Swa Bay, 22, and Nu La, 23, were sentenced to 18 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections in September as part of plea agreements with the Denver district attorney’s office.
Bay and La, along with Pah Reh, 21, and Luh Reh, 23, were arrested and charged with murder after Kaing was killed by bullet from a nearby shooting while unloading food from her car outside her Xenia Street apartment complex on July 15, 2022.
Investigators accused the four men of firing more than three dozen rounds at a passing vehicle that they thought didn’t belong in the neighborhood.
In an unrelated case, Lu Reh was sentenced to an additional six years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 2022 shooting death of Ricardo Ryans.
For Pete Marczyk, the decision to open a market downtown was an easy one.
“When you get a phone call from Walter Isenberg, you listen,” the longtime Denver grocer said, referring to the founder and CEO of Denver-based Sage Hospitality as “the Godfather.”
“It was pretty interesting to see the vision through his eyes,” he continued. “And that was a really cool moment for me to be able to sit down with him and be able to hammer that out.”
What came of that months-ago conversation is the fourth location of Marczyk Fine Foods, planned for the Milk Market food hall in LoDo.
Marczyk said the 450-square-foot outpost at 1800 Wazee St. will be a stripped down but “mighty” version of his specialty grocery stores in the Uptown and Hale neighborhoods. It will sell premade entrees, soups, salads and sweets alongside a small selection of grocery items.
“It’s not our whole product mix, but we use sales data and we’ll get a product mix down there, and our customers will teach us what works and what doesn’t,” Marczyk said.
Sage, which manages Milk Market, will staff the spot. The company signed a five-year licensing agreement with Marczyk. Scott Vollmer, general manager of Dairy Block, the development that Milk Market is a part of, said he expects Marczyk to open in early 2026.
“(Marczyk) is a successful local grocery concept that embodies good quality, great service,” said Vollmer, who works for Dairy Block developer McWhinney. “And it fills a void here downtown where you’re missing a lot of the basic grocery sundry items that Marczyk does a great job of curating.”
Milk Market isn’t the first licensing agreement for Marczyk. In 2019, he signed a deal to open a spot in Denver International Airport, which finally opened a year ago after COVID-induced delays.
At Marczyk’s licensed spots, the operator — in this case Sage — buys the food from the grocer, which makes one to two daily deliveries of its fresh bread and prepared foods. Marczyk will continue cooking and shipping out of its 10,000-square-food commissary at 4850 E. 39th Ave. in Park Hill.
Marczyk, who opened his first store in 2002, said he constantly gets approached to open new locations but he needs a very specific set of circumstances to make the numbers work. He said it would cost $7 million to build out a new store, several million more than he paid decades ago.
“It’s really hard to make the math work for a grocer. Everything they say about the grocery business is true, it’s the second oldest profession, (with) prostitution being the first,” he joked. “But it’s a really super competitive space and our direct competitors are two of the largest companies in the world: Amazon and Walmart.”
In an industry where sub-5% margins are common, he views the licensed location as another way to pad his business. Marczyk also said the move helps avoid the red tape and overhead costs of a new build-out.
“This is a way for us to mitigate some risk … and add some incremental sales,” he said. “Because expectations of profitability are so low, if we just add a little it’s a lot for us.
“My managers, their job is to find $50 a day they can add to the bottom line,” he continued. “And that’s a significant percentage of profit that we can add.”
Marczyk opening at Milk Market continues Sage’s new plan to get outside operators in the food hall, which restaurateur Frank Bonanno opened in 2018 and sold to Sage in 2023. Over the summer, Milk Market added Konjo Ethiopian Food, The Lucky Bird fried chicken and YumCha, a noodles and dumplings concept by ChoLon owner Lon Symensma.
The Trump administration has disbanded its federal cultural property investigations team and reassigned the agents to immigration enforcement, delivering a blow to one of the world’s leaders in heritage protection and calling into question the future of America’s role in repatriating looted relics, according to multiple people familiar with the changes.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security established the Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities program in 2017 to “conduct training on the preservation, protection and investigation of cultural heritage and property; to coordinate and support investigations involving the illicit trafficking of cultural property around the world; and to facilitate the repatriation of illicit cultural items seized as a result of (federal) investigations to the objects and artifacts’ lawful and rightful owners.”
Homeland Security Investigations, the department’s investigative arm, once had as many as eight agents in its New York office investigating cultural property cases. A select number of additional agents around the country also worked these cases, including a nationwide investigation into looted Thai objects.
The Denver Art Museum has previously acknowledged that two relics from Thailand in its collection are part of that federal investigation.
Since 2007, HSI says it has repatriated over 20,000 items to more than 40 countries.
But the Trump administration, as part of its unprecedented mass-deportation agenda, earlier this year dissolved the cultural property program and moved the agents to immigration enforcement, multiple people with knowledge of the change told The Denver Post.
Homeland Security officials did not respond to requests for comment.
A few months after Trump took office, a Homeland Security staffer with knowledge of the antiquities field told The Post that they received an email from their bosses. The message, according to their recollection: “The way of the world is immigration. Bring your cases to a reasonable conclusion and understand that the priority is immigration operations.”
This individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said they were given no time frame for the new assignment. Leadership, though, was clear that there would be no new cultural property cases.
Instead of conducting these investigations, this individual said they have been driving detainees between detention facilities and the airport for their deportation.
“I just spent almost a month cuffing guys up, throwing them in a van from one jail to another,” this person said, adding that the work doesn’t take advantage of their specialized training.
It’s frustrating, the individual said, because cultural property cases don’t require a lot of agents or resources. They don’t need all types of fancy electronic equipment.
“The juice from the squeeze on these cases is a lot more than people wanna give it credit,” this person said.
Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post
The Bunker Gallery section of the Denver Art Museum’s Southeast Asian art galleries at the Martin Building is pictured on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Emma C. Bunker’s name was removed from the gallery in the wake of an investigation by The Denver Post. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Thai objects in Denver under investigation
For years, HSI has been investigating two Thai relics in the Denver Art Museum’s collection after officials in Thailand raised issues with their provenance, or ownership history.
The pieces — part of the so-called “Prakhon Chai hoard” — were looted in the 1960s from a secret vault at a temple near the Cambodian border, The Post found in a three-part investigation in 2022. Villagers told the newspaper that they recall dredging the vault for these prized objects and selling them to a British collector named Douglas Latchford.
A federal grand jury decades later indicted Latchford for conspiring to sell plundered Southeast Asian antiquities around the world. He died before he could stand trial.
But the DA’s office relies heavily on its partnership with HSI, which has federal jurisdiction and can serve warrants and issue summonses across the country. The Manhattan DA’s office only has authority over New York.
“The future for the DA’s office and the (antiquities trafficking) unit is in jeopardy,” said an individual familiar with the Manhattan unit’s dealings, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. “It’s unclear who’s going to be swearing out warrants going forward.”
A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA declined to comment for this story.
Department of Homeland Security Investigations agents join Washington Metropolitan Police Department officers as they conduct traffic checks at a checkpoint along 14th Street in northwest Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
‘Doing the right thing still has power’
These changes in enforcement priorities mean countries seeking the repatriation of their cultural items have fewer partners in the U.S. who can help them deal with museums and private collectors.
“A few years ago, the United States led the world in restoring stolen history — and it mattered,” said Bradley Gordon, an American attorney who for years has represented the Cambodian government in its quest to reclaim its pillaged history from art museums, including Denver’s.
It’s a shame, he said, that federal agencies have stepped back, even as the Manhattan DA continues its work.
“This work isn’t just about art; it’s about security, diplomacy and restoring dignity,” Gordon said. “These looted objects were never meant to be hidden in mansions or displayed in museum glass cases far from their origins. When they are returned, entire communities celebrate with sincere happiness. It’s a reminder that doing the right thing still has power in the world.”
Representatives from Thailand’s government, meanwhile, said they haven’t gotten an update on the Prakhon Chai investigation since Trump returned to office this year.
Cultural heritage experts say these investigations can serve as an important diplomatic tool and use of soft power — a way for the U.S. to strengthen connections to allies or thaw fraught relations with longtime adversaries.
In 2013, for example, President Barack Obama’s administration returned a ceremonial drinking vessel from the seventh century B.C. to Iran. For years, American officials said they couldn’t return the million-dollar relic until relations between the two countries normalized. The move — which NBC News titled “archaeo-diplomacy” — represented a small but important gesture as the U.S. sought a nuclear deal with the Middle Eastern power.
“The return of the artifact reflects the strong respect the United States has for cultural heritage property — in this case, cultural heritage property that was likely looted from Iran and is important to the patrimony of the Iranian people,” the U.S. State Department said at the time. “It also reflects the strong respect the United States has for the Iranian people.”
A lack of law enforcement activity in this space could also mean that museums and private collectors will be less inclined to return stolen pieces, said Erin Thompson, an art crime professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Museums, instead, will maintain the status quo.
“Without the power of subpoenas, knowing what records people have, most of these returns are impossible,” she said. “Without the official stick to back up the carrot of negotiations, it wouldn’t happen. Government presence in these negotiations is absolutely crucial.”
Others wonder what the Trump administration’s realignment would mean for the illicit antiquities market.
Mongolia has spent years fighting for the return of dinosaur fossils from around the globe. HSI has worked on numerous investigations on this front, repatriating a host of looted items that are considered some of the best relics of life on Earth from millions of years ago.
Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, the country’s former minister of culture, tourism and sports, said she always held up the United States as an example of what can be done to crack down on the black market for cultural goods. Before collaborating with the U.S., Mongolia was considered “the weakest country” for losing its own heritage to illegal sellers, she said.
“If ICE is too focused on immigration and less on cultural heritage, it would, of course, be a sad thing,” she said in an interview, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees HSI. “By discouraging the black market of dinosaur fossils, the international market was shattered. If ICE weakens, the black market might surge back. The American (antiquities) market and American collaboration is essential for stopping the black market of illegal cultural property sales.”
Altitude might be regaining its status as a safe haven for the Nuggets.
Obliging Miami’s invitation to play fast-paced, somewhat chaotic basketball, Denver held off the Heat for a 122-112 win Wednesday and improved to 4-0 this season at Ball Arena. They were a lackluster 26-15 at home last year.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double by the end of a bizarre and experimental third quarter, en route to 33 points, 15 rebounds and 16 assists. He and his teammates benefitted from the departure of Heat star Bam Adebayo, who suffered a foot injury early in the game. With Kel’el Ware and Keshad Johnson splitting minutes at center, Denver out-rebounded Miami 68-44 for a 22-8 advantage in second-chance points and 62-42 edge in the paint.
That and the tempo at which Miami plays helped the Nuggets (5-2) pile on 68 first-half points despite shooting only 43% from the floor and 6 for 23 outside the arc. They also added 12 points in the first minute and 46 seconds of the third quarter, briefly flirting with a 150-point pace.
But every time the Nuggets threatened to blow the game open, they started to get messy. Miami shaved a 17-point deficit back to 10 with seven minutes to go, causing David Adelman to call timeout and retrieve his security blanket from the bench. On a sloppier night for the Jamal Murray-led second unit, Jokic steadied the ship. Denver won his minutes by 18 and lost those without him by eight.
Murray struggled to make his shots for the second consecutive game, going 4 of 15. But he accepted a pick-me-up from Aaron Gordon, who scored 24 points and was on the emphatic receiving end of a few Jokic dimes. Tim Hardaway Jr. also added 18 points on a 4-for-9 night from 3-point range, continuing his hot start to the season.
The 33-year-old guard, who signed a veteran minimum contract with the Nuggets, is shooting 44.7% from three after seven games. He’s playing more minutes than anybody else off Denver’s bench.
The Nuggets have now won nine consecutive regular-season home games against Miami. Other than Game 2 of the NBA Finals in 2023, their last home loss to the Heat was Nov. 30, 2016.
Miami did, however, hand the Nuggets their first deficit at Ball Arena this season when Norman Powell buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key against their zone on the first possession of the game. He went for a team-leading 23 points, but the Heat did most of their leading in the first quarter. Denver trailed by more than seven and never trailed after halftime.
The injury to Adebayo played a major role in that. Ware couldn’t hold his own on the glass, and when he wasn’t on the floor, Jokic was in full attack mode. He bullied Johnson and Jaime Jaquez for back-to-back buckets in the post during the second quarter, prompting Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to get Ware back on the floor shortly after. Without Adebayo, he had no available solutions.
Peyton Watson registered a career-high 10 rebounds in the win. Christian Braun didn’t score efficiently but made his share of dirty-work plays, amassing 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
The Nuggets will host Golden State on Friday in their second NBA Cup group stage game after losing to Portland last week.
DENVER — The Trump administration’s decision to partially fund November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits has left families across Colorado bracing their budgets for tough choices.
The federal government will allocate $4.6 billion from an emergency fund to keep SNAP running — a figure that’s only about half the program’s typical monthly cost. Officials have yet to announce when those funds will be available, adding to the uncertainty for families who rely on the program for food and essentials.
That uncertainty is impacting more than just grocery lists. At a recent diaper distribution event hosted by local nonprofit WeeCycle, hundreds of parents lined up seeking help with basic needs like diapers, wipes, and formula.
Nonprofits distributing food and pet supplies typically join WeeCycle at each event. SNAP benefits do not include non-food items like diapers and wipes.
“Sometimes I don’t know if my kids are going to eat the next day,” said Leianna Rojas, a single mother of four who was recently laid off and now works two part-time jobs at $19 an hour.
Each month, Rojas typically receives about $400 in SNAP benefits.
“It’s only $400 a month, and that doesn’t cover the whole month of my four kids I have,” she said. “I still have to put some out of my pocket.”
Even with two jobs and food assistance, Rojas’ paychecks are stretched to feed herself and her children.
Colin Riley, Denver7
Leianna Rojas relies on SNAP to help feed her four children. After a recent layoff, Rojas needed to take two, part-time jobs to quickly make ends meet. She says the $400 SNAP benefit she received, each month, still didn’t cover her entire grocery bill.
She described relying on rice, beans, and potatoes — meals her mother used to make to stretch a budget. After paying rent, Rojas sometimes has just $20 left.
“So, it was to provide a home for my kids, or to be out and homeless,” she said.
At this WeeCycle distribution, the need was historic for all the wrong reasons.
“The need has surged,” said Lindsey Zaback, the nonprofit’s development director. “This is the first time we’ve ever seen all 500 pre-registration slots filled for this market.”
Zaback said demand has been larger than events held during the pandemic.
“This feels worse. It feels like an even more unprecedented time,” Zaback said. “And it’s because we don’t have the government agencies stepping up in terms of grant funding and ARPA funding and things like that to help sustain nonprofits.”
WeeCycle provides diapers, wipes, and formula to families in need — a lifeline as SNAP funding remains uncertain.
“When SNAP benefits are cut or reduced, that’s a huge portion of a family’s income every month,” Zaback said. “They have to find other ways to find funds for things like diapers.”
Colin Riley, Denver7
Multiple nonprofits make up each distribution event. They look to connect families with food, diapers, baby formula, hygiene products, and pet supplies.
At a recent distribution event, WeeCycle said it served 1,000 children in two hours — a 65% increase compared to the previous year.
“It helps fill in those gaps so you’re not struggling,” said Inna Mitchell, another visitor at the event. “[If] you’re someone who doesn’t get benefits, but you’re someone who needs help.”
Despite the mounting pressure on families and nonprofits, Zaback sees community support as the only viable short-term answer.
“I wish there was a better solution, that there were other entities — including the government — that were able to step up to help sustain nonprofits right now, but it’s not happening,” she said. “We’re just reliant on community members to help get us through these times… to ensure that we can meet the community needs.”
For Rojas, the message to other struggling parents is simple.
“Don’t be scared,” she said. “There’s people out there that want to help, and they’re here with warm hearts and loving to help out. Just don’t be scared. We’re all in the same boat at the end of the day.”
WeeCycle is urgently asking for donations of funds, diapers, wipes and formula to help meet the growing need. You can learn more about how to donate through this link.
If you need assistance, WeeCycle has the following upcoming distribution events:
Wednesday, Nov. 5 — 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (9200 W. 10th Ave., Lakewood, 80215)
Tuesday, Nov. 11 — 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at La Alma Recreation Center (1325 W. 11th Ave., Denver, 80204) *
Friday, Nov. 14 — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lalo Delgado (3201 W. Arizona Ave., Denver, 80219) *
Monday, Nov. 17 — noon to 1 p.m. at Solid Rock CommUnity Food Pantry (3217 S. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs, 80916)
Tuesday, Nov. 18 — 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Barnum Recreation Center (360 Hooker St., Denver, 80219) *
Wednesday, Nov. 19 — 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Broomfield Commons Sports Complex (13200 Sheridan Blvd., Broomfield, 80020)
Friday, Nov. 21 — 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Parking Lot H (6000 Victory Way, Commerce City, 80022 )
Saturday, Nov. 22 — 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at North Middle School (12095 E. Montview Blvd., Aurora 80010) *
Tuesday, Nov. 25 — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 72nd Ave RTD Station (3838 E. 72nd Ave., Commerce City, 80022) *
*These markets require a reservation for pickup times. Reservations open 24 hours prior to the market and can be made online.
Coloradans in need of food assistance can check out the following resources:
Those looking for the most up-to-date information should click here.
Denver7 Gives has created a campaign to help Coloradans struggling with food insecurity. Click on the form below and select “Help Fight Food Insecurity“ to donate.
DENVER — If you have ever had to drive to Denver International Airport, you know it’s one of the most congested corridors in the city. However, airport authorities are now inviting travelers, workers, and community members to complete a survey on ways to improve Peña Boulevard.
Peña Boulevard was built over 30 years ago. It now handles more than 139,000 vehicles daily—an 80% increase since opening. This has led to congestion, crashes, and maintenance challenges.
In April of this year, the Denver City Council voted to approve a five-year, $15 million contract for a study to explore options for reducing traffic on Peña Boulevard.
The federal environmental study fulfills a requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the contract includes funding for preliminary design of proposed changes to the busy corridor.
The feedback will guide the Peña Design & NEPA project. This review must be completed before improvements can begin.
The airport has proposed options, such as adding a bus-only lane, a carpool or toll lane, or a collector or frontage road to separate airport and local traffic.
The survey asks about travel habits, concerns, and communication preferences.
Responses will help shape a preferred alternative for future construction, which could begin as early as 2028.
The deadline to complete the survey is Dec. 31, 2025.
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The Better Business Bureau issued a warning that a Denver business might be defrauding Medicare and its customers.
The BBB’s advisory, posted Oct. 27, reported that the organization received complaints from two people who said they received bills from Centennial Medical Supplies for products they never ordered or received.
Since Sept. 15, 31 people left reviews on the BBB’s website alleging that Centennial Medical Supplies billed their insurance for products they never ordered. Those who specified the products said the company charged them and their insurance for catheter supplies they didn’t need or receive.
The true number of fraudulent claims may be higher, since not everyone looks at their insurance statements carefully, particularly if Medicare and their secondary plan covered the full costs, said Cameron Nakashima, digital campaigns manager at the BBB.
“Scammers are hedging their bets on people not checking their statements,” he said.
Someone responding to Centennial Medical Supplies’ email, who didn’t give a name, said they would look into any cases of improper billing if they received the patients’ information. The BBB previously reported that the company didn’t respond to its attempts to resolve customer complaints.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. There appears to have been a mistake,” the email said.
Two people were working at an office listed as the company’s address in south Denver. The one who answered the door said she was hired to “manage the mail” and didn’t know anything about Centennial Medical Supplies’ operations. The office had only one desk, and nothing suggested that other people typically worked there.
The BBB’s research suggests a previous owner was less than diligent when deciding who to sell his medical supply company to, Nakashima said.
“It was a legitimate business at one point, as far as we can tell,” he said.
Billing for medical equipment has become a significant source of income for scammers. Generally, people committing fraud obtain legitimate beneficiaries’ Medicare numbers and other insurance information, and use that to file what look like real claims for catheters or other items. Insurance generally covers the claims, with the person whose information was stolen finding out only if they receive a bill.
Nakashima said he isn’t sure why catheters are popular for fraud now, but it could be because they’re a relatively discreet item. Someone else handling the Medicare beneficiaries may not know if they use a catheter or think to question it, he said.
The BBB advised people to check their insurance statements regularly for unexpected charges, particularly if they get their coverage through Medicare, and to report any potentially fraudulent billing to Medicare and their insurer. No one can entirely prevent becoming a victim of a billing scam, but being careful to avoid sharing your insurance information with people you don’t know reduces the odds.
Keeping your passwords updated and setting up alerts on your accounts can also help, since fraudsters often don’t need to ask individuals for their Medicare numbers, Nakashima said.
“Data breaches, unfortunately, are just a way of life these days,” he said.
The Easter Bunny? Fuzzy-wuzzy fraud. The Tooth Fairy? Fake chews. But if a game is within 19 points at the start of the fourth quarter, just watch the Bo-ller Coaster go to work. Just watch him find a way.
“I think a really good issue to have is when you’re finding these ugly wins, because I don’t think it’ll always be like that,” the Broncos’ tow-headed quarterback said Sunday after rallying Denver to an 18-15 victory at Houston — a game he trailed 15-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.
“For right now, the ugly wins are how we’re doing it, so that’s just what we’re gonna continue to find ways to do. Now, obviously, we’ve got to improve in many different areas. But the ugly wins, they’re important. They’re important down the stretch. And if you can find them and you can win these one-possession games, it helps you in the future … you gotta learn how to win those.”
The Broncos are 5-2 in one-score games. They were 1-6 a year ago. Among Broncos quarterbacks, only John Elway and Peyton Manning have accounted for more fourth-quarter/overtime comebacks than Nix has in orange and blue. Seven rescues in 26 NFL starts. Tim Tebow, by the way, managed six.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
But fool me seven times?
You either got it. Or you don’t.
Bo’s got it.
“Nothing fazes him,” Broncos fullback Adam Prentice told me in the locker room after Denver’s sixth straight victory and second walk-off win in three weeks. “You think about the Giants game, we’re down a bunch (19-0 after three quarters), and (from him) it’s, ‘Hey, next play, let’s score and go to the next one.’ Which helps us in the huddle, and it keeps everybody even keel and just lets you focus on the job.
“It’s kind of the unspoken word. Like, we know we can do it, and we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna answer the call when we need to.”
Bo Nix (10) of the Denver Broncos throws deep against the Houston Texans during the second quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The stats were uglier than the scoreboard — 17 completions on 36 throws, 170 passing yards, two scores and an interception.
Context: The Texans rolled in with the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL for a reason. The 49ers managed 175 passing yards here last week. The Titans collected 93. Tampa Bay managed 191.
In Week 8, Nix scored 44 points against Dallas, the best offense in the NFL. In Week 9, he walked off the NFL’s best defense, a desperate bunch trying to avoid five losses, in its backyard.
Nix went into the fourth quarter having completed nine passes in 21 attempts for just 97 yards. Over the next 15 minutes, he made good on 9 of 16 attempts for 76 yards and a score, along with three rushes for 36 yards. His 25-yard scramble to daylight set up Wil Lutz’s game-winning kick.
“Describe Bo today in a word,” I asked Prentice.
He tilted his head for a second.
“Competitor,” Prentice replied.
“Why?” I wondered.
“Because, regardless of the situation, he’s going to come out and make plays and compete,” the Broncos fullback continued. “Like I was saying with the Giants game, it doesn’t matter what situation we’re in, he’s going to go out there and sling it or run it or hand it to the backs, do whatever he’s got to do. And we’re going to go make a play. It just doesn’t matter. We’re going to go out there and execute.”
Eventually. Yes, beating Houston backup QB Davis Mills on the road has a different aftertaste than beating C.J. Stroud, who left early with a concussion.
Yes, Nix needs to run more. Selectively. Wisely. On at least two fourth-quarter throws, No. 10 elected to stay in the pocket, step up and force the ball downfield instead of tucking and running. Both throws were fired long.
“Listen, don’t talk about that,” Broncos coach Sean Payton countered when I asked about Nix chucking when he should be tucking. “In other words, his eyes are within the progression.
“You don’t tell that player too much when it comes to something like that, you know what I mean? Like, ‘Do you inhale or exhale when you’re backswinging (in golf)?’ I don’t want anyone asking me that question, all right?
“But I think there are certainly designed runs you saw. Again, we gotta keep working with his clock, because it gets quick. There’s someone open, and there’s some throws he’s gonna want to correct. But that’s a good problem to have.”
Head coach Sean Payton locks into the action during the third quarter of the Broncos’ 18-15 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Meanwhile, if you’re going to accuse the Broncos of head-hunting because of Payton’s history, put the tin foil hat away. Kris Abrams-Draine’s hit on Stroud was legal, if a tad late. Watch it again: The Broncos cornerback was making a point, at full speed, to strike well below Stroud’s head. The concussion was from the QB’s noggin hitting the turf on a late slide, not from Abrams-Draine attempting to decapitate the guy. Game of inches, kids. Game of inches.
“Winning’s fun,” Prentice said. “It’s contagious. When you want to keep doing it, it’s contagious. You just want to keep getting after it and keep getting those wins and stacking them. But yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”
Less fun: Payton’s run-pass balance. Or continual lack thereof. The Broncos rushed on three of their opening four plays. Payton handed off just four times over the next 24. J.K. Dobbins had 24 rushing yards on his initial four touches. He didn’t see the rock again until the first play of the second half — a 9-yard rush.
You tell us, Coach.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Payton said. “I like to win.”
Like the man said: It’s contagious.
“No one wants to let anyone down,” Payton stressed. “That’s a good thing.”
The best thing, really.
“What’s our record?” Sunshine Sean asked the media rhetorically. “I lost track.”
“Seven and two,” the scribes said in unison, as if in a classroom.
“That’s right,” Payton said, back in teacher mode. “That’s how I see it. Pretty good.”
Sure is. Seven comebacks in a year-and-a-half? Nobody’s that lucky. When it comes to the Bo-ller Coaster, buckle up. Just don’t forget to enjoy the ride.
May the Fourth be with you
For the fourth time in the last five games, the Denver Broncos rallied to win a game they trailed entering the fourth quarter. One of the central reasons for that: Bo Nix’s ability to elevate his play with the game on the line in the final 15 minutes. Here is a look at the second-year Broncos quarterback’s production by quarter this season, with Sunday’s numbers against the Texans in parentheses:
At least three people were shot early Sunday morning at a house party in Denver, and police are searching for the suspect, according to law enforcement.
Denver officers responded to reports of a large fight in the 5100 block of North Biscay Court shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday and heard gunshots when they arrived, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said in a news briefing.
The officers moved toward the sound of gunshots and saw several people running, Thomas said. They spotted one man holding a gun.
Thomas said the officers confronted the armed suspect, but he refused to drop the gun and “continued to be a threat.” One officer shot at the suspect multiple times.
That shooting happened about 10 minutes before 2 a.m., before the clocks rolled back an hour for the end of daylight savings time, Thomas said.
Police originally said that paramedics took the suspect to a hospital with unknown injuries. But Thomas said during the briefing that officers were not able to find the suspect, and it’s unclear if he was injured when the unidentified officer shot at him.
When officers searched the area for the suspect, they discovered two handguns and three victims who had been shot before police arrived, Thomas said.
All three victims sustained minor injuries and are expected to survive, he said. No officers were injured in the shooting.
“This is an active scene that we’re still investigating, trying to determine exactly what happened and exactly who all was involved,” Thomas said.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
Jared Dudley’s second career had already started before his first one was over. He just needed time to realize it.
Winning a championship with LeBron James helped him get there. By then, Dudley had been bouncing around the NBA for more than a dozen years. The LeBron- and Anthony Davis-led Lakers were his seventh team. “When you can sit in a room and watch film with LeBron, AD and (Rajon) Rondo and call them out,” he says, “it’s something that very few coaches have the guts to be able to do, the credibility.”
Dudley felt perfectly comfortable doing that. Enough to begin to recognize a knack for leadership that could serve him beyond his playing years, which were numbered anyway. “It’s like I’d been coaching my last four or five years in the NBA,” he realized.
In 2021, he was planning to prolong his time on the Lakers’ roster as a veteran bench presence — he and James had developed a close friendship — but a new opportunity beckoned. Former Lakers assistant Jason Kidd took over as head coach of the Mavericks, and he had a staff opening ready for Dudley.
The beloved longtime role player took the leap directly into coaching. Four years later, he’s ascending the ranks. Nuggets coach David Adelman kicked off his regime this summer by hiring Dudley to oversee Denver’s defense, which ranked 21st in the league last season.
“Word of mouth,” Adelman said. “A lot of people told me great things about him, and in this league, sometimes it’s not who you know; it’s what you hear from other people you respect and trust.”
A coaching lifer, Adelman wanted to make sure he built a staff that included former players to introduce a healthy range of perspectives. In the 40-year-old Dudley, he landed someone who brought not just schematic creativity, which has already been on display early this season, but a candid demeanor and clear understanding of NBA locker room dynamics.
“Just because you were a player doesn’t mean you can relate,” Dudley told The Denver Post in an interview this week. “It takes all those different experiences on my journey as a player to be able to know how to talk to them, when to talk to them, when to come at Jamal (Murray), when to come at (Nikola) Jokic, when to call other players out.
“… That’s what I’m trying to do (for) a team that struggled on defense but has a historically good offense. Make this team above-average defensively to give us a chance to win a championship.”
Dudley didn’t always have the “guts” to speak up as audaciously as he did late in his playing career. But that’s how it should be, he thinks. Confidence and privilege come with age in a league where status matters. When Dudley was young, observing and adapting meant survival.
“My mom always taught me a good player is one that listens. So I never had a problem,” he said. “Steve Nash told me one time, ‘When I pass you the ball, I’m passing you the ball with an advantage. So if you don’t have an advantage, pass me the ball back.’ When he says that, OK, I remember that. I believe in a hierarchy where there’s different levels, and superstars get different treatment and can say different things. I believe in that.”
Few people in the league today have worked alongside as many superstars as Dudley. He was traded to Phoenix in 2008 as a second-year bench player, teaming up with Steve Nash, Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal. He played with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on the Lob City Clippers, then with a young Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, John Wall in Washington, Devin Booker in Phoenix, LeBron and AD in Los Angeles. He coached Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson and Kyrie Irving in Dallas.
He tried to absorb something from each experience. Nash’s instructions on what to do with the ball as a role player were a north star. Dudley also partially attributes the length of his career (14 years) to lessons learned from Nash about taking care of his body — “all the stuff he did pre and postgame: IVs, acupuncture, working on your core.” O’Neal taught him in those early years how to balance seriousness and light-heartedness.
Jared Dudley (3) and Steve Nash (13) of the Phoenix Suns during Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2010 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at US Airways Center on May 5, 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Dudley built a reputation with his IQ despite his awkward body type. He played a bit of power forward at Boston College, was drafted as a small forward, then he transformed himself into a starting two-guard with the Suns. He monitored league trends, such as the emergence of Draymond Green and downsized lineups. In Milwaukee, he asked to play the four after Jabari Parker tore an ACL. “I saw the defenses weren’t evolving fast enough for the small-ball four,” Dudley recalled. “I got ahead of it. … You have to evolve — 90% of the league is role players.”
That’s the ethos he’s trying to bring to the Nuggets, a team with a similarly heady identity. Aaron Gordon, in particular, outfitted his game to complement Jokic in 2021 when he was traded to Denver — a reinvention that echoes how Dudley changed his game to function with an all-time great passer in Phoenix.
When Dudley traveled to Denver for his interview in July, he arrived with a film project, exploring zone options and how the staff could limit Jokic’s defensive workload this season. “Even though it might be word-of-mouth,” he said, “you’ve still gotta impress.” He and Adelman had dinner together for more than four hours, talking scheme for about 35% of it (in Dudley’s estimation) and life for the other 65%. Adelman didn’t need much time to deliberate.
Dudley’s family is staying in Dallas this school year, with plans to join him in Denver before his second season. He’s been keeping up with his daughter’s high school volleyball games via live stream on Tuesday and Thursday nights when the Nuggets don’t play. Most of his time right now is spent working, though. “Next year it’ll be a little bit of a smoother and easier transition,” he said. “This gives me a little bit more time to focus, lock in and do the job that needs to be done.”
His defining principle as a defensive coordinator is directly related to his point of view on NBA superstardom: “Coming up with a defense that protects Jokic.”
In the Nuggets’ old system, the MVP center almost always played an aggressive position higher up the floor. Dudley doesn’t want him burning so much energy defensively. He would rather Denver’s guards and wings have more difficult and taxing responsibilities at that end, so Jokic’s battery can be maximized on offense.
“I can’t teach (him) anything offensively. You’re already this. You’ve got that,” Dudley said. “But defensively, I can teach you. I’ve played with different centers. I’ve played with Boban (Marjanovic), who’s bigger than you and slower than you. … I only want him to think about going back to the rim, Point A to Point B. I don’t want him having him to go guard these guards on the wings, in rotations.”
That means more zone, more man-to-man disguised as zone, more drop coverage against pick-and-rolls, more cross-matching. “There’s nothing that I won’t try,” Dudley said. Still, he is trying to hold Jokic to a certain standard. He’s been sending the big man YouTube clips representing areas of potential improvement, mostly involving Jokic’s communication.
“I need him to be louder on the court,” Dudley said. “Kind of like Kevin Garnett, so it makes bad on-ball defenders a little bit better and more confident. … He’s by far the most humble and respectful superstar that I’ve had, in that when I text him, he texts right back.”
Jokic has been game for the fresh ideas, and he seemingly appreciates Dudley’s willingness to hold him accountable.
That takes guts.
“I think when he’s speaking,” Jokic said, “everybody listens. It’s a good addition to our team.”
A Denver man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Thursday for fatally stabbing a passing driver with a 3-foot sword in the city’s College View neighborhood.
Patrick Browne, 40, was arrested Sept. 29, 2024, after police said he stabbed 20-year-old Isaiah Martinez after a fight.
Martinez was driving in the area when he stopped at a red light at West Evans Avenue and South Lipan Street, where Browne was standing on the corner, according to Denver police.
Browne started arguing with Martinez and a passenger in the car and threw a drink through the car window. When Martinez and the passenger got out of the car, Browne pulled a large sword out of his roller suitcase and stabbed Martinez in the stomach as he was trying to get back in the car.
Martinez died at the hospital a short time later.
Browne was charged with first-degree murder, assault and felony menacing in the stabbing. All three charges were dismissed Thursday after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, according to court records.
Browne faces 20 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections when he’s sentenced on Nov. 13, the Denver District Attorney’s Office said.
A handful of Colorado families sued the Adams County Sheriff’s Office this week for refusing to allow in-person jail visits and instead requiring inmates and family members to pay for phone and video calls through a system that has, in five years, put $3.1 million into the sheriff’s coffers.
The lawsuit is focused on visits between parents and children, and argues that prohibiting in-person contact between parents and their kids is both a violation of their constitutional rights and likely to cause long-term harm to everyone involved. The proposed class-action case includes both minor children who want to visit their incarcerated fathers, and mothers who want to visit their incarcerated sons.
“They’ve denied children the right to have contact visits with their parents, to be hugged by them, to look them in the eyes, to have the in-person relationship that is so necessary, especially for a child’s healthy development,” said Dan Meyer, litigation and policy director at Spero Justice Center, one of several organizations involved in the lawsuit.
The Colorado case is the third lawsuit filed as part of a recent nationwide effort to force jails to allow in-person family visits.
Adams County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Shea Haney declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs include 4- and 6-year-old siblings in Adams County who have not been able to visit their father since he was jailed in February, as well as a 9-year-old boy whose stepfather was jailed from June to October.
“To have to tell my child he wasn’t allowed to go see his dad, it was just really painful,” said Autumn Ray, mother of the 9-year-old boy.
She spent as much as $400 a month on calls to the jail during her husband’s incarceration, she said. A phone call to the jail currently costs 15 cents a minute, while video calls cost 20 cents a minute, according to the lawsuit.
Ray’s calls to the jail routinely stretched over an hour, she said, in part because the system for making calls often did not work, so she and her husband, whom she declined to name, would have more to catch up on when they could connect. The parents decided that spending the money on the phone calls was necessary as their son struggled with his dad’s absence, she said.
“His dad and I talked and decided it was worth using some of our savings for him to still be able to talk to his dad on the phone, because otherwise the full brunt of parenting a neurodivergent, grief-stricken child was fully on me,” she said.
The lawsuit alleges that the sheriff’s office is denying in-person visits to ramp up profits from the video and phone calls, and notes that the Colorado Supreme Court ordered the Adams County sheriff to allow in-person jail visits in 1978 — an order they say still stands. The jail has rooms dedicated to such visits that are going unused, the lawsuit alleges.
The jail has not allowed in-person visits for family and friends since at least 2006, and stopped offering free video calls at kiosks in its lobby in 2020, according to the complaint.
The jail now uses a company called HomeWAV to allow video and phone calls between inmates and their friends and family. The arrangement calls for the sheriff’s office to receive at least 40% of video call money and 80% of phone call money, according to the lawsuit.
The sheriff’s office has received $3.1 million under the contract since 2020, while HomeWAV has earned about $1.7 million, according to the complaint.
“We are confident this can be done safely and affordably,” Meyer said.
Colorado lawmakers this year passed a new law that made in-person visitation a right for prisoners, and specified that it could not be replaced with video calls. The state’s prisons are run separately from county jails.
Alexandra Jordan, an attorney at Public Justice, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization also involved in the lawsuit, said the visitation policy is entirely within the control of Adams County officials.
“They could choose to change their policy tomorrow, and we hope that they do,” she said.
Ray, whose husband was recently transferred to a state prison, is now going through a 60-day waiting period before she and her son can visit in person. She marked the date — in the first week of December — on the calendar for her son, so he could see the first time in six months they’ll be able to visit his dad face to face.
In the last budget that Gov. Jared Polis will usher through from conception to enactment, the term-limited Democrat hopes to wrestle down ever-rising Medicaid costs, he said Friday in unveiling his proposal.
It’s a plan that proposes clamping down on dental benefits, requiring prior authorization for more services and making payment changes affecting home health services. Elsewhere, Polis hopes to revive his often-proposed — and never accepted by the legislature — idea of privatizing Pinnacol Assurance, the state’s workers’ compensation insurance program, to generate hundreds of millions of dollars.
Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Coloradans, has been gobbling an ever-bigger chunk of the overall state budget for years. It’s growing at a rate that’s double the overall spending growth allowed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR.
If left unchecked, Medicaid costs could end up dwarfing all other spending in the state in the next 15 years, leaving almost no money for any services that aren’t directly related to education or health care, according to the governor’s office.
“This gets worse if we don’t fix it,” Polis said Friday.
The governor’s overall budget proposal for the 2026-27 fiscal year includes a total spending request of more than $50.6 billion, up from $48 billion in the current fiscal year, which goes through June 30. Most of that is already spoken for as pass-through spending or other obligations.
The general fund, which covers most day-to-day spending, would grow from about $18.2 billion to $18.6 billion under Polis’ proposal.
Polis’ announcement of his proposal represents a starting point for the state’s next spending plan, which will cover July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. He will unveil an amended proposal in January as the state updates economic projections.
Then the legislature will have its say, starting with the powerful Joint Budget Committee.
Four of the committee’s six members are seeking higher office in the 2026 election, making this budget an even more pitched-than-usual declaration of political values. The legislature will vote on the final budget in the spring.
Early forecasts have the body needing to make up a nearly $1 billion gap — again — between planned spending and what the state is allowed to spend under the growth cap set by TABOR. This tight budget year follows an August special session where lawmakers needed to fill a $783 million hole opened up in the current fiscal year by federal tax changes signed into law by President Donald Trump over the summer.
Trying to rein in Medicaid
Polis said a key hope of his budget proposal is to bring growth in Medicaid spending in line with the overall growth in state spending allowed by TABOR. Over the past decade, the state constitution has limited total state spending to growth by an average 4.4% per year.
Medicaid spending has grown at double that rate, 8.8%. In that period, general fund spending on Medicaid has grown from about $2.4 billion $5.5 billion per year.
In his proposal, Polis would increase state Medicaid spending by about $300 million. That increase alone represents more spending than several executive agencies’ combined budgets — but would still be half as steep as Medicaid’s projected growth without changes to the program.
A Medicaid sign is displayed in the hallway at Clinica Family Health on Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Adams County, Colorado. (Photo by Eli Imadali/Special to The Denver Post)
Polis said he wants to lower overall spending on Medicaid services without touching how much individual providers are paid for services. Proposed changes include annual caps of $3,000 on dental benefits, which Polis noted would be double the cap that existed in 2023; adding prior authorization to some services; and changing how payment is calculated for home health nursing and therapy services.
Several of those proposals are extensions of executive orders he issued to help shore up the most recent budget trouble in August.
“There have been a number of benefits that have been added (to Medicaid) in recent years, and some of those are not sustainable over time,” Polis said.
His administration has also been working with national consultants to examine how Colorado’s Medicaid spending has differed from national trends. That report should be available in the New Year.
Pushing to privatize Pinnacol … again
In another key element of his proposal, Polis is looking to restart a fight from last year over converting the state’s quasi-governmental workers’ compensation insurance program to a fully private enterprise.
Polis’ office predicted the Pinnacol Assurance spin-off, if completed, would generate at least $400 million for the state. About half of that would go to pay for the homestead property tax exemption, while the rest would go to state maintenance and to balance the budget.
Pinnacol acts as an “insurer of last resort” for employers in high-risk industries. The firm is generally not allowed to refuse to insure employers or cancel policies, but it can operate only within Colorado’s borders.
Polis restarted the conversation last year with arguments that Pinnacol was hamstrung from competing in today’s markets, where employers are less bound by state borders than ever. Turning the quasi-state agency into a private firm would also equal a payday for a cash-strapped state.
The effort petered out when the idea didn’t win much traction during the legislative session — though Polis hinted later that he hadn’t given up on the effort.
This year, Polis said the money would help the state keep its property tax break for certain long-term homeowners, known as the homestead exemption. The tax break is usually paid for using the state’s TABOR surplus, but the state won’t have one this year, Polis said.
“Nearly every other state has moved in this direction for reasons that are very important to employees and employers,” Polis said. “For Pinnacol to be able to continue to serve as our insurer of last resort, we have to be able to allow them to write interstate business, to take some of the same steps that can reduce overhead and produce better value to employees that other states have done.”
Opponents to the move worry that taking Pinnacol private would weaken protections for workers and employers in the state. The insurer essentially acts as a social safety net for industries that otherwise couldn’t obtain coverage, they argued last year.
This year, opponents are warning that privatizing the insurer and taking a portion of the money — potentially hundreds of millions of dollars — would be unconstitutional because the money isn’t the state’s to take.
“Pinnacol’s assets were built from employer premiums, not tax dollars,” said Stephanie Tucker, an attorney and president of the Workers’ Compensation Education Association, in a statement. “These funds belong to the employers who paid premiums and (to) injured workers, not the state. Privatization without clear legal authority could result in years of litigation and uncertainty for both Pinnacol and the state of Colorado.”
State officials have a different interpretation. The state “has an obligation” to get value for Pinnacol if it’s spun off, Mark Ferrandino, the head of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, said.
Polis said he’s been briefed on the legal question and his staff classified it as a “very low litigation risk.”
Two people were killed early Friday morning after a motorist driving in the wrong direction in the northbound lanes of Interstate 25 collided with another vehicle just south of 6th Avenue in Denver.
Both motorists were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which was reported to police just before 3 a.m., the Denver Police Department said on social media. There were no passengers in either vehicle.
“We’re still trying to determine where the wrong-way driver got on the highway,” said Denver police spokesperson Doug Schepman.
Schepman said it was too early to determine if alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident.
The crash prompted the closure of the northbound lanes of I-25 near 6th Avenue, which were reopened just after 6:30 a.m.
LITTLETON – For deer, the fall time change Sunday morning means trouble: a 16% spike in collisions with vehicles over the following week, despite years of safety campaigns and the construction of 75 special crossings along highways.
Drivers in Colorado collided with at least 54,189 wild animals over the past 15 years, according to newly compiled Colorado Department of Transportation records. That’s far fewer than in many other states, such as Michigan, where vehicle-life collisions often number more than 50,000 in one year.
The carnage — especially this time of year — increasingly occurs where animals face the most people along the heavily populated Front Range, beyond the mountainous western half of the state that holds much of the remaining prime habitat, state records show.
State leaders and wildlife advocates gathered on Thursday near one of the crossings along the high-speed C-470 beltway in southwest metro Denver to launch a safety campaign.
“We’ve made wildlife crossings a priority in our rural areas, and also increasingly in urban areas,” CDOT Director Shoshana Lew said. “We cannot put underpasses and overpasses everywhere. Particularly at this time of year, we urge everyone to be careful of wildlife.”
Lew credited the crossings with containing collision numbers that could be much higher in Colorado, given the traffic and the prevalence of deer and other wild animals. Most of the state’s highway construction projects, such as the work on Interstate 25 north of Colorado Springs that includes a large wildlife bridge, will factor in wildlife safety needs, Lew said.
The risk of collisions spikes this time of year due to deer and elk migrating to lower elevations, bringing more animals across highways. The end of daylight saving time also plays a role as more drivers navigate roads during the relatively low-visibility hours before and after sunset, when deer often move about.
In Colorado, the 54,189 vehicle-animal collisions that CDOT recorded from 2010 through 2024 caused the deaths of 48 vehicle occupants and more than 5,000 injuries. The animals breakdown: 82% deer, 11% elk, 2% bears.
Ten counties where vehicles hit the most animals during that period included five along the Front Range — Douglas, Jefferson, El Paso, Larimer, and Pueblo — with a combined total of 12,791 collisions, state records show. That compares with 11,068 in the other five counties in western Colorado — La Plata, Montezuma, Garfield, Moffat, and Chaffee.
Colorado lawmakers over the past two decades have directed funds for the installation of more and more wildlife crossings, typically overpasses and underpasses combined with fencing along highways. “These can be up to 90% effective in reducing collisions,” Environment America researcher Rachel Jaeger said.
Most recently, in 2022, lawmakers set up a wildlife safe passage fund with a $5.5 million investment for crossing construction. That money’s been spent. State transportation planners have identified locations where crossings are needed, such as the stretch of U.S. 40 between the intersection with I-70 and the town of Empire, where bighorn sheep live.
Wildlife-vehicle collisions have proved persistent enough that safety advocates have launched a social media campaign and are mulling new strategies, such as promoting ridership on CDOT’s intercity Bustang buses as an animal-friendly way to move.
DENVER — When a driver behind the wheel of a City and County of Denver truck slammed into vehicles stopped in traffic in 2024, two of the injured individuals did not realize they may be entitled to compensation from the city. Now, Evelyn Blackman and Ty Delaney wonder when they’ll ever receive a settlement after their attorney was allegedly told the City and County of Denver did not have enough money left for such claims due to budgetary issues and settlements related to the 2020 George Floyd protests.
On April 11, 2024, a white Ford truck driven by a city employee “carelessly struck” a line of cars that were stopped in traffic, according to the crash report.
“It was kind of a really big deal,” Blackman said. “Somebody wasn’t paying attention.”
“We just rear-ended one car. That car rear-ended another, and so on and so forth,” Delaney explained.
Police body-camera footage captured Blackman being put onto a stretcher and taken into an ambulance.
“I was personally sitting in the backseat with my dog at the time, and I ended up flying forward,” Blackman said. “My back was really messed up.”
Evelyn Blackman
Pictured: Evelyn Blackman being treated following the crash on April 11, 2024
After the crash, Blackman said she was not able to return to work full-time and lost her housing while she was pregnant.
“I could not pay my rent. I ended up losing my apartment. I was homeless for a good majority of this past year, just waiting on this little guy to be born,” Blackman said, patting her baby on the back. “Being pregnant and homeless and not really being able to do anything about it really was hard.”
Blackman and Delaney reached out to attorney Eric Faddis, who filed settlement demands in both cases this year. Delaney’s was filed in July, while Blackman’s was filed in September.
“These cases can take some time to sort of come to a conclusion,” Faddis said.
Denver7
Pictured: Evelyn Blackman (left) and Ty Delaney (right)
Delaney’s claim is for $60,000, while Blackman’s claim is for $95,000. Both of their settlement demands detail their injuries, which include spine issues for Delaney and constant pain in Blackman’s neck, back, and shoulder.
“The city is going to have their own interpretation of the claim value. But one thing that they did communicate to us was that they were accepting liability,” Faddis told Denver7. “In August, the city attorney called my staff, and they reported to us that due to all the settlements they paid out in the George Floyd incident and the protests that followed, that for all the people they hurt, they had to pay a lot of money to those folks.”
Faddis said the Denver City Attorney’s Office gave him a shocking figure for how much money was left in the city’s Liability and Claims Fund.
“According to the city, they only had, as of early October, $12,000 left in their reserve fund to pay claims for people that they have injured,” Faddis said. “We heard that in October, and basically what they told us was like, ‘Hey, your clients are out of luck. Sorry, we didn’t handle our funds properly, and now you’re just going to have to hang out until 2026, and then maybe at that time, they will submit some kind of offer of settlement…’ It’s absolutely ridiculous. I’ve never seen this happen.”
Denver7
Pictured: Eric Faddis talking with Denver7’s Colette Bordelon
Before publication of this article, Denver7 reached out to the City Attorney’s Office on Thursday with a number of questions and a request for an interview. It was the most recent inquiry from Denver7 to the City of Denver in over two weeks about Faddis’ claims.
In response, a spokesperson told Denver7, “That is incorrect,” but did not specify which figure was incorrect in the original email request. The spokesperson said “there is still money in the fund for settlements” and asserted, once again, that Blackman and Delaney’s claims have not been settled due to other claimants involved in the incident, along with “other factors.” The budget was not mentioned as a factor.
“Regardless of the amount of dollars in the fund, we negotiate fair settlements that we are legally required to pay. The city has always paid our settlements — and we do not intend to change that,” the spokesperson said at the end of their response.
Denver7 replied to the email within three minutes, again asking about different figures connected to the Liability and Claims Fund. Denver7 also called and texted the spokesperson’s cell phone, but did not receive any further clarification, despite alerting the City Attorney’s Office that the story would air Thursday evening.
Faddis provided Denver7 with email correspondence between himself and Denver’s City Attorney’s Office related to Blackman and Delaney’s settlement demands.
On Aug. 27, Faddis’ team checked on the status of Delaney’s settlement demand. They received a response from the City Attorney’s Office, which said, “I am waiting on our civil litigation director to respond to me with a settlement approval limit. Because of the recent changes the City has been making this last month, all settlements were set aside, but I am hoping to have a response by the end of next week.”
Jordan Ward
On Sept. 24, a claims adjuster with the City Attorney’s Office told Eric Faddis “at this time, due to the budget restrictions, I was not able to obtain a settlement offer approval from our litigation director.”
Then, on Sept. 24, another email from a claims adjuster with the City Attorney’s Office told Faddis’ team that “at this time, due to the budget restrictions, I was not able to obtain a settlement offer approval from our litigation director. This may change once the attorney reviews all your documents, but please keep in mind, there are 2 other claimants included in this incident and this is considered to be part of a global settlement.”
Denver7 first asked the City Attorney’s Office for an interview in mid-October. Denver7 referenced Faddis’ claim about the amount of money left in the fund.
A spokesperson with the City Attorney’s Office replied via email that the “City and County of Denver allocates $2 million each calendar year from the General Fund to its Liability and Claims fund to pay legal settlements and judgments.”
They continued to say that any remaining funds from prior years roll over into the next year. If the cost of settlements exceeds the available balance, the Denver City Council could vote to approve a supplemental appropriation to ensure those payments are covered.
However, the City Attorney’s Office insisted that Blackman and Delaney’s claims were under review, adding that “funding is not the issue.”
Jordan Ward
Denver7 asked the City Attorney’s Office about Blackman and Delaney’s claims and was told “funding is not the issue.”
When Denver7 presented the spokesperson with portions of the emails that Faddis received from the office, the spokesperson said that each settlement offer is based on the facts and circumstances of the individual claim. The spokesperson acknowledged that settlement payments can be affected by the City of Denver’s budget and available funds, but again said that the city is “waiting on additional information to evaluate these claims as part of an incident involving multiple other parties.”
On Oct. 13, Denver7 submitted a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request to the City Attorney’s Office, asking for the dollar amount the city has left to spend on settlements through the end of 2025. A spokesperson with the City Attorney’s Office said they “do not maintain a list with the data” requested, and pointed Denver7 to Denver’s Department of Finance.
So, we asked the same question to the Department of Finance, which directed us to the budgeted amounts for liability claims within Mayor Mike Johnston’s 2026 budget proposal. On page 267, it shows $8,524,996 was appropriated for the Liability and Claims Fund for the 2025 budget.
Denver7 also learned that $5,734,443 had been paid out of the fund this year as of early October, according to the Department of Finance.
Based on those figures, Denver7 inferred that $2,790,553 should be remaining in the fund. When asked to confirm if that figure was accurate, the City Attorney’s Office did not directly answer the question.
Jordan Ward
According to the Department of Finance, as of the beginning of October $5,734,443 had been paid out of the Liability Claims fund so far in 2025.
The City Attorney’s Office has asserted that Blackman and Delay’s claims have not been settled due to other claimants and the need to evaluate all of the claims. Attorney Steven Mandelaris represents one of the other claimants and submitted a settlement demand in July 2024.
“She’s been victimized. She’s been victimized by the city. They’ve refused to provide any sort of settlement offer. They’ve refused to engage in any kind of meaningful negotiations,” Mandelaris said about his client. “She’s stuck in a situation now where she has an inoperable vehicle. The city won’t fix it. She has mounting medical bills. She still has pain and residual effects from her injury.”
Similar to Faddis, Mandelaris provided Denver7 with email correspondence between his office and the city attorney. After many back-and-forth emails about the status of the claim, an Oct. 1 email from a claims adjuster with the City Attorney’s Office said in part, “because of the recent budget cuts, we have not been able to obtain approval for a settlement offer at this time.”
Jordan Ward
Steve Mandelaris received an email from the City Attorney’s Office on Oct. 1, which said in part, “because of the recent budget cuts, we have not been able to obtain approval for a settlement offer at this time.”
Mandelaris claims he was also told the city only has $12,000 left in its Liability and Claims Fund.
“There have been representations from my colleagues at the City Attorney’s Office that they have $12,000 left in the civil liabilities fund,” Mandelaris said. “That’s absurd, $12,000 for the City and County of Denver being left in this fund? I was shocked. I’m absolutely shocked… They’ve told us that we’ve got to wait until next year, until the budget resets.”
Denver7 asked Mandelaris if he and Faddis had discussed that figure prior to their interviews.
“I don’t know Mr. Faddis,” Mandelaris said, adding that he only spoke with Faddis on the phone once last week. “We haven’t met in person. We’ve never discussed this claim in any context whatsoever.”
Mandelaris also submitted a CORA request regarding the City and County of Denver’s General Liability Fund, asking for the “numerical fund-balance amount reflecting the actual, unencumbered balance currently available for disbursement toward new or unresolved liability claims as of the most recent accounting period.”
In an emailed response from the City Attorney’s Office on Oct. 29, he was told that the balance is “currently $175,673 of available budget” remaining in the Liability and Claims Fund.
Mandelaris was left with more questions than answers.
“Where’s the money? How’s it been allocated? You should be settling claims for taxpayers,” said Mandelaris. “She shouldn’t have to be victimized by a negligent city employee who crashed into her, and then victimized again by the City and County of Denver for refusing to promptly evaluate and pay claims.”
Jordan Ward
Steve Mandelaris received an email from the City Attorney’s Office on Oct. 29, which said there is $175,673 of available budget remaining in the Liabilities and Claims Fund.
Meanwhile, Blackman and Delaney are left wondering when they could see compensation from the City of Denver.
“I really don’t want to be in debt,” Delaney said. “It’s hard to live when you’re in debt.”
“I can’t really go back to work full-time, obviously, because I have a little one, and I’m here by myself. And so I can’t really, I don’t really know how the next three months are going to go as far as rent and paying bills and being able to sustain myself and my kid,” said Blackman. “It’s just getting really tedious trying to trust a city that doesn’t really see the value in actually taking it seriously.”
Denver7 again asked the City Attorney’s Office for an interview about the differing figures regarding the Liability and Claims fund. If that interview, or any update about how much money is left or unaccounted for in the fund, is provided, Denver7 will update this story.
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Denver police said they are searching for a 26-year-old man suspected of murder in an early October killing.
A judge issued a first-degree-murder arrest warrant for Gabriel Ortiz Trujillo, described as a 5-foot-6, 100-pound Latino man with brown eyes and brown hair, police said.
Police said the killing happened about 9:25 p.m. Oct. 3 in the 8600 block of East Colfax Avenue.
Paramedics took the unidentified stabbing victim to a hospital, where the man later died, police said in an Oct. 4 update. He will be identified by the medical examiner’s office.
Anyone with information about Trujillo or the stabbing is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
Denver police are searching for leads in a cold-case shooting that killed a man nearly 30 years ago, according to the department.
Robert Escobedo Jr., 28 was shot and killed Oct. 16, 1997 during an argument behind the now-defunct High Rise Lounge, 3240 W. Colfax Ave., according to the Denver Police Department.
Witnesses told investigators that they saw several men leaving the scene of the shooting in a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup, police said.
Escobedo was seen arguing with three unidentified men before shots were fired, according to police.
“Despite many years of investigative efforts, this crime remains unsolved,” police said Thursday in a crime alert.
Anyone with information on the 1997 shooting is asked to contact investigators at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
The Broncos put together an unbeaten October, and their kicker was a big part of the reason why.
Wil Lutz, who knocked home a walk-off 39-yard field goal to cap a wild comeback win against the New York Giants and didn’t miss a kick over Denver’s 4-0 October, was named the AFC special teams player of the month Thursday.
Lutz made all six of his field goal attempts and nine extra points over a perfect October. That run included several big kicks. Not only did he make the walk-off against the Giants, but he was the only kicker in the AFC to hit two field goals from 55 or more yards in the month, knocking home a 55-yarder against Philadelphia and then a 57-yarder (his longest as a Bronco) the next week against the New York Jets in London.
Lutz had little room for error most of the month. The Broncos’ first three victories came by three, one and one point, respectively, and each required a fourth-quarter comeback.
The value of consistent kicking was never higher than against the Giants, when Lutz made all three of his kicks and New York’s kicker missed a pair of extra points.
Lutz also won the monthly award in November last year and became the second player in franchise history to take home the award twice, joining former kicker Matt Prater.
Harvey rookie of the week: Broncos rookie running back RJ Harvey was named the NFL’s rookie of the week for Week 8.
Harvey scored three touchdowns in just eight offensive touches Sunday in a 44-24 win against the Cowboys. The second-round pick out of UCF opened Denver’s scoring with a 40-yard touchdown run and later added a 1-yard plunge on a direct snap and a 5-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
Harvey has 315 total yards of offense (200 rushing yards) on the season and five total touchdowns (three receiving).
