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Grand Junction still seeking answers to homeless issue, following drug arrests at resource center
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Grand Junction still seeking answers to homeless issue, following drug arrests at resource center

By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice When the Grand Junction City Council was forming their plan in 2023 to find temporary shelters for the approximately 2,300 homeless people who were living in the streets, members of the community had multiple concerns about the potential problems with the proposed housing. One of those concerns was the illegal use of drugs inherent to many in the homeless population.  On Aug. 22, 2024, the Grand Junction City Council approved changes to city zoning and created a process to establish places for temporary housing shelters in non-residential and mixed-use areas of town. At the time, the Council decided not to approve tents or safe parking places, although those options had been considered in earlier discussions. They were not a...
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U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert listens to Western Slope leaders on energy, water and land use 
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U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert listens to Western Slope leaders on energy, water and land use 

By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice Meet Bryce and Lisa Casto, sixth-generation ranchers on the Western Slope, who are worried that the Dolores Monument designation will close their roads and leave them unable to care for their livestock.  Bryce understands the importance of local communities managing the land around them. “When it's locally controlled, we control it better because we will harvest whatever can be harvested," he said. "It's close to home, so we want to make sure we're taken care of.”  Their livelihood depends on the very issues discussed at Colorado Mesa University on Oct. 5 with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, during a listening session in which participants were encouraged to bring their concerns — and those of many like them — to the foref...
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Kalam: Denver’s double standard on immigration policy
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Approved, Commentary, gazette.com, Local

Kalam: Denver’s double standard on immigration policy

By Ahnaf Kalam | Commentary, The Gazette Denver, with its progressive credentials, decided not long ago that it would be a sanctuary city — proudly throwing open its gates to the world’s downtrodden. The rhetoric was lofty: a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and justice for those who had the misfortune of being born on the wrong side of international borders. It was a stance seemingly forged in moral superiority, one that the city could proudly broadcast to other, less “enlightened” parts of the nation. However, in reality, the story has been quite different. Since the Biden administration took office, more than 20 million people have crossed the southern border — many illegally. Denver, like so many other sanctuary cities, quickly found itself woefully unprepared for the influx. ...
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‘Impossible to fully grieve:’ A year after the gruesome Return to Nature discovery, the pain remains
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‘Impossible to fully grieve:’ A year after the gruesome Return to Nature discovery, the pain remains

By Zachary Dupont and Stephanie Earls | Denver Gazette By a shaded swoop of sidewalk in Colorado Springs’ Bear Creek Park, where the drone of nearby traffic disappears under the burble of brook and rustle of leaves, is a tranquil, unfinished, memorial honoring the victims of one of the most gruesome crimes ever to rock the American funeral industry. The small plaque affixed to the back of the metal bench likely isn’t enough to spur recall in the unaware who wander by this tiny oasis across from the El Paso County Parks & Recreation administrative offices. For more than 1,100 families, forgetting the gruesome acts of Jon and Carie Hallford, of Return to Nature Funeral Home, will never be an option. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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[UPDATED] Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters given 9-year sentence by judge
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[UPDATED] Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters given 9-year sentence by judge

By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice Judge Matthew Barrett has sentenced Tina Peters, once the Mesa County clerk and recorder, to serve eight and a half years in prison with the Department of Corrections, and six months in the Mesa County Jail as a result of being found guilty on various election charges related to her former capacity. In a scathing rebuke of her defiant behavior after a guilty conviction, Barrett listed all the reasons that probation was not a possibility for Peters: “You are no hero… Yes, you are a charlatan… Incarceration is appropriate when a person is a danger to us all, by sword or by pen,” he said from the bench. Peters' attorney, Michael Edministor, asked the judge to consider a probated sentence, considering his client had exhibited a his...
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In Grand Junction, residents debate whether pilot project is promising solution or problem multiplier
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In Grand Junction, residents debate whether pilot project is promising solution or problem multiplier

By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice The 4th/5th Street Pilot Project in Grand Junction has sparked a public outcry. City officials call the project a step toward a friendlier downtown for pedestrians and cyclists, but many residents feel it has done more harm than good. The city of Grand Junction launched Engage GJ for community input on projects. As of this article, 286 comments are on the 4th and 5th Street Pilot Project page. A majority, 205 comments are critical of the project on three fronts: access for the elderly and disabled, safety and impact on local businesses. Many expressed concerns about the pilot project's impact on their access to vital downtown services. They argue that the changes on 4th and 5th streets are confusing. They make it harder to naviga...
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El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrests two in human trafficking investigation
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El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrests two in human trafficking investigation

By Mackenzie Bodell  | The Gazette The El Paso County Sheriff's Office arrested two individuals on human trafficking charges Wednesday following a 911 call from Colorado Ped Patrol. Patrol deputies responded to the call at the 600 block of Hathaway Drive in the Cimarron Hills neighborhood of unincorporated El Paso County and made contact with the reporting party, according to a news release sent out Thursday. Based on the initial information gathered, detectives from the sheriff’s office responded and assumed the investigation. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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Colorado Springs releases preliminary changes to Council district boundaries
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Colorado Springs releases preliminary changes to Council district boundaries

By Breeanna Jent | Colorado Politics, via The Gazette A preliminary map of new boundaries for each of Colorado Springs' six City Council districts accounts for anticipated continued growth on the city's north and northeast sides. District 2, the city's northernmost district, and District 6, the northeast and eastern district, will shrink to account for expected future population growth in both districts, City Clerk Sarah Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "... We know that over the next four years it's just going to get bigger in some places in town. So the focus was really just trying to take a look at where that growth is happening and try to balance that population," she said. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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21-year-old arrested for shooting into crowd of late-night auto-enthusiasts in Greeley
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21-year-old arrested for shooting into crowd of late-night auto-enthusiasts in Greeley

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 News A 21-year-old man was arrested after reportedly shooting into a crowd of nearly 60 people in Greeley in the early morning hours Monday. Police said no one was hit by the gunfire, but one person is now under arrest. According to the Greeley Police Department, officers patrolled 36th Avenue and 10th Street at about 12:11 a.m. to ensure a group of auto enthusiasts kept the large gathering safe and legal. There are a few large parking lots in the area, which is about a block away from Bittersweet Lake. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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Natural Grocers says theft, safety issues behind closure of Colfax Avenue location in Denver
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Natural Grocers says theft, safety issues behind closure of Colfax Avenue location in Denver

By Tori Mason | CBS Colorado Natural Grocers will close its downtown Denver store at the corner of Colfax and Washington at the end of the month. The company says the decision was made after careful consideration of its operating challenges, including theft and safety issues. The store is located in a crime hotspot for the Denver Police Department. A Walmart further east on Colfax in Aurora also closed this year for issues related to crime. In a statement, Kemper Isely, Co-President of Natural Grocers, said: "We have been actively working to address the theft and safety issues impacting our store at Colfax and Washington for some time. Despite our investment in security and loss prevention strategies over the years, these factors have continued to challenge our ability t...
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