News
Projection: 600K Coloradans will lose Medicaid, state will lose $14B by 2030 under AHCA
DENVER – Colorado would lose $340 million in federal funding in 2020 when Medicaid provisions under Obamacare run out under the GOP-sponsored American Health Care Act, and the state stands to lose $14 billion in federal funds by 2030, according to analysis on the proposal released Thursday by the Colorado Health Institute.
The report says the state will have to choose between cutting up to 600,000 Coloradans from Medicaid by 2030 or making cuts to the state budget the nonpartisan CHI says would be “historic.” Continue reading
5 things to know about Thursday’s marijuana raids in Colorado
DENVER – Law enforcement agencies busted a large-scale illegal marijuana grow and distribution operation across Colorado Thursday morning. Here are five things you need to know about the raids:
Where did the raids occur?
The Drug Enforcement Agency, which assisted local law enforcement agencies in the raids, says there were 20 locations in Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and El Paso counties.
Denver7 crews watched as crews pulled plants out of a warehouse at 37th and Salem in Denver late Thursday morning after prior raids in the 7300 block of Valdi Court in Aurora and at a house in Castle Rock.
How long has operation been under investigation?
The DEA says the investigation of the still-unnamed organization has been ongoing for months, even prior to the transfer to the new administration. It also noted that there have been several other raids on illegal marijuana grows under the Obama administration.
How much marijuana was confiscated?
The court documents in the case are sealed, but it’s likely the raids netted thousands of pounds of marijuana. A Denver7 crew watched as at least 2,000 plants were taken out of a Denver warehouse alone.
Why is this marijuana illegal?
The DEA says that the illegal operations were selling exclusively outside of Colorado, which is a violation of state and federal law.
The Colorado Legislature is currently hashing out at least two bills aimed at cracking down on illegal marijuana grows. One of the bills would limit medical patients to grow only 16 plants – down from the current number of 99 – in an effort to further hamper illegal grows.
Local jurisdictions are allowed under state law to establish grow limits for recreational users, but the state law has capped the limit at six.
But large-scale growers have to have special licenses and oversight and are required to sell their product inside the state.
Were today’s raids part of a federal crackdown
Though there has been much apprehension over what new Attorney General Jeff Sessions will do when it comes to overseeing federal law enforcement regarding state laws on legal marijuana, the DEA says Thursday’s raids were not part of a new directive.
Sessions has made some conflicting statements in recent weeks, both saying that marijuana should be a states’ rights issue and also saying that he believes marijuana use is similar to people using heroin.
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EPA pays out $54K more to Colorado for Gold King Mine reimbursement costs
DENVER – Colorado and some local jurisdictions in the southwestern part of the state are getting fractions of what was initially sought in reimbursement money from the Environmental Protection Agency for the August 2015 Gold King Mine spill, but received another $54,000 Thursday.
The EPA said in January that it would not fully repay the 73 claims from both governments and private entities worth $1.2 billion for the spill, which was caused by EPA contractors and hampered communities in southwest Colorado, northwest New Mexico and southeast Utah for months. Continue reading
Coffman-Carroll competition for 6th Colo. House seat was among few close races nationwide
DENVER – Not only did Colorado have the fourth-highest voter turnout of any state in last year’s election, but one of our House races was among just a handful with a margin of victory within 10 percentage points in an election that was largely a landslide for congressional seats nationwide.
The U.S. Elections Project and Nonprofit VOTE released a report titled “America Goes to the Polls 2016” that details voter turnout and voting data from the 2016 election on Thursday. Continue reading
Colorado undocumented immigrant student supports bill expanding license, ID program in state
DENVER – Colorado’s undocumented community and immigrants’ rights groups say the program allowing undocumented people to get IDs and driver’s licenses is immensely helpful, and say they are supporting a new bill that would expand the program.
House Bill 1206 is set for its first committee hearing Wednesday in the House Local Government Committee. Continue reading
AG Sessions: Idea medical pot can remedy opioid addiction is ‘stupid’ and ‘hyped’
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday said the idea that medical marijuana could be used as a remedy to heroin and opioid addiction is “stupid” in his latest statements questioning the legitimacy of medical and recreational marijuana programs in states like Colorado.
Speaking to law enforcement agencies in Virginia, Sessions said he and his office “may rethink” some of the policies regarding federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized recreational and medical marijuana, according to The Washington Post.
“Medical marijuana has been hyped, maybe too much,” Sessions said.
The Post reports that Sessions also said after his speech that he was “dubious” of medical marijuana and research that points to it being an alternative painkiller and treatment option for opioid addicts.
“I’ve heard people say we could solve our heroin problem with marijuana. How stupid is that? Give me a break,” he said during his speech, which again lumped together drug use and an uptick last year in violent crime.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana sales, but medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and D.C.
In recent weeks, Sessions has said he’s “not a fan” of marijuana use but has said that states “can pass the laws they choose,” though he maintained that federal law trumps state law when it comes to marijuana enforcement.
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman responded to Sessions’ prior comments by inviting him to Colorado to see its program firsthand.
“I’d like to be able to share what we have learned and where we have put in place a good framework for marijuana regulations,” she said. “Now for the federal government to say we’re doing things wrong, or we’re going to come in and take this regulation away from you without having first looked to see what we’re doing is precipitous.”
During Wednesday’s speech, Sessions also said that the country has “too much tolerance for drug use,” and went back to citing Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign as a means for combating drug use, according to The Post.
Colorado’s medical and recreational businesses sold more than $1 billion worth of pot last year. Industry leaders have said the dismantling of the state’s industry could cause a recession.
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Sen. Michael Bennet to host five town halls across Colorado this week, his first in two years
DENVER – Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is hosting five town hall meetings this week across the state.
As many of Colorado’s members of Congress hold both in-person and telephone town hall meetings with constituents, these five will be among the first hosted by Bennet in two years.
His fellow senator from Colorado, Cory Gardner, was lambasted for not appearing at in-person town halls organized by others in recent months, but Bennet has largely avoided criticism from Democrats for not hosting his own. Gardner has been hosting tele-town halls in recent weeks.
Rep. Jared Polis hosted two in-person town hall meetings in northern Colorado over the weekend. Rep. Mike Coffman is also hosting a telephone town hall Wednesday evening.
Bennet is set to appear at town halls in Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Alamosa on Thursday before hosting two more, in Durango and Grand Junction, on Friday. The details for each can be found below:
- Colorado Springs – Thursday, March 16 – 11:30 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. – Tesla Education Center, 2560 International Circle
- Pueblo – Thursday, March 16 – 1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Pueblo Union Depot, 132 West B Street
- Alamosa – Thursday, March 16 – 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Rio Grande Water Conservation District, 8805 Independence Way
- Durango – Friday, March 17 – 8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. – Double Tree Hotel, 501 Camino Del Rio
- Grand Junction — Friday, March 17 — 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. — Colorado Mesa University, South Ballroom, 1455 N 12th Street
His office is encouraging people to come early to ensure they get a seat.
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Police: Woman locked young children in bedroom at home while she was away on trip
FOUNTAIN, Colo. – A woman faces two counts of felony child abuse after she allegedly left her two young children locked in a bedroom while away on a trip.
It’s unclear exactly how long Kanesha Godin, 25, was away from the two children, but police say they were malnourished when they were discovered.
The Fountain Police Department says it was called to the home in the 100 block of Wellington Street on March 8 after a friend of Godin’s discovered the children weren’t being cared for.
Police say Godin had arranged for a friend to check on the children while she was gone, to feed them and to change their diapers. She had told the friend that a neighbor would be caring for the children day and night as well, according to the police department.
But the friend eventually discovered that there was no neighbor checking on the children and called police.
Officers obtained an arrest warrant for Godin on Tuesday, and she turned herself in. According to El Paso County jail records, her bond was set at $25,000 but she also has two active duty Fort Carson holds.
Godin is a Fort Carson soldier. The North Carolina native has been with the military for more than seven years.
Police did not say how old the children were or how long Godin was gone from her home.
She is next due in court March 16. Fountain police ask anyone with information on the incident to call them at 719-382-8555.
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Prairie View High School student charged after allegedly threatening to shoot fellow students
BRIGHTON, Colo. – An 18-year-old Prairie View High School student faces charges after he allegedly made threats to the school and posted threatening pictures on social media.
Frank DeFiore, 18, was arrested last Friday and faces charges of interference with staff, faculty or students of educational institutions and harassment.
According to the Brighton Police Department, a student at the school found the posts, in which DeFiore alleged he was going to shoot students at the school, on social media and reported them to school administrators.
The school then contacted police, who also found the post and further discovered “numerous weapons” in DeFiore’s possession and that he had “recently made threatening or alarming statements to multiple people,” according to the police department.
Prairie View’s principal, Jaime White, sent a letter home with students after the arrest saying the school was working with Brighton and Commerce City police in the investigation.
Former students at the school on Tuesday said that in person, DeFiore seemed like a normal student.
“I had never seen him as that type of person, I mean, he would be in class, making jokes. He would be that type of kid,” said Justin McClanahan, who had a class with DeFiore last year.
But on social media, they pointed to a Twitter account for “Frank the Tank,” which they believe is DeFiore.
The account includes a photo of a gun shop captioned “My Happy Place,” a reference to “the voices in my head,” and a recent post stating “Time for a [expletive] adventure.”
Cameron Worth, a former Prairie View High Student who knows DeFiore, said that the most-threatening posts have already been deleted.
“He posted a picture of his gun he just bought, I think it was an AK or something, and he said, ‘Worth every penny.’ or something like that,” said Worth. “I thought he just meant he was going to use it at the range and then I heard about the threats. It’s really scary. My little cousins go to school here and I don’t want them to get shot.”
Brighton police say the investigation is open and ongoing.
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People found dead Sunday morning south of Fountain identified as Colorado Springs teenagers
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. – The two people found dead on the side of a road Sunday south of Fountain have been identified as Colorado Springs teenagers.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday identified the victims as Derek Benjamin Greer, 15, and Natalie Partida, 16, both of Colorado Springs, according to their Facebook pages.
The sheriff’s office says both of their deaths have been ruled homicides.
Their bodies were found around 8:45 a.m. Sunday along the side of Old Pueblo Road, about three-quarters of a mile south of Hanover Road. The Pikes Peak International Raceway is just across I-25 from where the bodies were found.
The sheriff’s office has not said how the two teens were killed, but says it is “aggressively” investigating their murders and “asking the community to be vigilant.” It asks anyone with knowledge related to the murders to call the office at 719-390-5555.
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