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Brauchler: Probation for child rape in Colorado? Yes, really
Approved, Commentary, gazette.com

Brauchler: Probation for child rape in Colorado? Yes, really

By George Brauchler | Commentary, The Gazette In Colorado, a man who rapes a child — as long as it is just once — can get probation. As in, walk right out of the courtroom after conviction. But it is much worse than that. If that same man goes on to rape nine other children, as long as he only rapes them each once, that child rapist is also eligible for probation. That statement remains true even if the child rapist is a teacher, member of clergy, sports coach or any other person in a position of trust in relation to those children. That outcome should never happen again. Colorado’s offender-friendly Legislature has shown no interest in providing the promise of prison for child rapists. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary ...
Speed cameras coming to Colorado roadways amid doubling of construction-zone deaths in 2024
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Speed cameras coming to Colorado roadways amid doubling of construction-zone deaths in 2024

By Mackenzie Bodell | The Gazette The state’s latest effort to crack down on speeding and reduce traffic fatalities comes amid an alarming increase in construction-zone deaths, which nearly doubled in 2024. The Colorado Department of Transportation released preliminary data from 2024 that reflects a roughly 5% decrease in traffic fatalities overall compared to 2023. Continued efforts by CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol hope to further reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by 22.5% by 2027, as part of Gov. Jared Polis’ overall safety goal for Colorado. Statewide construction-zone deaths totaled 31 in 2024, up 94% from the previous year, which saw 16. In El Paso County alone, 13 construction-zone deaths were reported. Four of those fatalities were in...
Sandhill cranes making much-anticipated return to San Luis Valley
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Sandhill cranes making much-anticipated return to San Luis Valley

By Seth Boster | The Gazette One of Colorado's most anticipated natural phenomena is about to get underway. Sandhill cranes start flying into the San Luis Valley this month for their annual stopover. The majestic birds — long-legged with 6-foot wingspans, guttural songs and dances beloved by legions of admirers — arrive from wintering nests in the southwest U.S. and Mexico. En route to the northern Rockies and plains, tens of thousands of cranes are known to "spring break" in the barley fields and wetlands spanning this southern Colorado valley framed by the Sangre de Cristo peaks. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
So. Colorado sheriffs, officials support SB047, allowing law enforcement to work with ICE
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So. Colorado sheriffs, officials support SB047, allowing law enforcement to work with ICE

By O’Dell Isaac | The Gazette A group of Colorado law enforcement and elected officials on Monday spoke in support of upcoming legislation that would increase their ability to work with the Department of Immigration Control and Enforcement in the prosecution of violent criminals living in the U.S. illegally. El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell and U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank held a news conference at the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office as part of an effort to galvanize public support for Senate Bill 25-047, Enforcement of Federal Immigration Law, which would repeal existing Colorado immigration laws that Roybal called “anti-public safety.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
Apartment construction in Colorado Springs slowed to lowest in a decade in 2024
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Apartment construction in Colorado Springs slowed to lowest in a decade in 2024

By WAYNE HEILMAN  | The Gazette The red-hot pace of Colorado Springs-area apartment construction turned ice cold last year. From 2019 to 2023, multifamily developers pulled permits to build just over 14,000 apartments in the Springs and surrounding El Paso County — one of the hottest stretches of local apartment construction in recent memory that averaged a little more than 2,800 units a year, according to recent and historical Pikes Peak Regional Building Department figures. Developers, however, did an about-face in 2024 and took out permits to build just 838 apartments — a nearly two-thirds drop when compared with the previous year and the fewest since 2015. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
New El Paso County coroner taking a ‘behind the scenes’ role in contrast to predecessor
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New El Paso County coroner taking a ‘behind the scenes’ role in contrast to predecessor

By Savannah Eller | The Gazette Dr. Emily Russell-Kinsley didn’t always want to be a forensic pathologist, but unlike most middle schoolers, she did know what the title meant. Growing up in an Oklahoma family of physicians, she was a grade-school fan of the popular series of crime novels by Patricia Cornwell following Virginia medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. Scarpetta, victim of her main-character status, is constantly in the crosshairs of fictional bad guys. That kind of attention, even more than the duties entailed by the job, put Russell-Kinsley off the profession as a child. She has always been a self-described behind-the-scenes person. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
Colorado Springs-based figure skaters befriended airline crash victims at Wichita camp
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Colorado Springs-based figure skaters befriended airline crash victims at Wichita camp

By Brent Briggeman | The Gazette Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport is small. The U.S. Figure Skating community, at its top levels, is even smaller. So when a national development camp for up-and-coming skaters wrapped up on Wednesday, the competitors and coaches arrived at the airport around the same time and used the extra time to chat and say goodbyes from nearby spots in the 10-gate airport. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
Disgraceful, discriminatory hiring — by CU
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Disgraceful, discriminatory hiring — by CU

By The Gazette Editorial board, Commentary Colorado’s most prominent higher-ed institution, the University of Colorado system, has discreetly changed the name of the office that oversees its controversial “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs — i.e., institutionalized discrimination. It’s as if CU wanted the change to fly under the radar. The new name, the Office of Collaboration, is vague enough to escape notice. And it wasn’t publicized through an official announcement; it was outed on X by a user who presumably didn’t speak for the CU system. When The Gazette pressed CU’s front office for details, a spokesperson referred our news staffer to a page on the university’s website that the spokesperson said was “all the comment we’ll be making on this at this time.” The webpage ...
Colorado Springs church vandalized for the fourth time in six months
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Colorado Springs church vandalized for the fourth time in six months

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette Emily Bond’s first thought when she got to work on Tuesday morning was, “Oh, no! We have to get another banner. Again.” Shortly before 8 p.m. Monday night, as members of the Out Loud Men’s Chorus were rehearsing inside First Congregational Church in downtown Colorado Springs, a neighbor’s video cam captured two cars pulling up, and six individuals jumping out and ripping down a large, rainbow-colored banner that for years has hung in the church portico. Oversized lettering on the banner reads: “A Just World for All.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
Federal workforce in Colorado receives resignation emails in Trump’s buyout plan
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Federal workforce in Colorado receives resignation emails in Trump’s buyout plan

By Mary Shinn | The Gazette Across Colorado, tens of thousands of employees received emails asking them to resign Tuesday, as part of President Donald Trump's effort to reshape the federal workforce that has received fierce pushback from unions. While most Department of Defense employees did not receive the email with the subject line "Fork in the Road," they went out to Defense Health Agency employees who work on military bases in Colorado Springs. One of the largest employers locally within the DHA is Evans Army Community Hospital on Fort Carson, with 2,300 military service members and civilians.  The offers to resign also went out to employees who work on public lands, such as the Forest Service, National Parks Service and Bureau of Land Management. Across the state, there...

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