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Aurora officials admit knowing about Venezuelan gang’s activities months ago
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Aurora officials admit knowing about Venezuelan gang’s activities months ago

By Denver Gazette Aurora officials on Wednesday admitted they had been arresting people suspected — though not yet confirmed at the time of their apprehensions — of being members of a Venezuelan gang operating in the metro Denver long before the media spotlight on the city. The gang's activities also "significantly affected" apartment complexes in the city, officials acknowledged. To date, authorities have linked 10 people to the gang and arrested eight, the city said in a news release sent a day after the gang situation in Aurora took center stage at last night's first presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVER GAZETTE
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Colorado conservatives face get-out-the-vote gap as election looms
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Colorado conservatives face get-out-the-vote gap as election looms

By Heidi Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice With just over 50 days remaining before a critical election, Colorado's conservatives are grappling with a major organizational gap in their get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts. Internal battles over leadership have left the state party in limbo, while national political grassroots groups—typically a key source of support—are largely absent. Despite some outside help for two congressional races, the lack of coordinated efforts has left conservative activists and volunteers across Colorado asking: How can they make a difference with so little time left? This disconnection comes at a frustrating moment for many conservative voters, who feel that Colorado’s increasingly blue voting trends have diminished the state’s role in national elections. Without ...
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Colorado ranchers ask U.S Fish and Wildlife to intervene, take control of wolf reintroduction program
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado ranchers ask U.S Fish and Wildlife to intervene, take control of wolf reintroduction program

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Ranchers who have lost dozens of livestock to wolves no longer have confidence in Colorado Parks and Wildlife and are now asking the federal government to intervene. On Aug. 28, Don Gittleson of Jackson County and Conway Farrell of Grand County and their families wrote to regional officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, asking them to take control over decision-making regarding program to reintroduce wolves in Colorado. While Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages Colorado's wolves, under the wolf restoration plan and the 10(j) rule issued by U.S. Fish & Wildlife, the federal agency still maintains primary oversight. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Remember Those Apartment Complexes Taken Over by Venezuelan Gangs in Colorado? Well…
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Approved, State, TownHall.com

Remember Those Apartment Complexes Taken Over by Venezuelan Gangs in Colorado? Well…

By Madeline Leesman | Town Hall A Colorado landlord has agreed to sell an apartment complex because it was taken over by the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.  According to the New York Post, landlord Zev Baumgarten had been fighting with Aurora, Colorado leadership after the city accused him of allowing Aspen Grove apartments to become a “trash-ridden, gang-infested hellhole.” Baumgarten also owns the property where a viral video showing members of the gang breaking into an apartment unit. READ THE FULL STORY AT TOWN HALL
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DA Linda Stanley to be disbarred over misconduct during Barry Morphew prosecution, state board rules
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Approved, Canon City Daily Record, State

DA Linda Stanley to be disbarred over misconduct during Barry Morphew prosecution, state board rules

By Shelly Bradbury | Canon City Daily Record Eleventh Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley will be disbarred for ethical violations and misconduct that largely happened during the high-profile prosecution of Barry Morphew in the 2020 murder of his wife, a Colorado disciplinary board ruled Tuesday. State disciplinary authorities found Stanley made inappropriate comments to the media during the since-dismissed Morphew case, did not adequately supervise the prosecution of the case, caused numerous discovery violations and initiated a baseless, retaliatory investigation into the judge on the case. She also made inappropriate comments to the media in an unrelated case, the board found. “…Nothing short of disbarment would adequately address respondent’s betrayal...
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Xcel drained its $94M energy efficiency budget after marijuana growers took notice — and wants $34M more
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Xcel drained its $94M energy efficiency budget after marijuana growers took notice — and wants $34M more

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun “Unexpectedly high customer interest” led Xcel to pull the plug on a program helping businesses green their operations — for now. After shooting through most of its energy efficiency budget for this year, Xcel Energy has suspended all its programs for businesses and asked state regulators for an additional $34 million above the $93.6 million already agreed on. In a filing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary — Public Service Company of Colorado — said that there was “unexpectedly high customer interest and participation in the company’s electric energy efficiency offerings this year.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado law on disclosing AI-generated political ads raises free speech concern
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Approved, Kiowa Free Press, State

Colorado law on disclosing AI-generated political ads raises free speech concern

By Joe Mueller| Kiowa Free Press Weiser’s two-page public advisory refers to House Bill 24-1147, which took effect July 1. It created new regulations and penalties for using  artificial intelligence and deepfake-generated content in  communications about candidates for elected office. The law requires anyone using AI to create election communications featuring images, videos or audio of candidates to include a disclaimer explaining the content isn’t real. Candidates who have their appearance, actions or speech depicted in a deepfake can pursue legal prohibition of the distribution, dissemination, publication, broadcast, transmission or other display of the communication. The bill provides for compensatory and punitive damages and the possibility of criminal charges. "Much false sp...
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Rocky Mountain Rumble slated for Sept. 15 at Wide Open Saloon
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rocky Mountain Rumble slated for Sept. 15 at Wide Open Saloon

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A who's who of Colorado politics will assemble Sunday, Sept. 15, for the Rocky Mountain Rumble at the Wide Open Saloon in Sedalia. Republican nominees for the U.S. House will be joined by Heidi Ganahl, formerly a Republican candidate for Colorado governor and founder of Rocky Mountain Voice, during the Rocky Mountain Rumble. Confirmed speakers include U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, John Fabbricatore and Valdamar Archuleta. Also attending will be Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinski, who has been at the forefront of exposing the Venezuelan gang takeover of apartments in Aurora. Boebert presently serves in Colorado's 3rd District in the U.S. House, but is seeking election in the 4th District, the most Republican leaning district in Colorado. F...
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Solution to Aurora’s TdA gang problem was presented in bill Democrats killed, Rep. Holtorf says
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Solution to Aurora’s TdA gang problem was presented in bill Democrats killed, Rep. Holtorf says

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A measure which could potentially have preempted the arrival of violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua in Aurora, Denver and other locations of the state was never given a chance by Democrats, state Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, says. He authored House Bill 24-1128, with the support of Sen. Mark Baisley, and an 8-3 party-line committee vote in the 74th Legislature prevented it from ever reaching the floor for debate. "They wholeheartedly rejected it on principle, a bad, progressive principle of open borders," Holtorf said. The bill sought to return Colorado to immigration policy prior to 2013, when Senate Bill 06-090 was in place. Doing so would have eliminated present law prohibiting a probation officer from providing personal inf...
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‘No politics’ classical school opened by conservative school board rocks Colorado tests
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Approved, State, The Federalist

‘No politics’ classical school opened by conservative school board rocks Colorado tests

By Joy Pullman | The Federalist A classical charter school that was preserved after Republican-backed candidates took over the local school board just posted the top state test scores in the district. Students at Merit Academy, a 3-year-old K-11 public school that opens its 12th grade in 2025, also posted the best scores among the four districts that families in the Woodland Park exurb of Colorado Springs can choose from under open enrollment. While test scores scratch the surface of student and school academic quality, these do help vindicate Teller County parents dissatisfied with extended school lockdowns, an increase in screen-based schooling, and creeping politicization of taxpayer-provided education. Due to these frustrations, this group of parents started a new public classic...
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