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Colorado Taxpayers Miss Out on TABOR Refunds Under Polis Budget Plan
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Taxpayers Miss Out on TABOR Refunds Under Polis Budget Plan

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis on Friday submitted revised budget requests for the next two fiscal years, calling for new public safety spending, changes to Medicaid growth, and renewed efforts to privatize Pinnacol Assurance. Notably, the governor said Colorado residents won’t get refunds from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). “We are focused on protecting the issues that Coloradans care most about – education, access to health care and safety — while delivering a balanced budget for Colorado,” he said. “In this difficult budget environment, we are doing everything we can to deliver the best possible results for Colorado and know that the Joint Budget Committee will have challenging decisions to make in the months ahead. We look forwar...
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Federal Order Delays Closure of Craig Power Plant as Energy Debate Intensifies
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Federal Order Delays Closure of Craig Power Plant as Energy Debate Intensifies

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette The Trump administration’s energy agency has ordered one of three generating units at a Colorado power plant to remain available for operation amid an impending shutdown of the station and its supplying coal mines. The move is one of the latest attempts by the White House to revive coal production in the U.S. following President Donald Trump’s promise to “unleash” American energy. In Colorado, Democrats and their allies have prioritized moving away from fossil-fired energy in favor of solar and wind power in their campaign to get to net “zero” carbon emissions in a few decades, arguing it is good for people’s health and the environment. Republicans and others have argued that the transition is happening too quickly, with little rega...
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Douglas County Sees Political Shift in 2025 After Home Rule Vote and School Board Elections
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County Sees Political Shift in 2025 After Home Rule Vote and School Board Elections

By Noah Festenstein | The Denver Gazette Douglas County this year failed to achieve home rule status, voters elected a progressive-leaning school board and officials completed a land transfer to build a massive regional sports complex. Home rule campaign fails Douglas County commissioners sought to become a home rule county, but voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal. The three commissioners argued that home rule status would allow the county to enact its own zoning policies, reorganize county departments or increase the number of commissioners. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Xcel Power Shutoffs Leave Colorado Small Businesses Facing Major Losses
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Xcel Power Shutoffs Leave Colorado Small Businesses Facing Major Losses

By Sage Kelley | The Denver Gazette Restaurants west of Denver are still coming to grips with product losses and future revenue concerns after power shutoffs last week by Xcel Energy due to high winds. “It’s like living in a third-world country,” Brandon Bortles, owner of Nosu Ramen and Abejas Bistro in Golden, said Tuesday. “We’re all behind the eight ball. I want to know, are we going to do this 10 times a year? What are we going to do in the future? Just shut down the town every day?” Xcel Energy turned off the power multiple times to at least 48,000 customers amid severe winds and extreme wildfire danger between Wednesday and Friday. As many as 160,000 customers were without power at some point, officials said. The initial shutoff occurred Wednesday morning ...
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Colorado Law Shields Xcel From Most Legal Claims Over Power Outages
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Law Shields Xcel From Most Legal Claims Over Power Outages

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Xcel Energy customers who lost refrigerated or frozen goods during the utility’s public safety power shutoffs face steep hurdles in recovering damages through lawsuits, given the limits on liabilities approved by state regulators. Colorado law and utility rate rules issued by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which regulates commercial energy companies, limit liability for service interruptions, even when outages result from proactive de-energization to prevent wildfires. Xcel Energy’s rate rules, issued by the PUC and largely upheld by Colorado courts, contain clauses that shield the utility from claims for power interruptions. Jack Luellen, senior counsel at Buchalter, said these rules mean the company is not liable...
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Feds Indict Two Suspected Tren de Aragua Leaders in Denver Racketeering Case
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Feds Indict Two Suspected Tren de Aragua Leaders in Denver Racketeering Case

By Nico Brambila | The Denver Gazette Denver and federal officials announced the indictment of two suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) leaders in Denver on Thursday for racketeering that included robbery, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering and controlled substance abuse over a 14-month period in 2024. Indicted were Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano and Brawins Dominique Suarez Villegas, aka “Chino San Vicente.” Gang members have been linked to a myriad of criminal activities that include human trafficking — specifically immigrant women and girls — drug trafficking, kidnapping, and money laundering. According to U.S. authorities, members of the Venezuelan prison gang hid in plain sight by infiltrating immigrants headed north. But the gang’s brutal reputation — ma...
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DPS Enrollment Drop Points To Deeper Budget Crisis Than School Closures Can Solve
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

DPS Enrollment Drop Points To Deeper Budget Crisis Than School Closures Can Solve

By Nico Brambila | The Denver Gazette Enrollment losses in Denver now outpace what school closures alone can address. Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Alex Marrero is expected to present an update on the district’s enrollment to the board at its meeting this Thursday. During an October count, the district reported an enrollment decline of roughly 1,200 students and about $18 million in lost annual revenue, said Bill Good, a district spokesperson. Because of a practice known as “smoothing” — which averages pupil counts over three years, rather than a single year — the immediate impact has been reduced to about $9 million. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Jeffco Schools Warns Staff of Major Job Cuts as Budget Strain Deepens
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Warns Staff of Major Job Cuts as Budget Strain Deepens

By Sage Kelley | The Denver Gazette Jeffco Public Schools employees received a voicemail from Superintendent Tracy Dorland Monday morning warning them of potential job cuts in the next year. “My holiday message this year is a more somber and serious one,” Dorland said in a voicemail obtained by The Denver Gazette. “Some of our colleagues in central services will receive notifications this week about changes to their positions at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.” The district expects to eliminate between 150 and 160 full-time positions as part of its new Budget Reduction Blueprint — or overall plan to whittle $60 million from the district’s budget in the 2026-2027 school year, according to a Nov. 13 presentation to the district’s board of education by Chi...
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Hacked Denver Signs Flash Anti-Car Messages as Transportation Debate Heats Up
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Hacked Denver Signs Flash Anti-Car Messages as Transportation Debate Heats Up

By Daniel Boniface | The Denver Gazette Denver transportation officials said an anti-car message that was displayed on traffic signs in Denver on Friday was the result of a hack. One sign, photographed by The Denver Gazette on Friday evening at E. Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street near the Colorado Capitol, shared the message “Cars ruin cities.” “Yes, the sign was hacked,” Nancy Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, told The Denver Gazette in an email Sunday. “We heard about it last night and sent someone out to address it.” A second sign was apparently hacked on 14th Street in Denver, displaying the same message, and a photo of it was posted on various social media accounts, including The Denver Urbanist an...
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Economists Predict Slow Recovery for Colorado Workforce After Policy-Driven Setbacks
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Economists Predict Slow Recovery for Colorado Workforce After Policy-Driven Setbacks

By Bernadette Berdychowski | The Denver Gazette Colorado faced weak job growth throughout 2025. More than half of the 11 largest sectors are expected to have recorded job losses by the end of the year, according to the annual economic outlook from the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Boulder, released Monday. But 2026 is expected to see improvement, as economists forecast only three sectors will see job losses. Preliminary estimates show 2025 had 0.4% growth. Next year, job growth could improve to 0.6%. Colorado has been in a cycle of sluggish growth since 2024 that was exasperated this year by tariffs and federal cuts. The slowdown is largely driven by the professional and businesses sector, the second-largest employer in the stat...
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