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CBS Colorado

Denver mayor, staff used encrypted app on migrant crisis; messages auto-deleted, citing Trump-era policy
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Denver mayor, staff used encrypted app on migrant crisis; messages auto-deleted, citing Trump-era policy

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and 14 of his top advisors, appointees and lawyers nicknamed themselves "Strike Force" and communicated about the city's migrant crisis through an end-to end encryption app, CBS News Colorado has learned. The app, Signal, proceeded to automatically delete their initial conversations. A spokesperson for Johnston said the Signal messaging was prompted by President Trump and how his administration "could have significant impacts on how Denver operates." The use of such messaging apps by government officials has been controversial and viewed as a way to avoid public disclosure of government decision making. In Michigan, after state police leaders were found in 2021 to be using Signal on state-issued...
The Colorado psychedelic mushroom experiment has arrived
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

The Colorado psychedelic mushroom experiment has arrived

By Kate Ruder | CBS Colorado Colorado regulators are issuing licenses for providing psychedelic mushrooms and are planning to authorize the state's first "healing centers," where the mushrooms can be ingested under supervision, in late spring or early summer. The dawn of state-regulated psychedelic mushrooms has arrived in Colorado, nearly two years since Oregon began offering them. The mushrooms are a Schedule I drug and illegal under federal law except for clinical research. But more than a dozen cities nationwide have deprioritized or decriminalized them in the past five years, and many eyes are turned toward Oregon's and Colorado's state-regulated programs. "In Oregon and Colorado, we're going to learn a lot about administration of psychedelics outside of clinical, religi...
Rep. Gabe Evans defends GOP spending bill as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Rep. Joe Neguse warn it will slash Medicaid
Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Rep. Gabe Evans defends GOP spending bill as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Rep. Joe Neguse warn it will slash Medicaid

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado The Republican spending bill is helping unite the Democratic Party after days of infighting over a GOP resolution to avert a shutdown. Party leaders called for a Medicaid Day of Action to protest the spending bill that they say will mean drastic cuts to Medicaid. The party turned to two heavy hitters in Colorado -- Gov. Jared Polis and Rep. Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado's 2nd Congressional District -- who held an event at Clinica Family Health in Lafayette to sound an alarm. "$880 billion of cuts to Medicaid would dismantle the Medicaid program as we know it, and it would mean that hundreds of thousands of Coloradans would no longer have access to health care," warned Neguse. The GOP resolution directs the Energy and Commerce Committ...
Colorado drug bust includes elephant sedative
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado drug bust includes elephant sedative

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Three people recently arrested for carrying drugs in western Colorado had among their stash an opioid said to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl.  A Delta County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over a vehicle on March 3 that was swerving over the lane stripes on Highway 50 west of Delta.  Another Delta deputy invited his K9 "Teg" to sniff the vehicle. The dog alerted to the presence of narcotics.  The deputies removed the three people from the car and searched it, finding approximately 1500 fentanyl pills, 50 grams of fentanyl powder, 12 grams of ecstacy pills, 454 grams of methamphetamine, and 21 grams of Carfentanil.  READ FULL ARTICLE ON CBS COLORADO
Protesters gather outside ICE in Aurora after immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra reportedly taken into custody
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Protesters gather outside ICE in Aurora after immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra reportedly taken into custody

By Jennifer McRae | CBS Colorado Protesters gathered outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Aurora early Tuesday morning on reports that immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra was taken into custody. Vizguerra was reportedly taken into custody by federal agents on Monday morning.  Vizguerra has been considered a voice for the immigrant community for more than two decades. Vizguerra came to the United States, without proper documentation to stay, from Mexico City in 1997. Demonstrators outside the ICE facility told CBS News Colorado that Vizguerra was taken into custody by federal agents outside her place of employment on Monday morning. Vizguerra's family has claimed that she was taken into ICE custody. CBS News Colorado is awaiting confirmation from ICE abou...
Strip clubs Diamond Cabaret and Rick’s Cabaret sue Denver Labor over wage theft investigation
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Strip clubs Diamond Cabaret and Rick’s Cabaret sue Denver Labor over wage theft investigation

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado Two Denver strip clubs accused of widespread wage theft are suing Denver Labor after they were ordered to pay back millions to their employees. Diamond Cabaret Denver and Rick's Cabaret Denver have filed a lawsuit to stop Denver Labor from enforcing its order demanding the businesses pay back more than 200 employees of the strip clubs. They also requested a gag order against Denver Labor due to what they say is the "dissemination of falsehoods against the clubs." READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
Ballpark Denver General Improvement District funded by residents to keep community safe, clean
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Ballpark Denver General Improvement District funded by residents to keep community safe, clean

By Chierstin Susel | CBS Colorado The Ballpark Denver General Improvement District became the fifth improvement district in Denver when it was established through a special election back in November 2024. Nearly 90% of the district's homeowners and residents chose to tax themselves in order to make the area they live and work in safer and cleaner. Starting Monday, a team of more than a dozen ambassadors in orange and burgundy will be walking around the Ballpark District, which includes Coors Field and spans a total of 40 blocks.  READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
HB 1192 would add financial literacy to state’s high school graduation requirements
Approved, CBS Colorado, State

HB 1192 would add financial literacy to state’s high school graduation requirements

By Jasmine Arenas | CBS Colorado Some Colorado lawmakers want financial literacy to be a requirement for high school graduation. Only about 25% of Colorado school districts require a personal finance course to graduate, according to the Colorado Department of Education. Denver Public Schools is one of the districts. West High School in Denver is one of the schools that has offered the course for the past five years, in English and Spanish. At Denver West High School, more than 80% of students identify as Latinx. House Bill 25-1192, which has bipartisan support from state lawmakers including Reps. Don Wilson, Lorena Garcia, and Sens. James Coleman and Barbara Kirkmeyer, would make financial literacy a graduation requirement statewide. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
Hwy. 34 reopens in Weld County after potential pipe bomb investigated during traffic stop
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Hwy. 34 reopens in Weld County after potential pipe bomb investigated during traffic stop

By Jennifer McRae | CBS Colorado Highway 34 was closed in Weld County early Wednesday morning after Colorado State Patrol troopers investigated a possible pipe bomb inside a vehicle during a traffic stop. Shortly after 6 a.m. the highway reopened and the 40-year-old driver was arrested for suspicion of DUI. Just before 1 a.m., state troopers stopped a black 2023 Honda Accord for speeding in the westbound lanes of the highway at mile marker 101. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
Colorado-based Lunar Outpost behind rover set to explore Moon’s south pole for first time
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Colorado-based Lunar Outpost behind rover set to explore Moon’s south pole for first time

By Karen Morfitt | CBS Colorado Following a successful launch of Intuitive Machines' lunar lander, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, the team from Colorado-based Lunar Outpost was back to work. "About 20 seconds after that rocket SpaceX Falcon 9 cleared the launchpad, you saw people running out of the bleachers to get over to mission control and to start checking on our system," said Michael Moreno, Vice President of Strategy for Lunar Outpost. The lander is expected to reach the moon's surface on Thursday. Onboard is Lunar Outpost's exploration rover MAPP, or mobile autonomous prospecting platform. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO