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Denver Public Schools Faces Federal Sanctions Over Inclusive Restroom Policy
Local, Approved, DENVER7

Denver Public Schools Faces Federal Sanctions Over Inclusive Restroom Policy

By: Óscar Contreras | Denver7 The Department of Education found Denver Public Schools violated Title IX by converting a girl’s restroom into an all-gender facility earlier this year. DENVER — Trump’s Department of Education ordered Denver Public Schools to revert all-gender restrooms to single-sex facilities or risk “enforcement action” after finding it discriminated against girls by creating all-gender bathrooms at East High School earlier this year. The investigation, launched by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in January of this year, also took issue with a district-wide policy that allows students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. By converting a girl’s restroom to a gender-neutral facility and allowing students to use bathro...
Colorado Lawmakers Hand Polis Authority for $300 Million in Spending Cuts
State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado Lawmakers Hand Polis Authority for $300 Million in Spending Cuts

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 The governor could make up to $300 million in spending cuts as part of the Democrats' plan to fix the budget gap. DENVER — Colorado’s special session is over, but there’s still more work to do to address the state’s $783 million budget gap. Most of that work will fall to Governor Jared Polis. Colorado’s Democratic legislative leaders have a three-part plan to address the budget gap. They took care of one part of that plan during their six-day special session when they cut several corporate tax breaks. "I'm grateful my colleagues didn't shy away from this challenge,” said Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver. “We faced it head-on. We rolled up our sleeves. We acted like the adults in the room." But they’re leaving the other two parts of...
Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress
State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress

By Colleen Slevin | Denver7 Governor Jared Polis is expected to address the remaining $500 million budget gap in a presentation to the Joint Budget Committee on Thursday. DENVER — Colorado's special legislative session ended on Tuesday after six days. The success of the session depends on which state lawmaker you ask. Governor Jared Polis called the session on Aug. 6 to address the state's $1.2 billion budget hole, which he said was created by tax changes made in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1). According to the governor and fellow Colorado Democrats, Colorado will collect less revenue than expected when lawmakers approved the state budget in May. Some of that $1.2 billion revenue loss was absorbed by the state education fund and the affordable housing fu...
Lee Fire Near Meeker Grows To Fourth-Largest In Colorado History
Local, Approved, DENVER7

Lee Fire Near Meeker Grows To Fourth-Largest In Colorado History

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 The wildfire burning southwest of Meeker surpassed the size of the Hayman Fire, which burned 137,760 acres in 2002. RIO BLANCO COUNTY, Colo. — The Lee Fire burning in Rio Blanco County became the fourth-largest blaze in Colorado history Monday,a little more than three weeks after igniting southwest of Meeker. As of Monday, the fire has burned 138,844 acres and is 90% contained. Previously known as the Lee and Grease Fire, the blaze has surpassed the 416 Fire (2018), the West Fork Fire (2013), the Missionary Ridge Fire (2002), and the High Park Fire (2012) in size after scorching more than 100,000 acres of land in just eight days, according to fire officials. Severe drought conditions combined with several days of red flag warnings along Col...
CU Boulder Shelter-In-Place Lifted After Swatting Hoax Causes Panic
Local, Approved, DENVER7

CU Boulder Shelter-In-Place Lifted After Swatting Hoax Causes Panic

By Sydney Isenberg | Denver7 Monday's incident is the latest in a string of false reports that have impacted universities across the country over the past few days. BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado Boulder is the latest university to receive a fake active shooter report, triggering a campus-wide shelter-in-place order Monday evening. Just before 5 p.m., the university ordered everyone on its campus to shelter in place due to "police activity" near Norlin Library. Police were initially investigating reports that shots had been fired near the library. At 5:40 p.m., CUPD said it was investigating a "potential swatting situation," and officers had cleared Sewell Hall. The main campus was placed under a shelter-in-place order, including Norlin Library and Sewall Hall. ...
Father and son among six victims of deadly Keenesburg dairy accident
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Father and son among six victims of deadly Keenesburg dairy accident

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 The Weld County Coroner's Office released the identity of the six people who likely died from lethal exposure to a toxic gas on Wednesday. KEENESBURG, Colo. — The Weld County Coroner's Office on Friday released the identities of the six people killed at a dairy earlier this week, as questions remain about the deadly accident in Keenesburg. Six people, including a high school student and his father, died in what Weld County authorities initially called a “dairy accident” at a dairy at Prospect Ranch. The victims are all male, and their ages range from 17 to 50. Denver7 continues to learn more about the victims of the deadly accident, who were identified as follows. Oscar Espinoza Leos, 17, of Nunn 17-year-old Oscar Espinoza Leos was a student a...
Colorado Lawmakers Act to Preserve Medicaid Access to Planned Parenthood
State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado Lawmakers Act to Preserve Medicaid Access to Planned Parenthood

By: Robert Garrison | Denver7 Republicans opposed the measure, citing the state’s $1.2 billion budget shortfall. DENVER — Democrats in the Colorado House of Representatives on Sunday passed Senate Bill 25B-2, which would restore Medicaid funding, using state money, for reproductive health care providers, namely Planned Parenthood. The 43-19 party-line vote comes after Republicans in Congress passed what is dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which excluded Planned Parenthood from federal Medicaid reimbursement for reproductive health care services. Existing federal law prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for most abortion-related services. SB 25B-2 aims to preserve access to services like cancer screenings, STI testing, and birth control consultations for Medicaid recipie...
Two Cherry Creek High School seniors file ballot measure for automatic admission of top 10 percent grads
DENVER7, Approved, State

Two Cherry Creek High School seniors file ballot measure for automatic admission of top 10 percent grads

By Adria Iraheta | Denver7 Initiative 81 aims to automatically admit the top 10% of graduates from every Colorado high school to state colleges and universities based on GPA. DENVER — Two Cherry Creek High School seniors are spearheading a proposed 2026 ballot measure that would automatically admit the top 10% of high school graduates to state colleges and universities. Starting senior year of high school can sometimes feel like a whirlwind. “You have to write your own college applications, prep for that, get all your homework done, keep your grades up,” said Cherry Creek High School senior Kiran Herz. But Herz and his classmate Jaiden Hwang are now adding another big project to their endless list of extracurriculars and admissions essays – they’re also trying to introduce a...
Griswold vows to defend Colorado mail-in voting from Trump’s America First agenda
DENVER7, Approved, State

Griswold vows to defend Colorado mail-in voting from Trump’s America First agenda

By Micah Smith | Denver7 DENVER – Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has vowed to fight a potential executive order from President Donald Trump that would eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines. On Monday morning, President Trump made a post on social media that reads in part, "I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNT...
Colorado’s largest TdA gang bust exposes murder-for-hire and international drug pipeline
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Colorado’s largest TdA gang bust exposes murder-for-hire and international drug pipeline

By Joe Vaccarelli, Landon Haaf | Denver7 The massive investigation included roughly 40 undercover operations over 10 months and also unearthed a "barbaric" murder-for-hire plot. DENVER — What was described as “the biggest investigation” of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua in the country unfolded in Colorado over the past 10 months, federal officials announced on Monday, netting 30 indictments of people allegedly involved in drug and weapons trafficking and a “barbaric” murder-for-hire plot. U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said Monday that investigators estimated three TdA leaders, five alleged members and “numerous” associates of the gang were charged in the operation. The investigation started in October of 2024 when the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office started looking i...