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Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent
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Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent

By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  It is said there is no such thing as a free lunch.  One small school district in Pueblo, Colorado, recently learned that a free lunch can be served with a side of community outrage. When the Pueblo D70 Board of Education unanimously voted in March of 2024 to “accept” a significant in-kind gift of $700,000 from the organization TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students), did they realize what they were implementing in district classrooms?  D70 accepted a “gift” of controversial psychosocial educational content, financed and promoted by multi-million-dollar non-governmental organizations dedicated to transforming the world through social change.    The...
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Former El Paso County public defender pleads not guilty to sexual assault of a 14-year-old
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Former El Paso County public defender pleads not guilty to sexual assault of a 14-year-old

By Mackenzie Bodell | Denver Gazette A former El Paso County public defender accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old pleaded not guilty in the 4th Judicial District on Thursday. Thomas Cushing, 26, was arrested Nov. 22, 2024, and faces one count of sexual assault against a child, according to court records. An affidavit for Cushing’s arrest indicates he met with the victim on two different occasions for sexual intercourse. The document also states the victim told Cushing that she was 18 years old, but made it clear she was a high school student still living with her legal guardians. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Denver kills camera contract over ICE fears, leaving crime-fighting tools off the table
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Denver kills camera contract over ICE fears, leaving crime-fighting tools off the table

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — On May 5, the Denver City Council failed to approve a contract extension with Flock, a tech surveillance company that has been contracted to provide over 100 license plate readers around the county. The city first contracted with Flock in March 2023, with the original agreement lasting through the end of this February. The amendment would have extended the contract by another two years for $666,000. The original contract cost the city $339,450, but the cost wasn’t the main reason why council members voted no. Instead, the members cited privacy concerns, questioning who has access to the data as Denver continues to remain in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration for so-called “sanctuary laws.” Members worried that ...
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Judge denies motion to dismiss in Colorado Springs ‘hate crime hoax’ case
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Judge denies motion to dismiss in Colorado Springs ‘hate crime hoax’ case

By Celeste Springer | KRDO COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - It's been six months since three people were indicted after allegedly staging a hate crime to help a Black Colorado Springs candidate, Mayor Yemi Mobolade, win an election. On Friday, a judge denied a motion to dismiss, signalling that the case will move forward and ultimately be heard by a jury. In April 2023, just before the Colorado Springs mayoral election, video of a burning cross in front of then-candidate Yemi Mobolade's campaign sign was sent to media outlets. The sign had also been painted with the "n-word." The event was thought to be a racially motivated attack on Mobolade, who was a Black candidate running against a white opponent. According to court records, investigators believe Derrick Berna...
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Writing to remember and reconcile: Colorado Springs Rescue Mission marks Mother’s Day with purpose
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Writing to remember and reconcile: Colorado Springs Rescue Mission marks Mother’s Day with purpose

By Debbie Kelley | Denver Gazette Unspoken words flowed from head to heart to paper Thursday, with messages that are being sent from Colorado Springs to communities across the nation, or from earth to heaven. As Mother’s Day approaches, homeless people staying at the city’s largest emergency shelter and support campus wrote greeting cards with personal sentiments expressing thanksgiving, fond memories, forgiveness, regret, repentance and above all, their love to the women who gave them life. “I most want to tell her that we miss her so much,” said Sherry Kirkendall, who for the second year will observe Mother’s Day without her mom, who also was homeless at the time of her death in February 2024. “We were close,” she said, tearfully. “It’s been kind of tough. She was a rock, a f...
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First American pope elected: Denver Catholics react with hope and caution
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First American pope elected: Denver Catholics react with hope and caution

By Hanna Powers | KDVR.COM DENVER (KDVR) — For the first time in history, the leader of the Catholic Church is from the United States. At Regis University, a Jesuit school in Denver, students and faculty reflected on the election of Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago. “I’m truly surprised, I did not expect to have an American Pope in my lifetime,” said Kari Kloos, interim vice president for mission at Regis University. “I am very pleasantly surprised and also relieved,” said Alexandra Walker, a senior at Regis. Pope Leo XIV is being called a “pope for the modern world.” He speaks several languages and is known for emphasizing compassion and connection. “I found it really heartwarming and emotional that in his speech, he switched from Itali...
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Mail carrier admits to ballot theft, voter fraud in Mesa County election case
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Mail carrier admits to ballot theft, voter fraud in Mesa County election case

By Mark Steffen | Trending Politics A Colorado U.S. postal worker has pleaded guilty to trying to rig the 2024 election, according to prosecutors who announced they reached a deal that may involve prison time. The absurd case involved Vicki Stuart, a 64-year-old former employee of the U.S. Postal Service who on Monday admitted to forgery and identify theft in an attempt to steal ballots and cast votes in the names of other Americans during the 2024 election. Stuart had been charged with 34 counts in connection with her ballot theft scheme, according to Colorado Public Radio. She and another woman in Mesa County allegedly stole dozens of mail-in ballots as they passed through her truck, opening and filling them out for their preferred candidate rather than delivering them to their ...
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The $5 million shadow ledger: Pueblo Democrats’ HQ funded by bingo, not disclosed in filings
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The $5 million shadow ledger: Pueblo Democrats’ HQ funded by bingo, not disclosed in filings

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A building paid for with bingo money. A political party using it as their headquarters. And more than $5 million in unreported financial activity that, to date, no one has answered for. That’s the core of Pueblo resident Jonathan Ambler’s ongoing legal challenge against the Pueblo County Democratic Party and its Central Committee. Ambler, a former Republican candidate, filed two complaints last fall alleging the party used a bingo-funded building for years without reporting it in TRACER. After the Colorado Secretary of State dismissed both complaints in April, Ambler – without an attorney – petitioned the Denver District Court for judicial review. "If political activities are occurring at the building – and the Party itself refers to it as...
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Gimelshteyn: CPAN files federal complaint over D70’s deceptive TRAILS program violating rights
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Gimelshteyn: CPAN files federal complaint over D70’s deceptive TRAILS program violating rights

By Lori Gimelshteyn | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 25th, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) filed a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), urging an investigation into Pueblo County School District 70 (D70) and its use of the “Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students Social Emotional Learning” (TRAILS) program.  Our complaint is a direct response to the district’s reckless decision to embed this program into classrooms without parental consent, without transparency, and in direct violation of federal law. TRAILS, which was deceptively marketed as a “gift” to the district, is directly connected to the Tides Foundation, a radical political nonprofit. Under TRAILS,...
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