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Residents report safer passage as Lakewood tunnel is cleaned and police increase patrols
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Fox31, Approved, Local

Residents report safer passage as Lakewood tunnel is cleaned and police increase patrols

by: Hanna Powers | Fox31 LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — A pedestrian tunnel along Wadsworth Boulevard that neighbors recently called unsafe looks markedly different less than 24 hours after FOX31’s initial report aired Monday night. By Tuesday afternoon, construction crews had painted over graffiti, cleared trash and moved along people who had been loitering, and Lakewood police officers were on site patrolling and confiscating contraband, according to observations by FOX31 at the scene. Residents say the change is obvious. “I just feel more calm here now than … two days ago,” one commuter told FOX31 on Wednesday. “Two days [ago] I rode the bus later around 5 or 6, and I did see some of that. But at this time, I am not seeing that.” Earlier this week, neighbors described the ...
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“They don’t care”: Unleashed podcast spotlights Durango parents’ loss of trust
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“They don’t care”: Unleashed podcast spotlights Durango parents’ loss of trust

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Hunter Opilla didn’t expect to speak at a school board meeting when his family moved to Durango two years ago. But after learning about the district’s gender bathroom policy—and the board’s decision to reverse a superintendent directive—he says he felt he had no choice. “Just blank stares,” Opilla recalled on a recent episode of Heidi Ganahl’s Unleashed podcast. “The board never responded to my emails.” Ganahl’s latest podcast brings together a concerned father and a charter school founder to unpack what they call a pattern of political overreach and parental exclusion in Durango Schools. The conversation echoes issues previously covered by Rocky Mountain Voice in its Dirty Dozen series and recent reporting on board transparency and trust. Th...
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Pueblo Voters to Decide Whether to End Strong Mayor System
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

Pueblo Voters to Decide Whether to End Strong Mayor System

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado PUEBLO–The City of Pueblo’s November election ballot includes a major charter amendment asking voters to dismantle the city’s “strong mayor” form of government, reverting to the council/manager system the southern Colorado municipality of roughly 111,000 residents once had. Pueblo, along with Denver, Leadville and Colorado Springs are currently the only cities that operate under a council-mayor form of government, where an elected mayor with veto authority acts as the chief executive, preparing the budget, hiring and directing staff, and proposing ordinances. The city council acts as the mayor’s legislative counterpart, adopting the budget, and approving and acting on ordinances. Ballot Question 2C asks voters to change to a council-manager cit...
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Durango 9-R’s Monday update comes as parents dispute the “misinformation” label
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Durango 9-R’s Monday update comes as parents dispute the “misinformation” label

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R holds its State of the District tonight at the Impact Career Innovation Center. The district’s event page bills it as a community update with test-score dashboards and a Q&A. The Durango Herald said leaders plan to confront “misinformation.” Parent Jason Mietchen hears it differently: “We’ve had to counteract the misinformation for years. The school puts out a ton of it.” Why attention spiked this month The Herald also referenced Heidi Ganahl’s twelve-part ‘Durango’s 9-R Dirty Dozen,’ a wide-ranging critique of district policy, practice and the outcomes families are talking about. Topics span CMAS proficiency, gender-support steps, the ACA name-change policy, flag resolutions and the government-speech argument,...
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Lakewood rezones neighborhoods, single-family homes lose protection
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Lakewood rezones neighborhoods, single-family homes lose protection

By Sage Kelley | Denver Gazette The controversial section of Lakewood’s new proposed planning document that aims to add more affordable housing to the city was approved Monday evening. The Lakewood City Council approved an amended version of Article 3 of the city’s 2026 zoning code proposal — a 400-page planning document covering residential, commercial and mixed-use site design standards, parking and historic preservation. The ordinance passed 9-2, with councilmembers David Rein and Paula Nystrom being the two “no” votes. The article drew ire throughout the community, and it ultimately erased the use of the term single-family zoning, allowing for multi-family homes — like duplexes and condos — to be built in residential areas citywide. The change is aimed at boosting affordabl...
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FAA cites Rocky Mountain Metro as most incident-prone airport in U.S.
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

FAA cites Rocky Mountain Metro as most incident-prone airport in U.S.

By Ryan Fish | Denver7 An aviation expert told Denver7 that most of the incidents are not life-threatening. Superior's mayor, however, is sounding the alarm. BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Below the flight path of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (RMMA) is the town of Superior. “We're hearing the noise,” Mayor Mark Lacis told Denver7 Wednesday. “Our residents have been complaining for years.” In 2024, the Town of Superior and Boulder County filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County, which owns and operates the airport, over the noise issue. A Boulder County court dismissed that lawsuit earlier this year, though the town said it is considering options, including an appeal. But Lacis has more concerns, and this week, he reached out to Denver7 about them. A June memo&n...
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Public Safety Survives Cuts as Denver Faces Budget Crunch
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Public Safety Survives Cuts as Denver Faces Budget Crunch

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette Day two of the public hearings for Denver’s proposed 2026 spending plan got underway on Tuesday with presentations from the city’s public safety agencies. As representatives from the Denver Department of Safety, Denver Police, Denver Fire, Denver Sheriff and the Department of Public Health and Environment shared plans for helping the city tighten its belt, recurring themes included streamlining program functions, identifying new sources of revenue and shifting some positions out of the city’s general fund into alternate funding sources such as special revenue funds and grants. Overall, agencies sought to protect core services and align with council priorities. Here are some of the top takeaways for the day: Denver Public SafetyDirector...
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Westminster launches $260M water plant with groundbreaking ceremony on September 24
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Westminster launches $260M water plant with groundbreaking ceremony on September 24

By: Abraham Jewett | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — The city of Westminster is preparing to break ground on a new $206 million drinking water facility. The facility will be able to treat 14.7 million gallons of water per day, according to the city, which said Tuesday that it has been designed to “provide clean, safe, and affordable drinking water for generations to come.” A ceremonial groundbreaking will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on site at 9988 Westminster Blvd. The event is on the east side of Westminster Boulevard between 98th and 104th avenues. The city said parking will be available and that the free event, in addition to the ceremonial groundbreaking, will include food trucks, educational activities, and a “close-up look at construction equipment.” T...
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Denver Closes Online Parking Ticket Appeal Portal Amid Budget Cuts
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Denver Closes Online Parking Ticket Appeal Portal Amid Budget Cuts

By  Nicole Fierro | KDVR FOX31 DENVER, Colo. (KDVR) — Denver layoffs are now going to impact your ability to dispute parking tickets with the city online, which went into effect on Thursday. Denver court officials told FOX31 that with the city and county of Denver’s projected budget deficit, the county court had to lay off 10 employees on Aug. 27th. Five employees of those were from the parking magistrates’ office, which was a team of five. In 2024, the Parking Magistrate’s Office processed 66,378 parking appeals and 10 final parking hearings. The spokesperson with Denver court officials also told FOX31, the team worked collaboratively with a variety of city stakeholders, including Right of Way Enforcement, the Parking Violation Bureau, Denver County Vehicle Impound and Passpor...
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