El Paso County

Gun laws unenforceable, but El Paso sheriff says he'll still try to enforce them

During recent months, numerous sheriffs, including Larimer County's Justin Smith and Weld County's John Cooke, have ripped proposed gun-control measures before the Colorado legislature. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa has been critical of such efforts, too. But his office is upset at local medi ... More >>

Reader: Mitt Romney volunteer may have broken law, but it's hard to tell

Yesterday, we shared a video of a controversial Mitt Romney volunteer registration video, featuring a young woman claiming to be from the El Paso County clerk's office -- which she wasn't. But did she do anything illegal? One of our readers decided to explore the issue and come up with no definitive ... More >>

Crappy cars lure Colorado Springs crooks?

Here at the Criminal Affairs Desk, we've remarked before that malfeasance in Colorado Springs often takes strange twists. Not that crime waves are any more severe or more violent in El Paso County than they are in the Denver area; they're just...different. Like the rock-wielding bandit who recently ... More >>

Photos: Twenty Colorado sex offenders who failed to register

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation maintains a website focused on convicted sex offenders in the state -- including those whose current whereabouts are unknown, because they've failed to register with authorities. We've collected photos and identifying information for twenty such creeps. If you re ... More >>

Nyesha Hall-Gonzalez, suicidal mom, allegedly left her two-year-old in a field to die

That old saw about divorce being hardest on the kids almost turned fatal in the case of Nyesha Hall-Gonzalez, 28. She's accused of burying a Carmelo Ortiz-Hall, her two-year-old son, under tumbleweeds and leaving him to die in an El Paso County field because of her desire to kill herself -- and her ... More >>

Medical marijuana: El Paso commissioners lean toward giving 2nd chance to shuttered MMC

Sean McAllister.​Alternative Medical Solutions, a medical marijuana center in tiny Peyton, Colorado, has been closed for about a week, and could be shuttered permanently, because it missed a July license-application deadline with El Paso County. In response, attorney Sean McAllister sued the c ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Rally supports Bob Crouse, MMJ patient charged after paperwork snafu

Bob Crouse.​Last month, we shared the story of longtime Colorado Springs restaurateur and medical marijuana patient Bob Crouse, charged with felony cultivation and distribution after a doctor-recommended application that he be allowed to grow more plants was returned due to a technical error. ... More >>

Boulder County pays ACLU $65,000 to settle lawsuit over postcard-only jail policy

​This week, the Boulder County jail is expected to formally end its policy of restricting inmate mail to postcards only -- and commissioners agreed to pay the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado $65,000 to settle a lawsuit over an issue that an ACLU spokeswoman hopes is now dead in the ... More >>

Chuck Zukowski: Reserve deputy fired over paranormal investigations

Chuck Zukowski.​Chuck Zukowski likes to think that his work as an El Paso County reserve deputy sheriff sharpened his skills as an off-duty investigator of cattle mutilations, UFO and Bigfoot sightings and ghostly apparitions -- and vice versa. But law enforcement bosses aren't keen on those w ... More >>

El Paso County Jail's postcard-only policy is returned to sender

​Prisoners in El Paso County got an early Christmas present yesterday, when county officials agreed to stop limiting outgoing inmate mail to just postcards. The ACLU had filed suit against that policy, which the El Paso County Jail adopted this summer, arguing that such restrictions for prison ... More >>

Shawn Lynch's Fort Carson controversy: KUNC tracks soldier's brain-injury-diagnosis struggles

​The signature battle wounds for Iraq and Afghanistan vets are post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) -- ailments that are difficult to diagnose and easy for officials to ignore. While vet advocates like Andrew Pogany and innovative treatment programs like El ... More >>

Eric Bieniemy now leading candidate to be Colorado Buffs coach? Is Bill McCartney out?

Eric Bieniemy.​Look at these Denver blog posts we found. 5280's A.J. Vicens: Eric Bieniemy has the mo in the CU coaching derby, thanks in part to anti-gay comments from Bill McCartney. Colorado Pols: Does anyone in El Paso County care about food safety? Denver Egotist: Advertising agencies ... More >>

Medical marijuana ban in El Paso County loses -- not that officials were eager to offer updates

​The morning after election day, a medical marijuana business ban vote in El Paso County was close enough to require a provisional ballot count Vote No on 1A spokesman Mike Elliott predicted would take quite a while, and he was right. Last night, officials finally confirmed the measure lost -- ... More >>

Marijuana election round-up: More losses than wins for MMJ in Colorado

​While the big weed setback last week might have been the defeat of California's Proposition 19, marijuana didn't fare too well in Colorado, either. As per the state's new medical marijuana laws, local officials are now allowed to ask voters whether or not their communities should allow dispen ... More >>

Medical marijuana fight in Jeffco: Does closed Footprints Health still have a chance to reopen?

Footprints Health​With so many municipalities passing medical marijuana dispensary bans this week, more businesses may find themselves in the shoes of folks at Jefferson County's Footprints Health & Wellness, who began challenging a shutdown order earlier this year. They hope a judge will allo ... More >>

Medical marijuana ban in El Paso County losing narrowly -- but final result could take weeks

​Earlier today, info from Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente suggested that a medical marijuana dispensary ban in El Paso County was ahead by a handful of votes. Now, it appears to be losing by a narrow margin -- but Vote No on 1A spokesman Mike Elliott doesn't expect final results anytime soon ... More >>

Marijuana and Colorado Springs cops: Should dispensary taxes be used to fund police?

​One of the main arguments for the marijuana-legalization measure that Californians will vote on today is the tax revenue that legal pot would bring to struggling communities -- ones like Colorado Springs, which may launch a police squad funded by a new pot of pot money

Medical marijuana dispensary ban: El Paso vote to count, but could passage cost county millions?

Bob Hoban.​Earlier this month, attorneys filed a lawsuit against a medical marijuana business ban on the El Paso County ballot -- but yesterday, 4th Judicial District Judge Timothy Simmons refused to grant a preliminary injunction preventing the vote from being counted. Not that Bob Hoban, the ... More >>

Medical marijuana dispensary ban in El Paso County: Fighting 1A in court and at polls

​According to attorney Jessica Corry, a hearing is set for today in a lawsuit against a medical marijuana dispensary ban ballot measure in El Paso County. But in case the suit fails, opponents of County Question 1A are moving ahead with their campaign, including an event today presenting argum ... More >>

Medical marijuana lawsuit: Jessica Corry on why dispensary ban shouldn't be on El Paso ballot

Jessica Corry.​The effort to put a medical marijuana dispensary ban on the El Paso County ballot was successful -- and MMJ advocate Brian Cook has readied a TV campaign to fight it. But earlier this week, a coalition of lawyers that includes Jessica Corry took a different tack, filing a lawsui ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Possible dispensary-ban vote needed, says El Paso County commissioner

Wayne Williams.​Earlier this week, we told you about a lawsuit against Westminster's medical-marijuana dispensary ban, which attorney Sean McAllister hopes will serve as a test case to challenge all such prohibitions in Colorado. But the prospect of litigation isn't stopping municipalities fro ... More >>

Inmate postcards: "Having wonderful crime, wish you were here"

This is NOT a mail truck.​Jailers in Boulder and Colorado Springs have cracked down on inmate mail, banning personal letters and limiting prisoners to postcards that staff can monitor and intercept if the communication is objectionable. County officials say the practice saves money and makes t ... More >>

Death Knell: Colorado wants reforms for its child-welfare system, but the biggest change is off the table

Medical marijuana dispensary ban invites problems even if it's right, says councilman

Darryl Glenn.​A dispensary ban in Colorado Springs seems bound for the November ballot -- but this development leaves Springs city council member Darryl Glenn torn. On the one hand, he agrees with Attorney General John Suthers that Amendment 20 didn't authorize dispensaries -- but he thinks a ... More >>

U.S. Marshall's sex-offender sweep: The top 10

​Murders, forgers, tax evaders. They're all scumbags to varying degrees, but none is as scummy as the sex offender. And while you'd never know if you had a multiple murderer living next to you, sex offenders have to register. A lot of them don't, which has a lot to do with the U.S. Marshall's ... More >>

Immigration Center: Business that allegedly faked fed link hit with $2.5 million judgment

A Flickr photo​As Denver City Councilman Chris Nevitt noted yesterday in support of a proclamation demanding comprehensive immigration reform, "I think the two sides of this debate have demonized each other. The immigration-rights folks look at the people who pursued the Arizona measure as bei ... More >>

Can a veterans court help former GIs find justice here at home?

Nic Gray, Iraq veteran, talks about the night he can't remember

"Iraq veteran Nic Gray talks to Westword about the night he can't remember."This week's cover story relates the tale of how Nic Gray, an Iraq war veteran, got caught up in the criminal justice system and eventually landed in an innovative new program called the El Paso County veterans treatment cour ... More >>

Take out the papers and the dad: Son says he put father's body in a trash can -- but didn't kill him

A Flickr photo"Is anybody in there?"​You're probably going to make an assumption after reading this item -- and you might be right. But let's take this one step at a time. Quinten Abeyta, 32, lived with his father, Russell, 55, in Colorado Springs. He reportedly told local authorities that he ... More >>

Have you been pulled over by the worst police impersonator ever?

Not a photo of the actual impersonation suspect (we're pretty sure).​How convincing a cop was a 24-year-old Colorado Springs man currently being held on felony police-impersonation charges? Well, the vehicle he used was a gray 1995 Cadillac sedan, the sort of car preferred by eighty-year-old r ... More >>

Drive safely this weekend -- or else an army of cops will bust your ass

This weekend, law enforcement agencies across the state will be out in force to make sure you don't do anything stupid behind the wheel over the Memorial Day weekend. This link on the Colorado Department of Transportation website details the specific plans of 85 separate organizations. For instanc ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Hit the road

Governor Bill Ritter is heading down to Colorado Springs today, where he'll host a town-hall meeting and sign a number of bills. And along the way, he'll no doubt pass a handful of unauthorized signs along I-25, all asking, "Why does Ritter hate El Paso County?" Why indeed? I asked Evan Dreyer, ... More >>

In Russia, Blog Writes You!

Labor Saver

Storme of the Day

It only takes 38 inches to make the Dlist.

The Wilding Blue Yonder

Reel life, real problems.

Beyond Contempt

The child-protection system wants to shut down family-rights activist Suzanne Shell. And vice versa.

Off Limits

Dialing for attention

The Message

Free at Last

Something Wicked This Way Comes

These cops have a beat, but can you dance to it?

In Sickness and in Health

Dr. Tisha Dowe survived the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. But can she survive Colorado Springs politics?

Hall of Shame

You'd have to go a fur piece to find bigger embarrassments.

Hate State Sets New Record: 365 Days of Rage!

Slamming the Door on Kerry Dore

A construction worker faces 32 years in prison after a hostage incident at Focus on the Family.

Of Mice and Men

What the battle to save an obscure rodent says about the cost of front range growth.

Out of Focus

Demons continue to haunt the injured ironworker who held up Focus on the Family--as well as his victims.

Due Unto Others

Next month, Colorado voters will decide whether the state's $5 billion worth of tax-exempt properties are all charity cases.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

THINGS YOU DID IN DENVER WHILE YOU WERE STOPPED DEAD IN TRAFFIC ON THE WAY TO DIA.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

DRIBBLES AND BITS AND BITS AND BITS.

GETTING TESTY

A DISPUTE OVER AIDS TESTING ENSNARES A HEALTH OFFICIAL FROM COLORADO SPRINGS.