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Tag: Pueblo County

Aspen Acres Fire Tops 91,000 Acres as New Evacuations Hit Fremont County
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Aspen Acres Fire Tops 91,000 Acres as New Evacuations Hit Fremont County

By: Dana Coffield | The Colorado Sun The Willow fire near Leadville grew by 900 acres overnight spurring mandatory evacuation of areas southwest of the city. Ouray 100 race canceled because of Gold Mountain fire. The Aspen Acres fire southwest of Pueblo made another surge Sunday, bringing the total acres burned to 91,523, federal fire officials said, and making it the seventh largest wildfire on record in Colorado. Authorities said Thursday the fire was human-caused but released no further details about its origin as it raced northeast from near the Aspen Acres campground across Pueblo County, where it forced the evacuation of the towns of Beulah, Colorado City, Rye, San Isabel and Wetmore. Around 8:15 p.m. Sunday, the Fremont County sheriff issued a mandator...
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FEMA Approves Additional Fire Aid as Colorado Wildfires Burn Across State
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

FEMA Approves Additional Fire Aid as Colorado Wildfires Burn Across State

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis announced Sunday that FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Willow fire as firefighting efforts continue across the state. The Willow fire has placed more than 1,500 people under mandatory evacuation orders and another 2,100 residents under pre-evacuation notices, according to the governor’s office. The fire, reported June 28, has burned almost 4,000 acres and is 1% contained. “This Federal Fire Management Assistance Grant will help our state take all necessary actions to protect Coloradans and communities,” Polis said in a statement. “Protecting lives, property, and businesses is our top priority.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Community Steps Up as Aspen Acres Fire Grows Across Southern Colorado
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Community Steps Up as Aspen Acres Fire Grows Across Southern Colorado

By Gabriela Vidal, Jack Lowenstein, Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado The has grown significantly and forced new evacuations. Southern Colorado authorities said the wildfire, which has destroyed more than 180 structures — including an unknown number of homes — has burned 55,405 acres since it began on Monday.  The fire is the largest in the region currently and is burning in Pueblo and Custer counties. It's the country's No. 1 firefighting priority, officials said in a news conference on Wednesday. There have been strong, sustained winds in the area, and no meaningful moisture in the forecast, which caused further growth throughout the day on Thursday. "It breaks my heart every day, just seeing it grow and grow, and there's nothing you can do about it either,"...
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The numbers didn’t add up: A judge says Colorado’s elections office didn’t either
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The numbers didn’t add up: A judge says Colorado’s elections office didn’t either

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Jonathan Ambler read the article more than once. Republicans in Pueblo County had reported tens of thousands in contributions. Democrats—who had controlled local politics for generations and operated out of their own headquarters—had reported barely a few thousand. It didn’t square. So he started digging. What he found led to two formal complaints, a dismissal by Colorado’s top elections office, and now, a Denver judge ordering that same office to go back and do the work again. A court steps in where the state stepped away On March 26, Denver District Court Judge Bruce Jones ruled that the Colorado Secretary of State’s office improperly dismissed Ambler’s campaign finance complaints against the Pueblo County Democratic Party. The...
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Democrat Backed Redistricting Plan Could Flip Three Colorado GOP House Seats
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Uncategorized, Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Democrat Backed Redistricting Plan Could Flip Three Colorado GOP House Seats

By Michael Braithwaite | Colorado Politics A Democrat-backed proposal to redraw Colorado’s congressional map for the 2028 election could flip three Republican districts. The proposal, introduced by a group called Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, is yet another development in a national redistricting debate after President Donald Trump called to redraw U.S. House districts. An analysis of the proposal in Colorado shows that the redrawn map could lead to flipping three Republican house seats to the Democrats’ column in the 2028 election, including in District 5, which has never voted for a Democratic representative in its long history, according to composite election data. Colorado’s 2021 congressional district map (left) compared to Coloradans for a Leve...
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Pueblo Man Arrested After More Than 1,100 Child Exploitation Images Found
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The Gazette, Approved, Local

Pueblo Man Arrested After More Than 1,100 Child Exploitation Images Found

By Grace Brajkovich | The Gazette A 43-year-old Pueblo man was arrested Tuesday after being accused of possessing over 1,100 sexually explicit photos of children, ranging from “infants to teenagers,” according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office. Matthew Phelps was arrested by detectives with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office after authorities were tipped off in May about “more than 1,100” images and videos of child pornography being downloaded to a device at his address in the 27000 block of Woburn Abbey. Detectives from the Sheriff Office’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit headed the investigation and were able to obtain a search warrant for Phelps’ address that was associated with the downloads. When serving the warrant, authorities say they found explicit images and vi...
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Pueblo Coroner Resigns After Decomposed Bodies Found at Mortuary
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Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Pueblo Coroner Resigns After Decomposed Bodies Found at Mortuary

By Ashley Eberhardt | KDVR Fox 31 PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KXRM) — Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter has resigned just over a week after the discovery of at least 24 bodies stored improperly at the mortuary he co-owned, Davis Mortuary. In a letter released by the Pueblo County Board of County Commissioners, Cotter’s legal counsel explained that Cotter was “hospitalized for a cardiac event” following the discovery during the Department of Regulatory Agencies’ inspection on Aug. 20. Numerous state and local officials have called for Cotter to resign, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis. After a week had passed without Cotter’s resignation, a process to recall him from office in a recall election was estimated to cost just under half a million dollars. Cotter’s resignation is ef...
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Trailblazers among us: Meet the RMV award winners changing Colorado from the ground up
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

Trailblazers among us: Meet the RMV award winners changing Colorado from the ground up

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice At the Mountain Majesty Gala last month, the room was on its feet. Eric Trump had just wrapped his keynote, a message aimed straight at the grassroots: Colorado is yearning to be red. But the loud applause that night wasn’t reserved only for the headliner.  It also came when everyday Coloradans—organizers, volunteers and first-time leaders—were called up for something new: the first Trailblazer Awards.  It was for the people doing the work when no one’s watching. It was a moment to take in, struck not just by who received the awards—but why. These weren’t political celebrities. They were parents, satirists, engineers and organizers.  Most had never sought attention. But they’d earned it. Here are the stories of Trailblaze...
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Pueblo County sheriff’s deputies have rescued cows from frozen ponds twice in three days
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Approved, Fox21, Local

Pueblo County sheriff’s deputies have rescued cows from frozen ponds twice in three days

By Ashley Eberhardt | KXRM-TV Fox 21 News For the second time in three days, volunteers and employees with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) were called to rescue cows that had fallen through a frozen pond in eastern Pueblo County. According to PCSO, deputies responded on Monday, Jan. 27 along with Emergency Management and volunteers with the sheriff’s office dive and fire teams for a rescue of cows that had fallen through a frozen pond. PCSO said three cows were rescued Monday, after a similar incident on the previous Friday. READ THE FULL STORY AT KXRM-TV FOX 21 NEWS
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Commentary: Pueblo’s Democratic Party faces $2 million campaign finance scandal
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Approved, Commentary, Local

Commentary: Pueblo’s Democratic Party faces $2 million campaign finance scandal

By Rocky Mountain Voice | Commentary The Pueblo Democratic Party is at the center of a significant campaign finance scandal, following a complaint that has exposed years of financial misconduct. While the statute of limitations may cap their liability at $25,000, the total violations could exceed $2 million if all infractions were accounted. The revelations suggest that the party has evaded financial reporting laws for more than a decade, raising serious questions about accountability. The complaint targets the financial activities of the Pueblo County Democratic Central Committee, which operates as an ancillary entity to the Pueblo Democratic Party. Colorado law, specifically Article XXVIII of the State Constitution and 1-45-108 C.R.S., requires transparency in campaign finance r...
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