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Pickens Technical College signed a disability agreement. Then dismissed the student.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Pickens Technical College signed a disability agreement. Then dismissed the student.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Some mornings, she didn't know how she got to where she was. A Colorado Springs woman who asked to remain anonymous — referred to here as CSW — had been an EMT for more than a decade, a career she began while volunteering with a fire department. She shared dozens of emails documenting her case with RMV. What she was experiencing on the hour-long drive to Pickens Technical College in Aurora felt like a medical emergency of its own. Nodding off at the wheel. Reaction time slowed. Her sleep neurologist had documented a working diagnosis.  All she needed was to attend lectures by video on the days she couldn't safely make the drive. Pickens told her it wasn't possible. It was. A pregnant classmate had been allow...
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Grand Junction Pays Tribute to Three Firefighters Lost in Snyder Fire
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Grand Junction Pays Tribute to Three Firefighters Lost in Snyder Fire

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The three firefighters killed in the Snyder Fire west of Grand Junction last month were remembered and honored during a memorial service Sunday. Federal firefighters Emily Barker, 38, Nick Hutcherson, 27, and Sydney Watson, 27, were killed June 27 fighting the more than 30,000-acre wildfire on the Colorado-Utah state line. Authorities said they were trying to shield themselves from flames by deploying tent-like shelters when they were overcome. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Cherry Creek School District Withholds Itemized Legal Invoices After $65K Investigation
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Cherry Creek School District Withholds Itemized Legal Invoices After $65K Investigation

By: Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics After previously refusing to disclose the cost associated with the investigation into the former superintendent and his wife, the former human resources chief, Cherry Creek School District officials partially released records showing the cost to taxpayers: $65,054.85. The Denver Gazette obtained “invoice cover sheets” through a June 12 Colorado Open Records Act request seeking — among other things — invoices, billing records or payment records related to the investigation. Caitlin Holzfaster, the district’s records custodian,denied a similar request on May 15, claiming that descriptions could reveal attorney-client privileged information, legal advice or litigation strategy. Abbe Smith, a district spokesperson...
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Lawsuit Alleges DPS Violated Constitution With Race Based School Board Map
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Lawsuit Alleges DPS Violated Constitution With Race Based School Board Map

By: Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette A civil rights law firm based out of Virginia has filed a lawsuit against Denver Public Schools, alleging Colorado’s largest school district redrew its five district seats with an “illegal racial intent” that violates the Fifteenth Amendment. Filed in U.S. District Court by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief for alleged violations of the Fifteenth Amendment under the Voting Rights Act. “By DPS’ own admission — during the public hearing process — the school district lines were deliberately drawn to engineer racial outcomes in Districts 2 and 4,” the complaint alleges. “DPS intentionally and brazenly drew district boundaries to ensure Black and Latino racia...
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Principles over popularity: Lessons from the Declaration of Independence for Douglas County Schools
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Principles over popularity: Lessons from the Declaration of Independence for Douglas County Schools

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Douglas County School District (DCSD) board members will be deciding later this year whether to resume formal collective bargaining with the Douglas County Federation (a local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers), and a primary deciding factor will be the results of a survey of teachers and staff.  This follows union pressure earlier in 2026 and comes after years of the federation advocating for a return to a contract model. The political composition of the DCSD school board has shifted back and forth over the decades, reflecting the community’s own evolving priorities. In 2012, a reform-minded board allowed the long-standing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to expire, moving the district to operat...
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Volunteers bring America’s 250th birthday party to Grand Junction’s fairgrounds
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Volunteers bring America’s 250th birthday party to Grand Junction’s fairgrounds

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice July 4 has always meant fireworks in Grand Junction. This year, a group of local volunteers think it should mean something more. Liberty on the Lawn – America 250 comes to Mesa County Fairgrounds/Lions Club Park on July 4, noon to 7 p.m. It's free. Bring a chair, a cooler and the kids. Austin Dewitt, the event's coordinator, had one goal going into it. "I wanted Liberty on the Lawn to be more than just another Fourth of July celebration,” he told RMV. “I wanted to create something that brings people together, honors America's 250th birthday, and reminds us that even with different backgrounds and perspectives, we share a lot more in common than we often realize." How it came together About a dozen community membe...
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Federal Officials Say Jeffco Must Change Transgender Policies or Lose Federal Funds
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Federal Officials Say Jeffco Must Change Transgender Policies or Lose Federal Funds

By: Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette The U.S. Department of Education on Friday warned Jeffco Public Schools it has 10 days to correct alleged Title IX violations over the Colorado district’s transgender policy or lose federal funding. The Notice of Impending Action is the latest development in an ongoing saga between the district and the federal government that started last year, when the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights started an investigation into Jeffco over alleged Title IX violations relating to the district’s policies regarding transgender students. The results of the investigation, released in March, alleged that the district had 61 “male students” participating in girls’ sports and allowed access to restrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations bas...
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Repeated Brush Fires Near Aurora RTD Station Spark Arson Investigation
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Repeated Brush Fires Near Aurora RTD Station Spark Arson Investigation

By Michael Abeyta | CBS Colorado Over the last two weeks, fires have popped up in an open space area in the eastern part of the Denver metro area very close to homes. Aurora Fire Rescue says they are being investigated as intentionally set fires. The fires are happening near RTD's Dayton Station just north of Interstate 225. Aurora Fire says they and the Denver Fire Department have responded to several vegetation fires in the area recently because the City of Aurora, City of Denver and City of Greenwood Village share jurisdictional boundaries around the RTD station. Aurora investigators believe the first fire happened around 5 p.m. on June 10. On that day there were two or three separate fires burning. The most recent incident was a fire on Friday June 19. There...
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Jefferson County Brothers Accused of Stealing $12 Million From Medicaid Program
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Jefferson County Brothers Accused of Stealing $12 Million From Medicaid Program

By: Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette Two Jefferson County men have been indicted on a slew of charges alleging they fraudulently obtained $12 million from Medicaid. James Andrew Heath, 33 and Jared Parker Heath, 37, were indicted on June 12 in Denver District Court. They are accused of defrauding Colorado’s Medicaid optical program by falsely billing Medicaid for glasses and other materials through their business QuickSpex LLC, according to a news release from Attorney General Phil Weiser. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Boulder prepares for Sundance as housing rules face a real-world test
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, Local

Boulder prepares for Sundance as housing rules face a real-world test

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado There are few things more satisfying to watch than socialists getting mugged by reality. The Sundance Film Festival is invading my hometown of Boulder early next year. Sundance drew 85,000 attendees last year in Park City, Utah. Boulder’s hotel room inventory is about 2,900. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when Hollywood’s anti-capitalist elite collide with basic supply and demand, we’re about to find out. When things don’t go as planned, the planner-class doubles down on its religion: more planning. When restrictions, rules, permits and fees don’t produce the desired outcome, more restrictions, rules, permits and fees are needed. Sundance is an event for and by well-heeled, artsy, socialist elites. So, Boulder is perfe...
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