On Wednesday, state lawmakers on the House Local Government committee heard from over sixty people who testified in favor of the Right to Rest Act, which would have banned law enforcement agencies and municipalities across Colorado from “criminalizing” homelessness by issuing citations or arresting anyone who rests, sleeps and eats in…
Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world was just announced, and it includes someone in Denver who has been making international headlines lately: Jeanette Vizguerra. Vizguerra is a well-known activist and undocumented mother of four who has taken sanctuary at the First Unitarian Society in…
There was a moment during Monday’s Denver City Council meeting that felt like déjà vu for anyone who happened to be at another council meeting way back on October 26, 2015: the sudden swinging open of chamber doors, the single-file line of activists marching up to surprised councilmembers, a barrage of…
Keeping up with all of the developments around immigration and customs enforcement these days is proving to be quite the task; under the Trump administration, rarely a day goes by when there isn’t some noteworthy action from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or a policy change coming out of Washington,…
A bill that aims to create a task force to provide support — including mental-health services — to Colorado’s child-welfare caseworkers crossed its first hurdle on Tuesday, April 11, when it passed out of the House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee by a vote of ten to three. During the nearly two-hour…
Indivisible Denver, under the auspices of local artist Eric Shumake, is staging weekly rallies at the Denver offices of Senator Cory Gardner. Dubbed the Sunday Gardner, the gatherings blast the state’s highest-ranking Republican official for his unblinking support of President Donald Trump, not to mention his efforts to denigrate demonstrators by suggesting that they’re being paid to protest.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Westword about her new role as Colorado Democratic Party chair, former state senate president Morgan Carroll acknowledges mistakes made at the local, state and national level and talks about the need for innovation and fresh thinking during a period when cynicism about the political system is rising at a rapid rate. But she also exhibits enthusiasm and optimism about channeling anti-Trump energy into practical action.
Since President Donald Trump took office, attorney Hans Meyer has been at the forefront of multiple Colorado campaigns regarding immigration. He not only documented the presence of ICE agents at the Denver courthouse, but is the lawyer representing Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother of four who took sanctuary in a Denver church to avoid deportation.
Neil Gorsuch has just been sworn in as the latest justice on the U.S. Supreme Court at a White House ceremony today, April 10, following a rambling introduction by President Donald Trump, whose many shout-outs included Colorado Senator Cory Gardner. Gorsuch is the second Coloradan to serve on the country’s highest court. The previous Colorado product on the court was the late Byron “Whizzer” White.
The City of Denver hasn’t dropped efforts to prosecute eighteen disability-rights activists who were cited for trespassing in a downtown Denver building that houses the office of Senator Cory Gardner when they tried to protest against repealing the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
Last week, three people who’d been given urban-camping ban citations were found guilty of breaking the law. But from the start of the trial, potential jurors questioned the law itself, proving the five-year-old ban on camping in Denver is as divisive as ever. It’s just one issue we’ve covered lately…
Emboldened under the Trump administration, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement have recently encroached into what Denver officials are calling “sensitive locations,” driving fear in the city’s immigrant communities. That includes undercover ICE agents infiltrating Denver’s courts to make arrests — as evidenced in a February video shot by the…
George Brauchler has become the first major Republican figure to announce that he’s seeking to be elected governor of Colorado in 2018. Learn more about him in a wide-ranging interview.
The bombing of the airfield in Syria has essentially muzzled members of the Colorado Congressional delegation who have been critical of Trump thus far, energized his backers and left Democratic Senator Michael Bennet searching for middle ground, as usual. In a statement, Bennet essentially validates the military response, with the minor caveat of suggesting that Trump consult with Congress, as he didn’t do in this case, if he’d like to take such action down the line.
Three people who were contesting Denver’s urban-camping ban were found guilty on Wednesday, April 5, at the Lindsey-Flanigan courthouse. The defendants — Jerry Burton, Randy Russell and Terese Howard — were determined to have unlawfully camped on November 28, 2016, and to have interfered with police operations at one location…
The man behind FuckCoryGardner.org, a website that’s attracted a sizable cult audience since launching on March 30, one week ago today, laughs frequently when describing his creation. But even though the name of the page and the graphics on it are funny, Denver’s Trevor Rawls makes it clear that the project is no joke.
Five potential jurors were immediately dismissed when they said they couldn’t remain impartial; each expressed thoughts that the camping ban ordinance, which prevents people from shielding themselves from the elements with anything in addition to the clothes on their body, was unethical.
Proponents of a new bill designed to combat juvenile sexting, including a University of Colorado Denver professor who literally wrote the book on the subject, believe the measure lays out proportional penalties for those who deserve them without punishing victims. In addition, the legislation allows individuals who unwittingly receive a photo that could technically constitute child pornography a way to avoid sanction, but only if they get rid of it in a finite amount of time rather than hanging on to the image.
On April 12, a Colorado House committee will vote on a bill that would remove a stipulation that drivers for ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft get medically cleared to drive in Colorado. SB17-043 passed the Republican-controlled Senate in late January. Currently, medical exams are performed by a driver’s doctor or…
Last year, Denver Police and other city departments conducted multiple sweeps of homeless encampments. The operations proved controversial, especially given allegations by individuals experiencing homelessness that at some of the sweeps, their personal belongings were thrown away by the city without a means to retrieve them — a potential violation of the…
A bill makings its way through the Colorado Legislature would create a task force to support child-welfare caseworkers in Colorado — especially in the area of mental health. Caseworkers face numerous challenges in their work, and child-welfare departments see high rates of burnout and turnover. Nationwide, most caseworkers don’t stay on the job more…
A string of hate crimes that followed the election of President Trump have sparked a citizens response. Five Denverites have founded Brave Coalition in the wake of vandalism that hit particularly close to home; in November of 2016, a swastika was painted on the doors of Isabella Bird…
