Heather McBroom’s guilty plea to a felony drug charge in 2000 has proved to be an unshakeable burden, no matter how much success she has had in her professional life, now as a paralegal and process server. She can’t volunteer at her child’s school with a criminal record. She can’t be a recreational league coach. […]
Crime and Courts
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado police agencies now required to release records in internal affairs investigations
By James Anderson, The Associated Press Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation Friday designed to shed light on the conclusions of internal police investigations into alleged officer misconduct by making investigation documents available to the public. The law allows citizens to obtain records of internal affairs investigations, with proper redactions protecting witnesses, victims and others who […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
The red flag gun bill is now law in Colorado. But that doesn’t mean all the questions around it are answered.
Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed the so-called red flag gun bill into law, the most extensive gun-control legislation passed in Colorado since 2013, when a host of measures were approved in the wake of the Aurora theater shooting. While questions around the policy at the Colorado General Assembly might be answered, it doesn’t mean […]
Posted inSun Investigation
No Colorado school districts meet federal safety standards for behavioral health staffing, investigation shows
Tamara Durbin is responsible for making sure more than 4,300 students across some 5,000 square miles of Colorado’s Eastern Plains get mental health care when they need it. She does so with a patchwork of staffers that comes nowhere close to what the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for student safety. The […]
Posted inSun Investigation
Twenty years after Columbine, Colorado schools are assessing an astonishing number of student threats
The Snapchat messages were chilling. “13-inch steel knife,” a 15-year-old boy wrote to a fellow student, describing his weapon and including a list of kids at Green Mountain High School that he planned to “eliminate.” She could keep her friend off the kill list, the boy noted, if she came over to his house or […]
Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, Culture, News
Colorado cattle rustling’s colorful history helps modern brand inspectors keep up with a changing crime
GREELEY — Amid clanging gates and lowing cattle, Terry Florian steps into a crowded pen and begins a subtle dance among the livestock, carefully stepping around and between their churning hooves to catch a glimpse of the brands burned into their hides. He and his fellow brand inspectors circulating outside the sale barn will cull […]
Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
2 legal marijuana workers in Denver were denied citizenship because of their jobs, underscoring a national question
By Kathleen Foody, The Associated Press U.S. immigration authorities blocked two immigrants’ applications for citizenship because of their work in Colorado’s marijuana industry, their attorneys and Denver officials said, accusing the Trump administration of quietly targeting immigrants seeking jobs in the growing field. Oswaldo Barrientos said he began working in the marijuana industry in 2014, […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado death penalty repeal effort is yanked, with Democratic votes in question
Colorado lawmakers on Tuesday nixed their effort to repeal the state’s death penalty after it appeared Democrats lacked the votes needed to push the measure through, emphasizing a split in the party that has been widening for weeks. Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, tearfully asked that Senate Bill 182 be laid over until May […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Columbine students campaign to spread photos of mass-shooting victims as discussion of gun-violence physiology grows
There’s been a national push in recent years to erase the names of gunmen who commit mass shootings from the public sphere. But now a group of Columbine High School students are leading an effort to spread photos of their horrific acts to influence the conversation around gun control. The #MyLastShot campaign, launched this week, […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado Senate passes red flag gun bill, moving it one step from Gov. Jared Polis’ signature
The Colorado Senate on Thursday passed the so-called red flag gun bill, moving the measure within a step of Gov. Jared Polis’ desk, where he’s expected to sign it into law. House Bill 1177 cleared the chamber on an 18-17 vote. It now heads back to the House for approval of Senate amendments. Senate President […]