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Colorado’s homelessness and housing funds recorded $153 million in phantom federal money, audit finds
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s homelessness and housing funds recorded $153 million in phantom federal money, audit finds

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado wanted more control over its share of federal pandemic aid before the money hit its federal spending deadlines. So in 2024, the state moved it. It pulled hundreds of millions in American Rescue Plan money back out of four state programs, three of them tied to housing and homelessness, and replaced it with state general funds, so it could spend the federal dollars elsewhere before the deadlines ran out. Then the Department of Local Affairs set those funds up in the state's accounting system as if they were still federal. Every time the department spent a state dollar out of the four programs, the system automatically booked a federal reimbursement that was never coming. By the end of the fiscal year the departm...
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Denver Neighborhood Blindsided by Plans for 400 Bed Homeless Shelter
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Denverite, Approved, Local

Denver Neighborhood Blindsided by Plans for 400 Bed Homeless Shelter

By Kyle Harris | Denverite Neighbors wonder why they had to find out online. Northeast Denver residents of Clayton learned online that the city wants to build its second-largest homeless shelter in their neighborhood. Then they gathered on Tuesday night to blast city officials for failing to tell them about the city’s plans.  “It feels kind of disingenuous to say we need more shelter space over here,” said Jes Driscoll, who sits on the board of the registered neighborhood group Clayton United. “That space is prime. It’s such a great spot for housing options. Shelter is not a housing option. It’s a place to stay.” The Department of Housing Stability (HOST) submitted plans in August to build two larger homeless shelter buildings in the working-class ...
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New Poll Finds Johnston and Denver City Council Losing Favorability
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

New Poll Finds Johnston and Denver City Council Losing Favorability

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s favorability rating fell 7 percentage points over the past year, while the City Council’s favorability rating dropped 3 percentage points, a new poll has found. A little more than a year after taking office, Johnston had enjoyed a 48% favorability rating among likely voters. That declined to 46% in 2025, sliding to 39% in 2026, according to a new Colorado Polling Institute poll. Half of likely voters hold an unfavorable opinion of him, up 4 percentage points from last year. The City Council’s favorability rating climbed from 34% in 2024 to 41% in 2025 but it fell to 38% in 2026. “Voters who hold a favorable view of the mayor are largely anchored by the view that he is ‘getting th...
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Socialist Surge Raises Alarm Among Denver Business Leaders
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Fox News, Approved, State

Socialist Surge Raises Alarm Among Denver Business Leaders

By Kristine Parks, Julia Bonavita and Nikolas Lanum | Fox News Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce President JJ Ament worries more regulations will hurt small businesses. Affordability was a top concern among voters who helped launch democratic socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros to victory in Denver's Democratic primary in June over 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette.  But as democratic socialists gain momentum in Colorado, business owners are grappling with how their progressive policies may collide with the actual costs of running a business in Denver. "With DSA specifically, I think that, too many times, the rhetoric sounds great until it meets the economic realities," J.J. Ament, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber o...
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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston Officially Launches 2027 Reelection Bid
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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
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Denver Mayor Defends City Policies While Mapping Out Housing Expansion Plan and Universal Childcare Goal
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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...
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Aurora Congregation Under Review Following Reports Of Homeless Exploitation Scheme
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Aurora Congregation Under Review Following Reports Of Homeless Exploitation Scheme

By: David Migoya | The Denver Gazette Two regional Seventh-day Adventist conferences that oversee the activities of its member churches across several states have launched inquiries into an Aurora-based congregation tied to a Medicaid operation that exploited the homeless. The Rocky Mountain Conference and the Central States Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist church — based in Denver and Kansas City, Kansas, respectively, and representing about 150 congregations in six states — said revelations that a newly created Aurora church was part of that enterprise were troubling. A Denver Gazette investigation into “The Program” showed how the Maranatha Indonesian-American Seventh-day Adventist Church was connected to a home-health agency that over three years collec...
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Colorado Medicaid Freezes Payments to Home Health Agency Facing Fraud Investigation
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Medicaid Freezes Payments to Home Health Agency Facing Fraud Investigation

By: David Migoya | Colorado Politics The agency overseeing Colorado’s federal Medicaid program has suspended an Aurora home-health agency that is the focus of an investigation into an enterprise that lured dozens of homeless people with promises of free housing and cash and reaped tens of millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements. Officials said it has stopped paying Medicaid claims filed by On Going Home Health Care pending the outcome of its inquiry into “The Program,” an elaborate and intertwined confederation of businesses that provided shelter, money and prescriptions to homeless participants in return for billing the federal program for administering the drugs. The Program was the center of a Denver Gazette investigation last month that exposed how On Going ...
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New Analysis Examines Why Homelessness Is Concentrated in Mesa County
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The Business Times, Approved, Local

New Analysis Examines Why Homelessness Is Concentrated in Mesa County

By Brandon Leuallen | The Business Times Why does Mesa County account for such a large share of Western Slope homelessness? As the Grand Junction City Council debated whether to amend city code to strengthen enforcement of the camping ordinance, questions about shelter capacity and the size of the local homeless population took on new importance. The shelter-capacity discussion is further complicated by the fact the shelter system serves more than just Mesa County residents. Many neighboring communities have either no shelter at all, only seasonal shelter options, or significantly fewer homeless services. The question of whether Mesa County is carrying a regional burden has also surfaced during Grand Junction City Council discussions. During a Nov. 19, 2025, m...
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Skid Row Residents Claim Cash Was Offered for Votes in LA Mayor Election
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The Daily Signal, Approved, National

Skid Row Residents Claim Cash Was Offered for Votes in LA Mayor Election

By: Angelina Delfin | The Daily Signal As questions continue to swirl around Los Angeles’ mayoral election, newly surfaced videos show homeless individuals on Skid Row claiming they were paid cash to vote for Mayor Karen Bass. The allegations emerged just days after Republican Spencer Pratt lost a runoff spot as thousands of late-counted mail-in ballots shifted the race. In an interview on Skid Row posted to X on June 9, one homeless woman claimed she was paid $2 to vote for Bass. “They come out here all the time [to get votes],” she said. https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2064492962323874068 In a separate interview posted this week, another woman on Skid Row claimed she was paid $5 and instructed to vote for Bass. READ THE FULL ARTICLE A...
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