Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Jefferson County

Dogs Help Evergreen Students Find Calm And Connection After School Shooting
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Dogs Help Evergreen Students Find Calm And Connection After School Shooting

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado A year ago, Evergreen High School was the scene of chaos and fear. Today, the Colorado school has two new members of its community — two dogs whose presence has become part of the daily rhythm of the school, offering students and staff something they desperately needed after a shooting shattered their sense of safety. On Sept. 10, 2025, a 16-year-old Evergreen High School student opened fire, shooting two other students before fatally shooting himself. Both wounded students survived. The shooting sent students scrambling from the school and brought hundreds of law enforcement officers to the foothills campus. A year later, the physical evidence of that day has largely disappeared. The memories have not. ...
Read More
Jeffco Schools Chief Counsel to Retire During High-Stakes Title IX Fight With Feds
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Chief Counsel to Retire During High-Stakes Title IX Fight With Feds

By Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette As Jeffco Public Schools continues to fight a legal battle with the federal government, it will soon be without its top attorney. Julie Tolleson, chief legal counsel for the district, will retire at the end of the current school year, according to a letter sent to district staff Tuesday by interim Superintendent Rob Stein. Tolleson has been known among Jeffco staff as a “common sense” attorney who used her legal expertise to uphold student rights, Stein wrote in the letter. He also praised Tolleson for avoiding “unnecessary controversy” during her tenure. “Julie’s legal acumen will be hard to replace,” Stein wrote. “Her wisdom and perspective will be missed.” Tolleson has been with Jeffco since 2022. Her tenure ha...
Read More
Former Colorado Bureau of Investigation Scientist Sentenced to 10 Years After DNA Evidence Misconduct
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Former Colorado Bureau of Investigation Scientist Sentenced to 10 Years After DNA Evidence Misconduct

By Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun Yvonne “Missy” Woods ordered to serve 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty to four felonies in June. Former state forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday, a milestone in a years-long scandal that cast doubt on DNA evidence in more than 1,000 criminal cases and continues to ripple through Colorado’s courts. Woods, who had worked for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for 29 years, pleaded guilty to four felonies in June. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the remaining 100 charges against her.  “At its core, this case is about trust — the extraordinary trust placed in Ms. Woods, and her breach of that trust,” Jefferson County District Judge Andrew Poland said before del...
Read More
After voters overturn zoning changes, Lakewood tightens rules for citizen ballot measures
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

After voters overturn zoning changes, Lakewood tightens rules for citizen ballot measures

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado LAKEWOOD – It appears that after Lakewood residents spoke at the ballot on controversial zoning changes, city council members decided they want the last word, having since created new municipal rules that will make citizen-initiated issues harder to put before voters. Lakewood — a home-rule community — borders Denver on the west. It is home to just under 160,000 residents in Jefferson County. In April, Lakewood voters took to the ballot via a special election and repealed major zoning changes that among other things, would have allowed multifamily units, such as duplexes, triplexes, or townhomes to be built city-wide on lots currently zoned for single family detached homes, as well as eliminating parking minimums in some area...
Read More
Colorado Fire Departments Sound Alarm Over Staffing and Funding Shortfalls
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Fire Departments Sound Alarm Over Staffing and Funding Shortfalls

By Veronica Acosta | Denver7 LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A new statewide assessment found two-thirds of Colorado fire departments can't fund their full operations, and nearly 80% can't afford the equipment and staffing they say they need — a gap agencies like West Metro Fire Rescue say is now pushing them toward asking voters for more money. Colorado's fire departments are being asked to do more than ever, and a new state report shows most of them don't have the money to keep up. The 2026 Colorado Fire Service Needs Assessment, released this month by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC), surveyed 122 of the state's roughly 340 fire departments and found that two in three — 66.4% — say their current funding isn't enough to run all of their department's oper...
Read More
Missed Insurance Deadline Could Leave Jeffco Taxpayers Paying $15 Million Sex Abuse Settlement
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Missed Insurance Deadline Could Leave Jeffco Taxpayers Paying $15 Million Sex Abuse Settlement

By Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette Taxpayers may end up on the hook for a child sexual assault settlement, possibly worth up to $15 million, after Jeffco Public Schools failed to notify its insurance company in a timely manner about the case. The incident stems from the Imagine Kay Ewer case. Ewer, a former paraprofessional in the district, groomed and sexually abused a special needs student for several months in 2023. Ewer pleaded guilty in 2024 to criminal charges for providing drugs and alcohol, and engaging in several sexual acts with the then-16-year-old disabled student.  Ewer received a four-year prison sentence followed by 10-years-to-life probation last year. According to documents obtained by The Denver Gazette, Jeffco and its legal couns...
Read More
Jeffco Schools Lawsuit Seeks Clarity After Federal Challenge to Transgender Policies
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Lawsuit Seeks Clarity After Federal Challenge to Transgender Policies

By: Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette In the wake of several threats by the Trump administration to revoke federal funding, Jeffco Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education seeking to protect that badly needed money. Jeffco has been under investigation by the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights over the district’s policies regarding transgender students, which the federal government alleges violate Title IX. Jeffco officials said its policies are in line with Colorado state law and that the dispute is between the state and federal governments, not the school district. In its complaint, Jeffco said the district’s policies align with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which broadly prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identit...
Read More
Former Jeffco Schools Security Guard Faces Dozens of Child Sex Crime Charges
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Former Jeffco Schools Security Guard Faces Dozens of Child Sex Crime Charges

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A former Jeffco Public Schools security guard arrested for child sex assault charges last month kept evidence of child sex abuse material for nearly 10 years before he was caught, according to an arrest affidavit in the case obtained by Denver7 over the weekend. Brian C. Richie, 67, was arrested June 22, 2026, by Longmont police on more than 30 charges, including felony sexual assault on a child from a position of trust, production and possession of child sexual abuse material, and invasion of privacy for sexual gratification. The investigation into Richie began in January of this year after a child disclosed “unsafe touching" by Richie to staff at Blue Sky Bridge child advocacy center following a school safety pre...
Read More
Months of Power Outages Leave Littleton Neighborhood Looking for Solutions
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Months of Power Outages Leave Littleton Neighborhood Looking for Solutions

By: Kelly Werthmann | CBS Colorado It's been a tough week in Colorado if you struggle with the heat, especially if you don't have access to any sort of cooling measures. Residents say that's what happened in the Columbine Hills neighborhood in Littleton when the power went out for hours at a time. And they say this has been happening since last summer. "We feel like prisoners in our own neighborhood," said resident Brandon Darnell. Darnell s ays he's pretty sick of losing power at his Littleton home. He says it's never a brief outage. "It's a while. It's like, I think at minimum usually four hours," said Darnell. He says it has cost him money. "I've had to throw a lot of money worth of meat away," said Darnell. And it's affected his job. ...
Read More
Jeffco Schools Seek $135 Million Tax Hike to Address Deficit and Facility Needs
No Comments
Colorado Public Radio, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Seek $135 Million Tax Hike to Address Deficit and Facility Needs

By Melanie Asmar | CPR News Faced with a looming deficit, Jeffco Public Schools is weighing whether to ask voters in November to approve a $135 million tax increase. A community advisory group has recommended the funding be used for teacher salaries, career and technical education programs, technology, and safety and building upgrades. If voters approve the measure, property taxes would increase by $3.58 per month on every $100,000 of a home’s value, according to a district presentation. Although Jeffco is Colorado’s second-largest school district with 74,000 students, it spends less money per pupil than several other metro districts, according to state data. Part of the reason is that Jeffco voters have approved fewer tax increases, known as mill levy o...
Read More