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Homicide investigation underway at UCCS campus Friday
Colorado Springs Gazette, El Paso County, Local

Homicide investigation underway at UCCS campus Friday

By Abbey Soukup | Colorado Springs Gazette A homicide investigation is underway at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus following reports of shots fired early Friday morning, according to Colorado Springs police.  Sgt. Ward with the department's Stetson Hills division said a call of shots fired came in at roughly 6:11 a.m. Friday. As of 7:11 a.m., the department's homicide unit was making its way to the scene.  🚨Happening now🚨CSPD is on scene on a death investigation. This is not an active shooter situation. A partial shelter in place is still in effect for the UCCS Campus as the investigation continues. The campus will be closed for the remainder of the day. https://t.co/zwmiGxYC4T— Colorado Springs Police Department (@CSPDPIO) February 16, 2024 READ ...
It’s official: Amache National Historic Site in Southeast Colorado ensures federal protection for former Japanese American incarceration camp
Local, National, Southern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

It’s official: Amache National Historic Site in Southeast Colorado ensures federal protection for former Japanese American incarceration camp

By Kevin Simpson | Colorado Sun Nearly two years after legislation designated the site of Colorado’s Granada War Relocation Center — also known as Camp Amache — part of the National Park System, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Thursday formally closed the deal that creates Amache National Historic Site, ensuring federal protection for the grounds where more than 10,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Details surrounding Granada’s official acquisition and donation of the land were recently finalized to clear the way for the National Park Service to assume management of the site, which sits on nearly one square mile just outside of the southeastern Colorado town. Amache opened in 1942 and closed in 1945. It was the smallest of 10 suc...
Denver has helped 40,000 migrants while Colorado Springs counts 24 families. Does being a sanctuary city matter that much?
Denver Metro, Local, Southern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

Denver has helped 40,000 migrants while Colorado Springs counts 24 families. Does being a sanctuary city matter that much?

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun El Paso County commissioners, voices amplified by a microphone, left no room for misinterpretation: Migrants are not welcome in Colorado Springs.  “Keep going. Find a sanctuary city,” Commissioner Carrie Geitner said two weeks ago during a hastily called news conference after a few South American migrants arrived at a church-run shelter. “They asked for those folks to come to their cities. Find one of those. That’s where they should go.” About a week later and an hour up the highway, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was quoting from the Statue of Liberty: “Please, send us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” he said, even as he announced budget cuts brought on by housing and feeding migrants. “These are folks yearning to breathe ...
Urdiales to seek HD63 seat in Northeastern Colorado
Eastern Plains, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Urdiales to seek HD63 seat in Northeastern Colorado

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice Brian Urdiales, a Realtor and former member of City Council in Fort Morgan, has announced he will seek the Republican nomination for Colorado House District 63, setting up an opposed primary. The seat is presently held by Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, the minority whip in the Colorado House of Representatives. Holtorf, who is not seeking re-election, was among the first to enter the race for the U.S. House of Representatives District 4 seat when U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, announced he would not seek re-election. “We see the policy in Denver and at the state capitol, and we know in Morgan County and other areas of Eastern Colorado that one size government does not fit all,” Urdiales said. He opposed top-down government policies whi...
Camping ban in Pueblo aims to clean community, put homeless in shelters
Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Southern Colorado

Camping ban in Pueblo aims to clean community, put homeless in shelters

'I see it as compassionate that I care enough about my human neighbors that I’m not going to allow them to lay out in the wilderness like a bunch of wild animals' – President Mark Aliff A parade of three doctors, activists, non-profit personnel, pastors and previously homeless residents approached Pueblo’s City Council for the better part of two hours Monday seeking their opposition to a ban on unauthorized camping on public property. “It’s rare we get an ordinance with residents lining out the door to speak,” said City Councilwoman Sarah Martinez, who opposed the ban. At issue is a homeless population creating concerns which some say has grown out of control – from drug refuse and human waste, to fires and fear of drownings, to one member hearing gunshots during the night. Cit...
Mesa County jail population at lowest level since 2016
Grand Junction Sentinel, Local, Western Slope

Mesa County jail population at lowest level since 2016

By SAM KLOMHAUS | Grand Junction Sentinel Daniel Harmon knew he had to get help when he woke up in the Mesa County Detention Center’s booking area not knowing how he got there. ”I passed out one time, and I ended up getting arrested. It was the blacking out until I came in the jail, not knowing exactly how long I had been laying in booking, and then I woke up and I was like ‘wow, this is something I need to change,’ “ Harmon said. Harmon, a 39-year-old inmate, participates in a substance abuse program under the jail’s behavioral and mental health services program. ”My main problem was drugs and alcohol,” Harmon said. “I used quite often and I never really truly asked for help, and when I did, one of the first things that was offered was the JBBS (Jail Based Behavioral Health Se...
Fort Carson to conduct combat aviation training exercise through March
Local, El Paso County, gazette.com

Fort Carson to conduct combat aviation training exercise through March

By Abbey Soukup | Colorado Springs Gazette Beginning Tuesday, the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade will be conducting an aerial gunnery exercise surrounding southern Fort Carson through the beginning of March, according to a Tuesday morning announcement.  Fort Carson officials said the training includes firing weapons from AH-64 Apache helicopters and is conducted to prepare Army aviation units for any potential missions around the world.  Officials said residents in areas surrounding the base should expect periods of increased noise, including in the evening hours and throughout the night.  "Fort Carson is dedicated to being good neighbors and will continue to inform the public about training events that may affect surrounding communities. We strive to balance our tr...
Denver City Council fails to override mayor’s veto of bill preventing homeless sweeps in freezing weather
DENVER7, Downtown Denver, Local

Denver City Council fails to override mayor’s veto of bill preventing homeless sweeps in freezing weather

By Sydney Isenberg , Landon Haaf | Denver7 With a 7-6 vote, the Denver City Council on Monday failed to override Mayor Mike Johnston's veto of an ordinance that would have banned homeless encampment sweeps when temperatures dip below freezing. City Council Ordinance 23-1960, introduced in December, aimed to revise the municipal code to prevent multiple city agencies from removing homeless encampments when temperatures 32 degrees and colder are in the forecast. It passed by a 7-6 margin on Jan. 29.. Nine votes were needed to protect the bill from mayoral veto. The mayor and several citizen groups had voiced their opposition to the ordinance. Johnston officially vetoed the ordinance on Feb. 2. In a letter to the council announcing...
Aurora considers modular construction for affordable housing
Denver Metro, denvergazette.com, Local

Aurora considers modular construction for affordable housing

By Noah Festenstein | Denver Gazette As Colorado struggles with its lack of affordable housing, the Aurora City Council will consider on Monday a resolution that would allow the use of buildings with "modular construction" to provide affordable housing units. The goal of Aurora’s modular construction resolution is to “increase attainable housing,” according to city staff. With modular construction, buildings are built offsite and then moved, like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, onto a property. The method is seen as more effective, faster and more environmentally friendly than regular construction, officials said. Off-site construction “makes modular housing a promising and innovative solution for increasing the supply of housing with construction timelines that are more tha...
Aurora committee sends forward shoplifting bill, lowering threshhold to $100
Denver Metro, Local, The Sentinel

Aurora committee sends forward shoplifting bill, lowering threshhold to $100

By Max Levy | The Sentinel Shoplifters who steal merchandise worth $100 or more from Aurora stores would be automatically jailed under a proposal moved forward Thursday by the Aurora City Council’s public safety policy committee. Currently, retail thieves who steal $300 or more in goods trigger the automatic three-day jail sentence included in the mandatory minimum sentencing law that the council passed in 2022. The proposal sponsored by Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky would lower that threshold to $100. It would also impose special penalties for repeat offenders — a 90-day minimum jail sentence for anyone convicted of one prior retail theft offense and a 180-day minimum sentence for people who have been convicted at least twice. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE AURORA SENTINEL...