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Aurora Councilmember And Public Safety Chair Pleads Guilty To DUI
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Aurora Councilmember And Public Safety Chair Pleads Guilty To DUI

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 AURORA, Colo. — Aurora Councilmember Rob Andrews pleaded guilty Tuesday to DUI under a plea deal, avoiding jail time in his January arrest. After his plea, the newly elected councilmember was sentenced to 10 days of home detention, 12 months of probation and 48 hours of community service. Andrews was arrested on the evening of Jan. 18 on suspicion of DUI after an Aurora officer reported seeing his Ford F‑250 splitting lanes and making wide turns on S. Chambers Road, police said. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Patti Fox’s daughter was building a life. A driver ran a stop sign.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Patti Fox’s daughter was building a life. A driver ran a stop sign.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Something woke Patti Fox at midnight. She looked at her phone screen and saw missed calls going back to 10:15 p.m. A friend of Carissa's had called over and over from Chicago. He'd been tracking her on a location app and saw that she'd been moved to a hospital.  Fox started calling hospitals in Aurora. Getting anyone to tell her anything was its own fight. Carissa didn't have her driver's license on her that night and had been checked in as a Jane Doe. When Fox finally located her at HCA Health One, the message from staff was short. "They said, ‘get here,’" Fox told RMV. With two kids in tow and her husband Daniel beside her, Fox drove an hour and a half south in the dark. "The whole time I was just praying ...
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Aurora Limits Police Communication Raising Questions Over Public Safety And Transparency
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Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Aurora Limits Police Communication Raising Questions Over Public Safety And Transparency

By Kyla Pearce | The Denver Gazette Proponents argue arestees have a right to privacy until adjudicated An Aurora City Council decision to alter social media policies for the police department has raised concerns from press freedom and public safety advocates, who worry that limiting what police can release to the public will impact safety and limit media professionals’ ability to access crime information. City Council members and local activists who support the policy changes, however, say they are not intended to limit information sharing, but rather to protect due process and limit what they describe as “harmful editorializing” in police communications. The resolution, which passed Monday with four “no” votes from the city’s conservative lawmakers, would bar Aurora Police Depart...
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Colorado Medicaid Cuts Force Aurora Mental Health Provider To Lay Off Over 100 Workers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Colorado Medicaid Cuts Force Aurora Mental Health Provider To Lay Off Over 100 Workers

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A nonprofit that provides services through 11 mental health centers in Aurora announced Thursday that it is eliminating 111 jobs effective June 30, the result of federal and state budget reductions. Aurora Mental Health & Recovery said the positions being eliminated are mostly administrative and support service jobs. That includes 91 jobs currently held by AMHR employees. Four are clinical positions. The nonprofit also announced it is eliminating programs that no longer have sustainable funding, including behavioral health services at its Mrachek House; the youth leadership academy, adult education and victim assistance at the Cultural Development & Wellness Center; and the Aurora Sustained program within its fore...
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Colorado Regulators Approve Aurora Area Wells Despite Fierce Community Opposition
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Colorado Regulators Approve Aurora Area Wells Despite Fierce Community Opposition

By Kelly Werthmann | CBS Colorado Colorado regulators on Tuesday cleared the way for a controversial oil and gas project near the Aurora Reservoir, following a yearslong battle by community members to block the plan. In a narrow 3-2 vote, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission approved the permit for SM Energy's Sunlight-Long well development plan. The decision follows more than six hours of presentations and deliberations on Tuesday, marking the culmination of at least seven public hearings regarding the site's potential impact on the surrounding area. CBS The approval allows for fracking operations to move forward approximately 3,000 feet from the nearest homes. Members of the community group Save the Aurora Reservoir (STAR) have fought th...
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Aurora Rejects Police Coordination Plan With ICE Facility Amid Public Concerns
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Uncategorized, Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Aurora Rejects Police Coordination Plan With ICE Facility Amid Public Concerns

By Kyla Pearce | The Denver Gazette Aurora City Council on Monday rejected a memorandum of understanding that outlined guidelines for Aurora police officers responding to the GEO Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. After more than an hour of public comment and discussion, six councilmembers voted against passing the MOU, killing the proposed agreement. Aurora Police Department officials have said the MOU was written simply to clarify the role of APD in responding to emergencies at the ICE facility in Aurora. More than a dozen members of the public attended Monday night’s meeting to object to the MOU, saying it does not help with public safety and rather supports ICE in its poor treatment of detainees. A report released in early March b...
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High Court Declines Sovereign Immunity Shortcut For Private Prison Firm In Colorado Case
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DENVER7, Approved, State

High Court Declines Sovereign Immunity Shortcut For Private Prison Firm In Colorado Case

By The Associated Press | Denver7 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against a private prison company facing a lawsuit alleging immigration detainees were forced to work and paid only $1 a day in Colorado. The unanimous ruling is a procedural defeat for the GEO Group, but it's not a final decision. The company is fighting a lawsuit from 2014 alleging detainees in Aurora had to perform unpaid janitorial work and other jobs for little pay to supplement meager meals. GEO defended its practices and argued that the case should be tossed out because it's immune from lawsuits as a government contractor. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Police Arrest Aurora Man in Massive Denver Construction Site Arson
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Police Arrest Aurora Man in Massive Denver Construction Site Arson

By Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado An arrest has been made in connection with the five-alarm fire at a Denver construction site earlier this month, according to the Denver Fire Department. It was the largest fire in Colorado's capital city in decades, covering an area roughly the size of four football fields.  Tony BercerraAurora Police Investigators allegedly found that 37-year-old Tony Bercerra was caught on surveillance images entering and leaving the scene off Leetsdale Drive and Forest Street before the Harker Heights complex caught fire on Jan. 2. He will face arson charges. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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Aurora Leaders Weigh Civilian Oversight as Police Accountability Debate Grows
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Aurora Leaders Weigh Civilian Oversight as Police Accountability Debate Grows

By Kyla Pearce | The Denver Gazette More than 50 people attended a listening session Tuesday evening in Aurora to talk about the possibility of creating a civilian oversight group for the Aurora Police Department. The session was led by new councilmembers Gianina Horton and Amy Wiles, who took questions from the audience to start about the costs and meaning of police oversight. Talk of creating an independent oversight group for the APD is not new. For more than a year, protesters have attended every Aurora City Council meeting to demand action from the council following the police shooting death of Kilyn Lewis, who was unarmed and wanted on an attempted murder warrant. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Suspect in Custody Following Series of Intentional Fires in Aurora
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Suspect in Custody Following Series of Intentional Fires in Aurora

By Tori Mason | CBS Colorado A man is in custody after investigators say he set a string of fires over the past week in a residential area near East 16th Avenue and North Norfolk Street in Aurora. Michael Anthony Lopez, 30, was arrested Tuesday on multiple arson charges, including second and fourth-degree arson. Investigators say the fires targeted a wide range of property, including vegetation, portable toilets, vehicles, and both the exterior and interior of apartment buildings. Aurora Fire Rescue responded repeatedly over the last week, limiting damage while officers canvassed the neighborhood and gathered evidence. Neighbors say the fear of another attack kept them up at night. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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