Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Denver

Colorado Customers Push Back as Xcel Seeks Another Rate Increase
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Customers Push Back as Xcel Seeks Another Rate Increase

By Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 Denver7's Jefferson County reporter Allie Jennerjahn has more on Xcel Energy's proposed rate increase to $166 million, which customers say is making their bills already unmanageable. DENVER — Colorado residents are pushing back on Xcel Energy's latest request for a rate increase, with some telling Denver7 their electric bills are already stretching household budgets to the breaking point — especially during a stretch of intense summer heat. Xcel Energy proposed a $225 million rate increase that would have raised customers' monthly electric bills by about 6%. Last week, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reduced that request to closer to $185 million. "A technical conference where Xcel will calculate the impact of the Commission...
Judge Orders Griswold to Turn Over Records Tied to Taxpayer-Funded Consulting
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Judge Orders Griswold to Turn Over Records Tied to Taxpayer-Funded Consulting

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado A Denver District Court judge has given Secretary of State Jena Griswold until Thursday to comply with an open records request, or she could be held in contempt. The records involve consulting work, paid for with public funds. Griswold's office says it doesn't have the documents and it refuses to ask the consultant for them, claiming that would impose an undue "burden." Instead, the Secretary of State's office sent four employees and the Attorney General's Office sent three attorneys to court. The consultant was brought in two years after Griswold became Secretary of State. The office had become a revolving door. Griswold was on her second deputy secretary, third chief legal counsel and fourth chief of staff. An invoice in the court record ...
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston Officially Launches 2027 Reelection Bid
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston Officially Launches 2027 Reelection Bid

By Michael Braithwaite | The Denver Gazette Denver Mayor Mike Johnston officially filed his paperwork Monday to run again for Denver’s mayoral office next year. The filing comes weeks after Johnston confirmed to The Denver Gazette that he would seek reelection as he focuses the final year of his current term on utility costs, childcare and other affordability challenges. “I think the most important thing is to focus on the biggest cost drivers families in Denver are facing,” Johnston said. “And the biggest one, by far, is the cost of housing.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
Denver Street Takeover Ends Without Arrests Despite Dangerous Stunt Driving and Fireworks
Uncategorized, Approved, DENVER7, Local

Denver Street Takeover Ends Without Arrests Despite Dangerous Stunt Driving and Fireworks

By: Kaylee Harter | Denver7 Video shows cars doing donuts, fireworks, and what appears to be something on fire at the intersection of Broadway and Mississippi. DENVER — No arrests were made, and no citations were issued after an "illegal street takeover" late Friday night and early Saturday morning, according to a Denver police spokesperson. Video captured by neighbors at the intersection of Broadway and Mississippi and shared with Denver7 shows cars doing donuts, fireworks, and what appears to be something on fire in the intersection. "The reckless driving and blocking of an intersection seen in the videos are incredibly dangerous and concerning," DPD spokesperson Doug Schepman said in an email to Denver7. One person who had posted video of the inciden...
Federal Judges Rebuke Colorado Immigration Judge Over Repeated Bond Hearing Errors
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Federal Judges Rebuke Colorado Immigration Judge Over Repeated Bond Hearing Errors

By Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette Multiple federal judges in Colorado have freed people from immigration custody after determining that one immigration judge violated their directives for properly conducting bond hearings. For nearly a year, Colorado’s U.S. District Court has faced a flood of habeas corpus petitions from those in immigration detention. The most common allegation is that the government is improperly denying bond hearings to people who are eligible by law. Colorado’s judges have largely agreed with that argument, and the Denver-based federal appeals court recently handed down a binding interpretation of the law confirming that view. However, that has not ended the legal battle. Federal judges, in granting habeas petitions, have t...
Denver Among America’s Riskiest Vacation Cities
KYGO, Approved, Local

Denver Among America’s Riskiest Vacation Cities

By Shawn Patrick | 98.5 KYGO If you’ve ever parked your car on a Denver street and returned to find the window smashed and your backpack gone, congratulations: You are a data point. Denver has been named the fourth-riskiest vacation destination in the United States for property crime, according to a new analysis by home security company Vivint using FBI data from summer 2024. The Mile High City logged 401 property crimes per 100,000 residents during peak summer travel season, putting it behind only Honolulu (442), Seattle (415) and Philadelphia (408) among 25 popular U.S. vacation cities studied. That rate is nearly three times higher than Park City, Utah, which topped the safest list at just 136 per 100,000. The ranking is driven by three categories: burglary, la...
Denver Ballot Measure Will Determine Xcel Partnership As Millions In Revenue Are At Stake
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Ballot Measure Will Determine Xcel Partnership As Millions In Revenue Are At Stake

By: Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette This November, Denver voters will decide whether to renew the city’s longstanding franchise agreement with Xcel Energy. Members of the Denver City Council approved on Monday sending a proposed 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel that would deliver more than $180 million a year in franchise fees, infrastructure relocation savings and other undergrounding funds to the ballot. The vote was 10-2 with Councilmembers Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady holding the two dissenting votes. “Denver has negotiated the strongest energy partnership agreement in the history of Colorado, and importantly, the benefits of this agreement and of being a franchisee extend far beyond any of the individual listed improvements and accomplishments,”...
Independent Candidate Enters High-Profile Congressional Race Against Socialist Melat Kiros
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Independent Candidate Enters High-Profile Congressional Race Against Socialist Melat Kiros

By Ernest Luning and Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette      Unaffiliated congressional candidate Shimon Blau, a Denver doctor, has qualified by petition for the general election in Colorado’s 1st District, where Democrat Melat Kiros defeated 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in last month’s primary, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Friday. Blau, a newcomer to politics, submitted just shy of 2,000 valid signatures on July 8 days after starting his petition drive in response to Kiros’s upset primary win over DeGette. Election officials said 1,918 of the 2,212 signatures gathered by Blau were accepted, easily clearing the 1,500 signature requirement. Shimon Blau, who qualified to run for the 1st Congressional Distri...
DOJ Challenges Colorado Law Granting In-State Tuition to Undocumented Students
DENVER7, Approved, State

DOJ Challenges Colorado Law Granting In-State Tuition to Undocumented Students

By: Robert Garrison | Denver7 DENVER — The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Colorado, arguing that the state’s laws granting in-state tuition and certain financial aid benefits to undocumented students violate the Constitution. The complaint was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver. President Donald Trump’s DOJ claims in the suit that federal law prohibits states from giving postsecondary education benefits to people “not lawfully present” based on state residency unless the same benefits are available to all U.S. citizens regardless of where they live. “An alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible based on residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a ...
Denver Mayor Defends City Policies While Mapping Out Housing Expansion Plan and Universal Childcare Goal
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Mayor Defends City Policies While Mapping Out Housing Expansion Plan and Universal Childcare Goal

By: Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette Nearly a year after Denver cut city jobs to close a $250 million budget gap, Mayor Mike Johnston used his third State of the City address to promise universal childcare and 20,000 homes as part of a new redevelopment vision connecting seven major sites by transit, bicycle and pedestrian routes. Johnston took center stage on Tuesday at the National Western Center, replacing his 2025 city theme “Capital of the New West” with “the open frontier,” as he laid out an ambitious plan for Denver’s future. Among the guests attending Johnston’s address were Gov. Jared Polis, Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Weiser, former Denver mayors Michael Hancock and Federico Peña, and Melat Kiros, the Democratic socialist wh...