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The numbers didn’t match: El Paso’s canvass exposes a statewide reporting failure the state never explained
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The numbers didn’t match: El Paso’s canvass exposes a statewide reporting failure the state never explained

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado voters expected a routine post–Election Day canvass after the November 4 coordinated election. Instead, El Paso County became ground zero for the latest crisis involving Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office after a canvass board member noticed that the numbers on the state’s website didn’t match the county’s certified reports. The mismatch surfaced publicly after businessman and election analyst Peter Bernegger posted screenshots of the Election Night Reporting (ENR) CSV file on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PeterBernegger/status/1991610012989329540?s=20 What began as one discrepancy quickly revealed a statewide reporting failure. The ENR CSV file published by the Secretary of State contained contest-level totals that ...
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Colorado Springs Districts Send Clear Message: Schools Exist to Educate, Not Indoctrinate
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The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, Local

Colorado Springs Districts Send Clear Message: Schools Exist to Educate, Not Indoctrinate

By The Gazette Editorial Board | The Gazette A blue wave that saw conservatives nationwide lose governors’ races, ballot initiatives and even school board elections appeared to have affected Colorado, as well. It was a setback in our state for candidates running on student academic growth against the union machine. But there was a bright spot — El Paso County — where reform-minded candidates swept Academy District 20’s three seats, won two of three contested seats in the ultra-competitive Colorado Springs School District 11, and won at least one of two seats up for grabs in School District 49. The second race in D49 remains too close to call.  All three El Paso County districts preserved their pro-education reform majorities. These victories, hard-fought and locally grounded,...
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Record Number of ICE Transfers Reported by El Paso County
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Record Number of ICE Transfers Reported by El Paso County

By Cleo Westin | Colorado Politics Twenty six people with criminal charges were transferred from the custody of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement from July to September, according to a news release by the office Monday. Deputies also detained 14 additional individuals with criminal charges who were released “before ICE authorities could take custody.” Wednesday’s announcement brings the total number of people transferred into ICE custody by the office this year to 45, according to several releases by the office. The sheriff’s office transferred 14 people to ICE custody in September, which is higher than any other month this year. The next highest months were April and July which each had seven transfers. “As we approach the 2026 L...
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D49 Moves to Protect Privacy With Biological Sex Bathroom Policy
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

D49 Moves to Protect Privacy With Biological Sex Bathroom Policy

By Ashley Eberbach | KDVR FOX31 (COLORADO SPRINGS) — At a special meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24, School District 49 (D49) voted to enact changes to its bathroom policy, which segregates bathrooms and other private spaces like locker rooms by biological sex. The changes to the district’s policy segregate private facilities according to students’ biological sex, though the district said single-stall bathrooms would be available at each school for any student who requests additional privacy. D49 said the policy allows the district to comply with Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs. “There is no perfect solution to this, there is no perfect answer,” said Lori Thompson, President of the D49 School Board. While many board members stressed the comp...
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Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights

-By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A major gun licensing law enacted by the Colorado legislature during the 2025 session is leaving some Colorado sheriffs with a bit of heartburn. Although Senate Bill 25-003 won’t take effect until Aug. 1, 2026, the sweeping changes to how Colorado residents can purchase certain firearms puts the onus on local sheriffs to enforce, but no help with funding of the new state mandates. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said all this bill has done is put him in a situation where his constituents think he is helping Democrats enforce a violation of their Second Amendment rights. “They ask me all the time why I just don’t refuse to enforce it,” said Reams, who has previously refused to enforce gun laws enacted during his time as she...
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When watchdogs reached out, only two clerks answered: Colorado’s election crisis exposed
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

When watchdogs reached out, only two clerks answered: Colorado’s election crisis exposed

By Bill Lehman, Heidi Ganahl | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s election system is facing a crisis of confidence, with voters increasingly skeptical due to incidents like Arapahoe County’s mishandled 2020 Cast Vote Record and the Secretary of State’s office leaking 600 BIOS passwords during the 2024 election. Leaking 600 BIOS passwords is the civic version of leaving the house key under the doormat and then posting a photo of the doormat. These failures, alongside persistent reports of irregularities, undermine the narrative that Colorado's elections are the “gold standard.”  Public trust continues to erode as evidence of vulnerabilities mounts, yet one county’s efforts illustrate how clerks can make important improvements—though systemic issues demand far broader...
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Homeless Crisis Deepens in Colorado Springs With 52 Percent Jump
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Local, Approved, The Gazette

Homeless Crisis Deepens in Colorado Springs With 52 Percent Jump

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette A record-high spike of people living on the streets and in homeless shelters and supported housing programs in El Paso County is reflected in data released Monday from this year’s federally required Point-in-Time and Housing Inventory Count. The number of people countywide who described themselves as homeless on the night of Jan. 26 ballooned from 1,146 in 2024, to 1,745 people this year, according to the statistics presented by the survey administrator, Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, a group of service providers and other members. That’s a 52% increase year-over-year and tops the county’s 2018 record of 1,551. “This data should be interpreted with context and caution,” Becky Treece, chair of the governing board of the continuum of care said at a p...
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17 Colorado sheriffs to Polis: Fix inmate transfer crisis straining local jails
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denvergazette.com, Approved, State

17 Colorado sheriffs to Polis: Fix inmate transfer crisis straining local jails

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette A coalition of 17 county sheriffs urged Gov. Jared Polis to resolve the Department of Corrections' backlog in inmate transfers and increase what the local officials described as the state's inadequate reimbursement rate for housing inmates in county jails. Current conditions are unsustainable according the group. In a letter signed by the sheriffs of El Paso, Douglas, Pueblo, and other counties, the group warned that prolonged delays in transferring of DOC-sentenced inmates from county jails into state custody, combined with what they called an "outdated and underfunded" per diem reimbursement rate, is creating a fiscal and public safety crisis.  "County jails were never designed — or funded — to house state inmates for extended periods,”...
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El Paso County sheriff transfers 19 illegal immigrant offenders to ICE
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denvergazette.com, Approved, Local

El Paso County sheriff transfers 19 illegal immigrant offenders to ICE

By Aidan Hulting | Denver Gazette Nineteen people who the El Paso County Sheriff's Office says were in the country illegally, and have allegedly committed crimes in El Paso County, are now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. This marks the second list the El Paso County Sheriff's Office has released this summer detailing its ongoing cooperation with ICE. “As part of our continued commitment to transparency, I am once again releasing a list of individuals and their associated criminal charges related to the safe and secure transfer of custody to our federal partners at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” said El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal. “We will continue to provide this information in a timely manner to demonstrate compliance with Colorad...
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