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Colorado’s largest TdA gang bust exposes murder-for-hire and international drug pipeline
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Colorado’s largest TdA gang bust exposes murder-for-hire and international drug pipeline

By Joe Vaccarelli, Landon Haaf | Denver7 The massive investigation included roughly 40 undercover operations over 10 months and also unearthed a "barbaric" murder-for-hire plot. DENVER — What was described as “the biggest investigation” of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua in the country unfolded in Colorado over the past 10 months, federal officials announced on Monday, netting 30 indictments of people allegedly involved in drug and weapons trafficking and a “barbaric” murder-for-hire plot. U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said Monday that investigators estimated three TdA leaders, five alleged members and “numerous” associates of the gang were charged in the operation. The investigation started in October of 2024 when the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office started looking i...
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Salvation Army exit highlights strain of Denver’s homelessness experiment
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Salvation Army exit highlights strain of Denver’s homelessness experiment

By Deborah Smith | Colorado Politics The Salvation Army will cease managing operations at three of Denver’s hotel-turned-homeless shelters after fulfilling its current contracts with the city, according to a statement from the group on Thursday. Those contracts run through 2025. Citing the need to ensure “financial stability,” officials from the organization said the decision affects The Aspen and Stone Creek shelters, both located on Quebec Avenue in northeast Denver, and the Tamarac Family Shelter just off Hampden Avenue and I-25. The Salvation Army has been a pivotal part of Mayor Mike Johnston’s efforts to end homelessness in the city, Johnston spokesperson Jon Ewing told The Denver Gazette, adding that the organization stepped up to help solve one of the city’s biggest cha...
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Denver City Council Pushes Back On Xcel Energy Franchise Extension
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Denverite, Approved, Local

Denver City Council Pushes Back On Xcel Energy Franchise Extension

By Denverite Staff | The Denverite The Denver City Council threw a curveball for Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration and the state’s most powerful utility on Monday night. Xcel Energy is seeking an extension of the franchise agreement that allows it to operate in Denver. The agreement, up for renewal after 20 years, requires the approval of Denver voters. But on Monday, the city council voted against placing the measure on the November election ballot. Council members raised a variety of concerns about Xcel’s service in the city, and said they wanted to take more time to talk with community members and negotiate the agreement. The city council may still have time to place a modified measure on this November's ballot, or it could wait for an election next year, but city leaders...
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Colorado Mayor Backs ICE Facility to Revive Local Economy
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Local, Approved, denvergazette.com

Colorado Mayor Backs ICE Facility to Revive Local Economy

By Ovie Westin | The Denver Gazette The mayor of Walsenburg, Colorado said he would welcome an immigration processing facility in his city, arguing it would boost the local economy, which took a hit when a correctional facility shut down more than a decade ago. Before its closure in 2010, the former Huerfano County Correctional Facility, which had a capacity to hold roughly 800 inmates, had provided the town with a steady source of income, as well as jobs for residents.  Mayor Gary Vezzani told The Denver Gazette that he did not know about the proposal to repurpose the Huerfano prison into an immigration processing facility beforehand; he had not been contacted by federal officials, he said. The beds could be doubled up or the facility would have to be expanded to match th...
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Denver wasted millions on homeless shelter that never housed anyone
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Local, Approved, denvergazette.com

Denver wasted millions on homeless shelter that never housed anyone

By Noah Festenstein | The Denver Gazette After not housing a single homeless person, Denver’s $9 million purchase of a former hotel planned as a new homeless shelter is set to be sold off again — well over two years after its initial purchase, according to Denver’s Department of Housing Stability. The city’s new price tag? Just $10. That is, of course, if an interested developer is willing to continue transforming 12033 E. 38th Avenue, a former Stay Inn hotel, into a shelter providing “supportive” homeless services, according to stipulations set by HOST. “To make this financially viable, the property will be sold for $10 — a strategic move that reflects our commitment to long-term affordability rather than short-term financial returns,” spokesperson Julia Marvin told The D...
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Colorado judge blocks ICE from courthouse arrests, raising questions of state vs federal authority
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, Local

Colorado judge blocks ICE from courthouse arrests, raising questions of state vs federal authority

By Chuck Murphy | CPR News Another Colorado judge has ordered federal immigration agents to stop making civil immigration violation arrests in courthouses. Amanda C. Hopkins, chief judge of the 12th Judicial District for six south central Colorado counties, issued an administrative order Tuesday barring anyone from making civil detentions in the district’s courthouses. “Effecting civil arrests against people attending to court matters has several consequences to the court’s constitutionally-mandated administration of justice,” Hopkins wrote in the order. “Civil arrests have a chilling effect not only on criminal defendants’ presence at their hearings, but also on victims reporting crimes.” Colorado law prohibits arrests for civil violations at courthouses: “[A] person shal...
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Legal Battle Erupts After Arrest of La Plata Jail Commissioner
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Legal Battle Erupts After Arrest of La Plata Jail Commissioner

By Maddie Rhodes | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — A federal class action lawsuit was filed against La Plata County, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office and several others after the former La Plata County jail commissioner was arrested for allegedly watching inmate strip-searches for his sexual gratification. On Wednesday, the attorneys filed a lawsuit for several people who said they were victims of Edward Aber, the former La Plata jail commissioner, who faces charges on 117 counts of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification and one count of first-degree official misconduct. The lawsuit claims that Aber allegedly watched videos of at least 117 different female inmates during their mandatory strip-search for his own sexual gratification. Many victims were nude in these videos. ...
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Law Enforcement Cracks Down on Drug Cartels in Colorado
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Local, Approved, The Gazette

Law Enforcement Cracks Down on Drug Cartels in Colorado

By Nick Sutton, Gabe Monte, and Michael Elizabeth Sakas | The Gazette Anti-narcotics federal agents conducted raids in Denver and Colorado Springs on Wednesday, hinting the operations focused on rooting out money-laundering activities. Authorities divulged few details. “The DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division, along with our partners from Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, IRS, and our state and local partners conducted law enforcement operations in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas today," the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Division said in a statement late Wednesday. Agents in Colorado Springs seized a phone, bags of cash and computers from multiple El Ranchito restaurant-grocery store locations.  "It seems like they're trying to accuse us...
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Mesa County Sues Polis and Weiser Over ICE Detainment Fallout
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Local, Approved, CBS News

Mesa County Sues Polis and Weiser Over ICE Detainment Fallout

By Jennifer McRae and Anna Alejo | CBS News The sheriff of Mesa County in Western Colorado has filed a counter-lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment of a 19-year-old Utah college student following a traffic stop earlier this summer. She was detained by ICE in Aurora for 15 days. Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell, Mesa County Undersheriff Matthew King, and Mesa County Sheriff's Office Investigations and Special Teams Captain Curtis Brammer are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Rowell et al. v. Weiser et al., which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on Aug. 7. They claim state immigration law is too vague. Lawrence Pacheco, spokesman for the Colorado Attorney General's Office, ...
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Wildfire Relief Effort Scales Up Across Western Colorado
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Wildfire Relief Effort Scales Up Across Western Colorado

By Heather Willard | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado have been scorched from wildland fires raging on the Western Slope, and officials are sharing how you could help. The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shared resources on social media on Wednesday, as did the city of Craig on Tuesday. “Thank you to all who have offered resources and support- we are profoundly grateful,” the Colorado agency said on X. “You can help those impacted by the Lee and Elk wildfires by donating to the Yampa Valley Disaster Recovery Fund; tax-deductible donations are being accepted for disaster relief and recovery efforts.” You can donate here to the Yampa Valley Disaster Recovery Fund. You can also sign up to volunteer or&...
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