Free Republic

Students at the University of Colorado are in for some rocky news. Boulder, the beautiful college town the CU calls home, is one of the most dangerous in America, according to a new study. One the other hand, the Gators aren’t as perilous as they look. Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, is one of the safest college towns. The study from Lesson Maker Pro evaluated 174 college towns — big and small — across seven safety metrics, tracking crimes from Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) violations and hate crimes to robberies and aggravated assaults. Researchers culled data from...

The Denver Post’s editorial board has come out against Amendment 87, the proposed graduated income tax ballot measure. In an Oct. 11 editorial, the board argued that extracting $2.7 billion in a single year from the state’s largest businesses would “do more harm than good.” While the board took exception to some opponents’ claims, such as the measure’s impact on businesses under $500,000 in taxable profit and on deductions for seniors and veterans, it concluded that the risk to Colorado’s largest employers outweighs the benefits. Citing conversations with Gov. Jared Polis and Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce president J.J. Ament,...

A Denver judge has appointed a court receiver for the 455-unit X Denver apartment complex near Coors Field after no representatives of X Denver appeared at a hearing. Judge Heidi Kutcher appointed Trigild, a distressed real estate firm, as receiver for the tower at 3100 Inca St. following a hearing Friday that no representatives of X Denver attended. The appointment follows Mack Real Estate Group's request for a receiver, as detailed by BusinessDen. The $170 million loan backing X Denver was originated by Mack Real Estate Group in 2022 and went into default after reaching its maturity date in January...

On Monday, August 24th, 2026, an deputy of the Eagle County Sheriffs Department shot and stopped a charging cinnamon color phase black bear near the River Run Apartment Complex. The bear was an adult with two cubs.From the video, it appears the deputy drew and fired the first shot in less than a second, with three followup shots following in fractions of a second after that. The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office released the body camera video on September 8th, 2026The video shows officers dealing with a difficult situation: An adult bear with two cubs and dozens of onlookers, was very...

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is making changes to how it decides whether or not to kill wolves that are continually attacking livestock after threats arise.. Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced on Wednesday, Sept. 30, that it will be taking a more conservative approach to deciding whether or not to kill wolves that are repeatedly attacking livestock — citing rising concerns over how potential disease, wolf pup survival, mortality rates and uncertainty around future releases could impact the nascent population of gray wolves. The management change comes after the state wildlife agency has killed five wolves this year — four between...

Boulder, Colorado, has spent decades wearing a nickname most towns would take as an insult: “The People's Republic of Boulder.” It’s a college town of roughly 100,000 people, where the politics climb about as high as … the elevation. But now Boulder wants to export its “Rocky Mountain High,” and it’s headed to the Supreme Court. At stake before SCOTUS is whether that town gets to set energy policy for the rest of America. That’s the real question in Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, no matter how carefully supporters dress it up. In 2018, the City...

Boulder’s climate lawsuit would return the U.S. to the era of the Articles of Confederation. The Supreme Court kicks off a new term Monday with a case ostensibly about climate change but with much bigger stakes. The real issue in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County is whether states and localities can turn federalism on its head to dictate policy for the rest of the country.Boulder and more than 30 other state and local governments have sued oil and gas producers for alleged damage caused by their global CO2 emissions. Boulder wants compensation for wildfires, the costs for mitigating pest infestations,...

The CIA claims that it never saw the storm coming, but Canadian intelligence sure did. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird landed in Vladivostok, Russia, earlier this month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and had barely stepped off the plane when he announced that Canada would be pulling its diplomats out of Iran and closing its embassy while kicking all Iranian diplomats out of Canada. At the time, some thought that maybe the minister had a few too many mini vodkas on the ride over. Several days later, when protests and embassy attacks erupted in Islamic nations, and the...

There may be longer races, and there may be more prestigious races, but none require the intestinal fortitude — in the most literal sense — needed to complete the International Taco Bell 50k. The 9th annual edition of the ultra marathon in Denver gets underway this weekend, and it will see runners traversing just over 30 miles, while making pit stops at a minimum of nine of the ten Taco Bell locations along the route where they must order a menu item and finish it. And better yet, it's not sanctioned by the company. They're just out there for the...

10th Circuit Court lifts an injunction barring the filling of the expensive, controversial dam expansion in western Boulder County ... Denver Water can finish its Gross Dam expansion and fill the controversial reservoir in western Boulder County, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday, lifting an injunction by a lower court judge and confirming the dam’s permits as sound. The appeals court said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had acted responsibly in issuing construction permits for the $600 million expansion, which is largely complete and will be filled using water rights Denver holds in the Colorado River...

OXFORD, Miss. (NewsNation) — The University of Mississippi on Thursday identified the two students who died Monday as freshman Aidan Hamilton and junior Robert Strang. The university said the families gave permission to release the names and asked for privacy as they grieve. Hamilton is from Englewood, Colo., while Strang is from Atlanta, according to the records. “We have been in touch with the families to offer our deepest sympathies and share university support and resources,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Shawnboda Mead said in a message to the campus community. The causes of both deaths remain under investigation. One...

The unrelenting rise in healthcare costs has left state lawmakers facing a $1.6 billion deficit in the 2027-28 budget year ... The best-case scenario forecast that Colorado budget writers received in June turned out to be too good to be true. Three months later, the budget picture has crumbled again, economists told the Joint Budget Committee at the state’s quarterly revenue forecasts Friday. Analysts now expect the state to face a $1.6 billion deficit next fiscal year, setting the stage for another round of grueling spending cuts for the state legislature and Colorado’s next governor. The driving force behind the...

State officials said the incidents caused no harm to water quality or public safety.. Foreign actors gained access to computer systems at two small private water utilities in Colorado in late August, changing equipment controls before operators restored normal operations, according to the governor’s office. Ally Sullivan, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis, said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment followed up with the providers to confirm the issues had been resolved. The governor’s office said it was unable to confirm which foreign actors and did not identify the utilities. “The two water utilities impacted are small, private...

Denver socialist and city councilwoman Shontel Lewis said she's qualified to serve as the city's mayor because she was convicted of stealing food stamps, a crime she said made her familiar with "navigating all the ills of poverty." Lewis, the Denver Democratic Socialists of America's pick for mayor, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in 2008 after stealing thousands of dollars in public benefits by using her position with the Colorado Department of Human Services East Food Stamp Office to reissue Electronic Benefit Transfer cards intended for others to her roommate and herself. She was sentenced to 18 months of probation...

Rep. Lauren Boebert gave a simple response to a viral claim that she had affairs with three staff members — including two women: she’s straight. Boebert (R-Col.), who famously pondered in April, “why is everybody so horny” in Congress after a slew of sex scandals, faces a sworn ethics complaint from a political action committee that has targeted her for years and is led by a political activist who has peddled dubious claims about her in the past.

A Denver Public Schools board facing criticism over infighting is dealing with new allegations against one of its members, and raising concerns among some parents about whether the board is focused on the district's students and schools. There are seven members on the board who are elected for 4-year terms. Two are at-large and the rest represent their specific districts. The latest controversy involves allegations that Denver Board of Education Vice President Monica Hunter made offensive comments about fellow board member Amy Klein Molk, including an alleged reference to her as a "racist Zionist b----." Hunter denies making the comments....

Can't believe this is not on FR after 30 mins....man seen running away from car filled with propane tanks. He had a backpack in his hands as he ran away. Parked in front of City Hall in Arvada,Colorado..aka Littleton.

In a shocking case out of Colorado, a crime lab analyst has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for tampering with DNA evidence. Imagine your loved one’s rapist or murderer being acquitted because the forensic analyst on the case decided to destroy the DNA proof linking them to the crime. That’s exactly what 66-year-old Yvonne “Missy” Woods did. Over her decades-long career at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, this deranged woman altered DNA data in over one-thousand cases, allowing countless criminals to walk free. For some bizarre reason, this woman threw out DNA from rape kits and even homicide...

Former NBA point guard Ty Lawson put himself in an uncomfortable spotlight this past July with his latest run-in with the law. The 38-year-old was arrested on July 16 in Castle Rock, Colorado, after a liquor store employee accused him of stealing a $34 bottle of vodka. According to police documents, Lawson allegedly carried the bottle to a nearby restaurant where officers later confronted him. Authorities also noted they believed the retired NBA player was intoxicated, documenting the smell of alcohol during their interaction. Things reportedly escalated after Lawson was taken into custody. Police alleged he repeatedly called an officer...

ASPEN, Colo. — Mountain Rescue Aspen responded to two climbing fatalities in less than a week. On Sunday, a climber died after falling on Castle Peak, south of Aspen. On Sept. 2, another climber was killed after falling off Maroon Peak. The Elk Mountains are very rocky, loose shale that’s crumbly and moves a lot,” said Jeff Edelson with Rocky Mountain Rescue. “It’s unfortunate to see two climber deaths in one week in one range. If we look back at our historical data, unfortunately, we do have a couple of deaths a year on average in our range. Sometimes they’re...