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Denver’s 7A: What you need to know about RTD’s request to keep all its sales tax revenue
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Denver’s 7A: What you need to know about RTD’s request to keep all its sales tax revenue

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun Metro Denver-area voters will decide Nov. 5 whether the Regional Transportation District can continue to keep all of its sales tax revenue in coming years, even when a strong economy pushes revenue up above caps set in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.  The so-called “de-Brucing,” named after TABOR author Douglas Bruce, is a common request from local taxing agencies.  In RTD’s case, a “yes” vote on 7A would not raise the current dedicated RTD sales tax, but would allow RTD to keep projected revenue about $50 million to $60 million a year above the TABOR cap instead of refunding that amount to millions of taxpayers.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado’s mountain lion hunting ban ballot measure faces Douglas County opposition
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Colorado’s mountain lion hunting ban ballot measure faces Douglas County opposition

By Noah Festenstein | Denver Gazette A large Colorado county scattered with open space has voiced opposition to a state ballot measure proposed to outright ban the hunting of large mammal cat species. As the November election nears, Douglas County Commissioners on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning a state ballot measure prohibiting the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, or lynx. If the Proposition 127 measure is approved by Colorado voters in November, then hunting those species of animals would become a criminal offense — misdemeanor. The proposal also helps eliminate large cat hunting “big game” damage claims made with Colorado Parks & Wildlife. The proposition mentions trophy hunting, but that is already prohibited for these species. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENV...
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School board leaders in Southern Colorado campaign against local marijuana measures
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Approved, gazette.com, Local

School board leaders in Southern Colorado campaign against local marijuana measures

By Eric Young | The Gazette Elected officials from across the Colorado Springs region are lending their voices to a campaign opposing recreational marijuana sales in the city.  On Sunday, an unknown number of El Paso County voters received a mass text message from Colorado Springs School District 11 Board President Parth Melpakam calling for their vote on a pair of recreational marijuana measures.  The message was accompanied by a video featuring Melpakam, Academy District 20 Board President Aaron Salt and School District 49 Board President Lori Thompson. In both messages, the board leaders urged recipients to vote "yes" on ballot question 2D and "no" on ballot question 300. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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In Arvada, some opposed to plan to convert charter school into homeless center
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

In Arvada, some opposed to plan to convert charter school into homeless center

By Alan Gionet | CBS Colorado Dozens of people attended an Arvada City Council meeting Monday night to voice their opposition to the possibility of a Homeless Navigation Center in the 4900 block of West 60th Avenue. The city purchased a building that formerly housed the Early College of Arvada charter school in May for $6.3 million. In the months since city leaders have begun to look at using it for homeless services. Among the possibilities is a homeless navigation center for people looking to climb out of their circumstances. "I feel like things are being pushed down my throat on this one," said resident Steve Martinson outside his home on West 60th Avenue. He worried about the value of his home, which is directly across the street from the site. READ THE FULL STORY...
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City cleanup, homelessness, public safety top Colorado Springs’ mayor’s budget priorities
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Approved, KOAA News, Local

City cleanup, homelessness, public safety top Colorado Springs’ mayor’s budget priorities

By Shawn Shanle | NBC 5 KOAA-TV Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade revealed his top priorities for the city Monday as he presented the proposed city budget for 2025. The top priorities for the City of Colorado Springs are the following: public safety city cleanup addressing homelessness As for public safety, some of the items included in the proposal are adding 20 police officers and giving all police and fire employees a 2% raise. READ THE FULL STORY AT NBC 5 KOAA-TV
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Grand Junction still seeking answers to homeless issue, following drug arrests at resource center
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

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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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

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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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

‘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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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

[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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