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‘It’s not safe’: Lakewood residents push back on Denver’s growing homeless spillover
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

‘It’s not safe’: Lakewood residents push back on Denver’s growing homeless spillover

By Sage Kelley | Denver Gazette Rising homelessness in Lakewood sparks concern over lack of resources and public safety risks. Timothy Harris stood a block away from West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood, his items methodically packed in a cart, a tent propped up beside him.  Harris, who is homeless but originally from Mesa County, has lived in Lakewood after being in Denver for years. To him, Lakewood offers more safety and accessible open space. "Downtown Denver is kind of scary. It's a little intimidating," Harris said. "There are shootings and crime. But, back home, people freeze or get attacked by animals. There's a difference in death, but it weighs out the same." Chanel Lewis, a homeless woman who has been in the Denver metro area since 2002 and now lives in Lakewood, a...
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A crisis of cradle and classroom: How Colorado’s baby bust is closing schools
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A crisis of cradle and classroom: How Colorado’s baby bust is closing schools

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s classrooms are getting quieter – not because kids are learning, but because there are fewer of them. Across the state, dropping birth rates and shrinking enrollment are forcing schools to close, merge – or sit half-empty. And the trend isn’t slowing down. In May, the Common Sense Institute released a report warning that Colorado’s birth rate has been declining since 2005 and has fallen faster than the national average since 2011. The report projects the state will lose more than 15,000 children under age 18 by 2030 – roughly the equivalent of the entire Thompson R2-J school district. Denver Public Schools is already deep into closures. According to CSI’s analysis, DPS has approved the closure of seven schools and partial restructur...
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Vote of no confidence for JeffCo Superintendent Dorland follows union letter calling it necessary
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Vote of no confidence for JeffCo Superintendent Dorland follows union letter calling it necessary

By Carly Moore | Fox31 JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Tracy Dorland was given a vote of no confidence by a teachers’ union during a meeting Thursday night. Dorland has been in the position since April 2021, but last night the Jefferson County Public Schools teachers’ union said they’re not pleased with the overall direction the district is going. In a letter to the district board of directors on their website, the Jefferson County Education Association Representative Council and Operational Board said the vote of confidence was a necessary step. The letter said that under Dorland’s leadership, there is a disconnect between administration, education and families, and that her leadership has exacerbated tensions and damaged the dis...
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Student safety advocacy group offers summertime tips for relationships with teachers
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Student safety advocacy group offers summertime tips for relationships with teachers

By Greg Nieto | Fox31 News JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The founder of one of the most prominent student safety groups in Colorado is offering tips for parents this summer regarding safeguarding relationships with their teachers. Lindsay Datko is the founder and head of Jeffco Kids First, which goes by the motto, “Restore, Repair and Rebuild.”   Datko founded the organization in July 2020, during the pandemic. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX31 NEWS
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Former Jeffco high school employee faces sex assault, drug charges
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Former Jeffco high school employee faces sex assault, drug charges

By Maddie Rhodes | Fox31 News DENVER (KDVR) — A former high school staff member in Jefferson County was arrested after a Safe2Tell report accused a staff member of sexually assaulting a student. On Tuesday night, the Lakewood Police Department took James Michael Chevrier, 38, into custody. Chevrier was formerly employed at Green Mountain High School, Bear Creek High School and other schools in the area in recent years. Chevrier is being held in Jefferson County Jail on suspicion of: READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX31 DENVER
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Colorado gives $8 million tax credit to fuel “clean iron” plant in Jefferson County
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Colorado gives $8 million tax credit to fuel “clean iron” plant in Jefferson County

By Michael Booth | Colorado Sun A Boulder company with a patented method to take most of the carbon emissions out of the energy-intensive iron and steelmaking process will use $8 million from the inaugural state industrial tax credit to build a manufacturing plant in Jefferson County, officials said Tuesday.  The patented process produces “clean” industrial iron at the temperature of a cup of coffee, rather than the 1,200-degree Fahrenheit furnaces traditionally used in iron and steelmaking, according to Electrasteel Inc, known as Electra. Currently employing more than 130 people, Electra uses an electrochemical process and hopes to cut 30% or more of the carbon emissions from traditional production.  “We founded Electra here in Colorado to decarbonize a carbon-heavy industri...
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Healing after the call: First responder speaks out after verdict in Alexa Bartell death
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Healing after the call: First responder speaks out after verdict in Alexa Bartell death

By Greg Nieto | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — One of the very first people to respond to Alexa Bartell after a rock shattered her vehicle windshield spoke out in the wake of Friday’s guilty verdict in her murder trial. Nicole Bergeron was a firefighter and paramedic for North Metro Fire Rescue when she and her crew responded to the Jefferson County scene in April of 2023. A first responder for 21 years, Bergeron said they had little idea, at the time, what may have happened when they first arrived at Bartell’s vehicle. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR.COM
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12 deportations later, ICE detains trucker who killed Colorado man
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Approved, Fox News, Local

12 deportations later, ICE detains trucker who killed Colorado man

By Landon Mion | Fox News A suspected illegal immigrant convicted in a deadly Colorado crash last year involving a semi-truck he was driving was detained on Sunday by federal immigration authorities. Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza, 47, a Mexican national, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the lobby of the Jefferson County Detention Center shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, immediately after his release from jail, according to Denver7. Cruz-Mendoza was the driver of a semi-truck involved in a June 2024 crash on Highway 285, which left one man dead. He pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving resulting in death and three counts of careless driving resulting in injury. He was sentenced to about one year in jail. According to authori...
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Jeffco Schools considering closure that would send students to Everitt M.S., Wheat Ridge H.S.
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Approved, DENVER7, Local

Jeffco Schools considering closure that would send students to Everitt M.S., Wheat Ridge H.S.

By Nicole Brady | Denver 7 News Declining enrollment may soon claim another school in the Denver metro area. Jeffco Public Schools is hosting a series of community meetings to determine the future of Jefferson Junior/Senior High School in Edgewater. The district is proposing closing the school, which serves grades 7-12, starting in the 2026-2027 school year. Students would instead attend Everitt Middle School and Wheat Ridge High School. Jeffco Public Schools is proposing new uses for the building. District Chief of Staff Lisa Relou said, the district wants the community to come up with ideas to repurpose the school for career-focused programming. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVER 7 NEWS
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In a shifting of chairs, Republican parties have new leadership in many Colorado counties
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

In a shifting of chairs, Republican parties have new leadership in many Colorado counties

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The only constant in life is said to be change. That certainly is the way it may feel for those in a number of county Republican parties around Colorado. From El Paso to Weld to Washington counties and other places dotting the map, new party leadership has been put in place during biennial reorganization, and more could be. In Adams County, both U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert and Gabe Evans spoke before Laura Garcia-Pascoe was elected as the new county Republican chairwoman. "Let’s win big together this cycle," wrote Boebert in a Facebook post and photo with Garcia-Pascoe, after her election. On Monday, during his weekly grassroots call, former Sen. Kevin Lundberg noted Sandra Aste had been named the Larimer County chair. "I am really exc...
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