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Justice on hold: Lawmakers race to fix Colorado’s rape kit backlog
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Top Stories, Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Justice on hold: Lawmakers race to fix Colorado’s rape kit backlog

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A backlog of 1,369 untested sexual assault kits at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation delays justice and drives significant costs, per a June 2025 report from the Common Sense Institute. Authored by former Denver DA Mitch Morrissey and Senior Analyst Erik Gamm, the report estimates clearing this backlog could prevent 1,481 crimes—including 1,030 sexual assaults—and save Colorado $234.7 million.  The Yvonne “Missy” Woods scandal, involving manipulated DNA in over a thousand cases since 2014, worsened this crisis, exposing gaps in CBI’s processes.  Two bills, HB25-1275 and SB25-304, address these issues, as Rep. Matt Soper (R-Delta), co-sponsor of HB25-1275, detailed in a Rocky Mountain Voice interview. The Wo...
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The Mile High price tag: Denver now among worst in U.S. for inflation
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Approved, Local, Westword

The Mile High price tag: Denver now among worst in U.S. for inflation

By Catie Cheshire | Westword One study found prices in Denver have spiked significantly in the last two months, outpacing Los Angeles, New York and even Honolulu. Denver has a highly ranked park system and was recently named one of the coolest cities in the country, but living around the Mile High City isn't cheap. According to a new study by WalletHub, the Denver metro has the fifth-worst inflation problem in the United States, with costs rising on a monthly and yearly basis. WalletHub analyzed inflation impacts in 23 major metropolitan areas for the study, lumping together Denver, Aurora and Lakewood. In metro Denver, the change in Consumer Price Index compared to two months ago is 1 percent and the change over the last year is 2.2 percent, WalletHub research s...
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