The climate-conscious, first-in-Colorado edicts proposed by the City of Aurora are clear: No new golf courses flooding grass with precious water. No grass in medians or decorative spots near offices. No home lawns sprawling out front and back — turf in backyards would max out at 750 square feet. But get ready, metropolitan water users […]
Mike Coffman
Posted inCrime and Courts, Equity, Health, Housing, News, Politics and Government, Social Services
As Aurora passes camping ban, some say enforcement money would be better spent on affordable housing
The Aurora City Council passed Mayor Mike Coffman’s urban camping ban, which could take effect as soon as April 28. The unauthorized-camping ordinance passed in a 6-5 vote. The ban will prohibit camping on public property in Aurora. Supporters of the measure have said it is inhumane to allow people who are homeless to live […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Gun control groups are investing millions in Colorado as gun rights spending has dramatically waned
Gun rights and gun control groups spent $15 million on congressional and state-level races in Colorado from 2012 to 2020, according to a Colorado Sun analysis. Gun-issue groups dropped an additional $2 million to lobby state lawmakers. The big spending is expected to continue this year following the shooting deaths of 10 people last month […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Aurora officials discuss Elijah McClain investigation at City Council meeting
By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press The mayor of Aurora on Tuesday thanked a panel of experts who delivered a highly critical report on the fatal arrest of Elijah McClain as an important step in the city’s healing on Tuesday. However, a few city council members faulted the investigation commissioned by the city and defended […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: It’s time for Colorado to embrace ranked-choice voting
Our elections today are full of divisive candidates, many of them elected without most voters’ support. In Colorado, our present system requires candidates to receive only a simple plurality, which is to say, at least one more vote than the second-place candidate. Unfortunately, this means that a candidate can receive even as little as a […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Mayor Coffman’s conclusions about homelessness are unfounded and troubling
While his intentions might have been noble, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman’s decision to spend time living on the streets recently did not bring him any closer to the truth when it comes to understanding the complex and multifaceted challenges facing our unhoused neighbors. To the contrary, the mayor’s week of voluntary poverty appears to have […]
Posted inElection 2020, News, Politics and Government
Where do Colorado Republicans go from here?
Four years ago, before Donald Trump was president, Colorado Republicans had a place at the table. They held one of Colorado’s U.S. Senate seats and three statewide offices: attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer. The GOP was even in power at the Colorado Capitol, where the state Senate was in the party’s hands, forcing […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman tests positive for coronavirus; Gov. Jared Polis not at risk despite event
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman on Sunday announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming one of the highest profile Coloradans to fall ill with the disease. “I came home from work late Thursday morning not feeling well, but thought I had just a very mild cold with a cough,” Coffman said on Twitter Sunday. […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, Health, News
Colorado medics may have misdiagnosed “excited delirium” hundreds of times when dosing people with ketamine
Paramedics unnecessarily sedated hundreds of people with ketamine during confrontations with police officers in Colorado, exposing them to potentially life-threatening complications associated with the drug. That’s according to an estimate from Dr. Mark DeBard, a professor emeritus of emergency medicine at Ohio State University and expert in cases of “excited delirium.” “It may represent a […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Vanessa Wilson named Aurora’s new police chief as department continues facing scrutiny over Elijah McClain’s death
The interim chief of a suburban Denver police department has become the first woman to permanently lead the agency that’s looking to regain public trust following a tumultuous year since the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man officers stopped on the street and put into a chokehold. The City Council chose Vanessa Wilson […]