Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Local

HGTV Can’t Save Small Town America. Fort Morgan Proves it.
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

HGTV Can’t Save Small Town America. Fort Morgan Proves it.

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice When HGTV came to Fort Morgan in 2023, we were promised a makeover, a shot at national attention, fresh energy, and maybe even prosperity. The pitch was simple: if a camera crew and a few celebrity designers could just spruce up our Main Street, our town would suddenly be “revived.” For a few weeks, it felt real. The Queen Lounge looked sharp. The Rainbow Bridge sparkled with new signage. Crowds packed into Mosqueda Delicacies for ice cream. Fort Morgan was on national TV, and that was supposed to mean something. But now, two years later, the cameras are gone, and the reality is settling in. The revival was short-lived, and the disappointment is palpable. HGTV didn’t just renovate buildings; they curated a narrative, one that fit the...
Read More
Former sheriff: Aurora officers faced dangerous chaos over weekend
No Comments
Fox31, Approved, Local

Former sheriff: Aurora officers faced dangerous chaos over weekend

By: Gabrielle Franklin | FOX31 Denver AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — Video of an officer-involved shooting was taken by someone nearby a traffic stop at the intersection of Interstate 225 and 6th Street in Aurora, Saturday night.   Rajon Belt, 37, is seen interacting with a police officer after getting out of a car that he allegedly crashed into two other vehicles during a DUI enforcement stop. “I noticed that it was a lot of chaos there because there was a wrecked car and there was some carnage in the road, and I also noticed that this suspect was continuously aggressive,” former Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. Police said there was a gun on the scene, and that Belt appeared to be walking toward it before turning to the officer. Police said Belt did not have ...
Read More
Are you racist? The Durango School Board thinks so.
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Are you racist? The Durango School Board thinks so.

By Protect La Plata Kids | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R has spent heavily on a quiet plan to bring diversity, equity and inclusion policies into local classrooms. Attached to this commentary are invoices obtained through CORA requests to the district. They show the board paid Make It Plain Consulting more than $209,000 between 2021 and 2025. A combined file of the invoices can be viewed here. What the community didn’t realize is that the board’s long-term goal was to introduce Critical Race Theory under the banner of DEI. School board directors Kristen Smith, Erika Brown and Andrea Parmenter started by pushing a new resolution for the Durango 9-R Board of Education. As of July 2025, three Federal Civil Rights Complaints were filed against D...
Read More
Pueblo County Urges Trump To Step In To Preserve Coal Plant
No Comments
Local, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Pueblo County Urges Trump To Step In To Preserve Coal Plant

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun Big economic impacts are on the line as Xcel Energy transitions from generating power at the expensive Comanche Station. The county wonders if its citizens are being punished for twice voting for Donald Trump. Pueblo County is asking the Trump administration to issue an emergency order to keep Xcel Energy’s troubled, coal-fired Comanche power station open indefinitely. Comanche’s Unit 1 was closed in 2022. Unit 2 is set to close this year and Unit 3 by 2031. By that time all of Colorado’s six remaining coal-fired plants are scheduled to be closed to meet state emissions standards. But Pueblo County, in a filing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, said it will seek relief from President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. ...
Read More
Immigration arrest lawsuit dismissed against Mesa County deputy
No Comments
Fox31, Approved, Local

Immigration arrest lawsuit dismissed against Mesa County deputy

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — A lawsuit filed against a Mesa County Sheriff’s Office deputy who may have shared information with federal agents that led to a 19-year-old Utah student’s arrest has been dropped. The case was filed by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office after Mesa County Deputy Andrew Zwinck allegedly shared details of a traffic stop in a group message that included members of Homeland Security Investigations, leading to the detention of Caroline Dias-Goncalves on June 5. Previous reporting: Mesa County Sheriff’s Office investigation finds ‘disturbing’ messages in drug chat Dias-Goncalves, 19, has no criminal record and was attending the University of Utah on a merit scholarship. In Colorado, local and state law enforcement and peace office...
Read More
Teens arrested in Colorado Springs for stolen car and fentanyl possession
No Comments
KKTV 11, Approved, Local

Teens arrested in Colorado Springs for stolen car and fentanyl possession

By Brianna Leonard | KKTV 11 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Two teenage suspects are facing several charges after a motor vehicle theft investigation. According to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), officers were investigating a stolen green 2017 Subaru on Monday. CSPD’s motor vehicle theft unit identified Carmine Frey, 18, as the driver of the vehicle. Detectives initiated a traffic stop with a marked vehicle; however, police said Frey quickly drove off. Detectives reportedly saw Frey wearing a black mask while driving away. Detectives later detained Frey in the area of North Circle Drive and Galley Road. A juvenile inside the Subaru was found to have a nationwide, no bond, warrant for his arrest for assault. According to police, the juvenile was on bond f...
Read More
FNBO invests $1.73M in Northern Colorado communities
No Comments
NorthFortyNews, Approved, Local

FNBO invests $1.73M in Northern Colorado communities

by North Forty News Staff | NorthFortyNews Northern Colorado nonprofits will see major support this year as First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) awarded $305,000 in Impact Grants to 19 organizations across the region. The funding is part of FNBO’s $1.73 million in grants distributed to 90 nonprofits in eight states. The grants target FNBO’s three philanthropic pillars: affordable housing, workforce development, and financial literacy. Local organizations receiving funds include: Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity – $25,000 for affordable home construction. Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity – $20,000 for new homeownership opportunities. Housing Catalyst (Fort Collins) – $10,000 for community support and financial literacy workshops. Neighbor to Neighbor (Fort...
Read More
Rising car costs take toll on Colorado families
No Comments
Fox31, Approved, Local

Rising car costs take toll on Colorado families

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — For many, the monthly car bill is a fact of life, but for one Denver metro city, it’s a bit more of a financial weight than it is in most. Wallethub took a look at the median auto-loan balance of over 2,500 U.S. cities, noting that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest report on household indebtedness showed auto-loan balances increased by $13 billion in the second quarter of 2025. The organization used TransUnion data as of March 2025 to divide the median car-loan debt by residents’ income in each of the cities. The median income in each city was based on 2023 earnings of individuals over 15 years old who worked full-time, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The top cities where resident...
Read More
Adams 12 asks taxpayers for $39.42M more in November vote
No Comments
Fox31, Approved, Local

Adams 12 asks taxpayers for $39.42M more in November vote

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Adams 12 Five Star Schools Board of Education unanimously approved the placement of a $39.42 million mill levy override on the November ballot at the board’s Wednesday night meeting. “We know the state’s not going to have a lot of money to help us out for next year,” Superintendent Chris Gdowski said in the district’s announcement of the placement. “So if we don’t help ourselves here in Adams 12, next year will be another difficult year when it comes to cuts.” The mill levy override will help pay for ongoing operating expenses, such as additional staffing and academic programming for students; salaries for teachers and support staff; and investments in safety and security personnel. The district also noted that it ranks nearl...
Read More
New 3-year deal between teachers union and DPS sparks debate on costs and accountability
No Comments
Fox31, Approved, Local

New 3-year deal between teachers union and DPS sparks debate on costs and accountability

By Abraham Jewett | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Classroom Teachers Association announced Thursday that it has voted to ratify a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Denver Public Schools. The vote to ratify comes around two months after the DCTA reached a tentative agreement with DPS in June, following several months of negotiations. The DCTA said more than 81% of its members voted in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will be valid through 2028. “As a democratic, member-led organization, every vote cast reflects our shared commitment to creating better working and learning conditions for Denver’s educators and students,” said Michelle Horwitz, bilingual speech-language pathologist and co-chair of the DCTA Bargaining Team, in ...
Read More