Free Republic

Rural residents turn to cheap heating fuel ... Monte Miller shovels a load of coal into a bucket and makes the short journey from his storage shed to his home on the edge of Bayfield, joking aloud that his wife likes to keep the temperature at a steady 75 degrees. “But we don’t have any problem doing that with coal,” Miller and his wife, Marsha, have been using coal as their main source of fuel since they moved to their home in 2000. Each year, the couple uses about 2 tons of coal to keep their 2,500-square-foot house warm throughout...

A newly published academic journal article argues that science educators must do more to combat “whiteness” and “White ideology” in the classroom. In their research essay titled “Towards a truer multicultural science education: how whiteness impacts science education,” University of Colorado at Denver scholars Cheryl E. Matias and Paul T. Le seek to “have the field consider the theoretical frames of whiteness and how it might influence how we engage in science education such that our hope for diversity never fully materializes.”

DENVER — No bump stocks have been turned over to Denver authorities after the city banned the accessories used in last year’s mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and injured hundreds. Denver Police police last month invited city residents to turn in any bump stocks in their possession but Denverite reports that none have been handed over. The ban on bump stocks approved by the city council in January was considered largely symbolic. Denver had previously banned the types of semi-automatic rifles that can be modified with bump stocks. A bump stock is a device that can...

DENVER – Nearly three weeks after Detective Leslie Branch-Wise broke her silence accusing Denver Mayor Michael Hancock of sexual harassment, calls for an investigation have gone nowhere. Branch-Wise is accusing Denver City Council of protecting the mayor and sweeping the issue under the rug.

At Everest College in Everett, nearly 30 percent of borrowers who started repaying student loans in 2014 defaulted on those loans by the end of 2016, according to the latest disclosure from the U.S. Department of Education. The data includes students at schools receiving federal student aid who entered repayment on selected federal loans in 2014 and defaulted before the end of the second fiscal year. In Colorado, 82 institutions reported 100,449 students entered repayment on student loans. And 11,204 – or 11.2 percent – defaulted on those loans.

BOULDER, Colo. — A student with a wooden color guard rifle prompted Fairview High School to be placed on lockdown and four other schools placed on lockout on Friday morning, the Boulder Police Department said. Police received a call about 7:30 a.m. saying they saw a teenage boy carrying what they believed was a white rifle case near Emerson Avenue in south Boulder. No gun was seen. Mar 16, 2018 The Boulder Valley School District said just after 8 a.m. that Fairview was placed on the more restrictive lockdown, meaning all classrooms were secured, the lights were turned off and...

Denver City Councilman Rafael Espinoza's call for an investigation over improper texts that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock sent to Denver police detective Leslie Branch-Wise when she was a member of his security detail circa 2011-2012 is not being echoed by other members of the panel. The Denver City Council has now issued a joint statement that essentially shrugs off the need for such an inquiry while calling for greater transparency related to any assertions of sexual harassment by officials. Yet the information that led to this decision was dispensed at a closed-door meeting, during executive session

An illegal immigrant charged with vehicular homicide in a fiery crash on a Colorado interstate bonded out of jail Saturday, a week after the deadly hit-and-run incident, despite being wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ivan Zamarripa-Castaneda, 26, allegedly fled the scene of the accident on Interstate 70 involving a tractor-trailer that caught on fire last week, leaving the driver to die, according to the Denver Police Department. Zamarripa-Castaneda bonded out on Saturday, according to jail records, but it's not clear if he has been taken into custody, FOX 31 reported. Officials from ICE did not return a request...

An illegal immigrant suspected of a fatal hit-and-run is avoiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement thanks to the Denver Sheriff's Department. The suspect was driving his pickup truck when he collided with a semi-truck earlier this week. The semi-truck driver died after the vehicle caught fire, and the pickup driver fled the scene. After the driver was taken into custody in Denver, he was found to be an illegal immigrant, 26-year-old Ivan Zamarripa-Castaneda. ICE wants him for potential deportation, but the Denver Sheriff's office is refusing to comply with the agency. Instead of cooperating, the sheriff's office said it wants...

Colorado Republicans still overwhelmingly approve of the job President Trump is doing, but feel less enthusiastic about Congress and are still wondering for whom they should vote in the governor’s race this year ... A full 39 percent of those surveyed said they were undecided about which Republican they’d support in the primary, which is just months away. ... State Treasurer Walker Stapleton garnered the most support among those who did have a choice, with 26 percent of respondents saying he’d have their vote. Attorney General Cynthia Coffman came in second in the poll, with 13 percent of respondents saying...

"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." — President Richard Nixon Early in the residency of Barack Obama, some activists pressured him to stop deporting illegals... But Obama was a smart lawyer surrounded by other smart lawyers. He even boasted that he had been a Constitutional law professor. He had actually just been a part-time and untenured instructor, but he still knew that the president had no authority to ignore the immigration laws. According to the New York Times and Washington Post, he clearly said so... at least 17 times. But then he did it anyway. ......

A Colorado state Democratic lawmaker was expelled Friday amid allegations by female colleagues about sexual harassment or abuse -- but not before switching political parties. Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled by a 52-9 vote after five female state House members took their turns at the podium to come forward as victims of sexual harassment or abuse. Democrat Rep. Faith Winter and four other women accused Lebsock of harassment and intimidation inside the Capitol and at area bars and restaurants. Lebsock bitterly contested the claims, saying his accusers were lying and accusing an independent investigator of bias in concluding that the...

The Colorado couple who sank their beloved sailboat two days into their journey to the Caribbean is getting another go at navigating the high seas. Tanner Broadwell, 26, and girlfriend Nikki Walsh, 24, sold everything they owned to pursue their dream of one day sailing around the world. However, they didn’t get far – their sailboat hit a sandbar and capsized off the coast of Madeira Beach, FL, two days later, leaving them only with $90 and no home. The story of the couple’s misfortune quickly went viral and caught the eye of retired physician and boat owner, Mark Reinecke,...

Thrust into the political spotlight after penning a viral Huff Post op ed about how she was severing ties with the Democratic Party's mainstream, Saira Rao now has her eyes set on her first elected position: Diana DeGette's longtime seat as the representative for CO-1, the congressional district that covers all of Denver as well as slivers of Arapahoe and Jefferson counties. Rao's frustration with mainstream Democrats stems from her belief that her passion and long-term support hasn't been adequately received, and that not enough has been done by some in the party to counter increasing levels of racism in...

“I feel like I’m having to choose between you and God.” That’s what Greta Lindecrantz, a 67-year-old Mennonite, told an Arapahoe County, Colo., district judge on Wednesday after she ordered her to testify for the prosecution in a death-penalty case — or remain in jail for contempt of court. Lindecrantz had been behind bars since Monday. As she spoke, wearing a jail jumpsuit and shackles on her arms, supportive Mennonites sang hymns outside the courtroom, according to the Daily Journal. “This is now me telling you directly … and I’m ordering you to answer the questions,”

Montrose Students start petition for safer security MONTROSE, Colo. (KKCO/KJCT)-- After the school shooting in Florida, two sophomores from Montrose High School are taking safety into their own hands. ... "We want some security guards, preferably veterans because I know there has been some talk about arming teachers and most of us kids and teachers don't feel comfortable with that so we would rather have someone who has experience be there with a gun,” said Sabrina Slaughter.

Although the Colorado Department of Transportation has its eyes on the future, as seen in its advocacy of the Rocky Mountain Hyperloop project that recently won a global challenge, the agency is also trying to innovate when it comes to current highways. Hence the planned installation of variable speed limit signs in Glenwood Canyon that can either speed up or slow down traffic in response to weather and traffic conditions. VSL has already gotten a tryout near Boulder, and if the system works in Glenwood, among the trickiest sections along the Interstate 70 corridor, after installation set to begin during...

A coalition of local leaders backed by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce wants voters to approve a sales tax increase on the November ballot to pay for projects like the widening of Interstate 25 and the buildout of bike lanes. The group filed four ballot measures with the Secretary of State on Thursday that would raise between $500 million and $1 billion for transportation projects, according to the chamber, and allow that money to be used to pay for bonds, which would generate even more upfront cash. A booming population across the Front Range has created traffic snarls on...

A Columbine survivor is pushing legislation that would allow guns in Colorado schools. Colorado State Rep. Patrick Neville (R) says schools should fight gunfire with gunfire. He reintroduced legislation Tuesday that would allow teachers with concealed weapons permits to defend their students at gun point. “The only thing that is going to stop murderers intent on doing harm is to give good people the legal authority to carry a gun to protect themselves and our children,” Neville said in a statement. Neville, who graduated from Columbine High School, was in school on the day of the horrific shooting in 1999....

Laura Carno, executive director of FASTER Colorado, who helped organize the first statewide training class last summer in Weld County, for school personnel... 48 people have registered for two three-day classes scheduled to be held in Adams County in June. There were 17 people at the debut class last year. "Dozens of school districts in Colorado already have authorized school staff to carry concealed (weapons), she said. "All we're talking about is having more armed good guys and gals on campuses to deal with (shooting) situations." FASTER, (or Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response), .. provide weapons and medical training....