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Colorado Lawmakers Advance Bill on AG’s Office Study of Misinformation and Disinformation

Feb 15, 2024

A legislative committee Wednesday narrowly endorsed a proposed $150,000 study by the Colorado Attorney General on ways

Six Years After Governor’s Veto, Another Colorado Bill Seeks To Seal Autopsy Reports on Minors

Nearly six years after then-Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed a bill to seal autopsy reports on minors, Colorado’s county

Inside the News: How Some Colorado Newsrooms Are Using Artificial Intelligence

Feb 10, 2024

This week, John Hickenlooper, who represents Colorado in the U.S. Senate, spoke at a CU Boulder conference where he

‘NO ACTION TAKEN’: Judge’s Terse Response to BusinessDen Motion To Lift Contempt Order

More than two months after BusinessDen asked a judge to set aside her contempt threat against reporter Justin

Inside the News: How $360K Will Flow To ‘Advance Equity and Inclusion’ in Colorado Local News

Feb 3, 2024

Colorado Media Project, which underwrites this newsletter, announced this week how more than $360,000 will flow to

Court of Appeals Affirms Judge’s Order Requiring Release of Woodland Park School District Security Footage

Feb 2, 2024

The state’s second-highest court Thursday affirmed a judge’s order to disclose video surveillance footage showing

Competing Court Cases Focus on Disciplinary Records of Elizabeth Police Chief Who Resigned

Jan 31, 2024

A judge will decide whether disciplinary records about the former police chief of Elizabeth are “personnel files”

Inside the News: Springs Cops Asked a TV Station To Remove Video of a Mysterious Explosion. KKTV Complied.

Jan 27, 2024

Earlier this month, a mysterious billowy object similar in size and shape to a paper IKEA floor lamp floated over a

Colorado Bill Adjusts 2023 Law Requiring Redaction of Juveniles’ Names From Criminal Justice Records

Jan 21, 2024

Update: Gov. Jared Polis signed HB 24-1090 into law on Tuesday, Feb. 20. State lawmakers want to adjust a 2023 juvenile

Inside the News: Stolen Newspapers After a Front-Page Exposé on Colorado’s West Slope

Jan 20, 2024

UPDATE: Saturday, Jan. 20, 3:20 p.m.: Reached by phone, Paul Choate, a local restaurant owner in Ridgway, said he

Inside the News: Colorado Media Odds & Ends — Post-Post-Holiday Roundup

Jan 13, 2024

 This week’s newsletter was produced transcontinentally, so it’s just a roundup. Hopefully it compliments

Judge: Some Emails About a Cyberattack at the State Higher Education Department Can’t Be Disclosed

Jan 12, 2024

Certain records about a June 2023 cyberattack at the Colorado Department of Higher Education are subject to CORA’s

Pagosa Springs Attorney Who Has Filed Nearly 100 Open Government Lawsuits Defends His Role as a ‘Private Attorney General’

Jan 11, 2024

A Pagosa Springs lawyer who routinely sues school boards around the state for violations of the open meetings law is

Lawmakers’ Use of Anonymous ‘Quadratic Voting’ System Violates Colorado’s Open Meetings Law, Judge Rules

Jan 7, 2024

Colorado lawmakers’ use of an anonymous private survey to prioritize bills impacting the state budget “thwarts the

ACLU, CFOIC Brief: Colorado Supreme Court Should Reaffirm a Litigant’s Right To Use CORA

Jan 4, 2024

The state’s highest court should reaffirm that people who sue state and local government entities are still entitled

Human Services Asks Colorado Supreme Court To Review Appellate Ruling on Disclosure of Child Abuse Statistics

Jan 3, 2024

The Colorado Department of Human Services wants the state’s highest court to review a recent appellate court opinion

Inside the News: What Happened in Colorado’s Media World in 2023

Jan 1, 2024

Hello, and welcome to 2024 at Inside the News in Colorado. Each January, I write a year-in-review column for the

CFOIC’s 2023 Year in Review: Denver School Board, Red Rocks, Disappearing Messages, CORA Changes, Livestreamed Courts and a Theater Surveillance Video

Dec 29, 2023

Several key rulings in 2023 showed why courts matter so much for enforcing and interpreting Colorado’s open

Inside the News: Colorado Springs Indy Alt-Weekly Is ‘Shutting Down, Going Dark in January.’ Then What?

Dec 22, 2023

Colorado’s second-largest city, which is about the 40th largest in the nation, seems poised to lose its alternative

Obtaining Criminal Court Records May Take Longer Because of New Colorado Law Requiring Redaction of Juveniles’ Names

Dec 21, 2023

Because of a 2023 law that protects the privacy of juveniles, the Colorado Judicial Department plans to limit

Inside the News: ‘Bigger Picture, Slower Stuff’: A Rural Reporting Experiment in Southwest Colorado

Dec 15, 2023

For the past six months, a journalist for the Daily Yonder, a national nonprofit news outlet focused on rural

12 Ways To Improve Colorado’s Open Government Laws

Dec 13, 2023

Three years ago, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition published a “wish list” of recommendations for

Inside the News: A Colorado Reporter Defies and Fights a Judge’s Order To Return Court Documents

Dec 8, 2023

Late last month, a Colorado judge made the remarkable decision to order Justin Wingerter of BusinessDen to return

Court of Appeals Sides With Aurora Sentinel in Open Meetings Case, Orders Release of City Council Executive Session Recording

In a victory for the Aurora Sentinel, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling Thursday and

‘A Classic Prior Restraint’: BusinessDen Reporter Defies Court Order To Return Suppressed Civil Suit Records

Dec 6, 2023

Update: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed an amicus letter with the court in support of

Inside the News: Who Is Buying the Iconic Denver Post Building? The City of Denver

Dec 1, 2023

On a Sunday in March of 2009, a crane company pulled up to 101 W. Colfax Ave. in downtown Denver. There, workers began

Rogue Officers Bounce Between Communities, Often With Few Consequences

Nov 30, 2023

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story contained a photo that misidentified an officer as Parker Police

Inside the News: A Roundup of Colorado-Based Podcasts

Nov 24, 2023

A reader emailed recently to ask if I knew of a good roundup of Colorado-based podcasts. “We’re updating our list

Colorado Court Holds That Public Officials’ Text Messages on Cellphones Are Public Records

Nov 20, 2023

On October 30, 2023, a Colorado state court judge determined that two Denver city officials had improperly withheld

Inside the News: What Might Happen to the Silver World Newspaper in Lake City, Colorado?

Nov 16, 2023

Grant Houston started the weekly Silver World newspaper in Lake City right out of college when he was 23. For 46 years

Newspaper Editor Asks Colorado Supreme Court To Reverse Ruling That Shields Identities of People Who Want Library Books Banned or Reclassified

Are people who want books banned or reclassified library “users” whose identities are protected by Colorado law?

News Organizations Object to Suppression of Sex Assault Case Records That Were Admitted Into Evidence in Open Court Hearings

Nov 15, 2023

A judge’s decision to restrict access to records in the case of a cardiologist accused of sexually assaulting and

Inside the News: Colorado’s Indie Journalists Keep Local Legacy Media in the Mix

Nov 11, 2023

For the past few years, a movement has been spreading in Colorado. In multiple cities and towns, journalists have left

Court Briefs Lay Out Arguments in Open Meetings/CORA Lawsuit Over Lawmakers’ Use of Anonymous Ballot System

Nov 8, 2023

In a new court brief, leaders of the Colorado General Assembly defend their use during recent legislative sessions of

Inside the News: Colorado Newsrooms Swarm To Serve Spanish Speakers in the Roaring Fork Valley

Nov 3, 2023

A coalition of news organizations has banded together to serve Spanish-language audiences in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Court of Appeals Sides With the Sun and 9NEWS in Dispute Over Disclosure of Child Abuse Statistics

The Colorado Children’s Code doesn’t necessarily prohibit the state Department of Human Services from publicly

Denver Improperly Withheld Text Messages About Red Rocks Hailstorm, Judge Rules

Nov 1, 2023

A judge Monday ordered Denver to disclose city officials’ text messages about last June’s severe hailstorm at Red

Inside the News: A West Slope Colorado Newspaper Nearly Died. Then This Happened…

Oct 28, 2023

The email came — notably — on Friday the 13th. In October. The spooky season. When ghouls and ghosts and goblins

Editorial: Despite Statewide Efforts, Criminals With Guns and Badges Still Serve on Police Forces Across the State

Oct 23, 2023

The Sentinel roster of Aurora cops caught lying, beating, cheating or behaving like a racist truly is a hall of

Colorado Promised Transparency Around Police Misconduct, But Is Still Not Holding Most Rogue Cops Publicly Accountable.

Oct 19, 2023

A Denver Police officer bragged to coworkers that he shot a carjacking suspect once in the head to kill him, then at

New Reporting Shows Why More Police Accountability Reform Is Needed

Powerful new reporting by the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) and news organization partners shines a light on gaps

Aurora’s Long Problem With Keeping Cop Secrets

Many of the highest-profile examples of Aurora police involved in misconduct and controversy — which have turned

The Problem and the Solution: Aurora’s Civil Service Commission Tied to Officer Discipline Quandary

AURORA | Sifting out troubled officers and unsuitable police recruits has become a major focus in the struggle to

Undisciplined

Rogue cops still licensed to work despite government

Inside the News: What Colorado Newsrooms Are Paying Journalists in 2023

Oct 14, 2023

Two years ago, this newsletter reported how Coloradans were, for the first time, learning what our state’s

Inside the News: Fired Aspen Times Editor Files Lawsuit Against His Ex-Newspaper

Oct 7, 2023

Andrew Travers, an editor of the Aspen Times who was fired last year amid a censorship scandal, has now sued his former

Inside the News: Dire Future for Colorado News Printing? Some Pathways Might Exist…

Sep 30, 2023

A report this week from a cluster of journalism advocacy groups paints a dire picture for the future of Colorado’s

Inside the News: New Database ‘Amplify Colorado’ Connects Journalists With Diverse Sources

Sep 23, 2023

Colorado News Collaborative this week unveiled what it calls a first-of-its-kind online guide that will “help

Amplify Colorado

Sep 22, 2023

Local newsrooms long have known that they need to improve their coverage of communities of color and other groups who

Amplify Colorado

An online guide to help newsrooms find diverse sources and community members to find local

Inside the News: The Colorado Sun to CONVERT Into a Nonprofit Newsroom 5 Years After Launching

Sep 16, 2023

The Colorado Sun, one of the nation’s brighter spots in digital local news sustainability, has been a few things in

Inside the News: Broomfield Leader in Colorado Becomes First Ever Village Media News Site to Close

Sep 7, 2023

Two years after launching the Broomfield Leader as a for-profit digital local news site, the Canadian-owned Village

Inside the News: Reddit & Nextdoor Have Become ‘De Facto Hubs’ for Boulder ‘Crime’ Info, Reporting Lab Says

Sep 2, 2023

Whether someone plunged a knife into a college student in Boulder last week might not be the most pressing news story

Inside the News: Colorado Public Radio Becomes ‘First U.S. Media’ To Earn Unique Global Trust Credential

Aug 26, 2023

For the past year, Colorado has been a state-based testing ground for an international project seeking to bolster trust

Inside the News: NewsBreak Denver Is Shutting Down Its Original Local News Experiment

Aug 19, 2023

Roughly 18 months after choosing Denver as the test market for an original local news experiment, the national app

Inside the News: ‘I’m Not Dead’ Says Colorado Journalist Trevor Hughes of USA Today

Aug 10, 2023

“I’m not dead.” That’s the answer I’d hoped to hear — and did — from Trevor Hughes when he picked up the

Inside the News: Newspapers in Colorado’s San Luis Valley SOLD to Millennial Wyoming Publisher

Aug 4, 2023

An Illinois company that owned a cluster of eight newspapers in Colorado’s San Luis Valley has sold them to a young

Inside the News: Battle for Aspen – The Daily News Overtakes Aspen Times As ‘Paper of Record’

Jul 28, 2023

Following what one city staffer called an “extensive review,” city leaders in Aspen this week anointed the locally

Inside the News: A TV Story Disappeared After a Newspaper Reporter Called Out ‘Almost Identical’ Paragraphs

Jul 22, 2023

Typically, when a news organization decides to remove a piece of reporting from its website after publication, a best

Inside the News: Two Newspapers in Southern Colorado Expand

Jul 15, 2023

Countering last week’s news of two Eastern Plains newspapers cutting back their print days, two small

Inside the News: More Colorado Newspapers Cut Their Print Days, This Time on the Eastern Plains

Jul 7, 2023

Starting next week, two newspapers on the Eastern Plains will cut the number of days they publish a printed edition.

Inside the News: The Denver Post Is the Latest Colorado Newspaper To Kill Off Its Comments Section

Jul 1, 2023

After years of trying to disinfect what it characterized as a toxic swamp of an online comments section, Colorado’s

Inflation Could Boost CORA’s Research-and-Retrieval Rate 23 Percent Next Year, According to New Legislative Council Estimate

Jun 26, 2023

A year from now, on July 1, 2024, inflation will likely boost the maximum hourly rate governments are allowed to charge

Inside the News: Coloradans Swarmed on Solutions to Widespread Problems From a Newspaper’s Press Closure

Jun 23, 2023

Media advocates in Colorado swarmed into action this week to help several local newspapers continue publishing a

Douglas County Judge’s Ruling on Serial School Board Meetings Isn’t Binding on Other Courts, but It Still Could Be Persuasive

Jun 21, 2023

A district court ruling against four Douglas County school board members last week doesn’t affect other government

Kiowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Found Guilty in Excessive Force Case

Jun 15, 2023

One of two Kiowa County sheriff’s officers who in 2020 fatally gunned down an unarmed man with three bullets to the

Inside the News: Pueblo Chieftain Union Blasts Owner for Shutting Down Colorado Printing Press

Jun 14, 2023

The labor union representing workers at the Pueblo Chieftain ripped into the paper’s owner Gannett this week when the

News Organizations Ask Colorado Supreme Court To Review and Reverse Ruling That Keeps State’s Database of Law Enforcement Officers Confidential

A Court of Appeals opinion keeping Colorado’s database of law enforcement officers confidential “creates a gaping

Inside the News: A Colorado Reporter Explains ‘Off the Record’ to a Source — And to Readers

Jun 9, 2023

This week, a city council member in Englewood who is at the center of controversy answered a phone call from a local

Polis Vetoes Executive Sessions Bill, Citing Possible ‘Impediment to Legitimate’ Open Meetings Law Challenges

Jun 8, 2023

Concerned the measure would “act as an impediment to legitimate challenges to open meetings,” Gov. Jared Polis on

Eight Things To Know About 2023 Changes to the Colorado Open Records Act

Jun 7, 2023

Gov. Jared Polis’ signature on Senate Bill 23-286 Tuesday will change the Colorado Open Records Act in some small but

Polis Signs Bill Letting Colorado Elected Officials Block People on Private Social Media but Acknowledges ‘This Area of the Law … Is Unsettled’

Signing into law a bill that lets elected officials block anyone from their private social media accounts for “any

CFOIC Asks Court of Appeals To Reverse Judge’s Ruling That Town Board’s Censure of Fellow Trustee Was Not Subject to Colorado’s Open Meetings Law

Jun 3, 2023

A district court judge made “egregious” errors last year in deciding that Colorado’s Sunshine Law did not require

Inside the News: Boebert 911 Calls Scoop Came From an Open-Records Request, ‘Authentic’ Rapport

Jun 2, 2023

Haven Orecchio-Egresitz is currently a journalist for the national outlet Insider but spent her career as a local

Inside the News: Hedge-Fund Takeover of Denver TV News Station Implodes

May 26, 2023

For more than a year, a sword of Damocles has been hanging over a leading local TV news station in Denver. A hedge fund

Watch: ‘Reach, Representation and Respect’: A Conversation With Indigenous Voices

May 25, 2023

On Tuesday, May 25, we heard from Indigenous Voices working group members and other collaborators discussing the newly

Inside the News: I Followed a Colorado Newspaper’s Sports Betting Advice and Lost Money

May 19, 2023

Four years ago, Colorado legalized online sports gambling. The lucrative business and gobs of money that orbit it have

How Colorado Is Filling Gaps for Its ‘Most Vulnerable’ Children As Last-Resort Schools Dwindle

May 14, 2023

The Learning Zone is a small school in Littleton that teaches nonverbal students to use devices thatallow them to

Colorado Is Pouring More Money Into Schools for Kids With Behavioral Health Issues and Disabilities, but Are They Helping?

May 13, 2023

Colorado is doubling the funding next year for schools that enroll students whose mental health ormedical needs are too

Inside the News: How Colorado Lawmakers Helped (or Didn’t) the Press and Transparency This Year

May 12, 2023

This week, Colorado lawmakers stopped making laws. Until next year, anyway. For one reporter who has covered state

Students in Rural Colorado Are Left Without Options as Specialized Schools Close

Riley George, a 12-year-old with autism and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, has had to cross a mountain range

Last Resort

May 11, 2023

The schools that take Colorado’s “most vulnerable” students are disappearing. Can they be saved? Should

The Schools That Take Colorado’s ‘Most Vulnerable’ Children Are Disappearing

For Erin Schneiderman, the summer between her son’s third and fourth grade year was “one of the worst periods of

Wrap-Up: Colorado Legislature Again Shuns CORA Cost Reform in 2023 Session but Removes Some Obstacles for Records Requesters

May 9, 2023

Despite a looming inflationary increase in fees, state lawmakers in the 2023 legislative session never addressed the

Colorado Indigenous Communities Want ‘Reach, Representation, and Respect’ From Local News

May 5, 2023

The important and impressive Voices Initiative is out with another report for Colorado — this time about Indigenous

Advocacy Group Movimiento Poder Asks To Join News Organizations’ Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure of DPS Board Executive Session

Update: Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen on Thursday, June 1, denied Movimiento Poder’s motion to intervene

Colorado Lawmaker Promises To Keep Trying To Improve Access to Government for People With Disabilities After Requesting Defeat of His Own Bill

May 3, 2023

Promising to keep working to improve access to state-and-local government for people with disabilities, a lawmaker

Colorado Senate Rewrites Open Meetings Bill To Only Affect Pro Se Litigants Who Challenge Executive Sessions

May 2, 2023

Update: The Colorado Senate voted 29-5 to pass the amended version of HB 23-1259 on Tuesday, May 2. The strike-below

Lawmakers Vote Down Proposal To Open Records on Secret-Ballot System at Colorado Statehouse

Apr 29, 2023

Legislators Friday defeated a CORA bill amendment, proposed by Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, aimed at opening records on the

Senators Remove Provision From Colorado Open Meetings Bill Requiring Losing Plaintiffs To Pay Governments’ Court Costs and Attorney Fees

Apr 28, 2023

Update: The House concurred with Senate amendments to HB 23-1259 and repassed the bill on Thursday, May 4, sending it

Colorado Lawmakers Advance Bill Letting Elected Officials Block People on Private Social Media for ‘Any Reason’

Update: The Senate passed HB 23-1306 on a 26-9 vote on Thursday, May 4, sending the bill to the governor. State

Inside the News: Another Colorado Newspaper Reporter Quits to Launch a Local News Site

Dylan Anderson has become the latest local journalism entrepreneur in Colorado to leave a shrinking newspaper only to

Court of Appeals: Colorado’s Database of Law Enforcement Officers Will Remain Confidential

Apr 27, 2023

Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board is a criminal justice agency, and it did not abuse its

CORA Bill Advances With Provision Barring Agencies From Requiring Records Requesters To Show ID

Apr 21, 2023

A CORA modernization bill passed a Colorado Senate committee Thursday with lawmakers adding a provision that prohibits

Inside the News: How Colorado Newsrooms Are (or Aren’t) Using ChatGPT

ChatGPT and its artificial intelligence brethren are the latest technological advancements to rumble through local

Reach, Representation and Respect: Recommendations to Improve Relations Between Indigenous Communities and Local News in Colorado

Apr 20, 2023

The Voices Initiative began in January of 2021 as a community organizing project of the nonprofit Free Press, Colorado

No Cost Relief for Records Requesters in CORA Bill Introduced in Colorado Senate

Apr 18, 2023

Unlike a draft circulating at the state Capitol since mid-March, the introduced version of a bill amending the Colorado

‘A Terrible So-Called Solution’: Amended Open Meetings Bill Still Weakens Enforcement of Provision on Executive Session Announcements

Apr 17, 2023

As amended by the Colorado House last week, an open meetings bill still significantly weakens Coloradans’ ability to

Inside the News: Twitter’s War With NPR Trickles Down to Colorado

Apr 14, 2023

This week, the social media platform Twitter added a label to NPR’s account that called the national broadcaster

Chief Justice Directive Sets Rules for Livestreaming Criminal Court Proceedings in Colorado

Apr 13, 2023

Update: The Colorado House approved HB 23-1182 on third reading 63-0 on Friday, Apr. 14. There will be no

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