The prison system is offering up to $7,000 to new correctional officers in Sterling, Limon, Buena Vista and Cañon City.
sterling correctional facility
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Crime and Courts, Health, News
Coronavirus lockdowns in prisons test limits of Colorado’s rules on solitary confinement
Last summer, Matthew Harter, a 50-year-old from Lakewood, was incarcerated at Centennial Correctional Facility South, a prison in Cañon City, when he started to have trouble breathing. Harter didn’t have COVID-19. He had anxiety, he said, because he was in quarantine, alone in his cell, which was about the size of a parking space, for […]
Posted inCOVID, Crime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
ACLU asks judge to issue emergency order reducing Colorado’s prison population amid coronavirus outbreaks
The ACLU of Colorado on Wednesday asked a judge to issue an emergency order reducing Colorado’s prison population in the wake of four inmate deaths over two days linked to coronavirus. The request argues that Gov. Jared Polis has been too slow in taking steps to protect the 17,621 people incarcerated in Colorado prisons from […]
Posted inCOVID, Crime and Courts, News
Colorado prisoner dies after having coronavirus-like symptoms
Another inmate from a Colorado prison has died after suffering coronavirus-like symptoms. The 58-year-old man, who was being housed at Fremont Correctional Facility, died Tuesday at Littleton Adventist Hospital. He had been moved to a hospital in Cañon City on Oct. 14 after having symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and was later transferred to Littleton Adventist. […]
Posted inColoradans, Opinion, Politics and Government
Essay: What happened when Black Lives Matter arrived in Colorado’s deeply conservative Eastern Plains
Courtney Jones calls herself a country girl. She was raised in Sterling and she prefers open spaces to cities. She loves classic rock, grew up saving money for the Logan County fair every year, and she voted for Donald Trump in 2016 because he seemed like the honest candidate. She’s the daughter of a Black […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado governor defends prison system, accuses ACLU of using coronavirus to push its agenda
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday defended steps taken by his administration to prevent the coronavirus from spreading in Colorado prisons, saying groups urging him to do more to protect inmates are using the public health crisis to advance a broader agenda. “It’s no surprise that there are some in the advocacy community that want to […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado likely won’t have an accurate coronavirus death count for months, or even years
Across Colorado, there is a mystery brewing in mortality. At least 1,200 more people died last month in the state compared to in April 2019, according to official — though preliminary — figures. But only a fraction of that increase is currently being attributed to the novel coronavirus. So, in a time of unprecedented public […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Counties fear being left behind as Colorado begins granting variances to its coronavirus safer-at-home order
As Colorado shifted from beneath its month-long stay-home order to slightly less restrictive guidelines, it offered a glimmer of hope to communities where COVID-19 cases were few and far between: Draw up your own rules for reopening and apply for a variance. Mesa County filed its application April 27 – the day Safer at Home […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Coronavirus outbreak revealed at private Colorado prison; second inmate death reported
An outbreak of the new coronavirus has been revealed at a private prison in southeast Colorado as the state reports its second inmate death linked to the disease. At least 37 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Crowley County Correctional Facility in southeast Colorado. The prison is owned and operated by Core […]
Posted inCOVID, News
Colorado prison inmate dies after being taken to hospital with coronavirus symptoms
An inmate at a prison in northeast Colorado where there has been a large outbreak of the new coronavirus has died. The 86-year-old man was taken from the Sterling Correctional Facility to a hospital on Monday after becoming ill with symptoms of the virus, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. He died on Friday. […]