News
DPD sting leads to consumption citations for Denver Church of Cannabis leaders over 4/20 ceremony
DENVER – Three of the founders of Denver’s International Church of Cannabis were cited for public consumption of marijuana and violating the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act for their 4/20 rally after several undercover Denver police officers were able to get inside the church’s event that day.
Steve Berke and two other founders of the newly-minted cannabis church, near Denver’s Washington Park, say the citations weren’t delivered until several days after April 20, something the Denver City Attorney’s Office confirmed. None of the other people at the ceremony were cited. Continue reading
88 percent of Colorado voter registration withdrawals are from Democrats, unaffiliated voters
DENVER – Democrats and unaffiliated voters in Colorado have made up the overwhelming majority of the people who have withdrawn their voter registrations or become confidential voters in the state in response to the Trump administration’s request for voter roll information on behalf of its controversial election integrity commission.
By the end of day Friday, 3,738 Colorado voters had withdrawn their registration, and 200 had become confidential voters—something people in Colorado can do by signing a sworn affidavit at their county clerk’s office saying they could be in danger by having their addresses made public. Continue reading
Gardner, Buck among speakers advertised for Western Conservative Summit; will Trump attend?
DENVER – The Western Conservative Summit is coming to Denver again this year, and the gathering of major conservative players is again hoping to bring out some big names for this year’s three-day event.
Though he hasn’t been confirmed to be attending yet, the summit’s organizers have been touting the possibility that President Donald Trump may appear at this year’s gathering. He spoke at last year’s event while he was still a candidate, as did Sarah Palin and a host of other Republicans.
High-profile people who “might” also show up and who have been invited include HUD Secretary Ben Carson, EPA head Scott Pruitt, the president’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to the event’s website. It’s unclear at this point if any will actually attend the conference.
But some high-profile Republicans from Colorado are certain to attend, according to the event’s planners: Sen. Cory Gardner and Rep. Ken Buck will be there.
The summit, hosted by the Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University, will also host a roundtable interview involving three of the Republican candidates who have already declared their candidacy for Colorado’s governorship in 2018: Doug Robinson, George Brauchler and Victor Mitchell.
On that panel, each will get five minutes to speak about the ideas for Colorado, then will be interviewed by Colorado Politics’ Joey Bunch.
Online ads for the summit have touted Gardner as being one of the speakers, and have drawn even more questions from those on the left, as Gardner will again visit an event full of wealthy donors and political players weeks after he attended the Koch Industries convention in Colorado Springs.
The Republican senator has been chastised by Colorado Democrats since he hasn’t held an in-person town hall meeting in months and has been part of the Republican team crafting a new health care bill in the Senate.
Those calls for a town hall are unlikely to wane, nor is criticism, as weekend passes will cost $200, and daily passes will be $120 apiece. Discounts are available for some parties of 10 or more people, as well as for people under 30, veterans, active duty military, clergy, educators and CCU alumni.
More information on the event, the speakers expected to attend, and ticketing can be found here.
Colo. Sec. of State: Election integrity commission’s data request can’t verify voter roll accuracy
DENVER – A day after the White House released voter comments with unredacted personal information sent to the president’s newly-created, controversial election integrity commission, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams sent a letter to the commission touting the integrity of Colorado’s elections and addressing a series of questions the commission asked in its request for voter roll information from U.S. states.
Williams said that though he is complying with the commission’s request, since he can’t lawfully provide confidential voter information, the data “can’t be used to effectively assess the accuracy of voter rolls.” Continue reading
Second Aurora police officer charged with official misconduct this week
AURORA, Colo. – Another Aurora Police Department officer has been charged with official misconduct—the second this week, though the department says the cases are unrelated.
George Brauchler, the district attorney for Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, charged Aurora Officer Lt. Leland Anthony Silver on Wednesday with one count of first-degree official misconduct—a class 2 misdemeanor. The charge came after an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Continue reading
Broomfield youth softball coach charged with sexually assaulting former player of his
THORNTON, Colo. – A former coach of a Broomfield youth softball team was charged Friday with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who was a former player of his.
Jason Lee Davis, 43, faces one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust—a class 4 felony.
Dave Young, the district attorney for the 17th Judicial District, says the assault happened April 2 at the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center.
A news release from the district attorney’s office says Davis previously coached the Broomfield Thunder softball team, and that the girl he’s accused of assaulting was a player on the team.
It’s unclear if the alleged assault happened while Davis was still the girl’s coach, or when he stopped coaching the team.
Davis was advised of his charges in Adams County Court on Friday, and faces an Aug. 25 preliminary hearing on the charge.
The district attorney’s office asks anyone with more information regarding Davis or the incident is asked to call Thornton police at 720-977-5069. A mugshot for Davis was not immediately available.
Colorado insurance commissioner blames Trump administration for uncertainty, 27% rate hike requests
DENVER – Colorado’s insurance commissioner is blaming the Trump administration for playing games with the health care market and saying it is causing instability in the insurance marketplace that might be to blame for large premium hike requests for operators in the state for 2018.
The Colorado Division of Insurance on Friday released the premium rate request hikes for individual and small group markets operating on Colorado’s health insurance exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, for 2018. Continue reading
More than 3,000 Colorado voters withdraw registration in response to Trump commission’s request
DENVER – More than 3,000 people in Colorado have withdrawn their voter registration and 182 people have become confidential voters over the past two weeks in response to the request from President Donald Trump’s election integrity commission for voter roll information from each U.S. state.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday said 3,394 people withdrew their voter registrations from June 28 through July 13, and 182 people had become confidential voters. People can become confidential voters in Colorado by paying a fee and swearing under oath that they could be in danger if their personal information is public. Continue reading
Cory Gardner ‘carefully reviewing’ new Senate health care bill; Bennet wants to start over
DENVER – U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner says he’s “carefully reviewing” the revised Senate health care draft discussion bill released Thursday as several of his fellow Senate Republican colleagues sit on the fence on the revisions, putting in question whether or not the bill will make it to a floor vote next week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took the Senate’s version of the bill aimed at “repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, back to the drawing board after a handful of Republicans said they wouldn’t even support bringing the Senate’s initial bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, to the floor for debate. Continue reading
Fired CDOT auditor charged with 17 felonies, accused of personal use of 4 state credit cards
DENVER – The former Colorado Department of Transportation auditor fired last year amid an investigation into his state-owned credit card use has been officially charged with 17 felonies, including theft and forgery, in Denver.
Christopher Wedor, 34, faces one count of theft, two counts of identity theft, one count of computer crime, six counts of attempting to influence a public servant and seven counts of forgery. Forgery is a class 5 felony; the rest of the charges are class 4 felonies in Colorado.
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann filed charges against Wedor on Tuesday, and he turned himself in on Wednesday.
Wedor is accused of stealing more than $20,000 from CDOT over eight months last year by using his state credit card and those of three of his subordinates to buy personal items and gifts not used by the state.
The alleged theft happened between May and December of last year. He had been hired just a month before the alleged misconduct started. He was fired on Dec. 29 of last year after CDOT opened an investigation into Wedor’s credit card use.
Wedor was paid $112,000 per year in his position, the Associated Press reported in December.
His first court appearance has yet to be set. Class 4 felonies typically carry sentences of between 2 and 6 years in Colorado. Class 5 felonies usually carry 1-3 year sentences.