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Immigrants buoys Denver schools’ enrollment by 200 to 250 students each week
Approved, Denver Metro, denvergazette.com, Local

Immigrants buoys Denver schools’ enrollment by 200 to 250 students each week

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette The number of immigrants arriving in Denver may have slowed, but Denver Public Schools, which has struggled with declining enrollment for years, is seeing a steady pace of new students each week. And district staffers warned during the board’s regular meeting on Thursday that, if the enrollment numbers continue to climb, budget "adjustments" may arise this year and next. That could potentially mean cuts.    The district saw roughly 300 students enroll since its last update in January. This time last school year, the district had 82,401 students, according to a district update on Thursday. Now, the district has 84,327 students. READ THE FULL STORY IN THE DENVER GAZETTE
Yuma District Hospital will draw on reserve fund to cover $2.5M operating loss
Approved, Eastern Plains, Local, Yuma Pioneer

Yuma District Hospital will draw on reserve fund to cover $2.5M operating loss

By Yuma Pioneer Yuma District Hospital has been authorized by the board of directors to access up to $2 million of the district’s investments to help cover operations cost. The move came during the YDH Board’s regular monthly meeting on January 24. Interim CEO Ted Beckman made the request to board members Monica King, Mitch Korf, Delaina Klein and De Ann Rawson Sewell. Board member Robert Dorothy was absent. It had been addressed earlier in the meeting when an employee voiced her concerns about the hospital district operating at a $2.5 million loss. She added she was anxious to hear where the the process is in regards to hiring a permanent CEO. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE YUMA PIONEER
Study: $95K income is ‘lower middle class’ in Denver
Approved, Denver Metro, kdvr.com, Local

Study: $95K income is ‘lower middle class’ in Denver

BY Maddie Rhodes | KDVR-TV It takes a lot more money to be considered anything above the lower middle class in the Mile High City. In Denver, making $95,000 a year isn’t enough to break you out of the lower middle class, according to a new study – but it is close. GOBankingRates researched the 100 largest cities in the U.S. and found the median household incomes for those cities. The study then followed the Pew Research Center’s definition of middle-class income as “two-thirds to double” the median income of an area. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR-TV
Meet ‘The Good Ol’ Boys’ Club of Douglas County, where you can ‘throw your two cents in’
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Meet ‘The Good Ol’ Boys’ Club of Douglas County, where you can ‘throw your two cents in’

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice CASTLE ROCK – There’s no mollycoddles or wallflowers allowed. But just about anything else goes. In a back room of the Castle Cafe here once a week meets a group of like-minded men from a variety of professional backgrounds known as ‘The Good Ol’ Boys’. Now, this isn’t Bo and Luke Duke, and Boss Hogg is no where to be found, mind you. Cigar smoke doesn’t fill the air and no one is running illegal moonshine. No, in fact, most of the members of this club might have trouble sliding across the hood of a 1969 Dodge Charger. These Good Ol’ Boys meet weekly to hear from candidates for office, other subjects, and in general to reach conservative solutions on the big issues of the day. “We may all be retired – or most of us – but that doesn’...
Metro District board member recalled in special election amid complaints of ‘verbal abuse and physical intimidation’
Approved, Denver Metro, kdvr.com, Local

Metro District board member recalled in special election amid complaints of ‘verbal abuse and physical intimidation’

By Heather Willard | KDVR-TV DENVER (KDVR) — According to the unofficial vote tally published by the Denver Office of the Clerk and Recorder, a reportedly contentious board member of the Ebert Metropolitan District Board of Directors has been recalled and replaced. Murray Hawthorne, treasurer and board member for the Ebert Metro District, was described in a recall petition as someone who “does not represent or respect Ebert residents.” The petition further claimed a pattern of verbal abuse and physical intimidation from Hawthorne to residents. Hawthorne protested the recall election on Nov. 29, 2023. The protest was dismissed and the recall election date was set for Feb. 13, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR-TV
Denver Coliseum to act as 24/7 severe weather shelter through Feb. 16
Approved, DENVER7, Downtown Denver, Local

Denver Coliseum to act as 24/7 severe weather shelter through Feb. 16

By Claire Lavezzorio | Denver7 DENVER — The City of Denver opened the Denver Coliseum as a 24/7 severe weather shelter Friday afternoon, allowing those experiencing homelessness to escape the cold and snow for an extended period of time. The Coliseum, located at 4600 N Humboldt Street, will remain open until 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 16. People in need can go directly to the Coliseum. The city said this shelter is best suited for individuals, not families. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVER7
Homeless kids on rural Eastern Plains have few resources, no shelters
Approved, Eastern Plains, Local, The Sentinel

Homeless kids on rural Eastern Plains have few resources, no shelters

By Rae Solomon and KUNC | Aurora Sentinel On a broad commercial drag in rural Fort Morgan, Colo., there’s an aging roadside motel with a yellowed sign out front advertising vacancies at daily and weekly rates. But it’s no longer a functioning motel in the traditional sense, so much as a pay-as-you-go refuge for locals who have nowhere else to call home. Marygrace Lankhorst and her husband, Lonnie Walker, are among the residents. By the time a major cold snap hit the region in mid-January, they’d been living at the motel for about two and a half months. Their room was small and crammed full of possessions – suitcases, boxes of food, bags of clothing and various treasures rescued from the alleyways of Fort Morgan. A microwave next to the TV served as the kitchen. READ THE FULL ST...
Homicide investigation underway at UCCS campus Friday
Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, El Paso County, Local

Homicide investigation underway at UCCS campus Friday

By Abbey Soukup | Colorado Springs Gazette A homicide investigation is underway at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus following reports of shots fired early Friday morning, according to Colorado Springs police.  Sgt. Ward with the department's Stetson Hills division said a call of shots fired came in at roughly 6:11 a.m. Friday. As of 7:11 a.m., the department's homicide unit was making its way to the scene.  🚨Happening now🚨CSPD is on scene on a death investigation. This is not an active shooter situation. A partial shelter in place is still in effect for the UCCS Campus as the investigation continues. The campus will be closed for the remainder of the day. https://t.co/zwmiGxYC4T— Colorado Springs Police Department (@CSPDPIO) February 16, 2024 READ ...
It’s official: Amache National Historic Site in Southeast Colorado ensures federal protection for former Japanese American incarceration camp
Approved, Local, National, Southern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

It’s official: Amache National Historic Site in Southeast Colorado ensures federal protection for former Japanese American incarceration camp

By Kevin Simpson | Colorado Sun Nearly two years after legislation designated the site of Colorado’s Granada War Relocation Center — also known as Camp Amache — part of the National Park System, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Thursday formally closed the deal that creates Amache National Historic Site, ensuring federal protection for the grounds where more than 10,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Details surrounding Granada’s official acquisition and donation of the land were recently finalized to clear the way for the National Park Service to assume management of the site, which sits on nearly one square mile just outside of the southeastern Colorado town. Amache opened in 1942 and closed in 1945. It was the smallest of 10 suc...
Denver has helped 40,000 migrants while Colorado Springs counts 24 families. Does being a sanctuary city matter that much?
Approved, Denver Metro, Local, Southern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

Denver has helped 40,000 migrants while Colorado Springs counts 24 families. Does being a sanctuary city matter that much?

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun El Paso County commissioners, voices amplified by a microphone, left no room for misinterpretation: Migrants are not welcome in Colorado Springs.  “Keep going. Find a sanctuary city,” Commissioner Carrie Geitner said two weeks ago during a hastily called news conference after a few South American migrants arrived at a church-run shelter. “They asked for those folks to come to their cities. Find one of those. That’s where they should go.” About a week later and an hour up the highway, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was quoting from the Statue of Liberty: “Please, send us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” he said, even as he announced budget cuts brought on by housing and feeding migrants. “These are folks yearning to breathe ...