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UCHealth cuts surgeries after sterilization staffing drops below safe levels
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Becker's Hospital Review, Approved, Local

UCHealth cuts surgeries after sterilization staffing drops below safe levels

By Erica Carbajal | Becker's Hospital Review UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora is postponing some elective surgery cases amid staffing issues within its sterile processing department.  The department is currently operating at reduced capacity, a UCHealth spokesperson said in a statement shared with Becker’s.  “Until the SPD is at full capacity, some elective cases will be postponed to ensure we have the instruments needed to provide all urgent and emergent surgeries and procedures,” the statement said.  The hospital said it has increased staffing in the department, and sterilization levels are beginning to return to normal. “We sincerely apologize to the patients impacted by the elective case postponements, and we will reschedule their ca...
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Anderson: The Union Isn’t Fighting for Kids Anymore—It’s Fighting for Control
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Anderson: The Union Isn’t Fighting for Kids Anymore—It’s Fighting for Control

By Christy Anderson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Contracts. Impasse. Mediation. Oh my!  We’ve all seen the headlines, the crowd of red shirts, and the talking points about “fighting for teachers and students.” But as a teacher—and a former union member—I’m here to tell you: what’s happening with the Mesa Valley Education Association (MVEA) isn’t about students. It’s political theatre, and it’s about control.  Let’s start with a bit of history.  Teacher unions were initially formed to give educators a voice in working conditions. In the early 20th century, teachers—primarily women—were underpaid, lacked job security, and had no influence in how schools were run. The National Education Association (NEA), founded in 1857, and the American Federation of T...
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Gaines: Net migration math doesn’t lie—Denver’s policies aren’t working
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

Gaines: Net migration math doesn’t lie—Denver’s policies aren’t working

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Small wonder on Denver's Net Migration A recent report by the conservative-leaning Common Sense Institute (see the CPR article linked first below), has it that Denver's net migration -- inflow take away outflow -- has fallen over 50% in the last decade.Keep in mind that the net migration is still positive, more people are coming than leaving, but we have a decrease in the increase. Quoting the article (with link left intact): "The state's population growth has declined by nearly 53% in the past 10 years, according to a new report released by the Common Sense Institute, a non-partisan research organization. The study measured net migration, which is the difference between people moving into the state and peo...
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Air Force Veteran Reclaims Purpose Through Warrior Games and God’s Grace
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Local, Approved, gazette.com

Air Force Veteran Reclaims Purpose Through Warrior Games and God’s Grace

By Marissa Kraus | The Gazette As Dianne Rahe watched her son, Master Sgt. Jason Ostberg, compete in the Warrior Games on Tuesday, she saw a completely different man. Ostberg, who has served in the Air Force since 2003, has dealt with PTSD throughout his service, creating a version of him that truly wasn’t himself. But the man Rahe saw in the indoor rowing competition and in other Warrior Games events is a version she hadn’t seen in years. “He has come a long way,” Rahe said as tears swelled in her eyes. “Just him in the short time he's been involved, he's been more calm, more happy. It's hard to explain but I see the amazing way he has changed being with these people, because these are his people.” Ostberg, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician, has been part of the Air Fo...
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Colorado Sheriff Turns to Community to Revive Mounted Patrol
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Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Colorado Sheriff Turns to Community to Revive Mounted Patrol

By Jacob Factor | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Western Colorado has a rich history with horses, from cowboys and ranchers to mounted law enforcement. Today, a Western Slope sheriff’s office is hoping to revitalize a tradition going back more than 140 years. Though never officially disbanded, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office has had a mounted patrol of deputies from at least 1884 until budget constraints in the 1980s caused the posse to fade away. Now, the sheriff’s office wants to restart and revitalize the unit. “We live in western Colorado, our heritage is tied to the effective use of the horse for agriculture, transportation, recreation, ‘search and rescue’ and for many years past as a part of effective law enforcement,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “A wo...
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Grand Junction Zip Line Project Fizzles Despite Lavish Public Subsidies
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Local, Approved, The Business Times

Grand Junction Zip Line Project Fizzles Despite Lavish Public Subsidies

By Brandon Leuallen | The Business Times The Las Colonias Riverfront Zip Adventures zip line, which was launched after initial delays in August 2023, then shut down partway through 2024, remains inactive in 2025. As an anchor business for the $30 million Riverfront development, Bonsai Design, a company that designs aerial-adventure courses and owns the zip line, secured $1.69 million in taxpayer-funded incentives, including payment of development fees, impact fees, land-lease discounts, property-tax breaks and grant support. Bonsai also was entrusted with operating the zip line, adding jobs and recruiting other outdoor businesses to fill the park. The online bookings page for the zip line states: “We are closed for the remainder of 2024. Thanks for a great season and we hope to se...
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D-11 takes on media trust crisis with new high school journalism course
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denvergazette.com, Approved, Local

D-11 takes on media trust crisis with new high school journalism course

By Debbie Kelley | Denver Gazette With longstanding principles of objectivity, truth and fairness in news reporting up for debate in recent years, a homegrown Career and Technical Education course launching in Colorado Springs School District 11 for the fall semester will explore such topics under an overarching theme of “ethics in journalism.” So while juniors and seniors receive real-world training in broadcast, podcast, video and print media creation and production, they'll also be schooled on how to do it all by “upholding the highest standards of journalistic integrity,” said course founder Chaim Goldman. He’s also the executive producer and host of The Peak News, a “hyper-local news” radio show that’s on hiatus from the airwaves over the summer. In May 2024...
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Hutchins: ‘Free press under fire’ isn’t just a panel title—it’s reality
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Substack, Approved, Local

Hutchins: ‘Free press under fire’ isn’t just a panel title—it’s reality

By Corey Hutchins | Commentary, Inside the News in Colorado, Substack The free press is under fire. That was the theme of a public discussion in Colorado Springs about the ways in which the local journalism industry operates during a time of, shall we say, disruption. On the panel was Gazette Executive Editor Vince Bzdek, former Denver Post Editor Greg Moore, Rocky Mountain PBS CEO Amanda Mountain, Colorado Sun reporter and editor Jesse Paul, and KOAA News5 investigative journalist Alasyn Zimmerman. Will Stoller-Lee, the program chair for the Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance, moderated the discussion at the Ent Center for the Arts on the campus of UCCS. Topics ranged from bias and diversity in newsrooms to attacks from Republican Pres...
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Teller County woman’s $150K greenhouse caught in zoning battle over local agriculture
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KOAA News, Approved, Local

Teller County woman’s $150K greenhouse caught in zoning battle over local agriculture

By Tony Keith | KOAA News5 DIVIDE, Colo. (KOAA) — A Colorado woman was told she needs to take her nearly 3,000 square-foot greenhouse down, but she plans to fight to keep it up. The woman goes by the name Virginia Loop and her home is along Moss Rock Court on the northwest side of Divide. In June of 2024, Loop explained she was excavating her property for a greenhouse kit when a new code enforcement officer paid her a visit. Loop said she had a conversation with that code enforcement officer and explained she didn't need a permit because of a building code section exempting agricultural structures. Loop sent the code enforcement officer an email, which Loop shared with News5, and reads as follows: "As discussed on the phone, here is the section of code for exemptions of permitting...
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