On the one hand, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has repeatedly defended his city's response to the illegal immigration crisis, and, at one point, suggested civil disobedience as a proper action against a federal mass deportation program.  On the other hand, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade welcomed a major ICE ...
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Trial for suspects in mayoral campaign hate crime ‘hoax’ commences Monday
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Trial for suspects in mayoral campaign hate crime ‘hoax’ commences Monday

By Mackenzie Bodell | Denver Gazette The federal trial for two of the three suspects facing charges related to a hate crime “hoax” that made headlines during the 2023 Colorado Springs mayoral runoff election is set to begin Monday. In November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado announced that Derrick Bernard Jr., 35, Ashely Blackcloud, 40, and Deanna West, 38, 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, now Mayor Yemi Mobolade. The indictment states that the hate crime itself involved a burning cross in front of a campaign sign defaced with a racial slur amid the runoff between Mobolade, who is Black, and Wayne Williams, who is White. READ THE...
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Denver Council Members say Johnston bond proposal is being rushed to voters
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Denver Council Members say Johnston bond proposal is being rushed to voters

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s new $800 million bond package is expected to make its way to voters this fall, but some City Council members working to whittle down the wish list of projects said the process is rushed and the bond issue could wait until next year. “I am not okay with the process at all,” District 5 Councilmember Amanda Sawyer told members of the city’s Vibrant Denver Bond working group on Wednesday. “I want to apologize to the staff in Department of Finance, because you guys have been set up for failure and you have been asked for extraordinary work in a very limited amount of time…So I want to make it very clear: you are doing an amazing job.” Sawyer added: “The problems that we are talking about here are not your fault. They are ...
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Colorado falls in business rankings as Denver Chamber of Commerce faults heavy regulation
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Colorado falls in business rankings as Denver Chamber of Commerce faults heavy regulation

By Thelma Grimes | Denver Gazette As Colorado continues to trend downward on the national economic scale, the Denver Chamber of Commerce is critical of the direction the state’s Democratic-led legislature took in 2025 and in recent years. The main message at Tuesday’s annual post-legislative State of the State event, hosted by the chamber, was that the anti-business, pro-regulation approach is failing the business community. Chamber members discussed Colorado's economic challenges and legislative impacts. In giving a rundown of bills affecting the business community after the 2025 session, chamber members Rachel Beck and Carly West pointed to CNBC’s annual top states for business rankings. Once a perennial top 10, Colorado was ranked 11th last year and dropped to 16th this year. ...
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Denver advances NWSL stadium plan with unclear funding, councilwoman warns of tradeoffs
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Denver advances NWSL stadium plan with unclear funding, councilwoman warns of tradeoffs

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette Members of the Denver City Council approved an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the Broadway Station Metropolitan District, which moves the city closer to having a National Women’s Soccer League stadium at Santa Fe Yards at a potential price tag of $70 million. That price tag still needs the council's final approval in a vote expected several months away. The City Council chambers erupted in applause on Monday after the 11-1 vote, which followed an extended discussion of the agreements and what exactly the city is “on the hook for.” Although approval of the IGA does not obligate the city to the funding, according to City Attorney Brad Neiman, it provides the framework for the public-private partnership discussion to move forwa...
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Danielle Jurinsky, GOP candidates dominate early fundraising in Aurora Council race
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Danielle Jurinsky, GOP candidates dominate early fundraising in Aurora Council race

By Kyla Pearce | Denver Gazette Republican incumbents are leading the fundraising race for the Aurora City Council election, which now has a pool of 17 candidates for five seats. City Council seats up for election are Wards I, II and II and two at-large. A majority of the candidates are running for Ward I and the two at-large seats.  Incumbent Danielle Jurinsky, who is running to keep her at-large seat, has raised over four times the amount of the next highest fundraising candidate.  Jurinsky's campaign has a total of almost $185,000 in contributions, according to Aurora's campaign finance system. Jurinsky's campaign has had a total of 486 contributions, 107 of which were the full possible amount of $1,150.  In 2023, the Aurora City Clerk's Office adjusted the...
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Colorado Springs City Council passes third resolution rejecting sanctuary city label
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Colorado Springs City Council passes third resolution rejecting sanctuary city label

By Brennen Kauffman | Denver Gazette Colorado Springs is still not a "sanctuary city." The City Council drove the point home on Tuesday morning by passing a resolution affirming the stance. The resolution introduced by Councilmember Roland Rainey was along similar lines as resolutions the council passed in both February and September 2024 saying the city was not a sanctuary city. The council statements do not change any city laws or ordinances. Four new council members have joined the dais since the last version of the proclamations, including Rainey and Gold, but the outcome of the vote was along similar lines. The resolution passed 7-2 with opposition from Nancy Henjum and Kimberly Gold, who said the city should use funding to support law enforcement instead of words. ...
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Polis signs sweeping election bill modeled on federal law—GOP calls it unnecessary
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Polis signs sweeping election bill modeled on federal law—GOP calls it unnecessary

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis signed a trio of election-related bills into law on Monday, including a measure sponsors say will "safeguard voting rights in Colorado amid federal uncertainty." Senate Bill 001, sponsored by Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Reps. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, and Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, implements a state-level version of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned certain discriminatory voting practices.  Several states, including Colorado, are considering their own version of the Voting Rights Act: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey. Meanwhile, Washington and New York have already passed a state-version of the federal law. Gonzales said Senate Bill 001 mirrors the federal Voting Ri...
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