Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Public safety

Inside the 2025 Colorado elections: What voters rewarded, rejected—and why it matters
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Inside the 2025 Colorado elections: What voters rewarded, rejected—and why it matters

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board An analysis of what Colorado’s 2025 elections reveal about power, performance—and the path forward Colorado voters made their message plain this year, though not all spoke with one voice. In city halls and school races they favored those who stayed engaged, turned away those who coasted and reminded every leader that trust has an expiration date. Aurora: Jurinsky’s crime fight meets a political storm Aurora voters ended two decades of center-right control, electing progressives to every open seat and turning a 7–3 conservative majority into a 6–4 Democratic edge. In the at-large race, Rob Andrews and Alli Jackson won with 29,659 and 29,177 votes, while Danielle Jurinsky—a high-profile incumbent—finished third with 25,246. As ch...
Documents Show Activists Readying Hard Left Agenda For NYC
Just The News, Approved, National

Documents Show Activists Readying Hard Left Agenda For NYC

By Jerry Dunleavy | Just the News The Democratic Socialists of America helped deliver their fellow comrade, Zohran Mamdani, the NYC mayorship on Tuesday. Now, they have some demands, starting with policies about Israel. Aself-described “democratic socialist” will now govern New York City, capitalism's hub in America and the free world, and Just the News has obtained internal plans from the Democratic Socialists of America detailing how the NYC-DSA branch that Zohran Mamdani belongs to intends to pressure him to inject arguably extreme anti-Israel policies into the management -- and life -- of the Big Apple. Mamdani, who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday, has been a longtime DSA member and leader, and he is listed&nbs...
Denver City Council Blocks Proposal to Cut Police Budget for Homeless Services
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver City Council Blocks Proposal to Cut Police Budget for Homeless Services

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette A push to shift millions of dollars away from the Denver Police Department to pay for homeless families’ shelter failed on Monday night, when councilmembers waded through more than two dozen amendments. The council voted against a pair of amendments, sponsored independently by Councilmember Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady, both of which proposed a one-time budget reallocation of $9 million from the police department to Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST) to pay for the needs of approximately 240 homeless families. The two amendments would have taken funding from DPD’s recruiting program, as well as from its service and supply budget line. When asked how HOST might use the additional cash infus...
Polis Sounds Alarm on Medicaid Spending: “We Can’t Fund Everything”
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Sounds Alarm on Medicaid Spending: “We Can’t Fund Everything”

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Gov. Jared Polis released his budget request for next year, and Medicaid will take a big hit. The governor says the health insurance program for low-income Coloradans is growing at nearly twice the rate of the state government overall. Polis says, if the state doesn't slow the rate of growth, the program will crowd out everything but funding for schools in the next few years. In the state, 1.2 million Coloradans rely on Medicaid. The governor says none of them will lose coverage, but what that coverage looks like will change.  "There's two levers on Medicaid," Polis said during a press conference. "One is how many people you cover, and two is what you cover." Polis' budget request hones in on what services Medicaid covers. "There have bee...
Modern-Day “Bonnie and Clyde” Busted with Cat After Violent Colorado Liquor Store Theft
Outkick, Approved, Local

Modern-Day “Bonnie and Clyde” Busted with Cat After Violent Colorado Liquor Store Theft

By: Sean Joseph | OutKick Shoplifting, pepper spray, biting, and a cat. Colorado’s liquor store chaos has it all. There's a certain amount of perseverance required to get caught shoplifting from a liquor store and refuse to go down without a fight. I'm not saying it's a form of determination that should be admired. I'm simply pointing out that there is more than one path from shoplifting to being arrested, and these two chose the path that includes pepper spray and biting while brawling with employees. A man and woman in Colorado had, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, shoplifted several items from a liquor store and tried to leave. Two employees of the fine establishment followed them out into the parking lot and attempted to sto...
Colorado Parental Rights Group Pushes to Repeal Controversial Competency Law
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Parental Rights Group Pushes to Repeal Controversial Competency Law

By Marissa Ventrulli | Colorado Politics A group of parental rights advocates and Republican lawmakers is urging the Colorado legislature to repeal a 2024 law that made changes to the state’s competency procedures. Established over the summer, the group called “We The Parents” includes members of the Colorado Parental Advocacy Network and legislators from the more conservative wing of the Republican Party: Reps. Brandi Bradley of Littleton, Stephanie Luck of Penrose, and Ken DeGraaf of Colorado Springs. On its website, the organization describes itself as a group of parents and community leaders “who are done watching politicians ignore the voices of families.” “We’ve watched lawmakers strip away parental rights behind closed doors,” the group’s website says. “That ends now. We...
Aurora Police Arrest Man Deported Three Times After I-225 Shooting
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Aurora Police Arrest Man Deported Three Times After I-225 Shooting

By Kyla Pearce | The Denver Gazette Aurora police officers arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting on I-225 last weekend in what officials described as a case in which camera technology and cooperation with federal immigration agents played a major role. The case also illustrated the stark differences between the cities of Denver and Aurora in how they approach the use of surveillance videos and working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Police on Thursday apprehended Celin Villeda Orellana, 38, on charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, menacing and illegal discharge of a firearm, all felonies, according to Acting Assistant Chief Mark Hildebrand in a news conference on Friday. Orellana has been deported three times since 2007. Th...
“Everything Was Gone”: Colorado Victims Speak Out After Crime Ring Arrests
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

“Everything Was Gone”: Colorado Victims Speak Out After Crime Ring Arrests

By Sarah Horbacewicz | CBS Colorado Victims in Colorado are sharing their stories after the Boulder County Sheriff's Office announced arrests in a crime ring spanning at least 18 months. As CBS Colorado reported, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office executed several search warrants on Wednesday morning that are part of a grand jury investigation into an organized crime ring targeting the Front Range. Five arrests have been made, and one suspect remains at large. According to the 20th Judicial District Attorney's Office, they executed the search warrants as part of a criminal case. Boulder officials said a crime ring is responsible for 26 burglaries and 15 motor vehicle thefts, and many other offenses. Last July, Rich Caudill woke up to find his truck ransacked, at first not know...
License Plate Readers Expand Across Colorado, Raising Privacy Concerns
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

License Plate Readers Expand Across Colorado, Raising Privacy Concerns

By: Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Police across Colorado say they make communities safer, but privacy experts have a different opinion about license plate readers. While license plate readers have been around for decades, the cameras now capture, not just license plates, but vast troves of information. That information is fed into a national database, where it can be combined with other surveillance to develop detailed travel patterns of millions of people as they go to a political rally, or an abortion clinic, a house of worship, or a gay bar. The cameras are so prolific that it's difficult to avoid them in many cities. Boulder software engineer Will Freeman is the first to begin mapping them. A year ago, he didn't even know what license plate readers looked like, let alone w...
Five Suspects Nabbed in Organized Crime Spree Across 25 Jurisdictions
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Five Suspects Nabbed in Organized Crime Spree Across 25 Jurisdictions

By: Heather Willard, Jacob Factor | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday morning executed nine search warrants after an 18-month investigation of an alleged criminal enterprise that committed crimes in 25 Colorado jurisdictions, resulting in the arrest of five people. One person remains at large. The 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said that the crime ring is responsible for over $828,880 in stolen property and $39,880 in damaged property, impacting more than 55 victims. County officials said on Wednesday morning that the nine search warrants were part of a “grand jury investigation,” and on Wednesday afternoon, officials said that a crime ring that targeted the Front Range had been brought to a “halt.” The Boulder County District At...