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Judge halts Gross Reservoir project—despite 60% completion and looming water risks
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Judge halts Gross Reservoir project—despite 60% completion and looming water risks

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Denver Water is permanently barred from expanding the reservoir if an emergency stay is not obtained from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals within 14 days. The utility provider has been working to increase the height of the Gross Reservoir dam by 131 feet for over a decade. The project broke ground in 2022 and Denver Water says the project is already 60% complete. On Friday, the department said that it plans to appeal the order and seek an immediate stay, saying the order “puts at risk our ability to efficiently provide a safe, secure and reliable water supply to 1.5 million people.” “It’s impossible to reconcile the judge’s order with what is clearly in the broader public interest,” Denver ...
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‘A revolving door’: Does cite-and-release system in Colorado Springs trap homeless in an endless court cycle?
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

‘A revolving door’: Does cite-and-release system in Colorado Springs trap homeless in an endless court cycle?

By DEBBIE KELLEY | The Gazette The defendant who tops the “failure to appear” list for mandatory Colorado Springs Municipal Court hearings has 25 open cases and 300 instances of not showing up, a situation that makes the presiding administrator, Judge HayDen W. Kane II, shake his head and heave a deep sigh. Another 20 defendants each have racked up more than 100 failures to appear in court, he said. And the blatantly delinquent behavior is increasing. “It’s a revolving door that is nothing but work for anybody, including the defendant,” Kane said. “We don’t get anything accomplished.” Many offenders are ticketed for activities related to living in a state of ongoing homelessness. READ FULL ARTICLE ON THE GAZETTE
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Elizabeth schools win court stay—banned books won’t return yet
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Approved, Elbert County News, Local

Elizabeth schools win court stay—banned books won’t return yet

By Scott Gilbert | Elbert County News On Thursday, April 3, a Denver-based federal judge ordered the Elizabeth School District to place 19 removed books on library shelves by the weekend, but on the morning of Friday, April 4, a judge with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay, meaning the books will remain off the shelves pending further legal proceedings. The back-and-forth is the latest in a legal battle between Elizabeth Schools and the ACLU of Colorado, which sued the district in December seeking the return of 19 library books that the school board voted to remove on Sept. 9 of last year and then discarded. The ACLU alleges that the school board improperly removed the books because it disagreed with ideas expressed in them and claims that the book removal was a viol...
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‘I can’t do business in Denver now’: Developers flee as climate mandates bite
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

‘I can’t do business in Denver now’: Developers flee as climate mandates bite

By Mark Samuelson | Denver Gazette While Colorado is earning praise from climate advocates for its new mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developers and their economists are giving D and F grades to the state and its capital city, blaming the regulations for a noticeable decline in some projects. Representatives for developers and property owners are flagging new data showing a marked drop-off in investments and revenues from commercial projects in Colorado. That decline, they said, follows directly on the heels of Colorado's adoption of some of the nation’s boldest carbon-reducing strategies. The regulations include the Energize Denver ordinance, adopted unanimously by the Denver City Council in 2021. The ordinance seeks to reduce carbon emissions from larger commercial...
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Gazette editorial board: Palmer Lake recall effort shortsighted, could derail opportunity
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Gazette editorial board: Palmer Lake recall effort shortsighted, could derail opportunity

The Gazette editorial board | Denver Gazette The quaint Tri-Lakes town of Palmer Lake is a gem Coloradans cherish- its serene lake, charming shops, and tight-knit community make it a Front Range treasure. Sadly, a storm brews over a proposed Buc-ee's travel center at 1-25 and County Line Road, sparking a recall effort against Trustees Shana Ball, Kevin Dreher, and Dennis Stern. This push, fueled by an outside activist club - the leader of which compared trustees to the "Taliban" - risks needlessly fracturing an otherwise peaceful village.  Palmer Lake's leaders deserve a chance to navigate this opportunity, not a divisive ouster.  With Buc-ee's promising economic uplift, the town should leverage it wisely. Recall campaigns typically sow discord where dialogue could...
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Ghosted by USPS: Crested Butte faces losing its only post office
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Ghosted by USPS: Crested Butte faces losing its only post office

By Jason Blevins | Colorado Sun For three years, the town of Crested Butte has labored to find a new place for its overwhelmed U.S. post office. The town bought a parcel and began negotiating with builders, offering plans that involved the town either leasing the land to the Postal Service so it could build its own facility, the town building a new $12 million post office and leasing that to the service or even selling the land outright to the Postal Service.  “We drafted a cost-sharing agreement with the Postal Service and they told us a year ago, ‘We can’t do this,’ and then we have heard nothing from them since. Every plan we offer, we do not hear anything back. They are silent and nonresponsive,” said Dara MacDonald, the town manager of Crested Butte. “So we are stuck. We can’t r...
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Judge overrides parents, reinstates graphic books mid-appeal
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, Local

Judge overrides parents, reinstates graphic books mid-appeal

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge on Thursday refused to put her prior ruling on hold while an appeal plays out, and instead ordered Elizabeth School District to return 19 restricted books to library shelves by Saturday. U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney rejected the Elbert County district's claims that her original order was unfair, "breathtakingly broad" and would require whole new library policies. She also slammed the district for disclosing, only after she issued her order, that it had "discarded" the disputed books entirely. "Rather than being forthcoming with the Court about these facts, the District previously represented that the Removed Books were available to Plaintiffs, and only Plaintiffs," she wrote in an April 3 order. "No menti...
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Rushed or responsive? Home rule proposal catches Douglas County off guard
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Rushed or responsive? Home rule proposal catches Douglas County off guard

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff On March 25, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to initiate a nine-step process to become a home rule county. If approved, Douglas would join Weld and Pitkin as the only counties in Colorado with a home rule charter.  The vote, however, surprised many residents. A source reported to the Rocky Mountain Voice that the discussion of home rule barely met the 24-hour state meeting notice requirement before it was added to a Special Business Meeting agenda.  No town halls were held in advance, and no community survey was conducted.  Instead, residents learned about the plan the day before the vote. Douglas County announced the decision, stating, “Without Home Rule, the Colorado legislature determines both the...
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New ballot measures in Denver would limit immigrant benefits and raise penalties for theft, public urination
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Approved, Denverite, Local

New ballot measures in Denver would limit immigrant benefits and raise penalties for theft, public urination

By Paolo Zialcita | Denverite Political organizers have submitted four potential ballot measures that would reshape how the city of Denver handles immigration and crime. The proposed initiatives are only in their beginning stages, so some ideas behind them aren’t fully formed.  The city hosted public review sessions last week for the measures, offering a first look at what could be on the ballot this November.  The measures were submitted by Suzanne Taheri, a lawyer who has frequently worked on conservative ballot measures. The conservative Advance Colorado organization also is involved. But the measure’s backers are bipartisan, including one local Democratic voter, according to Michael Fields of Advance Colorado. READ FULL ARTICLE ON DENVERITE
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Pueblo sees uptick in fentanyl use
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Approved, CBS 11 KKTV, Local

Pueblo sees uptick in fentanyl use

By Michelle Wells | KKTV PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE) monitors the use of drugs, like fentanyl, by testing wastewater. According to their wastewater dashboard, last month fentanyl use in Pueblo increased for the first time this year. In a statement from PDPHE they say, “In March, wastewater data showed 10.82mg per 1,000 people, per day. Comparatively, that number was around 5mg per 1,000 people, per day in January and February. Overall, this number is much lower compared to March 2024, when wastewater data showed 20.95mg per 1,000 people, per day.” This means fentanyl use last month was about half of what it was in March 2024. PDPHE also says, “Higher levels of fentanyl are cause for concern because the amount of fen...
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