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Broomfield Church Defaced With Swastika as City Leaders Denounce Hate
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Broomfield Church Defaced With Swastika as City Leaders Denounce Hate

By Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado Someone spray painted a large swastika on a church's sign in the Denver metro area over the weekend. That's according to elected officials in the City and County of Broomfield, who say the incident is under investigation.   Police believe it happened sometime Sunday morning at Beautiful Savior Church near Main Street and West 120th Avenue. The city's mayor and members of the city county jointly posted a statement on the city's website that said volunteers cleaned up the swastika along with other symbols that were painted on the sign. In their statement they wrote that the sight was "painful and deeply disturbing." READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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...
Safety, Discipline, and Learning at Heart of Denver School Board Races
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Safety, Discipline, and Learning at Heart of Denver School Board Races

By Olivia Young | CBS Colorado Voters will elect four members of the Denver School Board next week. That will determine a majority on the seven member board and the future direction of the district, including the tenure of Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero. DPS parents who are stressing the importance of casting ballots talked with CBS News Colorado. Chanele Simmons is a business owner and mom to three DPS students attending schools in far northeast Denver. She says her children's well-being is on her mind every day they're in classes. "That they're good and safe, that they're learning and that they're emotionally great," she said. Simmons would like to see the next Denver Board of Education focus on bringing down class size. She fears with the current class sizes are making i...
Colorado Republicans Slam Bennet, Hickenlooper Over Prolonged Shutdown
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Republicans Slam Bennet, Hickenlooper Over Prolonged Shutdown

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado As the government shutdown stretches into another week, federal funding for food assistance is set to run out in just over a week. Friday was supposed to be the payday for many federal employees who have been furloughed for a month. Instead, some employees got a paystub showing zero dollars. Colorado's Republican members of the United States Congress are growing increasingly frustrated with the refusal of Democratic members to pass a funding bill. U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank, Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd fired off a letter to U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and warned Coloradans are suffering because of the shutdown. Fifty-five thousand federal employees are facing financial hardship, and more than 600,000 Colorada...
“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...
Colorado Wolf Reintroduction May Have Violated Federal Law
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Wolf Reintroduction May Have Violated Federal Law

By: Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado A plan to import 15 more wolves to Colorado from Canada may violate federal law.  Wolves are listed as an endangered species here, so Colorado Parks and Wildlife needs a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to relocate wolves here from other states. The permit issued by USFWS in 2023 lists six states where Colorado can source wolves. It doesn't list Canada, where CPW got 15 wolves last year and plans to get another 15 wolves this year. Former congressman and current gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez says USFWS dropped the ball by allowing CPW to import wolves from Canada, which he says is a clear violation of its federal permit.  "The terms and conditions are that they can only get wolves from the Northern Rocky Mountains. They...
Douglas County Candidates Debate Safety, Fairness in Sports, and a Teachers’ Role
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Douglas County Candidates Debate Safety, Fairness in Sports, and a Teachers’ Role

By: Olivia Young | CBS Colorado In two weeks, Douglas County voters will weigh in on who will shape the next chapter of public education in their Colorado community. Eight candidates are vying for four open spots on the Douglas County School District RE-1 Board of Education. While the race is nonpartisan, one slate of four candidates is more conservative, and another slate of four candidates is more progressive. The board is comprised of seven members in total. Clark Callahan, a charter school administrator, former teacher and father of three DCSD students, is part of the progressive Community's Voice, Community's Choice slate, along with Kyrzia Parker, Tony Ryan and Kelly Denzler. "I really want to help create a system that works for all kids," Callahan told CBS Colo...
Denver’s Budget Crisis Deepens Amid $2 Million Rent Default
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Denver’s Budget Crisis Deepens Amid $2 Million Rent Default

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado The city of Denver's largest tenant, the leaseholder for the Denver Post building at 101 West Colfax Avenue, stopped making its monthly $650,000 rent payments to the city in August. And with late charges, the leaseholder is now about $2 million behind in rent, according to an exclusive CBS News Colorado investigation. "It is a large amount of income for the city, and if we cannot recover that, we will have to turn around and find more budget cuts," said Denver City Councilwoman Sarah Parady. The city of Denver bought the Denver Post building in early 2024 for $88.5 million, saying the 303,000 square foot building would eventually be needed to house Denver's court system. The Denver City Council approved the purchase by a 9-4 vote but several council m...
Aurora School Resource Supervisor Arrested in Federal Child Exploitation Probe
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Aurora School Resource Supervisor Arrested in Federal Child Exploitation Probe

By Jack Lowenstein | CBS Colorado Aurora Police Sgt. Aaron Bunch was arrested Wednesday after a warrant was served at a Denver home. Bunch faces charges for online sexual exploitation of a child, both Aurora Police Department and FBI Denver confirmed. According to APD's press release, Bunch was being investigated and subsequently arrested by FBI's "Child Exploitation Task Force" for charges that involve the electronic exchange of child exploitation material through the internet. The FBI confirmed a search warrant was being served at a home in the evening related to the case in a Denver community west of Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Bunch was originally hired by APD in 2005. He was serving as a school resource officer supervisor. According to the release, "At...