Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Public safety

Denver Seeks $11 Million Boost To Cover Police Overtime And Staffing Strains
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Seeks $11 Million Boost To Cover Police Overtime And Staffing Strains

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette The Denver Police Department is short $11 million and is asking the city to pick up the tab for unplanned and unfunded overtime tied to numerous protests and officer-involved shootings this year. Part of the request would also cover shortfalls in DPD separation payouts. The money, if approved by the City Council, would come from a supplemental general fund appropriation from the city’s contingency fund. Members of the council’s Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to advance the request, and others to claw back $13.9 million from the current general fund contingency, authorizing it as a supplemental appropriation for various general fund agencies and special revenue funds. “This is something...
Americans Still Waiting For Answers In Trump Assassination Attempt
New York Post, Approved, National

Americans Still Waiting For Answers In Trump Assassination Attempt

By: Alex Oliveira | New York Post The American people deserve answers about what drove Thomas Crooks to attempt to assassinate President Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post on ‘Pod Force One’— after a damning report emerged suggesting the gunman left a trail of digital clues the FBI did not previously share with the public. “Those questions are definitely deserving of answers and I understand why the public wants those answers, and I believe the president does too,” Leavitt recently told Miranda Devine on Pod Force One. “It’s a good question, and it’s one I’d like to see the answer to — and I think all Americans would,” she added. Leavitt’s comments came as Devine dropped a bombshell report in The Post Monday about newly unearthe...
DEA Seizure of 1.7 Million Fentanyl Pills Shocks Highlands Ranch Community
kdvr.com, Approved, Local

DEA Seizure of 1.7 Million Fentanyl Pills Shocks Highlands Ranch Community

By Heather Willard | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — A Highlands Ranch storage unit that was purchased during an auction turned into law enforcement’s largest seizure of fentanyl in Colorado history. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said that on Nov. 11, someone legally purchased a storage unit and when they opened it, found multiple items that appeared to be illegal. The purchaser contacted the sheriff’s office, and deputies and narcotics detectives quickly identified what the sheriff’s office described as a “massive quantity” of kilogram-sized packages and M-30 pills, which are counterfeit pills sold on the street containing fentanyl. After testing the pills, investigators confirmed they had seized: 198 kg of counterfeit fentanyl pills, which is about 1.7 million pills 1...
Colorado’s auto theft reckoning: A crisis we built, a crisis we can fix
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s auto theft reckoning: A crisis we built, a crisis we can fix

By RMV Editorial Board Colorado didn’t become the nation’s auto theft capital by accident. It got there through a decade of choices that treated working families’ cars like disposable assets. Lawmakers downgraded the theft of “low-value” vehicles to a low-level offense and sold it as reform. They never explained the part where families would carry the cost. Criminals understood the message right away. If the state didn’t take these thefts seriously, why would the offenders?  The surge pushed Colorado to No. 1 in auto theft back in 2021 and we didn’t fall far—No. 2 in 2023 and No. 4 in 2024—as neighborhoods kept paying the price in lost time and tighter budgets. State Patrol signals a shift What says more than any statistic is what the state is doing now. In a recent sta...
Brighton Memorial Honoring Veterans Vandalized for Tenth Time
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Brighton Memorial Honoring Veterans Vandalized for Tenth Time

By: Gabriela Vidal | CBS Colorado A local veterans' memorial in Colorado was vandalized with graffiti just one day after Veterans Day, and repairs could cost up to $3,000. County officials say the site has been vandalized 10 times in the last two years. It happened at the Adams County Veterans Memorial in Brighton on Wednesday, park officials and law enforcement say. "This is actually a replica of the USS Colorado battleship from World War II," said Byron Fanning, parks director for Adams County. Fanning said the memorial is meant to honor those who gave their lives in service of the country. "This is such a great place for people to come and reflect and really get deep into thought," he said. But only a day after residents adorned the memorial with flowers in h...
Salida Police Hunt Suspects Tied to Violent Home Invasion and Venezuelan Gang Activity
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Salida Police Hunt Suspects Tied to Violent Home Invasion and Venezuelan Gang Activity

By: Jeff Anastasio | Denver7 Salida police investigating a home invasion by suspects with alleged ties to a Venezuelan gang have connected the incident to an earlier assault in Buena Vista. Three suspects remain at large. SALIDA, Colo. – Police in Salida investigating a home invasion in which the victims were held at gunpoint against their will by suspects with alleged ties to a Venezuelan gang have connected the incident to an earlier assault in Buena Vista. According to the Salida Police Department, in the early morning hours of November 2, “multiple armed individuals” assaulted the two victims for around 20 minutes after forcing their way into the house before fleeing to the Denver Metro area. During the initial investigation, Salida police connected the home invasion susp...
Full Steam Ahead on the America First Agenda
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Full Steam Ahead on the America First Agenda

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A lot of good has already happened in Trump’s first year back. Donald Trump’s first year in the White House has delivered more progress than most presidents manage in an entire term. The border is tightening. Energy is coming back to life. Inflation is easing. America feels steady again. You can see it in people’s faces — a sense of relief, a little pride, a little hope after years of turbulence. But anyone who’s ever built anything knows early wins don’t carry you forever. Momentum is a start, not a finish. We’ve moved things forward, but keeping that ground and pushing it further is the real test. This is where you focus up and just do the work. The America First agenda works — and the next chapter must be about execution, ac...
Lone Tree Tenants Demand Answers After Murder Sparks Safety Concerns
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Lone Tree Tenants Demand Answers After Murder Sparks Safety Concerns

By: Karen Morfitt | CBS Colorado Updated on: November 13, 2025 / 10:22 PM MST / CBS Colorado On Sept. 4, the body of Kathleen Mayo was found inside her first floor unit at the Aspect apartment complex in Lone Tree. Police in the Colorado city, located in the southern part of the Denver metro area, say she was murdered. Residents who still live in the building and asked not to be identified say that crime scene extended into the hallways.  "There was what looked like a smiley face, and little smears they only stuck with sticky tape. You think it's blood, you think it's something awful, and that really shook us up," one said. The resident is one of several who reached out to CBS Colorado with concerns about when police and apartment management informed them of t...
Suspect Arrested After Alleged Threat Forces Closure Of Two Colorado Schools
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Suspect Arrested After Alleged Threat Forces Closure Of Two Colorado Schools

By Jacob Factor | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Costilla County Sheriff’s Office said a suspect is in custody for allegedly making a threat that closed two school districts in the county, one of which has closed for the whole week. The Sierra Grande School District in Blanca and the Centennial School District in San Luis Monday night both reported a “potential threat” that closed their schools Tuesday. Sierra Grande has about 300 students, and Centennial has about 180 students, according to the Colorado Department of Education, and Costilla County in southern Colorado along the New Mexico border has about 3,500 residents. Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez on Wednesday told FOX31 that the threat came from a man, later identified as suspect David Lee Land...
The sky is not falling, my friends
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The sky is not falling, my friends

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice It’s easy to get swept up in the daily drama of social media — the sky-is-falling headlines, the endless doomscrolling, the “we’re doomed” takes from people who haven’t walked outside to notice the mountains still standing tall. But every so often, someone breaks through the noise with a dose of reality. That’s what podcaster Dan Hollaway did last week on X when he responded to a viral claim that “this administration is losing young voters because it’s obsessed with Israel.” His reply? A blistering reality check that could double as a highlight reel of what’s actually working in America right now. Let’s look at a few of those wins — and maybe take a breath. Start with the economy. We’ve added more than 670,000 net jobs since Ja...