Colorado lawmakers are considering a proposal to research a powerful psychedelic plant medicine with the ability to "reset" the brain and combat addiction or mental health issues.

Ibogaine, a compound found within a shrub that grows in Africa, has changed the lives of veterans and people living with substance use disorders but comes with cardiac risks.

In this 360 report, Denver7 examines a number of perspectives on the natural medicine under the spotlight this year at the Colorado Capitol, which is already decriminalized in our state.

Kevin Franciotti is a licensed addiction counselor in Littleton who believes more research into how psychedelics can help with mental health or substance use disorders is long overdue.

At this point, there has been no innovative treatments in addiction care for decades, and so my limitations for talk therapy, for what I do, requires people to be relatively stable," Franciotti said. "A lot of people don't even really know that Colorado is a place where we have these tools, and hopefully ibogaine will be a part of that in a legal and safe way.

Franciotti explained that ibogaine is a naturally occurring chemical compound derived from the root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga shrub found in Africa. He showed Denver7 some ground up iboga root bark, which looked like dust and wood chips.

"Iboga, the root bark, contains a number of alkaloids, including ibogaine. When ibogaine is extracted from it, isolated and purified, it really is just the molecule that is being used for treatment at the clinics," Franciotti said. "It is very difficult to synthesize pure ibogaine just from raw ingredients. There are a couple of pharmaceutical companies that have figured out how to do that. That is not something that's easy to do outside of a very well funded lab.

According to Franciotti, ibogaine can produce very vivid visions that last for several hours, but he added that everyone has a different experience.

"One of the things that makes ibogaine difficult to utilize in research is because in our pharmaceutically driven era for medicine, we like to see a specific compound that goes to a specific part of the brain and addresses a specific symptom," Franciotti said. "Ibogaine goes everywhere. Every, nearly every receptor network that we know of... A chemist would generally not even refer to ibogaine as what they would call a classic hallucinogen. Ibogaine, instead, gets referred to as an oneirophrenic, which means it induces a waking dream state.

It was 2011 when Franciotti received his first ibogaine treatment in Mexico due to his severe opiate addiction at the time.

"I was interested in ibogaine, I was interested in psychedelics as tools for healing. And I was certainly interested in no longer being a heroin addict," Franciotti said. "I had a high level of motivation for change, and ibogaine really catalyzed what was already a motivation and a willingness to do things differently, try to grow up, try to figure out how to live life clean.

Franciotti believes ibogaine led him to his current life.

Without question, I would not be here, where I am now," Franciotti said. "15 years after my first ibogaine experience, life has not been, you know, all rainbows and lollipops ever since then, but I was able to go back to college. I was able to figure out how to live life a day at a time, clean and sober for a number of years. I was able to repair relationships with members of my family. I was able to hold down close relationships with friends and intimate relationships with partners. I was able to get married many years later.

In 2022, Colorado voters passed Proposition 122, creating the Natural Medicine Health Act which decriminalized five natural psychedelic substances psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine and mescaline for people over the age of 21. The sale of such substances was not decriminalized.

It was the inclusion of ibogaine within Proposition 122 that convinced Franciotti to support the measure, and he urged others to do the same via an opinion piece published in The Colorado Sun.

Senate Bill 23-290 was passed the following year, implementing the regulatory framework for the Natural Medicine Health Act and creating the Natural Medicine Advisory Board.

"When the State Assembly passed an implementation bill after the passage of Proposition 122, they made a couple of changes to the law that were not necessarily part of the initial ballot measure," Franciotti said. Unlike the other natural medicines, which had personal use protections and a protection for gift exchange, ibogaine was removed from that. So, the only remaining decriminalization is strictly for personal use, transportation, possession, things like that. As a kind of concession to the removal of that protection, they adopted a language that suggested that ibogaine would receive some kind of special, accelerated status of being the next compound that would be considered for the regulated industry after psilocybin was done.

Franciotti believes the regulatory system for natural medicine in Colorado is primed for ibogaine a concept currently being considered in a piece of new legislation at the Colorado Capitol.

A bipartisan bill introduced last week in the Colorado Capitol, House Bill 26-1325, aims to establish an ibogaine research pilot program that examines the safety and effectiveness of using the natural medicine to treat mental health and substance use disorders. A committee would select five ibogaine pilot sites as part of the program in Colorado.

The effort is spearheaded by Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, R- District 20, who served in the Air Force for 10 years and understands the challenges veterans may face.

Everybody deals with issues such as PTSD differently, and the important thing is that there's a lot of different approaches to it. Whether it's just talking with a counselor and going through therapy, whether it's some kind of pharmaceutical, whether it's marijuana, and ibogaine seems like a very promising new tool in the toolbox to address these issues and help people," Caldwell said. This is also a bipartisan effort, and as of right now, we have all veteran members on it.

Caldwell began looking into ibogaine after fellow veterans approached him about starting a pilot program in Colorado, expressing their interest in what the natural medicine could do.

"Federally, it's still a Schedule I substance, but the federal government offers a waiver program for states if they want to do essentially, like, a right to try," Caldwell explained. States can pass bills, like we're looking to pass with 1325, and say that you know what? This is decriminalized here in the state. We understand it's still illegal federally, however you're going to give us the right to try it and and kind of, for lack of better terms, experiment in using it for medical reasons."

According to the legislation, ibogaine has "shown promise" in treating severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions connected to combat deployments. The research pilot program would explore both the therapeutic effects and potential risks of the natural medicine, while laying a foundation for a future regulatory program.

There's guardrails here, right? So this isn't just anybody can open up a clinic to use ibogaine," Caldwell said.

Colorado's Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) is the organization that would operate the pilot program and could seek federal authorization for expanding or advancing the research efforts around ibogaine.

Applicants that would like to become one of the five ibogaine pilot sites must demonstrate an intent to pursue federal approval to safely study the compound and establish a benefit-sharing plan for the Indigenous cultures that traditionally worked with ibogaine or iboga.

Poachers have kind of realized that there's a global demand for iboga. So, a lot of what you see available to purchase in online marketplaces is very, very likely to be improperly sourced and is damaging the local ecosystem," Franciotti said. "One of the tasks of Colorado is to figure out a sustainable source that doesn't put an already endangered species at further risk of extinction."

Facilitators would not be held liable for a participant's physical or psychological injuries due to the natural medicine, unless it was the direct result of their intentional misconduct, gross negligence or a departure from the recognized standard of care.

Caldwell told Denver7 that the sponsors have been working to mitigate the cost the proposal would have on the state, a concern shared by all lawmakers with a fiscal note on their bills as a multimillion dollar budget shortfall looms over Colorado.

"There's a gifts, grants and donations portion to it, and so if philanthropic people want to help donate and help get this off the ground, that's certainly an option," Caldwell said.

One of the authors of Colorado's Natural Medicine Health Act is attorney Joshua Kappel.

"We included ibogaine in the Colorado Natural Medicine Health Act, which was passed by voters in 2022, to create access to psychedelic therapies for mental health purposes," Kappel said. "But in that program, you know, only psilocybin and psilocin were permitted to start with, and so there's the ability for the state to add in ibogaine into the Natural Medicine Health Act and regulate access to ibogaine. However, there's a lot of different steps needed before we can get there, and that's why we're here today.

Kappel believes the research program would enable Colorado to implement safety standards around ibogaine that protect patients. He supports HB26-1325, saying the power of the compound could change lives in Colorado.

It can just reset the brain, you know, with one treatment," Kappel said. "Really giving people a fighting chance to free themselves from addiction.

There are risks associated with ibogaine, including cardiac arrest.

"Doing more research, and providing access in that research framework is really important," Kappel said. With the proper medical supervision and the proper monitoring and the proper screening, that risk can be drastically eliminated.

The research program would ensure safety comes first, Kappel believes, while beginning to move toward a broader program to treat those who could benefit from the medicine in Colorado.

Inside of a cozy office in Fort Collins, therapist Bri Bendixsen primarily works with clients who have experienced trauma or live with PTSD. She has also worked within the psychedelic medicine space for the last few years.

"I'm here to offer some wisdom and some guidance and some reflection, and potentially some challenges as appropriate," Bendixsen said about her work. "But ultimately, it's offering somebody a space to really grow and thrive in their own way, in their own process."

Bendixsen has developed a number of healthy habits over the years that enable her to continue her work without losing herself.

"It really has taken years of skill building to be able to say like, 'Oh, I'm feeling this, but it actually isn't mine.' I can hold it, and I can also leave it in this room," Bendixsen explained.

Still, there was a time when she found herself dependent on a substance instead of her self-care practices.

"I'd go home and I'd start having a drink, two drinks, three drinks over time. Oh, it's just a glass of wine. It's just an old fashioned, right? But that really became my pattern," Bendixsen said. "It could be any substance. And in my case, it was alcohol and it's so widely available and it is so normalized in our culture."

Bendixsen decided it was time for a change and believed iboga would help her achieve that.

"I really wanted to seek out more of a ceremonial context rather than more of a medicalized context," Bendixsen said, describing why she was drawn to iboga over ibogaine. "I don't necessarily think one is better or worse than the other. It's just for me personally, I really wanted to incorporate more of the spiritual component, more of the ceremonial component."

The first iboga journey for Bendixsen was in 2023 in Portugal, which she said was "incredibly insightful."

"It was so healing in a way that I was not anticipating," Bendixsen said. "Iboga offers these snapshots, offered me these snapshots of my life... And explained, here's how this happened. Here's how it contributes to your pattern and your functioning now. And here's how you're showing up. Do you want to keep doing that or not?"

She described it as a power washing of her brain, and since then, she has not drank alcohol.

"Honestly, it's the best choice that I have ever made for myself was to give up alcohol," Bendixsen said.

Roughly a year after her first iboga retreat, Bendixsen attended another one at a different facility. She was searching for an even deeper level of self-growth, but her experience was dramatically different than the first time.

"Unfortunately, someone passed away at the retreat that I was at," Bendixsen said slowly. "I did not witness the trajectory of how this person unfortunately passed away, so I can't speak to the details. But, what I will say is that I did actually connect with the woman who passed away. I connected with her at the airport, and we shared breakfast together at the hotel before we went to the retreat."

According to Bendixsen, the retreat offered other substances in addition to the iboga.

"They were offering something called total alkaloid extract. And from my research after, total alkaloid extract can potentially contain up to maybe 70% ibogaine," Bendixsen said. "Ibogaine carries a significantly higher level of cardiac risk than iboga. Total alkaloid extract, we actually don't really know what is in it, it could be any range of ibogaine percentage. And that's why I speak to, some places are offering iboga retreats, but yet supplementing or adding on this total alkaloid extract, which then significantly increases the level of cardiac risk. People looking to receive this medicine might not know that."

Her concern is ensuring a retreat and facilitators are mindful of the people they are treating, which is why she believes more research ought to be done on the powerful psychoactive compound.

"To understand how to keep people alive ultimately, and safe," Bendixsen said.

In addition, Bendixsen has questions about the funding needed for the pilot program and worries the spiritual or ceremonial component of the experience could be lost in the process.

"I feel a bit conflicted," Bendixsen said about HB26-1325. "I hope that we can get the research off the ground. I hope that there are pathways towards a regulated model with ibogaine. And I certainly hope that the research is done with fidelity and ultimately keeps the healing of our community at the forefront of our minds. There's always the concern about for profit companies coming in and trying to make money... So, am I in support of the bill? I hope so."

A spokesperson with Governor Jared Polis' office provided Denver7 with a statement about HB26-1325, which described Colorado as "ahead of the curve and excited about the promising possibilities ibogaine presents." It continued to say Polis will continue to have conversations with the bill's sponsors about the proposal.

Denver7 will continue to track the progress of the legislation seeking an ibogaine research pilot program.

Read the full statement from Polis' office here:

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DENVER The Broncos are on a winning streak and not just on the field. Meantime, the Avs and Nuggets are both predicted to be two of the top teams in the NHL and NBA, respectively, this season.

Across Denver, the city is being redeveloped around sports new stadiums, new districts, new ambition.

Denvers sports franchises continue building momentum with electric plays and play-calling. Were learning a lot about how these teams are also rewriting the playbook for entire neighborhoods.

This is what you want. This is what economic growth is about, said Darin Duber-Smith, retired sports marketing lecturer from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Its about creating things that are doing more for people.

Hopefully, this will lift the neighborhood from just a strictly warehouse neighborhood, said Leonid Yuffa, co-founder and president of Dazbog Coffee Company in the Burnham Yard neighborhood, which the Broncos have announced as their new home, with a new proposed retractable roof stadium.

Of course, it's going to bring more people, said Shawna Hogue, owner of Shape Plus in the Burnham Yard neighborhood.

Massive new entertainment districts and reimagined neighborhoods are slated for where the new National Womens Soccer League team the Denver Summit will play, where the Broncos will soon play at Burnham Yard, where the Broncos currently play at Empower Field at Mile High, and where the Nuggets and Avs play at Ball Arena.

All of these proposed stadiums and entertainment districts have one thing in common. They are all in central Denver and all hug the South Platte River and the Interstate 25 corridor through Denver.

One of the unique attributes of Denver is that we have all our major sports teams downtown, said Matt Mahoney, senior VP of business development for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment.

Stadium by stadium, district by district, Denver is building not just one field of dreams but multiple at the same time.

And these stadiums dont just come with seats; they come with entire zip codes.

Its the idea of building these sorts of cities within a city, said Duber-Smith. And it could be the most incredible thing that we have in the country.

It just speaks to how these ownership groups are invested in improving the experience for fans, said Jen Millet, president of the Denver Summit FC.

Denvers Ball Arena is more than a venue; its the anchor of a new neighborhood vision. But first theres a barrier to break: the socalled Great Wall of Speer.

Its a dangerous barrier for our fans and visitors to come from lower downtown or Union Station to the arena property, said Mahoney. Solving the Speer crossing is something we need to take care of right away.

Is that the first order of business for this redevelopment? asked Denver7s Russell Haythorn.

It is our first order of business, said Mahoney.

Redevelopment plans include a pedestrian bridge designed by Andy Rockmore, architect of Denvers Millennium Bridge, which finally connected Union Station and LoDo to the Lower Highlands area in 2000.

Denver is made of great neighborhoods, and connecting all of those neighborhoods together has been fruitful, Rockmore said. These bridges can become more than just connectors. They become really places in themselves for people to gather.

On the Ball Arena side of the new bridge, the plan includes a hotel, condos, and a new 5,000seat performance venue, complementing the existing 18,000seat Ball Arena.

We committed to keeping our teams, the Nuggets and Avs, in Ball Arena through 2050, said Mahoney. We can develop a neighborhood around that commitment.

What is now a rustedout rail yard could become the site of a retractableroof stadium and a whole mixeduse entertainment district.

NFL teams are real estate businesses that play football, said Jeff Peshut, real estate professor at MSU Denver.

With the potential to host events 365 days a year, the new stadium will be built, financed, and owned entirely by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.

You want to be free of city influence, Duber-Smith said. You want to own your own arena. You want to be in control of what youre doing. Theyre not going to make money off the stadium. Theyre going to make money off all the other stuff.

We're excited, Yuffa said. As long as those plans are, you know, are thoughtful, inclusive of the community, and community-driven, I think it could be, it could be great.

The Denver Summit: Womens pro soccer comes to the Mile High City

Denvers NWSL expansion team, Denver Summit FC, is already stirring excitement with an unprecedented 15,000+ season ticket deposits in hand.

This is a record for the NWSL, said Millet. No team has ever reached that milestone as quickly as the Denver Summit.

A onceinageneration opportunity to transform Santa Fe Yards into a new hub for professional womens sports, including outdoor recreation, restaurants, retail, and building connections to the community.

We have the 99ers Bar, which only shows womens sports and is always so packed you have to fight to get reservations, said sports fan Juliana Evans. So, we have the audience for it.

The Summits stadium at Santa Fe Yards will anchor a broader entertainment ecosystem.

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When the Broncos move, the land around Empower Field becomes one of the citys biggest redevelopment canvases.

Thats going to leave 89 acres of developable real estate on the other side of I-25, said Peshut.

And when asked whether Denver can absorb all this:

Can Denver support all this? Haythorn asked.

Absolutely. Theres nothing thats going to change it from being a growth city.

The Infrastructure Challenge: Transit, Parking, and Accessibility

A few recurring themes anchor every stadium plan, including transit and walkability.

And all of these projects are being built as transitoriented developments, with emphasis on light rail, pedestrian flow, and easy access.

You need to have a site where people can get to and get out from very easily, especially in terms of ease of access by light rail, which is absolutely critical, said Andrew Goetz, transit expert at the University of Denver.

Parking is still a hot question. When Haythorn asked Mahoney, Where are they going to park? Mahoney replied, Weve thought of that. There will be garages attached to the new buildings in this entertainment district, and weve said, Lets park the event in that garage.

All sites include significant garage parking as part of their design, at least for now.

And we have parking experts on our team that really help us financially model that, Mahoney said.

All of these projects hinge on a balance between ambition and community impact, cost and returns, and timing and capacity. Neighbors want assurances about equity, inclusion, displacement, and traffic.

That will all be part of the equation, Mahoney said.

Thoughtful planning can do it, Goetz said.

Its an unprecedented, simultaneous build-out of multiple sports entertainment districts similar to what the Colorado Rockies have done with McGregor Square.

And it should also be noted that whats happening is theyre building housing, Duber-Smith said. And what we need is housing in this country. Were millions of houses short. So these projects help to check that box, as well.

I think that the Broncos stadium will be another great opportunity to help with the growth and economy in our city, Hogue said. "We cant help but be excited.

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DENVER At stylish lounges across Colorado, the clinking of cocktail shakers is still strong, but not everything being mixed behind the bar carries a buzz.

Today I was going to make a jasmine tea-based blackberry Pimms cup, said bar lead Kyle Fanfoni at the swanky cocktail lounge Room for Milly in Denvers Platte Park neighborhood. These blackberries were harvested from our garden.

Fanfoni and Room for Milly are capitalizing on a growing trend. At the same time, bottomless brunches and boozy blowouts still reign. These days, many Coloradans are ordering up carefully crafted mocktails in equally elegant glasses.

I dont prefer alcohol at this point, said Jess Santistevan, who was recently out with friends at the uber glamorous, somewhat hidden Cooper Lounge on the second floor of Denvers Union Station before a Rockies game. I just dont like the way it makes me feel.

Even for many of those who still drink occasionally, moderation is becoming the norm.

Nobodys going out and having four or five drinks anymore, Fanfoni said. Its a very calculated night for a lot of people.

The mocktail trend is obviously huge now, said Courtney Perkins, lead bartender at Cooper Lounge.

I read an industry newsletter the other day that said of the Gen Z, 45% of them dont drink at all, said Don Hammond, owner of State 38 Distilling in Golden.

You have to keep up with whats on Instagram these days, Fanfoni said of the trends.

While millennials helped make craft cocktails and microbrews mainstream, Gen Z appears to be fueling the sober revolution, turning to zebra striping (alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks) or opting out of booze altogether.

So, we call this the Sleeper Cell, Perkins said as she mixed up a mocktail behind the bar at Cooper Lounge. It is based on kind of a spicy raspberry margarita. It includes fresh muddled raspberry as well as some fresh muddled pepper. And it has a spirit, too, but the alcohol is distilled out. We use Seedlip, which gives all the flavor without the buzz. That way, you can enjoy the taste youre used to. And then you have a beautiful drink thats not just a cup of juice.

Gen Z sees millennials as a bunch of bearded, tattooed drunks, and they dont want to be anything like them, said Darrin Duber-Smith, retired marketing professor from Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Nationwide trends mirror Colorados changing drinking habits. According to the National Brewers Association, craft beer sales declined by 4% in 2024, marking the third straight year of losses. Meanwhile, ready-to-drink cocktail sales soared by 35%. Liquor giant Diageo reported sales of Bulleit Bourbon down 7%, while Campari, which owns Wild Turkey, reported those sales down 8%.

Tiny drinks are also trending, Fanfoni said. You can do mini martinis.

Having a drink like a mocktail that looks like a cocktail allows people to relax in a social setting, said Maile Loughridge, general manager at Cooper Lounge.

We are evolving with the times. We love our customers, so we want to give them what they want, said Katie Hill, marketing director at Upslope Brewing in Boulder, which has now added a non-alcoholic craft light that mimics Upslopes flagship Craft Lager.

Out in Golden, State 38 Distilling is stirring things up, as well, rethinking how and what they sell. In addition to full-sized bottles, theyre packaging their spirits into smaller, trial-sized samplers.

We started to see folks changing and saying we dont want to buy a full bottle, Hammond said. So, we created 100 milliliters 3-packs of each of our spirit lines.

This pivot paid off; sales are up 125% over last year.

Instead of spending $55 on a single bottle of whiskey, you can spend $30 and have three 100 milliliter whiskeys that you can try, said Hammond.

State 38 is also fueling Colorados canned cocktail craze by supplying spirits for brands like Denver-based Uncle Tims Cocktails.

So, we basically shifted and said, Okay this part of the market is shutting down where are the opportunities? Hammond said. So, you have to be nimble. How do you say, Okay, the door closed over here did the window open over here?

Tucked neatly into a pristinely kept alley behind Tennyson Street, the newly women-owned Berkeley Alley Beer Co. is tapping into new ideas, while keeping craft beer on the menu, as well.

Were brewing a West Coast IPA in the morning, thats why I have the grain out, said Berkeley Alley co-owner Liz Hess as she gave us a tour of the brewery room.

Was there any hesitancy on your part to buy a brewery when trends are changing? asked Denver7s Russell Haythorn.

Yeah, I mean, of course. I dont think theres ever a time youre not nervous when you buy into a business or start a business, said Chelsea Rhoads, the other half of the now women-owned Berkeley Alley.

Youve got a lot of non-alcoholic insurgents happening, Hess said. So, were bringing in coffee, non-alcoholic, mocktails even just seltzer water.

Hess and Rhoads purchased Berkeley Alley in June and are in the process of obtaining a permit as a licensed brewpub, allowing them to expand their offerings beyond beer while remaining true to what brought the brewery here in the first place.

Theres still a craft beer following, I would say, Rhoads said. That would be silly if we didnt think there was.

It doesnt matter what youre coming in drinking, Hess said. We should have something for you. We really just want to be a fun place to come hang out.

In Boulder, Upslope Brewing is raising the bar by pivoting to new strategies. Their Spiked Snowmelt hard seltzer, which launched in 2019, is now the top-selling Colorado-made hard seltzer in the state.

We launched our Spiked Snowmelt in 2019 and since that time we have actually launched 10 different flavors, said Ryan Cobb, sales director for Upslope Brewing.

Upslope is also getting into the hard tea game.

This is our Argentinian Arnold Palmer if you will, Hill said. Its pure leaf yerba mate. Weve just decided to expand our footprint into different beverages beyond craft beer."

Craft beer as a whole has certainly seen a decline this year and for the last couple of years, Cobb said.

Your Gen Z thats coming in, theyre the ones that are kind of abstaining a little bit more than that millennial group, Cobb said. And our non-alcoholic was a response to double-digit growth in the non-alcoholic category over the last few years. And that has seen tremendous positive response.

I think its so interesting that youre embracing it almost rather than ignoring it? said Haythorn.

Absolutely, Cobb said. Youre trying to always find the next home run. People are choosing to drink less or drink more responsibly.

Dr. Josh Long, a bariatric surgeon at AdventHealth Parker, views the alcohol-free trend as more than a lifestyle choice its a form of preventative care.

Alcohol does cause a litany of health issues affecting almost every organ system in the body, Long said. I recommend that every patient abstain.

What about this idea that a glass of red wine a day is actually good for you? Haythorn asked.

What that seems to be is more due to the antioxidants in some of the natural botanical compounds found in the grapes, Long said. So, if you drink grape juice, or you eat grapes, you get the same benefit.

So, youre on board with this sober curious movement? asked Haythorn.

I think it should be more than curious, said Long. Especially if you like living.

Mocktails arent just an alternative; theyre an experience.

This is a mocktail thing. This is your time to shine. Any one of our mocktails has at least five or six ingredients. Its very well-composed and not just juice in a fancy glass. Fanfoni said. Mocktail sales at Room for Milly have doubled in the last year. But that said theyre still only 2-3% of our total sales.

And zebraing, having an alcoholic cocktail and then a mocktail, is a very awesome transition for those who are trying to be more mindful, said Loughridge.

Many mocktail fans say skipping the booze is better for their lifestyle.

It doesnt bring me joy, said a mocktail drinker named Maddie who was enjoying a night out with friends at Room for Milly. Like, I dont enjoy it so I prefer staying sober, and I love waking up; I love my crisp mornings, and I just feel way happier.

I just prefer being sober at this point, Santistevan said. Being the designated driver. It helps a lot with other people.

Mocktail in one hand, car keys in the other and Santistevans friends are in complete support of her decision.

Its certainly a healthier choice, said Shannon MacLeod, Santistevans friend who is visiting from Scotland. Cirrhosis of the liver. Its a really big problem in the Highlands (Scotland), where Im from. And its great knowing a sober driver because you never have to worry about getting a taxi home. Or getting the last bus.

No ones going to ask them why are you just drinking a Coke? said Loughridge. It really fits a perfect puzzle piece in our menu. Without any of the consequences that you dont want.

As Hammond put it: If life throws you lemons, make a cocktail - or, some say, a mocktailyour choice.

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DENVER When traveling through downtown Denver, it doesn't take long until you spot a "for lease" sign in front of an apartment complex.

There are plenty of options for new, amenity-rich apartments, with cranes in the skyline building even more. But are there too many options?

"Developers have been very interested in building rental housing here in Colorado, and the supply of new housing has exceeded consumer demand," said Andrew Hamrick, senior vice president of government affairs for the Colorado Apartment Association.

Overall, that's led to a historically high vacancy rate of 6.4% in the Denver metro area as of the second quarter of 2025. The vacancy rate, however, is down from last quarter, when it was 7%.

"Vacancy rates are very good for consumers because it means there's a lot of suppliers out there competing for their business," Hamrick said. "They do lots of things to entice you to come in."

While complexes are offering concessions to sweeten the deal for renters, there are even more apartment projects being built, with thousands of units set to come online in the coming years.

"To a large extent, the units that are coming online today are the ones that were thought up, planned, originated between 3-4 years ago," Hamrick said.

Going back a few years, data shows a huge spike in apartment project permits in 2022. So what happened in 2022?

"You [couldn't] require them to build affordable housing within the development that they're doing," said Denver City Council Member Serena Gonzalez-Gutierrez. "So what [House Bill 21-1117] did was it lifted that and said, 'Yes, you can.'"

Before joining the Denver City Council, Gonzalez-Gutierrez served in the state legislature and co-sponsored House Bill 21-1117, which allows local government to require new apartments to have a certain number of affordable units.

"There's a lot of people who have lived here a long time and want to continue to live here, but our city has become more and more unaffordable," Gonzalez-Gutierrez told Denver7.

The law went into effect in 2022, but there was a rush of apartment applications filed by developers and builders hoping to get in before the requirements took effect in Denver.

"My work group had over 1,500 development applications in for review," said Emily Collins, the Denver Expanding Housing Affordability (EHA) administrator.

The City of Denver ended up granting a grace period, and then a second grace period, to allow all of those applications to go through the system without any affordability requirements. Denver7's Danielle Kreutter asked Collins if she believes the number of apartment complexes coming online without an affordability piece is concerning.

"I don't think it's concerning, right? We still need and want that development still. It's supply, right? The more units that you provide, hopefully it does bring down the cost of rent, gives people options to move around, as well," said Collins. "To be clear, they are still contributing to our affordable housing goals. They're just paying a linkage fee that was subject to the previous system."

The linkage fee was charged to any new developments and then used to fund different affordable housing efforts. Kreutter asked Gonzalez-Gutierrez about the city's grace period, which was approved before she came onto the city council.

"I haven't necessarily an opinion on that, but I guess I'm hopeful that going forward and we've already started to see some of this on council, as we are hearing some of the rezonings that come to when we have our our required public hearings on rezoning, we're hearing about the number of affordable units that developers are going to be building in the projects that they're bringing to us. So, I'm actually starting to see that impact," said Gonzalez-Gutierrez.

Since the affordability requirements fully took effect earlier this year, there have been just over 30 projects approved so far.

"We anticipated somewhere between 400-500 income-restricted units per year as a result of development. So again, that would fully depend on our project volume," said Collins. "We feel this is a really successful policy. We're really excited about continuing with it and seeing the outcomes that our development community is also approaching us with."

Time will tell whether the policy truly helps make apartments more affordable. City leaders hope these changes help provide more options to those who have a hard time affording to live in the city they love.

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Over 20 measles cases have been confirmed in Colorado so far this year, more than the state recorded each year of the prior decade combined.

This week, the latest case was confirmed in a second Mesa County resident, who may have been exposed to the same person as the first, according to state health officials.

And last Tuesday, on Aug. 12, an infectious traveler who arrived at Denver International Airport may have exposed thousands to the virus as well, Denver health officials said.

The highly contagious and preventable disease has made countless headlines this year, with a total of 1,356 confirmed measles cases reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of Aug. 5. Thirty-two measles outbreaks have been reported to the CDC in 2025 as well, and the majority of confirmed cases are associated with those outbreaks.

For comparison, CDC data shows there were only 285 confirmed cases and 16 outbreaks of the disease in all of 2024.

Measles dates back to the 9th century, and became a nationally notifiable disease in the United States by 1912, according to the CDC. During the first decade of reporting the disease, an average of 6,000 measles cases were recorded every year.

By 1963, a vaccine for measles was available to the public but in the decade before that, the CDC estimates that three to four million people in the United States contracted measles each year, leading to hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalizations.

The vaccine, however, was not as effective as scientists had hoped and by 1968 a newer version was produced, which according to the CDC, is the only measles vaccine that has been used in the country since then.

The measles vaccine, more commonly known as the MMR vaccine, is typically combined with two other viral infections (mumps and rubella) to help children mount an immune response should they encounter the virus as the grow older. There's also the MMRV vaccine, comprised of weakened versions of the aforementioned viruses, in addition to the varicella virus.

Historical data shows that in just three decades, the U.S. was able to eliminate the disease from the population, an accomplishment attributed in part to a "highly effective vaccination program," the CDC states.

Amid a multi-state outbreak of the virus earlier this year, health experts who spoke with Denver7 at the time said it was very likely Colorado would see cases of the disease start to pop up especially in unvaccinated pockets of the state.

Those predictions came true about two weeks later, when Colorado reported its first measles case of the year since 2023 in an unvaccinated adult from Pueblo at the end of March.

Nearly five months since then, state data shows there have been at least 21 measles cases this year alone, four occurring in children under the age of 5 and the remaining 17 in adults. Ten of the measles cases in Colorado this year are connected to out-of-state travelers who flew while infectious, according to health officials, who also said out of the 21, 5 required hospitalization due to the severity of the disease.

Typically, Colorado only sees between one-to-two cases each year. Over a period of 10 years ending in 2024, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) saw only six cases of the disease.

Dr. Michelle Barron is the senior medical director of Infection Prevention at UCHealth. She told Denver7 that in the last five years, she has seen hesitancy around vaccines increase.

"This is the biggest outbreak we've seen in the last 25 years," Barron said. "We obviously have seen periodic cases, usually in people that have traveled abroad and then bring it back, but nothing like this."

One person infected with measles has the potential to transmit the disease to 17 other people, Barron said.

"It can stay in the air for up to two hours. You don't even have to be in the same space at the same time. You could have potentially been in the grocery line with somebody who has measles, who coughed or sneezed, and then two hours later you come in to check out, it's still in the air, potentially, and that's how you get infected," Barron explained.

But Barron said there is a way to prevent illness the MMR vaccine, which she touted as very safe and highly effective.

"Really there is no concern, from my end, in terms of offering this vaccine," Barron told Denver7. "One of the things that comes up is, 'Well, isn't it better just to have the infection?' And the answer, I would say, is no, because getting the infection means you are at risk of ending up in the hospital."

Data from the CDPHE shows 93.3% of Colorado students from preschool through high school received the MMR vaccine during the 2024-25 school year. That's almost a 2% decline compared to the 2020-21 school year, when 95.1% of Colorado students were vaccinated against measles.

"Anywhere where the vaccination rate is under 95% means that they're at potential risk" of becoming infected, Barron said.

That vaccination rate is the goal with the MMR vaccine, according to the state's top epidemiologist, Dr. Rachel Herlihy, who spoke to Denver7 about why that number is of particular importance.

"We know that's the herd immunity, or community immunity, threshold that will really prevent the virus from getting a hold here and causing an outbreak," Herlihy said. "Unfortunately, we've struggled for a while to achieve that 95% threshold, and that's certainly true right now where our vaccination rates are not as high as we would like them to be."

Data from CDPHE shows the majority of school districts across the state are beneath that 95% MMR vaccination threshold Dr. Herlihy would like to see for the 2024-25 school year.

Among those districts are Centennial School District R-1 at 86.6%, Colorado Springs School District 11 at 84.8%, and Moffat Consolidated School District 2 with the lowest MMR vaccination in the state, at 47.5%.

"Most concerning to us are these pockets of undervaccination that we see in certain communities where we see vaccination rates, you know, 80% or even lower in some places. And we know those are the communities in Colorado that are most vulnerable to measles outbreaks, potentially," said Herlihy. "What we are really hoping is that Coloradans that are not up to date on their MMR vaccine, or whose children are not up to date on their MMR vaccine, will see this as as an opportunity to become up to date, receive those vaccines, to ensure they are protected and that the Colorado community is protected from an outbreak."

Herlihy said typically, three or more cases of measles classify as an outbreak.

State health officials say two doses of the MMR vaccine can equip a person with 97% of protection against measles infection. Children are recommended to receive two doses of the vaccine, one between 12-15 months old, and the next dose before Kindergarten.

CDPHE reports that 72.3% of Coloradans, ranging from the ages of 1-18, have received two doses of the measles vaccine. For that same age range, 91.5% of Coloradans have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

At Mindful Pediatrics in Boulder, Dr. Roy Steinbock blends together a traditional Western practice with natural medicine.

"At one point, I'd had probably like, 3,000 or 4,000 patients in my roster, which is pretty typical per doctor and doctor's office. But now it's much smaller. I mean, I probably average somewhere between six to 10 patients a day," Steinbock said. "The clientele that I have are generally very conscious. They're people who are super highly educated, typically, and are following what's going on the news. And of course, a lot of them are unvaccinated, so many of them are getting scared with the fact that there is a sort of uptick, or at least in the media, where there's a lot of attention towards the measles outbreak."

Steinbock said he has a conversation with patients almost daily regarding the MMR vaccine.

"The vaccinated patients are asking me if their kids are up to date. So you know, that's pretty easy to tell. And then, whether that's enough are there other things they can do? Are there natural things that they can do?" Steinbock said. "The unvaccinated patients there, they've been trusting me, typically, for years. Or know of my reputation for being open-minded around vaccinations and kind of not as dogmatic as a one-size-fits all practice, and so they just want to know whether they think they should get the vaccine."

At Steinbock's practice, he is open to creating individualized vaccine plans for different families based on their specific needs. Still, as a general rule at the moment, he would recommend the measles vaccine for most people.

"It could spread like wildfire in a place where there's a relatively low vaccination rate. So I think overall, it's worthwhile, especially because measles is, it's not the common cold, it's a much more serious illness," Steinbock said. "It just needs to be personalized, and the timing can vary from child to child."

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Steinbock said he noticed a trend within his patients he saw an increase in vaccinations.

"When COVID hit, that completely changed things. I had tons of families who obviously got very scared, and their kids had no other vaccines, but started vaccinating them for COVID, and then started catching people up. So, you know, interestingly, it was more, not less, over that time," Steinbock said about what he experienced.

Denver7 asked Steinbock if he noticed any significant changes within his patients as the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement grew throughout the country.

"It's not part of my conversation, because Boulder has always been like that. That's my clientele. Have I seen some people come in with Make America Healthy hats? Yes, but not a lot. It's mostly, just regular, typical, you know, lefty Boulderites," Steinbock said. "Those are definitely the people who seek out a holistic pediatrician."

To better understand the MAHA movement, Denver7 spoke with Ethan Augreen, who grew up in New Jersey and has lived in Colorado for roughly a decade.

"My personal health journey has been around nutrition and herbal medicine. And in 2020, I leaned more heavily into herbal medicine and nutrition, and I trust my body and knowing that I had the knowledge of antiviral herbs to be able to recover and heal if I did get sick," Augreen said.

Augreen said if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, he likely would not have vaccines "on his radar" in the way they are now.

"It wasn't really an issue that I was paying attention to, and I think that's true for lots of people. So certainly, the pandemic had a big impact on public health in this country and on people's attitudes towards the pharmaceutical industry and towards vaccine mandates and lockdowns," Augreen said.

During the 2024 election, Augreen was disappointed when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a vaccine skeptic who now leads the U.S. Department of Human Health and Services suspended his presidential campaign. Augreen said he voted for now-President Donald Trump, trusting Kennedy's support of the Republican candidate at the time.

"I'm more of an Independent. I've voted for Libertarians in the past. I've voted for Green Party in the past. I have voted for Democrats in the past, too, but I always look the candidate on a personal, individual level," Augreen said. "Libertarian values, health, freedom values, transcend politics, and they're on all sides of the political spectrum. I think it's the establishment of the Democratic Party that has alienated those voters from voting for Democrats, but there are still many people who believe in natural health and health freedom, and they've had to move away from the establishment of the Democratic Party because they've come down so much for Big Pharma and for these vaccine mandates that are pretty totalitarian."

What role does social psychology play in vaccine hesitancy?

A study out of CU Boulder found that people who consume news from a number of different sources are more likely to be vaccinated, no matter their political affiliation.

"The study itself was primarily focused on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy," said Dani Grant, the first author of the study and a PhD candidate at CU. "We were just curious to see if traditional news media impacted people's perceptions of vaccines, among other things like polarizing attitudes during the pandemic."

Grant, who studies social and political psychology, explained vaccine hesitancy and how it reaches across party lines.

"In the past, we definitely thought of it more as people who were left-leaning, farther left-leaning, were more inclined to be hesitant around traditional medicine and be more skeptical around vaccines generally," Grant said. "People now on the far-right are also leaning more into the holistic medicine, the kind of pure life philosophy that we would traditionally think of as like the far-left."

Before becoming a social psychologist, Grant would not have expected this kind of commonality between two opposite ends of the political spectrum.

"There's a lot of uncertainty in the United States right now and across the globe, there's a lot of things changing and a lot of threats going on, and we all, whether we're left-leaning or right-leaning, react in similar ways," Grant said. "We seek certainty. We try to make sense of the world around us. And in that sense, it doesn't surprise me, as a social psychologist, that because of this type of uncertainty that we're facing in our world today, that the far-left and the far-right would kind of converge on these types of issues."

Grant said in many scenarios, opinions on vaccines boil down to one underlying concern: The safety of one's children.

"There are people in in all of our lives that are skeptical about vaccines and lots of protective health behaviors that, you know, if we just started engaging with them more in productive ways and respectful ways, it really could change minds, and it takes time," Grant said.

Barron, the expert on infection prevention at UCHealth, encouraged patients to ask questions about vaccines to their trusted health care providers.

"Again, all the vaccines are considered quite safe, quite effective, and most of it is the timing and making sure they don't interact with other vaccines," Barron said. "I'm happy that I live in a society where we can have these conversations. I think the problem is that people stopped listening to the full spectrum of things."

An open dialog between a patient and physician is what Barron believes is needed to make the right decision for any given individual.

"We will make the best decision with the information we have, and we will talk to you about it as well so that you can be part of that decision-making," Barron said.

Anyone who believes they may have been exposed to measles especially those who have not been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine should monitor for symptoms for 21 days and avoid public gatherings or high-risk settings, according to state health officials.

Symptoms to watch out for include anything from a fever, a cough, a runny nose, and red, watery eyes that develop into a rash that starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body about three to five days after symptoms first start. A person with measles is contagious four days before and four days after the rash appears.

Measles only spreads from people who show symptoms; it does not spread from people who arent feeling sick, state health officials report.

While most people recover within two or three weeks after contracting the virus, unvaccinated people run the risk of complications from the disease, including ear infections, seizures, pneumonia, immune amnesia, brain damage and ultimately, death.

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DENVER It's hard to be a Colorado Rockies fan right now.

Despite winning their most recent series against the Washington Nationals on the road, the Rockies' record this season is 17 and 58. They were the fastest team to hit 50 losses in Major League Baseball history, and currently have the worst 70-game record in MLB history. The team is on track to beat last years record of 121 losses set by the Chicago White Sox.

National media has started to take notice of the teams poor performance, and worse than that, long-time fans are starting to question their loyalty.

Lifelong Rockies fan Derek Johnston wrote to Denver7, asking the station to amplify the voice of a fanbase that deserves better.

Its come to the point where Im finally sick and tired of watching them lose, Johnston told Denver7s Nicole Brady

Denver7 talked with different stakeholders to see if the Rockies poor performance on the field is impacting people beyond Coors Field.

Patrick Scott, a season ticket holder who has attended nearly every home game this season, said hell continue to go to games, win or lose.

I just feel the team is relatively young, and maybe this season everyones learning a lot, so I'm hopeful for the future, Scott said.

Christian Saez, host of the DNVR Rockies podcast, agreed that many loyal fans are still tuning in.

Its almost entertaining to watch for a lot of the fans who just kind of tune in and say, this is just crazy to witness, he said.

Saez hopes fans will look back on this historic season with some feeling of unity that they came through it together.

Jack Corrigan, veteran play-by-play announcer for the KOA Rockies Radio Network, emphasized the passion people feel for the game itself.

Even if a team is struggling, something's going to happen in the game. Thats what you play for, Corrigan said.

Average home game attendance at Coors Field has fallen every year since the post-COVID recovery. In 2023, the average was 32,196 per game. That fell to 31,360 in 2024. This years average home game attendance so far is 28,518.

Those numbers may be starting to affect sales in the stadium. An anonymous employee of Aramark said while working concessions at Coors Field this year, hes noticed a dip in morale and business, which is affecting his tips.

People arent happy, and they dont want to pay stadium prices when theyre not happy, he said.

Denver7 reached out to Aramark to ask if sales are down, but we did not receive any response.

Kate McKenna, executive director for the Ballpark General Improvement District, said businesses in the surrounding neighborhood are still seeing strong turnout on game nights.

About 25,000 attendees come to the ballpark per game, which is a huge number for any neighborhood," McKenna said.

As the Rockies navigate this challenging season, it remains to be seen whether their current performance is merely a slump or a turning point for the franchise. In May, the team fired manager Bud Black and promoted third base coach Warren Shaefer to interim manager.

As a longtime baseball fan, in addition to being an announcer, Corrigan noted that other teams have also faced historically dismal periods and bounced back.

It's the great line that everybody uses in this sport, but it's accurate: that's baseball.

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Im scared.

Those were two of the first words I heard come out of my loved one's mouth when I got home from work yesterday.

The hug I offered felt different. It was longer, tighter, and I could feel the weight of my loved one's pain as two silent tears rolled down her cheek.

We looked at each other and I said, Its ok. Im scared, too.

I never thought Id say those words. I grew up in the northeast, went to Syracuse University at the time, one of the most Jewish universities in the country. I never felt like a target. Frankly, I never felt anything other than completely accepted.

But that was before Oct. 7, 2023  before curiosity started to feel like skepticism and conversations started to feel like interrogations. That was before my last name started to matter.

Its not a hunch to say this feeling is shared by most Jews in our country. Its a fact. And its discussed every time a Holocaust survivor and others are attacked with Molotov cocktails, or shot outside a Jewish museum, or made the breathing symbol of the word genocide.

My mom sent a text to my family group chat the day of the Boulder attack.

It read, I keep thinking about Bubbes vigilance and how she was simply out of touch with the new world. It is a humbling lesson to my younger self that I understood so little and was dismissive of the wisdom of my elder.

Shes talking about my late grandmother who spent her life warning us of the hate harbored against Jews.

Wed laugh because we thought she was simply as my mom put it out of touch.

We thought antisemitism was fringe. We thought it was outdated. We didnt know it was always bubbling under the surface, waiting to rear its head, as it has for centuries.

If she was alive today, Id tell my dear Bubbe

were out of touch.

Accepting this is where we are in America is humbling. Its upsetting. Its infuriating.

And this will make some people angry, but I do not care what your feelings are about the Middle East. In the context of Sunday's Boulder attack, they do not matter.

Youre entitled to those feelings whatever they may be. But you arent entitled to use them as justification for antisemitic cowardice disguised as activism.

So, check in on your Jewish friends  even if you disagree with them on the Middle East because I guarantee it will make them feel loved, valued, and maybe even a little safer.

DENVER The history of crime in Five Points is complicated at best.

Man, it got bad, said Rev. Leon Kelly, founder of Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives. It got real bad.

Rev. Kelly is talking about drug activity, violence and drive-by shootings in the 1980s and 90s.

Denver7 file footage from news coverage in the 80s and 90s punctuates that sentiment.

Theres too many guns out here, theres too many drive-bys going on, said a patrol officer in that file footage. We see little 6-year-old kids shot and other people shot in the community that are innocent victims.

Yet in order to truly understand the evolution of crime in Five Points, Brother Jeff Fard and Rev. Kelly say you have to go back much further than the 80s and 90s.

We moved over in this neighborhood in 1955, Rev. Kelly said. My mom and dad bought our house for like $11,000. 37th and St. Paul.

It was a neighborhood full of life, jazz, and trailblazers. We talked to Rev. Kelly about it outside the Black American West Museum & Heritage Center, which aims to tell the stories of Black cowboys and other African Americans that shaped the western U.S.

That used to be Dr. Justina Fords home. Dr. Justina Ford could not practice out of a hospital because she was black, and she was woman," Brother Jeff said. "She was practicing her medicine in the community (out of her home). That is Five Points history.

It was for all intents and purposes a simpler time.

I grew up here in northeast Denver, and there was never a time where positive adults were not involved in young people's lives, Brother Jeff said. They were coaches, they were mentors, they were ever present in the community."

"And so that's the answer. Positive adults in young people's lives.

My dad came home after getting the job here at the Tramway Bus Company and making big money, you know, $1.25 an hour, Rev. Kelly said. That was the innocent times of those days. That was the time that we knew everybody on our block. Everybody.

But then, Rev. Kelly and Brother Jeff both say that way of life began to erode, in large part due to the cost of living going up, adults working more, kids with more free time and a huge wave of negative influences  mostly from out-of-state.

What we started to see in the late 80s, in the early 90s, was the influx of crack cocaine, Brother Jeff said. So, you're starting to see drug addiction.

You have places like California, Chicago, Detroit, other places that were dealing with some issues, said Rev. Kelly. But this is Colorado. Not colorful Colorado, man.

And then also the materialism in terms of fighting and killing over Starter jackets and tennis shoes and things like that, said Brother Jeff.

The culture shift had started and was quickly snowballing.

I started to see a change in the mindset of many of the kids I was dealing with, said Rev. Kelly.

This is the first time that the elders became afraid of the youth, said Brother Jeff. It's a turning point.

Rev. Kelly saw it changing quickly and sounded the alarm but says he met resistance from city leaders.

I tried to tell the city fathers back then: This is something we need to look at as becoming very serious if left unattended, Rev. Kelly said. I equated it to something like cancer. And it will eventually grow and then kill the body. Mayor (Federico) Pea was the very first Hispanic mayor in our city. And no mayor wants to blemish the image of the city.

It was a succession of murders and violence and incarceration and addiction, said Brother Jeff.

Rev. Kelly said kids were getting shot daily. It was spiraling, and Five Points was at the center of the storm.

Drive by shootings were becoming commonplace. Drugs had taken over city streets and the Crips and Bloods had marked their territories in Five Points, Park Hill and beyond.

Funerals of young people became an all-too-familiar scene.

Rev. Kellys list of people who died violently and died young was growing in the late 1980s, and, by 1990, the numbers had skyrocketed.

In 1991 the list grew even longer, and the violence in Denver was splashed across headlines all over the country. Then came what the Rocky Mountain News dubbed The Summer of Violence in 1993.

What took place is - there was a young white child that was hit with a bullet in the (Denver) Zoo, Brother Jeff said. And it always depends on who's impacted by the violence not necessarily the violence [itself] per se, but who is this impacting?

Mary Ann Lowe, a school teacher coming from Jefferson County, excited about moving to Denver, Rev. Kelly said. Teaching in the school district here, the gangster went out, they saw her, shot her up, killed her.

Then, there was 6-year-old Broderick Bell, a first grader on his way home from his first karate lesson struck by a bullet while in the back seat of a car.

Bell would survive the shooting, but the public had seen enough. And Denver city officials had no choice but to ramp up enforcement.

The primary focus will be on gang activity and crack houses, said an official at a city council meeting in 1993. Six to eight officers in each district will be assigned to impact cars.

Mayor Wellington Webb even gave police the greenlight to stop anyone suspicious, which he said was necessary even as critics argued it was profiling.

Those individuals that are stopped that are not guilty of a crime need to work with the police department and understand that is what is necessary in order to apprehend the individuals participating in hard-core activities, Mayor Webb said at the time.

At the state level, Democratic Gov. Roy Romer called a special session where lawmakers passed tougher penalties for youth offenders and gang members.

It was a sense of panic, outrage, said Brother Jeff. What could be done? What must be done?

And we got the Pope coming, Rev. Kelly said of Pope John Paul II's visit to Denver during World Youth Day in 1993. We got white folks getting killed and all of this stuff."

We are going to call a special session. What do you do? (The governor) got the people out of out of bed and said, 'You gotta meet up today. We gotta come up with these laws. We gotta, you know, deal with this.'

On the ground, community activism also took hold.

Brother Jeff launched Brother Jeffs Cultural Center in the 90s, while Rev. Kelly founded Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives.

In Brother Jeff's Cultural Center, we're not going to have the hatred, said Brother Jeff.

Open Door is the oldest anti-gang program, still today, Rev. Kelly said.

As Five Points home values plummeted, families fled to Park Hill, Montbello, Aurora and elsewhere. Young people were locked up more frequently.

Right there is the Gillian Youth Detention Center,

During our interview, Brother Jeff pointed out the Gillian Youth Services Center on Downing between 28th and 29th.

Right inside the community is a youth correctional facility," he said. "So a lot of young people thats their first stop.

The gangs were eventually squeezed out, too.

And many of them [were] not claiming Crips and Bloods anymore, Rev. Kelly said. The housing caused a lot of the migrations to happen. Young people and families just can't afford to live in the City and County of Denver. So, where do they go? They go to Aurora, you know. They go to Commerce City.

By the early 2000s, crime had dwindled, home prices were depressed and the neighborhood experienced another seismic shift.

So, what happened is gentrification, Brother Jeff said. You know, in the midst of despair, there were individuals that were planning the reimagining of these communities. I could get all of the equity of individuals who are fleeing or leaving, and the pain and the despair can become an investment opportunity.

Today, as we walked Welton Street with Brother Jeff, shop owners and managers, like Jerry Morgan, could see us through the window and would pop out to greet us.

It feels like a community.

Right here is GRASP enterprises, Morgan said. This is our social enterprise. We employ young people to give them a trade, a skill, keep them off the streets.

And while the flavor and the soul of the neighborhood still exists, Brother Jeff sees a much different place than he did 10-15 years ago.

Its no secret there are billionaires that own some of this property, he said. I would imagine in Five Points, Curtis Park, San Rafael, Clements this entire area right now I don't know if you could find 100 Black families in this environment.

It led us to the question: Is there a future where black families can move back to this neighborhood?

Its hard to say not practical, but it's not practical, said Brother Jeff.

Yet there is no doubt that preserving Black history here the good, the bad and the ugly will most certainly define Five Points future.

Theres no Muhammad Ali without coming to Five Points looking for Sonny Liston, Brother Jeff said. You wouldnt have a Madam CJ Walker, who is the first self-made woman millionaire. Im not talking about inherited wealth, Im talking self-made. Thats the hope of Five Points.

And Brother Jeff says names mean everything.

When you start taking away historical names, you also start erasing the history, Brother Jeff said.

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Many Denver restaurants are going belly up or moving to the suburbs.

According to Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses (EXL), records show a drop of about 24% in overall food licenses associated with restaurants since 2023. To better understand the trends, Denver7 is taking a 360 look at the struggling industry and what owners are doing to stay afloat.

It's the lunch rush at Blue Agave Grill, and Brenda Lucio is in her happy place.

"We're pouring our heart into it when we're making it," Lucio said.

Lucio and her husband opened their southwestern scratch kitchen along the 16th Street Mall nearly a decade ago. They've watched storefronts around the mall shutter, but the Lucios have held on while the pedestrian mall has been under construction.

"Youre not seeing whats happening the other six days. Youre not visiting that restaurant," Lucio said.

Restaurants continue to face challenges beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Rising costs in utilities, insurance, rent, cost of food," she Lucio.

The owner of The Lobby, Christian Batizy, is facing similar challenges.

"We have reduced two positions and over $100,000 in salaries to try to overcome kitchen raises and front-of-house raises," Batizy said.

But Batizy doesn't plan to stop serving brunch any time soon.

"I'm kind of the other direction. Whereas most people are running from downtown, I actually purchased my space in August. So, we're no longer tenants," Batizy said.

Despite the trends, he's locked down a permanent spot in Denver's Ballpark District.

"I've never seen a year like we did in 2024, where the math really did catch up with us," Lucio said.

Denver7 sat down with Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of Colorado's Restaurant Association, to better understand the reasons behind the closures. Riggs points to consumer behavior as a major factor.

"Fifty-one percent of people in 2024 ate out less at restaurants," Riggs explained.

She also said some are finding it easier to operate in Denver's suburbs because of the city's rising minimum wage for tipped workers, which has gone up to $15.79 an hour.

"Denver's minimum wage is higher than that of New York City," Riggs said.

The Colorado Restaurant Association also cites Denver's lengthy and costly licensing process as a reason for restaurants fleeing out of the city. More than 90% of businesses that have applied for a retail food license have an active or pending application.

However, a spokesman for Denver's EXL, Eric Escudero, argues that the process has only gotten easier since it was shifted online in 2023.

"The vast majority of restaurants either saw no increase to their licensing fees or saw actually a reduction," Escudero said.

Data from his office shows food licenses associated with restaurants cost $256 a year. Escudero said 86% of renewals are approved within a week.

"We see no reason that licensing is a burden for restaurants to leave," he said.

But Lucio and others are feeling the heat. She owns six other restaurants in northern Colorado where the minimum wage is $4 less an hour.

"It's a little bit different in the north. Denver, with the labor costs that we've got here, with mandated minimum wage being $18.81 (for non-tipped workers), that's a lot different than the other restaurants," Lucio said.

Batizy said rising costs force restaurants like his to get creative. That's why he's turning to his private event business, catering more weddings and corporate meetings than ever before.

With every plate served, these owners remind customers why they're still holding on when times get tough and why they need help at the end of the day.

"I'm a pretty firm believer that restaurants are like a cornerstone of what makes the city, right like we are part of every celebratory function that you have," Batizy said.

Lucio echoed Batizy's sentiment.

"You go there for comfort. You go there because they take care of you, they recognize you, they appreciate you. Don't let them go," she said.

State lawmakers are proposing legislation to reduce operational costs for businesses in cities like Denver, though it may result in decreased pay for tipped employees.

Introduced by Democratic Representatives Steven Woodrow and Alex Valdez, House Bill 1208 seeks to ease financial pressures on restaurant owners like Baity.

Known in the industry as the Restaurant Relief Act, the bill would increase the share of hourly wages that restaurants are not obligated to cover in municipalities where the minimum wage surpasses Colorado's minimum wage for tipped workers.

Riggs said this would save businesses money or allow them to allocate it elsewhere.

It'll allow restaurant owners to be able to give more of their money to the back-of-the-house workers, which continually get left behind every time we see a minimum wage increase, Riggs said.

Editor's Note:

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DENVER While Colorado drivers are headed in the right direction when it comes to reversing previous years increases in traffic fatalities, the state's roads, intersections, crosswalks and bicycle lanes continue to see incidents putting drivers and vulnerable road users at great risk.

On Tuesday, the Colorado Department of Transportation held its annual press briefing to reveal the latest statewide traffic data which reported 684 Coloradans lost their lives on roads in 2024.

That marks a 5 percent decrease from 2023.

Over the last 10 years, Denver7 has been tracking Colorados traffic fatality trend which peaked at 764 deaths in 2022 before gradually decreasing over the last couple of years.

People that left their home in a car, on their bicycle, walking or a motorcycle some event happened that caused them to not arrive at their planned destination, said Col. Matthew Packard, Colorado State Patrol chief. Whether the grocery store, the dinner table with their loved ones or their work, that impact is not only to the family, to the people but is so broad across the spectrum of what makes Colorado..... Colorado.

To view the above infographic in fullscreen mode, click this link.

While overall traffic fatalities continue to trend downward, motorcycle deaths in Colorado spiked in 2024. CDOT data revealed 162 motorcyclists were killed last year, which accounted for 24% of all deadly traffic incidents in Colorado.

That was a 23% increase in motorcyclist deaths from 2023.

Packard pointed to statistics that showed 44 percent of Coloradans who died while riding a motorcycle were not wearing a helmet.

I certainly respect ones ability to make that choice. The math is really simple and the data shows that if you wear a helmet if you wear protective gear your chances of surviving that crash are far better, said Packard. From my experience, when you look off that motorcycle through a helmet, the view here in the state is just as good as if youre doing without.

Packard pointed to resources available to help motorcyclists in Colorado be a safer rider including this website loaded with resources, tips and ways to locate a motorcycle course in the state.

As for the overall causes of deadly crashes on Colorado roads, CSP continues to point to the same reason.What causes these crashes ends up being excessive speed, careless and reckless driving and also just plain old inattentiveness.

While down slightly in 2024, Coloradans taking the wheel under the influence of alcohol and drugs continues to be a major factor driving traffic deaths in the state.

CDOT reported 210 deaths due to impaired driving in 2024, which marks a 7 percent decrease from 2023.

Packard said CSPs goal is to reduce fatal and injury crashes in Colorado that are caused by an impaired driver by 15 percent this year.

About a third of the people who die in this state are at the hands of an impaired driver. I believe theres no better opportunity for us to lean into than solving this problem to save a substantial amount of lives on Colorados roads and by solving this issue, said Packard. Just do the math. Even at 600 (deaths), thats 180 lives we could save by stopping people from driving impaired.

Also this week, CSP announced its statewide DUI team increased patrols in Pitkin and Garfield Counties during the X-Games and reported troopers made 52 traffic stops and arrested three impaired drivers.

The agency added that both Pitkin and Garfield Counties have seen 41 deadly crashes since 2020. 205 other crashes in those counties have resulted in serious bodily injury since 2020.

CSP said during Tuesdays press briefing that Coloradans should expect to see more visible enforcement in an attempt to catch impaired drivers before a crash happens.

Weve got a big grey van that we can put an intoxilyzer in and drive across the state, said Packard. This wont be a surprise. Youre not going to find a patrol car or that DUI van parked around a blind corner trying to surprise ya, everything we do this we are going to be out and upfront. We dont want to have to arrest anybody.

Rebecca Green the state director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Colorado pleaded with Coloradans to call a friend, take public transportation or find a rideshare solution instead of driving while impaired and potentially making a deadly decision that could devastate countless lives.

45 years ago, two moms stood up and shared their story, and families came out of the woodwork to share that they too had been impacted by impaired driving, said Green. That's 45 years of us asking people to make a different choice. Now, if that worked alone, I'd be out of a job.

A job that unfortunately continues because of the decisions Coloradans make on roads that tears families apart. Its a deep pain felt by Clara Shelton.

I'm here today to remind you that every number you see in these statistics about traffic fatalities represents one real life, one real person who had a family and friends who will never be the same in their absence, said Shelton, a MADD national ambassador and volunteer with MADD Colorado.

In 2015, Sheltons brother was an 18-year-old CU Boulder freshman when his life was cut short at the hands of a drunk driver.

He and three friends were driving back to campus all wearing their seat belts and they were about 20 minutes away from CU Boulder on Highway 93 a drunk and drugged driver came hurtling at them way above the speed limit, said Shelton.Her brother, Sam, endured multiple surgeries and remained in a coma for 73 days.We never heard him speak or laugh again, she said. He died in January of 2016. My family and I recognized the nine-year anniversary just last Sunday.

In Tuesdays update, Shelton pointed to a potential technology solution to prevent Coloradans from ever getting a chance to drive drunk.

A few years ago, I was honored to be part of a team at MADD that helped pass the Halt Act at the national level. The HALT Act directs the federal government to require all new cars to come equipped with smart technology that passively, seamlessly and unobtrusively detects and stops impaired driving, said Shelton. This is technology that already exists that car companies could implement at any time if they wish to be part of the effort to prevent impaired driving.

She said while the HALT Act was a bipartisan collaboration signed into law in 2021, deadlines have come and passed resulting in slow progress.

The bill gave NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) three years to set the safety standards for this regulation. That deadline came and went in November of last year, she added Every moment that these regulations are delayed punted or ignored is a moment when we are losing people's family members on our roads.According to MADD data, a person is killed or injured by a drunk driver in America every 78 seconds.

The dangers of Colorados roads struck home for CDOT in 2024 when two employees working to repair a street sign in Mesa County were struck and killed by a driver.

On September 4, 23-year-old Nathan Jones and 43-year-old Trenton Umberger both Grand Junction residents died when the driver of an SUV struck both CDOT workers on Front Street/US Highway 6 near milepost 40. A passenger of the SUV also died in the crash.

In that instance, impaired driving was not believed to be a factor and the investigation was unfolding but the deadly crash highlighted pleas made by officials for years: To pay better attention, slow down and be prepared to move over when approaching a construction zone.

Because folks are failing to abide by the state's robust and straightforward Move Over Law, said AAAs Skyler McKinley during Tuesdays briefing. Last year Colonel Packard will tell you 11 state troopers were involved and struck by incidents while they were responding at the roadside.

McKinley said AAAs roadside assistance technicians see the effects of bad behaviors on Colorados highways.

Luckily, we had a year last year where we didn't lose anybody. But they (AAA technicians) will tell you there are near misses to the hundreds in a weekly basis. A millisecond is really the only difference between a near miss and a strike and kill and that strike, too often keeps a technician from coming home for dinner.

CDOT announced speed cameras will be installed at Colorado construction zones in an effort to "help reduce congestion that may result from traffic stops."

Sam Cole, CDOT traffic safety manager told Denver7 the cameras will roll out at part of an automated speed enforcement program as a way to "ticket people that are speeding."

"We're hoping that this new speed enforcement camera program that we're going to roll out in a select few construction zones this spring makes a big difference," added Cole.

McKinley implored drivers to stop ignoring traffic laws designed to keep everyone safe, including workers who keep Colorados roadways running smoothly.

Every time you interact with our transportation system, remind yourself who makes it work, the people, the lives, their families. Every time you're frustrated with it, ask yourself how your behavior can endanger the folks without whom you'd be trapped at home," said McKinley. My message to you is if you don't care if you only care about yourself, stay the hell off our roadways. We don't need you, and we don't need to lose these lives.

Denver7 is also highlighting biking dangers in Colorado sharing stories of close calls and ways to get around Denver safer while cycling.

Watch this special presentation of Denver7's 'On Two Wheels' in the video player below. You can also add your experience to the conversation about biking in Denver by emailing: ontwowheels@denver7.com.

In 2024, the Denver7 digital team produced 'Safer Colorado Roads', a deep-dive into challenges faced by everyone in our state no matter your mode of transportation. From understanding motorcycle lane filtering, wildlife crossings in Colorado to the major issues facing pedestrians and cyclists Watch this Denver7+ special presentation below.

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. The accomplishments, turmoil and novelty of Colorado's first gray wolf reintroduction exactly one year ago have captured the attention of the state and beyond, but controversy continues to follow the historic program as it heads into 2025.

In generalized terms, the past year looked a bit like this: Five wild wolves released. Another five released. The first calf killed. Outcry from ranchers. Adjustments. A string of more depredations. Wolf pups spotted. Outcry from ranchers. Adjustments. Outcry from ranchers. Adjustments. Another string of depredations. A wolf pack captured. Three dead wolves. Preparation for a second release. A petition to stop it.

Anguish. Hope. And lots and lots of questions.

2024 is closing with a lengthy timeline of milestones, but whether they are success stories or failures depends on who you ask.

Encouraging news for supporters, who have hoped to see the population grow. But opponents saw more hungry mouths to threaten their livelihood.

Fewer of those hungry mouths and a springboard to call the program a failure. But wildlife officials stressed the mortality rate was typical, and those animals died around the end of their lifespan.

Officials expected depredations this year, and with the latest confirmed wolf kill in September, it appears the yearly total will stand at 26. Ranchers, particularly those who have seen multiple losses, protest this number is much higher, but unacceptable nonetheless.

Today, Colorado is home to 14 known wolves: six reintroduced wolves in the wild, two that moved in from Wyoming, one reintroduced female and her four pups who were captured in September after multiple depredations (and will likely be released this winter), and a fifth pup that could not be captured but appears to be healthy in the wild, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).

Denver7 has covered this reintroduction program extensively over the past year and beyond, sharing stories from Coloradans with a myriad of backgrounds and opinions.

As the next round of reintroductions looms ahead, we're looking back on the wolves of 2024, and how the tough lessons learned across the board are now molding the way for 2025.

All of this movement around wolves in Colorado is the result of the state's voter-mandated reintroduction effort.

Gray wolves are currently classified as an endangered species by the State of Colorado. The animals are native to the state, but were exterminated by shooters and trappers, and became functionally extinct by the 1940s.

In the 2020 election, Proposition 114 landed on the Colorado ballot. It proposed mandating that CPW develop a plan to start reintroducing and managing gray wolves in western Colorado and to take steps to begin those reintroductions by Dec. 31, 2023. The proposition passed with 50.91% of the vote. Most of the "Yes" votes were along the Front Range and most of the "No" votes were outside of that area, with a few exceptions.

After two and a half years of Technical Working Group and a Stakeholder Advisory Group discussions, CPW published the finalized Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan in May 2023, clearing the way for wolf reintroductions to start at the end of the year.

Per that plan, CPW released its first five gray wolves on Dec. 18, 2023 at an undisclosed place in Grand County. Five more were released a few days later in Grand and Summit counties.

The second cycle of reintroductions will happen in the next few months. CPW said it plans to capture up to 15 wolves from British Columbia and release them in Colorado sometime between January and March 2025.

The 261-page management plan lists the goal of translocating 10 to 15 wolves per year for a total of 30 to 50 wolves over three to five years. After that point, the active reintroduction efforts will stop and CPW will focus solely on monitoring to see if the population is self-sustaining.

The reintroduction will be considered successful if the survival rate is high, the wolves stay in Colorado, packs are formed and breed, and if wolves born in Colorado survive and go on to reproduce, according to the plan.

Read the full wolf restoration and management plan below or here.

The video has been played far and wide. Five gray wolves with neon GPS collars spring out of gray crates in a Grand County field, with CPW staff carefully watching from behind.

It was Dec. 18, 2023.

This is a historic day for Colorado, CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a press release.

A few days afterward, five more were released.

Over the next year, they meandered in every direction, briefly entering Rocky Mountain National Park this summer and moving south of Interstate 70 for the first time in early November.

Brenna Cassidy, wolf monitoring and data coordinator with CPW, analyzed data from their GPS collars.

"They did kind of what we predicted," she said. "The only surprise I would say that we had: I kind of thought they would move more. I thought... a wolf would go much, much farther. And what that really signals to me is that they were released in... areas that they had all of their needs met. So, you know, space from most humans, a lot of prey animals like deer and elk."

Regarding elk, which are the preferred prey for wolves, CPW reported post-hunt 2023 that 43% of their populations were above their herd management plan population objective ranges, 40% were within the range, and 17% were below it. It will take some time before adequate data can show any impacts made by wolves, CPW said.

Wolves travel long distances, sometimes up to 500 miles, as part of their "exploratory movements" to see if a habitat suits them, Cassidy continued. This is why some parts of the wolf activity maps were highlighted in purple for one month, but not the next. CPW releases maps once a month showing the watersheds the wolves had explored.

Hear Cassidy explain more about the wolves' movements in their first year in the video below.

At least some of the reintroduced wolves interacted with the two wolves that naturally came into Colorado from Wyoming, Cassidy said. In March, a couple of the GPS collars began to fail.

Amid these travels, three of the reintroduced wolves died. In April, a wolf was found deceased after a likely mountain lion attack. In early September, an injured adult male that was captured as part of the Copper Creek Pack relocation effort died. A couple weeks later, a third one was found deceased with wounds that appeared to be from another wolf or canid.

Cassidy, whose PhD is centered on wolf mortality, said these three wolves were all between 3 and 4 years old. She said most people are shocked to learn a wild wolf's average lifespan is so short.

"It doesn't seem like very long, especially when you consider having dogs in our homes that live to be, you know, 12, 14, 16 years old," she said. "It's surprising that they only live to be 3 to 4. So, what that means for the three wolves that have died in Colorado is that that's very unsurprising to us. That is pretty average mortality for wolves."

The Copper Creek Pack was officially named in June, and consisted of one breeding pair and five pups, according to CPW. On June 18, CPW biologists spotted a single wolf pup at the den site in Grand County. Despite pleas from ranchers, CPW said it would not remove an adult male in the pack that was linked to multiple depredations meaning a wolf attack that either seriously injures or kills livestock because he was part of the breeding pair.

In August, Mike Usalavage, a Colorado hunter and avid outdoor enthusiast, shared a video the first to be published publicly of multiple wolf pups playing along a dirt road that he had traveled on several times before.

"It was so special. And I wish all my kids would have been there just to see that. I wish my mom could have seen it, everybody I care about," he said. "It was fantastic just to witness that."

"We came over this little rise, and right there they were, the three pups playing amongst themselves," he told Denver7 on Tuesday. "We got to see them splashing in a puddle and chasing each other. Fun to watch. I think we ended up watching them for almost 10 minutes before they got spooked about something."

As he had planned, he spent the night in the woods and mulled over what to do with the video.

"I did not vote for this wolf reintroduction. I voted against it," Usalavage said. "But after seeing the wolves, you know, by the hour, I was becoming more attached to them. I felt like I needed to take some ownership in the video and all of a sudden, I felt like I needed to start protecting them."

He shared it with CPW and gave the agency permission to put it on their social media, where it promptly gathered hundreds of thousands of views and countless comments. Nowadays, Usalavage keeps up with wolf updates around the state, though he still feels torn about how aspects of the reintroduction were handled and what the next year will hold.

Usalavage explains how he still feels "torn" about the reintroduction in the video below.

"I'm a sportsman. I'm outside," he said. "How's it going to affect the deer population and the elk population? The other side of it is I really like cheeseburgers," he said. "So I understand the perspective from the ranchers. I guess the wolves like cheeseburgers too. And maybe that's the whole problem. ... It is exciting, though, to see wolf pups playing out in the middle of the road like that. That was fun to see. It kind of changed my perspective."

By the end of August, CPW announced that it had started an operation to capture and relocate the wolves and those pups from the Copper Creek Pack due to the multiple depredations. Ranchers applauded the decision while wildlife advocates questioned what they called a "risky operation." All but one wolf pup were captured by Sept. 9 and brought to a large, secure enclosure with extremely limited human presence. Those wolves are set to be released this winter.

The second set of reintroductions is set to happen between January and March 2025, when CPW staff plans to capture up to 15 wolves from British Columbia and release them in Colorado.

Looking back on the year, Cassidy said there were many moments outside of these major milestones that she considers special.

"They're occurring within conversations with people that I've met in various communities, where it's often someone who had just seen a wolf, or experienced hearing a howl out in the wild or something," she explained. "And I've had a number of people who are definitely not fans of wolves classically and have informed me of such, that kind of come back around in this conversation and say, 'These are pretty incredible animals, and I can see why people connect with them so much.'"

About 100 days after the first five wolves were released, Doug Bruchez, owner and manager of Reeder Creek Ranch in Grand County, walked around his property. He is a fifth-generation rancher his family has been there since 1999 and has laid eyes on some tough scenes. But he wasn't expecting what he saw on April 2, 2024.

A dead bull calf in the snow. Its mother nearby. A clear sign of struggle in the spring snow. She had fought to save the life of her calf, but the wolves had had a successful hunt. Dozens of other cows looked on. In a brief video Bruchez recorded, the herd looked bewildered.

Total panic. Heartbreak," Bruchez said. "And if you saw the reaction of the cows, even more heartbreak. Theyre out there and they didnt know what to think either."

It was the first confirmed wolf depredation on livestock in Colorado since the 2023 reintroduction. For weeks on end, Bruchez spent cold nights out with his cattle, where he recalled seeing the wolves "a lot."

"I was very mad," he remembered. "I was very upset, and needed to come up with ways to try and make sure that didn't happen again... You put your heart and soul into an animal. I dont see how you dont have feelings for them. I wouldnt exactly call them pets, but I care deeply about them."

But for Bruchez and his neighbors, the dead calf was far from the first sign that wolves were nearby.

Toward the end of December and through January, February and March, he started seeing wolf tracks close to his home. A few cattle died for reasons he could not explain. He suspects the wolves killed four of them, in addition to the calf in early April, but the others were not confirmed.

Spring is already a vulnerable time for cows, as they birth calves that cannot fend off predators and leave the smell of placenta hanging in the air.

"And then you add this on top," Bruchez said. "... These cows are not only my livelihood. I spent a lot of time with them."

Bruchez's cows, now well-aware of the predators around them, became stressed and no longer responded well to his dogs tasked with moving them, he said. On the few nights in April that Bruchez wasn't out with the cattle, his worries wandered back to the herd. The stress drove him to seek blood pressure medicine from his doctor.

In the video below, hear directly from Bruchez about the pressure of keeping his cattle away from the nearby wolves that were reintroduced last winter.

On the morning of Dec. 12, as he looked across a grazing pasture and the 300 cows munching on hay, he told Denver7 that he sees the landscape a little differently now.

Its weird. Its definitely weird," he said, and then raised a hand to point in several directions. "Its beautiful, but when you can say a cow got killed there, wolf den site, wolf rendezvous site, cattle got killed there. It was not an easy summer.

About a week after the calf kill, CPW confirmed another wolf kill in Jackson County, then four yearling cattle deaths at one property on April 18.

As of this article's publishing time, ranchers in Grand County, Routt County and Jackson County have reported wolf attacks on livestock and CPW has confirmed 26 of those deaths across 16 incidents west of the Continental Divide were indeed the result of wolves.

In short statements over the span of several months, Denver7 has heard CPW staff and its director repeat that many lessons were learned after the first 10 wolves were released in December 2023.

"A big lesson learned is spending more time with county electeds and the livestock producers in the areas that we anticipate those releases," CPW Director Jeff Davis told Denver7 in an exclusive interview in September.

In November, CPW Deputy Director of Policy Reid DeWalt reiterated that one of the main focuses this year aside from the complicated logistics of trapping, transferring and releasing new wolves is significantly increasing communication with the counties where the releases will happen in the future. After meeting with county commissioners of four counties where wolves may be released this winter, CPW decided to remove one county from its list, though no official release location has been publicized. DeWalt said that he hopes this shows that CPW is "agile enough" to make changes when warranted.

We have learned a lot and were doing things differently already," Davis added.

Within the past week, Davis said in a press release that CPW is "in a position to offer Colorado livestock producers an even more robust program that includes the tools, support and resources needed to minimize wolf-livestock conflict" going into 2025.

"CPW staff and our partners have been working hard, learning and adapting throughout this first year of wolf restoration in Colorado," Davis continued. "The deployment of this stronger conflict minimization program is critical as we prepare to release wolves this upcoming season."

Throughout this year, CPW brought on five conflict reduction specialists, with five more coming this month. They work closely with Adam Baca, CPW's wolf conflict program coordinator, who is based out of Jackson County but works statewide.

"It is one of the most challenging wildlife management issues out there, but I will say, working with the five damage specialists we've onboarded, I'm pretty darn excited," he said. "They've shown just an incredible set of skills and technical expertise, and they've provided a lot of support on a number of fronts to the agency, to producers and I'm really excited to continue working with them."

Baca stepped into the role in June 2022 and has met with livestock producers across Colorado.

"This is kind of a new realm for them, and we're learning what it's going to look like on the landscape," he said. "... Getting people with the technical expertise to communicate and the social skills to be able to navigate some of those challenging conversations, as far as acknowledging some of those difficulties and being understanding, even when people are just venting that's been something that we've worked on, and have aggressively improved a lot on."

This fall, CPW, Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, and CSU Extension held several workshops focused on non-lethal predator conflict mitigation across eight counties. More than 200 people have attended and learned about a multitude of different non-lethal tactics to keep wolves away from livestock.

"Any one of these topics could take a full day to get completely up to speed, and so that's a jumping off point for producers to follow up with their local damage specialists or district wildlife managers," Baca said. "And then our staff are communicating that at some of the more local events, local stock or board meetings, conservation district meetings, and so forth."

At these training sessions, staff explained the importance of site assessments, which is when staff from CPW, CDA or the USDA identifies the best coexistence techniques for a specific rancher's property. While these free and voluntary assessments have been available since May 2023, CPW recently cleared up the process and updated related paperwork. Baca said 50 of these site assessments which includes resource deployment have either been completed or are in the process of wrapping up as of Wednesday.

Baca also stressed the importance of the NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which will award $2.5 million over five years to fund range riding, fencing, fladry, livestock carcass removal and other resources. The applications for this open on Jan. 10.

"I do want to emphasize that NRCS funding is huge. This is part of a larger effort across the West," he said. "This has been in the works for a long time, and it's a huge deal that we can provide these resources to our producing constituency."

On a smaller scale, grants up to $20,000 for training, education and preventative support, such as range riding or carcass management, are also available through the CDA for groups that represent multiple producers.

Before the end of the year, CPW will publish a highly requested public document called the Wolf-Livestock Conflict Minimization Program Guide for producers. CPW said it outlines "all conflict minimization tools, methods, state staff support available including contact information, and funding sources," and will lay out how CPW investigates depredations, how the compensation program works and criteria needed to obtain a permit to kill a problem wolf.

While some of these resources were available since the very start in 2023, others were not.

And for some ranchers, it's just too little too late.

Depredations on livestock were expected with this wolf reintroduction program, but in the eyes of the ranchers forced to reckon with the impact of each loss, it went too far.

On Dec. 12, as we spoke with rancher Bruchez outside his Grand County home, he said his cows' pregnancy rates, as well as the weight of their calves, are "way down."

"That puts me out of business," Bruchez said simply. "My weaning weights were down almost 30 pounds 29.29 pounds. And my pregnancy rate was down from 95% to 90.5%, so that 4% in a business like mine is tens of thousands of dollars, and this is a small-margin business to be in. Where the wolves were concentrated this year, we're seeing pregnancy rates down 17%, so this could be devastating for people."

"Stressful. Anger. And frustration," he continued. "It's been a rough year."

The state is legally required to provide fair compensation to livestock owners for any economic losses if their animals are injured or killed by wolves, as outlined in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. If CPW biologists confirm a wolf depredation, the compensation program will pay for 100% of fair market value compensation, up to $15,000 per animal, the plan reads.

Total statewide depredation claims of $25,000 are expected in fiscal year 2023-2024, increasing by about $5,000 in subsequent years as wolf numbers rise. This compensation program does not apply for stress on livestock caused by wolves, according to the plan.

However, Colorado State University's Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence reported that livestock producers often underuse compensation programs like this one, mainly due to "high costs and burden of proof to verify kills." Of the 16 total incidents of wolf depredations in Colorado in 2024, claims were submitted for just three of them so far, though some ranchers may file the paperwork at the end of the year.

Bruchez submitted a claim for his calf that was killed on April 2. As of now, that claim is listed as "pending," according to the CPW document tracking wolf depredations. He said he fears that payment may never come.

"As we are going through our compensation records right now, we are finding there's flaws in the writing of how this is supposed to work," he said. "Its the first time anybody's ever done this. And... with some of the numbers that people are going to be submitting I don't think they're going to pay us."

When we brought this question to CPW, Baca told us that the timing for the payment is "going to depend on the complexity of the claim, the review process and the claim amount."

In September, feeling like there was no solution in sight, 26 Colorado ranching groups filed a petition addressed to CPW to delay future gray wolf reintroductions until depredations are addressed and mitigation tactics are fully implemented.

The petition asks the CPW Commission to adopt a rule that would "pause further wolf introductions until specific wolf-livestock conflict mitigation strategies are fully funded, developed, and implemented." The Colorado Cattlemen's Association, one of the petitioners, said this will "ensure that CPW is equipped to manage wolf depredation and provide livestock producers with the necessary tools and resources before any wolves are put on the ground."

Tim Ritschard with the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association presented the petition at a CPW Commission meeting in November. A Colorado Attorney General's Office representative explained that the office will review the petition and develop its own recommendation to the CPW Commission. It's not clear how long that will take to complete.

Range riding has become one of the most effective tools for ranchers experiencing wolf depredations, though questions and skepticism still bounce around ranching communities.

In 2024, the state supported four of these riders, who assist ranchers by protecting herds from wolves, whether on horseback, foot or ATV. They not only keep an eye out for wolves, but can deploy non-lethal deterrents to haze the wolves when they get too close.

In two of those four instances, the ranches saw zero depredations after they came on board, and in a third, the ranch saw reduced depredations, Baca with CPW said.

While few range riders were brought in this year, the state is putting quite a bit of weight behind this tool moving forward.

Early 2025 will mark the launch of the Colorado Range Rider program, which will use funding from sales of Colorado's wolf license plates to hire contractors to work roughly five months, starting in mid-April, on the open range. The license plate sales have totaled $544,000 as of Nov. 1. A range rider interest form is now available online.

So far, about 70 people have thrown their name in the ring for this program, Baca said. CPW will onboard 10 to 12 range riders in 2025.

CPW began standing up this program after hearing suggestions from communities impacted by the wolves.

Range riding is, however, considered a "high-effort tool," meaning it comes with significant cost and labor, Baca said.

"And so range riding is more of a targeted approach for really, really high-conflict scenarios," he explained. "It's not the Band-Aid. It's not going to work everywhere. But it is an option to help reduce that risk and provide a little bit more security or opportunities for hazing wolves so we can kind of teach them that livestock are not a good place to be around."

Baca further describes how range riders are used and will be used in Colorado in the video below.

The past and future of range riding in Colorado was a popular topic at a well-attended non-lethal wolf conflict training session at the Gypsum Recreation Center on Thursday.

That afternoon, Dustin Shiflett, the CDA's first hire for the new non-lethal conflict reduction program manager position, explained that qualified applicants will go through trainings to learn techniques, effectiveness of range riding, animal husbandry and stockmanship, tracking and the environment they would work in. The CDA has two non-lethal mitigation specialists who can also work as range riders.

"We want to target local communities so they have buy-in with trusted individuals to ride around their livestock," he said.

The CDA, he explained, had funded range riders for the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association twice earlier this year.

The current rate for state range riders is $30 an hour for 10-hour shifts during the season, or roughly $40,000, a CPW employee explained to a resident at the Gypsum meeting. He answered another person's question about if range riders will be responsible for buying their own horse or having their own equipment, which was later clarified and confirmed by CDA: Range riders will be responsible for providing their own horses and equipment.

Baca added that "the ability to do their job would hinge on the equipment that they were providing."

At the end of April, Bruchez welcomed a local and trusted range rider onto his property, and said the rider, who brought all of the gear necessary, "was very effective." The rider hazed wolves about 40 times, he said.

"It was kind of a one-in-a-million thing that we had that person at the right time," he said. "But that process was not streamlined or easy... It's also a really dangerous job because you're working with horses, you're working with firearms, you're working with four-wheelers, and most of the time you're doing it at night. And so that was a big concern that we had, when we became the fiscal agent on the first range rider, was the liability if they got hurt and we were the fiscal agent. They had to get insurance, we had to get insurance. This is not an easy process."

Nonetheless, the ranger rider came at a time when he needed it desperately. He had spent many long, cold nights out with his cattle after a calf was killed in early April. Having a range rider patrolling the property let him sleep, knowing somebody else was out there keeping an eye on the animals. Because they are often moving, they can also find any deceased animals across the large landscape and alert the property owner.

Bruchez stressed the importance of making range riders available to livestock producers as the second reintroduction nears.

"(The state is) hiring these people. They are diligently working on it," he acknowledged. "But we are going to dump more wolves off, and we are in the exact same place that we were in April of last year... I see them working and having meetings. But as far as solutions? No."

Bruchez added that carcass management common practices for handling and disposing of deceased ranch animals is another major aspect of ranching that is undergoing changes with the addition of wolves.

Colorado officials chatted with their counterparts in neighboring states to see what best practices they have settled on, and published a one-page summary of their findings, which you can find below or here.

"There are best management practices for carcass management," explained Shiflett, who used to own cattle and goats. "The best practice is removal, and we at the Colorado Department of Agriculture understand that that's not feasible nearly enough. So, the better practice is burial of that carcass. And then the good practice would be to either remove your livestock away from that carcass, or move the carcass away from that livestock."

It is considered one of many non-lethal tools a rancher can use, alongside fladry, fox lights and guard dogs, to name a few others that have been available in 2024. This "suite of tools" is best suited to come into play after a site assessment, Shiflett said.

"The base is the site assessment, and that is to get an agency out to see what's going to work on the producers' properties and help them decide what was going to work best for the producer in their operations, as there is some seasonality to it as well with these tools what tools are going to be best on their landscape, and then what the producer agrees to and what they don't agree to," he explained.

In the past, ranchers have requested these assessments sometimes as a proactive measure and other times after a depredation. Either way, it aids CPW in understanding where concerns arise and how to allocate resources and staff. To apply for an assessment, contact your Area CPW Office.

CPW's Wolf Monitoring and Data Coordinator Cassidy said that wolves are typically spooked by anything new, which is the purpose of hazing tactics.

"They're trying to tap into that innate fear of something new," she explained. "So, when you think about the fox light, a flashing light, or fladry these very odd little flags waving in the wind a lot of those hazing methods are trying to use something that is new and that looks pretty scary from a wolf's perspective out there."

Late this spring, Denver7 shared the frustrations and solutions that a northern Colorado rancher has waded through. At the time, he was one of just four ranchers who welcomed CPW's free assistance installing fladry a line of bright, rectangular, heavy-duty flags hung on a wire surrounding a pasture perimeter to spook predators during the calving period. Baca, CPW's wolf conflict program coordinator, and the rancher agreed to install about a mile and half of fladry in March 2024, a few months after he had found three dead ewe lambs on his property.

At first, the rancher said he felt skeptical, but after seeing how a wolf reacted to the flags, he realized it was working. As of when we talked with him, he had not had any depredations on the property.

He said ranchers are free to do what they would like on their own land, but the free resources are available. And for him, it made all the difference.

Baca said that rancher was one of the people who requested a site assessment this year, which led to the successful fladry installation.

"We've had some really great producer partners through organizations and just producers on their own, advocate on behalf of the site assessment to their neighbors, which has been really cool to watch," Baca said. "... There's a lot of difficulty out there, there's a lot of frustration, there's a lot of challenges. But there's a lot of really forward-thinking people who are willing to work with us and willing to be vocal, and a lot of this stuff is just going to take time, consistency and relationships."

"The return of wolves to Colorado has basically occupied my entire mind space for the last four years," Matt Barnes, of Dolores, said with a small smile.

It's a sentiment shared by many.

Barnes, who talked with us outside Gypsum's non-lethal wolf conflict training session on Dec. 12, managed a ranch for a few years in western Colorado, which he called "one of the highlights of my life," and is now a research associate with the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, where his work mostly centers around human-wildlife conflict reduction.

"I feel very strongly about ranching. I want to see ranching thrive, and I also want to see wildlife thrive," he said. "We are going to have wolves, we are going to have ranching, we are going to have elk hunting. We don't have to choose between those things. Most people in Colorado want all of them."

Barnes said conversations like the one held in Gypsum that day have encouraged him. As more time goes by, more people want to engage in the process and dig deep for a solution, he said.

He called the range riding program the biggest win going into the second round of wolf reintroductions, adding that Colorado will become one of the few states with a centrally coordinated program once it gets off the ground. The biggest failure on the other hand, he said, was the Copper Creek Pack's depredations in Grand County, which ultimately led to their capture.

"Unfortunately, the response was not quick enough, in retrospect, I think," he said, adding that he did believe the CDA and CPW worked quickly to get a range rider on the impacted property. "But you know what? It's not any one person's fault. It's a new thing that people are facing," he said. "I think we've all known all along that there would be growing pains. Conflict is inevitable... So, I think the agencies have a learning curve, the ranchers certainly have a learning curve, and in another sense, I think the people of Colorado have a learning curve."

Hear from Barnes in the video below, where he speaks about living in the rural west and how voters statewide impact decisions about public land in his backyard.

With both a wildlife conservation and ranching background, he believes "it's completely fair" for somebody to not desire an apex predator in their backyard.

"There are ranchers out there who are worried. There are others who are not that worried," he said. "So, I certainly know people who can see it both ways, you know? And to me, that's the big secret of this whole thing, is to try to see it from multiple perspectives at the same time and integrate those and come up with something that makes sense."

That sounds like something that could develop into an idyllic option for all parties, but for exasperated ranchers like Bruchez who have felt the erosion of trust for a year, the idea of a positive road ahead is almost impossible to picture.

"Unfortunately, I don't see a good pathway forward right now," Bruchez said. "Nobody has come up with a good solution."

"I mean, nothing, nothing about reintroducing wolves comes easy for the people on the ground experiencing it in the past year," he added.

It's fair that people don't want wolves, Barnes said.

"But the more we can try to understand why people do and don't want them, and what the underlying world views are that are informing those opinions, I think the more likely we'll get to better solutions in the end," he said.

What's next will entail "figuring out how to live with it on the ground," he said, like the Gypsum ranching community was doing at the local rec center on the afternoon of Dec. 12.

For Cassidy's wolf monitoring and data work at CPW, she jokingly wished for more hours in the day moving into 2025.

"I want to be in the field helping people learn about wolves if they haven't worked with them before," she said. "I want to be in the office designing these monitoring protocols. I want to be out in communities, being available to people to have conversations about what are wolves doing here, what's happening out there."

After a year of becoming ingrained in this reintroduction program and the people it has affected, she continues to find herself face to face with one way forward something that is equally simple as it is complex.

"The thing that I keep coming back to is that patience is key. You know, we're a year into this restoration program, and everybody in the state is learning together, and we're trying to communicate those lessons that we've learned," she explained. "And a year, in the grand scheme of things when we're thinking about ecology, is not very long. So, I just keep coming back to patience. Being patient is key."

Want to learn more about Colorado's wolf reintroduction? You can explore the below timeline, which outlines all of Denver7's coverage since the very beginning. The timeline starts with our most recent story.

Businesses across the country are posing the same question: Where are all the workers?

Data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shows that the country has 8 million job openings, but only 6.8 million unemployed workers.

The issue is present in Colorado, which is listed as one of 14 states with a more severe labor shortage. Colorado has only 52 workers for every 100 open jobs, a significant drop from the 79 available workers for every 100 open job positions that was seen before the pandemic.

Small business owners say the issue is impacting their ability to grow.

Its hard to get people in the door, said Chris Teigland, owner of Glo Noodle House, a prime ramen spot in Denver.

Teigland and his wife, Ariana, run the restaurant, which is tucked away on 38th and Tennyson. After opening the noodle joint, Teigland ran into difficulties keeping employees.

It was horrendous. It was terrible, said Teigland. People can quit one day, walk down the street, go to another restaurant and get hired.

To compensate for an at-times skeleton crew, Teigland and his wife are constantly working the kitchen themselves, filling in wherever theyre shorthanded.

The high turnover is a consistent issue across the state. The Bureau of Labors September Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) summary, which was released in November, shows Colorado among the top states for job separation.

Colorado has the third highest rate in the nation for workers who quit their jobs. Twice in 2024, the state's quit rate surpassed 3.5%, which was the previous high set in 2021.

Job openings in Colorado currently sit at around 200,000, which is lower than the previous year when monthly rates were at around 260,000. However, prior to the pandemic, Colorado averaged around 140,000 job openings per month.

Read the JOLT summary below:

Its been a wild couple of years, said Colin Larson with the Colorado Restaurant Association.

Larson argued that the restaurant industry has borne the brunt of the labor shortage. He cited changes to Colorado policy as the main culprit for the recent issue.

To be honest with you, the policies that have been passed here in Colorado over the last couple of years have been really devastating on the industry, said Larson. We've seen the minimum wage go up almost double from where it was six years ago. We've seen new employer mandates like paid sick leave, family medical leave and the Colorado Secure Savings Act.

A CNBC study ranked Colorado 39th for cost of doing business and 32nd overall for business friendliness.

Small business representatives like Larson argue that the sea of policy changes is to blame for the inhospitable business environment. They argue that the shift has put more power in the hands of the employee, as opposed to employers. Now, workers are incentivized to constantly shift to a different company rather than attempt to rise within their current place of employment.

The restaurant industry is a prime example of this effect. In most industries, a promotion comes with a hefty pay raise, but since servers often make a large sum of money from tips, a promotion is often a downgrade.

There's really no other industry where getting a promotion means taking a really significant pay cut, said Larson.

The lower pay in a higher position means that restaurant employees wont look for a promotion and will instead leave at higher rates.

We don't even need to put up a 'Help Wanted' poster because we literally are always hiring, said Larson.

However, the shortages arent limited to the restaurant industry. Some experts argue that the driver of the issue lies elsewhere.

Sage Hospitality CEO Walter Isenberg employs more than 2,000 people in the hospitality industry across Colorado. Isenberg moved to the scenic state more than 40 years ago and witnessed a shift in affordability.

The biggest deterrent of getting employees to come to Colorado, I think it's affordability, said Isenberg.

In the past year, Colorado has seen a massive jump in prices. The state's housing costs increased by 7% in 2023, with groceries increasing by 6% and utilities by 4%. Isenberg argued the price increases discourage workers from coming to the state.

We have opportunities to make our state more business-friendly, said Isenberg. One of the biggest difficulties with the labor shortage is workforce housing.

Isenberg argued that a solution to the shortages could be more workforce housing. If employees can stay close to their jobs at an affordable price, it could encourage them to take jobs in Colorado as opposed to working from home or commuting out of state.

Although the data reflects a massive shortage, some policy experts argue that Colorados job market is actually healthy.

Charles Brennan with the Colorado Center on Law and Policy argued that there isnt a job shortage in Colorado.

A labor shortage has to be something that we see over a long period of time, said Brennan. Just because some employers are having trouble hiring doesn't necessarily mean that there is a labor shortage.

A phenomenon that could explain the labor shortage data is ghost jobs.

It's sort of a new trend that the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't have a good way of really tracking, said Brennan.

Ghost jobs are false job postings for positions employers don't plan on filling. More than 40% of companies said they posted a fake job listing in 2023, according to a survey of 650 hiring managers. Additionally, the survey found that three in 10 companies currently have fake listings posted.

The purpose behind a ghost job is two-fold. First, to make a business appear to be always growing and hiring. Second, to keep a close watch on potential employees in the future and establish contact with them.

The rise of ghost jobs could be muddying labor data across the country. The practice isnt illegal, but its questionable ethics could skew the labor market and also impact workforce morale. A Human Capital Institute report found that 75% of surveyed respondents said they hadnt heard back from companies after applying online for an open listing.

It is probably very industry-specific though, said Brennan. For example, I don't think there are ghost jobs in sectors like the restaurant industry or hospitality industry, where they do hire folks really quickly.

Brennan believes that Colorado has seen positive steps toward increasing workforce development. He cited recent apprenticeship programs established in the state that could help build the future workforce.

Colorado has become a national leader in apprenticeship programs. State data shows that from July to September 2023, more than 7,600 people were working in 310 apprenticeship programs statewide.

Denver7 has extensively covered these programs in the state. In the past year, Colorado has added more than 100 apprenticeship programs.

We've seen our state take steps to really try to address those particular labor shortages, said Brennan. Weve seen more investments in our workforce development system, more investments in training opportunities.

For Teigland, the solution to labor problems is simple: Be a good employer.

"If people are happy and they feel taken care of, that translates to how they cook food or how they treat guests, said Teigland.

The young business owner said since starting Glo, the turnover has subsided. He now boasts a relatively healthy working crew, some of whom have been with the business since its inception.

Teigland hopes to expand Glo in the near future, but said despite his recent success, he still finds himself working shorthanded more often than he'd like.

For Teigland, the brightest future is one where he spends less time in the kitchen and more time with his family at home or taking care of administrative work.

"I'm looking forward to days at a desk and on the computer," said Teigland. "Just being an owner and saving my back or feet for the day.

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As Donald Trumps presidential campaign shone a national spotlight on Colorados gang activity, some viral videos and local politicians are raising concerns that newcomers are bringing new violence. But a Denver7 in-depth look at the states gang history shows the issue is mostly homegrown and deeply rooted.

Denver7 sat down with police officers, criminologists and community leaders to learn how Colorados gangs, and the tactics for stopping them, are evolving over time and why the current presence of immigrant-run gangs isnt as alarming as some believe.

If you look at the gang history here in Denver, this isnt a one-off, said Sgt. Damon Bowser, who supervises the Denver Police Departments Special Operations Response Team, formerly known as the Gang Unit.

We see groups pop up, Sgt. Bowser said. Mostly local, homegrown youth.

Local police departments typically dont talk about these gangs by name to avoid giving them notoriety and prevent copycats, he said.

Sgt. Bowser said gangs used to be easy to spot because they wore identifiable colors, flashed symbols, spray-painted tags and hung around specific neighborhoods. But gangs today are less obvious in their appearance and behavior, and law enforcement agencies no longer focus on broadly identifying gangs.

It's not explicitly illegal to be in a gang, he said.

But gang members pop onto the police departments radar when they commit crimes.

When it comes to immigrant youth committing gang-motivated crimes, most of those residents arrived here in a lower socio-economic position, and kind of disadvantaged, as far as home security, food insecurity, Sgt. Bowser explained. If you look at our homegrown gangs, that's the same population.

Sgt. Bowser said it's now well-accepted that poor economic conditions allow gangs to flourish, but the Denver Police Department didnt consider those dynamics until recently.

It was strictly enforcement, he said. Jailing people again and again and again and again, and we ended up really reinforcing a lot of those negative cultures, because we became their antithesis.

Today, the Denver Police Department is making a really huge shift when it comes to investigating gangs, Sgt. Bowser said.

As we become more and more aware of the culture around crimes, and the way it affects the community, and the way it affects the families of victims, but also of the offenders, the police department is engaging more with the community to prevent crimes, Sgt. Bowser said.

But to understand how Denver got here, we need to look back in time.

Colorados gang history traces back to the late 1800s when roving criminals formed outlaw gangs to ambush, rob and at times murder people in the Wild West.

From those early days to now, many criminal groups form in response to feeling unsafe, a desire to acquire status and an opportunity to make money with a group of people you believe you can trust, said David Pyrooz, criminologist at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Gangs are as American as apple pie, Pyrooz said. But the gangs evolved over time.

The dynamics of gangs change with the flow of immigration to the United States, as well as the change in migration within the United States, Pyrooz said.

As European settlers came to Denver in the late 1800s and early 1900s, gangs formed across ethnic lines, with fights between Germans and Polish people, Jewish people, Italian, Irish, Pyrooz said.

Since then, gangs and law enforcement responses to them have historically been shaped along racial and ethnic lines, said Robert Durn, criminologist at the Texas A&M University.

Durn briefly joined a gang as a teenager and now studies the reasons why gangs form. He researched Denvers gang history for his book "Gang Life in Two Cities: An Insider's Journey."

As the Denver area urbanized and grew, and people of other ethnicities moved in, many different iterations of gangs emerged, Durn said.

By the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan took political control over Colorado. The white supremacist secret society espoused hate against certain groups, such as immigrants, Catholics and Jews. The Klansmen ranks included prominent figures like Colorado Gov. Clarence Morley and Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton, who appointed a Klansman as chief of police in Denver.

The Klans rise to prominence coincided with more people of Mexican descent moving north from New Mexico and southern Colorado into the Denver area, making them a focus of law enforcement crackdowns.

Moral panics have been used at different times to target populations, including Latino, Black and Native American communities, Durn said. Being marginalized in society, those are the groups that are often able to be scapegoated and targeted.

Denvers first documented war on gangs started in the 1940s and focused on Mexican Americans, Durn said. It was the Zoot Suit era, and police officers arrested Latino youth for crimes like loitering, drunkenness and vagrancy, mainly identifying hoodlums by their flashy suits and baggy pants.

The gangs formed in Denver in the 1940s and 50s were largely a response to marginalization, poor living and working conditions and discrimination by those in power, Durn said.

But by the 1960s and 70s, gangs nearly faded away, as Latino and Black youth were instead drawn into civil rights activism.

Law enforcement repression of activist groups like the Crusade for Justice and the Black Panthers however, eventually led to the demise of the movement.

Gangs soon came back with a vengeance by the late 1980s.

Crips on the Eastside. Bloods on Park Hill, said Reverend Leon Kelly, who leads Denvers longest-standing anti-gang program, Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives.

As gang culture, and some gang members, from California came to Colorado, I started to see the mindsets getting more aggressive, Rev. Kelly said.

Communities were demanding that the city do something, he said. Suppress it, take care of it, make it go away.

Rev. Kellys Open Door program tried using intervention, getting in and trying to defuse things. The local police departments focused on arresting and jailing as many gang members as possible.

But sometimes they come back worse than they went in and violent crime continued, he said.

In the decades since Colorado's gang violence spiked, Rev. Kelly has seen many enforcement tactics fail, as conditions fueling gangs such as poverty, a lack of positive male role models and discrimination in the criminal justice system go unchanged.

Rev. Kelly keeps a death book of all of the youth his community has lost to gang violence, and the list is still growing.

Seeing these kids land on these slabs that I've worked with, I've nurtured, I've tutored, I've loved, and now they on the slab, he said. It takes its toll.

Nowadays, Rev. Kelly said his group has switched up and started dealing with prevention.

Much easier to mold, to build a kid than to repair an adult, he said.

In Denver and neighboring cities like Aurora, violence prevention programs are showing promise, said Pyrooz, the CU Boulder criminologist.

Pyrooz led a scientific study of Denvers Office of Community Violence Solutions, previously known as the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver (GRID). Denver created the program in the aftermath of the 2007 deadly drive-by shooting of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams.

This central hub was intended to bring together Denvers agencies, nonprofits and community groups to intervene, prevent and enforce against gangs. The program hires street outreach workers, mainly former gang members, who help youth follow a plan to stop engaging in violence.

When we evaluated this program, we did, lo and behold, [find] it reduced the perpetration of violence among these kids by 70%, Pyrooz said.

In Aurora, Standing Against Violence Every Day (SAVE), also departs strongly from business as usual in the city where it was a Gang Unit arrest, incarcerate response, Pyrooz said.

If that's the law enforcement providing the stick, then you have community members and outreach organizations who are providing the carrot, he said.

But even with these new approaches showing early success, the dynamics of gangs in the Denver metro area are changing, presenting new challenges.

Sgt. Bowser of the Denver Police Department said officers are now seeing more young hybrid gangs.

Children and we'll call them children, that's what they are they feel pressure to create an online identity someone who isnt to be messed with, Sgt. Bowser said. They don't have predicate crimes. They literally go from having no criminal history at all to doing a shocking violent crime against persons.

Lt. Kevin Carroll, who also works with the Denver Police Department and collaborates with federal and local law enforcement agencies through the Regional Anti-Violence Enforcement Network (R.A.V.E.N.), said these hybrid gangs rely heavily on social media.

It's a lot of selling and buying firearms through the internet, through Facebook Marketplace, Lt. Carroll said.

At younger ages, children are forming these pop-up gangs to commit violent crimes like those seen in the video game Grand Theft Auto, Lt. Carroll said.

A lot of these gang-motivated crimes possession of illegal guns, armed robberies, aggravated assaults end up under investigation by the regional task force, he said.

Currently, Lt. Carroll said R.A.V.E.N. is teaming up to investigate the recent concerns in Aurora over potential presence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

We're certainly monitoring it, and we're certainly putting a lot of resources to it, just to make sure it's nothing that gets away from us, said Sgt. Bowser.

But immigrant gangs really can't take hold here, he said.

Denver has dealt with Central American gangs like MS-13 and southeast Asian gangs like Viet Pride in the past.

A lot of those other countries, their criminal justice system is extremely compromised, Sgt. Bowser said.

But here, complaints from victims of crimes are treated seriously and investigated.

Any kind of criminal element that comes from another culture that expects to be able to establish a foothold and to begin to dictate the way things are going to go, are stopped short by law enforcement, Sgt. Bowser said.

It's hard to estimate how many gangs might be in Colorado though. Starting in the late 1980s, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) kept a database of suspected gangs and gang members. That list estimated Colorado had roughly 110 street gangs and more than 12,000 gang members statewide in 2007. But lists like these came into question. In the early 2000s, the ACLU sued the Denver Police Department over its "vague, unreliable and subjective" intelligence-gathering guidelines which resulted in large swaths of young males of color getting added to the list regardless of whether they were actually affiliated with a gang or engaging in crimes.

Currently, there is no such database for tracking gang presence in the state, a CBI spokesperson told Denver7.

Sgt. Bowser said right now, many in Colorado feel generally less safe and a lot of people are armed. But the perception that immigrants are committing more crimes than US-born citizens is proven false by multiple studies.

Overall, gun violence is down 12% in Denver this year compared to last. This follows a nationwide trend of reduction after gun violence reached a historic high during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to crime data recently provided by the Denver Police Department to the City Council.

When immigrant gang members do commit crimes, criminals, gang or not, tend to prey on people from their own socio-economic status, and a lot of times from their own race, Sgt. Bowser said.

When it comes to fears that Aurora apartment complexes are being taken over by gangs, those concerns are nothing new, said Rev. Kelly, whose anti-gang group faced similar concerns back in the 1980s.

Who would have thought that decades later, the same concept, the same things were starting to happen, Rev. Kelly said. Is it a city that's being overran and taken over by gangs? No, it is no different than what it was in the 80s.

Its also unclear whether the alleged Venezuelan gang members in Aurora are affiliated with Tren de Aragua.

Gangs tend to take on the names, the symbols, the signs of the most intimidating groups that are out there, criminologist Pyrooz said.

Some immigrant youth coming from Venezuela might see claiming membership in Tren de Aragua as an easy way to gain status or acculturate quicker, Pyrooz said.

While local communities can't set federal policy and make determinations as to who enters into our country, Pyrooz said places like Denver and Aurora can help give immigrant youth opportunities to prevent them from resorting to gangs.

That puts the burden on our schools, on our communities, on our after-school activities, he said. We have to make sure that our immigrants over here ultimately get integrated and to do so successfully.

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DENVER Kendall Gizinski lives in a quiet neighborhood in Erie. Her home is anything but.

Every day, Gizinski tries to shepherd Alex, Carla and Damien three siblings who came into her life in the most hectic way.

"They were an emergency placement," said Gizinski. "I got the call, and two hours later, they were at my front door.

The State of Colorado took Alex, Carla and Damien away from their birth parents in 2022. The trio was suffering from medical neglect, and their birth parents were recovering from substance abuse.

The children were in need of an immediate foster home, and Gizinski was happy to take them as an emergency replacement.

Gizinski always knew she would be a foster mother. As a child, she'd pretend that her toy dolls were foster children. As an adult, she's fostered 20 children.

In the case of Alex, Carla and Damien, the severe trauma of their placement made it difficult for Gizinski to get close.

"I woke up and a police officer was just shaking me," Alex recalled. "It was really scary."

The siblings would rarely speak, except for Alex. As the oldest, he would speak for his younger siblings, often acting as a parent instead of a brother. Eventually, Gizinski was able to work her way into their hearts and vice versa.

"I fell in love with their personalities, their differences, their wackiness and cuckooness," said Gizinski. "They never left."

Last year, Gizinski officially adopted the siblings and they've built a lifetime of beautiful memories together.

Unfortunately, the trio's story is all too common in Colorado: children in need of a home at the last moment and the state desperately trying to find an adult willing to take them in. If a home isn't found in time, the children might be forced to sleep at a Colorado Department of Human Services office or at their case worker's home.

"Unfortunately that's the reality," said Amos Espinosa, a foster care home supervisor. "It's a scramble."

Espinosa is a project manager at Griffith Centers for Children in Northglenn, a nonprofit that supports 15 foster families. His responsibilities include recruitment, a process that's become more difficult, according to Espinosa. He said recruits agree to become foster parents but leave the system after a negative first experience.

"It's a constant revolving door," said Espinosa. "We might be losing more foster parents than we're gaining."

Data from the Colorado Office of Children, Youth and Families shows a 12 percent annual attrition rate of foster parents for the past three years. In May 2023, there were 2,008 licensed foster homes in the state. At the same time, there were 3,535 children in the foster care system.

The licensing process for foster parents is lengthy and intense. Recruits are required to undergo background checks, interviews and regular home inspections. Espinosa estimated that the licensing process could be as short as three months, but more than likely could take up to a year.

"The need is constantly growing, but the interest that we're gaining from people, doesn't seem to be growing much," said Espinosa.

Although the need for foster parents is growing, Colorado officials are doing their best to address the shortage of homes. In the past year, the state reunited more than 2,200 foster children with a biological family member.

"We set a goal that 50% of initial placements for children and young people who have to be placed out of the home would be with their kin, and we met that goal in 2024, said Korey Elger with the Colorado Division of Child Welfare.

The data Elger presented paints an encouraging picture for Colorado's foster future. Nearly 60 percent of children who entered foster care so far this year were initially placed with a family member, and 40 percent remained with family as of May.

Elger argued that reunification is the best case scenario for a foster child. In 2023, Colorado discharged 2,239 children from foster care to be reunited with family.

"We really are charged with trying to keep them with their families at all costs," said Elger.

Although reunification is the goal, the results are often mixed.

"The crux of the whole process is to have the parents change while the child is changing," said Kenneth Lingle, the chief programs officer at Griffith Center. "A lot of the times they try, but it's easy to slip back."

State data shows that 17 percent of children who exited Colorado foster care in 2023 re-entered the system.

It's a problem not without consequences. As children continue to return to foster care, their age starts to become a factor. The older a foster child, the more likely they'll see multiple placements.

Colorado foster children between the ages of 12 and 14 average three foster home placements, while those 15 and older average four placements.

We have to be very careful around the match between the child and the family," said Lingle.

If a foster child is reunited with family too quickly, Lingle argues it can start a vicious cycle.

If you have the children improve in a completely different environment and then they go back and face the challenges in their home environment and aren't prepared for it, it's likely that it won't be successful," said Lingle.

In Gizinski's home, the turbulence of foster care is in the past. Alex has adjusted to his role of big brother instead of parent, and Carla and Damien are anything but quiet.

"They're a handful," said Gizinski.

Although 20 children have come and gone, Gizinski views her home as a one-stop shop. If a foster child is placed in her care, they're staying until the parents are ready to take them back. Her little trio is the prime example.

Unable to return to their parents, Gizinski decided to make her home the permanent safe space for Alex, Carla and Damien.

"I'm the one-stop foster mom," said Gizinski.

The siblings feel blessed to have traded a life of turbulence for permanence.

"Anyone would be lucky to have her as a mom," said Alex.

Those interested in becoming a foster parent can find resources and other information through this link.

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DENVER Last year, more than $430 million worth of vehicles were stolen in Colorado.

One of those was Robert Huffman's.

"They just wanted to take it for a joyride," he told Denver7.

He doesn't bother driving it now after it was broken into or stolen nine different times.

"I just keep it parked, because, what's the odds of driving to the store and it being stolen while I'm at the store," said Huffman.

A tool growing in popularity to catch and prevent car thefts is license plate readers or LPRs.

Denver7 checked in with police departments across the Denver Metro area and found the majority have some sort of LPR system or will be installing some soon. That includes Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Commerce City, Denver, Edgewater, Erie, Glendale, Lakewood, Northglenn, Thornton and Wheatridge.

"It's a motion-activated still camera that captures pictures of the back of vehicles and the license plate, and then compares that license plate to different state and national crime databases," said Holly Beilin, spokesperson for Flock Safety, a company that sells LPRs and the software to run them.

The company said it now partners with around 70 law enforcement agencies in Colorado.

"A license plate is actually a completely objective piece of evidence that can directly be linked to a vehicle by law enforcement, and then used to follow up and hopefully solve the case," said Beilin.

The Castle Rock Police Department was one of Flock's first Colorado customers.

"When we first started, we were really the only agency, municipality, in the state of Colorado to have a network of license plate readers," said Castle Rock Police Chief Jack Cauley.

In 2021, Castle Rock PD created what they referred to as a ring around the town with the Flock cameras.

"We saw a 25% reduction in auto thefts in Castle Rock and then in 2022, on top of the 25%, we then saw a 15% reduction," said Chief Cauley.

Denver has long struggled with auto thefts. Denver Police are now boosting their license plate readers from 2 to 111.

"Helping us locate vehicles that have been reported stolen, as well as vehicles that have been reported as being involved in a violent crime such as a homicide," said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas in a news conference announcing the plan.

According to state records, about 12% of court cases involved stolen cars linked to violent crimes.

Earlier this year, a Northglenn LPR flagged a license plate as stolen. Within minutes police pulled the car over. They said the driver had a stolen gun and a nationwide warrant out for their arrest.

Some raise concerns the law enforcement benefits come with hidden costs: people's privacy and their civil liberties.

"What if the computer gets it wrong, now I'm getting pulled over when I haven't done anything wrong?" Denver7 reporter Danielle Kreutter asked Chief Cauley.

"One of the things that we really focus on is, training our police officers and our dispatchers on how to recognize when a hit on a license plate might be an error," he said.

That assurance isn't enough for organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.

"There's always the potential for abuse of these systems. That's especially concerning with surveillance systems that are this massive," said Laura Moraff, staff attorney at the ACLU of Colorado.

The organization wrote a White Paper on the topic in 2022 and has been keeping a close eye on the increased use of LPRs.

"When you have automatic license plate readers that can identify all the cars in the vicinity of an abortion clinic, or a political protest or the headquarters of an activist organization, it's really concerning," said Moraff.

Flock has created so-called Transparency webpages for law enforcement departments to show details to the public like how many license plates have been read recently and what other agencies they share information with.

"We don't want it to infringe on personal liberties and personal privacy," said Beilin.

Flock said their cameras only capture an image of the back of a car and all images are deleted from their system after 30 days.

"Running a license plate against a watch list or something like that really only takes a few seconds. There's really no need to retain the data for longer than a couple of minutes," said Moraff.

"You can imagine if a crime takes place on a Monday, and we don't find out about it until Wednesday, the ability to go back and identify a potential suspect in that crime, and then later have them identified and charged with a crime is very very powerful," said Chief Cauley.

Other communities have decided the potential impact on liberties may not be worth it. In December, Elbert County Commissioners decided not to renew their contract with Flock. Commissioners made it clear it was not a reflection of their county law enforcement, but rather a question of freedom and liberty of movement versus security.

While law enforcement works to end car thefts, sick and tired drivers like Huffman are protecting themselves as best they can.

"I got arm bars and a boot for it," he said, "I'll come out here and purposely walk my dog at midnight just to make sure everything's alright."

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DENVER As the costs to learn and live in Colorado continue to climb, many college-bound students and their families are finding that the most affordable options are farther away from home.

Denver7 went in-depth on the trend thats scattering Coloradans across the country for higher education, and its implications both positive and negative.

Like many high school seniors, Claudia Llado has spent a lot of time over the past couple of years planning for her future. Shes applied to more than a dozen universities, both close to home here in Colorado and as far away as other countries.

Its definitely really important, because I dont want to say you dont want to mess up, but its where youre going for the next four years, she told Denver7 as she scrolled through her many submitted college applications on her laptop. And thats really important.

Both of Llados parents went to the University of Colorado Boulder, so it was on the list of options from early on in the college decision process. As that process unfolded, however, Llado and her family came to learn that CU Boulder was not going to be their most affordable option.

That was a big eye-opener for us, said father Lucas Llado. Colorado everybody wants to live here or come spend time here. So demand is really high. Schools are, you know, [their] fees are crazy.

As acceptance letters began to roll in for Llado, she and her family found tuition rates and scholarship offers at out-of-state and international universities made education less expensive. That has made them take a harder look at those farther-away options.

College is a big decision, said mother Josee Roberge. You dont necessarily want to get out of college with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. So yes, if it could be a little bit more affordable, definitely that would be nice.

Llado and her family are not alone. Denver7 has spoken with several families and college planning professionals who detail the same scenario: Colorado families are finding it more affordable to attend colleges out of state despite the in-state tuition benefits they are entitled to here.

This is especially true for schools in the western United States, thanks to a program called the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE). WUE allows students residing in participating states to attend a university in another participating state for one and a half times the cost of in-state tuition or less. For example, a student from Colorado would pay $13,624 per year in tuition to attend the University of Colorado and $12,896 per year to attend Colorado State University. Through WUE, that same student could attend the University of Idaho for $12,616 per year in tuition; the University of Montana for $11,434 per year; or the University of Wyoming for just $8,438.

When room and board are factored in, Colorados higher cost of living puts many states even further ahead.

Denver7 spoke to Claire Frey, owner of Cadeau College Planning in Lone Tree, about the rising costs of college. Having made a career out of helping Colorado families make the best educational choices with their goals and budgets including the Llado family she has tracked a growing number of clients who received better financial offers away from home.

Public universities in other states are often cheaper options, both in tuition and cost of living, Frey explained. They also tend to offer her clients more financial aid.

Its just supply and demand. Its economics, Frey said. We live in a beautiful state. [Colorado] schools are close to skiing and snowboarding. And I dont think thats a problem were going to see resolved because people are going to want to continue going to school in Colorado.

Frey also encourages her clients to look into private schools. Many are skeptical at first, she said, because private schools often have higher tuition costs listed. However, she also finds private schools often offer a great deal more in scholarships, to the point that the actual cost of attendance is on par with or less than other state schools.

Private schools are privately funded, Frey said. They have huge endowments and a ton of flexibility as to how they do their discounting and allocate aid.

In Freys eyes, its not necessarily a bad thing that Colorados universities have higher costs its great that Colorado is doing well, she said but she does see it as a good reason for families with high school students looking at college to keep an open mind as they start their search.

Information needs to be shared with families to understand what other options exist, she said. There are colleges that are out of state that can actually be more affordable than our in-state options.

Ruby Gilliland is on the other side of this very decision. She has lived her entire life in Fort Collins, until now.

I go to school at the University of Arizona, Gilliland told Denver7 from her dorm room. And Im studying computer science.

Gilliland looked at Colorado State University in her hometown, but like many others, found her best financial options came from elsewhere. The University of Arizona offered her a scholarship, and her other costs are lower in Tucson, as well. The warmer climate was an added bonus in her decision.

This is great that I get to experience being out of state, and also it literally costs less than going to school in my hometown, Gilliland said.

The palm trees and the savings have been great for Gilliland and her family. Shes found an added benefit being away from home has broadened her horizons and helped her grow.

I think its a nice thing to be prompted to look at, especially for a lot of people that just are like, Oh, Im here, Im in Fort Collins, why not go to CSU? Gilliland said. You know its like, okay, lets kind of take a look outside and see what else you can do for the same amount or even less.

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DENVER Frontier Airlines is shifting to flying more out-and-back flights, upsetting the flight attendants union, who says that model will hurt employees and even force some to quit.

Yes, it's a 180. It's absolutely a 180, Frontier chapter president of the Association of Flight Attendants, Jen Sala, told Denver7.

While the typical model used by most US air carriers involves flying multi-day trips to multiple cities and involving two or three overnights, Frontier is turning almost primarily to turns or out and back flights, according to the union. That shift has already begun, with the percentage of the airline's flights becoming more and more out-and-back.

We are upset. The flight attendant group is upset. We find that this is a significant negative economic impact on our flight attendant group, Sala said.

Denver7 spoke to three members of the AFA union at Denver International Airport recently. All three are Frontier flight attendants, who have all worked for the airline for at least five years. They explained how they are going to be impacted, starting with pay.

So if I am on a three day trip, then Im getting paid from the time I leave Denver to the time I come back to Denver. And that's a per diem that we that we are allowed, flight attendant and union member Lenore Walter said.

Roughly $50 a day, union member Chase Isley said, roughly calculating that per diem. For a four day trip, potentially $200.

When you just have a turn, you're just out and back, Lenore added, explaining that flight attendants do not earn that extra amount.

Another issue that union members say come with the Frontier change is commute time.

Previously, in order to get the number of hours that I wanted to fly per month, that was one three or four day trip per week for me, which meant four times back and forth to the airport for me, flight attendant and union member Anissa Long said. Now in order to get those same amount of hours, I would be driving back and forth 12 times.

Between the cost of gas, wear and tear on their vehicles, and simply time to get back and forth to the airport, the union says the turn model costs members more. On top of that, the union says more than half of their Denver flight attendants are flying commuters, who fly into Denver to work on outbound flights.

That's just not feasible to fly in every day for a turn, just to fly back home at the end of the night, fly back again the next day to do a turn, and fly back again the next night. That's not feasible, Chase said, adding that some commuters fly in from Las Vegas or Nevada before even starting their shifts.

When asked about the shift to turns, Frontier sent Denver7 a statement, which reads:

The local union said those multi-day trips the airline references are few and far between, usually reserved for the small percentage of flight attendants with the highest levels of seniority.

As far as an impact on the traveling public, aviation professor Chad Kendall from Metro State University in Denver, agreed with the airline as far as this model's end result of better reliability.

"If there's weather disruptions to the entire network, then having an out-an- back model will reduce those disruptions to the traveling public," he said.

Kendall says the airline's decision is a financial one, which will have an impact on both fliers and employees, one seemingly more welcomed than the other.

"This is a positive benefit for the public, there's going to be less disruptions. And change is hard. Certainly as employees, when you're used to one model and then going to a completely new model, then there has to be some adoption that takes place," he added

But that 'change' has led some flight attendants to reconsider their careers with Frontier.

My initial reaction was, it's the beginning of the end of my time in this career for this airline, Anissa said.

I can't sustain this. And so this is this is going to force my hand to leave the company, unfortunately, because I just i can't do this, Lenore added.

Lenore ultimately made that decision.

I have already submitted my notice," she said.

The Frontier chapter union president says many more could follow.

We are expecting that there are going to be many flight attendants who look around and say this isn't going to change, I can't I can't sustain this, Jen Sala said.

Meanwhile, the national union has deployed petitions, asking Frontier to reconsider its new policy.

According to one petition: Frontier management is proposing changes that will make it impossible for Flight Attendants to earn a fair paycheck and make service worse for passengers.

Generally, we're looking at it about 5,000 people who signed it. We're still increasing those numbers as the petition goes around the U.S. and other flight attendant groups, Sala explained.

Denver7 followed up with Frontier, asking about union members specific concerns about pay, commute time, and possible resignations. They responded with another statement:

We as flight attendants want to see Frontier succeed. We want a business model that works. We just don't want the economic stress of that model to fall on our backs, Sala said.

Denver7 also reached out to the union representing Frontier pilots to get their take on the new plan. A statement from the Frontier pilot group, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) reads:

The Association of Flight Attendants says they plan to continue their push against the new model.

BOULDER, Colo. Friday marks three years since the mass shooting at a Boulder King Soopers where 10 people were killed.

Rikki Olds, Denny Stong, Neven Stanisic, Tralona Bartkowiak, Teri Leiker, Suzanne Fountain, Kevin Mahoney, Lynn Murray, Jody Waters and Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley were killed in the mass shooting on March 22, 2021.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in November 2023 after he was deemed competent to stand trial. The plea in the case came after nearly two years of delays as the suspect was previously found mentally incompetent and sent to the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo (CMHHIP) in December 2021.

The trial is anticipated to begin in August.

Olivia Mackenzie misses her mother, Lynn Murray, every day. Mackenzie spoke with Denver7 from her car on Thursday a car that was once her mother's.

Murray was shopping for Instacart inside the Table Mesa King Soopers at the time of the shooting on March 22, 2021.

Really, really fun. Really easygoing. And she was the best. She was just such a wonderful person," Mackenzie said, describing her mom. I would say that right now, it does feel like three years, but at the same time, I'm also so shocked that it's been three years. Because yeah, I mean, a lot has happened, but I could go back there like it was yesterday.

The loss of her mother in 2021 affected her father greatly, Mackenzie said. Her dad passed away after a heart attack in November 2022. Mackenzie believes he died from a broken heart.

I don't want every March 22 for the rest of my life to be about reliving that day because that was the worst day and I would rather remember her, and now him," Mackenzie said. I'm feeling a lot better this year. It's not as rough. It's not as heavy. But regardless, I mean, it has come up this week. But it comes up no matter what. Sometimes there's just certain things that send you back to that day.

The progress in Mackenzie's personal life has moved much quicker than the court system.

With it taking so long and being three years down the line, it's kind of, sometimes it feels like a step back," Mackenzie said about the amount of time the judicial system has taken. When we go to court, the rest of the day kind of has that theme and the next day too. My heart's pretty heavy and it's hard.

She understands there are reasons for the delays in the court proceedings, but says it is still difficult to process.

I don't even know if the court process is going to give me closure because I've had to kind of find that within myself," said Mackenzie. Their lives deserve to be remembered, and that's what's helped me get through this loss and this event, and I just think they deserve that.

THE PROBLEM

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty knows how painful the delays have been for the victim's families. He spoke with Denver7 generally about the challenges facing CMHHIP, where the shooting suspect is being held.

"The state hospital continues to have difficult and mighty challenges that impact cases, individuals who are charged, victims, and also community safety," Dougherty said. "We need this state hospital system to have a complete overhaul for it to be better funded, better resourced and to make sure that it's complying with all the expectations and requirements.

Dougherty explained the difference between competency and insanity. A suspect can plead not guilty by reason of insanity while simultaneously being deemed competent to stand trial.

Competency means whether the individual is able to assist in their defense, they understand the legal proceedings against them and they can assist the attorney in defending themselves in court. So they have to have some basic understanding of the court proceedings, what's going on around them and the ability to assist counsel by communicating with them," said Dougherty. "Sanity, or a claim that someone's not guilty by reason of insanity, is on the day of the incident. So if the incident happened last year, it's about their ability to form intent and understand the consequences on the day of the incident when the crime took place.

A spokesperson with the state hospital provided Denver7 with background about how competency evaluations work and why the system can be lengthy.

In any court case where competency is an issue, the Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health (OCFMH) is responsible for an initial competency evaluation of the defendant.

Evaluations can be performed in a number of settings, not just at the state hospital in Pueblo. They can occur in one of the two state hospitals, jails or in the community. According to the state, most evaluations happen in jails or on an outpatient basis, so the majority of defendants do not have to be admitted to a state hospital for an evaluation.

OCFMH said the evaluations are completed in compliance with statutorily mandated timeframes.

If a defendant is deemed incompetent, competency restoration treatment begins. When an individual is restored to competency, a court case can proceed.

The restoration treatment can happen in locations that include select jail-based settings, one of the two state hospitals, in a community if a defendant is out on bond, or at a private hospital that contracts with OCFMH.

According to those with the state, delays commonly occur when a defendant is ordered for restoration treatment at an inpatient location, which includes jail-based settings, private hospitals, and the two state hospitals.

State data shows that in fiscal year 2021-22, 2,997 individuals were ordered by the court to receive a competency evaluation from OCFMH. For the next fiscal year, 2022-23, 2,634 people were court-ordered to receive a competency evaluation from OCFMH. 

There's a decrease between the two sets of data, but overall there has been a "significant increase" in court orders for competency evaluations and restoration treatment. For example, in fiscal year 2017-18, only 1,686 competency evaluations were ordered.

The majority of competency evaluations occur while the defendant is in jail or the community if they are granted bond.

"Individuals do not have to be admitted to the state hospital in order to receive an evaluation, unless the court orders it, which is extremely rare," Jordan Saenz, the communications manager for OCFMH, wrote in an email.

Saenz said when CMHHIP is operating at full capacity, there are 516 beds available to serve patients. The hospital has been hit by the nationwide healthcare worker shortage, meaning CMHHIP can only operate 474 beds currently. Recently, the hospital re-opened two additional units accounting for 43 beds "due to vigorous hiring efforts," Saenz said.

According to Saenz, two people are waiting in jail for a competency evaluation and 349 individuals are in jail waiting for restoration treatment. Those numbers reflect people waiting for services at an inpatient location, like the state hospitals in Pueblo and Fort Logan, jail-based settings and private hospitals.

Saenz said, "OCFMH is in compliance with the statutorily mandated 21-day timeframe to complete the jail based evaluations, and this isnt what causes delay in many cases. OCFMH is not in compliance with time frames to admit individuals for inpatient competency restoration treatment."

Many cases are delayed because of the restoration process, not the evaluation process, according to Saenz.

The state hospital in Fort Logan is operating at full capacity, and efforts at both state hospitals to open beds have decreased the waitlist for restoration treatment from around 460 individuals to 349, according to Saenz.

Dougherty called the system "broken" in Colorado.

"The fact that they're not being cared for and evaluated means their cases are being delayed, their treatment is being delayed. But also, importantly, they're taking up space at a county jail that isn't built for a population the size of Boulder County," said Dougherty. It's having a very real impact on the lives of everybody involved in those cases but also on community safety.

A critical difference between a jail and a state mental health hospital is the ability to forcibly medicate individuals. Jails cannot do that to inmates while mental health facilities can, according to Dougherty.

Currently, the largest mental health facility we have in Boulder County is the Boulder County Jail. And I think we'd all agree that that's a shame and that shouldn't be the case. So that's where that Mental Health Diversion Program came from," said Dougherty.

The Mental Health Diversion Program (MHDP) in Boulder was the first in the state, Dougherty said. The program diverts low-level offenders out of jail and connects them with treatment.

"Now, those are on low-level offenses. But it's been incredibly successful in helping people get treatment and medication as quickly as possible because the last place someone should be when they're suffering from a mental health crisis is a jail cell," said Dougherty.

THE SOLUTIONS

Competency courts are separate courtrooms that handle cases where the issue of competency is raised.

Competency courts are one of several programs, several approaches, that have been set up, particularly with regards to trying to facilitate more effective and efficient ways to get people through the competency process, given the challenges we have with the state hospital," said Dougherty.

According to a spokesperson with the Colorado Courts, there are nine judicial districts, plus the Denver County Court, operating competency dockets that serve more than 700 clients. The judicial districts operating competency courts are Districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 18.

Two other districts are in the early stages of implementation. One of them is Boulder, where Dougherty said they are exploring the concept. Recently, a few of their judges went to Larimer County to see their competency court. Dougherty said they are starting to work on bringing a competency court to Boulder.

A competency court that would allow mental health providers, the defense bar, prosecution and the bench, the judges, to have a docket that specializes in looking at individuals with competency issues and get them connected to treatment and hopefully have them get through the evaluation process and treatment process more quickly," explained Dougherty. There are other problem-solving courts that we have in Colorado, and I would put this under that same heading. And if we have people who are able to specialize in a certain area and get a focused approach and treatment, we could do better for them and also for the court dockets as a whole.

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said their competency diversion program was started in April 2022. They also have a competency court.

One of the goals of competency diversion is to get those people out of the system completely so they're not waiting for an evaluation or restoration. And that will result in a reduction in that waiting time and waiting list that is backlogged," McCann explained. Denver is really addressing this head-on, and I think we are doing a good job of trying to get people out of the system who really are so mentally ill that they shouldn't be in the system. And that's what our competency diversion program is designed to do is identify these people early so they never get on a waitlist, they never even end up in court. They get wraparound services.

Denver's competency court is in district court, but McCann said their county court is getting ready to launch a competency court this summer.

McCann explained that only eligible defendants can participate in the competency diversion program.

It depends on the nature of the crime. We have criteria for people to be admitted into competency diversion. So we're not taking, you know, violent, dangerous people. These are people who just cycle in and out of our court system for very minor offenses, clearly mentally ill, and people who need that kind of support. So we're trying to do a balanced approach," McCann said.

McCann said people like the Boulder King Soopers defendant would not be eligible for competency diversion. She said suspects in very serious crimes like mass shootings would be able to go through competency court, where they could be evaluated and restored. The goal of competency court is to alleviate the burden of cases dealing with competency from the court dockets.

To date, in Denver's competency diversion program, there have been a total of 441 referred cases 145 of those have been accepted.

According to data from the Denver District Attorney's office, there is a 68% success rate, with 27% of the cases determined as unsuccessful. Those numbers break down to:

Sixty-three participants are actively being served in Denver by the program, and there are 74 pending referrals at this time.

Both McCann and Dougherty mentioned work being done in the Colorado State Capitol, like House Bill 24-1355, which was introduced into the state legislature on March 4. Among other initiatives, the bill would require each judicial district to create a process that identifies and refers eligible defendants to a wraparound program as an alternative to competency proceedings.

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Voices for and against a proposed bill that would ban so-called assault weapons filled the halls of Colorados state capitol on Tuesday, in the latest in a series of gun control attempts heard in the legislature.

Over 500 people signed up to testify on the bill, a crowd that was so large, an overflow room was set up where onlookers could view the fiery hearing on video screens outside of the committee room.

House Bill 24-1292 is proposed legislation that seeks to ban the manufacture, import, purchase, or sale of a range of semi-automatic firearms.

Bill sponsors, State Rep. Elisabeth Epps, and State Rep. Tim Hernandez, both Denver Democrats say those types of guns are ones frequently used in deadly mass shootings.

HB 24-1292 would also ban possession of rapid-fire trigger activators. These devices make guns fire fast.

Along with testimony in front of lawmakers, the majority of people at the capitol were gun owners who opposed the bill while hundreds also rallied outside on the steps before the hearing, reported Denver7s Brandon Richard.

Craig Williams, an Army veteran and a gun store owner from Peyton who voiced his opinion against the bill.

For people like myself and a number of people that I know, this is, its therapy for us to go out shooting, said Williams. Not everybody gets into riding motorcycles or doing something else and this is what we do as our hobby.

Williams is concerned that the proposed bill against assault weapons would take away guns from people who follow the laws and does not do anything for gun violence.

Its asking for assault rifles, however, based on some of the other wording in this bill, it takes away our, you know, most pistols, semi, semi-automatic pistols that most people use for self-defense, added Williams.

Inside the hearing room, supporters of the bill, including teachers urged lawmakers to support the bill for the safety of the classroom.

Assault weapons are designed for one thing and that is to kill as many humans as possible in the shortest amount of time, said Kallie Leyba with American Federation of Teachers Colorado. Assault weapons are weapons of war. We dont need them any more than we need shoulder-fired missiles or hand grenades.

Beth Ertz, a Colorado mother and teacher who supports the bill, said she didnt know any hunters that use an assault rifle.Were talking about our classrooms, our movie theaters, our grocery stores, said Ertz. Theres no common sense argument that justifies the use of these weapons in our communities.

Taylor Rhodes representing Rocky Mountain Gun Owners said his group came with thousands of signed petitions expressing opposition to House Bill 24-1292. Today here with me in the hallway behind us are roughly 175,000 petitions expressing our collective opposition to this measure, said Rhodes.

He urged lawmakers to consider 30,000 signed petitions from armed constituents in their districts. Even in the Denver district, surprisingly, said Rhodes.

The proposed legislation defines an assault weapon as a semi-automatic rifle or weapon that can be modified to accept a detachable magazine and includes a pistol grip or thumbhole stock among a list of other characteristics.

House Bill 24-129 would not apply to police agencies or members of the military.

Gun store owners fear the legislation would have a greater impact on their business.This bill will close gun shops from Holyoke to Durango, said Ian Escalante with Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. It will decimate the gun industry here in Colorado.

You can read the full bill text at this link.

Peggy Sue Andre is a Denver gun owner who understands the emotion behind the proposed law, but fears it punishes the wrong people.

Punks are your problem, not lawful gun owners, said Andre. Im a transgender civil rights activist over the years in some degree. A lot of us get threats. Ive had vandalism to my home,

Andre added: Youre not going to disarm this state or America for one because youve got so many hundred of millions of arms out there. For Beth Ertz, mom and teacher, the debate boils down to the classroom.

If were not listening to and protecting our children, something is wrong.

The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee along a party-line vote and heads to the full House.

Denver weather in March might surprise the newcomer but people who have been in Colorado for a minute know just how temperamental the weather can be through the month.

And while many other parts of the country start seeing lots of green on the trees and your friends in Texas start posting photos of beautiful Bluebonnets, weather forecasters in Colorado will remind you that March is Denver and the states snowiest month of the season.

And thats not all, said the man who has been forecasting Colorados ever-changing weather for over three decades.

The month of March is a very active one in Colorado, as we start to transition into springtime, Denver and the plains can get big snowstorms. Obviously the mountains do as well, said Denver7 Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson. But it's also the first month that we get tornadoes and severe thunderstorms along the front range.

On average Colorado sees around 53 tornadoes for the year.

Our storm threats begin to shift now as the sun angle is getting higher up the sky, we still get plenty of cold and snow but winds and storms thunderstorms begin to enter the weather picture and bring very heavy wet snow storms, said Nelson.

In fact you dont have to go back far to remember the top two snowiest months of March. They both happened in the last 20 years, starting with that big 2003 Denver blizzard that dropped heavy snow for days shutting down the city.

Starting on March 17 through the 19th, the blizzard pounded Colorado dumping 31.8 of snow in Denver and more than 7 feet in the foothills, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder.Even in a city used to lots of snow, there were signs all around that it was just too much.

Buildings and roofs collapsed under the heavy weight damaging at least 258 structures and pounding winds while Colorado roads and interstates were completely shut down for days.

Punishing wind gusts up to 41 mph created snow drifts up to 6 feet in parts of the Denver metro and around 135,000 people lost power, said the NWS.

Denver International Airport was closed, stranding 4,000 passengers, the NWS reported. The iconic white tent roof at the airport was damaged forcing an evacuation of the main building at DIA.

The snow totals just added up across Colorado. That March snowstorm saw some areas of the foothills accumulate over 7 feet of snow. Rollinsville in Gilpin County received 87.5 inches and Winter Park measured 77.5 inches.

The 2003 March blizzard also dropped 50 of snow near Golden and 40.3 in Aurora.

That big March snowstorm became Denvers second-biggest snowmaker ever, for any month, pushing Denvers snowfall total for that month up to 35.2 inches.

March 2003 was also the snowiest March on record in Denver.

That big March storm dropped almost three feet of snow in Denver, and as recently as 2021, we had 34 inches of snow during the month, said Nelson

The March 2021 snow total was just 1.2 shy of reaching and breaking Denvers March 2003 record.

By the way, the snowiest month ever Denver, according to NWS data, was December 1913 when in incredible 57.4 inches of snow accumulated.

That huge number was the result of what became Denver's biggest snowstorm recorded since 1882 when between December 1-5, 45.7 inches of snow fell.

But back to March weather!

Of course, huge double-digit cumulative snowfall totals are not the norm in March, but Denver still usually sees around 8.8 inches of snow through the month.

And if Denver has seen a slow start to the snow season, often, March storms will help the metros cumulative snow totals for the season reach averages.

In 2024, heavy February snow in Denver has helped the city inch closer to seasonal norms for the season, but the metro still lags behind where we should be at this time of the year by around 5.

Even with Marchs trend of delivering more snow, in a few recent years, the month has seen very little powder.

In both March 2012 and 2017, Denver only saw a trace amount of snow.

The low temperature in Denver at the beginning of March averages around 23 degrees, according to the NWS. By the end of March, Denvers average low temp warms up to around 31 degrees.

Through March, Denver also adds around 10 degrees to its average high temperature, starting out with an average of 50 degrees on March 1 to 60 degrees by March 31.

The warmest temperature ever recorded in March was 84 degrees back on March 26, 1971.

The lowest recorded temperature in March in Denver was -11 degrees way back on March 28, 1886.

To make sense of the long range weather forecast in Colorado, we have to talk about El Nino.

We are still under an El Nino right now, which is the warmer water conditions in the Pacific Ocean and that tends, in an El Nino winter, as we have seen so far this winter, to have fewer Arctic outbreaks, said Nelson.

And you can see it play out in Nelsons weather maps. The jet stream is often split with the lower portion running across the lower U.S. and the other much farther to the north of Colorado, meaning it keeps the coldest air blasting away through Canada.

We had that one brief Arctic outbreak in January, otherwise really haven't seen that cold air, said Nelson.

Another element that could add to Marchs reputation as the snowiest month this year is the current long range forecast in Colorado.

This is some good news. The 30-day outlook is calling for wetter-than-average conditions, said Nelson. Across the west, big California storms are predicted to come in, including through Colorado.

Thats exactly the case with the whopper of a storm expected to dump up to 12 feet of snow in some parts of California and up to a foot or more in parts of Colorados high country.

The recent warmer-than-average temperatures in Denver might lure you into thinking spring is just around the corner, but March has a way of quickly reminding you winters grip isnt quite ready to let go.

And if youve seen that meme scrolling through social media on Colorados supposed 11 or 12 weather seasons, you can decide if were somewhere between fool's spring, second winter, spring of deception or third winter.

If you made it down to the bottom, we predict you might be a tad more of a weather geek than the average person. If so, did you know Denver7 has a 24/7 weather stream available on our website and mobile app? You can also pull up the stream on your TV anytime for free by downloading the Denver7+ app for Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire.

You can watch the constantly updated day planner forecast, outlook for Colorado's mountains, Denver's 7-day forecast and live radar updates in the player below.

While traffic fatalities in Colorado dropped in 2023, marking the first overall decline in deaths since 2019, an alarming increase in pedestrian, bicyclist and construction worker deaths was reported by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said statewide in 2023, 716 traffic deaths were reported which is around a 6 percent decrease from fatalities in 2022.

Several speakers at a press conference on Monday to highlight 2023 trends pointed to the positive trend in overall traffic fatalities but each raised needed awareness to deaths involving vulnerable road users.

In fact, were setting records. A significant increase in the number of pedestrians that were killed on Colorados roads last year, said Col. Matthew Packard, Chief, Colorado State Patrol. Weve had several high-profile bicycle-involved crashes in this state. Theres a law in our state that says you have to give a bicyclist three feet, we need to pay attention to that law. If youre riding, please wear gear that makes you easy to see and be mindful of the traffic thats around you."

CDOT reported 133 pedestrians killed in Colorado in 2023, which was a 16 percent increase from 2022.

20 bicyclists were killed in 2023, which was a 33 percent increase from 2022.

Were greatly concerned about the loss of life were experiencing across Colorado and here in Denver among our vulnerable roadway users, said Jennifer Hillhouse, Director of Transportation and Mobility Planning for the City and County of Denver. These are people, our family, our friends, our coworkers and theyre walking, theyre biking, theyre driving, theyre taking transit.

Pedestrian fatalities hit an "all-time high" in 2022, according to CDOT, which saw 111 people struck and killed in the state.

To view this infographic in fullscreen mode, click here. Data was provided by Denver's Vision Zero dashboard.

To make our city streets safer, we identified a high injury network as our priority, said Hillhouse. These are 5 percent of our streets that make up 50 percent of our traffic fatalities in Denver. Were now placing greater focus on specific locations on the high injury network where more fatal and serious injuries are occurring.

Hillhouse pointed to pedestrian safety improvements along two major Denver corridors, including along Federal Blvd. between 23rd and 27th avenues where pedestrian ramps will be upgraded and specialized or HAWK signals will be installed to allow pedestrians to safely cross the street.

Hillhouse added construction on pedestrian safety improvements along West Colfax will install medians between Irving Street and Sheridan Blvd to decrease pedestrian crossing distance and provide people refuge that are on foot with safe places to stand when crossing the street and reducing those left turn conflict points between people and driving.

Asked if anything surprised him in the crash data, CSPs Packard referenced the 16 deaths in Colorado construction zones in 2023, a 60 percent increase over 2022.

We work really hard to add enforcement, I know CDOT and the local transportation departments work really hard to make sure thats done safely and people continue to ignore, said Packard. Can you imagine a more well-signed thing on our roads? That youve got a construction zone going ahead. The fact that were seeing this 60 percent increase in crashes involved in those areas, that is alarming.

Not surprisingly: speeding, distracted and impaired driving continued to be the top factors in Colorado traffic deaths and crashes causing serious bodily injury.

Speed leads the way, said Packard. Speed results in the vast majority of our fatal and injury crashes.

Referencing his own two-decades in law enforcement, Packard urged motorists to consider just how much time they are actually saving by breaking the speed limit.

Ive heard all kinds of reasons why people speed. Sometimes theyre running late, said Packard. When you really do the math and take some time to look at the value, the benefit, the return on speeding, even 10 over Youre usually measuring that time difference in seconds.

In 2023, Colorado reported 227 impaired driving deaths, which was a 21 percent decrease from 2022.

Im at a loss of words as to why we continue to have this problem, Packard said. About a third of the people that lost their life in Colorado were at the hands of an impaired driver, thats over 200 lives in our state alone.

CDOT said July was the worst month on record for traffic deaths, reporting 90 people killed in just that month.

You can view the 2023 Colorado traffic deaths by county map fullscreen here.

While several categories of traffic deaths in Colorado saw decreases, CDOT said efforts to protect the most vulnerable people on roads remain a priority with efforts informed by the 2023 Colorado Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment (CVU)

The CVU, is described by CDOT as an addendum to the agency's long term plan to identify safety issues related to non-motorists and "their interaction with motor vehicles on all public roads."

The assessment showed bicyclist crashes more often than not happen at intersections and pedestrian crashes are equally split between intersections and non-intersection locations.

For pedestrians, the CVU showed the highest number of crashes happened during dark hours between 10 p.m and 2 a.m. The highest number of bicycle crashes occurred between 6 and 10 p.m. with lower numbers of crashes for both categories reported on weekends.

The CVU shared pedestrian, bicyclist and driver concerns about overall road safety in Colorado.

Pedestrians expressed concern regarding drivers failing to yield at intersections and midblock crossings particularly at RRFBs (Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons used at crosswalks), the report stated.

Bicyclists primary complaints were regarding lack of facilities and insufficient shoulders in general and lack of separation from traffic on existing facilities. Also noted were difficulties crossing roadways and drivers not yielding, read the report.

CVU also found that driver frustrations were more targeted at bicyclists than pedestrians. Many jurisdictions reported a general hostility towards bicyclists from the driving community, and complaints about bicyclists simply being on a roadway are not uncommon, the report said.

Drivers complained about bicyclists not following roadway laws and the CVU found motorists might not be aware of changes in state law, including the 2022 adoption of the Colorado Safety Stop.

In April 2022, the law made two changes for bicyclists. First, it allows a rider, over the age of 15, to pass slowly through a stop sign only if yielding the right of way to pedestrians.

Second, the law allowed cyclists to pass through a red light, only after coming to a complete stop if there was no oncoming traffic.

Complaints about bicyclists not following roadway laws could be due to drivers not knowing what the laws regarding bicyclists are, particularly the new Safety Stop Law described above, the CVU analyzed.

It stated while many communities expressed safety concerns over the new law and that jurisdictions still receive driver complaints about bicyclists not stopping, there doesnt seem to have been an increase in crashes since the law went into effect.

In 2023, the CVU analyzed data to determine the top pedestrian and bicycle crash locations in Colorado broken down by highways (CDOT-owned locations) and major locally-owned roads.

TOP 10 PEDESTRIAN HOTSPOTS: HIGHWAYS

TOP 10 PEDESTRIAN HOTSPOTS: MAJOR ROADWAYS

TOP 10 BICYCLIST HOTSPOTS: HIGHWAYS

TOP 10 BICYCLIST HOTSPOTS: MAJOR ROADWAYS

Read the full 2023 Colorado Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment at this link.

What have you seen or experienced driving, biking or walking in the Denver metro or Colorado roadways? How have you or someone you know been impacted? Use the form below to share Your Opinion and your story with Denver7.

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. In the wake of a vote that was heavily decided by Front Range residents, much of Grand County feels like they were, quite literally, thrown to the wolves.

As an effort to elevate the overlooked voices in the mountainous county, Denver7 contacted more than 60 people, businesses and organizations in Grand County on Dec. 20 and asked plainly: How do you feel about the initial release of five gray wolves? Many people responded, saying they would rather not answer. Several wrote explanations some brief, some lengthy of their perspectives but wanted to keep them private. Thanks for listening, though, one person wrote in an email. As of Tuesday afternoon, 10 residents spoke on the record with us.

As part of the state's voter-mandated reintroduction effort, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released its first five gray wolves on Dec. 18 at an undisclosed place in Grand County. Five more were released a few days later in Grand and Summit counties. All 10 were captured from packs in Oregon.

Over a period of three to five years, CPW will transfer 30 to 50 wolves to Colorado, aiming for 10 to 15 from multiple packs annually, according to the final Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, which was approved in May. After that point, the reintroduction efforts will stop and CPW will monitor if the population is self-sustaining.

During the years of planning that led to the final plan before CPW put any animals on the ground gray wolves were already slinking around Grand County, multiple residents recalled. They saw paw prints in the snow. They heard howls. Some saw the wolves themselves. Many said they felt generally OK with the wolves naturally moving into Colorado.

That sentiment didn't always carry over once humans became actively involved.

The gray wolf reintroduction effort in Colorado stems from 2019, when the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Project began circulating petitions asking voters to put a question on the 2020 ballot asking if wolves should be reintroduced. This went on to become Proposition 114. In the November 2020 state election, voters narrowly chose to pass the proposition, which mandated that CPW develop a plan and start reintroducing and managing gray wolves in western Colorado by Dec. 31, 2023.

Of the 64 counties in Colorado, the majority in 13 voted in support of the wolf reintroduction. Most were around the Front Range, in addition to Summit, Pitkin, San Miguel, La Plata and San Juan counties. Denver County had a 66% yes vote.

In Grand County, 64% of residents 6,135 people voted against Proposition 114.

Each vote in Colorado like anywhere in the United States holds the same weight. But with Denver County's population nearly 50 times that of Grand County, the voices of rural spaces were drowned out as Prop 114 results trickled in in 2020. In its aftermath is frustration for "ballot box biology."

With the majority of the voting base in Grand County against the wolf reintroduction, Granby Mayor Josh Hardy said locals are dismayed and discouraged because they feel Front Range politics dribbled west and are negatively affecting their livelihoods.

"Obviously, we have a large amount of ag in Grand County," he said. "There's a lot of cattle ranchers that are frustrated and concerned about their livelihood, which is rightfully so. And then to have the wolves introduced here into Grand County, it was a bit of a shock, honestly, because we didn't have any heads up."

Hardy, who was born and raised in Granby, said people feel like they no longer have a say in the state simply because they live outside urban areas.

"Not that they're not talking here, but they just don't feel like their voice really matters," Hardy said. "It was something that was just dropped in the laps of so many people that didn't want it to begin with."

Erik Woog has called Grand County home since 1978 and is the owner of Alpine Motor Sports Inc. in Kremmling, which services locals in the agricultural industry. He wonders why people who don't live in an area are allowed to make decisions for those who do.

So, he turned the question around.

"Would it be OK, if just once... the small rural communities get to vote some impactful measure into the Denver-Boulder region, and you don't have a say in it," he asked. "But we're going to decide. And maybe it has to do with homeless encampments. And we're going to make certain that we can put homeless encampments anywhere we want, whenever we want. And you don't have any say in it... The point is, you wouldn't feel all that empowered as an American citizen, would you when someone can just check a box on a ballot that affects your life, and there's not one thing you can do about it?"

Grand Lake Mayor Pro Tem Christina Bergquist, a third-generation Grand Laker, explained that the visitors from Denver, Boulder and beyond are welcome to explore all that Grand County has to offer. Tourism is important to the small community of Grand Lake, especially as it continues to recover from the 2020 East Troublesome Fire.

"But they're only here temporarily," Bergquist explained. "And if they're coming from Denver thinking, 'Oh, this is all wonderful and good and it'd just be better for them to have the wolves' we're not so sure about that."

Both she and Granby Mayor Hardy said they knew gray wolves were coming, but were not alerted ahead of time. Hardy said he learned about the release in his local paper the following day.

"We have to remember too that as public figures in government, we have to be available to our voters and the people within our communities to give them answers," Bergquist said. "And if we don't have the answers, and we aren't being informed, it starts to look a little questionable on the other side of the coin."

CPW's decision to choose Grand County as the release location has also left behind a sour taste for some people, especially as they look to their neighbors in Summit County, which had a majority yes vote for Prop 114. Early on, Summit County was also named as a possible drop spot and would later become one on Dec. 22 with the second release.

"It's very odd that they picked Grand County to be the first place to release," said Dan Weida, owner of Colorado Mountain Expeditions in Grand County. "They didn't have to come to Grand County. And I think there would be less tension if they had picked somewhere that the voter population in that local area had also supported releasing wolves."

He said because he heard many stories of wolves already living in the county (which was also mentioned on the Prop 114 mailing list), it felt like a waste of taxpayer and government resources to set out on the long journey of producing a complex reintroduction plan.

"I would just say that this is definitely a political experiment, with passing the wolf reintroduction as a state," Weida said. "It's very interesting that such a large part of our population lives in an area that they won't release wolves in because of the language on the ballot."

Grand County resident Ed Raegner, who moved to Grand County in 1994 and is now the owner of a liquor store in Granby, said one of his friends has a saying that when people do things, they do it "for you, with you, or to you."

"And for Grand County, the population as a whole voted against the wolves. I'm not saying it's the entire population that feels that way. But the majority vote was against wolves, and then they're introducing them into Grand County," he said. "So it kind of feels like it is being done to us."

Looking ahead, he hopes that when Coloradans go to the ballot box, they think about what's best for the state, its residents and other people's way of life.

"How do your decisions and your legislation impact the rest of the state, the rural part of the state, and make decisions that are sensitive to our way of life and our communities and how things impact us?" he implored.

After years with extremely few gray wolves wandering into Grand County, some residents are concerned about how the apex predator will interact with the beloved elk, moose and other wildlife around the county.

Animals are incredibly important to Grand County residents, said Grand Lake Mayor Pro Tem Bergquist. They love to see black bears emerge in the spring, the moose clip-clopping their way across neighborhood streets and herds of elk peacefully grazing in open spaces. She, among others, is not sure what wolves will bring to that dynamic.

"And so it isn't a matter of voting against the wolves because we're anti-wildlife it has to do with the fact we're just concerned about what that may bring," she explained. "If it's positive, great. If it's negative, then we need to take a look at that."

Colorado is home to the largest elk population 309,000 as of 2021 of any state in the United States, with 19 of its 42 elk herds in 2018 exceeding population objectives set by CPW, according to Colorado State University's Center of Human-Carnivore Coexistence. Elk are one of the primary prey animals for wolves, which often chase elk to determine which of them are old, injured or weak. About 80% of their hunts are unsuccessful, according to the center.

Based on the center's data, there was no decline overall in post-hunt elk populations in the northern Rocky Mountains states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho between 1995 and 2018.

Over the past decade, hunter harvests of mule deer have been stable as well, CSU found, adding that wolves are not the primary cause of moose declines across the west either, which have been impacted by habitat quality and quantity, low pregnancy rates and malnourishment.

However, the Center of Human-Carnivore Coexistence acknowledges that the effect of wolves on big game is complex and something that Colorado, in its own regard, will work through in the coming years. It does not rule out the possibility of local reductions of several big game herds in some areas, particularly in combination with habitat degradation, other predators, and human hunting but notes that "based on evidence from northern Rocky Mountain states, wolves will likely have a relatively low impact on big game and hunting at a statewide level."

For about four decades, Jim Young has lived in Granby and said he has long thought about wolves and wolf-related issues after an experience tracking one in Canada while Nordic skiing. He added that he and his wife previously raised and rescued Siberian Huskies a similar-looking canine to, and decedent of, wolves for many years. He feels "a bit more empathy" than most people, he said.

Around town, he said there are two versions of the wolf conversation and no middle ground. He believes Grand County has a substantial population that still supports the reintroduction, but they don't speak up as much. Thirty-five percent of the county voted yes on Prop 114, which equates to 3,424 people.

"It's like a microcosm of our political environment right now," Young said. "If you say something too loud, you're likely to encounter hostility, whichever side of the fence you happen to be on."

Young also pointed to misinformation swirling within conversations about the wolves. He brought up public data from Yellowstone National Park's annual wolf reports, as well as 2023 elk reports from Colorado's neighboring states, which all read that populations are stable at the state level:

While these statements address statewide numbers, individual herds may experience declining numbers.

"The evidence from the states to the north of us are that the effect on the elk population, which is what hunters are concerned about, is that the wolves don't destroy the elk population," Young said. "They disperse it, which means that hunters have to actually get out and be more active as hunters. Trackers and hunters, rather than depending upon stumbling across a huge herd of 200 elk, they have to go wandering to the woods to find smaller groups of 20 to 30."

Grand County resident and Colorado native Dan Shannon said 2023 was an "off year" for Colorado's elk, as many of them died while struggling against extreme weather and starvation last winter. CPW reported in May that the survival rates were the lowest it had ever documented and "below what we previously thought possible in elk." CPW issued substantially fewer big game hunting licenses in 2023 by as much as 89% around Bears Ears to allow the herds to recover.

With an already-thriving mountain lion population, Shannon is worried about adding the extra stress of another apex predator.

"The fact that this didn't come from the biologists (or has) a basis in science really doesn't seem like the appropriate thing to do," he said.

This sentiment was echoed by Raegner, the owner of a Granby liquor store.

"If you talk to hunters, the last two seasons have not been terrific," he said. "So, that kind of tells you about the health of the elk herd. Also, if you look, the cow-calf ratio is actually not where they want it to be. So that's another question of, should we be introducing this animal right now, at this time?"

CPW invested in expanded ungulate monitoring well before the wolf release and that will likely expand as wolf populations grow.

The anxiety about the elk population is tied to one of Colorado's economic engines: hunting. Hunters, along with anglers, contribute $3.25 billion to the state's economy every year, according to the Colorado Wildlife Council.

Elk tags vary from about $60 for resident licenses to $759 for non-residents. Those funds provide for public access programs, conservation jobs, habitat improvements, wildlife management efforts, and wildlife crossing programs and more.

In addition to elk, some residents also expressed alarm about the bighorn sheep population, which are also prey for wolves, though not as commonly as elk. The state rebuilt the number of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep around Colorado beginning in the 1950s. However, the CPW plan reads that predation on those animals, as well as mountain goats, "is not anticipated to be significant."

Multiple people Denver7 heard from said they are not ranchers, but understand the exasperation of their neighbors who have built their livelihoods around livestock. They validated their concerns and questioned if financial assistance and compensation from the government will be enough for the ranchers.

"I'm not a rancher, I don't speak for them. But I know, ranching is a tremendously difficult job," Raegner said. "The state is trying to have remedies for what happens if the wolves attack your cattle, but then there's one more thing they have to do with time out of their day submit all this paperwork, which I'm sure will be cumbersome, and then get paid eventually. So I think it puts a burden on our population."

Grand County resident Jared Peterson believes the predators will deeply hurt the ranching community.

"I believe our county will see a drastic dip in revenue due to these decisions," he said. "It may not be noticed right away, but in four to seven years, it will be ugly."

Simply put, the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan reads that if wolves are creating a conflict, CPW must manage to resolve the problem on a case-by-case basis. As listed in the plan, this will include management tools like non-lethal conflict minimization, hazing of wolves, scare tactics, public education, damage payments and when necessary, lethal take of wolves. The first line of defense should be non-lethal, the plan reads. However, in specific conditions, the initial response may include killing of wolves. A "Wolf Hands-on Resource Guide for Depredation Prevention" from CPW is available here.

The restoration and management plan allows for ranchers to use lethal methods against a wolf that is seen actively wounding, killing or chasing livestock, but stressed that nonlethal tools should be used first. During the initial phases of the reintroduction, a permit is required for private landowners to provide this kind of lethal control, per Colorado Revised Statutes 33-2-106.4. A person who kills a wolf in this scenario must report it to CPW within 24 hours when practical, but no later than 72 hours afterward. It is illegal to address the potential of future depredations at a regional or statewide scale by lethally removing wolves.

The plan says CPW is legally required to provide fair compensation to livestock owners for any economic losses if their animals are injured or killed by wolves.

Livestock in Colorado's plan is defined as cattle, horses, mules, burros, sheep, lambs, swine, llama, alpaca, and goats. At least one anonymous rancher in Grand County, who owns both bison and yaks, doesn't know what this means for him.

If livestock or a guard animal is confirmed to have been injured or killed by a wolf, the wolf-livestock compensation program will pay for 100% of fair market value compensation, up to $15,000 per animal.

Other western states, including Oregon, Montana and Idaho, also pay ranchers fair market value if one of their animals is injured or killed.

Colorado's plan acknowledges that the number of livestock killed by wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming increased over time as wolf numbers grew, but "these are small compared to losses caused by coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, domestic dogs, bears, foxes, eagles, and other predators."

CSU's Center for Humane-Carnivore Coexistence reported that based on previous studies, livestock producers underuse compensation programs, mainly due to "high costs and burden of proof to verify kills."

"Although wolf depredation on cattle and sheep accounts for less than 1% of the annual gross income from livestock operations in the Northern Rocky Mountains, these costs are unevenly distributed and localized," the center said. "As such, low average industry-wide costs could mask high costs for some individual producers."

Colorado's compensatory funds will come from a source other than the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, CPW's plan reads. It expects depredation claims of $25,000 in fiscal year 2023-2024, increasing by about $5,000 in subsequent years as wolf numbers rise. This compensation program does not include coverage for stress on livestock living among wolves, which can result in lower weights and pregnancy rates.

Proposition 114 increased state spending by about $300,000 in 2021-2022 and $500,000 the following year in the state budget as it worked on public outreach and development of the wolf reintroduction plan. Beginning in state budget year 2023-2024 which runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 spending will increase to about $800,000 per year for the implementation of the plan. The actual spending will depend on the amount of livestock losses caused by wolves.

As first reported by The Fence Post, a nationwide agricultural newspaper, all five wolves in the initial release are from packs in Oregon that were deemed responsible for killing or injuring livestock in 2022 and 2023.

Once a pack starts to depredate on livestock, they tend to include livestock in their diet in the future, John Williams, co-chair of the Oregon Cattlemens Association Wolf Committee, told The Fence Post. It does not say they always eat livestock but its more like they acquire a taste for it, they like it, and they stay on it and they may not.

Multiple people Denver7 spoke with said this left them feeling uneasy.

In response to these concerns, Travis Duncan, CPW's lead on gray wolves, said on Dec. 27 that any wolves that live near livestock "will have some history of depredation, and this includes all packs in Oregon. This does not mean they have a history of chronic depredation. If a pack has had infrequent depredation events, they should not be excluded as a source population per the plan." He added that the Oregon officials lethally removed four wolves from the Five Points Pack in early August after two depredations in July. The pack has not depredated since, Duncan said. Some of Colorado's wolves are from the Five Points Pack.

"CPW took multiple factors into account when deciding to bring in animals from the Five Points Pack as that particular pack has some history of depredations on livestock," he explained. "Factors such as size of pack, previous removals from the pack, pack behavior after removals, and age of captured wolves were all considered... The change in pack behavior and the lack of current depredations met CPW criteria for accepting the animals."

Duncan added that CPW passed on several larger and easier-to-access packs in Oregon because they had recent depredation or had a chronic or ongoing depredation history.

Currently, there is no compensation program for the loss of pets or hunting dogs to wolves. Killing a wolf that has killed or is in the act of killing a pet or hunting dog is prohibited, as consistent with other game damage laws and regulations, according to the Colorado wolf reintroduction plan.

"Attacks on dogs are usually related to defense of pups at dens or rendezvous sites or defense of territories rather than acts of predation," it reads. "Dogs used for livestock guarding, herding, and hunting are the most vulnerable to attack, but pet dogs are also at some risk where dogs and wolves spatially overlap."

Raegner said he often takes his Colorado mountain dog a mix of a Pyrenees and Anatolian shepherd, both livestock guardian dogs while he's Nordic skiing, one of his favorite pastimes in the winter in Grand County.

"If I'm with my dog, I'm tremendously concerned about what would happen if we came across a pack of wolves because his instinct would be to protect and attack," he said. "And, you know, it's impactful. It changes the way you do things."

It's a concern that Tucker Merz shares. Merz lives outside of Granby on a ranch and is an avid outdoorsman and hunter.

"I've never had an interaction with a wolf. And I don't want to have one," he said. "So, I don't really know what it would be like out in the woods as a hunter."

Merz said he lives within a few miles of the second wolf release and is now worried about his dogs disappearing.

"I live on seven acres. And that's one thing I enjoy, is opening the door and not worrying about my dog for two hours. And now you don't know what's going to happen," he said. "But when you mention that sort of issue to somebody that lives in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and they actually understand that, Oh my gosh, my pet could go missing if I went on vacation in Granby, it kind of changes their mind a little bit."

Travis Caffee has spent the last 14 summers in Grand County and also expressed concerns for his Great Pyrenees dogs, which guard the horses he rescues from slaughter. He described himself as part of the "saving animals business."

"My dogs can handle bears, moose, mountain lions, coyotes, all that stuff. But a pack of wolves might become a different thing," he said.

His dogs roam a massive amount of miles "they've been the king in the castle," he said and doesn't want to force them to wear wolf collars, which are covered in outward-facing metal spikes.

"They keep the horses safe," Caffee said. "What is the dynamic going to be when there's wolves that won't back off?"

He said he respects wolves in the sense that they are interesting wild animals, and has enjoyed knowing he could travel eight hours north of Grand County and seek them out in Wyoming or Montana.

"I'm pro-wolf in general. Im just not pro-wolf in the backyard," Caffee explained.

As cited by CSU's Center for Humane-Carnivore Coexistence, hikers are encouraged to keep dogs leashed or under strict voice control, learn to identify signs of wolves like scat, tracks and howls and use bells or beepers on their dogs. The center did not address working dogs or livestock guard dogs that often roam freely.

"Typically, most dogs killed by wolves are hunting dogs in pursuit of wildlife such as bears, mountain lions, and wolves themselves," the center said.

Human safety is also a worry, but CPW said wolf attacks on people are "exceedingly rare" and there are no documented attacks on people between 1900 and 2000, according to CPW's plan. According to the federal Endangered Species Act, a person can kill any endangered animal in the defense of their own life or the lives of others. Based on state regulation, a Coloradan can kill a wolf threatening human life, but that does not include if the animal is passing near, watching or behaving in a non-threatening way.

Brimming with mountainscapes, lakes and authentic Colorado history and tradition, Grand County is a popular place for visitors to enjoy hiking, camping and other outdoors activities.

As the owner of a guided hiking and camping company, Weida said he isn't expecting to need to change how they operate in the wake of the gray wolf release, as he does not have concerns about them coming in to mess with campsites.

"It's really the bears that we have to worry about. The wolves they're not causing too much of a headache for us or anything like that," he said.

Merz, who has worked for outfitters in Grand County, had a different take, noting that his groups have always packed in on horses.

"It's a giant liability to take people into the woods that usually don't have a whole lot of horse experience. They can be pretty jumpy animals and you got a string of horses and a pack of wolves rolls in, you got people on the horses that's gonna be a very dangerous situation," he said.

Woog, the owner of Alpine Motor Sports Inc., worries that ranchers' way of life as a whole is at stake.

"I mean, some of the (ranchers) who have been doing this for generations aren't that interested in changing, and they produce our food and it matters," he said. "And obviously, theyre customers of ours we service the agricultural industry on several different facets, meaning we sell tractors and we sell equipment, other OHV equipment that they use. And it's just a massive sacrifice for them to make to change the way they live, the way they do business, the way they run their operations."

Colorado wasn't facing a problem with wolves but now it has created one, Woog said.

"As a guy who has to live with them in my backyard, and to listen to people and to probably observe the impact over the next few years, it's probably going to put me in opposition to it," he said. "Though I don't know that I've stood in that place all along, I certainly question the whole thing."

While Granby Mayor Hardy also feels a frustration, he wasn't alone in saying that he thought it would be intriguing to see a wolf in the wild.

"Being in the mountains, I still pull over to look at deer and elk myself, and I've lived up here a lot," he said. "So, it'll be neat to see, I guess, a wolf running out in the wild, but it's going to be an adjustment."

This fascination could possibly increase tourism dollars in Grand County, as more visitors seek to catch a glimpse of a wild wolf.

CSU's Center for Humane-Carnivore Coexistence found that guided hiking to see wolves in Yellowstone National Park costs $600 to $900 per day, depending on the size of the group. A multi-day "wolf vacation" to try to see the animals can soar well above $2,000 per person.

"The benefit of wolf-related tourism in Colorado may be more limited than the unique wolf viewing opportunities in Yellowstones northern range, which has high wolf density, radio-collared wolves, outstanding viewsheds, and good access via paved year-round roads," the center said. "However, Colorado is also a top tourist destination and many of its citizens would likely benefit from developing a wolf-related tourism industry."

How this will play out in Colorado is unclear.

Any possible future of hunting gray wolves in Colorado, also a growing topic of discussion amid residents, is also murky.

Under current state law, it is illegal to hunt gray wolves in Colorado, but it is allowed in much of the Northern Rocky Mountains. In 2018, Montana gathered more than $400,000 via the sale of licenses for hunting and trapping wolves, according to the Center for Humane-Carnivore Coexistence. Some private ranchers in Colorado currently charge thousands per hunter for group elk and deer hunts something that could be adopted for wolves if the time comes when hunting them becomes legal. The CPW plan did not take a stance on if the CPW Commission has the authority to reclassify wolves a game species.

The unauthorized killing of a wolf in Colorado is currently punishable with a fine up to $100,000, imprisonment for up to one year and possible restrictions on hunting and fishing privileges. If a person is convicted of this crime, CPW may suspend any license privileges, up to a lifetime ban.

Wolves, which are currently classified as "state endangered" in Colorado, may be downlisted to threatened if their numbers reach 50 for four successive years, then delisted to nongame wildlife if 150 are found anywhere in the state for two successive years, or 200 are found anywhere anytime. Two hundred animals would, by a conservative estimate, indicate about 25 packs occupying a total of 2.8 million acres, according to the Colorado reintroduction plan.

Those are numbers that alarm some, like Merz, who is clinging to the hope that something can stop the reintroduction process soon.

"You know, find the ones that have trackers on them, dart them and put them in the zoo. Get them the hell out of our woods," he said. "But if people actually understood what they've done, maybe there's a chance we can get this stopped and turned around somehow."

With passions, fears, anticipation and anger running deep around Grand County, Grand Lake Mayor Pro Tem Bergquist gently asked everybody to leave emotions behind and examine the facts. Strung through every opinion is the same bottom line, the only crystal clear speck in the many gray areas of gray wolf reintroduction: Nothing is certain right now.

"We need to take some time and see how these things are going to pan out," Bergquist said. "The issue with the wolves has really brought concern to the community because it's going to change our dynamics up here. And you'll hear from one side it will be great for tourism. You'll hear another side it'll be bad for hunting. And we're still waiting to find out. It's yet to be known how this is going to work."

HOUSTON Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is among several city leaders across the U.S. who are looking to Houstons success when it comes to reducing homelessness.

In 2011 Houston, Texas had the 5

highest homeless population in the U.S. with just under 9,000 people living on the streets.

By 2023, Houston had cut its homeless population to just under 3,000 people.

Big decisions were made in 2011, said Michael Nichols, president and CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston, Harris County, Montgomery County and Fort Bend County.

Half miles of tents underneath the freeways arent there anymore, said Marcus Brewer, director of development for Civic Heart Community Services.

Yes, its housing first while getting those wrap-around services. Not housing instead of services, said Danita Wadley, chief strategic officer for Volunteers of America Texas.

We did not just scatter these people into the woods, Nichols said. They have been housed.

The program is called The Way Home, and Loren Jemison found his way home.

And here we are Apartment 263. The Jemison residence, Loren Jemison said as he escorted us into his apartment.

Just a few years ago Jemison didnt know if he would make it off the streets of Houston alive.

Im lying under this bridge one afternoon on a piece of cardboard underneath my back and Im looking up at this bridge, and Im like Oh my God, Im going to die under here, Jemison recalled.

Just then, things took a turn for Jemison.

A gentleman comes walking across the parking lot and hes got a tablet in his hand, and he says, Sir, have you applied for housing? And I said, Yeah I applied for it, Jemison said. And he said, You should have been in housing. Come with me. He put the keys in my hand and that started me out from under the bridge to having some sort of solid permanent residency.

Tammy Dempsey also found her way home and has a similar story of survival.

I dont think you can stay on these streets and be alive, Dempsey said.

She now lives comfortably with her dog and cat in the Houston suburb of Conroe about 30 miles north of downtown Houston.

Oh, I am blessed every day, Dempsey said. And I want to be a blessing to anybody. Ive never lived somewhere so long in my life.

In 2011, Houston wasnt any different than most other major American cities.

The housing and urban development team came in and said, Houston, you have a problem. And if you dont fix the problem, were not going to give you any more federal funds, Nichols said.

That set in motion one of the most ambitious housing initiatives ever attempted by any city in the U.S., which Houston called The Way Home.

The strategy was quite simple: shut down encampments and get those people into immediate housing.

A real unit, Nichols said. Not a tiny home, not a box, not a shelter. A real unit with a key and a lock and a lease in the persons name which requires accountability.

Nichols came on board as the president and CEO of the coalition and the new mayor at the time, Sylvester Turner, made it his signature issue.

If people dont have the housing, then where are they going to be? Turner said.

Houston put together a group of more than 100 non-governmental entities including non-profits, businesses, philanthropists, and others.

A divide and conquer approach where non-profits like VOA Texas and Civic Heart take a few dozen clients each and work on finding them housing in apartments and single-family homes across the three county Houston-metro area.

To not only get people housed, but think about wrap-around services to address why they even became homeless in the first place, Wadley said.

You give them a home, you provide furniture and all the needs that they have, Brewer said.

My staff physically moves people in, Wadley said. We have a van. They pack and they move people in.

You cant say, Im going to offer you housing in six months. You have to say its coming immediately because these people have been disappointed time and time again, Nichols said.

New Denver Mayor Johnston has visited Houston and calls Houstons Mayor Turner, whose term ends Dec. 31, the Dean of Homelessness.

Johnston is all-in on the housing first model and, so far, is acting with the same kind of urgency Houston did in 2011.

I do think they have the central big idea of American homelessness that has been very successful. And I dont think anyone should make light of the fact that there are people dying out on the streets of the city. Its cold while you and I sit here for 10 minutes, Johnston said to Denver7s Russell Haythorn. People slept outside in this weather last night. No one should have to do that in this city. So, that is the urgency.

There are stark differences in Denvers approach, however.

While Houston moves people into apartments and single-family homes throughout the city, like Jemison who is east of downtown and Dempsey who is north of the city, Mayor Johnston is buying and leasing hotels and putting up tiny home villages.

We have our micro-communities, our tiny home villages, our hotels, Johnston said. And the reason why is we have a very different market than Houston, which is Houston has a massive glut of affordable apartment units all over the city. Denver, as you know, has a massive shortage of affordable apartment units.

Its not just Denver attempting to mimic Houstons success. Leaders from San Francisco, L.A., New York, Chicago, San Diego, and others have all visited Houston to study The Way Home.

You borrow from what works and at the same time you customize it for your particular city, Turner said.

What I urge Denver and any other city to do is to stay focused on the housing first, Nichols said. Getting folks in housing first is the best answer because its fiscally and morally responsible.

Houstons success can be measured in the numbers.

The city estimates one person living on the streets of Houston costs taxpayers about $50,000 a year, mostly for emergency medical care, compared to $20,000 a year to put a homeless individual into housing.

And nearly 9 in 10 of those who have been housed in Houston have remained in housing.

The icing on the cake, Jemison told Denver7. All the units have washer and dryer connections.

Jemison found his way home and has been here for 8 years now.

Ive kind of been like the poster child, he said. And its amazing how stable I am. I am constantly thanking God for the stability I have.

I will never claim mission accomplished, Turner said. But what I can say to you and to others is that the approach we have taken in this city is getting positive results and the numbers are going down and staying down.

What a way home has done has been remarkable, Wadley said.

Homelessness is a solvable problem, Nichols said.

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BRIGHTON, Colo. Experts across fields are coming together to raise the alarm for our kids.

An analysis by JAMA Pediatrics found that anxiety in kids has almost doubled since 2012, with one in five youth worldwide now struggling with anxiety symptoms. While there are many factors involved with children's mental health, psychologists increasingly agree that social media is a key one.

Dr. Amanda NZi, a clinical psychologist in the Denver metro who specializes in child and family therapy, said she has watched firsthand as social media has changed the game in many ways both positive and negative.

For some kids, social media is a powerful tool for starting to be able to make connections with others, particularly if they have social anxiety or autism spectrum disorder where handling nonverbal feedback while trying to stretch themselves and have a conversation is really challenging, NZi said. And the flip side of it is it can be a place that is very negative for a lot of kids, particularly children that have anxiety or depression. They really find social media as a place where its confirming all the scariest thoughts that they have.

This negative impact for many kids, NZi said, becomes compounded as the algorithms powering social media platforms begin sharing similar content as users interact with it.

NZi said she has seen, in particular, the profound negative impact social media can have on the body image of young girls. She argues social media has become an accelerant of rising anxiety and depression.

When a child is struggling with feeling isolated maybe theyre not asked to go to some peer events they then get on Instagram or on TikTok or on Snapchat, and they see all these photos of their friends out doing things with others, she explained. And it just accelerates, sort of, the intensification of these feelings of isolation or loneliness.

NZi is among a growing number of psychologists and therapists with a new mantra: Wait til eight. In other words, establish eighth grade as the appropriate age for kids to enter the world of social media. Any earlier, NZi said, is likely too early for kids to navigate its pressures in a healthy way. Waiting later, on the other hand, prevents parents from having the same level of oversight in order to direct their kids to healthy social media practices.

Parents taking an active role, and kind of teaching and learning about social media themselves, I think is really important, Nzi said.

As for our lawmakers, NZi hopes they will work to establish more legal safeguards to protect children and families.

I think the biggest thing that they need to know is that when a child is interacting with social media, they don't have full control, she said. Even their parent doesn't have full control around what they're going to access or what's going to be fed to them, because the artificial intelligence is feeding them back information.

DENVER Life for the Schotts changed forever on Nov. 15, 2020, when the Logan County family lost their daughter and sister Annalee, 18, to suicide.

She was our beautiful, kind, softhearted daughter [and] sadly, she took her life, said mother Lori Schott. You know, her brothers and her dad and I have to face it every day. What happened? What went wrong? How did we miss it?

As Schott told Denver7 in an interview at their family farm, she stumbled upon clues Annalee left behind. In journal entries, Annalee had described the intense inner pain caused by feeling she didnt measure up to her friends on social media. Screenshots from her TikTok account suggest she began receiving a deluge of content in her feed talking about self-harm, self-hate, and suicide.

Just as Lori Schott was discovering these, a testimony before Congress stopped her in her tracks. She said Frances Haugen, a former data scientist for Facebook, testified before a Congressional committee and pulled back the curtain on Facebook and Instagram (under parent company Meta), revealing that the company was aware it was causing harm to many users and werent taking the necessary steps to fix the problems.

"I just couldnt believe what I was reading," Schott said.

In particular, Haugen said the platforms were profiting off self-harm and self-hate, particularly among teenage girls. Haugen said the companys products "harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy," adding that the company's leadership "knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but wont make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people."

Hearing that knocked the wind out of Lori Schott, who was still processing what had led her daughter to such a dark place at such a young age.

But it wasnt just parents who were blown away by Haugens testimony.

It caught the attention of many lawmakers, too.

In an era of intense fighting in Washington, the mission of online safety particularly for kids has been bipartisan.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is one of the proposals to come out of this bipartisan mission. The bill would create a legal duty of care of social media platforms, holding them responsible if their algorithms boost material deemed harmful to minors.

Examples of harmful material in the bill include the promotion of self-harm and suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and child sexual abuse material. It also requires the companies to ensure their platforms are not an addiction for minors.

The current version of KOSA before Congress this year has dozens of cosponsors, including Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper. But even though it has bipartisan support, it does not have unanimous support.

In fact, a version of KOSA was introduced last year, and failed to gain enough support to pass. It was reintroduced in May 2023.

The main concern that has been repeatedly raised by opponents of KOSA has to do with the main duty of care requirement, and what will ultimately be deemed harmful material if the bill becomes law.

Aaron Mackey, free speech and transparency director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argued the bill will lead to censorship of information for kids and adults alike, with the bill becoming a political tool rather than a safety one.

Trying to access information about just basic sexual health, contraception, and birth control, abortion access all of those things, right? If you got 10 parents in a room, they might disagree about whether that information is harmful, Mackey said.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is just one of many groups that has raised this concern, which, in part, led to Congress abandoning the previous version of KOSA. While amendments have been made in response to these concerns in the bills current version, Mackey said his fundamental objection remains.

He argued for a set of different online protections, aimed instead at broader privacy concerns.

We can definitely talk about things like passing a comprehensive consumer data privacy law that ensures that the information we give to platforms we have control over, and that we dont give them information without actually agreeing to first give them information, Mackey said. And, that will actually help, right? A lot of these downstream harms. The platforms will not be able to have this well of personal information about us that they can then use to target ads and target content at us as well.

Among the bipartisan coalition of politicians backing KOSA are advocacy groups also pushing for it to become a law.

Among them is Fairplay, an organization that advocates for more protections for our kids online. Haley Hinkle, their policy counsel, said the bill will hold tech companies accountable for the content they are serving to young people and that recent amendments address the main objections being raised.

The duty of care in KOSA is a list of, you know, specific, enumerated harms," she said. "Its not just a sort of free-for-all concept of whats harmful to kids. Its really targeting, you know, features and functions that exacerbate mental health issues, anxiety, depression, eating disorders [and] patterns of use that encourage problematic addiction-like behavior.

Hinkle pointed out that KOSA would not prevent users of any age from seeking out content deemed harmful on their own. Rather, it would require social media companies to make sure their algorithms were not feeding said content to kids.

This isnt about the existence of content on the internet, she said. Its really about the design choices that are pushing things to kids in their feeds.

As for Lori Schott, the discoveries she has made since losing her daughter to suicide have motivated her to back KOSA, and share her story anywhere she can to convince others.

[The platforms] can tell us all they want that theyre guarding our children. Theyre not, Schott said, becoming emotional. We have to hold them accountable. We cannot see that losing another child is OK.

The current version of the Kids Online Safety Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate in May 2023, and is currently sitting in the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

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STERLING, Colo. About 10 miles outside of Sterling sits the Schott family farm. On a quiet country road, it offers a

quiet oasis with the gentle breeze punctuated by a cacophony of noises from the farms many animals.

Lori Schott has lost count of the number of living critters in her care she believes its around twenty but with her entire life spent in agriculture, shes more than used to the sounds of farm life. For the last three years, its been the quiet that she has had to grow accustomed to.

This was Annas wonderland, Lori said, looking around at the rolling hills of their land. Its still hard for me to come down here because this was her world.

The Schotts lost Annalee on November 15, 2020. She was just 18 years old when she died by suicide. Her mom, dad and brothers were left brokenhearted, and at a complete loss as to what led her to such a dark place.

But as Lori came to learn, Annalee left behind clues.

Our daughter journaled, and I had the courage to go down and read her journals, Lori said. It said, "The only way to solve this is to kill myself." The other thing was, "How can anybody love me if I look at myself and Im this ugly? I look at the profiles of other girls. I have no future." She wrote it down in her own handwriting.

Lori knew she needed more answers. She hired a third-party company to help gain access to Annalees phone and TikTok account. Scrolling through the videos, Lori said she found video after video of young people sharing and at times glamorizing self-harm and self-hate. Many had tens of thousands of likes or more.

At that moment is when I decided that pain has to be purpose, that I dont want to see what happened to our daughter impact any other children," Lori said.

Stories like Annalee Schotts have inspired a rare bipartisan mission in Washington, D.C. to hold social media companies accountable for the content their algorithms serve to our young people. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is before Congress and has cosponsors from both parties, including Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper.

The KOSA would make social media companies legally accountable if their algorithms boost content deemed harmful to minors, including content promoting self-harm and suicide.

While KOSA has bipartisan support, it certainly doesnt have unanimous support. A similar bill was introduced and failed to pass in 2022, with many organizations raising concerns that it would lead to censorship online if passed.

At the center of the debate is the bills requirement to prevent the boosting of material deemed harmful to kids and the labeling of content as harmful could become weaponized for political purposes.

But in Lori Schotts eyes, KOSA is a vital first step to making the internet safer for our kids and building her daughters legacy. Annalee left her journal entries, Lori said, so we all could see the impact and to dig down deep to do something about it.

Our kids deserve better, Lori said.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts, help is available immediately. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline can be reached by calling or texting 988 at any time of day. Colorado Crisis Services can also connect individuals with local support and resources, by calling 1-844-493-TALK.

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DENVER If you thought your cell phone, Alexa or Google device were the worst about spying on you think again. It turns out your car is one of the worst offenders when it comes to protecting your privacy.

Mozilla, the company that built the Firefox internet browser and is now a leading watchdog for consumer privacy data, found cars are the worst product category they have ever reviewed for privacy.

How come nobody is talking about this? said Mozillas lead researcher Jen Caltrider. This is bad.

Cars have more and more cameras, and they even have interior cameras now, said Bernard Chao, privacy law professor at the University of Denvers Sturm College of Law. Theyre always watching.

If you think about it, your car is a rolling computer on wheels. And for many of us, we not only use it to get around we live in it.

Its just an extension of my office, said realtor Joy Dysart with HomeSmart.

Dysart drives an Audi Q5 and has come to appreciate all her car can do for her.

Hey Siri, read my text messages, Dysart dictated to her car. I spend all my time here. And safety is important to me. And comfort. Instead of looking at my phone, I can tell Siri to read my text messages. She can answer, read my voicemails and I love that. But on the other hand, Im not crazy about them tracking me.

All 25 car companies Mozilla reviewed failed miserably at protecting your data and privacy. Some of the worst offenders are Cadillac, Hyundai, and Nissan. According to Mozilla, Tesla is the worst offender.

Nissan, for example, says they can collect information about your sexual activity, Caltrider said. Kia says they can collect information about your sex life. I think there were four companies that say they can collect genetic information.

Mozilla said the mountain of paperwork you sign when buy or lease a car essentially gives manufacturers the rights to all your data.

In that huge stack of paper that you sign to get your car, and no one gets into the devil and the details, Dysart said.

Mozilla found 84% of car manufacturers share your data, while 76% say they sell it. In addition, 56% of vehicle manufacturers say they will share personal information about you with the government or law enforcement upon request without a court order.

Its absolutely freaky, Caltrider said. I mean, its freaky, creepy and wrong.

In many cases, your cars camera system isnt just there for your safety, but to track your habits, the Mozilla study found.

And you hook your phone up and share your contacts with your car, which is convenient, but those contacts might also end up at the car company, said Steven Beaty, professor and chair of computer science at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Beaty said the car companies could also share information about how you drive since smart cars are equipped with accelerometers, GPS and more.

If you speed a lot, change lanes quickly, wrong side of the road all of these other things, Beaty pointed out. This is going to become, I think, a much larger issue as time goes by.

Vehicles today dont allow that level of optionality, said Shiju Thomas, owner of Hotchkiss Auto Repair on East Colfax.

Unlike your phone, which gives you the option to turn off location services and other functions, vehicle manufacturers have made that nearly impossible, according to Thomas.

Your navigation is going to work in a certain way, and your audio is going to work in another way in which it's recording what youre saying. And its able to collect all that data and it just piles on and on and on, Thomas said. Increasingly in the automotive industry, data is a gold mine. And being able to sell that to other advertisers can be a part of that unintended consequence. And thats absolutely scary. I think the reality is if consumers knew what the vehicle manufacturers were doing with their data, there would be a lot more concern.

The legalities of all this are mind-numbing.

The car companies are able to jam down their customer agreements on us because we really, theyre take it or leave it. We dont get to negotiate with them, Chao said.

Chao points out Tesla was recently sued over privacy issues. Its Sentry mode uses the vehicles external cameras to detect security issues when the vehicle is parked. Tesla employees were watching those videos, the lawsuit claims.

Employees dont always abide by the stated purposes that their employers put forth, Chao said. Employees just sort of set around because they thought they saw funny footage, including a naked guy, I think, approaching his car late at night.

Chao said one of the central questions to the abuse is how long car manufacturers are storing your data.

From embarrassing, to sort of annoying like marketing, to really horrible like tracking exactly where youve been, Chao said.

So where is the spying coming from? Most experts agree, your rearview mirror is much more than a reflection of whats behind you.

One area that theres going to be a lot of sensors is right behind (your rearview mirror), Thomas said. Not only do you have video but also microphones. How many people are with their spouse, a loved one, a child and theyre driving and talking about something private? That shouldnt be the purview and data owned by a vehicle manufacturer.

Thomas is also seeing another alarming trend from car manufacturers, which is cutting out small businesses.

Theyre trying to prevent independent repair shops from having that data to even repair vehicles, such that you have to take your Tesla to a Tesla dealership for repairs, Thomas said. So what its doing is it also squeezes out the independent repair shops. And that prevents choice from consumers. Its absolutely a concern that your local mechanic might not be able to work on your car.

Mozillas team spent more than 600 hours researching this topic three times as much as they normally do on privacy research. Its even confusing to Mozilla in terms of how your data is collected, used and shared.

Were kind of left without a lot of transparency and with our imaginations, Caltrider said.

Dont hang your driving gloves up just yet.

I think there should be some privacy embedded in what we choose to do, Dysart said.

I would suggest we still need more laws, so we need legislatures to act in this particular area to help us, Chao said.

What I really think people should do is just get mad and call your elected official and say, Hey, we need stronger privacy laws. We need a federal privacy law, Caltrider said.

Theres an implicit right to privacy and protection of whats going on in ones life, especially when people view their vehicles as an extension of their own home, Chao added.

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DENVER "Dark money" is pouring into the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education election yet again.

Open Secrets defines dark money as "spending meant to influence political outcomes where the source of the money is not disclosed." Companies and political nonprofits often arent required to disclose their donors, who funnel large amounts of money into campaigns. Hard money, on the other hand, refers to traditional political spending. Candidate committees, Political Action Committies (PACs) and political parties are required to disclose their donors.

Dark money used to only be seen in national elections, but has slowly made its way into local ballot boxes, causing concern among candidates and watchdog groups.

Its disappointing, but it also really makes me angry, said Jane Shirley, who has worked in education for more than 20 years and has previously run for a school board position.

The biggest problem is we dont know where the money is coming from, said Kwame Spearman, who is running for the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education at-large seat.

The biggest spender in this years race is an independent expenditure committee (IEC) called Better Leaders, Stronger Schools. It is funded largely by Denver Families Action, a political nonprofit that has a large backing of national charter school networks and works to elect candidates who support charters.

Spokespersons for both Better Leaders, Stronger Schools and Denver Families Action are unapologetic about the amount of spending in Denver.

Frankly, what weve seen at this point is a lack of trust, said Clarence Burton, Jr., CEO of Denver Families Action. It is broken trust is what I would call it, between community and the board of education.

What I know is that the current board has not gotten the job done, said Daniel Aschkinasi, registered agent for Better Leaders, Stronger Schools. And its evidenced by how often theyve been in the news for the wrong reasons this year.

Pro-charter outside money is outspending the local teachers union by about 4:1 this election cycle. Some argue the money is all about privatizing local school districts.

When were talking privatization, it really is about removing local control, Shirley said. Part of the agenda across the country has been to push school choice and the growth of charters, which are also taking public money, but are privately managed by appointed boards and outsourcing transportation, paraprofessionals, curriculum and so forth. School choice is an illusion. It only works for the people it works for. It truly is code for segregation.

Dark money poured into the 2019 DPS Board of Education race.

Candidates whose campaigns were funded and driven and then agendized by outside corporate interests, said Brad Laurvick, who won in District 5 in 2019.

This dark money, thats problematic, said Julie Banuelos, who also ran in District 5 in 2019. Thats not really our values.

Dark money organizations often benefit from unlimited donations from corporations, wealthy individuals and others who have no real link to the races they are trying to influence.

The organizations send out mailers and make calls on behalf of candidates. Once the candidate gets elected, the expectation is they support the agenda of the corporation.

Heres an example of how its connected to this years DPS school board races. In the at-large race, one candidate has dropped out, leaving three left John Youngquist, Kwame Spearman and Brittni Johnston. But only one appears to be benefiting from this money Youngquist.

Better Leaders, Stronger Schools has spent more than $1 million on behalf of Youngquist. The flier generating the most headlines is a negative mailer targeting at-large candidate Kwame Spearman, calling him a bully.

$80,000 was spent on this mailer that went all throughout Denver, which its entire focus was negative personal attacks about me, which I think many interpreted to be a dog whistle for racism, Spearman said.

The mailer features a shadowed photo of Spearman on one side.

And then on the other side of the mailer, the only image was of a white child who was seemingly crying, Spearman explained.

When were talking a school board race, it does give you pause to think why dont you focus on your candidates qualifications? Shirley said. Why are you having to go after and try to discredit the other side? I do think people see through it. These folks have never been in our public schools. They dont actually care about our schools. Why are they putting so much money into these races? And what are they expecting of their candidates in return?

Were a committee thats put together to invest and support candidates who support the new future of DPS, said Aschkinasi. And I think the character of the candidate running at-large that youre referring to is well-documented. And my job is to bring the politics here. This is an election. I need to get as many voters out to vote for these candidates as possible. And my way of doing that is by demonstrating that there are some candidates out there who do not represent the values of Denver at-large. And there are three amazing candidates out there who are widely supported by other leaders in this city.

Denver Families Action was established in December 2020 and has received a large amount of national funding from billionaire donors in order to canvass neighborhoods and engage voters who otherwise might not show up at the polls.

Unfortunately, only 1 in 4 eligible voters in Denver historically participates in school board elections, which is just incredibly low, said Burton, Jr.

Denver Families Action receives its funding from The City Fund, a national education organization that promotes increasing charter school access and school choice programs, according to Influence Watch.

When you have elections and the stakes are high, its going to draw in resources, Burton, Jr. said.

I support DPS, Aschkinasi said. DPS has an ecosystem of choice, which has charter schools that are public and has traditional schools. John Youngquist, Marlene De La Rosa, and Kimberlee Sia make up 60 years of education experience a lot of that here in DPS.

I want to see a board that is not sort of tied by dysfunction, Aschkinasi said.

We can, as a community, begin to say, 'Were not playing the game that way anymore,' Shirley said.

We know that what voters want is to remove politics from our school board, Spearman said. Dark money groups are trying to do the exact opposite while we choose to keep it positive.

The campaigns for Youngquist and Johnson did not respond to Denver7's interview and comment requests.

Editor's Note:

"unequivocally opposes" those types of vouchers.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. The growing popularity of e-bikes has created controversy on Colorados trail systems in terms of where they should and shouldnt be allowed. And there is no shortage of opinions among trail users.

I think e-bikes are just the evolution of mountain bikes, said Tony Nasser, a mountain bike trail rider. Theres nothing inherently different between one or the other. Theyre both pedal driven.

I think they should be regulated, said Ryan Harris, a fellow mountain biker. They can ride the same trails as motorcycles, but not the same trails as mountain bikes.

E-bikes have given many the freedom to ride again, including Kris Nordberg, who had all but given up on riding bikes until she found e-biking.

Ive had double-knee surgery, a hip replacement, Nordberg said. I could hardly ride around the block with my regular bike. And then I got this bike, and it just opened up a whole world of biking that Ive never experienced because I can go on such longer rides and experience some of the trails Colorado has to offer.

Her e-bike is not only a game-changer, but a blessing.

You have to remember this is my mode of transportation, Nordberg said. I dont have a car. I dont have to pay car insurance or gas. I take it to the grocery store. I think we were out for seven hours the other day, and I never depleted the battery.

Popularity is definitely growing, said Joey Livingston, statewide public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).

CPW is leading the charge on e-bike rules and regulations because it feels a responsibility to get out in front of the issue.

We do kind of set an example for many agencies in the state. So we try to get ahead and make these classifications and make rules for those classifications at our properties, Livingston said.

For now, there are three classifications of e-bikes:

At our state wildlife areas, you are allowed to use Class 1, 2 and 3, but only on designated roads that allow motorized access. So not allowed to be on any trails, Livingston said. Now at our state parks, which are usually our bigger properties with more facilities, we do allow Class 1 and Class 2 usage on our multi-use trails that allow bicycle use, but you can only use the Class 3 on roads, bicycle lanes, campgrounds, places where motorized use is allowed.

Municipalities like Jefferson County and Boulder County have adopted similar rules.

And then, there are agencies that use e-bikes themselves.

The Denver Sheriffs Department uses our bikes. Commerce City, Brighton Police Department, and then the Lone Tree Police Department to name a few agencies around Denver, said Jeff Fuze, owner of Recon Power Bikes out of Indiana.

Recon is cashing in on the craze.

These bikes can cover more ground, with more frequency and less labor than any other bike out there, Fuze said.

Recon designs e-bikes for law enforcement agencies and even hunters.

What were seeing is a lot of people, who have maybe completely given up cycling or given up mountain biking, are getting back into it in their 40s, 50s, 60s, even 70s, Fuze said. Or hunters. Maybe people who cant get back five or six or 10 miles in the past. They dont have the capability to walk that far. But now with an e-bike, it gives them the potential to do what everybody else is doing.

Recon even partnered with General Motors to launch the GMC Hummer EV AWD e-bike.

But with speed and power also comes danger.

What were seeing is head injuries, fractures, broken bones and then were also seeing a lot more internal injuries than we do with electric scooters, too, said Melanie Wuzzardo, injury prevention coordinator at Health Ones Swedish Medical Center.

Wuzzardo said Swedish Medical Center treats e-bike injuries the same as any other motor vehicle accident. Doctors suggest users ride them defensively.

You just want to make sure youre taking your time, Wuzzardo said. Learning that e-bike, learning how it works before you do anything crazy.

Because of the risk of injury and the growing number of people out on trails in general, many cyclists, like Harris, believe more trails should be directional.

You make things directional, and that alleviates a lot of the issues there, Harris said. APEX does it, as well, where hikers can hike, and bikers can bike on different days.

People want to get outdoors in different ways, Livingston said. And were trying to be as accommodating to everyone as possible. Use common sense when youre out there.

There are plenty of trail riders who support this relatively new mode of mobility.

Colorado is meant to be enjoyed, Nasser said. So as long as people arent littering and sharing the trail and are polite, then, you know, the more the merrier. I remember when I first got into mountain biking, it was kind of when that whole war with mountain bikes was going on. And I met a few aggressive hikers, and there were fights with people getting kicked off their bikes and things like that. We dont need that to happen again.

For Nordberg, its certainly been a life-changer.

I just love being out here, Nordberg said. And of course, I share the trails. Plus, trying to be courteous myself to other cyclists by not blowing past people on an uphill because theyre working hard.

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The largest single factor continuing to impact Colorados housing market is the upward trend in interest rates, percentage points that have not been seen in for decades.

Colorados statewide housing sales report for September showed higher mortgage interest rates are complicating what is traditionally a slower buying and selling season, not only in the Denver metro area, but across the state, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors report.

Home sellers who decide to abandon lower interest rates on current mortgages and jump into the market are seeing a more favorable experience for buyers from the past few years, but the current scenario continues to pose a challenge to first-time home buyers in Colorado, including in the Denver metro real estate market.

Buyers really have the opportunity to be picky right now. They can spend a full weekend looking at homes before they have to make a decision rather than making a decision on an hourly basis because there's 15 Other people lined up, said Matt Leprino, spokesperson for Colorado Association of Realtors. So if you can afford it right now, or if you have a very low financed amount, it's better now than it's been in many, many years

Single-family homes for sale in Colorado are on average staying on the market 46 days, which is up 24% from the 37 days on the market reported a year ago in September 2022.

According to the Colorado Association of Realtors Market Trends Report, new single-family home listings dropped nearly 12% with 9,416 properties coming into the market.

The report showed across Colorado, 5,402 single-family homes sold in September which was down from the 6,975 reported in September 2022.

After a slight downward trend earlier this year in the statewide median home price, the single-family home price rose nearly 3% to $575,000.

Across the state, the townhome and condo market also rose by 2.6% to a $425,857 median sales price.

Digging into Denver metro data, the single-family median home price rose year-over-year to 3% at $620,000. The increase in the metro median sales price continued in August after following the same downward trend for the previous few months this year.

The report showed single-family homes stayed on the market 34 days in the seven-county Denver metro area, which was a 17% increase year-over-year. Its a little tricky to wrap your head around fewer homes coming on the market while inventory is going up. One would typically consider that fewer properties equal fewer choices but that is not the case in Denver, said Leprino in the report. The reason? Demand. This September, 14% fewer homes came on the market than last year, 26% fewer than in 2021, and while that may sound like the familiar we don't have enough inventory dialogue, its anything but.

For buyers trying to navigate higher interest rates, one way to save some money is to ask a seller for an interest rate buy down that could potentially reduce your monthly payment for one or two years in hopes that interest rates will eventually go down.

Another option is to look for something called an assumable mortgage. That involves taking over a VA or FHA loan thats at 4%, 3%, or even lower, but it's easier said than done.

In most cases, if you're thinking about purchasing and you're looking at an assumption you're gonna need to come to the closing table with cash or some form of secondary financing, maybe a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit or even a personal loan to help pay out that veteran homeowner and make them whole, said Chris Birk, VP for Mortgage Insight, Veterans United Home Loans.

Buyers would need to find secondary financing to cover the equity pay off to the seller. In that case, sellers might lose access to their VA or FHA benefit if someone else is using it.

How's your buying or selling experience going in Colorado or the Denver metro area? Email us at 360@denver7.com and let us know.

DENVER For most Coloradans, the sound of a babbling brook conjures up feelings of relaxation and connection to nature. But for some, its a reminder of what we stand to lose.

Water is life. Water is precious. And a lot of water is used up and made permanently toxic by fracking. Not to mention that spills and leaks from oil and gas can contaminate our groundwater and our surface water, said Bobbie Mooney, an organizer with the grassroots group 350 Colorado. To have spaces like this risking contamination from oil and gas is really upsetting and concerning because once it's contaminated, there's really no undoing that."

Mooney isnt alone in those concerns. A Denver7 viewer recently wrote in to ask us how Colorado is protecting our water from potential contamination by the oil and gas industry. To find out, we talked with an industry representative, a climate activist, a public health researcher and the states regulatory agencies.

We're Coloradans. We value clean air. We value clean water, said Dan Haley, who represents the industry as the president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. "We're drinking the same water that they're drinking. We live in the neighborhoods where we work. And so, we have every reason to get it right.

Haley said Colorados oil and gas companies are working with the state to take necessary steps to prevent water contamination.

"Whether that is a setback, whether that is the latest technology, innovations happening out in the field, deploying those resources here in Colorado to make sure we're doing right by the environment, doing right by our neighbors, he said.

Those setbacks and other regulations are created and enforced by Colorados Energy and Carbon Management Commission, previously known as the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The commission updated its rules in 2020 because of Colorados growing reliance on groundwater due to increased demand from population and climate change.

Now when a company drills for oil or gas, the state requires them to isolate the well from the surrounding rock and groundwater by installing multiple layers of metal casing and cement. Those rules are supposed to apply for the whole life of the well, until its plugged or abandoned. Companies are supposed to regularly monitor and test the well to make sure holes or leaks dont develop over time.

The integrity of these new wells that we are drilling now are solid, probably for all time, Haley said. But older wells don't have the same wellbore integrity, which is why the industry and the state are focused on appropriately plugging those wells, he said.

More broadly, the Energy and Carbon Management Commission monitors the industry by requiring companies to self-report problems like spills or releases and collecting complaints from community members. When the commission learns of potential violations, their staff will inspect, investigate and sometimes issue corrective actions and penalties.

Denver7 analyzed the commissions records and found at least 10 times companies violated the states water quality standards in recent years. Most of those situations involved a spill of oil, gas or contaminated wastewater that made its way into a body of water, usually a creek or stream.

For example, in 2020, the commission received a complaint that the operator KP Kauffman dumped contaminated soil from a spill in a field near wetlands and a pond recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Given the significant adverse environmental impacts, the commission ordered KP Kauffman to clean up the contamination and pay a penalty. But two years later, the company still hadnt completed the corrective actions for this or several other violations, totaling $1.8 million in penalties.

"It's really frustrating when we see these repeat offenders receiving merely a slap on the wrist by the state and allowed to continue to operate at tremendous risk to our health and our environment, Mooney said.

In addition to risks of spills, Kyle Ferrar, a public health researcher who helped create the nonprofit FracTracker Alliance, said the process of fracking also uses up large quantities of freshwater.

Over the last five years, consumption for hydraulic fracturing operations has pretty much more than doubled in Colorado, Ferrar said.

Currently, a single well can require up to 40 million gallons of freshwater. Once freshwater has been used for fracking, it becomes contaminated and must be disposed of as a form of toxic waste. Usually, companies inject that wastewater into the ground, containing it in whats called a Class II well. Less frequently, companies store it in tanks or open pits.

Historically, it's just been cheaper to use fresh water, Ferrar said. The priority should be shifting from disposing of the wastewater in injection wells to recycling the wastewater and reusing it for future hydraulic fracturing operations."

Thats why Colorado is now trying to increase recycling of fracking water. But with future oil and gas operations planned on the Front Range where most Coloradans live, Mooney said she's still concerned.

"Coloradans rely on a beautiful and healthy natural environment for agriculture, for our tourism industry, and for our own health and safety. And fracking poses a risk to all of that, she said.

On Tuesday, testimony will resume in the joint trial of two Aurora police officers who responded on the night 23-year-old Elijah McClain was killed.

McClain was walking home from a convenience store on August 24, 2019, when a 911 caller reported him as "sketchy." He was stopped by police and put into a carotid hold before paramedics arrived on scene and administered ketamine, a powerful sedative. A few days later, McClain died.

Aurora Police Department (APD) officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt (former) pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault.

So far in court, prosecutors have argued McClain would have likely needed intensive medical care before ketamine was administered.

One of their witnesses, Dr. David Beuther, is a pulmonary critical care physician.

From what I've observed, and my expertise, and what I just explained to you all about how aspiration works, in my medical opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, he aspirated before the ketamine," Beuther said during testimony. "There's direct evidence that he vomited while the mask was still on. It was inside of the mask, around the nose in the mouth, and quite a bit of it... The more you vomit, the higher the risk of aspiration."

Beuther continued to say, in his opinion, McClain likely suffered from lactic acidosis and hypoxia as well. According to Beuther, if McClain had not suffered hypoxia, lactic acidosis and aspiration, he would have had a better chance of surviving the ketamine dose.

Defense attorneys claim the paramedics were responsible for McClain's death, saying once they arrived on scene it was their job to treat the patient. They also claim McClain attempted to grab one of the officers' guns, even though the prosecution says there is no evidence of that.

The people have argued, and they will argue through this trial, that there's no evidence of this gun grab," one of the defense attorneys said during opening statements. "The evidence of the gun grab is Mr. Roedema's statement as it is occurring. He's exclaiming it as it is happening. So you're going to ask yourself, why would he make that up?

Cross-examination of Beuther continues on Tuesday morning. The joint trial is anticipated to last into mid-October.

A third officer, Nathan Woodyard, has a trial beginning Oct. 13. The charges against him of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault. He is accused of putting McClain in the carotid hold. Two Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper have trials beginning Nov. 17 and 27, respectively, for charges of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault, plus sentence enhancers. The paramedics are accused of injecting a significant amount of ketamine into McClain, causing him to overdose.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. Its been nearly five decades since the United States began aggressively phasing out the sale of leaded gas for cars, as we became aware of the catastrophic health effects the compound can have, particularly for children. Leaded paint, likewise, has been unavailable for purchase nationwide since 1978.

Yet every year, hundreds of tons of lead are emitted above our heads.

Many smaller planes, often used by training pilots, still use leaded fuel, and thats caused growing concerns among residents near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (which has seen a huge growth in pilot training in recent years). Many of them have been speaking out to each other, to elected leaders, and now to Denver7 about their fears and frustration at what they see as an inexcusably slow response to the issue.

Dr. Robert Boutelle in Superior is one of those speaking out. By his own account, he is allergic to attention and would much rather be diving into the science behind the scenes than speaking about his findings publicly.

I drew the short straw in this, unfortunately, he laughed as we sat down for an interview at his kitchen table.

Despite his normal aversion, Dr. Boutelle has become one of the loudest voices warning about lead in the northwest Denver metro area. He has a Ph.D. in material chemistry from UCLA, and specializes in nanomaterials (like lead) and how they imbed inside of cells.

Given this background, he has a deep understanding of the way lead is picked up in the body and felt a duty to sound the alarm. He and two colleagues tested windowsills at nine houses, spread across different neighborhoods near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, and were alarmed by what they found.

They were astonishingly high, a part per thousand Dr. Boutelle said. According to the EPA, if that [amount] was in the soil, this would be a superfund site for contamination mitigation.

So, we are being exposed to a high level of lead in the area, he continued. What the CDC says, and the EPA says, is that theres no safe levels of lead exposure for children.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states exposure to lead can have serious health impacts, especially in kids, and can include brain damage, slowed growth and development, and problems with learning, behavior, hearing and speech. Those concerns drove Flint, Mich., into national headlines nearly a decade ago, when its drinking water was contaminated with lead. Dr. Boutelle worries this could be our Flint, Michigan moment.

This does have health effects for children, which are permanent, he said. And its very important that we try to get rid of lead as much as possible.

Ever since Dr. Boutelle and his colleagues discovered the high lead levels in nearby neighborhoods, he has been telling anyone who will listen. In doing so, hes inspired several people to test for lead exposure themselves.

Charlene Willey is one of them.

This is a report that I got very recently from my doctor, Willey said, holding up a document laying on her kitchen table. It shows that I have a blood-lead level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter of blood, which by CDC standards is a level of concern.

Willey has lived in her home in Westminster for nearly 30 years, less than a mile from the boundary of the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. For years, her proximity to RMMA didnt bother her and delighted her late husband, she said, who was an aviation fanatic but she began to grow frustrated and then concerned when traffic at the airport took off around the beginning of the pandemic. That concern led to hours upon hours of research into local airports, and the discovery that leaded fuel was being used by many of the planes flying over her home.

It was terrifying. It was terrifying, Willey said of her blood-lead level test. Its really hard to bear. Its really hard to have hopehope not just for myself, but for the kids that are growing up in my own neighborhood right here.

Willey is now pushing on elected leaders at every level from city council, to Congress to end the use of leaded aviation fuel.

A ban the fuel wouldnt be a completely unprecedented move. The same fears being raised near RMMA have been raised across the country. Last year, Santa Clara County in California commissioned a study, and found high levels of lead in thousands of children near one of its airports. The county responded by banning the sale of leaded aviation fuel.

At the same time, Congress appears to be on a different page. It has set an overall goal to eliminate leaded aviation fuel by 2030; however, the FAA Reauthorization bill passed by the House of Representatives in July would prevent airports from phasing out the fuels on their own in the meantime, if they offered it as of 2018. This could effectively undo Santa Clara Countys decision, and prevent other airports like RMMA from following suit.

The bill is now being debated in the Senate, and residents like Charlene Willey are trying to put pressure on our senators to change that part of the bill. Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper sits on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in the Senate, which is considering the bill.

Just feet off the tarmac at RMMA, we met its director, Paul Anslow. Despite the use of leaded fuel by planes at the airport, he said he agrees with the voices calling for an end to its use.

It may not seem like it, but we actually are trying very hard to transition from lead, Anslow said, but added that the transition will take two to three years for the necessary money and infrastructure to do so.

You have to have the tanks, the fuel trucks, the infrastructure to support that, he said. And then the final one really is the refinement and distribution. Theres 19,000 airports in America. Were all transitioning away from that lead.

Given the dire warnings doctors and scientists are issuing regarding lead exposure, we asked Anslow if more pressure should then be placed on the FAA and Congress to make the necessary resources available to speed up the transition away from leaded fuel.

I will say, the FAA does a great job, he responded. And just like everybody who has limited budgets, they have to support all those aircraft. But on the same note, I would say absolutely Were actually one of the more successful airports in the country, but coming up with a $2 or $3 million infrastructure is difficult. Theres a lot of small airports that are never going to have that money. So I think absolutely.

Many, like Charlene Willey and Dr. Robert Boutelle, feel were already on borrowed time and dont have any left to waste.

Dr. Boutelle hopes families in the area will head his warning to address lead in their homes. The CDC recommends concerned parents contact their health provider to have their childrens blood lead levels tested. It also advises people to regularly wash their hands, and wet-mop floors, surfaces, and windowsills to eliminate as much dust as possible.

For his own part, Dr. Boutelle made a big life decision after his lead findings.

I was extremely excited to come here and start a family with my wife, he said. However, after learning about whats happening, I cant in good conscience bring my child into the world, knowing that they would be put at risk We put those plans on hold until something actually happens.

BOULDER, Colo. When CU Boulder announced NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders as head football coach this past offseason, alums, former players, and students alike could hardly contain their excitement.

People are hungry and starving for wins here, said former CU standout Lance Carl.

CU senior Brad Gall shared a similar sentiment.

Oh my God, yeah. My parents were looking at a game for (this) year and its like $300 a ticket, Gall said. Its the same as going to see a headliner at Red Rocks.

Preparations for the Coach Prime era at CU football began immediately.

It brings a whole set of problems and issues that we havent faced in a long time, said Alec Roussos, chief of staff for the CU athletics department football program. Were going to have a sold-out stadium for every single one of our games and that comes with different issues that we need to mitigate. But again, we are all excited. Theyre all great problems to have, right? Its going to be a really, really exciting fall here in Boulder.

The offseason moves didnt end there for the Buffs.

This summer, the Buffs also ditched the PAC 12 and headed back to the Big 12.

(CU athletic director Rick George) gave the PAC 12 every opportunity to present a media friendly deal that would benefit the University of Colorado, and when it didnt come to fruition on PAC 12 media days, I think that was the final straw for Rick, Carl said.

Darian Hagan, quarterback of CUs only national championship team back in 1990, told Denver7 when the Buffs joined the PAC 12, the team was "a little bit out of our element."

The Big 12 is a perfect fit for the University of Colorado and thats what its all about," Hagan said.

CUs departure triggered a wave of movement among other schools from conference to conference and thats where our 360 look at the college conference shake-up begins.

The landscape of college athletics has just shifted, Roussos said. And it happens really, really quick.

Mega-conferences have now emerged nationwide and the PAC 12 has all but vanished, first losing USC and UCLA to the Big 10, then CU to the Big 12, followed by Oregon and Washington to the Big 10, and then Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to the Big 12, and finally Stanford and Cal to the ACC, leaving only two schools left, Oregon State and Washington State, in the crippled PAC 12.

The days of the regional conferences are gone, Roussos said. If you rest on your laurels and say, Oh man, this is a bad thing for college athletics, then youre just going to fall behind.

The ripple effect is being felt everywhere, including just 50 miles north of Boulder in Fort Collins, where Colorado State University is preparing for a new season and schedule that includes a renewed in-state match-up this year with CU.

We have a bunch of in-state players that are really excited about having that game back on the schedule, said CSU head football coach Jay Norvell. I think its great for the state of Colorado the excitement of that game. Coach Deion, he brought a lot of excitement, but I think thats really good for the state of Colorado and us for get to play that game on ESPN.

In just his second year at CSU, Norvell has high expectations of himself and his team.

And were a full inch taller at every position, Norvell said. Offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, receivers, tight ends, so were a much different looking team.

As for the conference shake-up, Norvell and Sanders are measured in their responses to that.

Everybody just needs to relax really, Norvell said. It really is about building a quality program and a championship program. The winner of our league is going to probably get a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl, on New Years Day and thats what were focused on. We want to be best in the Mountain West.

Coach Prime himself had this to say.

Man, I dont care about no different teams moving, he said. We trying to win, man. I dont care where we play. I dont care what conference, who were playing against, were trying to win.

An attitude shared from sport to sport here at CSU.

You hear it, you understand the landscape of college athletics, its changed unbelievably here in the last couple years, said Niko Medved, head basketball coach at CSU. But the way I look at it is, the best thing that you can do is be the best at where you are right now.

In Boulder, the conference shake-up is also welcomed from sport to sport.

I think there will be some excitement to go to different places and to play in different venues against different competition, said Danny Sanchez, head soccer coach at CU.

The Big 12 is the No. 1 RPI conference last year and had the national champion come out of it, said Jesse Mahoney, head volleyball coach for CU. So, its going to be, its not like its a step down in any way its going to be great volleyball.

Former players like CSU basketball standout Nico Carvacho, who is in town for this summers alumni game, say better competition should always be the goal.

Obviously you want to go to the highest level, Carvacho said. You want to play the best players, best competition, have bigger teams come in. You can never go wrong moving up or going to a better league, you know whatever it is. It would be really cool to see.

Back at CU, the move back to the Big 12 is viewed as a huge win for the student athletes especially when you consider travel time.

We looked at it from every single lens, Roussos said. And on average our athletes will be traveling less for each of the conference opponents that theyll be playing."

Roussos says on aggregate, student athletes will now spend less time traveling and more time in the classroom.

We didnt want to make a move that we would be putting our womens lacrosse team on a flight that would be crossing three time zones on a regular basis, he said. And if you just look at the football time slots that the Big 12 is going to occupy a 7 p.m. kickoff on the east coast is a lot better than a 7 p.m. kick on the west coast. Youre getting back around midnight as opposed to sometimes on the west coast getting back at 3 or 4 in the morning. And that can ruin an entire week for a student athlete.

The move didnt come without controversy.

Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning said CU would hardly be missed.

I took it as disrespectful, Hagan said. Weve had our ups and downs in the PAC 12, but I dont think he needed to say anything. Most of the guys he inherited he didnt recruit.

Carl, the former CU standout, didn't think much of that statement.

Hes a new coach in the conference hes played us once or twice, defeated us handily, Carl said. He looked at our record in the PAC 12 and gave his honest assessment of where he thinks we are. I didnt think it was a controversial statement. I think hes an honest guy. Weve got to make some corrections here and I think Rick George has made those corrections by hiring Coach Prime.

Both Hagan and Carl are now part of the athletics staff here at CU a program they still believe in whole-heartedly.

I was part of Bill McCartneys first recruiting class in 83, Carl said. Back when Bill McCartney was here, it was the McCartney way or the highway. And I see similar attributes with Coach Sanders, as well.

Hagan said they both share some similarities.

Hes not going to sugar-coat anything, Hagan said. Coach McCartney didnt sugar coat anything either.

One thing is certain at both CU and CSU, fall football always holds a promise that these revamped programs can be bring college football prowess and prominence back to Colorado.

We have to start the season fast, Norvell said. The sense of urgency has been turned up in Fort Collins.

Carl is as equally excited for what it means for college sports.

Im excited for our alums, Im excited for our donors and our fans who fill the stands weekly, Carl said. They want that feeling back because theres nothing like watching a football game at Folsom Field in the fall. Nothing like it.

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DENVER The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June that race cannot be a factor in college admissions, overturning a precedent last set in Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003.

The majority holds that the use of race conscious admissions practices violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, explained Sara Chatfield, assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver.

Supporters of affirmative action said the practice equalized education opportunities, while those opposed said it violated their 14th Amendment rights.

To say, Well, this is going to hold people back? No. Pushing racism in admissions holds people back, said Jon Caldera, president of the Independence Institute, a conservative think-tank.

This just opens up those racial fault lines, yet again, said Brother Jeff Fard, founder of Brother Jeffs Cultural Center in Denver's Five Points neighborhood.

Denver7 takes a 360 In-Depth look into both sides of the argument and how the ruling will impact Colorado colleges.

Lets start this 360 at Brother Jeffs in Five Points, where those figurative fault lines run deep.

Im disappointed, but Im not surprised, said Fard. And Im not necessarily disappointed so much by the conservative majority. Im disappointed by those who think differently and decided not to show up and vote.

Fard said the removal of affirmative action is due to years of political involvement on one side and a lack thereof on the other. In particular, Fard pointed to the three justices former President Donald Trump put on the bench Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Youll have the opportunity to appoint Supreme Court justices, which in my opinion makes Trump the most powerful president probably of the century because his reach is being felt right now on ideological terms, Fard said. [Former President Barack] Obama also had a Supreme Court pick, which was not able to get even heard in the Senate.

Many believe the 6-3 vote is representative of a clear-cut conservative majority. But Caldara disagrees.

To say that it is a conservative court is to be selective in what decisions you look at, Caldera said. There are lots of other decisions that have gone the other way in this so-called conservative court. I believe that is mostly media spin and leftist spin. Our chief justice is by no means a conservative, and hes been a swing vote.

Caldara said this decision should be celebrated not demonized.

The idea that anyone should be discriminated against because of the color of their skin is repugnant, no matter what it is, he said. And for people who are freaking out about this lets remember that this has been the law in places like California since 1996.

Before the June ruling, nine states had banned the use of race conscious admissions in their state universities California, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Florida.

In those states what we have seen is a drop in the number of Black and Latino students who are admitted, Chatfield said.

Michael Benitez, vice president of diversity and inclusion at Metropolitan State University of Denver and associate professor in the School of Education, fears the lack of affirmative action could further marginalize the underserved.

We could literally lose our rights and lose our voice as individuals of a society that is beginning to rekindle sort of this unwelcomeness, Benitez said. We could go from feeling empowered, being able to make decisions that impact our well-being, to not being able to make those decisions for ourselves.

In the court's opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said schools can still consider a student's individual experience of racism and overcoming barriers if it is explained in application essays.

If you have determination, youre going to overcome hurdles, Fard said.

Many believe universities committed to diversity, equity and inclusion will continue along that path.

Theyre going to find a way, Fard said. Those essay questions are going to tease out exactly what those institutions are looking for and create an institution that is reflective of society. With inclusiveness, you have an opportunity to build on the best of everything. Without it, you have a single narrative, which excludes a good portion of what can make America great.

Its going to require universities and colleges to have to think incredibly strategic, Benitez said.

There seems to be a prevailing sentiment that universities will still be intentional about trying to diversify campus communities.

And they should, Caldara said. And there are those people who dont have the advantages of other people. And there are those people who might not have the money to go to college. And by all means, colleges should look at that and say, Heres a family that didnt have money. Maybe we should help out. If theres a reason someone is disadvantaged, dont look at the skin color. Make up for the disadvantage.

If theres one thing certain in the U.S., its that nothing is permanent.

One thing about this country is, it expands and it contracts, Fard said. This is maybe a speed bump, but its not the end of the story.

Obviously, it is setting a new standard for affirmative action in college admissions, Chatfield said.

And were going to see the pendulum swing again and again, Benitez said.

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From reconnecting with friends, restarting extracurricular activities to learning new things there are many reasons for students to be excited for a new school year to begin.

One return most students do not relish, however, is their nightly homework load. Conversations on the topic have been swirling for decades, calling into question the merits of homework and also worrying about possible detrimental impacts to sleep and stress levels during important periods of transition in the lives of our young people.

Denver7 went 360 to gain multiple perspectives on the topic of homework to ask if its benefits outweigh the downsides for our students as they pursue their futures; and, if so, just how much homework they should be assigned.

We talked to two students about the level of work theyre expected to complete. We also spoke to college professors, who are experts in the subject matter of psychology and development, and two high school teachers, who have fundamentally rethought their approaches to assigning work outside of class.

Jackson Decker is undoubtedly a busy guy. Hes entering his senior year at East High School, with a very full schedule: several AP and honors courses, dual enrollment courses to get early college credit, swimming, tennis, an internship with the governors office, and playing the piano are all on the menu on any given school day.

Thats to say nothing of other important parts of teenage years, like spending time with family and friends.

Decker said he has had to learn how to manage his homework around all of his other commitments.

It gets pretty busy, but I also try to find time for myself, he said. A day in the life is waking up pretty early. If I have work to do, Ill do it in the morning. If I dont, Ill give myself a little extra sleep. And then, off to school. If Im working, Ill go to work directly after school; and if Im not, Ill just go home and do homework if I need to. Then, eat some dinner and go to bed. Do it again [the next day].

Decker estimates he spends about six hours per week doing homework, an amount he finds reasonable.

I think I find it manageable, but thats because I make it a priority to cut out time for myself, he said. So if I dont have time to relax or to enjoy my hobbies, then Ill become too stressed and then itll become too much.

Finding that balance can be easier said than done. Helen Miller just graduated from East High and put a lot on her plate to get into her dream college. This fall, shell be crossing the Atlantic Ocean and studying biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Miller is very excited for this new chapter in her life, and worked very hard to make it a reality.

This past school year, I took three AP classes, plus two concurrent enrollment classes, and then I did a TA in my free period, she explained. I also ran cross country. And, I have a job as well so I worked my job on weekends.

The hard work paid off for Miller, and she is proud of all she accomplished during her high school career. But with five hours of homework or more some nights, she felt it was too much at times.

I think that some homework is helpful but like, the sheer amount of homework I had, from all the classes I took, was overwhelming, she said.

The research that has been done on the topic of homework and learning does largely show that it is beneficial, with some caveats.

Dr. Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, has spent decades researching the effects of homework and falls squarely in the camp that homework should still be assigned to our students.

Homework helps achievement, Dr. Cooper said. All kids should be doing homework, but the amount and type of homework that they do should depend upon their age or developmental level.

Dr. Cooper subscribes to whats called the 10 Minute Rule, which advises that a student should receive their grade in school, multiplied by 10, in minutes of homework per day.

So for second graders, 20 minutes is a good anchor, Dr. Cooper explained. Fourth graders is 40 minutes. When you get up to high school, two hours of homework per night is not uncalled for.

Going above that amount is where potential downsides of homework can begin to appear, as benefits to learning level off and no longer justify the added stress and potential impacts to social activities and sleep. Dr. Aaron Richmond, a professor of educational psychology and human development at MSU Denver, argues that many of our high school students are spending too much time on homework assignments.

What we see when we get up into the 4, 5, 6, sometimes 9 hours per weekthose are the students that are impacted the most in terms of stress, health, mental health, eating, sleeping, all of those factors that are not good for the body, Dr. Richmond said. I think you see that in advanced placement courses, where they kind of get burned out.

Dr. Richmond also said equity issues are important for teachers to keep in mind, with some students having access to fewer important resourcessuch as high-speed internet, and outside assistance on difficult assignments. These can compound the stresses of homework and further undermine its potential benefits, he said.

Teachers are navigating this balance every day, and some are totally reworking their lesson plans as they hear from their stressed-out students. Christy Hayashi, a social studies teacher at Standley Lake High School in Westminster, said she has no choice but to assign homework in her advanced classes to get through all of the required material. For her general classes, she has entirely eliminated homework from her curriculum.

In the spirit of her subject matter, she frames the conversation as a social contract between students and their classmates.

I tell them: if you can give me 45 really strong minutes, then we can end our learning here, Hayashi said. And, that does create legitimate buy-in from them, because they do need that time to do other things, or want that time to do other things.

Hayashis view on homework has been evolving over her thirteen years in the field. It was the pandemic, though, that fundamentally and permanently shifted her approach.

You saw, firsthand, what home was like for students, and it became so obvious that home for a lot of our kids is not a conducive place to learn, she recalled. And, I did not want homework to be an obstacle for legitimate learning."

We asked Hayashi if shes noticed a decline in her students learning since ending homework in her classes.

Honestly, no, she replied.

A new wrinkle is being added to the discussion of homework among teachers: artificial intelligence. Many homework assignmentsespecially those writtencan now be done by a computer in a matter of seconds, and can be individually tailored to seem like genuine work on behalf of the student.

That was a lesson that fellow Standley Lake High School social studies teacher John Ford learned in real-time during the previous school year and a reason he no longer assigns homework in most of his classes.

Kids can go home and do their homework on a home computer, copy and paste, drop it into a documents, share it on their Google Drive, and youll never know, he said.

Ford watched this past year as one of his students showed him how she could use ChatGPT to write her essay on the Middle Ages. She simply commanded the program to complete her assignment, and it began writing faster than Ford could read it.

Heres what blew my mind: something that would take a kid, maybe two or three days to write, it did in about a minute, Ford said. And I had that realization, about: what does homework really mean? And what is it going to look like in the future?

The general conclusion our subjects collectively reached is that homework doesnt have to be a bad wordand the research shows it can help students to better understand their courses and to develop life skills like organization and time management. Like anything in life, though, a balance is needed. If your students workload begins to affect their health and happiness, it may be time to reevaluate the classes theyre taking and decide if theyre truly needed for their long-term goals. Rest assured: both college professors we talked to insisted as much.

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DENVER Historically in Colorado, everyone no matter the crime has had a right to bail or bond as they await trial.

With exceptions," said Vince Buckmelter, a criminal defense attorney at Buckmelter Law, LLC.. "One of those exceptions was if you were charged with a capital offense and proof was evident and presumption great.

First-degree murder was historically a capital offense in Colorado and traditionally came with a hefty punishment potentially the death penalty. But in 2020, the Colorado state legislature repealed the state's death penalty.

On June 20, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that because the state abolished the death penalty, first-degree murder suspects charged after July 1, 2020, have a right to bail.

The Supreme Court, in June 2023, said because we dont have the death penalty, there are no more capital cases, Buckmelter explained. As a result, these defendants are eligible for a bond setting.

Justice Richard Gabriel said in the court's opinion that judges historically would deny pre-trial release for capital offenses "because of the greater temptation to avoid trial when the defendant's life is at stake." But the removal of the death penalty changed everything.

And the court, in my mind, completely correctly said, No, this is a fairly simple case on the law. That [capital offense] exception does not apply to first-degree murder when the maximum penalty is life without parole, and thats it, said Ian Farrell, professor of law at the University of Denver.

The Colorado Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision, and now everyone even those accused of heinous crimes has a right to bond.

But not all agree with the court's decision.

As someone whos been through a capital punishment trial, to have someone who just committed a heinous crime like that to be on the streets causes a huge public safety issue, said Marcus Weaver, a survivor of the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.

I think this is one of those unintended consequences of legislation, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown.

Colorado is no stranger to mass shootings, from the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, the Aurora theater shooting in 2012, the Boulder King Soopers shooting in 2021, and most recently, the Club Q shooting in 2022. If another mass shooting were to happen, the alleged shooter would now be eligible for bond.

And if were releasing people on bail that are facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, whats to say theyre going to come back and were not setting ourselves up for another potentially dangerous encounter? Brown said. I think we have to look at this as a community safety issue.

Weaver is against the death penalty, but says it makes no sense to offer bail to mass murder suspects.

"Its just really hard to fathom that a judge would allow someone who has committed mass murder bail. It just makes no sense," he said.

Buckmelter said a judge typically sets bond based on two factors.

The two factors are flight risk you want them to come to court and protecting the safety of the community, he said.

Such was the case just last month, which tested the Colorado Supreme Courts recent decision.

Nine days after the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling, David Lechner, an Arapahoe County man accused of gunning down his wife in their garage, appeared for a bond hearing. To applause in the courtroom, the judge set a $100 million cash-only bond, meaning Lechner would have to put down the full $100 million in order to be released.

Generally, if bail is set, you really just have to put down a down payment 10 to 15% up front, Farrell said. Whereas with a cash-only bond, you have to put down the full amount right away in cash here it is before you can leave."

These astronomically-high bonds are seen as loopholes to the new rule.

At the end of the day, ultimately, theres probably not going to be too many cases where you have defendants charged with first-degree murder who are going to be able to make high monetary, cash-only bonds," said Farrell.

But with any amount, depending on the defendants wealth or access to cash, Brown believes there is a possibility.

$100 million to a day-to-day person sounds like a lot of money, but we live in a world where $100 million is out there, said Brown. What really constitutes reasonable when youre talking about the loss of human life?

In its argument, the People of Colorado said the right to bail should be decided through legislature or the ballot box. But in the court's opinion, Gabriel said bail is, instead, a constitutional right.

"Our state constitution affords criminal defendants an absolute right to bail, subject only to expressly stated and narrow exceptions... To the extent that Coloradans or the General Assembly wish to change what the constitution provides, they, of course, may seek to amend the constitution, as they have done before," the opinion reads.

Brown believes Governor Jared Polis should call a special legislative session in order to put that decision before Coloradans.

Put it toward a constitutional ballot measure in November, Brown said. A special session is going to be needed for a referendum to put this on the November ballot to address the constitutional issue. We need to recognize that these offenses of murder are to be held without bail.

Farrell and Buckmelter disagree with Brown.

Personally, I dont think that is necessary, Farrell said. Given that bond can be set so high, theres no way that person is going to get out anyway. The right to bail does not give you the right to freedom before trial.

His opinion is not going to carry any weight because the Supreme Court disagrees, Buckmelter said. The bottom line is, the Colorado Supreme Court has said, 'We are now going to have bond set in these cases.'

That is the bottom line for now, but its a debate likely to continue for months if not years to come.

Some of them are innocent. Some of them arent. And you dont want bonds to be used as a form of punishment, Buckmelter said.

"This is America. Freedom, Farrell said. From that perspective, the starting point is: you have a right to bail.

Unfortunately, when these heinous crimes are committed, the victims or these families have to continue to relive this on a regular basis, Brown said. Let the people speak on this.

Absolutely, Weaver agreed. I think that is the only way were going to get a clear-cut consensus.

Should a measure make it onto the ballot next fall, it would need 55% of voter support to pass.

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DENVER Two shootings involving East High School punctuated the end of the 2022-2023 school year and sparked a conversation sometimes heated that has carried through the summer to the beginning of a new school year.

Two deans were shot by a student at East High School in March 2022. Weeks before, 16-year-old East student Luis Garcia was shot near the school. He succumbed to his injuries after a 17-day fight for his life.

After the March shooting, the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education suspended a policy that removed school resource officers (SROs) from campuses and tasked Superintendent Alex Marrero with creating a safety plan. Under the plan, SROs will be placed at the district's comprehensive schools.

With the new school year set to begin on Aug. 21, questions and concerns remain regarding the officers and their renewed role in the district.

The return of SROs

Parents have mixed ideas about SROs in their children's schools.

Ashlee, who did not provide her last name, is the mother of an incoming sophomore at East High School.

For me, right off the bat, it gave me a sense of comfort after everything that happened this year, she said.

Andy Sense, a DPS dad and teacher in Aurora Public Schools, said school safety does not mean "that we harden schools" or bring more guns inside.

No matter where parents have landed on the issue, few are completely comfortable with the idea of armed SROs.

I dont care what anyone says, thats a trigger for anybody, said DPS mom Deronn Turner. Thats a trigger for me and Im a grown woman.

One of the most frustrating questions for parents is the lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the officers. In a letter to Denver7, the Denver Police Department said the program is "still a work in progress.

At least one SRO will be assigned to each of the following campuses:

East High School will have two SROs because it is the largest high school in the district, DPS said.

Roles and responsibilities

Each SRO will participate in 40 hours of basic training, which the DPD said satisfies Colorado requirements. But when Denver7 asked several parents about it, it was difficult to find a parent who agreed with those basic standards.

"40 hours of training thats a week," Turner said.

"40 hours is not a lot," Ashlee said.

Theres little information publicly available about the responsibilities of those officers other than vague descriptions like de-escalation, conflict resolution and crisis intervention.

"Just like everything else, as a parent with DPS, we dont have a clear path," Ashlee said. "It all makes us feel like stuff is being hidden."

Turner said she felt like DPD was not being transparent with parents.

For me, if you cant let me know what youre doing down to the letter, then no, Im not comfortable with you being in the school around my child. Period," she said.

Turner and others said the uneasiness around SROs is a problem that dates back decades and stems from the historic precedence of inequitable treatment of students of color.

"They havent protected or served our Black and brown children at all," Turner said. And theyre not doing a very good job protecting and serving our white children, especially if they dont have a certain economic reality. As a Black person, I can tell you, its not easy for us to trust systems because systems have continually failed us, and re-traumatized our children over and over and over again.

Shes also critical of parents demanding this change now, calling it a performative and reactive response to the violence.

For people to yell and shout, We need to make our kids safe a lot of it is theyre coming to the table in the 11th hour," Turner said. "They werent here from day one. I have grown children who went through the DPS system. For people to step out and say, Its the school board its chaos. Thats not right because we, as parents and community members, have a responsibility to make sure were doing the work. We cant just elect somebody and sit back and say, Well, itll be fine now. Because thats not how life works.

SRO oversight

On the other hand, while parents like Ashlee agree SROs should not enforce minor classroom issues, she and others believe there must be some level of accountability with the school board.

"A big worry for a lot of the community is that classroom-to-prison pipeline, Ashlee said. But when we consider the current board, its a problem. And there are some to blame more than others. Certain board members have said some pretty aggressive, threatening things because of me being a white mother. And I have a student of color attending East.

Teri Viswanath, whose son is African American and an incoming sophomore at East, said the DPS school board is dysfunctional and needs to be addressed. She said SROs could work, but only with transparency and oversight.

That includes being careful with the selection of officers, mindful of their training, and having a good policy they can follow, plus accountability, according to Viswanath.

"And we dont have any of those," Viswanath said.

Sense said he believes more guns make communities less safe.

"My perception as a white teacher is that our SROs work hard to build relationships with our kids in Aurora," he said. "Ultimately, what matters is who is having contact with the SROs in a negative and disciplinary way.

Beginning of a new school year

Turner said she cant help but fear the worst.

The statistics are abysmal in how they have not served Black and brown students, she said.

Thats perhaps why theres still so much uncertainty and anxiety. Historically, the interactions between SROs and students of color have not been positive. And the lack of clarity around the role of SROs in DPS is murky at best.

Theres been no clarity from anyone from the district, from the police department, Ashlee said. I dont even know if the school knows what these officers are going to be doing in our community.

Everybodys voice is important, Turner added. Not just the voices that are the loudest.

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AURORA, Colo. Southshore, a neighborhood with spacious homes along the banks of the Aurora Reservoir, seemed like the perfect place to live when Tisha and Bill Foard moved there with their son, Aiden, 9.

It's our forever home, Tisha said. Our block is our family.

Now, across their block, yard signs show the community is coming together for a new reason: shared concerns about oil and gas wells planned nearby.

You don't expect to buy a house in a nice community, and then have [oil] wells put in your backyards, Bill said.

But when your backyard sits atop a wealth of oil and gas, its fair game for Colorado's oil and gas producers.

In the next few years, one of the states biggest producers, Civitas, plans to drill at least 600 wells along the Front Range. More than a quarter of those, about 170 wells, are planned for just east of Southshore.

We were just shocked, just in awe, that this could even happen so close to communities with families and homes and children and school buildings, said Tisha.

The Foards and their neighbors are worried about potential health risks and environmental harm if the drilling plans move forward. So, they created a group called Save the Aurora Reservoir to push back. Almost 1,500 people have joined their group on Facebook.

Just east of their neighborhood is where Civitas hopes to drill the wells on sprawling prairie lands known as the Lowry Ranch. The Foards thought that land home to pronghorn and other wildlife would stay undeveloped.

We were told by our builder, no one would build on that side of the lake. And I always called it the wild side, Tisha said.

But the Lowry Ranch is far more open to development than Tisha thought. Colorados State Land Board owns the land and minerals, and rents it out to companies, including oil and gas producers.

It's been leased here for oil and gas development for almost 100 years already, said Kristin Kemp, a spokesperson for the land board.

Our job is to lease out trust land located all around the state, Kemp said. The rent we collect helps fund public schools.

Most of those funds, about 80%, come from oil and gas production.

In the last 10 years, leasing from oil and gas operations out here has generated more than $200 million, Kemp said.

Some of that money came from Civitas, which already operates on the Lowry Ranch. In 2020, Civitas acquired an existing lease for several wells from the energy giant ConocoPhillips. Civitas included those operating wells in its proposal to drill more wells on the property.

Families like the Foards worry expanded oil and gas operations could contaminate their homes and the water they rely on.

The Aurora Reservoir is part of a water supply that serves more than 400,000 people. On hot summer days, its a much-loved spot for water sports. Its also a feature that attracted many of Southshores homebuyers.

Civitas website says, in the unlikely event of a spill, fluids would flow away from the reservoir.

But mistakes can happen. Earlier this year, Civitas was fracking a well just a few miles north of Southshore when contaminated water spilled out onto the well pad, according to a report filed by the company with the states regulatory agency, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission. Civitas said it contained most of that spill to the well pad. But the spill contaminated some soil surrounding the pad, which the company had to remove.

It's been really disheartening to have everyone say, Oh, you're safe. You're safe, Tisha said. But what about the Firestone explosion? What about all the record numbers of spills you had last year? When do we take into account that human error occurs?

Civitas did not respond to Denver7s specific questions or interview requests. But the companys public affairs manager, Rich Coolidge, said in an emailed statement, Colorado operators have decades of best practices and redundant layers of water protection on top of the nations strictest regulations that safeguard our states water supplies.

Dan Haley, who represents the states oil and gas industry as the president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), said companies like Civitas are taking the necessary steps to operate safely.

I understand the concerns people have anytime anything is happening near you, Haley said. This is a vital resource that we all need every single day. And we're doing it here in Colorado cleaner, better and safer than most anywhere on the planet.

Haley said the industry is aware of community concerns about possible health risks.

We take all that very seriously, Haley said. We don't want anything to happen to our employees, much less the communities.

COGA says there are no anticipated long-term health impacts, including cancer, for people living near oil and natural gas development, based on studies by Colorado's top public health agency.

But several studies by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and other scientific researchers, have found a link between fracking and health problems, especially for children.

For example, kids living within one and a quarter miles from an oil and gas well are two to three times more likely to develop leukemia. Another risk: pregnant women living near active wells are more prone to extreme preterm birth and low birth weight babies.

The science is very, very clear. There are higher risks, much higher health risks, anytime fracking is near a community, Tisha said. It feels really awful and unfair.

For the Foards, those fears are amplified. Their son, Aiden, 9, has childhood absence epilepsy. Some studies suggest a link between fracking and neurological symptoms in children, which Tisha worries could be more severe for Aiden, given his condition.

The risks are just really astronomical, Tisha said.

With so many fears, the Foards plan to join their neighbors in opposing the oil and gas expansion over the coming years as Civitas seeks permit approval from the state and Arapahoe County.

That community feedback led the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners to consider pausing new oil and gas drilling. But after several public meetings, the board voted to accept new drilling proposals like this one.

Arapahoe County is currently preparing for future oil and gas operations by creating new regulations. The board will hold its next public meeting about those changes in October.

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The just-released statewide real estate report shows a very different home sales picture in Colorado from just one year ago. Fewer for sale signs are popping up in what is the typically the busier spring-summer season.

What stands out in the latest Colorado Association of Realtors report is the lower demand for homes.

If you're driving around your neighborhood going, gosh, there sure are a lot less houses for sale than maybe there was in previous months or previous years, youre definitely now wrong, said Matt LePerino, spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors.

In May 2023, about a third fewer homes sold compared to May 2022.

And whats interesting with that is only about 20% fewer properties came on the market, said LePerino. that means that there's just not as many coming on the market and they're not being absorbed all that quickly.

Looking at new listings in Colorado for the month of May there were 8,678 single family homes on the market compared to May 2022 when there were 11,198 new single family home listings.

Thats a 22.5% decrease from one year ago.

LePrino points out the statistics are relative when trying to compare the current market to the past couple of years, but a glance at May 2019 before the pandemic and unprecedented hot market, there were 12,962 new single-family home listings.

Another potential sign of slowing demand in the market is a drop in the number of Denver homes sold. In May, there were just 542 single-family homes sold which is a 19% drop from the 767 homes sold in May 2022.

Across the state, In May of this year there were 6,565 single family homes sold in Colorado which is 24% down from the 8,651 homes sold in May 2022.

Homes are also staying on the market much longer in Colorado. In May, single-family homes were on the market for an average of 40 days which is an 82% increase from the average of 22 days on the market in May 2022.

Denver County also saw homes staying on the market longer than this time last year. Single-family homes were on the market an average of 17 days compared to the 7 days in May 2022 in Denver County. That is a 143% increase in the time on market until sold.

The decreases also show up in the median sales price for a single-family home. Across the state, the median price in May 2023 was $575,000 which is down 3% from $595,150 in May 2022. In Denver County, the median sales price on a single-family home was $713,750 which is also down from $730,000 in May 2022.

How is the current market trend impacting buying and selling real estate in Colorado? LePrino said despite the recent increase in interest rates, historically-speaking, rates are relatively-speaking still low and there are still incentives for buyers and sellers to jump into the market.

"If you have to be a seller, remember, you have to be a buyer also, right? And so for buyers right now, it may not be the most desirable time to sell, but it's an excellent time to buy because those prices really have altered their course," said LePrino. "I would say don't be scared of the market where it might be slightly undesirable on one side ever so slightly, you're going to reap those benefits being on the buyer side. So the two really do balance each other out right now, especially in the metro area."

And if you remember the insanity of the recent hot real estate market in Colorado, there is some peace of mind to be found looking for a home in this changing market.

"If you don't have to sell and you're a buyer right now, you get to enjoy a much more peaceful and enjoyable process right now," said LePrino. "

PUEBLO, Colo. Air travel has come roaring back since the pandemic but not necessarily through the same airports people were flying pre-pandemic.

The Regional Airline Association says smaller airports in the U.S. lost 34% of their flight traffic since pre-COVID. In this special Denver7 360 report, we'll look at the dynamic, shifting state of commercial airports in Colorado.

Some are going gangbusters. Some have become casualties of the changing air travel landscape including Pueblo, Colorado.

Pueblo Memorial Airport was busy during our Monday afternoon visit. However, none of the people there were traveling that day.

They were all there to eat at Pete's In and Out, which is located inside the airport and apparently serves the best burger in town.

Lunchtime is always busy at Pete's. The rest of the airport is a different story.

Pueblo is an easy target. A down-on-its-luck, once-thriving steel mill town that is among the poorest in the state. So when news broke last year that its small airport was losing its only commercial carrier, the public response was, largely, a shrug.

"We usually just drive to Colorado Springs or Denver and fly out of there," said Pueblo resident Emma Fisher.

Pueblo was among 29 small airports recently dropped by United Airlines contractor Skywest. Before that, and before COVID infected the airline industry, Skywest was flying 24 weekly round trips from Pueblo to Denver in 50-seat regional jets, which the airport says were 80% full on average.

But over the past three years, the number of Skywest flights dwindled to an unreliable trickle.

When asked if he ever flies out of his hometown airport, Pueblo resident Mike Hartcop said: "The connections are so obscure. You get stuck in Denver sometimes overnight and it's not worth it."

Elmer Villalong, a frequent flier and fellow Puebloan, said he flies out of Denver and rarely Pueblo.

"I have in the past but there were concerns of when the plane left and when it would return," he said.

On January 14, Skywest flew its last flight out of PUB, the airport code for Pueblo Memorial.

"Well, it's been a frustrating last few years," says PUB Director of Aviation Greg Pedroza.

But Pedroza isn't down about the state of his airport. He's downright bullish.

"Here in Pueblo, we're excited that we're starting with a new airline," he said.

The day after Skywest flew its last flight out of Pueblo, commuter airline Southern Airways Express flew its first. Pedroza said that this airline is a good first step for the longevity of the airport.

Southern Airways will fly 24 flights to Denver each week on nine-passenger propeller planes. Pedroza said it's important to give those who live in Pueblo the option to fly local and not deal with potential complications of I-25 traffic to Colorado Springs or to Denver.

Here's the rest of Pedroza's sales pitch:

Southern Airways charges $49 for the 45-minute flight to Denver. The Pueblo airport has free parking. And this next point especially if you ever fly out of Denver International Airport is strong: The only planes now flying out of Pueblo carry nine passengers, so there can never be more than eight people in front of you in the TSA security line.

Regional jets just aren't in the cards for small airports these days. Jets are expensive to operate. Jet fuel prices have tripled over the past three years. Regional jets hold an average of 76 passengers and use 30 percent more fuel per passenger than larger jets, which carry an average of 159 passengers. Flying bigger jets into bigger airports means bigger profits.

Southern Airways only started flying out of Pueblo in mid-January, so it's too early to tell if the small-prop-planes-to-Denver model will keep PUB afloat.

Airline industry expert Steve Cowell said he doesn't think it will.

"There's just too few people and Colorado Springs is just too close," he said. Cowell believes Pueblo's days as a commercial airport are just about over.

As Cowell argues, the Colorado Springs Airport, COS, is only a 45-minute drive north from Pueblo. And the airport is booming. It has four airlines American, Delta, United and Southwest flying to nine nonstop cities daily.

Sun Country airline will begin flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul in June. Between 2,500 and 3,500 people fly out of Colorado Springs daily. In December 2022, 80,485 passengers enplaned there, a 27% increase over December 2019.

"We saw over a million enplanements which ended the year with our highest level of enplanements since 2000, said Dana Schield, Senior Public Communications Specialist with the Colorado Springs Airport.

Colorado Springs is among the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., and, by some estimates, its population is expected to surpass Denver's by 2050. COS is drawing up a 20-year plan now to address that growth.

"Colorado Springs airport had a strong 2022 and 2023 is on track to be as strong if not stronger," Schield said.

Remember how we said U.S. airlines are slashing service to smaller airports like Pueblo? The exception to that rule is also here in Colorado, in the mountain town airports. While final numbers for 2022 are still being scratched together, Aspen, Durango, Eagle County, Gunnison, Hayden and Montrose appeared on-pace to be near or set passenger records for last year.

Cowell agrees the future is bright for these airports.

Now to the curious case of Northern Colorado Regional airport in Loveland, FNL. It is furiously trying to build a new $20 million, 19,000-square-foot terminal. The airport received nearly $17 million in federal COVID relief grants for it. Its chipping in a couple million dollars and the cities of Loveland and Ft. Collins, which co-own the airport, will pony up a million each.

Here's the curious part: All that money is to build a new terminal at an airport that has no commercial air service. Its last airline pulled out last year. FNL has a bus to Denver International. That's it. But airport leaders insist that if they get a new, bigger terminal, the airlines will come.

Cowell concedes the population can support it. But whether the flying public chooses to fly out of Loveland, a 50-minute drive to DIA, remains to be seen.

In our special 360 report on Colorado's commercial airports, perhaps we should at least mention DIA. It's the third busiest airport in the United States and sixth busiest in the world, with more than 69 million passengers coming through each year. It provides 215 nonstop destinations to 190 domestic airports and 13 countries. And it's the largest hub for Frontier, Southwest and United.

DIA projects it will be serving 100 million passengers a year in just seven years.

"I think Denver International is going to continue to be one of the leading airports in the country and in the world in terms of passenger travel," Cowell added.

Editor's Note:

360@Denver7.com

this form

here

DENVER, BOULDER and LONGMONT, Colo. In late spring 1974, a car exploded in Boulder. Another soon followed. Six young people were killed; a seventh was seriously injured. They came to be known as

The Boulder Six.

It's been 49 years since the deaths of those activists in Colorado's Chicano movement, but their legacy lives on.

In a three-part special report, Denver7 spoke with family members, historians, archivists and University of Colorado Boulder students. They explain how Coloradans are preserving the history of

and retelling the story today to honor the lives lost and keep the fight for equity alive.

Nestled at the foot of the Flatirons, tucked between cottages and hiking trails, Boulder's Chautauqua Park is known for its beauty. But that picturesque place was also the scene of an explosion that killed six Chicano activitists and left a community in turmoil.

Almost 50 years ago, a car exploded in Chautauqua in Boulder, taking the lives of aspiring teacher Neva Romero, lawyer Reyes Martinez and University of Colorado Boulder graduate Una Jaakola.

Less than 48 hours later, a second car bomb killed poet Heriberto Teran, activist Florencio Freddy Granado and aspiring doctor Francisco Dougherty. Another man, Antonio Alcantar, survived but was seriously injured.

The six who died became known as

The Boulder Six.

The deadly explosions struck fear into Colorados Chicano movement. Federal and local law enforcement agencies investigated, but no one was ever charged.

The mystery and the unsolved nature of it has a draw, said Michelle Steinwand, the sister of Una Jaakola, one of the car bombing victims. Why didn't this get the attention it needed? Why wasn't this investigated appropriately? Why wasn't there resolution?

But for Steinwand and other family, friends, historians, archivists and CU Boulder students, preserving that history and retelling the story today is less about the unanswered questions, and more about keeping the fight for equity alive.

The young people who died were fighting to open the doors to education for Chicanos, people of Mexican descent born in the U.S.

A lot of people don't know that Colorado was really a hotbed of Chicano activism on par with places like Texas and Los Angeles, said Nicki Gonzales, Colorados first Latina state historian.

But when the car bombs went off in May 1974, the violent deaths had a chilling effect on the movement.

Many of the activists felt demoralized, Gonzales said. It was such a traumatic event and as a Chicano community, we still carry that with us.

For decades, the story of

was a painful memory for those close to the victims. But the history was not well known by most Coloradans.

The lives of

and the states other Chicano activists are now on display at Denvers History Colorado museum, which Gonzales helped put together.

We have memorialized people who in their pursuit of justice were tenacious, Gonzales said. For later generations to look at these panels and to see leaders from their own community is a great inspiration for continued movements for educational access and equity, she said.

In the 1960s and 1970s, students in Boulder led the movement for educational equity in Colorados universities. The student group United Mexican American Students, or UMAS, protested and occupied campus buildings to demand financial aid and higher enrollment of Chicanos.

On the CU Boulder campus today, library archivists like Megan Friedel are working to preserve that history.

Through the historical documents, Friedel hopes that students and others in the community can get a fuller picture of the student activism that was happening before and after the bombings.

For Steinwand, who lost her sister in the bombings, it means a lot that historians, archivists and others in the community are recognizing

.

"Una and her friends were very committed to higher education for everyone, Steinwand said. So many of the efforts that my sister and her friends and colleagues were involved in are the efforts that we still need to be involved with today.

Two car bombings, less than 48 hours apart almost 50 years ago, are still shaking the lives of Coloradans today.

The first bomb went off in Boulders Chautauqua Park, taking the lives of aspiring teacher Neva Romero, lawyer Reyes Martinez and his girlfriend Una Jaakola.

Then a second explosion killed poet Heriberto Teran, activist Florencio Freddy Granado and aspiring doctor Francisco Dougherty. Another man, Antonio Alcantar, survived but was seriously injured.

While I grew up knowing this story, there's a lot of people who have no idea that this happened, said Antonio Lopez, the nephew of one of the bomb victims, lawyer Reyes Martinez.

Lopez and other family members of those who died continue to mourn their loss, and to share their stories.

Lopez is a folk musician and his songs reflect the Chicano communitys place in Colorado.

Our history in this area goes back for so long, Lopez said. But, he said, a lot of the Chicano history has just been erased and bulldozed over... so inevitably, it's the stuff that seeps into my art.

Reyes and his brother Francisco Kiko Martinez were both lawyers.

They figured that that could be one of the best ways to help people and just help the cause, Lopez said.

But Reyes' time as a lawyer was brief.

They were young people who had a very full life ahead of them with dreams and professional aspirations, and their lives were cut short by tragedy, Lopez said.

ranged in age from 21 to 32 at the time of their deaths. The deadly explosions shattered their burgeoning careers and separated them from their families.

Lopez never had the chance to meet his uncle.

He was always kind of a mythical figure to me growing up, Lopez said.

A similar experience to that of Florencio Granado, who was named for his father, but born just a few months after the young man died.

"Since I was a little boy, people came up to me and said, Oh my god, you're Florencio's son. I just love the way he spoke and talked and connected with his people,'" Florencio said.

He credits his mother, Georgiana Archuleta, his uncles and Chicano movement scholars and activists like Ricardo Romero and Priscilla Falcon, for teaching him about his father.

I just wouldn't know about what he did, and what they stood for, Granado said.

Florencio Granado once marched 100 miles from Pueblo to Denver to call attention to the struggles of farm workers.

"They cared about the people, Granado said. I respect them. I honor them.

For Granado and Lopez, the fight of their lost ancestors is one that lives on today.

It's not a Hollywood or Walt Disney story of now they're martyrs and now there's equity, Lopez said. "It's sad to say a lot of what they fought for, people are facing the exact same thing decades later.

Like Gabby Mejia, a current CU Boulder student getting her degree in Film, a majority of those who died in the bombings were part of a CU Boulder student group known as UMAS United Mexican American Students.

"I kind of wanted to look for people before me that were dealing with the same things I was dealing with and

came up, said Mejia, who recently made a documentary about the car bomb victims as part of her studies at CU Boulder.

I could still feel the legacy they left of the activism and fighting for what was right, she said.

Before the bombs went off, UMAS was pressuring the university for financial aid and higher enrollment of Chicanos. The students were occupying Temporary Building One, also known as TB-1.

"They were just fighting for financial aid and space. And they died for it, Mejia said.

After the bombings, federal and local law enforcement agencies investigated, but no one was ever charged.

The FBI called the victims very active militants and claimed, the occupation of TB-1 and the disagreement between UMAS and the administration was the primary reason for the bomb that exploded, according to official reports.

They determined nothing. So, it's still, for me, an open case. And I personally believe these students were victims, Mejia said.

Today, outside of TB-1, students like Mejia can reflect on what happened with a tangible reminder of the lives lost.

Jasmine Baetz and Celina Jara Tovar were art students at CU Boulder when they built a memorial honoring

in 2019.

"The real intention was to honor and remember publicly, visibly, Los Seis de Boulder, Baetz said. There's such an ahistorical way that you can exist on this campus and cruise through four years, or however many years you're here, without having any sense of what happened here. And that's such a loss for everyone who was here.

Baetz and Jara Tovar brought together hundreds of people to build the mosaic.

"I believe art can not only share histories that are often ignored, but the way that it brings community and others together to me is a way of healing, Jara Tovar said.

But that healing was almost cut short when university officials decided the monument would be temporary.

We had to fight for this to stay here, Mejia said.

Student protests, as reported by CBS Colorado, led the university to make the art piece permanent.

"For me, it's a reminder to stay strong. It's a reminder that people were here before me, that people were here fighting before me, Mejia said.

But the story of

is also a reminder for Mejia that not much has changed.

"It's hard, especially in a predominantly white institution, she said.

In the 1960s and 70s, UMAS biggest fight was for parity. The group wanted the number of Chicano students at CU Boulder to proportionately reflect the population of Mexican Americans in Colorado. For example, if 30% of people in the state were Mexican American, UMAS argued that 30% of the students on campus should be Mexican American.

But disparities still exist today. Roughly 35% of students in Colorado public schools were Hispanic during the 2021 to 2022 school year. Whereas only 12% of students enrolled at CU Boulder in 2022 were Latino. And paying for college continues to be a struggle.

I'm still fighting for financial aid. I'm fighting to be heard and seen," Mejia said. I am fighting so hard that sometimes I have a target on my back. And I've been scared to come to campus some days because of harassment from other students for standing up for myself.

But when Mejia walks past the memorial and Temporary Building One, the activism of her ancestors on campus gives her strength.

"It always makes the fight worth it, she said.

A special thanks to the following institutions for providing archival materials:

Homeowners in the Denver metro area and across Colorado staring down massive increases in property taxes have a limited window to appeal property valuations as the deadline to protest is quickly approaching.

Based on state statute, county assessors in Colorado revalue every residential and commercial property based upon what theyre worth as of June 30 of every even-numbered year.

In late April, nine metro Denver assessors came together to warn of an "historic" bump in home values that could lead to homeowners paying significantly more taxes in 2024.

At the beginning of May, as property valuations became available, reality struck many homeowners who have been shocked by their new appraisals.

Many experts across the political spectrum are anything but surprised.

Scott Wasserman, president of the Bell Policy Center, a left-leaning policy organization, points to several key factors impacting property appraisals in Colorado in a historic fashion, beginning with the repeal of the Gallagher amendment in 2020.

From 1982 until 2020, when Coloradans residential home values went up, the assessment rate went down and the business side, the non-residential side, would go up to compensate, Wasserman said.

When we got rid of the Gallagher amendment in 2020, that meant that when residential home values go up, so will residential property values, he added.

And they have.

In some cases, residential property values in the Denver region have skyrocketed between 35 and 45%, according to a report from Denver metro assessors.

Property owners in mountain communities have seen an even higher increase in valuations, in some cases jumping 60 to 80%.

Before becoming the representative for House District 45, State Rep. Lisa Frizell was the Douglas County Assessor. The Republican lawmaker was in the assessor's office back in 2009 during the Great Recession and told Denver7 she is worried about Coloradans paying property taxes on a depreciating home.

"Colorado's property tax policy is really geared for appreciating values because we value tax in arrears," Rep. Frizell said. "So you get your notice in May, looking backward, and usually you're like, you know, while my home is actually worth more than that in an appreciating market, in a depreciating market, you're paying taxes on a value that literally no longer exists. And that's devastating for homeowners and renters."

Homeowners have been paying taxes based upon June 2020 home values, which was during the pandemic when home prices were lower. This time around, property assessments have been calculated using home values in June 2022, when home prices were close to peaking in Colorado.

With no Gallagher Amendment available to offer a reprieve for homeowners, frustrated property owners and experts worry the big jump could lead to a crisis if nothing is done.

Gov. Jared Polis and legislators have shared a proposed change that, if adopted by lawmakers and voters in November, would allow taxpayers to deduct $40,000 from their appraised value and would slightly decrease the tax rate from the current 6.75% to 6.7%.

Here's a hypothetical example of what that could mean for taxpayers, from Denver7 reporter Rob Harris.

Let's say in June 2020, a home in Douglas County was valued at $545,000. Then in June 2022, the estimated property valuation jumped to $780,000 an eye-opening 43% increase. That means the hypothetical homeowner in Douglas County would be looking at a $2,152 tax increase under Colorado law.

Allowing a homeowner to deduct $40,000 from their appraised value would also decrease the tax rate, slightly decreasing the pain leaving them owing $1,858 in property tax.

In this case, under the proposed legislative change, the taxpayer would be looking at saving around $300.

While politicians work on finding relief for worried homeowners, many readers and viewers have asked Denver7 to follow up on what property tax relief options are available. Weve also received questions about how to file an appeal on your Colorado property assessment.

While the process to appeal property values is similar no matter where your home is located in Colorado, this story will give homeowners property tax appeal details specific to Denver metro counties.

Well also share contact information for each office of the county assessor in Colorado including phone numbers, plus more details about each countys assessors specific process.

First, no matter where you call home in Colorado, theres one deadline to protest your property values: June 8, 2023.

The window to file an appeal on property assessments opened on May 1 and homeowners have less than three weeks to file an appeal in Colorado.

Overall, there are resources available to help property owners who generally have three options when protesting property values. Filing an appeal online with most assessor offices is generally a straightforward process with supporting FAQs often available. Assessor websites allow property owners to search property information, find mill levy information and search interactive maps showing property value changes in the Denver metro area.

An online form can be printed and mailed to the county assessors office or can be downloaded and emailed.

Completed property value protest forms can also be delivered in-person. In Denver, appeals can be dropped off at the Assessment Division inside the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building at 201 W. Colfax Avenue.

Denver also has a protest phone line at 720-913-4164 for people with questions about filing an appeal.

Some counties also have drop box locations to deliver appeal documents. Arapahoe County lists five locations, two of which are in Aurora. Scroll down to find drop box locations across the metro.

Denver7 spoke to several county assessors in the state about how to best prepare a protest and what helps homeowners file a successful appeal.

The reasons to appeal what is in the appraisal generally falls into two categories: a discrepancy with the physical characteristics of the property and proof that similar properties have actually sold for less than what is shown in the assessors valuation.

Denvers county assessor offers this advice: First, review your statement and ensure the basic numbers are correct, then consider property issues the county assessor might not be aware of.

Many property owners know their properties quite well, certainly better than the assessors do. We can't visit each and every property every two years, so we do rely on a bit of collaboration with the property owner, said Denver County Assessor Keith Erffmeyer. Any appeal we would look for, you know, reasoning as to why that particular property owner feels the value is excessive.

An early look at numbers show around 3,700 property owners had so far appealed their valuations in 2023, according to numbers provided this week to Denver7 by the assessor's office in Denver.

While there were only 8,716 total appeals during the last appraisal period in 2021, the assessor's office said 2019 was a more typical year when the the city and county of Denver received 13,038 appeals. That number included appeals from residential, commercial and property owners.

The assessor's office in Denver said it expected to see the majority of appeals during the week leading up to June 8.

Over in Arapahoe County, assessor PK Kaiser recently told Denver7 his office had seen a minimum amount of property owners hand-delivering appeals with most valuation protests coming in online.

Arapahoe County residents now receive a QR code with their property valuation that can help save time when drafting an appeal.

"When our homeowners are appealing their values, we want them to make sure that they provide us very quantitative information," Kaiser said. They can reach to the property page, where we put the five houses we compare their house with and see if those houses are correctly described there. If they are not OK with that, they can ask us and we will provide the complete list of the houses sold in their neighborhood.

Remember, the proposed valuations are based upon the market in June 2022, not what your home is currently valued at by searching on real estate home websites like Redfin and Zillow.

We have accurate information about your house and about the neighborhood and county as a whole, Kaiser said. We are happy to help online, in person, by mail, phone, fax, email, by video conference. Any possible opportunity at this point, we are keeping it open for our homeowners."

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A PROPERTY TAX APPEAL IS DENIED?

There are several steps available to Colorado property and homeowners if a protest has been rejected by the county assessor's office. Once a notice of determination is received, a property owner can then appeal the valuation to the county's Board of Equalization.

Before deciding to take a property tax assessment appeal to the district court, property owners in Colorado can file an appeal before the Board of Assessement Appeals, which is a state-level government board.

Arbitration is another step that can help settle a disagreement between homeowners and the county, but an arbitrator's decision is final, according to the Colorado Judicial Branch.

The infographic below shows a snapshot of how property values shot up in different Denver metro regions. You can view it in full by clicking here and then scroll below to find more specific details on how to appeal home values in each county.

Adams County saw a median increase in residential property valuations of around 38% and a 42% change in general commercial valuations.

County Deputy Assessor Tom Swingle said in a release: Adams County experienced significant increases in value reflecting the strong economic conditions across the Denver Metro area. The Assessors Office encourages property owners to review their accounts online to make sure the details of their property are listed correctly.

Property owners can file a notice of valuation online appeal in Adams County at this link using the account number found at the top left of the valuation form.

For researching an appeal, Adams County has a full residential master sales list and an interactive map to search residential comparable sales.

To keep track of dates and deadlines, Adams County has this appeals calendar that tracks each step in the process.

Other forms, including senior property tax exemption forms, can be found here.

HOW TO APPEAL RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUE IN ARAPAHOE COUNTY

In Arapahoe County, there was a median residential increase in values of 42% and a 22% change for commercial property.

The areas within Arapahoe County with the largest gains in residential property value were Aurora, Littleton, and Englewood, said Arapahoe County Assessor PK Kaiser. Single-family residential properties with the greatest level of demand and highest percentage increases were found in the lower price tiers while the market for higher value homes was slightly softer, resulting in moderate percentage increases.

Arapahoe County has a full page of online resources and steps to help property owners navigate the 2023 appeals process including property search tools and the online protest form to use through June 8.

Arapahoe County also has an interactive map allowing homeowners to check average home sales prices in the assessment period in their own neighborhoods.

Arapahoe County encourages residents to schedule a phone appeal appointment via email or by calling the assessors office at 303-795-4600. Walk-in services are available only through May 19.

Heres information on how to reach the Arapahoe County Assessors Office, including walk-in appointment guidance for its two locations and updated phone numbers and hours of operation.

Property owners in Arapahoe County looking to drop off an appeal form can do so at these drop boxes:

Boulder County saw a median increase in residential property valuations of around 35% and a 41% change in general commercial valuations.

Boulder County continues to be a desirable place to live and work. The latest property values recognize the desirability of the county and the strength of the real estate market during the appraisal period which ended June 30, 2022, said Boulder County Assessor Cynthia Braddock. We encourage property owners to double-check their property information and review comparable property sales via our website. If they find any errors or disagree with the values they are encouraged to file an appeal by the June 8 deadline."

The appeal form for Boulder County, which can be found here, can be emailed to assessor@bouldercounty.org or faxed to 303-441-4996. Boulder County also has three dropbox locations for protest forms located in the downtown Boulder Courthouse in Longmont or in Lafayette.

Boulder Countys list of comparable sales and residential sales look up tools can be found at this link using the account number found in your property assessment documents.

The Boulder County Assessors Office also has a YouTube video further explaining the Senior Homestead Property Tax exemption and more information about who qualifies and how much relief is offered under the exemption.

In Broomfield County, there was a median residential increase in values of 41% and a 20% change for commercial property.

The City and County of Broomfield experienced significant increases due to a strong real estate market. We recommend property owners review their Notice of Valuations as soon as they are received and to contact the Assessors Office with any questions on that valuation, said City and County of Broomfield Assessor Jay Yamashita. Sales used for analysis in the valuation process will be available on Broomfield.org on May 1, 2023.

Broomfield County property owners who disagree with their assessment can appeal via email, in person or by mail.

Broomfield County has posted documents and an Excel spreadsheet showing the single-family home sales used in the 2023 reappraisal.

Completed appeal forms can be emailed to assessor@broomfield.org and the county urges property owners to use the read receipt function to ensure proof the appeal form was filed on time. Emailed appeal forms must be received by Broomfield County by midnight on June 8.

Property valuation protests can be mailed to:

They can be delivered in person at the Citizen Assistance Center at One DesCombes Drive, Broomfield, CO 80020.

Across nine metro counties, Denver had one of the lower median residential valuation increases at 33% and commercial properties showed a 17% change.

We understand what a significant percentage change some of our homeowners and business owners may face in value. We do not know yet what property taxes will be and while we work hard to do a thorough assessment, we want property owners to take a close look at what they receive and tell us if they believe we havent gotten their value right, said City and County of Denver Assessor Keith Erffmeyer.

Denver property owners can find their information in the property taxation and assessment system.

Included with the property information is a link to protest the assessment. A completed and signed property value protest form can be mailed to:

Forms can be emailed to assmt.protest@denvergov.org and a protest line is open for property owners with questions about the appeal process at 720-913-4164.

In Denver County, all necessary assessors forms can be found on this website which includes a way to search property records, track property value trends in Denver and apply for a senior property tax exemption.

In the Denver metro region, Douglas County showed some of the highest median residential property valuation increases at 47% with a 19% change in general commercial property valuations.

Due to our quality of life and strong economic foundations, and we are accustomed to consistent population growth and intense demand for real estate. In this reappraisal period, however, Douglas County experienced the largest increase in the residential property market since it has been tracked, said Douglas County Assessor Toby Damisch. This situation underscores the dire need for a policy change at the state level that protects Colorado homeowners and businesses.

On the Douglas County Assessors Office website, homeowners can search property information by address and then appeal the valuation.

A Douglas County real property appeal form is available for download here and can be mailed to:

Residents in Douglas County can also meet with an appraiser, either in-person or virtually, and appointments can be made through June 8 by calling 303-660-7450.

Elbert County saw a median increase in residential property valuations of 35% and a 30% change in general commercial valuations.

Elbert Countys western portion of the county continues to be a growing, bedroom community to the metropolitan districts along the Front Range, said Elbert County Assessor Susan Murphy.

The Countys overall rural lifestyle and quality of life, combined with a shift towards remote work and the transportation options provided by Highway 86, Interstate 70, and Highway 24 continue to make Elbert County a desirable place for real estate buyers," Murphy said.

Elbert Countys website has a slew of links and information to help homeowners appeal their valuation, including this tool to research properties and review data used in the 2023 reappraisal.

To appeal by writing, Elbert County requests including the estimate of property value as of June 30, 2022, and all the supporting documentation to be mailed to:

To appeal online, follow this link for the application form and necessary instructions.

Emailed forms can also be sent to appeals@elbertcounty-co.gov.

In Jefferson County, the median residential increase was 36.5% and the general commercial valuation change was 20%.

Thirty-six percent is a big number. If you have not been following the local real estate market, it might be a shocking number, said Jefferson County Assessor Scot Kersgaard. For most people, property taxes probably will not go up by anything close to 36%. While I am disappointed that the legislature has not yet acted to moderate the effect values will have on taxes, there is every indication it will do so before tax bills are mailed early next year.

Jefferson County recommends homeowners file a valuation appeal sooner than later.

"The last few days of the appeal period are often very busy and you may experience delays," the assessors website notes.

Residential property records in Jefferson County can be searched at this link.

And the county offers an information line at 303-271-8666 to help residents look up information for up to three residences.

An appeal in Jefferson County can be filed online or mailed to:

Appeal forms can also be placed in a dropbox located in the Jefferson County Administration and Courts Facility.

Larimer County saw a median increase in residential property valuations of 40% and a 41% change in general commercial valuations.

The countys scenic parks, trails, open spaces, and proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park have contributed to Larimer County becoming somewhat of a Zoom town, for people who use technology to work remotely while being close to these amenities, said Larimer County Assessor Bob Overbeck. We have fairly robust connectivity in urban areas with connectivity in outlying areas also improving.

There are five steps in Larimer Countys online process and it can be finished in just under 15 minutes, according to the assessors website.

Larimer County offers phone consultations or in-person appointments to help with property valuation. Those can be scheduled at this link.

Appeal forms can be faxed to 970-489-7070, emailed to LCAssessor@co.larimer.co.us, or mailed to the assessors office:

A secure dropbox is also located at the Larimer County Administrative Services Building and residents can also fill out a protest form in person Monday through Friday at 200 W. Oak St. in Fort Collins.

The Larimer County Assessors Office also posted an explainer video to help property owners with their valuation and protest forms.

In 2000, Colorado Referendum A was passed, allowing qualifying Colorado seniors over age 65 to have 50% of the first $200,000 in actual value removed from the property tax of their primary residence.

The senior property tax exemption is also available for surviving spouses of seniors who have previously qualified. The application deadline for a senior property tax exemption is July 15. In most cases, Colorado seniors should use the short form application if they are 65 years of age or older.

There is a long-form application for exemptions to the ownership and occupancy requirements.

For seniors looking to file a property tax exemption, here are the short-form applications by county:

Disabled veterans in Colorado can get 50% of the first $200,000 value of their home exempted from property tax. The exemption is for the veteran's primary residence as of Jan. 1.

To qualify, disabled veterans must have been honorably discharged. Disabled veterans who are compensated 100% and are not employable do not qualify for the property tax exemption, according to the state's website.

Gold Star spouses can also qualify for a property tax exemption.

Property tax exemption applications for both disabled veterans and Gold Star spouses are due July 1 at the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The state said due to a high volume of applications, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs in Colorado will not be able to answer questions about whether applications are approved. It can take four to six weeks to process a property tax exemption for veterans.

For detailed instructions on how to apply, visit the state's website.

We've heard from many homeowners in Colorado who are shocked by their new property values and are worried about how they'll pay their new tax bill. How much has your home's value jumped and what is your new tax bill? What do you think needs to happen to give property owners relief? What changes should be made in the way in which Colorado assesses and taxes property? Share your story with Denver7 using the form below to have your voice heard in our coverage.

Overall economic uncertainty and an increase in property taxes continued to impact Denvers real estate market in April in a number of key factors, leading to fewer available homes for potential buyers as homeowners hold onto current mortgages with lower interest rates.

The monthly Denver Metro Association of Realtors report showed in April, new listings fell nearly 7 percent from March with 4,758 available properties, which is also a decline of almost 31 percent from April 2022.

"The spring market is really sluggish. We were expecting it to have a better start of the year and we are really lacking inventory right now," Libby Levinson-Katz, Denver realtor and DMAR Market Trends Committee Chair told Denver7.

This time of year typically we see inventory start creeping up and we just arent right now."

As buyers, sellers and realtors in Denver try to make sense of the current economic picture and how spring real estate market will play out, the report also showed the metro area continued to see a drop in the median home price from this time last year.

In April, however, Denver metros median home price rose by $14,000 to $580,000 from $566,000 in March.

The median home price in Denver is still nearly $37,000 less that it was at this time last year.

While the report showed a mixed-bag of statistics for buyers and sellers, Denver real estate experts highlighted the lack of inventory as a main force driving the spring housing market.

We have been eagerly waiting to see how the spring market would perform and unfortunately, inventory remains extremely tight as homes go off the market almost as quickly at they become available, said Katz.

It's a consideration for many Coloradans thinking about putting their home on the market.

"My advice for sellers if if you're looking at selling your property, it's an amazing time to do that," noted Katz. "There's buyer demand out there. They're just waiting for the right house and yours might be the right house."

An already tight market and decline in inventory is raising come concern as to what the rest of the year has in store for the Denver market.

And as the Feds are again set to raise interest rates by an expected quarter-point Wednesday in an ongoing, aggressive attempt to fight inflation, there is uncertainty how that move will play out in Denvers overall real estate picture.

Adding to the market pressures in Denver are skyrocketing property taxes. Nine Denver metro area county assessors sounded the alarm about unprecedented increases in property values and now homeowners are opening their bills to a shock.

Unfortunately, affordability took a hit with the rollout of tax assessments the last week of April, reflecting sizable increases to property tax bills across the state, Katz said.

Higher tax bills, coupled with increased interest rates are going to have a significant impact on buyers ability to purchas throughout the state, specifically the Denver metro area.She noted the average residential property tax increase in the state was 33 percent with some areas seeing an increase as high as 60 percent.

Alarmed homeowners have been pushing for lawmakers to act and Governor Polis introduced a proposal on Monday he hopes will lower the burden for property owners over the next ten years. The proposal, while offering immediate property tax savings, would need to be approved by voters in November.

'Marry the house, but date the rate'

The unprecedented forces impacting the Denver real estate picture could deter some potential buyers from jumping into the market race, but experts, like Nick Bailey, President and CEO of Re/Max told Denver7, there are still options for buyers beyond the traditional 30-year mortgage.

Buyers should be looking at adjustable rate mortgages that could be lower. Buy down opportunities - first-time home buyers there are programs out there with lower rates, said Bailey.

Right now buyers need to have the mentality that you marry the house but you date the rate.

While not what many potential buyers probably want to hear, real estate experts in Denver continue to preach patience.

"Which is really difficult, especially at this time of year when we're expecting to see a flood of houses," said Katz.

"There's pent up excitement from the winter, tulips are coming up and it's a fun time to start shopping for homes, that grass is greener. Unfortunately, there's not a lot to look at."

The Sean Payton era in Broncos Country has been bathed in silence thus far, but that's what Im here for.

This is a great time for us to go 360 and bring in some unique perspectives to try and figure out what the Broncos might do with their limited resources in this year's draft.

It was a little bit easier 15 years ago, said Payton. The white noise wasnt as loud. Im always charging our coaches and everyone involved with, "Hey, tune out the noise outside."

Payton lives life with ear plugs, and I can see why. When it comes to draft coverage, the lines between information and misinformation are severely blurred.

I present to you two quotes from NFL draft analysts:

I rest my case.

Anyway, weve assembled a rag-tag group of former players and media members to use our special 360 deductive powers and sniff out Paytons plans for this draft.

There are so many talented guys [in the draft], said Robert Griffin III, a former first round pick of the Washington Football franchise. When I talk to these college kids, and theyre like, "Hey, Ive got a second or third round grade. Im going pro," I say, "You know how many second or third round grades got drafted in the seventh round?"

Griffin was the second overall pick in 2012, but he knows there are many diamonds in this rough like KJ Wright, a fourth-round pick who went on to make a Pro Bowl and win a Super Bowl.

You can find undrafted guys to have a phenomenal career, said Wright. Its all about hitting on the right guy. Whats your formula? What are you looking to bring to your football team to take your franchise to a new level?

So that begs the question: who is the "right guy" for this new Broncos culture?

Were going to take the best player, said Broncos GM George Paton when explaining his draft strategy. We were really aggressive in free agency. We wanted to fill as many holes with as many quality players that fit the prototype and fit our culture as we could. They just so happened to be on offense. We feel like we filled a lot of those holes. Now, we can draft the best player. We were good on defense last year, and we still have some talent on defense. We have a foundation. Were not going to stretch to draft a defensive player. Our mindset is to draft the best player, no matter where we are in the draft.

Thats interesting, but not specific enough. Griffin has a few more pointed ideas.

I think they need help at corner, center and defensive line, potentially even running back, he said.

Wright, the former linebacker, thinks defense is the way to go in the draft.

I would go defense. I know they did a phenomenal job last year. Keep adding pieces to that puzzle, he said. I believe for the Broncos, its been a great offseason thus far.

If Im the Broncos, Im scouring the nation for a linebacker that had 100+ tackles the last three years in college, was a team captain and has six-foot size or above, said Broncos Super Bowl champion turned NFL analyst Ryan Harris.

But thats not the only route to glory. Harris thinks Payton could also choose to air it out

Skill positions pop out to me, he said. I think youre going to get either a speedy receiver that dropped a little lower than you thought, or maybe [a guy that] had a second round grade that got into the third round.

In summary, the Broncos could take: a receiver, a linebacker, a running back, a lineman or maybe somebody else who knows!

And every time a new player gets picked, George Patons draft board changes.

You may have an idea in mind of who youd like to get at that pick, but you dont know whos going to be there, said former first round pick Brad Hopkins.

Hopkins summarizes Patons problem perfectly, saying the moment a player falls further than expected into the Broncos territory, their draft preparation essentially goes out the window.

While watching the Broncos make their first picks of 2023, keep this in mind: this is all guess work, from the player evaluation to the draft predictions, to the future extrapolations.

Its all, at best, estimation. And those who are good at it, in my opinion, are case studies in luck rather than skill.

Enjoy the draft!

Editor's Note:

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DENVER The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is making headlines daily.

AI is creating a fast-paced race among tech companies using automation and bots to generate text, images and other content resembling the work of humans.

It sounds kind of apocalyptic the rise of the robots, said Jordan Evans, who uses AI regularly for graphic design.

Denver7 decided to take a 360 In-Depth look at how artificial intelligence is making an impression - both positive and negative - on businesses.

Right now, I love it because Im building my website, said photographer Nick Holmby.

Holmby has figured out that for his business, AI can perform some tasks easier and cheaper.

So graphics, animations, the photographer said. Ive talked to animators who have said thats going to take a long time and cost about $2,000 just to animate my logo. Whereas with Chat GPT, I can essentially kind of do it for free.

His clients, like Alex and Molly, are somewhat excited about it, too.

Its so revolutionary in its ability to understand natural human language, Alex said. I write a lot of software code, and its amazing how you can give it a really detailed prompt of something, and then it actually writes something sensible.

This is a really fast-moving technology, said Shaun Schafer, interim deputy provost for Metropolitan State University of Denver. You just dont know what its going to look like in six months, or six weeks, or four weeks.

I think its going to start displacing a lot of people, Alex said. And thats something we need to plan for, for sure.

So, which professions are most vulnerable? Experts say tech jobs like coders, computer programmers and even web developers are most vulnerable because AI tools can already perform many of those skills.

Hey, this machine does a pretty good job, why dont I use that? Schafer said.

I dont think its Skynet per se, but as far as taking peoples jobs, I think that really is a real risk," said Alex.

Media jobs are also in AIs crosshairs, including advertising, technical writing, journalism and any content creation.

Ive already seen friends get out of the business who do art, Holmby said. People who are basically saying, "Can I get this done with this scene?" And its done in 30 seconds.

Along those same lines, AI could provide short-cuts and assistance to certain jobs like paralegals and financial advisers in manipulating significant amounts of legal information or numerical data.

For paralegals, AI could consume large amounts of info, synthesize it and make it digestible through short legal briefings in a matter of seconds.

Its a tool, and people use tools, Schafer said. Anytime you come across something thats going to make your life easier, why wouldnt you do it?

But the ethics of AI in business are still highly questionable.

My view is this is extremely socially irresponsible, said Julian Friedland, associate professor of business ethics at MSU Denver. Theres been no attempt to bring in the FCC or the Department of Education. To me, this is a textbook case of tech bro brazen irresponsibility.

Friedland is extremely guarded about its uses.

In order to enjoy this freedom that we have, it doesnt come for free, he said. It means that we have to be good for our word. It means we have to be trustworthy and act with great integrity. For me, this is kind of a test a stress-test for capitalism.

That brings us to even more negatives, particularly the use of Chat GPT and other AI apps by students to potentially skate their way through their education without truly learning.

Theres some line thats being crossed here that all of the sudden, a lot of us are starting to get nervous and be like, "Wait a second," said Jeff Loats, director for the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design at MSU Denver.

I just had to spend many hours this weekend writing a new mid-term for my MBA course in law and ethics that was ChatGPT proof, and it wasnt easy, Friedland said.

On the positive side of the argument, the advantages of AI are endless. It can help organizations make faster, more informed decisions and drive down time spent on mundane tasks.

Realtors saying, "Im never going to write the summary of a listing again," Loats said. Why would you, right?

Thats already happening in its current application across some industries. Take, for example, warehouses already using AI-powered robots for sorting and packaging.

AI is also making your online shopping experience more custom to your likes and dislikes. And thanks to AI, Banded Oak and Old 121 Brewing even developed an AI-generated beer.

Ultimately where we ended up was this last prompt which is, what is the next trend in craft beer? said Sam Nicholson, head brewer at Old 121 Brewhouse in Lakewood. Wellness beer is the one that really jumped out to us... This type of beer is often made with ingredients like herbs, spices and fruits with medicinal properties.

We said, "Generate a beer recipe for a wellness beer," and it spit out a five-gallon recipe, said Chris Kirk, head brewer at Banded Oak Brewing Company. We were surprised at how good it actually was. I think its important to get on top of it, figure out the game, because we know its going to be played.

If its delicious, that might be a little scary itself, said Nicholson.

Fear is a great reaction to go, "No, were not going to let you use this. We cant let you use this." Thats not going to work, Schafer said. You cant put that genie back in a bottle. Its out!

Editor's Note:

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Its a question Coloradans have been asking themselves for decades: When will we finally see the promised RTD train connecting Denver to Boulder and Longmont?

Voters said they wanted it nearly two decades ago, and theyve been paying taxes for it and other public transportation initiatives ever since. But, ballooning costs and construction concerns have continuously delayed its completion and now, nearly two decades since the first vote, there is no sure end in sight.

In 2004, Colorado voters approved a 0.4% tax increase to fund the FasTracks program, which envisioned public transit throughout the Front Range. Quite a bit of FasTracks has come to fruition, but the completed B Line to Boulder and Longmont, also called the RTD Northwest Rail Line, has been a glaring exception.

A lot has changed since 2004, including the estimated price tag for the B line expansion. The most recent projection in 2018 put the price tag at $1.5 billion and with a completion date in 2042. With that, we went 360 to find out how some Coloradans with different perspectives now look at the B Line, and its potential role in a future for Denver that is less car centric and more environmentally friendly.

Justin Bai, the Transit Guy

For many people, Denvers Union Station is a means to an end a way to get from point A to point B for their work or play.

For Justin Bai, it's a lifestyle.

I never got my drivers license, and so public transportation has just been a day-to-day part of my life, Bai told us from a Union Station bench, donning an RTD W Line hat. For me, public transportation is more than just, you know, a bus you can take. I think its actually a really important part of building a sustainable future.

Bai calls himself a reverse commuter. He lives in Denver, and works and studies at CU Boulder. Three times per week, he treks to Union Station to begin his commute. He said he would like to be able to hop on the promised B Line to Boulder, but as it is still just a dream, he for now relies on RTDs Flatiron Flyer bus.

The B line is a train that is supposed to go all the way to Boulder and Longmont, but currently it only goes as far as Westminster. I would like to see that change, Bai said. I mean, I happily take the bus that goes to Boulder. But I always think its important to have multimodal options and to expand our transit system for the greater population.

A possible plan B for the B Line

In recent years, RTD has been on a fact-finding and opinion-finding mission. After its 2018 study showed a huge price tag and long timeline, RTD has been studying the feasibility of the vision that has been promised to voters.

We asked Patrick Stanley, project manager for RTDs Northwest Rail Peak Study, if the question over the B Line is still one of

we will see its completion or if it is now a question of

we will see its completion.

You know, I dont think we can answer that definitively at this point, Stanley said. So, what were going to do at the end of this study is well have some options.

At town halls with riders, RTD has pitched a plan B, one that would see a B Line train from Denver to Boulder and Longmont, but with only three services southbound in the morning and three return services northbound in the evening. A proposed partnership with BNSF Railway would let RTD use portions of their line, thus potentially shaving large amounts of time and money off the projects construction.

Thats the idea, so hopefully we can bring it sooner rather than later, Stanley explained. Its obviously RTDs goal to have a good, connected, safe, reliable network. And if this is part of that, that would be great.

Another Plan B: Plan Bus

There are others who argue we need to rethink our transit even more broadly, including Bobby Dishell who sits on the RTD Board of Directors. Given his title, its fair to say he is a supporter of public transit. Still, he wants to make sure riders, voters, and the planet are getting their moneys worth.

Whether its $1.5 billion, or a half a billion dollars, is that amount of money really the best way to provide strong service to the entire region, including to that area? Dishell asked of the B Line expansion. A lot has changed since 2004. The population has changed dramatically.

Dishell noted a stronger focus on environmentalism across the community since voters approved the B Line, and explained that much of the expanded line would likely be fueled by diesel and gas rather than electricity.

$500 million even if its an incredibly conservative estimate is about 500 electric buses, Dishell said. Whether its autonomous vehicles, hydrogen vehicles I think the future of transportation is exciting. I think its fascinating. Im looking forward to what were able to find.

There is an important follow-up question to an alternative proposal, such as a new fleet of buses: Is a non-train alternative even an option legally speaking, since Colorado voters specifically approved a train? RTD told Denver7 it views that as unclear, and as something that would need to be discussed and explored if the decision is made to ditch the rails.

Bais still bussing

While community leaders and voters continue to discuss and debate the elusive B Line expansion, Justin Bai continues to rely on his weekly bus rides to make it to work and class. While other drivers sit idling in standstill traffic on I-25 and US-36, he gets ahead on his work and catches up on his favorite podcasts, all while his commute is done for him.

It takes me about 40 to 45 minutes to get from Denver to campus in Boulder, he said. Its nice to have some time where I can relax and just read, or just space out if I need to.

Bai is still squarely on Team B Line, but hes Team Bus, too. He views the two as complimentary, not competing, visions. His ultimate goal is to get more of his fellow Coloradans into a broader coalition, one that is pro-public transportation across the board.

Im hoping the future of transportation is one where public transportation is really accessible and looked favorably upon, he said. Im hoping that buses and trains, as well as walking, rolling, and biking are given the love and appreciation that they need.

Your B Line Take

If you have thoughts on the future of the B Line, both Denver7 and RTD want to hear from you. You can learn more about RTDs Northwest Rail Peak Study on its website. Were told the results of the study will be presented later this year. You can weigh in with Denver7 by emailing us at 360@denver7.com.

'Quit trying to waffle out of what voters were promised!'

'I want my tax money back'

'a great rider/tourist experience'

'It's time to think beyond cars as the only way to travel'

'I would like to know how much money has been collected'

'Has anyone looked at a dedicated bus lane through the Western Slope?'

Editor's Note:

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Editor's note:

<i class="rte2-style-italic">Colorado Crisis Services</i>

<i class="rte2-style-italic">click here</i>

DENVER As lawmakers across the state continue to debate gun reform in the wake of yet another school shooting in Colorado, a survey published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found one in four Colorado teens said they could quickly get access to a gun within 24 hours.

"This is scary when you realize how much access there is for these teens," said Virginia McCarthy, a doctoral candidate at the Colorado School of Public Health and the lead author of the research letter describing the findings in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.

But timing not just access is what matters when talking about teens getting their hands on firearms, McCarthy said, especially if the teen in question is thinking about committing suicide.

While the survey didn't look at answering the question of how teens were accessing those guns, McCarthy said previous research does show that nearly a quarter of completed suicides among youth and adolescents do occur with a firearm that they obtain outside of their homes.

How long does it take for teens thinking about suicide to take action? "For suicidal ideation to action, oftentimes, that time period is under 10 minutes," McCarthy said, adding the research then becomes important because it could lead to other questions such as when, where and how teens are accessing these guns. "If we don't ask those questions, we don't know how to then respond and say, 'In this circumstance, we would advise this method of, of secure storage, or we would advise this (other method to prevent negative outcomes).'"

The findings come as Denverites deal with the latest incident at East High School, where a student shot and injured two deans last week. That student, who was under a school safety agreement which required him to be patted down at the beginning of each day, was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Park County. Authorities have not said how the student got the gun in the first place.

The most recent shooting is only one of three incidents involving students from the school over the past six months.

On Feb. 13, 16-year-old Luis Garcia was admitted to the hospital with a very poor prognosis after he was shot while he was inside a parked vehicle near the school. He would die from his injuries about two weeks later. That shooting followed one from September of last year, in which an East High School student and another man were injured after an altercation close to the school.

"Time to access a firearm matters"

Data from the study, which took place in the fall of 2021, comes from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environments (CDPHE) Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which randomly sampled 41,000 students in both middle school and high school. The survey included the question, How long would it take you to get and be ready to fire a loaded gun with- out a parent or other adults permission? The gun could be yours or someone elses and it could be located in your home or car or someone elses home or car.

The study found that while nearly a third (32.3%) of students interviewed for the study reported any access to a firearm, 25.3% or 1 in 4 could get access in less than a day. Half of those students (12.1%) said they could get access to a loaded gun in less than 10 minutes.

American Indian and Alaska native students reported having the easiest access to a loaded gun at 38.9%, with 17.5% of them saying they could get one in less than 10 minutes. Among all races and ethnicities surveyed, the study found Blacks had the least access to a loaded gun at 25.3%, followed by Latinos at 26.3%. White students were second highest for having the greatest access to a loaded gun (36.9%), with 13.5% of them saying they could get a loaded firearm in less than 10 minutes.

Unsurprisingly, male students reported having easier access to a loaded gun than female students (37.9% to 26.4%, respectively) and said they were able to get access to a loaded gun in less than 10 minutes nearly twice as fast as their female counterparts.

Despite the higher rate of crime in cities compared to rural areas, only 28.6% of Colorado teens who live in the city said they could get access to a loaded gun compared to nearly 40% of their rural peers.

While the study looked at how easy it was for Colorado teens to have access to firearms, it did so in the context of suicide prevention and not in the context of school violence or mass shooting in schools.

Slate of gun reform bills makes its way through the Colorado legislature

The findings come as Colorado lawmakers debate several gun reform bills introduced by Democrats at the same time as East High students and parents demand more be done to end gun violence in their classrooms.

Last week, the Colorado House of Representatives debated two major gun reform bills: One to expand red flag laws in the state and another to allow people to sue gun manufacturers. The former passed the House over the weekend. And on Monday, two other bills one which would limit all firearm purchases to those 21 or older and one that would put in place a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases cleared key legislative hurdles.

Per our partners at The Denver Post, the age limit bill passed its formal vote in the House, while the three-day waiting period bill passed a preliminary voice vote that still requires a formal vote to pass, which is sure to happen due to Democratic majority.

Guns are now the number one cause of death among U.S. teens, according to the CDC

Though car crashes had been the top cause of death among children and adolescents since the turn of century, that all changed in 2020, when firearm homicide rates spiked by 33% from 2019 to 2020 more than double the 13.5% increase seen in the overall population, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That means that now, firearms kill more kids and teens than car crashes do, according to the latest data and while some may argue that this was an effect of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say the reasons are unclear, and it cannot be assumed that firearm-related mortality will later revert to prepandemic levels.

Research from the Kaiser Family Foundation published in 2022 showed the spike in firearm deaths among kids and teens was primarily driven by an increase in gun assault deaths, with the U.S. leading other wealthy nations around the world for child firearm deaths.

In no other similarly large or wealthy country are firearm deaths in the top 4 causes of mortality let alone the number 1 cause of death among children, researchers noted, adding that when compared with other countries with above median GPD and GPD per capita, the U.S. accounts for 97% of gun-related child deaths, despite representing 46% of the total population in these similarly and wealthy countries.

Data from the Gun Violence Archive as of Tuesday showed more than 10,000 people have died in the U.S. from gun violence this year an average of more than 114 deaths each day. Those numbers include the killings of 347 teens and 59 children.

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April has arrived and the fast-changing weather means the start of severe weather and thunderstorm season for the Denver metro area as the transition from winter to spring moves into high gear.

The month is typically warmer (compared to March) with less snowfall but more rain. In fact, Denver's second wettest month in history occurred during this time of year--April 1900 to be exact, according to the National Weather Service.

During the month, outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy a deep snowpack at higher elevations while experiencing warm spring-like temperatures in the 80s at lower elevations.

Denver's monthly mean temperature for April is 47.4 degrees, according to the averages taken from the years 1981 through 2010. But the city has seen temperatures as warm as 90 degrees and as cold as -2 degrees during this month.

April is Denver's 6th coldest month of the year. The month starts with a normal high of 58 degrees and ends with a normal high of 66 degrees. For low temperatures, the month begins with a normal of 30 degrees and finishes with a normal of 37, according to the NWS.

And just because the calendar says April, it doesn't mean we're done with the snow. April ranks as the 5th snowiest month and accounts for approximately 13% of the annual snowfall of 53.8 inches, according to the NWS. Denver sees about 8-10 inches on average during the month.

Denver's 5th biggest snowstorm in history occurred in April of 1885 and buried the city in 23 inches of snow in less than a day. When was the snowiest April in Denver? That occurred in 1938 when a total of 33.8 inches of snow fell on the Mile High City during the month.

And a lot of this moisture comes from what is called the classic upslope storm, which can dump heavy amounts of snow along the Front Range. An upslope storm develops when a low-pressure system forms on the Great Plains and pushes moist air up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where it falls as snow or rain.

This time of year, we also see an increase in the chances that severe weather will make its presence known, marking the beginning of severe weather and thunderstorm season on the Front Range. Precipitation in the form of sleet and small hail is also common with April thunderstorms.

Colorado's extreme weather events have made forecasting in the Centennial State challenging at times. From mountain tornadoes to snow in June, Colorado's spring weather can get a little tipsy and should be told to go home. But tragically at the same time, it can turn deadly and be destructive, even in April.

In the early morning hours of April 27, 2012, a rare weather occurrence rattled Southeast Colorado. Five tornadoes, ranging in severity from EF1 to EF2, spawned by a strong storm system touched down in Prowers, Kiowa and Bent counties, injuring at least eight people and destroying homes and businesses. No fatalities were reported.

Denver7 Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson provides an outlook on April weather and explains some of the extreme weather statistics and the phenomenon known as upslope storms. Watch the video in the player below:

But despite the increase in severe weather activity this month, May is typically when the severe weather season really heats up.

Tornado season

Peak tornado season is just around the corner. The tornado threat in Colorado increases rapidly in May and continues through August, with June being the busiest month with an average of 17 tornadoes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Ninety percent of Colorado tornadoes occur during this four month period, but tornadoes have been reported as early as February and as late as November. On average, Colorado experiences 53 tornadoes annually.

There have been 2,125 tornado events recorded in Colorado and at least five deaths related to twisters since 1950.

The most tornado-prone county in Colorado and the entire country is Weld County, which has seen 268 tornadoes since 1950. The city and county of Denver has seen 16 tornadoes in the same period, the most powerful an EF-3 hitting on June 15, 1988. The strongest tornado to hit the state was an EF-4 in 1977, according to NOAA.

The tornadic activity doesn't always occur in the usual places in Colorado. Although extremely rare, tornadoes and funnel clouds have been spotted on the Western Slope and in high-altitude areas.

The Denver7 360 In-Depth team charted an overall and detailed look at what to expect from the weather in April. The infographics tell the story of what to expect on a typical day as well as how much of a warm up to expect over the course of the month (according to the averages).

In this Denver7 360 In-Depth deep dive

To view April stats and data fullscreen on your computer or phone click here.

Before hundreds of students and parents from East High School flooded the hallways of the Colorado State Capitol to demand gun reform on Thursday, some spoke to Denver7 to share their opinion on what change they want to happen after Wednesdays school shooting.

To have your voice be heard, use the form below or email your thoughts to youropinion@denver7.com. We will compile opinions and add to this story.

"I'm Stephanie Bender, and I'm a parent at East and what I want to see is a separation between things like mental health support and gun restrictions. Stop complicating the gun laws with excuses about how we need more mental health support, handle them both, but handle them separately. And immediately."

"My name is Julie Wagoner. I'm the mother of three East graduates, my grandmother of an East High School student, daughter of a murder victim of guns 45 years ago. I've been fighting this fight for way too long. I need to get guns out of our lives. I understand the Second Amendment. But and I want to at least see the assault weapons ban continued or put back in place. Thanks"

"Hello, my name is Mira, I'm a freshman at East High School, and I want to ban assault weapons and also raise the age to get a gun to being 21, instead of 18."

"Emily Hopper, I'm a freshman at East and I want to change the fact that there's not enough waiting time in between buying guns so people can have impulsive gun buys and then that same day go shoot up the store, school or something."

"My name is Alyssa, I'm a parent of a ninth grade Denver Public School student. We should not be able to get a gun whenever we want. There should be waiting periods. Our daughter's just talked to legislators about lengthening the waiting period. They're doing something we need everyone to do something."

"Here's what I want to be done. I want parents to be informed, properly informed. Tell us the real data. Tell us how many students are on these pat downs in not only my kids schools, but DPS-wide, you know, create some type of registry where we can look this up and know the data.

I want to know that my son is safe at school. I want to see that they're in a learning environment. Place where the teachers are fearless about disciplining students that are misbehaving because they need to know what is appropriate when they leave the school and are in the community in general when they have a boss, when they have somebody that they need to be respectful to. But they're disrespecting all day long at the school. It needs to change. -Steve Katsaros, East High School parent.

DENVER A massive, one-of-a-kind survey of nearly 1,000 people currently experiencing homelessness in Denver found the citys current approach to the housing crisis isnt working, and better solutions are needed to address the barriers that are keeping people from finding and staying in affordable housing.

The survey, commissioned by Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) in partnership with the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WARP), interviewed 828 people experiencing homelessness in Denver about 17% of the homeless population estimated to live in the city in January 2022 to better inform citizens, politicians, policy makers and other stakeholders about the kind of housing advocates and city leadership should be working towards to address the needs of the unhoused.

If we are working to end homelessness, as is so often stated, this work must be directed by houseless people themselves, states the report. Lived experience offers an intimate understanding and ability to identify current and foreseeable obstacles that perpetuate this ever-pressing issue.

The report found between 93% and 99% of unhoused people in Denver want some form of housing, with safety, freedom and community being personal qualities that those surveyed said they sought when looking for housing.

RELATED: Homelessness in Denver: An in-depth look into an ongoing crisis

In other words, people want to feel safe in the place that they live in they want to feel safe at night so they can let their guard down and actually rest. Those surveyed also said they want to feel a sense of freedom in the place they call home, instead of being shackled by curfews or strict regulations set forth by an agency or housing authority. And last but not least, they want to feel a sense of community being able to talk to people and create bonds with those around them.

Housing for the unhoused also needs to provide amenities like temperature control for days when its too cold or too hot, bathrooms with showers to stay clean and accessible locations, those surveyed in the report said.

Affordable housing also needs to live up to its name and be affordable, the housing advocacy group said in its report.

The survey found between 81%-88% of those interviewed needed housing to be under $1,000 a month; between 60%-69% said housing needed to be under $600; and only 17%-29% of unhoused people said housing needed to be free.

By and large, the lack of affordable housing was the number one barrier to accessing housing in Denver, the survey found.

Other barriers that prevent unhoused people from getting a place to call their own relate to money. Over 50% of people surveyed (53%) said not having enough money was a barrier to access housing, while another 38% said a low credit score prevented them from renting a home in the first place.

Not having a phone (35%), not having official documents (32.8%), and having a felony record (31.8%) were also identified as barriers in getting access to housing.

Getting a place to live is just half the battle, though, according to those surveyed. Staying there is the next uphill battle for many.

The HAND survey found the majority of people (63%) who were able to get housing still needed financial support to remain housed.

Beyond financial support, though, those who secured housing said being allowed to have guests over was an important support they needed to feel like they could stay there (36%), and also noted that support when navigating the bureaucracy of the process (25%) as well as legal and mental health support (24%) was something they sought as they searched for housing.

Between 39% and 49% of those surveyed said curfews, restrictions, not being allowed to have guests or have a limited number of guests, staff room checks, religious requirements and being prohibited from having roommates or partners were seen as deal breakers when choosing housing options, the report said.

Houseless people rightfully lack faith in the housing system, the HAND report reads. Their doubt is backed by years-long waitlists, abysmal housing lottery odds, and a dependency on service providers and case managers as gatekeepers.

The survey showed that the unhoused in Denver are placed on housing waitlists for an average of two-and-a-half years and noted it takes them almost four years before theyre able to secure housing.

Qualifying for housing is yet another major barrier identified by those surveyed, and relying on agencies to secure housing for them is a major roadblock in their goal of having a roof over their heads.

People are jumping through endless hoops, dependent on service agencies and case workers that dont and cant do whats needed, pitted against other unhoused people in competition for the same handful of housing options, forced to go through years of process while trying to survive without housing, the advocacy group said in their report.

The report noted that despite housing vouchers being regarded as the most current pathway to housing, over 50% of those surveyed didnt even know what a housing voucher was, how it worked, nor knew anyone who has ever had one.

RELATED: Colorado's shifting housing market and what it means for 2023

Worse yet, in order to qualify for a housing voucher, one has to be an American citizen leaving Hispanic people who experience homelessness out of the process to secure safe, long-term housing, the report concluded.

Landlord discrimination, the need for support or services (namely housing navigation), and not having the choice to choose the type of housing they could settle in were also identified by those experiencing homelessness as a barrier in using vouchers.

"Despite the fact that Colorado has a law that says you can't discriminate against somebody if they do have a housing voucher, we know that what happens is that property managers and landlords will raise the rent, so that the voucher can no longer cover the cost," said Cathy Alderman, a spokesperson with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. "And so that's one way of voucher doesn't get used."

HAND survey also includes new research on public housing in Denver, the U.S.

The 2022 Pipe Dreams and Picket Fences report also looked at the loss of public housing over the past ten years in Denver and across the nation, and the shift toward private-public partnerships that the advocacy group argues does not create the housing people need.

Per the report, the U.S. has seen a loss of 228,290 low-income public housing units. Of those, 731 were lost in Denver in the past 10 years. Funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for assistance-based programs or neighborhood/community development or revitalization has remained stagnant, the report states.

The rate for finding and using a voucher for housing in Denver has also been unacceptably low, the group writes, with an increase of 1,429 housing vouchers issued over the past 10 years.

In 2021, five months after receiving vouchers through the Denver Housing Authority (over one month beyond the current 120-day expiration), only 77 of 1,000 people with vouchers got housing, according to the report. This is an 8% chance of finding housing using a voucher.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) have increased to 181% in Colorado, according to the report, but that rate did not match an equally high increase of actual units.

Only 3,029 housing units have been built with those tax credits for people who fall under the 30% area median income, compared with 12,588 units for those making between 40%-70% of the area median income, the report states.

Housing is a commodity built for the rich, and poor people are left to struggle and fight for the few scraps of housing left for the poor, the advocacy group writes, adding homelessness is a direct result of the decisions made by the Reagan administration in the 1980s to slash funding of social programs, including affordable housing.

From top to bottom, the government response to houselessness has failed for one simple reason: It has never acknowledged through action, only words, that the number one cause of houselessness is the absence of housing, the report states.

Alderman agreed.

"We need to invest all of our housing resources and develop housing for those with the lowest income. We need to really focus on solving this issue and getting people off the streets. We also need to make more resources available," she said. "It's not just having housing; we need to have supportive services so that when individuals do get housed, they can stay housed. And I think we really need it as a state. We need to start focusing on making those investments for folks in the lowest income because it's not just up to the city alone to be able to solve this issue."

Editor's Note:

DENVER There are so many candidates on the ballot for Denver mayor were just going to list them by their first names.

Here they are: Lisa, Trinidad, Aurelio, Thomas, Al, Terrance, Kwame, Renate, Chris, Mike, Jim, Ean, Andy, Leslie, Robert, Debbie and Kelly.

Now lets break it all down in this 360 look at the Denver mayoral race by answering the first question many of you have been asking why are there so many?

First of all, you have an open seat election, which means theres no incumbent, said Rob Preuhs, chair of political science at Metropolitan State University of Denver. So, one you have this open seat which draws a lot of candidates no matter what. Secondly, we have this brand-new system of public funding. The City of Denvers new Fair Elections Fund is allocating $9 million to publicly funded campaigns.

Essentially, for every $50 dollar donation someone raises the city matches that donation 9 to 1.

Which allows for candidates to really be able to jump in the ring without having to think too much about, am I going to be able to raise enough money to run a viable campaign? Preuhs said.

Campaigns must limit other donations to under $500 to participate; it is designed to level the playing field, but is the sheer number of candidates good for democracy?

This is absolutely a rebirth for this city, said Brother Jeff Fard, founder of Brother Jeffs Cultural Center in Five Points. Brother Jeff sees a couple main themes emerging here: Its good for democracy and he says all the candidates share a common belief in changing the city for good.

I like to see more, said Brother Jeff. When I see a race with one person or even two people, or someones running unopposed the first thing that says to me is that democracy is not working. Im excited to see 17 candidates and I wouldnt even mind if it was 27 candidates.

As for that shared belief in changing the city for good Brother Jeff sees promise in the candidates so far.

Theyre all saying Denver has lost its way, said Brother Jeff. I havent heard any of these candidates say, Please elect me because I would like to keep us going in the same direction. People dont know if their car is going to be stolen in this city. They all agree that crime is out of control, they agree that development is out of control, and Im talking about insider development because development is not a bad thing in-and-of-itself, but its just the inside players. Its the unfair advantage. Theres a candidate that talks about getting into the race because hes a builder and its taken him a year to get permits. And this administration has almost put him out of business at least two times.

Other experts agree.

Housing has become a very prominent issue in this campaign, said Seth Masket, director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver.

Many experts say development and the affordable housing crisis are top of mind for Denver voters.

Theres not a lot of places for people with modest means to live, Masket said. Housing prices have increased way faster than incomes have in this town.

And I think its a wonderful time to erase the board and reimagine the city that you want to be in, Brother Jeff said.

Other experts are less optimistic in what theyre hearing so far.

Youll notice that every idea that this mayors race is discussing, is a program thats in place now, said Councilwoman Robin Kniech who is term-limited this year.

Kniech says while the candidates are discussing programs, its the scale of those programs that concerns her.

They are going to have a very big awakening about the fact that their ideas about what they can do is so out of scale about the size of the challenge, Kniech said. I can build several supportive housing projects each year and we need dozens each year. I have three safe outdoor spaces open right now; I probably need 20 safe outdoor spaces open right now.

Brother Jeff says hes hearing plenty of original ideas from the candidates.

Ive heard at least 17 great ideas and ways to put a heart back in this city, he said. Many have asked, Why am I paying for lawsuits and then being charged to have my trash picked up? Why am I hesitant to go into downtown Denver? That sense of pride in city is no longer there. And I agree with those candidates who are saying, Denver has lost its way. Lets put a heart back in the city. Lets develop a renewed love affair with the City of Denver.

One thing about the race is certain theres no shortage of options on the ballot.

People can shop around for the kind of candidate that they want, Masket said.

How many voters decide will come down to the issues.

Sweeps dont work, Brother Jeff said. I dont think any law enforcement officer gets up in the morning and says, I want to go put people out of their tents.

Preuhs agrees the issues matter.

Voters will come out of this election at least feeling like they were able to vote for someone, rather than against someone, Preuhs said. Thats the beauty of having this many candidates on the ballot. And there are going to be a lot of candidates who are going to be really close to winning.

Preuhs says the election will also have a big impact on the entire region.

Denver is center of gravity in Rocky Mountain region, Preuhs said. So even for those not voting, they have a stake in this. Who wins in Denver is going to matter to everyone living in Colorado.

Promotional materials will also likely sway voters in a field of 17 candidates.

Mailers, mailers, mailers, Brother Jeff said.

Theyre going to use their neighbors yard signs as cues here and there, Preuhs said. Another cue is going to be race and ethnicity and kind of neighborhood areas.

A lot of voters will decide based on who they share a background with and candidate quality.

Theyre going to rely on various cues that are out there, Masket said. TV ads and yard signs work. At the very least, they help with name recognition. They help voters to be aware of whos actually running. Thats the kind of place where signs can really make a difference. They can change peoples minds about who they think has a realistic shot of winning.

Masket says voters are busy and will need to economize their time when researching candidates.

They will talk to their neighbors and friends. One of the things about a vote thats split 17 ways is that there can be a lot of unpredictability. You dont know whos going to make the runoff ballot. You can end up with some weird results.

There are several candidates who could finally break the proverbial glass ceiling to get to the Denver mayors office.

The odds are, were going to get a woman mayor, said Brother Jeff. It hasnt happened. Were in a historical moment. And if were going to have a woman mayor, women are going to decide.

One thing all our experts agree on theres no way someone gets 50% plus one in a field of 17 candidates, which means there will be a runoff.

Theres few things I put money on in politics anymore, Preuhs said. Thats one that I would put money on.

People can shop around for the kind of candidate they really want, Masket said.

I think its a tough ballot for the people of Denver to sort through, Kniech said. Lets not give into the politics of fear. Theres some fear-based messaging.

Its going to come down to a field goal or extra point, Brother Jeff said.

Editor's Note:

It's hard to beat a nice day in Denver, with hundreds of activities dispersed throughout the city. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought that to a screeching halt, many customers used tipping as a way to show their gratitude for those who worked while so many stayed home. The pandemic also gave businesses the chance to re-evaluate their tipping model.

Now, many consumers find themselves asking what the added charges are at the bottom of their receipts. Denver7 has a 360 perspective explaining a handful of methods businesses have implemented.

The Traditional Tip

The Bindery is a restaurant, bakery and market rolled into one location in the Lower Highlands. Owner and Chef Linda Hampsten Fox said they opened five years ago, and their layout puts all of their hard work on display in an open kitchen concept.

We make everything by hand, and it takes a lot of time and dedication... Kind of like Santas workshop, you just see all the craft of cooking," said Hampsten Fox.

As a restaurant that prides themselves on exceptional service, the traditional tipping option for their wait staff is standard.

We have open tipping for our front of house staff," said Hampsten Fox. "What I'm seeing is most people are still tipping very well, like 20%, 25%, based on great service.

When The Bindery was able to reopen to the public after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hampsten Fox said they implemented a 3.5% service fee charge. With so many increases in costs and labor shortages, Hampsten Fox said they changed it to 5% about six months later to help facilitate hiring across the board and stay competitive within the industry.

Originally, they called the charge a service fee, but then changed the name to a kitchen fee.

For guests, it's very confusing," said Hampsten Fox, hoping changing the name of the fee would help clarify it's use. Everyone is very familiar now with some kind of service fee at a restaurant. And it helps the entire restaurant, as inflation has hit. Also the wage levels going up in the city of Denver, cost of goods, various things... We want to try and keep our pricing and our portioning what it was before the pandemic, and that service fee helps us do that.

Hampsten Fox still does not think the term kitchen fee is sufficient, and wants to find an appropriate way to describe what the charge is to ensure her guests do not feel as though they are tipping twice on a bill.

We went from the pandemic into a very extreme labor shortage where we didn't have enough staff. Now we're at this point where the cost of goods has really skyrocketed," said Hampsten Fox. Even though we're getting hit with various hidden costs, cost of goods increases, we've been trying to maintain our level of pricing on our menu and just focusing on giving a really great experience.

The Service Charge Instead of a Tip

Bierstadt Lagerhaus is basically an adult playground capable of holding 650 people that has been open for almost seven years.

COVID was interesting because it provided us all with a reset to allow us to really examine what we had been doing," said one of the owners, Chris Rippe, who explained why they switched to a service charge model coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I think table service is going to be a thing you only see in fine dining in the future," Rippe said from the brewery inside the building. For better or worse, we thought the tip model was broken. We had huge pay inequities between bartenders and kitchen staff... We thought taking that out of people's thought process, for one was going to be good for us, and it was going to be good for them. There would be less confusion.

Bierstadt offers counter service or customers can order through their phones at tables. However, there's never an option to tip, and instead there's an instant 20% service charge.

Service charges can be shared amongst your entire staff, as long as you pay your entire staff full minimum wage... Tips are owned by the staff. Service Charges are owned by the house," Rippe explained. We distribute 100% of our service charge back to our staff, and it's important to make that distinction. But when you get to the level of diners, that's a lot for them to sift through. They shouldn't have to know the laws to hope that people are doing the right thing.

As a business owner, Rippe said he does question establishments that have both a 20% service charge and the option for a 20% standard tip. That's when he begins to wonder where the service charge is being allocated.

Still, he believes the service charge model at Bierstadt is the way of the future.

Should they [the staff] be punished because your beer took a little longer than you wanted it to take? So now you're going to take money against somebody who's clearly getting their butt kicked all day and is working, going as fast as they can... I just took your ability away to punish the staff who is still working hard, even though they're understaffed," Rippe said. I, as a business owner, think I should get to decide how much my staff gets paid. Not you as the customer.

Rippe wishes more businesses would consider adopting a service charge model, one reason being that the customer will pay for an increase in the cost of goods in some way or another.

Reality is, even if we took the service charge line off at 20%, and put it into the beer line, all of a sudden, even though you're not paying a tip, we're the most expensive beer in the city," said Rippe. It's the same however you slice it, it just depends how you like your receipt itemized. And ultimately, I think the amounts end up really similar.

A Tax for Employee Health Care

Pet owners can spend hours sifting through the selection of goods at Luke & Company Fine Pet Supply & Outfitter, which also offers grooming services.

Valerie Brandner has been grooming pets for 18 years, and said a 20% tip is standard for the service.

I have always gotten tips. It doesn't affect what I do, or how much I care for the dog because I get paid well also, but it is nice to be appreciated," Brandner said while blow-drying a poodle.

The owner of the store, Luke Johnson, said their credit card machines automatically prompt a tip option because it cannot distinguish between a good and a service.

"We've labeled all of the credit card machines 'tipping for grooming only' so that people don't feel obligated to tip on purchasing a product," said Johnson. People still tip when they purchase probably half a dozen times a day. And we usually ask them 'are you sure you wanted to tip?' You're just buying a bag of dog food.

If a customer does decide to tip on a retail sale, Johnson said that money ends up as a bonus twice a year to his employees.

Johnson said the store has resisted adding a 3% credit card charge or service charge seen at many other establishments. If customers were not tipping the groomers, he would consider a fee, but said fortunately tipping is common from their customers.

We actually levy what is the equivalent of a service charge in our sales tax and it's 1.25%. It pays for employee health care. It doesn't pay for all of employee health care, it pays for a portion of it," Johnson explained. Tip your service employee or the person who's helped you, absolutely. But beyond that, I think you need to build a business model that encompasses all of your expenses, and figure out what that costs and be honest and upfront with your customers about that. Don't expect an extra service charge on top of everything else that customers are dealing with.

Johnson does wonder what the future of tipping in general will look like, if minimum wage continues to rise in Denver.

We might see some hesitation on tipping as that minimum wage continues to go up in coming years," said Johnson. There's going to be pushback from consumers at some point. And I think when the incoming recession hits, whenever that may be, I think that'll put the brakes on it.

The Classic Tip Jar

Brenda Rodriguez uses her job as a "budtender" at Peak Dispensary to help educate consumers about cannabis.

The shop has specific tip jars for each budtender at their registers. Rodriguez said normally, the tips received are the change from a customer's purchase.

It is appreciated when they do and anything is appreciated," said Rodriguez. I don't like to anticipate because I don't like that feeling of greediness.

The tipping can vary depending on whether or not the customer is a local or a tourist.

Rodriguez said some tourists leave tips that are considered huge for budtenders, as a way to express their gratitude for the educational experience provided.

But then there are those that are from states that already have it [legal cannabis] implemented and they don't tip," said Rodriguez.

The Professor

The Chair of the Economics Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Alexandre Padilla, said tipping is obviously strained by the increase in inflation experienced last summer.

Business owners wants to make a profit. If they want to make a profit, they are going to have to transfer part of that increasing cost to the consumers," said Padilla. If everybody is paying their workers more money, because we don't want to have a tipping system, the cost increases are going to be transferred to the consumers.

The Bottom Line

Every business must decide how to pay their employees, and how to cover the cost of increasing goods. Whether that comes in the form of added fees or more expensive menu items, traditionally, tipping will always correlate with an increased bill. However, Denver7 learned in this 360 perspective there are ways around tipping that some businesses believe are the way of the future.

Editor's Note:

Today marks 50 years since the Eisenhower Tunnel opened to the public, finally connecting the east and the west in a brand new way.

"The 50-year birthday is a big deal because that tunnel has significance not only for state transportation history, but also nationally, as part of the Interstate Highway System," said Lisa Schoch, cultural resources section manager and senior historian at CDOT headquarters.

In this In-Depth newsletter, we'll talk about:

Let's start with the history of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel.

Ironically, it didn't start with boring into where the tunnel currently stands. It started with a "pioneer bore" under Loveland Pass, which was the only way over the Continental Divide in the area. But, as we know now, the idea of drilling a tunnel under the pass didn't come to fruition.

The call for bids for the Eisenhower Tunnel started in 1967 and construction officially kicked off in March of the following year. It opened to two-way traffic on March 8, 1973 to much fanfare and newspaper coverage (see some highlights from this day in the papers here!). However, the year before, it became obvious that a second bore was needed and the Colorado Division of Highways began to develop that plan.

The contract for the second tunnel was awarded in August 1975 and construction began. That tunnel, which we know today as the Johnson Tunnel, opened on Dec. 21, 1979.

In total, about one million cubic yards of rock, debris and other material was cleared from each bore. Seven men had died working on the two tunnels.

Learn more about the history of this historic tunnel here.

History was made in a lot of ways during this construction. But maybe you didn't expect to learn women's rights played a big part.

Growing up, Colorado native Janet Bonnema loved math and science but counselors in school told her those were for boys.

Let's just say she didn't take their advice.

She went on to seek thrills as a rock climber, skier, parachutist, pilot and world traveler breaking down gender stereotypes to pursue her passions.

In November 1970, Bonnema reached out to the Colorado Highway Department about a job opening as a technician for the Eisenhower Tunnel project. She met the qualifications and passed the tests, after all. On Dec. 11, 1970, she received a letter from the department. It read that "Mr. Jamet P. Bonnema" could accept the job if "he" wanted it.

When she inquired about the mix-up, she was told women were taboo in the tunnels of Colorado.

She filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit. It sparked Colorado voters decided to amend the state constitution to guarantee equal rights for women in November 1972.

"Her successful fight in court for her right to work inside the tunnel helped break down the centuries-old discriminatory myth that women in tunnels and mines would bring bad luck," the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame reported.

But her first day wasn't a smooth one. Lots of men walked away from the site. One quit outright. But the rest returned to work the next day. All the while, Bonnema went on to do the job she was hired for, recording measurements, collecting samples and completing technical drawings.

"We've honored her in one of our elevator lobbies with a photo because she was, you know, a really important part of the story," said Schoch, the historian at CDOT. "It's a small part of the story, right? It's not something that probably most people know about. But she was a trailblazer."

Read this full story here.

OK, let's fast-forward to the modern day. If you've lived here for some time, you've likely traveled through the tunnel.

And it was probably a pretty uneventful part of the journey. That's thanks to the quiet, but crucial work, of about 50 employees assigned to operate at the tunnel.

From fire prevention to fans capable of creating hurricane-force winds, there's a lot of intense machinery. It comes at quite the price a $70,000 Xcel Energy bill every month!

You've probably noticed the thousands upon thousands of lights in the tunnel... So, what happens in a power outage? After all, they're not all that uncommon at the tunnels.

Two emergency generators capable of providing power to 80 homes can be turned on and can run about every third to seventh light in the tunnel.

Learn more about what happens behind the scenes and peek into the control room in our story here.

So, what's next for the tunnel? Surely it's time for some repairs?

Yes, 50-year-old infrastructure of this magnitude needs a little extra TLC every now and then. Much of it isn't overly glamorous, but certainly important to driver safety: Think grout work, drainage, plumbing, structural liner, etc. '

The Colorado Department of Transportation said the tunnels currently have some vulnerabilities that crews will aim to fix with several projects totaling $50 million between 2022 and 2024 thanks to Senate Bill 260 and the state's new Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise.

These improvements "will enhance safety for the traveling public, upgrade connectivity to the rest of the freight network in the United States, and boost economic vitality along the only contiguous east/west interstate in Colorado," CDOT said.

As you may expect, some of these projects will require lane closures and impact to traffic. You can learn more about that and the expected schedules for the projects here.

We'll leave you with some FUN FACTS about the tunnel.

First, the Eisenhower Tunnel was not originally called the Eisenhower Tunnel. It was actually going to be named the Straight Creek Tunnel. But in 1969, about a year into the construction of the first bore, the 36th governor of Colorado, John Arthur Love, proposed it be renamed after former President Dwight E. Eisenhower, who had died five months prior that year. And so it was.

Now to the other side. You may think the Johnson Tunnel is also named after the past president. But in fact, it's named after Edwin C. Johnson Bore, the late U.S. senator and governor of Colorado.

Second fun fact! The tunnel has its own fire department in case of emergencies. And it's pretty clear why. If there was a fire at the tunnel and traffic backed up, fire personnel from Clear Creek County or Summit County would have a pretty rough time trying to get up to the flames.

It also has its own fire suppression system that can extinguish a large fire in about two minutes. That system helps eliminate closures or long-term damage to the tunnel, which could cost Colorado billions of dollars and impact tourism along the I-70 mountain corridor, according to CDOT.

And here's our last fun fact: The first person to drive through the tunnel... had an interesting time. Let's just say, what he did wasn't really legal.

You can read more about these in our story here.

DENVER Ready or not, the AI revolution is upon us and one of its most immediate impacts is the emergence of chatbots like ChatGPT.

It will be a boon to the societies that pick this up, said junior student leader and president of the Metropolitan State University of Denver Chess Club Paul Nelson.

Nelson is talking about ChatGPT and its rapid emergence on college campuses throughout the U.S.

One educated at MSU Denver said the first time he heard of the chatbot was in November and now, four months later, its a part of almost every conversation he has.

My first reaction when I first saw ChatGPT was, Oh my God. We are in trouble, said Dr. David Merriam, assistant professor of biology. I plugged in one of my multiple-choice tests and I got a 98%.

At the most basic level, ChatGPT is a program that allows you to type in anything and within seconds it can reply back with an essay, a news story, a film script, and the list goes on.

Its because of that, we find ourselves in this classroom on the campus of MSU Denver, where administrators, professors and students are discussing the pros and cons of the artificial intelligence chatbot on college campuses.

The frustrating thing in preparing for this is I come to you with no solutions, said Jeff Loats, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design and interim AVP for online learning and professor of physics.

Some professors at MSU Denver are embracing the use of ChatGPT in some forms of student work.

This is not meant to be our expert source of data, said Merriam. This is going to be our tool to help us understand the world in a better way.

But others are naturally more guarded about its implementation.

Oh, Im concerned about that, very much, said Julian Friedland, assistant professor of business and ethics.

Friedland still isnt convinced of its practicality or its effectiveness.

Can it actually fool most people, adults, into thinking that its a real human? said Friedland. The answer is, its never really been able to do it.

On the other hand, some already see real value in the application of ChatGPT at certain levels.

When It improves code, it gives you a really big advantage, said Merriam.

Like it or not, students already know how to use it.

Ive used it for idea generation, said Nelson. Ive had it write comedy skits in the style of a particular comedian I like.

Nelson said if colleges and corporations in the U.S. dont implement the technology, theyll be left in the dust.

Oh yes, said Nelson. If we dont incorporate this technology, our international peers are happy to do so. And they will rocket past us. Old ways of thinking need to be tossed in the waste basket when we talk about this thing because it is totally new.

Nelson believes the conversation, like the debate happening at MSU Denver on this day, needs to include all stakeholders, from administrators down to students.

We have to get with the program when it comes to using this technology, said Nelson. Otherwise, were going to fall by the wayside when it comes to the production of research.

Some professors are already allowing a certain percentage of student work to be AI-generated.

English lecturer and acting director of the MSU Denver Writing Center J.J. Seggelke sees potential in the technology, in terms of breaking down walls for kids who are intimidated by the essay writing process or writing in general.

I also think a huge part of this is normalizing the idea that writing is hard, said Seggelke. I work in the writing center and for me, a lot of times, writing sucks. And I think normalizing that for students is really important and that it takes effort.

In terms of whether it will encourage cheating, Kim Myers, who handles academic misconduct and student accountability in the Dean of Students Office at MSU Denver says as of now, there are no absolutes. But she believes those who cheat will continue to cheat and those who dont, wont.

So while I think its going to be an interesting challenge for us, I dont think students will be changing their behaviors because of it, said Myers.

There are inherent dangers with AI-generated content.

The AI show and a Seinfeld spoof called Nothing Forever exploded in popularity on Twitch, then got banned after the AI-generated Seinfeld character started making transphobic remarks during its standup routine.

Nelson has witnessed the bias first-hand.

You could feed this thing a false piece of propaganda, hateful, bigoted ideology and if you prompt it correctly, youre capable of getting around the actual safeguards that it has, said Nelson. I asked it to write a joke in the style of Joe Biden, and it said, Oh it would be disrespectful as an AI model to do this. I was able to argue past its rules in order to get it to complete the task.

Whatever the case may be, its here, and it has roared onto the academic scene in a hurry leading to more questions than answers about its implementation at this point.

When a new move happens in basketball or sports, or chess, no one really thought of it, said Friedland. And thats always going to throw off the algorithm. Its going to make mistakes.

Theres a lot of reasons we worry about this technology, said Merriam. Theres a lot we need to change. But we cant just throw out the good with the bad.

It will lead to good things, said Nelson.

Editor's Note:

DENVER Coloradans heading to their preferred grocery or convenience store Wednesday will be greeted with a new addition lining the shelves: Wine.

Employees across Colorado grocery stores were hard at work just after midnight stocking the shelves with everything from ross to sparkling wines and dry reds as Proposition 125 takes effect. The measure, which narrowly passed in November, allows for the sale of wine at grocery and convenience stores.

Grocery stores werent the only ones anticipating March 1. Small mom-and-pop liquor store owners who spoke with Denver7 said they still werent sure how this change will end up impacting their livelihoods.

Were going to pivot accordingly, said Bruce Gallagher, owner of Bonne Brae Liquor in Denver. Pivoting could entail for us completely discontinuing a bunch of wines that are grocery-bound, it could be more emphasis on our spirits section, it could be more niche wines. But we don't really know what that entails just yet.

Gallagher said hes heard from other smaller liquor store owners who told him theyll be putting some of their orders on hold as they wait and see what kind of selection grocery stores would have on their shelves.

As more customers move from liquor stores to their neighborhood supermarket for convenience, Gallagher said hes relying on his regular customers that hes built up over the years to keep coming back.

Will wine in grocery stores bankrupt Colorados smaller liquor stores? The data says likely not

It's been four years since a Prohibition-era law in Colorado which prevented full-strength beer from being sold at supermarkets was scrapped from the books and research shows the transition had minimal impact on liquor stores.

The study, which surveyed 76 Colorado craft breweries nearly a full year after then Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the measure into law, found that full-strength beer sales did not appear to have harmed the regional competitiveness of the craft beer industry, but neither has it produced visible benefits.

Using cell phone tracking data to analyze liquor store traffic, researchers found a 5% decrease in foot traffic in liquor stores, which all things considered, wasnt gigantic, according to Marco Costanigro, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at CSU and one of the studys co-authors.

The study didnt track sales data because those figures were hard to come by, but they find that craft beer sales in liquor stores declined by the equivalent of 5.6 million bottles of beer while grocery store beer sales jumped by more than 9.2 million bottles.

Those challenges made it easier for those smaller breweries to partner with smaller liquor stores that had fewer logistical challenges to get through in terms of distribution, according to study co-author Joe Cannon, a professor of marketing at CSU.

I think the sale of wine in grocery stores will further erode the share of liquor store sales that happen in liquor stores, Cannon said. However, weve seen some smaller liquor stores respond by stocking a greater variety of craft beer, which in turn helps those small brewers.

But Cannon and Costanigro agreed in order to survive this expansion, mom-and-pop liquor stores will need to specialize in offering more niche products to consumers if they hope to remain competitive.

RELATED: 'We don't plan to go anywhere': Colorado liquor stores prepare for wine to hit grocery store shelves

Kevin Webber, the CEO and Founder of Carboy Winery told Denver7 this week the expansion into grocery stores is great for business as it will allow local vineyards to partner with retailers to put wines from across the world, but especially from Colorado, into many more hands of Coloradans, which will have a positive net benefit in the economy.

One such retailer was Whole Foods, which took the initiative to partner with local vineyards in two of their stores Highlands Ranch and Boulder and has since expanded to all of their locations in the metro.

What about the health concerns of introducing wine at grocery stores?

Rise Above Colorado, drug abuse prevention organization, told Denver7 theyre worried about wine sales expanding to grocery stores by making alcohol easier to access because alcohol use is already up in Colorado.

In 2020, a survey of teenagers found one in four 25% lived with someone misusing substances. By 2022, that figured increased to 41%, according to Rise Above Colorado executive director Kent MacLennan.

I think there is an important distinction of understanding how we, as adults, manage use responsibly, and show that and model that, MacLennan said.

Their survey found teenagers are twice as likely to misuse substances if they see someone in their household doing so. Teens who are concerned about substance misuse in their homes can get more resources on the website, iriseaboveco.org.

Editor's Note:

DENVER After a very snowy February, with Colorado snowpack levels sitting at 123% of median as of Feb. 28, Denver is entering its statistically snowiest monthMarch. The month typically accounts for 20% of the city's annual snowfall.

March is snow joke as we transition to spring, but before we get to that, lets get the stats out of the way.

March is Denvers fifth coldest month with a mean temperature of 40.4 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

March starts the month with a normal high of 50 degrees and ends with a normal high of 58 degrees.

What was the warmest temperature recorded in Denver in March? That would be a balmy 84 degrees, which was recorded on March 26, 1971.

For low temperatures, the month begins with a normal of 22 degrees and finishes with a normal of 30. The coldest in got in Denver in March was -11 degrees on the 28th day of 1886.

Let it snow

We typically see on average more than 10 inches of snow in March, but the month is also known for the biggest snowfall events to hit the region.

One of the more memorable blizzards was back in March 2003. Heavy snow fell for several days leaving roads impassable, crippling the Denver area. A whopping 35.2 inches fell in the metro area.

Denver7 Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson provides an outlook on March weather and explains some of the extreme weather statistics. Watch the video in the player below:

The second snowiest March occurred in 2021 when 34.0 inches fell on the Mile High City. The bulk of that 34 inches came in the March 13-14 storm, which dumped 27.1 inches of snow at the airport, where the official weather records are recorded.

The Denver7 360 In-Depth team charted an overall and detailed look at what to expect from the weather in March. The infographics tell the story of what to expect on a typical day as well as how much of a warm up to expect over the course of the month (according to the averages).

In this Denver7 360 In-Depth deep dive

To view March stats and data fullscreen on your computer or phone click here.

Gloria Ansah

I've learned more about my history, like a lot of things that I didn't learn in previous classrooms, and this just gives me more of a chance to be more connected to my history and be appreciated that I get to learn more about my history and stuff.

Busisiwe Chimembe

The whole reason why I wanted to be in this class was to learn about my history as being an African-American.

There has been times where after class or even just during class I'm just looking at things and I'm just like, so shook by the experiences I had to happen (sic).

Like my mom, she's African, so she didn't have to go through slavery. But my stepdad, his grandma did. And that's not that far away from me, so to think my grandma knows about this and I'm learning about it now.

It does put some pain in my heart, but it also still makes me realize that I'm lucky enough to be knowing the raw truth for it.

Gloria Ansah

I agree. Usually for other history classes we learn about specifics, like only Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X, but in this class we get to learn about different people and stuff. So I think it's pretty cool and that's one of my favorite things learning about different influencers and their part in black history.

Busisiwe Chimembe

I feel like U.S. history very much doesn't give credit to black Americans a lot. Like this class is mainly talking about what have black Americans been able to do for America.

Gloria Ansah

In a lot of different history classes we don't really go deep, we just touch briefly on Black history and different things about it. But for this class, we go more deep into it, we learn more about influencers, more about events, and I just get to see a lot of people getting interested about learning things that kind of affect me in some ways. And it's pretty cool to be a part of this class.

Busisiwe Chimembe

History repeats itself. If you don't pay attention to what happened, then that's what's going to keep on happening.

In-depth

Cherry Creek Schools' Overland High School is home to the first AP African American studies class in Colorado. The optional class is a pilot program and is divided into four main learning units.

Instructor Nathan Umetsu says the first unit explores African empires, and the second teaches about the transatlantic slave trade and experience.

Since the class is a pilot program, students do not have to pay for the AP exam, but will take it for free because the College Board has not decided if their scores will be accepted by universities yet. For a deeper look at the course, watch this report from Denver7's Colette Bordelon.

DENVER Colorado is moving into February sitting pretty, as far as snowpack levels and drought conditions are concerned.

Statewide, snowpack was at 133% of median levels on Monday. And drought conditions are non-existent in large swaths of western and central Colorado.

Snowpack levels should remain stable in the month of February as its often the coldest time of year. As far as this years late winter outlook, its still calling for colder-than-average conditions.

Mike Nelson explains how the non-La Nino pattern is going to continue in the video below:

Denver normally records over 7 inches of snow in February. It's the fourth snowiest month in Denver, but seems to produce fewer big snowstorms.

There have been no February storms included in Denvers top 20 heaviest snowfalls going back to 1882.

The snowiest February occurred in 2015 when 22.4 inches were recorded during the month in Denver. The least snowiest February in Denver was in 2009 when no significant snowfall was recorded.

With a median high temperature of 49 degrees, February is historically the third coldest month behind December and January. However, recent cold snaps have frequently occurred in February.

The daily high temperatures rarely falls below 31 degrees or exceeds 66 degrees.

The coldest February in Denver occurred in 1899 when the average for the month never made it above 18 degrees. The warmest February occurred in 1954 with an average high of 43.7 degrees.

The Denver7 360 In-Depth team charted an overall and detailed look at what to expect from the weather in February. The graphics tell the story of typical highs and lows as well as an update on the 2022-2023 season (so far!)

In this Denver7 360 In-Depth deep dive

If you have trouble seeing the graphics in the story, click this link for a full screen experience.

DENVER Colorado legislators hope 2023 is the year they can provide physician assistants (PA) more leeway when it comes to treating patients.

Supporters say the goal is more accessible care.

I know at this point in my life, I cannot afford another child, said Heather Sisenstein, a single mom to a 7-year-old daughter.

Sisenstein has been receiving care for years from a PA shes grown to love in the rural, southeastern Colorado town of Lamar. She went to her doctor to get an intrauterine device (IUD) for birth control.

Unfortunately at that time, she was not able to do so, Sisenstein explained. Her previous supervisor was stepping out, and somebody else was now her supervisor who did not have the certification or knowledge to do that."

She found another doctor who could, but it isn't covered through insurance. Her only option was to travel to Pueblo several times, which is a two-hour drive each way.

Thank goodness I was able to get that taken care of over the summer, otherwise I would have been pulling my child out of school for that, said Sisenstein.

She will still have to go back for a check-up once a year.

It's people like Sisenstein who state Senator Cleave Simpson, R - Alamosa, wants to help.

Part of my rural district have lost population in the last decade, said Simpson. Part of that then drives access to doctors, that direct supervision out, and makes life complicated for my constituencies and my physician assistants providing quality, affordable healthcare to them.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), there are currently no physicians or PAs practicing in Cheyenne, Costilla, Crowley, Jackson, Mineral and San Juan counties. There's not a single PA in Bent, Custer and Phillips counties, and no physicians in Hinsdale, Kiowa and Washington counties.

Simpson and state Senator Faith Winter, D - Westminster, are co-sponsoring Senate Bill 23-083, which, if passed, would allow physician assistants to do more.

This is about allowing physicians assistants to provide care theyve been trained to do through collaborative agreements that make sense in our current health care setting, said Winter.

Right now, PAs can prescribe medications, including controlled substances, and diagnose and manage conditions, but they must be under the supervision of a physician. SB 23-083 would allow them to eventually practice without that supervision.

This bill requires 3,000 hours of supervised training. And if theyre changing what their practice is, if theyre learning an additional skill, its an additional 3,000 hours, said Winter.

This is not the first time a bill of this nature has been introduced in the Colorado legislature. The topic was first introduced in 2021, then again in 2022.

Were making it explicitly clear this year that they cannot be majority owner in any practice, which means they cannot run their own practice without a physician, said Winter.

Lawmakers hope third time's the charm.

Were really trying to improve access to all Coloradans, said Denver-based physician assistant Ron Rasis.

The American Academy of Physician Associates says 17 states and the District of Columbia allow physician assistants to practice under collaboration rather than supervision. North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming do not require that collaborative agreement.

But not everyone is onboard with the legislation.

Im an ER nurse myself. I work with PAs on a daily basis, and I truly appreciate the work they do, said state Senator Kyle Mullica, D - Northglenn. When you look at physician assistants, thats in their title. Theyre a physician assistant, and they go to school to be generalists. They dont go to school for specialties.

That lack of specialty concerns Mullica, especially when it comes to patient safety.

Collaboration is not oversight, said Mullica. What Im interested in seeing is that oversight to make sure there is a backstop to make sure that we have that level of expertise when it comes to caring for our patients."

Mullica says he feels for patients who have to travel long distances for care, but thinks there are other ways to address the issue.

I think that we need to have that conversation. Do we incorporate more telehealth for that oversight? Do we incorporate that maybe a PA doesnt have to work under just one physician, they can work under a number of physicians and have those relationships? he said.

Groups like the Colorado Medical Society (CMS) and the Colorado chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) both stressed the importance of physician-led care teams.

In a statement, Dr. Patrick Pevoto, CMS president, said, Every day we see the benefits of those teams with our patients, including our valued work of physician assistants. While we have not seen language on a bill for 2023 and therefore dont have a position, our hope is that together we can address the Colorado Association of Physician Assistants concerns.

The Colorado ACEP said in a statement, Teams led by board-certified emergency physicians are preferred by patients because they consistently deliver higher-quality, less costly care. Physician assistants are an integral part of physician-led teams, and we support simplifying the administrative requirements for oversight of PAs by physicians in Colorado.

Sisenstein hopes this is the year for change so she can take that four-hour roundtrip journey off her already busy to-do list.

Its extremely frustrating to have to spend that expense to get healthcare. I would not call that affordable healthcare thats for sure, she said.

Editor's Note:

Stand along any part of Colfax Avenue in downtown Denver, and it wont take long to see the interaction between people and cars.

This busy street is not only a major artery for Denver, its also a popular place for pedestrians who visit nearby businesses.

The street is also, unfortunately, no stranger to pedestrian accidents. On Wednesday, the Denver Police Department issued a Medina Alert for a 2011 Chevy Cruz that was involved in a hit-and-run near Franklin and Colfax.

However, Colfax is certainly not the only busy street where these crashes occur.

The challenge of hit and run crashes

From an investigative standpoint, hit-and-run crashes are some of the most difficult for police to solve.

When we talk about homicides, people who are shot, people who are stabbed, quite often they are shot or stabbed by people they know, people they interact with. When we're talking about a hit-and-run crash like this, it's a stranger-on-stranger crime, said Sgt. Mike Farr, the day shift supervisor for the Denver Police Traffic Investigations Unit.

With these investigations, the cars involved can look like thousands or even millions of others on the road. Thats why videos, pictures and witnesses can be key in these investigations.

Police will often turn to nearby surveillance video to spot the car. Its the license plate number, though, that can play the most critical role in these investigations. Even a partial plate number can lead officers to the right car.

Absent that, make observations as best you can about the driver. Can you tell if he's male or female? Dark complexion? Light complexion? Hat? What does the hat look like? A cowboy hat? A baseball hat? What other details you can give me about the car? A unique item hanging from the rearview mirror, Farr said.

RELATED:

The challenge, though, is really two-fold. First, police need to find the car that was involved in the crash. Second, they need to figure out who was behind the wheel at the time.

Just because I have somebody who is a registered owner of that vehicle does not allow me to bring charges against them, right? You have to be the operator, not the owner. That's the way the law is written, Farr said.

For that, police will often turn to other evidence, like witness statements or even DNA within the car to try to figure out who was driving.

When police officers have a description of the car with the license plates, they will issue a Medina Alert asking the public to keep an eye out for the vehicle.

If they do not have the license plate number, they use CrimeStoppers ask the public to help with information, often in exchange for a reward.

RELATED:

Farr says hes heard a lot of excuses over the years as to why drivers dont stop to help the pedestrian theyve hit. Its everything from expired tags to intoxication to plain fear of getting into trouble. But he insists leaving the scene is a much more serious offense, and its never too late for drivers to do the right thing and turn themselves in.

We take what could be a minor traffic ticket, or even maybe just a misdemeanor event as in a DUI, and we make it an automatic felony by leaving the scene of the crash, Farr said.

His bottom line for drivers who hit a pedestrian and leave: the police are looking for you and will not stop until the case is resolved.

The current statute of limitations in Colorado for a hit-and-run crash resulting in death is 10 years, while its three to five years for a hit-and-run involving serious bodily injury.

As police work to solve several recent hit-and-run crashes in the Denver metro area, safe street advocates say infrastructure design is part of the problem.

Time to rethink design

As tragic as the recent pedestrian crashes are, Jill Locantore, executive director of the Denver Streets Partnership, says these incidents are not surprising.

We know it's because our streets are dangerous by design, Locantore said. The fundamental problem is we've been prioritizing cars and driving above everything else.

For decades, Locantore says cities across Colorado have designed their streets in a way to move as many cars as possible as quickly as possible from one point to another. The people outside of those cars are often the ones who suffer from the designs as a result.

RELATED:

With more cities focusing on transit, Locantore says now is the time to start seriously rethinking street design.

What does that look like? It could mean slower speeds, taking away some of the car lanes and instead dedicating them to bicycles or buses, constructing wider sidewalks and more.

You need an actual complete connected network, which we have for cars but we don't really have for any other way of getting around. There's many places where the sidewalk ends or where the bikeway comes up to a major arterial, and there's no safe accommodations for the bicyclist to get from one side of the street to the other, Locantore said.

Completing those networks so that vulnerable road users dont have to interact with cars as frequently will help, according to pedestrian advocates.

Locantore does give the city of Denver credit for making some of these changes already, like adding more bike lanes and making improvements at some particularly dangerous intersections. However, she says there is a lot more work to be done, and a fundamental shift needs to happen in the states transportation system.

We need to stop fantasizing that we're going to educate or enforce our way out of this traffic safety crisis and actually start designing streets for people, Locantore said.

She doesnt believe increasing criminal penalties on pedestrian crashes is the solution because she says its punishing people for using the roads the way theyve been designed. Instead, she wants to see government leaders focusing their funding and designs on making vulnerable road users feel safe and encouraging more transit options so there are fewer cars on the road.

We want to hear from you. When was the last time you had a close call on the road here in Colorado? How did it happen and what did you do?

We invite you to share Your Opinion with the Denver7 360 team and well compile your answers together to share with our audience and readers to help us consider different perspectives to the issues we face. Click here to share your story.

DENVER Theres been a dramatic rise in traffic deaths across the state, with 745 fatalities reported in Colorado in 2022.

Colorado drivers seem to agree theres a problem, as fatalities on the roads have risen 57% over the past 10 years.

IN-DEPTH: Whats behind the rise in Colorado traffic deaths?

But the recent headlines of hit-and-runs in Colorado, at least seven in the last month with four of those just in Denver alone have us wondering whats leading to so much traffic-related incidents.

So we want to hear from you. When was the last time you had a close call on the road here in Colorado? How did it happen and what did you do?

We invite you to share Your Opinion with the Denver7 360 team and well compile your answers together to share with our audience and readers to help us consider different perspectives to the issues we face. Scroll down to share your story in the form.

Statewide traffic fatality data released by the Colorado Department of Transportation on Monday showed a troubling trend on Colorado roadways.

Stats reveal there were 745 fatalities in 2022, which is the most roadway deaths since 1981.

In fact, total yearly traffic fatalities are on the rise over the past 10 years, up 57 percent. This is a reversal from the previous 30 years which showed deaths were on the decline, according to CDOT.

Impaired driving deaths also rose dramatically seeing a 60 percent increase since 2019.

In this Denver7 360 In-Depth Report, well break down whats changed and show you where the most fatalities happened in Colorado last year.

Also in this report:

Colorado drivers seem to agree theres a problem. In a yearly survey released earlier last year, drivers in the state admitted to behaviors that put themselves and others at risk.

19 percent self-reported driving over the speed limit most, or all of the time. And according to CDOTs 2022 Colorado Driver Behavior Survey, 10 percent said they never stopped for pedestrians who werent using a crosswalk.

While that is a 3 percent drop from the previous year, it is a statistic to consider as Denvers city council debates decriminalizing jaywalking.

In terms of distracted driving, 63 percent of drivers said they eat or drink while operating a vehicle and 28 percent read text messages while driving, according to CDOTs survey.

And when it comes to impaired driving, 7 percent of drivers admitted they drove within a couple of hours after using cannabis.

On a positive note, 89 percent said they buckle up all the time and drivers admitted to being less likely to speed on neighborhood roads.

But theres one number officials stressed during this weeks update.

As we sit here today, the number is 745, about 745. It's nearing 750. As the data continues to trickle in. That's 750 people that lost their lives. These are loved ones, these are friends, these are neighbors, their family members, cousins and aunts and sons and daughters and members of our community. said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol.

745 roadway deaths on Colorado roads is the highest since 1981. And the trend is going in the wrong direction.

The rate of fatal crashes was on the decline for three decades but that began to change in 2012, steadily increasing each year.

A deadly trend

In Colorado, El Paso County had 83 traffic fatalities in 2022 which is the most for any county in the state. Adams County followed with 82 and Denver County had 67 roadway deaths.

To understand whats behind the increases and what needs to change, state officials say it needs to start with Colorado drivers changing behaviors.

We are seeing more aggressive driving. We're seeing folks taking more chances driving at higher speeds driving more recklessly. said chief Packard.

All you have to do is listen to the radio, as our troopers are out there working the road, you can hear these reports of aggressive high speed dangerous driving, it's occurring around the state.

And while distracted and aggressive driving continues to be a problem, CSP chief Packard singled out an increase in drivers getting behind the wheel while impaired.

We talk a lot about the causal factors that are leading these. But I'll tell you the one that continues to boggle my mind, we can read headlines from this weekend about impaired drivers causing fatal crashes. said Packard.

Colorado State Patrol saw a 7 percent increase in impaired driving as a cause of a fatal crash in 2022, when compared to the previous year.

Driving under the influence of alcohol remains a leading cause of fatal crashes, but theres an increase in drivers who are getting behind the wheel while under other substances.

Impaired driving is getting more complicated. Often drivers are under the influence of one or more drugs, which can increase the level of their impairment greatly. Fatal crashes involving a suspected impaired driver are up by almost 60% since 2019. said Keith Stafanik, CDOT Chief Engineer.

He noted theres a steady increase in the number of drivers above the legal limit for THC.

Also on the rise are fatal accidents involving pedestrians and motorcycles. In 2022, 36 percent of people killed in a traffic-related fatal accident were not inside of a vehicle. Motorcycle and pedestrian fatalities were the highest since 1975.

We've actually seen an increase in pedestrians at fault in these crashes. said Packard.Whether it's crossing the road and unlit or otherwise unsafe situations or going against the traffic signals, all of those things are there for your safety, whether you're behind the wheel, or on the soles of your shoes.

CDOT stats show bicyclist deaths in Colorado have been on the decline the past few years after peaking at 22 fatalities in 2018. In 2022, there were 12 fatalities.

Whether it involves vehicles, pedestrians or motorcycles its not just fatal crashes on the rise. CDOT also reported there are 5 serious injuries for every reported fatality.

The states safety focus is in four different key areas: Roads, drivers, people and post-crash care.

When it comes to the human factors involved with navigating roads, engineers look to design infrastructure to account for mistakes people typically make while driving.

Keith Stefanik, CDOT chief engineer said an example among others is developing roundabouts instead of traditional four-way intersections.

Increased use of cable rail rumble strips to keep the vehicles on the road, improved striping, and much more. Some of the most important work is protecting pedestrians and bicyclists bicyclists. Engineering improvements can go a long way. said Stefanik.

He said CDOT has awarded $63 million for over 200 community programs to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety in Colorado

On improving driver safety, CDOT is focusing on awareness to create a safer driving culture on the roads. Stefanik pointed to an awareness campaign launched this past week in El Paso County designed to target younger drivers it says are prone to speeding and risky behaviors behind the wheel.

CDOT is also working on other efforts such as releasing an audiobook version of the states driver handbook and providing more resources to help new drivers learn the rules of the road. For families concerned about senior drivers, CDOT will provide new resources to help have tough conversations.

Since 1998, motorists in Colorado can dial *CSP or *277 to report aggressive or dangerous driving. The Colorado State Patrol Star CSP program has received more than 230,000 reports of aggressive driving, according to its website.

CSP said logistically it can be a challenge to have a trooper in a position in the right spot when a call comes in but calls are received and reports are tracked and often shared with other law enforcement agencies.

And a lot of times we're listening to each other's radio. So it might not even be a trooper that makes that contact, it may be a deputy or a police officer. Or it might tie into some other long standing thing that's going on with someone's poor driving across multiple jurisdictions. said chief Packard.

CPS advises never try to make contact with an aggressive driver and to stay out of the way to avoid escalating the situation. When calling the hotline, vehicle description, license plate information, driver description and the aggressive behavior witnessed are helpful.

If it is a life threatening situation, call 911.

What has been your experience on Colorado roads? How have you or someone you know been impacted? Use the form below to share Your Opinion and your story with Denver7.

Editor's Note:

Statewide traffic fatality data released by the Colorado Department of Transportation on Monday showed a troubling trend on Colorado roadways. Stats reveal there were 745 fatalities in 2022 which is the most roadway deaths since 1981. In fact, total yearly traffic fatalities are on the rise over the past 10 years which is a reversal from the previous 30 years which showed deaths were on the decline.

In this Denver7 360 In-Depth infographic, we break down what's changed and show you where the most fatalities happened in Colorado last year, from data provided by CDOT.

You can compare passenger, pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle deaths on state roads. State officials are sounding the alarm about more drivers who are getting behind the wheel while impaired.

If you would like a deeper dive into the statistics and learn more about programs the state hopes will reverse this disturbing trend, sign up for the free Denver7 360 In-Depth email newsletter which will be delivered to email inboxes Tuesday.

If you would like to view the infographic in fullscreen mode, click here.

What has been your experience on Colorado roads? How have you or someone you know been impacted? Use the form below to share Your Opinion and your story with Denver7.

Editor's Note:

Gov. Jared Polis focused part of his State of the State address on health care costs, saying he has worked in good faith with the industry to lower costs, but that not everyone has held up their end of the bargain.

Some large hospital systems are making record profits, paying zero taxes and sitting on enormous reserves while overcharging customers. Meanwhile, they are consolidating providers, which drives up costs and leaves fewer options for Coloradans, Polis said.

The governor went on to say it is time to hold these hospitals accountable, and that nonprofit hospitals need to work with their communities to live up to their promises, along with offering more mental health and other social supports.

Polis then called for legislation to build on some of the work from previous legislative sessions to ensure that nonprofit hospitals actually use community benefit dollars to benefit communities.

The sharp words were quickly followed by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) releasing a series of reports outlining the revenues of hospitals in recent years.

What we've seen is an increase in that patient revenues, a decrease in expenses, with net increase in profits through about mid-2021, creating a further increase in reserves, said Kim Bimestefer, executive director of HCPF.

The reports, which looked through financial data from 2014 through 2021, found hospital profits, reserves and patient costs were up significantly during those years. Between 2018 and 2020, the report found that Colorado hospitals were ranked among the top 10 nationally in costs, prices and profits metrics it tracked.

The report also concluded that hospital patient revenues had grown faster than its operating expenses.

The HCPF identified opportunities for these hospitals to better invest in communities.

We're saying to the big systems, do not raise your prices to protect those profits. Keep your prices the same, Bimestefer said.

Whats a nonprofit hospital?

Most of the hospital systems in the state are not-for-profit. That doesnt necessarily mean that the hospitals dont make a profit, simply that they do not pay federal, state or local taxes.

They are all required to provide community investment in lieu of paying those taxes. There is not, though, a specific requirement. This is a federal requirement, and there is no requirement on what a minimum community investment is, said Nancy Dolson, special financing division director for HCPF.

She believes the state needs critically examine the value of the community benefit versus what the state would have been making in taxes from the hospitals to see if they are equitable or if change is needed.

Beyond that, Dolson says these hospitals' community investments are not in line with the help their community is calling for.

UCHealth, for example, we see that nearly half of their community investment is going to support the CU School of Medicine and professional education, Dolson said.

Dolson says UCHealth's surrounding community, however, has asked for more mental health services as a top priority.

Hospital struggles

The rosey financial picture the HCPF reports paint of hospital revenue have been met with immediate and sharp criticism from the hospital community.

Jeff Tieman, CEO of the Colorado Hospital Association, says the data does not include more recent financial records, along with the troubles of inflation and staffing many are facing.

Expenses for Colorado hospitals are 21% higher than they were before the pandemic. Expenses for staffing are up more than 26%. Since the pandemic, medical supply costs are up, he said.

Beyond inflation and supply prices increasing, Tieman says labor shortages are forcing a lot of hospitals to rely on staffing agencies to find workers. Those staffing agencies charge high prices, which add to the financial burdens hospitals face.

He argues the reports left out important context about the pandemic, and the fact that hospitals have experienced more than $2 billion in losses through August 2022.

A lot of hospitals in Colorado operate with a low or no operating margin, which means they don't have very much money to put back into their facilities or the community, Tieman said.

It is important to note that the HCPF data runs through 2021 because that is the most recent financial record the department has. It will not receive the data outlining 2022 hospital revenues for several more months.

For that reason, Dolson says more transparency is needed, and possibly a switch to quarterly reports rather than annual ones.

Tieman also took issue with the picture the governor and HCPF painted of community benefit investments, saying hes proud of the work hospitals across the state have done.

Denver Health

Over at Denver Health, CEO Donna Lynne says the hospital authority is more unique than most and financially runs more like a rural hospital than a big hospital system.

According to Lynne, Denver Health considers itself a safety net hospital, meaning it will take care of everyone in the community, regardless of their ability to pay.

It is a hard environment to manage from a financial point of view, very different than most hospitals, Lynne said.

The hospital authority is a $1.4 billion enterprise. However, half of its patients are on Medicaid, another 20% are on Medicare and 12% are uninsured. As a result, the hospital says its under a lot of pressure right now.

We actually, in 2022, the year that just ended, we will lose money, Lynne said.

The pandemic only exacerbated the financial problems. Elective surgeries were cancelled, many patients chose not to come in and the workforce began to diminish. All of this has made the hospitals finances, as Lynne describes, a rollercoaster over the past three years.

She also disagrees with HCPFs predictions that the labor force will even out.

I don't think the workforce problem is temporary. I think it's permanent, Lynne said.

In all, the hospital only has 86 days in reserves, and says it will do its best to keep accommodating patients, but that the financial situation is anything but ideal.

Hospital profits

According to the report, UCHealth had a total profit margin of 26.1% and a patient services margin of 8.5% in 2021. During that same year, the University of Colorado Hospital, which is part of UCHealth, experienced an 11.4% patient margin and a 31.3% total profit margin.

What we look at is total profits. And the reason why we look at total profits is because many of the big systems are sitting on billions in reserves, Bimestefer said.

UCHealth, however, says the data misrepresents the financial environment hospitals face. Contrary to HCPF data, UCHealth says its 2021 operating margin was 9.9%, a margin that decreased to 5.2% in 2022 and 3.3% in the first several months of fiscal year 2023.

The hospital system accused HCPF of using old data, deliberately picking specific date ranges when investments increase and not following Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in its data reporting.

The system worries that the misleading data could lead to misinformed policies being created by legislators.

A press release from UCHealth went on to say that the nonpartisan group, Lown Institute, recently ranked UCHealth among the nations best for social responsibility, community benefit, value and patient outcomes. Officials also said that the hospital has increased its investments by $150 million.

The hospital system did report around $200 million in investment losses, caused largely by a downturn in the stock market.

However, HCPF points out that hospitals in the state were given more than $1.2 billion to help get themselves through the pandemic.

What about the hospital reserves?

Another point of criticism in the HCFP report is excessive hospital rainy day funds. The report found that hospitals have amassed billions in reserve funds, which have come from higher than necessary prices being paid by patients and employers over the years.

On average, Colorados urban and system-affiliated hospitals had 245 days worth of reserves saved in 2021, up from 225 days worth of reserves in 2019. HCPF says the larger systems also did not dip into their rainy day funds as much until recently because of federal help.

Bimestefer insists the two biggest factors playing into the current financial situation of hospitals labor and stock market losses will level out, so hospitals shouldnt be raising prices on patients for the sake of profits.

Don't worry so much about reserves and market share. Worry about taking care of people, Bimestefer said.

Tieman, however, says all it takes is one cyberattack or another pandemic to completely wipe out those reserves. He disputes the idea that hospitals are keeping too much in their rainy day funds.

We have a strong hospital system, and we want to keep it that way, he said.

Editor's Note:

When voters headed to the ballot box in November, the message was clear. Instead of a projected red wave, Democrats made historic gains in both the Colorado House of Representatives and Senate.

In the house, the Democratic caucus gained a supermajority, gaining 46 of the 65 seats in the chamber and controlling two-thirds of the chamber. In the Senate meanwhile, Democrats gained 23 of the chambers 35 seats, one shy of a two-thirds majority in that chamber.

The legislatures makeup this session is also the most diverse in state history and for the first time, women make up the majority of lawmakers.

There are also a lot of new members in the legislature with 32 lawmakers who have never served in state capitol before.

However, with this new legislative makeup, there are new challenges and what might seem like a sure session for Democrats could be anything but.

Denver7 takes a 360 look at the hurdles Democrats could face during the 2023 legislative session, even with their historic majority.

Dreams versus reality

From their promises on the campaign trail to opening day speeches, the Democratic majority has laid out a long list of priorities for the 2023 legislative session, from housing to affordability to safer streets.

However, one of the biggest challenges state lawmakers will face this legislative session will be reconciling big dreams with a harsh reality.

That reality includes an expensive housing market, high inflation, crime and more. Democrats have promised to tackle legislation addressing all of these areas.

On the same token, the caucus has also made big promises on combating climate change.

This year we will continue to bring down our emissions, prioritize getting our air quality under control, said Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder.

In the previous two legislative sessions, lawmakers have taken steps to address climate change, transportation challenges, natural resources and more. However, the steps came with a cost to consumers.

One example: a 2-cent-per-gallon fee on gasoline that was supposed to go into effect last July but was delayed until April 1, 2023. That 2021 law also added new fees on car-shares, deliveries, ride-shares and more.

Another example: a statewide 10-cent plastic bag fee that went into effect on Jan. 1 to encourage more shoppers to use recyclable bags rather than petroleum-heavy plastic bags.

Next year, Styrofoam takeout food containers will also be banned in the state.

These things add up, said Rep. Mike Lynch, R-Fort Collins. Now's not the time for us to be playing around with even the smallest of expenses that we have to pass down to the citizens.

During the election and as the legislature gets started, Democrats said they know that affordability is a big topic of concern for many families in the state.

In his State of the State address, Gov. Jared Polis called for more tax breaks to help families, from making the senior homestead exemption portable to addressing property taxes and cutting income taxes.

While promising to keep their focus on affordability, Democrats have also laid out a big agenda, from tackling the housing crunch to making the streets safer to funding for schools. The challenge will be balancing big promises with a tightening fiscal belt.

Controlling the calendar

Another hurdle Democrats will inevitably face: their Republican counterparts. Though small in numbers, Republicans do have some limited tools available to be able to slow things at the capitol down significantly.

Republicans have limited tools but one probably is really little things like trying to get the full reading of the bill. But Democrats should be able to overcome that with some reasonable planning, Preuhs said.

In recent legislative sessions, Republicans have filibustered some of the most controversial bills to come up from gun reforms to fentanyl to reproductive rights. In some cases, the holdup forced conversations and compromise.

In other cases, the filibusters were merely a delay on the inevitable passage of the bills.

In the House Republican elections before the legislative session began, Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, compared his caucus to the movie "300" and the small group of Spartans taking on the Persians. He was selected to be the Republican whip.

He called himself a filibuster champion and said he will bring those tools, promising, Democrats will grow weary and tired of what I bring to town. But that's OK. Let them be tired and let the bad bills die on the calendar.

During the first day of the legislative session, a sort of preview of what could be to come happened when a couple of freshmen lawmakers bucked tradition and decided instead to try to nominate another freshman Republican lawmaker to serve as speaker of the house even though they didnt have the votes and were in the minority.

The move caused a minor delay to the opening day proceedings and even split Republicans, since half voted for the Democratic legislator who eventually took the gavel.

Preuhs said if Democrats are serious about accomplishing their agendas this session, theyre going to need to manage the calendar carefully.

Our legislature has been notoriously bad, whether it's Republicans or Democrats that are in control of controlling that calendar, he said. The Democrats ought to if theyre strategic really try to line up those big bills, get them on final calendar for final vote, you know, well before the last week or two.

Outside pressure

The opposition to certain legislation wont only come from within the capitol this legislative session but also from outside of it, particularly when it comes to some of the social reforms like protecting LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights.

Gun reforms also promise to be a big area of debate with Second Amendment groups promising to turn out to the capitol in full force to testify against any potential legislation.

I do think there's absolutely room for conversation around common sense gun reform, Moreno said.

Already, the majority has discussed making changes to the Extreme Risk Protection Order law to allow people like district attorneys to be able to request a gun seizure. Democrats have also discussed ideas on raising age limits to purchase certain guns, extending the wait period from purchasing a gun to picking it up and more.

While there are many areas of disagreement, Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, insists there are areas where Republicans and Democrats can agree on the issue of guns.

The thing that we do find synergy in is our issues around suicides, Bacon said.

She said she hopes the two parties will be able to come together to find some areas of agreement in that realm.

Lynch, meanwhile, said Colorado is already one of the strictest states in the nation when it comes to gun control and so he would rather see better enforcement of the laws already on the books rather than adding new ones. He said he would also like to see more focus on mental health.

We don't like shootings any more than anybody else, and we want to do whatever we can to address those issues. But I would say that some of that is a mental health crisis, Lynch said.

In previous years, major gun reforms have resulted in expensive recall efforts and even lawsuits to try to block the legislation. Any new reforms are likely to bring similar actions from gun rights groups.

Duran said not all of the gun reforms need to happen this year but could be built into a three- or five-year plan. Democrats are expected to hold the majority for at least the next four years.

Division within

While Democrats may hold historic majorities, another challenge they could face is divisions within the party about what message the voters were really sending in November.

Moreno and Bacon said the voters were decisive in their mandate about the actions they expect to see taken at the capitol this legislative session.

We are under pressure to deliver on what it is that we promised to do. So, it's not lost on anyone to say that if we're the biggest caucus that we've ever had, we better get the job done, Bacon said.

However, Preuhs said the message may be a bit more muddled than that because of the way voters cast their ballots on issues other than candidates in the November election.

If you consider things like a tax decrease that passed and a few other elements, it's not clear that the public itself is overwhelmingly supportive of a broad liberal agenda but maybe some sort of balance between regulatory and some social policy benefits, he said.

Some within the Democratic party are already pushing for more progressive policies like an expected bill to try to ban the sale of assault-style weapons in the state.

I think that'll be the biggest challenge that the speaker deals with this year, is some of the dissenters in our own party that want to go a different direction, Lynch predicted.

Others are likely to take a more moderate approach, understanding that the governor has shown a willingness to use the veto pen on multiple occasions. Polis has also shown that he is willing to listen to business interests in the state.

Because the margins are so large between the political parties in both chambers, Democrats do not necessarily need to have every member voting in favor of every piece of legislation they propose in order to get it to pass.

Duran insists, though, that nothing is off of the table and the majority is willing to consider any bill that comes across their desk.

In his opening day speech, Fenberg made a similar promise, encouraging colleagues to cover up the names of the cosponsors on the top of a bill they come across and to read it for what it is rather than who it was written by.

Money matters

Of all of the hurdles, the single biggest challenge Democrats could face this legislative session is whether they will have enough money to get all of their priorities passed and funded.

Over the past couple of years with the COVID-19 pandemic, a massive infusion of money from the federal government into Colorado has led to the state having money to fund many of its current and future programs.

We don't have as much money. So, we have to think about it a little bit differently than we had in the past. And the good thing is, we now have a breadth of experiences across the state topples also help us focus, Bacon said.

However, with that well of federal funding starting to slow significantly, the state will have to rely more on its own revenue to fund current and future programs.

During his budget proposal presentation, Polis acknowledged the fiscal realities and called for the legislature to be deliberate in its spending.

Theres very little in the budget for new programs, Polis said. I would really recommend that if legislators have ideas for new programs, they offset them by eliminating or reducing other programs.

Inevitably, balancing priorities with fiscal realities will be a challenge.

Finding Compromise

In the end, the leadership in both chambers has promised to work with members of their own party but also to reach across the aisle to find compromise where they can on legislation.

We are not in the position to disregard whole communities because perhaps they didn't vote for Democrat. There are a lot of issues that touch us all, Bacon said.

Republicans like Lynch say that despite their small numbers, they are more cohesive than ever in their message and serious about tackling the issues that their constituents face.

We need to have a meaningful conversation because a breadth of perspectives and different ideas, help us find the best pathways forward. Best legislation that comes through here is true bipartisan legislation, Lundeen said. And when I say bipartisan legislation, I don't mean I mean a bill that simply has a Republican name on it and a bunch of Democrat names on it.

With only 120 days in the legislative session, there are a lot of things lawmakers on both sides want to get done. Now, its a matter of putting words and promises into action.

Editor's Note:

DENVER With a heavy bout of snow in the forecast for Wednesday, school districts and daycares across the Denver metro area decided to close, leaving parents scrambling to find childcare arrangements so that they could go to work.

Since the pandemic, though, remote work has become an increasingly popular option and employers have proven it can be effective for productivity.

Work-life balance

If theres one thing Emilie Aries knows, its how difficult it can be to strike a work-life balance as the mother of a toddler and the CEO of her own company.

I had this conversation with my husband this morning, we looked at each other and said, 'If childcare falls through today, which looks rather likely given the snow on the ground, what are we going to do?' I think this relates back to how parents share child-rearing responsibilities, and particularly how women shoulder the mass responsibility or the overwhelming amount of childcare and house care duties, she said.

Aries is the founder of Bossed Up, a Denver-based leadership development and career services company that specializes in women in the workplace.

While she does advocate for at least some in-person work for the sake of collaboration and team building, Aries says shes learned that remote work offers much-needed flexibility for employees.

COVID made it really clear that for many sectors, not all sectors, but for many industries, we can be extremely engaged and productive while working remotely. The key is for managers to really understand and define clearly what success looks like, she said.

With snow in mind on Wednesday, Bossed Up, like a lot of Denver-based companies, made the decision to keep their staff off the slick roads and working from home.

Remote work also offers the benefit of helping companies with equity, diversity and inclusion, particularly for female employees and those with mobility challenges.

A recent study from McKinsey and Company found that women with remote or flexible work options were overall happier with their jobs, less likely to report burnout and less likely to leave their jobs.

That same survey found only one in 10 women want to work mostly on-site and many women pointed to remote or hybrid work options as one of their top reasons for joining or staying with an organization. Those women also reported experiencing fewer microaggressions overall.

Of the companies the study looked at, only 7% had plans to scale back their remote or hybrid work for employees over the next year and 32% said those options were likely to expand.

Downsides of remote work

While remote work can offer more flexibility for employees and cut down on cars on the road during dangerous drives as well as less pollution overall, there are some downsides.

Part of that is how do you build a culture? How do you build a community if you're not together, said Dr. Kerry Mitchell, an assistant teaching professor of HR and business communication at the University of Denver.

Generally, Mitchell says employers have found that younger workers, particularly from Gen Z and those coming out of college recently want to work in an office setting for the sake of learning and collaboration.

Meanwhile, she says older employees who have been in the workplace for a while have reported being happier at home with their families where they dont have to commute.

Another possible downside of making remote and hybrid work permanent is the potential to get passed up for a promotion by another employee who works in-person full-time.

Theres definitely some what we're calling like a recency bias or proximity bias in organizations where we tend to think those who we see and who were around are the ones who are doing all the work, Mitchell said. If you're thinking about a promotion, or you're thinking about something and you just saw someone at the watercooler, they might pop into your mind. So, if you're not there, you might not think of those people as easily.

That type of bias is not always intentional on the employers part, and more companies with remote work are recognizing this as an issue and working to address it.

A third potential downfall might be the expectation by employers that even when a child is sick or home for a snow day, employees are expected to work. This can be a challenge for women in particular and can cause distractions for employees and a lower quality of work.

You run into that issue of if you're working from home because there's a snow day and your kids are home, can you still be on video meetings or Zoom chats? Are the kids distracting, Mitchell said.

Finally, while studies have shown that employees are more productive with remote work since there is no drive time, often it can result in workers being too connected to work.

That's been one of the biggest I'd say downfalls is that some people say they actually work too much. They don't know when to stop working, Mitchell said.

The business perspective

Over the past couple of years, Tony Gagliardi, the Colorado state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, says employers have learned a lot about remote work.

COVID really did cause a lot of changes in the workplace. And we represent small businesses, primarily, our average member has between five and nine employees. And it demanded flexibility, Gagliardi said.

Unlike days of the past when employees who couldnt arrange for childcare on snow days would have to call in, remote options give many the opportunity to keep working, increasing productivity overall and costing companies less money.

A recent survey from the U.S. Census Bureau found that between 2019 and 2021, the number of people working from home tripled from 5.7% to 17.9%.

That same survey found that Colorado was one of the four top states during that time to allow work from home (23.7%) along with Washington, the District of Colombia, Maryland and Massachusetts.

More people working from home also resulted in the average commute time for those who do report to their workplace decreasing by two minutes.

With low unemployment, Gagliardi says many employers are struggling to find workers to fill their open positions. Currently, Colorados unemployment rate is 3.5%.

Because of this, some businesses are raising their salaries and also offering more flexible work options to try to recruit and retain talent.

Our members are still having extreme difficulties in finding applicants for the open jobs that are available. About 55% of our owners reported trying to hire and 93% of those reported few or no applicants. And so, it's made it difficult. So what this means is, if I want employees, I need to work with them, I need to make the workplace and make my business a place that they want to work at and that comes with flexibility, Gagliardi said.

On snowy days when school districts and daycares close, parents can be left scrambling for childcare or need to call out from work. For better or worse, remote work offers flexibility and has revolutionized the way employees across the country get their work done.

Editor's Note:

It's a new era for the Colorado Buffaloes, welcoming football legend Deion Sanders as the new head coach. A jolt of excitement has swept Boulder in Coach Primes wake attracting the attention of top recruits and driving surging ticket sales and social media buzz.

We wanted to get an insiders take on all the hype from Chad Brown, a star player for the buffs during their heyday, including the 1990 team that won the Orange Bowl and finished No. 1 in the nation

Brown was an all-conference linebacker who would play 15 seasons in the NFL and be named to the CU athletics hall of fame class of 2017.

Chad Brown

Buffs are now part of the national conversation in college football and they haven't been there in what, two decades? It's been a long time.

Reporter Russell Haythorn

This guy, is he the real deal? Clearly he knows how to coach, right?

Chad Brown

There is a brand for Deion Sanders bigger than any coach in college football. CU is selling shirts, that don't say CU or Buffaloes or Colorado on the front. They say Prime. So he certainly has learned how to build a brand and he's very savvy as a media marketer and manipulator.

And while that style of coach may not be for me, I'm 52 years old. For the 17 or 18 year old, they're into that.

I think he certainly knows the game of football. Is he a guy who can get up on the whiteboard and scheme up ways to beat your defense? I don't think that's necessarily his skill set, nor does it have to be. He's able to hire coaches who bring that skillset with them. But in college football its all about recruiting.

Now you can transfer without any penalty. So kids are able to look at their current situation where they're at. Do I want to leave this school and go be with Coach Prime?

Is Boulder going to be a place for me? Is it a better playing opportunity? A better NIL opportunity? Name, image and likeness opportunities. So Coach Prime is bringing, I think, a spotlight where kids are going to recognize they are going to be on national television.

So these opportunities that he's offering are real opportunities for these kids who are going to commit to the transfer portal. They're going to help the buffs on the field but they will also be helped themselves by making this move.

The arrival of Coach Prime as he likes to be called, brings a level of excitement that hasn't been around and brings a level of interest in the program that hasn't been around.

And with interest and excitement comes recruits, comes boosters, comes money - comes eyeballs.

So we've been begging for something like this to happen. So there's lots of folks who are now jumping back in. I'm hoping that the expectations won't be past the reality of what can be done within one year.

The talent pool will be better, the players will be better. The results will be better. But will it be able to meet this incredibly high level of expectations? That remains to be seen.

BOULDER, Colo. In his playing days, Neon Deion lit up the field.

Now on the sidelines, Coach Prime as Deion Sanders, new football head coach at CU Boulder, likes to be called is just as electrifying as he was as a player in the 1990s.

Sanders led Jackson State to its first undefeated regular season in school history and two bowl games in just two seasons.

Thats when the mighty Buffaloes came calling, offering Sanders the head coaching job for CU.

As someone who was in the building for the CU v. CSU basketball game last month, where Coach Prime was introduced, I have never been in a louder environment that wasnt a game-winning shot, said Zach Bye, sports radio host for 104.3 The Fan.

Hes just a larger-than-life guy, said CU alum and Buffs fan Greg Giuffra. Hes one-of-one.

Were taking the arrival of Coach Prime 360 by looking at the excitement of new recruits, ticket and merchandise sales, national exposure for CU, why its a big deal not only for the football program, but the university and community as a whole, and, of course, the outlook for Buffs football with some asking, is it a Russell Wilson-Nathaniel Hackett-type bust or a return to the glory days of the 1990s?

The only coach that was going to be an add-water-and-stir-for-excitement was Deion Sanders, Bye said.

My dad was most excited, said Giuffras 9-year-old son, Michael.

Lets start with the excitement, which you can already measure in the number of recruits and current collegiate athletes committing to and transferring to CU.

READ MORE: Prime prospects: Breaking down CUs historic recruiting boon under Deion Sanders

Every player in the transfer portal called CU Boulder and said, Hey, whats going on there? said former NFL standout and football commentator Ryan Harris.

Analysts like Harris and Bye say Sanders is already a bonanza for the Buffs.

The transfer portal really has become the most important avenue to acquire talent, Bye said. And a lot of recruiting websites right now have Colorado as No. 1 in the country in that category.

Now you can transfer without any penalty, said Chad Brown, sports radio host and former standout for the Buffs. In college football it is all about recruiting and how many great players can you get on-campus.

The players are already here. Within five minutes of our Denver7 crew arriving at the Champions Center on the CU Boulder campus, we ran into three new transfers and recruits, including Jaden Milliner-Jones who already had a relationship with Sanders and just moved here from Texas.

He used to coach me, Milliner-Jones said. I understand what Coach Prime is trying to do here. Hes trying to get to the point where we can beat anybody. A new program, new everything. Its exciting.

CUs popularity is skyrocketing. Its Instagram account has seen a 300% increase, while merchandise sales on www.Fanatics.com are bonkers.

Just the month of December alone, year over year is up 560%, said Alexis Williams, senior associate athletic director for external operations for CU Boulder. Immediately, we saw an effect on everything that we touch from social media to ticket sales.

Williams said season ticket inquiries are through the roof.

We have over 11,000 interest forms thats people interested in season tickets, she said.

CU is selling shirts that dont say CU or Buffaloes or Colorado on the front. They say Prime, Brown said.

This is the multi-level thinking that you want your son to be around if youre a parent, Harris said.

Coach Prime is more than a football coach. Hes a walking, talking brand, Bye said.

It's a brand that longtime fans and alums like Giuffra were starved for.

The program sadly has been at such a low, and its been neglected, frankly, Giuffra said. There is fan support; theres money.

This year they could go to the Rose Bowl, Michael Giuffra said.

It does feel like the sky is the limit, said Greg Giuffra. Right off the bat the expectations change because hes the head coach. Its unbelievable.

The Buffs are now part of the national conversation, Brown said.

Just look at the BSC National Championship game a week ago Sanders on the set with Alabama coach Nick Saban.

The media is all over it, Giuffra said. The guys electric.

I have probably done more media hits in the past month about the Buffaloes than I have in the past 10 years, Brown said. Coach Prime questions have replaced Nathaniel Hackett-Russell Wilson questions by about five to one.

Of course, for Brown and fans alike, theres a cautious optimism to this much-hyped arrival in Colorado, given what happened with the Broncos this season.

I think this thing at CU with Coach Prime is more than hype because theyre acquiring too much talent in too much of a hurry, Bye said.

Perhaps theres a failure, but that will not be the end of the story with Coach Prime and the young players at CU, Harris said. Champions understand that failure is not fatal.

"The talent pool will be better; the players will be better, Brown said. The results will be better, but will they meet the incredible expectations? That remains to be seen.

What is seen is that hes already a part of the community like popping in for a bite at a local breakfast spot and razzing the staff for not having grits on the menu.

Heres this coach from Florida whos coming to Boulder and Boulder deciding, Hey, we should serve grits in breakfast restaurants. Is there anything more community than that? Brown said.

I relate to the grits thing, Williams said. Im from the south.

The attention, the potential business from it, the restaurants I mean these videos are hilarious, Giuffra said. Hes just an authentic guy. People like him.

You love that someone comes in and says, Show me where to go? Tell me what to do? Harris said.

One thing is certain, a guy like Sanders transcends football.

Football is the front porch of this thing, Bye said. They build buildings on campuses because of football.

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Williams said.

This is phenomenal for CUs academic prowess, Giuffra said.

Its like Paul McCartney landing in America with the rest of the Beatles, Bye said. Its that level of hysteria.

Weve been begging for something like this to happen, Brown said.

Editor's Note:

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. One of the busiest stretches of Interstate 70 is about to undergo a massive redesign.

By the end of March, the bulk of the construction work will kick off on the I-70 Floyd Hill Project, that will stretch from Idaho Springs to Evergreen.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) says one of the biggest additions will be a third lane to alleviate heavy westbound traffic. The project will also include fixing curves and building proper shoulders.

The $700 million project won't finish for three years, and work could potentially carry into 2027 if there are weather delays.

This will be very, very challenging to drive anywhere, said Brian Tracey, who lives in Clear Creek County and is also the president of the Clear Creek County Education Association.

Clear Creek went to a four-day school week partially because of Friday traffic on I-70.

We really love this community, Tracey said. You have access to incredible skiing. And Ive seen some of the models for the redesign. Aesthetically, they look beautiful. Whats ultimately going to be a sacrifice is from now until whatever year theyre going to finish.

You get on the frontage road and everybodys taking it, so then that clogs up and it takes you more than 45 minutes to get to work on what should be a 10 to 15-minute drive, said Joseph Calhoun, who lives in Empire and works in Idaho Springs.

While Calhoun shares the frustrations of other locals, he gives CDOT the benefit the doubt on this project.

Its a good idea, Calhoun said. Especially from Evergreen to Idaho Springs because you have that bottleneck, and it doesnt empty until you can get to the express lanes CDOT put in a few years ago through Idaho Springs.

CDOT says the construction and lane closure strategy will consider holiday weekends.

The Floyd Hill Project will be mainly weekdays, but its likely some work will happen on weekends, a CDOT spokesperson said. However, the project is committed to limiting impacts during peak travel times, including holiday weekends.

This will hopefully alleviate a lot of what were experiencing now, Tracey said.

CDOT is planning a meeting for early March to address the concerns of locals and other I-70 users. The location and time have yet to be determined.

Editor's Note:

With the new year, many Coloradans are looking at the next 12 months trying to make sense of the ever-changing real estate market in the midst of an uncertain financial picture.

This comes as things really slowed down in December.

So, what can you expect if youre looking to make a change in your home address? Let's take a deep-dive look at how Colorado real estate ended 2022 and what it can tell us about the months ahead.

In this 360 In-Depth Report, we'll talk about:

Let's start with good news in the numbers

After reaching a peak in April 2022, prices are still going down. At the end of the year, the median price statewide for a single-family home was $530,000 after hitting $600,000 in the spring. That means, homes are typically selling for a bit less than asking price.

We compiled data from every corner of the state and the story is very, very, very similar. said Matt Leprino, A realtor and spokesperson for Colorado Association of Realtors told Denver7.

In the Denver Metro area, Telluride Summit, Grand Junction really anywhere that you can go - This is the fifth straight month where we are seeing prices on average closing below 100% of the asking price.

And that means there are deals to be had.

But Leprino says surprisingly, inventory is still not that high. "It's a great time to look. Unfortunately, with interest rates being a little bit higher, that definitely offsets monthly payments for those folks obtaining a mortgage." said Leprino.

You'll remember this time last year, buyers had to overpay. Since that's not quite the case right now, paying less than asking price can help offset a good portion of the mortgage increase that comes with higher interest rates, Leprino added.

The way some realtors describe where we are right now? Stuck.

"Sellers are stuck in the prices of the past and buyers are stuck with the fear of what the future may hold, Boulder realtor Kelly Moye said in a release from Colorado Association of Realtors.

Sellers are learning to price to 2021 numbers and buyers are learning to leverage motivated sellers by requesting concessions to buy down their interest rate. Both seem to be working to keep the market rolling in what typically would be a slow time of year.

A mix of climbing interest rates and uncertainty about what the financial situation looks like contributed to single-family listings dropping 35 percent from November to December in the metro area, CAR reported.

Across the state, single-family home listings were down 30 percent year over year. For context, that's the lowest figure since 2010.

If you're looking to sell, how does the market shift look for you over the next few months?

"They're not going to sell their house in hours, it might take days, heck, it might even take weeks." Leprino said.

"But we're still in that 98% of asking price. So still price your home appropriately for the current market and just be a little bit more patient. There's a few less buyers out on the market right now than there was."

For buyers and sellers, it's a more balanced market, at least for a moment, leaving behind some of the craziness of the past couple of years. "They they get to have a little bit more peaceful experience selling their homes."

What about the townhome/condo market right now?

Low inventory has kept the median sales price flat for single-family homes in the state. But in the townhome market, according to CAR's monthly report, the median sales price rose 7.8% in Colorado compared to December 2021.

"And so it's interesting when we see that that the single family house or freestanding house is decreasing and another sector the condo townhouse is going up a little bit." LePrino said.

"So for me, what that tells me is real estate is still transacting, people are just definitely erring on the slightly less expensive property side of things."

Help for homeowners, renters and landlords

Colorado Housing Connects hotline has taken a record number of calls over the last week because eviction filings are up and some pandemic assistance programs are ending. The program director told Denver7 there are plenty of resources available for renters, landlords and homeowners.

They can tap into different tools like tenant / landlord mediation, utility assistance, food banks, and some of the existing rental assistance that still will be available to Denver residents. said Patrick Noonan, Colorado Housing Connects program director. Through their website, you can find resources to help with heating and food costs, energy bill assistance and answers to questions about refinancing and avoiding foreclosure.

You can talk to a housing navigator by phone at 1-844-926-6632 or visit their website for resources at

Another affordable housing option is through Rocky Mountain Communities, a 501(c) non-profit with nine low-income housing communities in Denver, Westminster, Arvada, Fort Morgan among other communities.

We also want to make sure that people have opportunities that a lot of us have. Our focus is making sure that we put services in place. Whether it's through our own services or through our strong community partners that are able to assist people. said Dontae Latson, President and CEO, Rocky Mountain Communities.

And good news, they have openings right now and you can learn more on their website, Rocky Mountain communities.org, including what you need to qualify.

Are you considering buying or selling a home this year? Share your experience with the Denver7 360 Your Opinion team.

Editor's Note:

Editor's Note:

There's a debate about making jaywalking legal in Denver and it could soon become decriminalized if three city council members have their way.

We wanted to share the for and against arguments before the issue goes to the full council. Councilmembers Candi CdeBaca, Jamie Torres and Jolon Clark support the idea arguing it's a social justice issue. Their research found of the 135 citations Denver Police have issued since 2017 40% went to black people who make up only 10% of Denver's population.

Opponents like councilmember Kendra Black say decriminalizing jaywalking could make Denver less safe for pedestrians. In this Denver7 360 Your Opinion, listen to both sides and make up your own mind.

Candi CdeBaca, District 9 councilmember

One of the laws we found on the books that does not prove to necessarily make anyone safer, but also does prove to target disproportionately people of color and poor people is jaywalking.

Kendra Black, District 4 councilmember

Well, my biggest concern is that we're sending a lot of mixed messages to pedestrians, people in wheelchairs and cyclists. They need to have safe behavior, I realize we have issues with Denver's walkability and bikeability and roll ability. But we don't ever want to put people into danger.

Candi CdeBaca

This is a product of a very diverse group of stakeholders. Our Denver bicycle lobby, Denver streets partnership and the reimagining Policing Task Force, to name a few. We have come together to try and reduce unnecessary contact with police for marginalized populations and also increase safety.

Kendra Black

I'm sure thousands of people jaywalk every day, I do it, you know. Sometimes you're like, can I run out fast enough in front of that car. I agree, someone shouldn't go to jail for it. They shouldn't have to show up in court for it. But I don't want to send the message that it's okay to jaywalk, because some people might make the choice to run in front of a car that's coming too fast. At nighttime, you know, lots of us wear dark clothes and dark coats. And drivers are very distracted. We know that, which is one of the reasons pedestrian injury injuries and deaths are up. And so if someone ran out in front of a car at night, the driver is distracted, I think there could be a really bad outcome.

Candi CdeBaca

Councilwoman Black mentioned it herself. People are jaywalking all day, every day all over the city. But the citations are only happening in a particular part of the city. And they're only targeting a particular type of individual. And so we want to eliminate that and focus more on the things that will make us safe, like street design.

Kendra Black

But then the messaging problem is that then we're going to tell people Oh, and by the way, if you see a safe place to cross mid walk, go for it. My concern is some people might do that. And their idea of safe might be different than my idea of safe,

Candi CdeBaca

I think that the average individual wants to live. And so they don't just walk in front of traffic, because they're excited about jaywalking being decriminalized, or anything else. People are trying to make the safest, safest decisions possible for themselves to navigate our city. And so this just eliminates an extra thing for a certain type of person to be worried about as a target, making them a target for unnecessary interactions. But for everybody else, people are still going to try and cross in the safest way.

Kendra Black

I don't think that it's a big problem. The data is not clear. There's an average of 22 citations over the past six years. And a city of three quarters of a million people - I would not say 22 citations a year is is a real problem. I understand their intentions and I respect that. But I think the trade off is not putting people in a safer position.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. In Colorado and nationwide, small metro areas, dubbed micropolitan areas, have found that mixing outdoor recreation with business and manufacturing has led to prosperity post-pandemic.

Four Colorado communities Edwards, Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, and Montrose made the list of Heartland Forward's top 25 micropolitan areas in the country for 2022.

On the far northwestern edge of Steamboat Springs, tucked just off Main Street, sits a cluster of warehouses where small businesses and small manufacturing come to thrive.

We are doing 60 pairs of poles today, said Andrew Beckler, founder and owner of Grass Sticks bamboo ski poles. We make bamboo ski poles. And weve started doing bamboo plungers, too. Weve got 12 plungers going out today.

The prosperity of businesses like Grass Sticks and Town Hall outdoor kids gear speaks to the diversified economy, workforce, and infrastructure in this small mountain town.

We do sustainable outdoor kids gear out of Steamboat, said Robin Hall, CEO and co-founder of Town Hall.

Grass Sticks business is booming.

Its a lighter, stronger, more durable ski pole than a lot of people are used to right now, Beckler said. And bamboo is going to bend and flex with you when you crash and then spring back into place.

And Town Hall is finding a niche, too in just its second year after launch.

We saw a gap in kids gear, Hall said. No one really focusing on the kid, making sure the kid has the right zippers and pockets and pouches and everything that they need and want. Instead of snaps, we did a magnetic because the kiddos cant do snaps very well.

In Colorado and nationwide, small metro areas dubbed micropolitan by Heartland Forward, have found that mixing outdoor recreation with business and manufacturing has led to prosperity post-pandemic.

Investing in entrepreneurs and new start-ups and being thoughtful about diversifying the economy, said John Bristol, executive director of the Routt County Economic Development Partnership.

Bristol says investment in state-of-the-art infrastructure like broadband has made Steamboat just as viable as any cosmopolitan big city in attracting companies and individuals.

Were far beyond other mountain communities and thats one of the items that weve learned has been really helpful, Bristol said. Its the mix of agriculture, theres a coal-fired power plant, the tourism industry and then you have these outdoor recreation gear companies and gear brands.

And Steamboats not the only Colorado town on Heartland Forwards 2022 list of top 25 micropolitan areas in the U.S.

Edwards near Vail is No. 10, Breckenridge is No. 15, Steamboat comes in at No. 16 and Montrose on the Western Slope rounds out the top 25 at No. 25.

It means people want to live here, said Eric Mamula, mayor of Breckenridge and owner of Downstairs at Erics.

Mamula says Breckenridge saw a huge influx of people moving in and staying as a result of the pandemic-fueled work-from-home, work-from-anywhere phenomenon.

It really accelerated that Zoom economy with people deciding, 'Im not living in the city anymore,' Mamula said.

Heartland Forward the group that puts out the list of Most Dynamic Micropolitans in the U.S. is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that calls itself a think tank focused on improving economic performance and renewal in Americas heartland.

The focus is on 536 towns and cities with populations from 10,000 to 50,000 people.

Researchers used a formula of growth in employment, GDP, per capita income, degreed workers and young firms and employers to come up with the list of the most dynamic micropolitan areas.

If nothing else, COVID has proven a diverse economy is the best way to hedge against the unknown, said Lisa Popovich, executive director of Main Street Steamboat. For us it really is where people want to be.

Steamboat is a town with more than 80 independently owned restaurants.

Downtowns reflect whats happening in your greater community, Popovich said. We shop in the stores that are here, we go to dinner, happy hour, were very social.

Popovich says what Steamboat does better than anyone is leverage tourism dollars for arts and other programs that benefit locals.

What town of 15,000 people has a local symphony or an opera? she said. Its not a one-dimensional life. Thats by design, not by accident. Investing in entrepreneurs and new start-ups and being thoughtful about diversifying the economy.

The people that we like are the ones that want to be a part of the community after they move here, Mamula said. They give to the non-profits; they want to be part of the local government and be on boards and commissions.

What Breckenridge and Steamboat are doing can be looked at by other towns as a roadmap to grow their economies in a post-pandemic world.

We do everything here in Steamboat with the exception of growing the bamboo and molding our plastic parts, Beckler said.

The Yampa Valley is an incredible place to raise kids, have a family, recreate, Hall said.

Theres always challenges to manufacturing in a small mountain town, Beckler said. Some extra costs and stuff like that, but its worth it. We get to go skiing every day, still.

The goal is how do we bring manufacturing here to the states, but specifically to Colorado, Hall said. Were proving it can be done.

Editor's Note:

Is Five Points dead? That's where we begin.

Genevieve Shiffrin, co-owner Marigold

No, not at all. Five Points is not dead. I mean, you have 715. You have Rosenberg's. You have so many different great attributes in this neighborhood and there's only more to come.

Sudhir Kudva, co-owner Marigold

There's so much here, right? It's a walkable area, the transit is great. It's got the bus stops. Got light rail. It's got food. It's got drinks. It's got concerts.

Genevieve Shiffrin

The current state, due to COVID has definitely affected by Five Points. In many different ways. We've seen businesses close, we've seen a lot of local businesses also, along with our community, go through struggles.

Sudhir Kudva

I think it's seen worst days, I think it's been better days. I think it had probably one of the harder times rebounding from COVID.

Genevieve Shiffrin

We are all very excited because there is massive development coming in this area. However, we're still keeping the essence of our community here. And I think that is what makes Five Points so special. And especially Walton Street in general is just how close knit our community is.

Sudhir Kudva

A lot of places have shuttered like, I think you're doing a story on Coffee at the Point and then also the market closing. So we're seeing more stuff closing than opening, but we are seeing a lot of development. So there's a lot more potential.

Genevieve Shiffrin

We all have each other's backs. We're here to help and grow our community. And we're seeing that with new businesses opening like Marigold right now. A lot of changes to the kinds of businesses. And we're definitely working with Five Points, business associations and neighborhood associations to drive foot traffic, because that's what we need here.

We have beautiful streets. It's a walking destination. We're very close to the RiNo Art District.

Sudhir Kudva

What we hope to bring is just a rising tide, getting more foot traffic here, you know? Different concepts, different areas, not just a bar but a bar with plants. Not just another business, but a business that is owned by locals. Any one of us can be at this restaurant or bar within five minutes, because we all live super close.

Sudhir Kudva

So we're hoping basically to contribute to the community and also just trying to get more activation as Norm Harris is like.. he's like, we can activate more things. It just becomes better.

Genevieve Shiffrin

So it's about getting people out here and showing them that this is an amazing area.

And we have so much to give.

Sudhir Kudva

The only thing that's holding it back is people not coming. And we want them to know that it's a fun place to be and it's also a stone's throw away from the RiNo part of Five Points, which is like six blocks to the east on Larimer street. So you're super close. It's not like you have to have like, a how do we get there? It's super close. Super convenient. And we're ready for it.

Genevieve Shiffrin

I hope people will get down here and see everything that's going on.

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. Whether its in the back of the house or up front, few would argue with the notion its the waitstaff, cooks, lift operators and those in the service industry who allow Colorados ski towns to thrive.

I love it here, said Randy Nichols. I dont want to leave.

For Nichols, who is a part-time waiter in Breckenridge and attends nursing school in Summit County, when it comes to living where you work, that has become increasingly challenging.

Its hard to save enough money to buy a house, he said.

Nichols considers himself lucky to have found a buddy who does own a home in Silverthorne.

I get cheap rent through him, Nichols said. I pay $750 a month.

Thats a steal. The affordability crisis has perhaps hit hardest in Colorado mountain resort towns like Breckenridge.

Housing prices and rents have just completely outpaced peoples ability to pay, said Jason Peasley, executive director of the Yampa Valley Housing Authority.

Its always been tough, its just gotten a lot tougher lately, said Eric Mamula, owner of Downstairs at Erics and mayor of Breckenridge.

You cant find a place for $1,500 bucks for one person, said Al Furlone, board member for the Fraser River Valley Housing Partnership in Winter Park. Its unsustainable. Theres no place to live. We post on job boards down in Denver and we find tons of applicants, but they cant move here because theres nowhere to live up here.

But hope could be coming soon.

Lets break down the mountain housing crunch by looking at three of Colorados premier resort towns: Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge and Winter Park, which is where well start.

Winter Park has a new affordable housing complex under construction right now that will offer 330 rooms at the base of the mountain at a fraction of the rent.

Were looking at between $600 and $800 a month, said Jen Miller, spokesperson for Winter Park Resorts.

The project is a first for Winter Park.

It is a modular build, Miller said. It is currently being finished in Idaho.

If youre wondering what that might look like, think of several modular homes stacked next to and on top of one another almost like Legos until you have a four-story, 330-bed structure.

Modular building is more affordable, more sustainable, less waste, Miller said.

That brings us through the tunnel and up to Breckenridge, where officials there are also exploring the idea of modular builds.

You know, they build these boxes, and then they ship them to you, Mamula said. The interior, even the kitchens, are complete when they ship. Sixty-six units. Were buying pre-built boxes, and then they bring them here and they stitch them together. And they are theoretically cheaper."

Mamula says theres also an 80-unit super low-income project called Alta Verde in Breckenridge thats almost complete. Its being offered to those making as low as 30% the area median income.

In the next five years, were going to generate another 950 units, Mamula said.

Breckenridge is also getting creative by buying houses and flipping them. But unlike most fixer-uppers trying to make a profit, Breckenridge is losing money on purpose by buying houses and then putting deed restrictions on them so workers can afford them.

We will purchase a property, put on a deed restriction, and then flip it for 30% less than we bought it for, Mamula said. And that deed restriction, to just boil it down, is no short-term rental, and you have to work in the community for 30 hours a week.

Mamula says the idea is simple: you have to invest in your community to create and maintain a community.

Were trying to maintain fabric of the community where you walk into a coffee shop, restaurant, or retail store, and you know the person who is working there because youve seen them around town. They are someones neighbor, Mamula said.

And that takes us north over Rabbit Ears Pass to Steamboat Springs.

It was definitely expensive, Peasley said as he walked around a 500-plus acre ranch with Denver7. But if you think about controlling the future of our communitys housing, its sort of priceless.

The Brown Ranch is viewed by some as a symbol of hope for solving the housing crisis. Others are critical of the size and scope of the project, and whether it will truly serve the need its intended to serve.

I see hope, Peasley said.

Steamboat Springs received a $21 million anonymous donation to purchase the Brown Ranch on the western edge of town, where the street grid is beginning to take shape for three new neighborhoods that will offer affordable housing.

Steamboat has the very unique character of being a real town, and that is very quickly fading away because people cant make it here, Peasley said.

The goal with the picturesque 546-acre Brown Ranch is to build out 2,300 housing units over the next two decades.

We have a seriously large problem. We need a seriously large solution, Peasley said.

The Yampa Valley Housing Authority also has the good fortune of a new tax on short-term rentals, just approved by voters in November 2022, which is expected to generate $12 million for the housing authority each year.

Youre going to see a mixture of apartment buildings, row homes, town homes, single family homes, small cottage homes, Peasley said. Our goal there is to make this a community where its very walkable.

Back in Winter Park, voters approved a new tax in November, as well. But unlike Routt Countys short-term rentals tax, Grand County passed a property tax that will help fund the up-and-coming Fraser River Valley Housing Partnership.

And hopefully that will allow us to start making a dent in the affordable housing crisis that we have, Furlone said.

The property tax is about $70 a year on a home valued at $500,000. Its expected to generate $1.2 million in its first year.

Our community has a different philosophy than Routt County, but even with a seemingly small amount of money, you can actually still get the first projects in the ground and build from there," Furlone said.

Were all working toward solutions to figure out housing, Miller said.

We used to be, for quite a while, the best town in Colorado for talking about our housing problem, Peasley said. And now were the best town in Colorado for dealing with our housing problem.

Its an issue, Nichols said. Theyre working on it, but its a hard thing to deal with.

Nichols and other service industry workers are hoping those solutions allow them to stay in the place they love.

You make it work and you dont want to leave. It would be hard to run a resort, run the town without the people who love it here, he said. Were the people here who are making it work for all the tourists and all the people visiting. I would ask that you please continue to help us out.

Editor's Note:

A law passed by the state legislature back in 1981 currently bans local communities in the state from enacting rent control measures; but, there is mounting pressure to revisit the law and repeal it, as Coloradans continue to face increasing costs of living.

But is that the solution or will it make matters worse?

We are going 360 on the issue, hearing from a city council representative pushing for rent control, a member of the Colorado Apartment Association who argues it could make our situation even worse, and a journalist from ProPublica whose recent reporting on rent prices has revealed how advances in technology are pushing up our rent prices even faster.

Rising rents

We first met Sarah Gardineer earlier this year. Her lease at her Arvada apartment complex was coming to an end, and she had just gotten the news: Management was demanding an increase in rent of more than 30% if she wanted to stay.

I didnt sleep for a week, Gardineer laughed, recalling the ordeal. I was feeling like, Oh my gosh, how am I going to pay this? When I asked if there was any negotiating ability to lower the increase, I was told no, which was even more frustrating. I felt very helpless.

To be sure, the increase Gardineer was hit with was a particularly high examplebut, her story is one of countless across the Denver metro area as rents have skyrocketed. Average rent is up 12.6% year over year, according to a recent report from the University of Denvers Daniels College of Business. It increased 5.3% just between the first and second quarters of this year.

It just feels like Im being pushed down and cant really get ahead to make a life for myself, Gardineer said, summing up the sentiments of many renters who Denver7 heard from.

There is a consistent and growing call from some residents and political leaders in Colorado to institute rent control in communities across Colorado, which would cap the increases landlords and management companies could demand from tenants.

A law passed by the state legislature back in 1981 currently bans local communities in the state from enacting rent control measures; but, there is mounting pressure to revisit the law, and repeal it.

We are going 360 on the issue, hearing from a city council representative pushing for rent control, a member of the Colorado Apartment Association who argues it could make our situation even worse, and a journalist from ProPublica whose recent reporting on rent prices has revealed how advances in technology are pushing up our rent prices even faster.

A push to help our hurting families

Obi Ezeadi ran for the Westminster City Council, he says, because the current status quo isnt the way it should be. From day one on the job, housing in his community has been front and center in his mind. Very early in life, he learned personally how painful housing pressures can be.

Many times, we didnt know if we would have a roof over our heads, Ezeadi said of his childhood. That insecurityits traumatic. It leaves lasting mental health traumas that dont usually get unpacked.

Ezeadi believes families today shouldnt feel the same burden he's felt, and thats why he has been outspoken for his support for rent control. Since local governmentslike the Westminster City Council he serves oncant currently institute rent control, hes been having conversations with the citys attorney to see what legal options may be available. And, hes calling on the state legislature to overturn the rent control ban.

Speaking with residents throughout the year, [Ive been] hearing the pain and seeing the tears, he said. I would love to see, in terms of restricting rents, limiting the number of times the landlord can raise rent, limiting the amount they can raise rent, [and] setting a cap based on income.

The argument against rent control measures, fundamentally, is that rents rise due to a short supply of housing. Rent control, therefore, can remove incentives for builders to invest in new housing projects and ultimately make the problem worse. Ezeadi, though, said we must fix our current problems before addressing future concerns.

Our residents are hurting now, he said. So, if this has negative impacts on long-term housing costs, then we can deal with that when we get there. But, the first thing we need to do is deal with the immediate need, and that is they need some relief.

The other side: Rent control could make our problems worse

Drew Hamrick, a senior vice president with the Colorado Apartment Association, is one of the voices arguing against calls for rent control. If our problem is high demand and rising prices, he argues, the solution must encourage more housing being built.

Rent control has tragically failed anywhere its been tried, Hamrick said. It has the unintended consequence of curbing development of new units. Youve seen that particularly dramatically in Minneapolis [and] Saint Paul, where they recently in 2021 passed a rent control local ordinance. Building permits fell by 80%.

It also has a huge impact on how free residents are to move around in a rent control environment, moving to a new place means youre spending more money than staying in the existing place. You see a drastic drop in peoples mobility.

Even if housing development increases, however, and it does in fact lead to downward pressure on rent prices, the relief for renters could be years away. The question for those opposed to rent control measures, then, is what can be done to make sure people are not priced out of their homes in the interim.

Hamrick, as a representative for the Colorado Apartment Association, offered a few suggestions.

The things that can be done to jumpstart housing is to increase development, he said. So, you do that with things like tax breaks for affordable housing development; cutting property taxes for new developments is a huge issue; sales taxes, as well. Anything that puts more housing units of any type on the market will bring down the cost of housing for everyone.

An additional 21st Century pricing pressure

To be sure, the Denver metro certainly has low rental vacancy rates: 4.76%, according to the University of Denvers Daniels College of Business. What if, though, theres a 21st century source whispering in the ears of property managers telling them to push rent prices higher, even if it means more empty units?

Heather Vogell, a reporter for ProPublica, came to this surprising conclusion in her extensive report that reveals how one company, RealPage, has developed an algorithm now used by property managers across the country, including Denver.

What it does is it sucks in sometimes private information from nearby competitors, and factors that into the suggestion that it is making for the rent price, Vogell explained. Not just the advertised rents that youre going to see on apartments.com, but what they have actually set their rent as. Thats information that, historically, a lot of property managers would keep very close to the vest.

RealPage itself tells companies that use it that it will boost their revenue by 3 to 7%, and so we know that they have been saying they are able to raise the rent, to help these landlords make more money.

The allegation being made against RealPage is that its service enables what essentially amounts to price fixing through a computer screen. The company is now facing a lawsuit accusing just that. A representative for RealPage told ProPublica the company strongly denies the allegations, and will vigorously defend against the lawsuit.

The big concern here is that this software is affecting competition in these rent markets, Vogell said. And these are places where, you know, tenants really really depend on there being competition between landlords to help keep those prices in check.

Following up with Sarah

As our property managers, landlords, and political leaders debate, renters are facing tough choices. We followed up Sarah Gardineer, five months after we first spoke with her about rising rents. This time, our conversation took place in a new living room, in a duplex down the street from her former apartment.

We basically had to scramble and find a new home to live in very quickly, Gardineer explained, saying that she and her partner decided a move would be easier than coming up with an extra $500 per month in rent.

They like their new home, she said, and things have worked out in the endbut not without a lot of stress along the way.

I mean, its really overwhelming. Its really frustrating. It makes you feel really helpless, especially when youre trying to figure out how to pay for all the other increases in costs in your daily life, like food and gas, she said. If theres anything that can be done to really alleviate those sorts of feelings, Im definitely for them.

Editor's Note:

DENVER Mount Evans rises 9,000 feet above Denver. While some note its beauty when looking to the west, others can't see past the peak's name.

In early October, the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board began a process that could result in Mount Evans being renamed. Those spearheading the efforts explained the process could last several months, up to a year.

The mountain, which is south of Georgetown and west of Evergreen, was named in 1895 after John Evans, the first territorial governor of Colorado.

The six proposals to rename the prominent mountain to the west of Denver include: Mt. Blue Sky, Mount Cheyenne- Arapaho, Mount Evans (redefined for John Evans' daughter, Anne Evans), Mount Rosalie, Mount Sisty and Mount Soule.

According to History Colorado, Anne Evans was instrumental in co-founding and supporting some of Denver and the state's largest cultural institutions, such as the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Public Library.

The process of renaming a mountain

The scale of Mount Evans is seemingly matched with the steps required to rename it.

"This is a very prominent feature in the state of Colorado, and we suspect that there will be significant interest," said Tim Mauck, deputy director of Colorado's Department of Natural Resources.

Mauck also chairs the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board, which is tasked with overseeing the processes to rename geographic features or certain public places.

The renaming process is convoluted, but in simple terms, the mountain's name will now be evaluated by the board for the foreseeable future before Gov. Jared Polis and the federal government are involved.

The board's first meeting on Oct. 11 included a debriefing of the proposed names up for consideration and tribal input. This Thursday, the board will have reached step two of what Mauck explained as a "three-step process."

The upcoming meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. will allow proponents of each name to give a presentation to the board. You can join the meeting through this Zoom link.

"Following that, we anticipate moving to a third meeting, which will include public comment strictly public comment and then perhaps the board deliberation at the conclusion of that third meeting," Mauck said of the final step in the process.

Upon the board's deliberation, a final recommendation will be sent to Polis. If he accepts the recommendation, he'll send it off to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for final consideration.

Back in December, the federal board approved the renaming of a Colorado peak to Mestaahehe Mountain.

Mauck said overall, he's not encountered strong vocal opposition to any of the names proposed; however, he noted some have questioned the renaming process.

"There are some that generally have come in questioning this entire process and the need to rename our geographic features," Mauck said. "You know, my reply is that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names was formed in the 1800s. We have been renaming and naming geographic features ever since then. So this isn't the first time that a feature will be renamed or considered to be renamed, and certainly won't be the last."

Back in March, Clear Creek County commissioners voted to support the recommendation of renaming Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky.

Members of Colorado's Indigenous community advocate for change

For Morning Star Jones, a member of Colorado's Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the name Mount Evans has always been a dark memory in comparison to others in her Indigenous upbringing.

"Here we are, just happy to be together," she said, flipping through photos of her and loved ones during a visit to a reservation in Montana.

Reservation visits, powwows, and special ceremonies honoring her Cheyenne ancestors are regular occurrences for Jones and her children. Visits to Mount Evans, though, are not.

"We are direct descendants of Sand Creek Massacre survivors, and growing up here in Denver, we know the truth. Growing up, my family knew the truth," Jones said. "The atrocities that were inflicted upon my relatives are still with us today, and it's called generational trauma."

Jason Hanson, chief creative officer of History Colorado, shared the historical record keeping that points to John Evans as the driving force behind the Sand Creek Massacre.

In 1862, Evans was appointed to become the territorial governor of Colorado by President Abraham Lincoln.

"He came to Colorado and saw opportunity for development, specifically with the railroads," Hanson said. "And in his mind, one of the prerequisites for that was securing the land for American settlement. In order to do that, he felt like he needed to push the tribal communities off of their Indigenous homeland."

Hanson said Evans wrote to officials in D.C. asking for permission to create a military unit. Once that was complete, Hanson said an attack on the tribal community was set into motion.

"Once Evans had that authority, he put Colonel John Chivington in charge and he [Chivington] marched them out to southeastern Colorado, where he attacked a peaceful camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho on Nov. 29, 1864. He attacked at sunrise and killed at least 230 of the about 700 people in that camp," Hanson said.

Evans later denied culpability because he wasn't present at the massacre and never gave a direct order to initiate the massacre, Hanson explained.

Some soldiers refused to participate in the attack at Sand Creek, prompting Congress to investigate what had occurred, according to Hanson.

"They pretty quickly both came to the conclusion that Sand Creek Massacre had been in the words of the congressional report a dastardly massacre," Hanson said. "Evans was forced to resign from the governorship."

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Jones has hoped the truth of the historical event would become more widespread.

"I've never been to Mount Evans, specifically because of the name ... it's just a daily reminder of genocide," she said. "I want this mountain renamed so that I may teach my children, my grandchildren, and to raise them with my Indigenous love, instead of our colonial pain."

Over the past year, she and other Indigenous people have advocated for the mountain to be renamed Mount Blue Sky. The Cheyenne Tribe has an annual ceremony for the renewal of life called "Blue Sky," and members of the Arapaho Tribe are known as the Blue Sky People, according to the Mestaa'hehe Coalition.

The coalition was established in 2020 and is "a collaborative effort among Tribal Representatives from the Tstshsthese (Cheyenne) and Hinono'eiteen (Arapaho) tribes, Indigenous leaders, nonprofits and allies who support renaming and educational efforts."

Over the past year, Jones and other tribal members have held prayer walks and public events to advocate for the mountain peak's renaming, though many know not everyone agrees.

"I think it's important to remember in the first place that all these places had Indigenous names originally, and I think there's been a very concerted effort of cancellation of our cultures and our names for places ... I think that there needs to be a little bit of balance in those conversations," said Conor Ryan, a professional skier and member the Lakota Tribe.

Cultural shift

"I think we are witnessing, at times, you know, healthy dialogue, a reflection on our past, a critical reflection on our past that brings up often painful and traumatic memories, as the case with Sand Creek related to Mount Evans," said Matt Makley, chair of MSU Denver's history department.

Makely said the renaming of geographic places across the country represents a cultural shift happening across the country.

"Fifty years ago to 100 years ago, there weren't vigorous conversations about places and names that were harmful to groups of people, because you had one group essentially in power, you know, wealthy white men," Makley said. "So if they wanted a place named the way they wanted it, there were not very many people to contest that."

Click here for a proposed list of all Colorado locations that the U.S. Geological Survey is considering for renaming.

Editor's Note:

DENVER Inflation isnt just impacting gas prices at the pump or your weekly grocery shopping list, itll also have an effect on how much youll be paying for everything you need for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

A Thanksgiving Dinner Price Survey from the Colorado Farm Bureau shows Colorado shoppers can expect to pay 4.8% more than the national average, putting the cost for a meal of ten guests at $67.14 this year, which comes to about $6.71 per person.

As you prepare for Thanksgiving this year, we want Your Opinion. How is inflation going to impact your Thanksgiving plans this year?

We invite you to share Your Opinion with the Denver7 360 team and well compile your answers together to share with our audience and readers to help us consider different perspectives to the issues we face.

My name is Heather Abreu and I'm the Visual Arts teacher at Colfax Elementary; I serve as ECE (early childhood education) through fifth grade students. I'm also a parent of two middle school students inside of Denver Public Schools, and I am the Northwest Sector A Board of Directors member on DCTA (Denver Classroom Teacher's Association).

I think that [consolidating/closing schools] is something that needs to be reconsidered and reevaluated. It's so important to consider budget when trying to be a mighty district. Something that's also important to consider is: What is needed to have vibrant, mighty school culture? And some of our schools including Colfax Elementary are small, but mighty, in the way that we're trying to approach this hard work that we call education.

I've already started wondering and going through the grief process of what it might look like not to be with these young artists and these babies next year, and it's heartbreaking... knowing that I've gotten to be a part of their school family and their lives for six years now and could have done the same, or maybe can still do the same, for their brothers and sisters is. It's really important to me.

I wonder if the School Board knows that eight out of ten of the schools on the selected list have 80% or more of free and reduced lunch provided for their families. I just I wonder if they are aware of other statistics, other means of communities on the list that play a factor in making education stronger in smaller communities? I just wonder if that's also a part of what they're aware of when making this decision. (Editor's note:

)

I would love for members of the Board of Education or members of the district to come into my classroom. I'd love for them to see the communities that we're serving firsthand and understand what supports are needed for them, not just what the list says.

I hate looking at and considering the idea of it being a numbers game in my classroom, let alone inside of the district; or trying to look at something solely from a budget perspective, because then it's no longer about students first and it's no longer about unity, if we can't consider everything that goes into unifying a community.

I don't want the kids that I currently teach to get lost in the shuffle of a larger school family, a larger consolidation plan. I don't want them to feel alone and I want them to know that they are supported and they are seen for who they are as individual human beings, not just as a number.

On Sunday, the 45th Annual Denver Film Festival came to a close. A documentary at the festival dates back nearly a decade in Denver, and raises questions about city leaders when it comes to anti-gang efforts in the city. The film has also received criticism from some community members about the claims it contains.

The documentary is titled "The Holly," and was preceded by a book written by Julian Rubinstein called "The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood."

Rubinstein was living in New York in 2013 when he read a news report about a shooting in Denver. He could not get it out of his mind, and eventually went back to the city where he grew up to investigate.

I was confounded, like lots of other people were, about why someone who was working and doing anti-gang and anti-violence work would shoot someone at his own peace rally," Rubinstein recalled. The public reporting on the case did not match the reporting that I was doing about the case.

The shooting happened in September 2013. Terrance Roberts was arranging a peace rally outside the Boys & Girls Club in Holly Square, which is in Northeast Park Hill.

In order for someone to be the subject of a book or documentary, they probably went through a lot of either really good things or really bad things," Roberts said. I didn't ask for this. But now we're here.

Understanding how Roberts got here involves understanding his past, and the complex, world of gangs in Denver.

Roberts was well known in Denver in 2013. He started the Prodigal Son Initiative youth program as a way to combat the influence of gangs on the community. His anti-gang efforts began in his mid-20's, after prison changed the way he wanted to live his life.

Roberts said he grew up in Park Hill, and said most of the youth in the area became members of the Park Hill Bloods by default, whether they wanted to be or not.

As crack cocaine came into the community, as some of our parents experienced certain things being young parents, single parents, as more violence and homicides started happening, we ended up getting more violent. We ended up getting more cliqued up into being more of a gang structure," explained Roberts. There were people who never even officially joined the gang, but if they were from the community, they were considered to be part of the gang.

Roberts said he joined the Park Hill Bloods in his early teens.

I see 14-year-olds now and they look like little bitty babies to me. I can't believe it. But at that age, we were carrying guns and fighting and gangbanging," said Roberts. I stayed involved a good solid 10, 11 years.

Roberts said he was incarcerated a total of three times. While in prison for what would be his final time, Roberts began researching activism and business, and studying what he would like to do once free.

What I have been doing for the last decade is getting Bloods and Crips together, getting youth together, whatever we could do to squash the violence," Roberts said. We were setting up for, it was called the 'One Love Black Unity Rally' because gang violence started filling up again.

Roberts said while arranging the rally, he was threatened by members of the Park Hill Bloods, including Hasan Jones.

Just him threatening me. I asked him like, why are you doing this? And he said, you call me a snitch? You're a snitch. I'll be over there in a minute to eff you up," Roberts explained. When he said that I clarified with him. He said, yes, that's what's going to happen. He left, and I went to retrieve my weapon. On my way back to stand with my crowd, yes, they did try to attack me.

Roberts said he was surrounded by Park Hill Bloods that day, and feared for his life.

No, he [Jones] did not have a weapon. But there was a group of people where if they would have gotten a hold of me, they could have beaten me to death, stabbed me, anything could have happened," Roberts said. "I don't know if you've ever been jumped by a group of people, but if I wouldn't have shot my gun when I did, they could have easily even grabbed my arm or grabbed my weapon. Who knows?

Roberts shot Jones several times that day. Jones survived, but was paralyzed. Roberts was facing charges including first-degree attempted murder and first-degree aggravated assault. He was being tried as a habitual offender, meaning he faced more than 100 years in prison.

Roberts has always maintained he shot Jones in self-defense. A plea deal was never an option he considered.

It really hurt because I was attacked, and I'm not a gang member anymore. And I had made that clear to the community for an entire decade," said Roberts. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was doing what people say African American leaders, young African American men, should be doing. I'm hosting a peace rally to stop the violence.

RELATED: Ex-gang member attempted murder trial begins

A jury agreed with Roberts, and found him not guilty.

It was a vindication for me, for my family, for my supporters," Roberts said. They did not find me guilty because there is evidence I was attacked. ... I defended myself, like my jury saw, but it ruined my life. It hurts to have your mother call you with tears in her eyes and say, have you read the newspaper today?"

As a result of a completely separate court case, Jones is currently in prison after pleading guilty to killing a 2-year-old girl who was in his care in Aurora. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Roberts' verdict is far from where this story ends.

Rubinstein met Roberts when he was out on bond.

At the beginning, I only knew the basic details, which even Terrance admitted, that he shot this guy. The question was why? Rubinstein said. A lot of people seemed to understand or believe that Terrance had been attacked that day, which is also what he had said, but I didn't know if it was true. The media sort of didn't seem to believe that that was true. And it turned out that was true.

What Roberts told Rubinstein would be the basis of his investigative work over the next few years.

You had him running a federally funded anti-gang effort on the ground, and he was also in significant disagreement with the police over how that should work. They wanted him to give them information about people and to help them basically make arrests, which he was absolutely unwilling to do. He felt it would ruin the trust that he had built with the community," Rubinstein said. "At the same time, he started sort of beefing, in the terms of the neighborhood, with Blood gang members over all kinds of things they were accusing him of, including working for the police, which he was actually adamantly trying not to do. On the day of this peace rally he was, and this is the shocking part, attacked by gang members, some of whom had significant ties to the police.

The documentary dives into such claims, but they do not sit well with some of the people mentioned in the movie. One of them is Reverend Leon Kelly, who works as the executive director for the Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives program. According to Kelly, he has worked with anti-gang efforts in Denver for 40 years.

Kids back in the days, you know, they had a sense of reverence, a sense of respect to the hood," said Kelly. The kids today, you know, they have little to no knowledge of the history, they have little to no respect of the foundation or the makeup of the community, the streets, the hood, the family.

Kelly said his work was focused more on the Crips, but he supported Roberts' efforts with the Bloods in Park Hill.

He really went forth, gave it 110% to try to make a difference," Kelly said about Roberts. "There's certain ones that didn't like that. They didn't believe that what Terrance was doing was true, you know, they sort of felt like he started turning on the hood.

According to Kelly, he knows several people who were present at the peace rally when Jones was shot.

Terrance said it, you know, he felt that it was self-defense. Talk to others who were there? They said it wasn't," Kelly said.

Kelly is shown in the documentary, but has not seen it at this point.

We did a lot of taping, because I was thinking that he was going to do a documentary about, you know, the change that Terrance had brought to the hood," said Kelly about the footage. Did I know that it would come back in this light, showing a community that was full of promise, that has hopes and culture, has been tarnished in such a way?

The motives behind the movie and the book are Kelly's biggest concerns.

"I use the term that I feel like this Julian and others are pimping, pimping Terrance out and pimping the hood out," Kelly said. 'Who's getting paid from this? And what is the purpose?' has been my question.

Denver7 brought Kelly's question to Rubinstein and Roberts for a response.

My motivation was journalism. If he wants to say it's not journalism I would question that, but I don't understand the question. That's my career," said Rubinstein.

Roberts responded by saying the problem that me and Reverend Kelly have with each other is Reverend Kelly is too tied into the system and who pays him, which is that system, and the connections that he's made with law enforcement and elected officials.

Kelly connected Denver7 with Pernell Hines, who was not present at the incident in September 2013, but says he spent the last eight years of his life having to explain the situation.

This is a quiet community, as far as we keep our mouth shut. We didn't respond over all these years because we were hoping that this petty stuff will go away, but it didn't. It got bigger," said Hines. They wrote a whole book about it. And if the truth was told, it wouldn't be a bit of story. They had to spice it up, it had to become a conspiracy theory."

Hines said he is associated with the Park Hill Bloods, but is not currently an active gang member.

I don't gangbang. I don't run around here and throw my fingers up and disrespect Crips no more. I don't do that no more. What I do, do is I help the situation out," Hines said.

Hines works with the Impact Empowerment Group in Northeast Park Hill. The group's website says they serve the community through education, employment, and entrepreneurship.

You can't bring nobody from Harvard to come over here and stop a situation he didn't create. So I figured since I was one of people who started this mess, I can help end it," said Hines.

According to Hines, funding for the Impact Empowerment Group suffered as a result of the book and movie about the 2013 shooting.

We haven't been able to keep things going in over 90 days. Because like I said, whenever a conspiracy is thrown out there and you have people whose livelihoods are at stake, they pull away. So investors pull away," said Hines. We've all been sidetracked by the story that Terrance has put out and Rubinstein put out, and the community has been lost in the process. I think we've been lost in the process.

Hines is not shown in the documentary, but he claims Rubinstein labeled him a police informant through this process. He called it the "biggest lie" surrounding the book and movie.

A lawsuit was filed, and withdrawn, regarding the claim. Rubinstein insists he never called Hines an informant.

We asked him repeatedly, can you show even one example of that. They failed to do so over a six month lawsuit, during which they admitted to never seeing the movie," said Rubinstein. That's an attempt to slander me."

Kelly said he would like to bring both sides together to try and resolve the deep-rooted differences, if possible.

Denver7 asked Mayor Michael Hancock about the assertions made in the movie.

"I havent seen the documentary, I havent heard the allegations, and its absurd in my eyes and ears. Ive never heard anything like that," Mayor Hancock said.

Roberts is currently running to be Denver's next mayor.

Those with the Denver Police Department declined to comment on the allegations related to the book and film.

Rubinstein said the documentary will be in theaters and streaming by early 2023.