CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — The Town of Castle Rock will begin wildfire mitigation work next week as an unusually warm and dry February has heightened concerns about critical fire risk across Colorado.
The town, with the help of Colorado State Forest Service, will target roughly 23 acres of timbered open space on the southeast side of Metzler Family Open Space.
About 150 trees have been marked for removal, along with thick brush and low branches that could help a fire spread.
Castle Rock Fire Chief Norris Croom walked the property with Denver7 Thursday and explained the dry conditions make the work urgent.
“You look at this, and this is all dead and dry, and so without that moisture, fire is going to carry rapidly,” Croom said.
Denver7
Norris Croom, Fire Chief at Castle Rock Fire & Rescue Dept.
Crews will also remove low-hanging branches — what fire officials call ladder fuels — trimming trees to prevent a fire from climbing into the tree canopy.
The work will also address trees infected by mountain pine beetles as part of a broader effort to improve forest health.
“So really, we’re doing mitigation, forest health and beetle kill mitigation all the same time,” Croom said.
With the open space sitting in close proximity to homes, the effort represents one step the town can take — but residents say protecting communities from wildfire is a shared responsibility.
Denver7 met Sammy Beveridge, who was enjoying the trails at Metzler Family Open Space Thursday afternoon.
She welcomed the mild weather but said the dry conditions have her on edge.
“This year might be a little scarier than some of the past ones, just because of how dry it’s been,” Beveridge said.
Denver7
Sammy Beveridge, Franktown resident
She added that even small actions by residents can make a meaningful difference.
“Even if it’s just a couple branches here and there, it’s going to make a huge difference,” Beveridge said.
The mitigation work at Metzler Family Open Space is expected to take about a month.
The town said crews will be visible in the area during daylight hours, beginning at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
The open space will remain accessible; however, due to tree felling and vegetation removal activities and equipment, portions of the trails will be closed throughout the project. Closures include the eastern part of the Red Loop as well as the Crowfoot Connector.
Coloradans making a difference | Denver7 featured videos
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what’s right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
The trash truck dropped “a hot load” at an unspecified location south of Franktown, which sparked the 1,081-acre Dahlberg fire, according to an update from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The update did not specify why the truck dropped the load.
Dry vegetation and up to 20 mph winds allowed the flames to spread quickly, county officials said. The fire was first reported near Dahlberg and Lake Gulch roads at 12:39 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 8 miles south of Franktown and 8 miles east of Larkspur.
More than a dozen homes and the nearby Cherry Valley Elementary School were evacuated, but no property damage was reported and residents were able to safely return home, sheriff’s officials said.
The fire was fully contained Tuesday evening, sheriff’s officials said in a 4:54 p.m. post on social media. Crews remained on scene overnight to mop up hotspots and ensure high winds didn’t rekindle the flames.
Douglas County commissioners passed a measure Tuesday that requires hundreds of retail stores in unincorporated parts of the county to file a report with law enforcement when thieves rip them off.
But unlike an initial version of the law that was made public in December, the county will levy no fines on retailers for failing to do so — instead leaving any decision about punishment to a local court.
The first version of the law called for fines of $50, and all the way up to $1,000, for businesses that failed to report a crime. That caused some unease in the business community that Douglas County was overreaching.
Commissioner Abe Laydon said during the business meeting Tuesday that the ordinance was not meant to punish retailers but to keep the community safe.
“This is the most prosperous county in the state of Colorado — we don’t want us to become a target for organized crime,” he said. “When we tolerate organized retail theft, we normalize lawlessness.”
The latest rendition of the ordinance increased the time — from 24 hours to 96 hours — that businesses will have to report a theft. It also allows a retailer to report a crime via an online form rather than have police called to the scene.
That was enough to allay concerns from Chris Howes, the president of the Colorado Retail Council. In an attempt to make the measure more palatable to local businesses, he said his organization had some “fruitful discussions” with the county after the law was first unveiled.
“We don’t feel it punishes retail,” he said. “The focus on retail crime is overall going to be a benefit to us.”
District Attorney George Brauchler said he wants to get the message across that “we do not tolerate thieves.”
“If you come here to steal from us, plan on staying,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Business owners and citizens alike should know that we will continue to protect their property rights.”
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said the ordinance is aimed at combating the recent trend of retail outlets, especially large ones, not reporting crime on their premises. The measure holds employers accountable for policies that discourage the reporting of theft and that might result in retaliation against an employee who does report a crime.
“When corporate policies prevent or discourage the reporting of theft, it limits our ability to investigate, identify patterns and hold offenders accountable,” Weekly said in a statement. “(This ordinance) reinforces the importance of timely reporting and evidence preservation while focusing on corporate entities rather than individual employees.”
A wildfire scorched more than 1,000 acres of dry, grassy terrain south of Franktown on Tuesday, forcing evacuations as gusty winds pushed flames toward nearby homes.
The Dahlberg fire was first reported near Dahlberg and Lake Gulch roads at 12:39 p.m., Douglas County sheriff’s officials said. The area is roughly 8 miles south of Franktown and 8 miles east of Larkspur.
Tinder-dry fuels, drought and winds up to 20 mph allowed the fire to grow quickly, county Emergency Management Director Mike Alexander said at a briefing.
Douglas County sheriff’s deputies began evacuating nearby homes immediately, Patrol Division Chief Joel White said. Deputies contacted 20 homes threatened by the fire, and 17 of those evacuated, he said.
The nearby Cherry Valley Elementary School was ordered to hold students in place and released them from school early so parents and guardians could pick up their children, White said. The school was fully evacuated as of 4 p.m.
Firefighters from across metro Denver, including an air tanker from Colorado Springs and a helicopter from Broomfield, responded to the scene and gained full containment on the 1,081-acre fire just before 5 p.m., sheriff’s officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and no building or property damage was reported.
Dahlberg Road remained closed on Tuesday night for firefighting operations.
High winds also impacted operations at Denver International Airport on Tuesday, with the Federal Aviation Administration ordering a ground stop and airlines delaying 385 flights and canceling 25 flights as of 6 p.m.
Gusty winds are expected to return to the region on Wednesday, and most of the Front Range and Eastern Plains will be under a red flag warning for critical fire weather conditions from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Sustained winds up to 35 mph and gusts up to 50 mph are possible, forecasters said, and people should avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a spark.
A Parker police sergeant resigned last week while under investigation, but department officials declined to specify what he’s accused of doing.
Parker Police Department officials would not detail the allegations against former Sgt. Troy Brienzo, but described them in a news release Thursday as running “counter to this department’s mission and values and tarnish the very badge we wear.”
Brienzo resigned Feb. 13 while on administrative leave for an “alleged incident” that department officials learned about Jan. 7.
“To avoid the perception of a conflict, the matter was turned over to an outside law enforcement agency to conduct the investigation,” agency officials said in the release.
In response to questions about the nature of the allegations and which agency is conducting the investigation, Parker police spokesperson Josh Hans said the department was “unable to share any additional information at this time.”
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office officials on Thursday confirmed the agency is not involved in the investigation.
Parker police Chief Jim Tsurapas said in a statement that the case is being taken seriously and under active investigation.
“It will continue through the appropriate processes to ensure transparency, accountability and to maintain the community’s trust,” he said.
Brienzo is still certified as a police officer on Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training database, though his profile notes he is not employed and resigned while under investigation.
PARKER, Colo. — The proposed annexation of an 800-acre property called “Crowsnest” on Parker’s southern border has sparked concerns from neighboring Douglas County communities who worry about the impact of a massive development project.
The property along Crowfoot Valley Road could soon become part of Castle Pines, despite its proximity to Parker.
A developer, VT Crowfoot Valley Landco, LLC., is proposing a master-planned community with thousands of homes, apartments and retail on the site.
City of Castle Pines
Irene Bonham, who lives nearby, expressed concerns about the burden the development could place on Parker’s infrastructure and resources.
“A lot of that infrastructure immediately will fall on the burden of Parker, and that feels, as a Parker resident, a little bit unfair,” Bonham said.
Beyond infrastructure concerns, Bonham said she’s worried about the project’s size and potential disruption to local wildlife.
Denver7
Irene Bonham, Parker resident
“It’s not that we’re opposed to development, we just want it to be done in a smart way with the community,” Bonham said.
Castle Pines resident Barrett Rothe told Denver7 the proposed annexation doesn’t make any sense for him and his neighbors.
“So you would be driving south in Parker, and you would see a welcome to Castle Pines sign. And that’s ridiculous,” Rothe said.
Castle Rock Mayor Jason Gray also voiced concerns about the development in a letter to Castle Pines Mayor Tracy Engerman this week.
“I write to express substantial concerns with the proposed development along Crowfoot Valley Road,” Gray wrote, citing his primary concern “that this proposed development will generate substantial traffic seeking I-25 access.”
Read the full letter from Castle Rock’s Mayor here:
In response to the concerns, Castle Pines Mayor Tracy Engerman told Denver7 the city will consider all comments.
“I’d like to thank the Town of Castle Rock for its comments about the Crowsnest Annexation Petition. We will consider the comments, along with all other submitted comments, during our review of the applicant’s annexation petition.”
Tracy Engerman, Mayor of Castle Pines
Parker’s mayor, Joshua Rivero, has also raised questions about the project and the impact on nearby residents.
Castle Pines City Council will hold a hearing Feb. 24 to determine whether the property is eligible for annexation.
Denver7
Meanwhile, residents want their voices heard in the process and are calling for careful consideration of the development’s impact on surrounding communities.
“What are the challenges that are going to happen with infrastructure, with wildfire mitigation, with water like, what is that going to look like for this community?,” said Bonham.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Claire Lavezzorio
Denver7’s Claire Lavezzorio covers topics that have an impact across Colorado, but specializes in reporting on stories in the military and veteran communities. If you’d like to get in touch with Claire, fill out the form below to send her an email.
A Douglas County deputy was fired after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, assault, careless driving and obstructing a peace officer, the sheriff’s office said.
Andrew Charles Sanders, 40, was arrested by Parker police officers near the intersection of Jordan Road and Bradbury Parkway the night of Feb. 7.
“I am deeply disappointed and disturbed by the arrest of one of our employees and the serious charges he is now facing,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a statement. “The alleged conduct is disgraceful and stands in direct opposition to the values, integrity and professionalism we demand of every member of this agency.”
Sanders’ arrest is noted on his profile in the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training database, state records show.
He was released from jail on $1,000 bail and is set to return to court Feb. 24.
Federal officials unveiled a slew of charges Tuesday against two Coloradans accused of ripping off a program that provides free rides to Medicaid patients, the first criminal charges filed in response to a sprawling fraud bonanza identified by state officials more than two years ago.
The indictments allege that Ashley Marie Stevens and Wesam Yassin separately participated in the transportation program and fraudulently collected seven-figure payouts — more than $3.3 million for Yassin alone, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado. The two drivers, who ran separate companies, allegedly fabricated rides for appointments that didn’t exist. Stevens is accused of billing for rides for her husband while he was incarcerated, and Yassin allegedly billed $165,000 for driving a patient who was dead.
Both Stevens, of Mesa County, and Yassin, of Douglas County, were charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering and health care fraud for their participation in the driving service.
The program pays drivers to ferry Medicaid patients to and from doctor’s appointments, but it became a haven for fraud in 2022 and 2023, after state officials increased the service’s reimbursement rates. State officials told The Denver Post last month that an estimated $25 million was lost in the broader fraud.
Yassin’s indictment was still sealed Tuesday evening. In a statement, federal officials alleged that Yassin billed Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rides that never occurred between March 2022 and October 2023. She raked in $283,000 from rides for just one patient, most of which was paid to Yassin after the patient had already died.
Yassin allegedly used the proceeds to buy a home and furnishings, along with luxury vehicles, jewelry and cosmetic surgery. She was released on bond earlier this week, according to court records.
Stevens billed the state for more than $1 million between July 2022 and February 2023, according to the indictment. More than $400,000 came from rides she provided to herself or to her family members, for which there were “very few” actual medical appointments, federal authorities allege.
The trips included rides for her husband, who was incarcerated during some of the time when Stevens claimed she was driving him to the doctor. Another $150,000 was billed for rides that either never took place or were for trips that didn’t involve Medicaid services.
She was also paid more than $450,000 for rides that were at least 400 miles long, authorities allege. From east to west, Colorado is roughly 380 miles wide. Stevens allegedly used the proceeds from the scheme for travel and to buy a luxury car.
Stevens was already in Mesa County jail when she was indicted in December, according to court records. She remains in custody.
Yassin and Stevens are the first drivers to face any criminal repercussions for allegedly bilking the program. The fraud was in its heyday in 2023, state officials previously told The Post: A rash of new drivers entered the program then, shortly after the state increased the rate paid to transportation companies. Unscrupulous drivers, who were paid on a per member, per mile basis, allegedly packed their cars with patients and drove them across the state.
Some targeted homeless people in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, driving them to methadone clinics in metro Denver. Some patients were bribed with cash or drugs, state officials have said. Kim Bimestefer, the executive director of the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, told lawmakers last month that the fraud scheme was “international.”
Jalin Seabron, 23, died after Douglas County Deputy Nicholas Moore shot at him nine times while responding to reports of an active shooter at Main Event, striking him with seven bullets in the back and side. Seabron was not the shooter, but he was armed.
Seabron had pulled the gun out to defend his friends and family, who were celebrating his birthday with him at the arcade, 64 Centennial Blvd., according to the lawsuit.
A woman can also be heard in the video, crying out for Moore not to shoot.
The warnings to drop the weapon happened over roughly three seconds. When Seabron didn’t immediately respond and turned his head toward Moore, not appearing to raise his weapon from his side, the deputy started shooting.
“At the time Moore opened fire, Mr. Seabron still had his back to the deputy and had just barely started to turn his head in reaction to the yelled commands,” the lawsuit stated.
Moore “wrongly assumed” Seabron was the shooter and shot him without “verifying whether Mr. Seabron actually posed a threat, or providing Mr. Seabron a reasonable opportunity to comply with commands,” the lawsuit alleges. Seabron didn’t have time to process the orders, let alone obey them, the document claims.
George Brauchler, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney, declined to file criminal charges against Moore in April 2025, after a month-long investigation into the police shooting by the district’s critical incident response team, according to a decision letter he sent to Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly.
The deputy gave Seabron several commands to drop his gun, but the commands all happened within three seconds, according to the decision letter. Moore did not verbally identify himself as law enforcement, and did not use his sirens while responding to the scene, the letter confirms.
State law allows a police officer to forgo that announcement if they believe doing so “would unduly place peace officers at risk or would create a risk of death or injury to other persons,” Brauchler said during an April news conference.
The shooting inside the Highlands Ranch arcade started as a fight in the bathroom between Seabron’s stepsister, 23-year-old Nevaeha Crowley-Sanders, and a friend she had known since high school. Authorities said Crowley-Sanders pulled out a handgun and shot at the 22-year-old victim, her friend, eight times.
Crowley-Sanders was assaulted by a group of women in the restroom and fired her gun in self-defense, ending the altercation, according to the lawsuit. The woman shot by Crowley-Sanders survived her injuries, and Crowley-Sanders was charged with attempted murder.
The first calls to 911 about the shooting came in just before midnight on Feb. 8, 2025.
When Moore arrived, roughly 90 seconds later, “no one was running, as the shooting itself was over,” the lawsuit stated. Seabron had his gun in his hand to defend himself and his group against a woman involved in the bathroom fight who had come outside after, also armed with a gun that she pointed at Seabron.
“It was clear there was no active or ongoing threat,” the lawsuit alleges. “It was apparent that the person Deputy Moore killed was not the shooter.”
The civil lawsuit filed Monday in Douglas County District Court is seeking compensation for Moore’s use of excessive force and battery causing wrongful death. Moore is listed as the sole defendant in the complaint.
More than 185,000 customers were left in the dark on Sunday as widespread power outages hit the Denver area, according to energy utility officials.
During the peak of Sunday’s outages, roughly 44,000 Core Electric Cooperative customers and 145,000 Xcel Energy customers were without power, according to the two utilities.
The widespread power outages also caused disruptions at Denver International Airport and law enforcement agencies across the southeast metro area.
As of 5:15 p.m. Sunday, all but a handful of Core Electric‘s power outages had been resolved, according to the utility’s outage map. Just 30 minutes earlier, reported outages included:
23,416 customers in Arapahoe County,
20,242 customers in Douglas County,
692 customers in Elbert County,
And 1 customer in Adams County.
The cause of the outages remained under investigation Sunday evening, Core Electric spokesperson Amber King said.
Xcel Energy spokesperson Michelle Aguayo confirmed in an email to The Denver Post that “a large outage” also impacted as many as 145,000 of that utility’s customers in the southeast metro area.
As of 5:47 p.m. Sunday, power had been restored to all Xcel Energy customers, Aguayo said.
Sunday’s power issues reached as far as Denver International Airport, where trains connecting the airport’s concourses and other unspecified systems were disrupted, airport officials said. All airport operations had returned to normal Sunday evening, according to a 5:09 p.m. update from the airport.
Several local law enforcement agencies, including the Parker Police Department and Aurora Police Department, reported issues during the height of the afternoon power outages, including nonfunctional emergency phone lines and dark traffic lights.
Students at a Douglas County elementary school were evacuated Thursday morning after an iPad exploded and set off a fire alarm, district officials said.
The device exploded in a technology office at Mammoth Heights Elementary School at 9500 Stonegate Pkwy, Douglas County School District spokesperson Paula Hans said in an email.
That office space is not used by students, and the one staff member in the room was not injured, Hans said.
The explosion set off the fire alarm and evacuated the school. South Metro Fire Rescue crews responded and determined it was safe for students and staff to return to the building, Hans said.
The incident left a small burn mark on the office floor, she added.
South Metro officials confirmed crews responded to a hazardous materials call at the school at 10:58 a.m. and said there was no threat to the community.
Tera Johnson-Swartz, a 45-year-old Castle Rock woman who taught at STEM School Highlands Ranch, was originally charged with second-degree kidnapping and unlawful electronic sexual communication, both felonies, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. Her employment at the school ended on Feb. 14, 2025.
That case was dismissed in May 2025, and a new case was opened shortly after, Douglas County court records show.
“The old case was dropped after new information came to light,” 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Tom Mustin said in an email to The Denver Post.
Johnson-Swartz faces the same charges in the new case and three new ones: two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust–pattern of abuse, and one count of sexual assault with a 10-year age difference, according to court records.
She was indicted on all six charges by a grand jury in May 2025, court documents show.
The newly added sexual assault charges are linked to several incidents between Dec. 1, 2024, and Feb. 20, 2025, where Johnson-Swartz initiated sex with a student younger than 18 years old, according to witness testimonies from the grand jury indictment. The name, age and gender of the victim were redacted from the indictment because they are a minor.
Johnson-Swartz would buy the student cigarettes and let the student “take a hit” off her marijuana pen, witnesses testified. Their relationship was discovered when the student’s phone was confiscated by their parents and the student’s mother found deleted text chains with the former teacher.
Roughly 2,400 messages, many containing sexually explicit content, were exchanged between the two in the three weeks prior, according to court documents. At one point, Johnson-Swartz called the text thread a string of “1,000,000,000 ways to get (her) fired/arrested/killed.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Johnson-Swartz on the same day she was indicted by the grand jury, and she was brought into custody.
She is next scheduled to appear in Douglas County District Court on Jan. 21 for an arraignment hearing, according to court records.
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Douglas County is gearing up for what could be a decent winter storm starting Thursday morning.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Boulder say the system could bring between 5 to 10 inches of snow to the area.
At the county’s public works building along Industrial Way in Castle Rock, Denver7 got a behind-the-scenes look at final preparations before plows hit the road. Assistant Director Dan Roberts oversees the operations.
“What we anticipate is this is going to feel like the first snow storm of the year to a lot of people,” Roberts said.
Anaya Salcedo, Denver7 Photojournalist
Pictured: Dan Roberts, assistant director of operations at Douglas County Public Works
All of the county’s 76 plows are ready to deploy for the incoming weather system, according to Roberts. Maintenance crews performed some checks Wednesday afternoon to make sure everything was running smoothly.
“They’re going to be out there all night, tomorrow night, plowing the roads while it’s snowing, to make sure that when you come into work on Friday morning that the roads are in as good a condition as we can make them,” Roberts said.
While the county waits for flakes to fall, Denver7 spoke with several residents looking forward to return of winter weather.
“I’m kind of excited,” Karina Olguin said.
“I’m super stoked about it. We need the weather for sure,” said Zach Ketelsen, another Douglas County resident.
Anaya Salcedo, Denver7 Photojournalist
Back at public works, Roberts explained crews have been busy patching potholes and grading roads with the lack of recent snowfall.
He said they’re looking forward to not only this storm, but what future ones will bring.
“They love to plow snow, but the Super Bowl is when you get about three feet of snow,” laughed Roberts. “That’s when they really love their job.”
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Claire Lavezzorio
Denver7’s Claire Lavezzorio covers topics that have an impact across Colorado, but specializes in reporting on stories in the military and veteran communities. If you’d like to get in touch with Claire, fill out the form below to send her an email.
PARKER, Colo. — Douglas County welcomed 2026 with a drone show at EchoPark Stadium in Parker on New Year’s Eve, offering families a safer alternative to traditional fireworks celebrations.
The county, with the help of UAV Pro, launched 400 drones above the stadium, creating stunning displays including a snowboarder in the sky and messages of thanks to veterans and first responders.
Denver7
“I’ve never seen one,” said Dreama Jones, who attended the show. “This is going to be very different, very fun.”
The drone show represents a growing trend toward fire-safe celebrations, particularly important in drought-prone Colorado.
“Everybody gets to come out and enjoy something together, but you’re doing it without the uncontrolled factor of fireworks just being kind of top of mind, always wondering if it’s going to be an issue after a fireworks show, or anything like that,” said lead UAV Pro pilot Jacob Gould.
The shows are also a quiet alternative for people experiencing PTSD and for pets afraid of loud noise.
Before the show kicked off at around 6:15 p.m., Gould provided Denver7 a behind-the-scenes look at the operation.
Denver7
UAV Pro pilot Jacob Gould getting ready for Douglas County’s New Year’s Eve drone show Wednesday night.
The hundreds of drones were lined up and programmed in a nearby parking lot near the stadium.
“I’ve never seen a fire happen from a drone. Not to say it doesn’t happen, but we don’t really have fire issues at all,” Gould said. “With this, you don’t have to worry. They come up, and they come down exactly where they came from.”
Many attendees appreciated the county’s decision to prioritize safety while maintaining the celebratory atmosphere.
“I’m really excited that they’re offering this safer opportunity, not only for the wildfires, but also for people who don’t like the noise and the animals and things like that,” said Krista Williams, who attended the show.
Denver7
Spectators watching a New Year’s Eve drone show at EchoPark Stadium in Parker.
The mild weather conditions made the outdoor celebration even more enjoyable for families.
“With this beautiful weather, you hardly even have to have a jacket,” said Williams.
On the final night of 2025, families expressed hope that the drone show would become an annual tradition for the county.
“Knowing they’re keeping it fire safe in an area highly prone to fire, I like that,” said attendee Karen Israel.
A safer solution: Douglas County rings in 2026 with drone show instead of fireworksDouglas County welcomed 2026 with a drone show at EchoPark Stadium in Parker on New Year’s Eve, offering families a safer alternative to traditional fireworks celebrations.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Claire Lavezzorio
Denver7’s Claire Lavezzorio covers topics that have an impact across Colorado, but specializes in reporting on stories in the military and veteran communities. If you’d like to get in touch with Claire, fill out the form below to send her an email.
A conservative podcaster who’s trumpeted false election conspiracies and called for the execution of political rivals, including Gov. Jared Polis, has formally joined the Republican race to become Colorado’s next governor.
Joe Oltmann, who filed his candidacy paperwork Monday night, now seeks to participate in an electoral system that he has repeatedly tried to undermine.
He is the 22nd Republican actively seeking to earn the party’s nomination in June. It’s the largest gubernatorial primary field for a major party in Colorado this century, surpassing the GOP’s previous records set first in 2018, and then again in 2022 — and it comes as the party hopes to break Democrats’ electoral dominance in the state.
That field will almost certainly narrow in the coming months; four Republicans who’d filed have already dropped out. No more than four are likely to make it onto the ballot — either through the state assembly or by gathering signatures — for the summer primary, said Dick Wadhams, the Colorado GOP’s former chairman.
The size of the primary field doesn’t really matter, he said, because few candidates will actually end up in front of voters. Eighteen candidates filed ahead of the 2022 race, for instance, but just two were on the primary ballot.
On the Democratic side, a smaller field of seven active candidates is headlined by Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. Polis is term-limited from running again.
For 2026, Wadhams counted only a half-dozen or so Republican candidates whom he considered “credible,” a qualifier that Wadhams said he used “very, very loosely”: Oltmann, state Sens. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Mark Baisley, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, ministry leader Victor Marx, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell and former Congressman Greg Lopez.
Wadhams said that other than Kirkmeyer, all of those candidates had either supported election conspiracies or a pardon for Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk now serving a nine-year sentence for convictions related to providing unauthorized access to voting equipment.
Oltmann, of Castle Rock, has repeatedly — and falsely — claimed that the 2020 presidential election was not won by Democrat Joe Biden, while calling for the hanging of political opponents. He previously said he wanted to dismember some opponents to send a message, according to the Washington Post, before adding that he was joking.
In his Dec. 26 announcement video, Oltmann baselessly claimed that Democrats, who have won control of the state amid demographic shifts and anti-Trump sentiment, were in power in Colorado only because of election fraud.
He said Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold, along with 9News anchor Kyle Clark, were part of a “synagogue of Satan.” Polis and Griswold are both Jewish.
In his announcement, Oltmann painted an apocalyptic picture of the state and said he hoped that three of its elected leaders — Polis, Griswold and Weiser — would all be imprisoned. He pledged to eliminate property taxes, to focus on the “have-nots” and to pardon Peters, whom President Donald Trump has also sought to release by issuing a federal pardon that legal experts say can’t clear Peters of state convictions.
Oltmann’s decision to join the field is an example of “extreme candidates” from either major party “who file to run but will go nowhere,” predicted Kristi Burton Brown, another former state GOP chair. She now sits on the Colorado State Board of Education.
She said the size of the Republican primary field was a consequence of Republicans’ difficulties winning statewide races in Colorado. Democrats have won all four constitutional elected offices for two straight election cycles.
Burton Brown said it “might be a good idea moving forward” to require candidates to do more than just submit paperwork to run for office. That might include a monetary requirement: She said she didn’t support charging candidates significant sums but thought that “requiring some skin in the game” could prevent “unreasonable primaries.”
The 2026 election comes as state and national Democrats search for a path forward after Trump’s reelection last year.
Approval polling for leading Colorado Democrats has sagged this year, and voters here hold unfavorable views of both the Democratic and Republican parties that are roughly equal, according to a November poll.
Wadhams said that the odds were “very difficult” for any Republican gubernatorial candidate next year. While approval for Polis and other Democrats has declined, support for the Republican standard-bearer — Trump — is far lower in the state. In last year’s election, Colorado was a largely blue island in a broader national red wave.
To have a real shot of winning in 2026, Wadhams argued, the GOP needed to nominate someone for governor who could sidestep anti-Trump sentiment and press on the issues driving voter discontent. Running more divisive candidates in a blue state, he warned, would risk harming Republicans’ chances in down-ballot races the statehouse or in races for Congress.
“There seems to be an opening for Republicans we haven’t seen for a while,” he said. “But that opening will only exist if we have candidates who won’t get pulled into this conspiracy stuff and this Tina Peters stuff. Because those are nonstarters. They’re sure losers.”
After a pleasant days-long stretch of warm weather often eclipsing the 70-degree mark, northern Colorado and metro Denver will see quite a change in conditions starting Friday night.
Instead of breaking records for heat, temperatures will drop substantially and snow will begin falling in the far northern mountains tonight, spreading southward into the Interstate 70 mountain corridor and Summit County by late Saturday afternoon.
By late Saturday night, the National Weather Service predicts areas of snow to develop along the Interstate 25 corridor and along the adjoining eastern plains, with travel impacts continuing into Sunday morning. Some of those areas of snow could start out as rain earlier Saturday evening before turning to snow.
Just how severe those travel impacts will be in metro Denver are still in question.
“There is considerable uncertainty with regard to the amount of snow, since we anticipate bands of snow,” according to a weather service bulletin issued Friday afternoon for the metro area. “Thus, some areas may receive very little or no snow, while others get a few inches.”
Higher amounts of snow are assured for some of Colorado’s northern mountains, with the National Weather Service forecasting around 10 inches for Winter Park, 5 inches for Breckenridge and half a foot of the white stuff for Keystone. The predicted weekend snowfall for some of Colorado’s snow-starved ski resorts will come as welcome news to an industry that has seen a decidedly dry start to the season.
Meteorologists are calling for a low of 20 degrees Saturday night, a low of 14 degrees Sunday night and a low of 21 degrees Monday night in the metro area. But by Tuesday and towards New Year’s Day, temperatures will top out in the 40s and 50s with little precipitation expected.
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Douglas County leaders and the community gathered Thursday night in Lone Tree to celebrate the area’s accomplishments in 2025.
At the annual “State of the County” address held at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows, officials highlighted several major wins, including a significant drop in crime and the completion of the county’s largest transportation project along the US 85 corridor.
“Douglas County is safer than ever with the highest number of school resource officers in the state,” said Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle during his opening remarks.
The county also touted its investments in parks and open space, with leaders emphasizing their commitment to creating an environment “where families flourish and businesses thrive.”
Denver7
Douglas County Commissioners
“Our community is one of a kind,” said Commission Chair Abe Laydon as he kicked off the ceremony.
As 2025 comes to a close, Denver7 was in the community listening to the voices that call the area home.
“The location, quite honestly, is just unmatched,” said resident Chuck Hellings alongside his wife Deb.
Denver7
Chuck & Deb Hellings, Douglas County residents
We heard several reasons why some of the county’s 400,000 residents choose to live here.
“Midwest was getting very political, and there were times that my wife didn’t feel safe,” said resident Philip Karas, who moved to the area from Milwaukee.
Denver7 also asked what Douglas County residents would like to see prioritized in 2026.
“Obviously, schools… we came out here to give our kids a better life,” Karas said.
Denver7
Philip Karas & his daughter, Silvia (9), Douglas County residents
As the area continues to see more people move in, responsible growth was a common thread among the people we talked to.
“It’s amazing to me, the amount of growth that I’ve witnessed here,” said Hellings. “I just don’t know how it continues.”
In an interview with Denver7, Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle acknowledged these growth management challenges, explaining the county is developing long-term planning strategies.
“We’re looking at what growth will be like between now and 2050 over the next 25 years, and we’re trying to do it in a way where the current residents aren’t disturbed by the growth, but we’re still welcoming of new citizens, new businesses,” Van Winkle said.
Watch the Douglas County “State of the County” address in the video player below:
With the new year right around the corner, major projects are on the horizon, including the groundbreaking of Zebulon Sports Complex.
And residents remain hopeful that Douglas County can preserve what drew them to the area in the first place.
“Maintain the standard of living, the quality of life that we’ve come here to enjoy, and make sure it can be enjoyed by future generations,” said Hellings.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Claire Lavezzorio
Denver7’s Claire Lavezzorio covers topics that have an impact across Colorado, but specializes in reporting on stories in the military and veteran communities. If you’d like to get in touch with Claire, fill out the form below to send her an email.
A small human-caused wildfire was burning Friday near the Turkey Tracks shooting range northwest of Woodland Park, though firefighters were taking an “indirect approach” due to unexploded ammunition in the area, officials said.
The Turkey Tracks 69 fire, located 14.4 miles northwest of Woodland Park, off Highway 67 and Forest Service Road 343, was estimated to be 8 acres in size Friday afternoon.
The Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands posted an alert on social media at 1:52 p.m. that said U.S. Forest Service and local fire departments were on scene.
“Due to unexploded ammunition and a focus on firefighter safety, we are taking an indirect approach for #TurkeyTracks69Fire while utilizing full suppression efforts,” National Forest officials wrote on social media. “Smoke will be visible for the next few days as fuels continue to consume within the fire perimeter.”
The area near the shooting range saw another wildfire earlier this year, burning 128 acres of land that consisted of grass, dead and downed trees and shooting debris.
During that time, officials said hot, dry and windy conditions caused the fire to grow “very aggressively.” The fire burned right up to the edge of Highway 67 near the Teller and Douglas County border.
Investigators also determined that fire was human-caused.
Some might say the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus that opened recently in a former 255-room hotel is undergirded by one of humanity’s seven deadly sins — envy.
The intent is to turn that feeling into a motivational force. For his part, Mayor Mike Coffman prefers to refer to the three-tiered residential system at the homeless navigation center as an “incentive-based program” — one that awards increasingly comfortable living quarters to those showing progress on their journey to self-sufficiency.
“The notion here is (that) different standards of living act as an incentive,” Coffman said in early November during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the campus, which occupies a former Crowne Plaza Hotel at East 40th Avenue and Chambers Road. “The idea is to move up the tiers into much better living situations.”
Clients in the new facility, which opened its doors on Nov. 17, start at the bottom with a cot and a locker. They can eventually migrate to a hotel room, with a locking door and a private bathroom.
But that upgrade comes with a price.
“To get a room here, you have to be working full time,” Coffman said.
It’s an approach that the mayor says threads the needle between housing-first and work-first, the two prevailing strategies for addressing homelessness today. The housing-first approach emphasizes getting someone into a stable home before requiring employment, sobriety or treatment. A work-first setup conditions housing on a person finding work and seeking help with underlying mental health and addiction problems.
“We’re providing a continuum of services that starts with an emergency shelter,” said Jim Goebelbecker, the executive director of Advance Pathways.
Advance Pathways, the nonprofit group that ran the Aurora Resource Day Center before its recent closure, was chosen through a competitive bidding process to operate the new navigation campus in Aurora — with $2 million in annual help from the city. Goebelbecker said the tiered approach at the new facility “taps into a person’s motivation for change.”
The Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ debut nearly completes a mission that has been in the works for more than three years. It is the fourth — and penultimate — metro Denver homeless navigation center to go online since the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 1378 in 2022.
The bill allocated American Rescue Plan Act dollars to stand up one central homeless navigation center. The plan has since shifted to five smaller centers, with locations in Aurora, Lakewood, Boulder, Denver and Englewood. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs in late 2023 approved $52 million for the centers. The final center, the Jefferson County Regional Navigation Campus in Lakewood, is undergoing renovations and will open next year.
Aurora’s center, with 640 beds across its three tiered spaces, is by far the largest of the five facilities.
Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the opening of Aurora’s navigation campus is “a really big deal.” Aside from serving its own clientele, she expects the center to send referrals to the coalition’s newly opened Sage Ridge Supportive Residential Community near Watkins, where people without stable housing go to address their substance-use disorders.
“A person can go to one place and get multiple needs met,” Alderman said, referring to the array of job, medical and addiction treatment services that give homeless navigation centers their name. “We are excited that the new campus is now up and running.”
The new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus, operated by Advance Pathways, photographed in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
‘How do I move up?’
Walking into the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus feels like walking into, well, a hotel.
The swimming pool was removed during renovation, as was a water fountain in the lobby. Everything else stayed, including beds, bedding, furniture — even a stash of bottled cocktail delights. But not the alcohol to go with it.
“They left everything, down to the forks and knives and a wall of maraschino cherries,” said Jessica Prosser, Aurora’s director of housing and community services, as she walked through the hotel’s industrial kitchen.
The kitchen, which was part of the $26.5 million sale of the Crowne Plaza Hotel to Aurora last year, was a godsend to an operation tasked with serving three meals a day to hundreds of people. The city spent another $13.5 million to renovate the building.
“To build a new commercial kitchen is a half-million dollars, easy,” Prosser said.
The layout of the navigation center was deliberate, she said. The hotel’s convention center space is now occupied by Tier I and Tier II housing. The first tier is made up of nearly 300 cots, divided by sex. There are lockers for personal belongings and shared bathrooms. Anyone is welcome.
On the other side of a nondescript wall is Tier II, which is composed of a grid of 114 compartmentalized, open-air cubicles with proper beds and lockable storage. The center assigns residents in this tier case managers to help them treat personal challenges and get on the path toward landing a job.
The Tier II “Courage” space, which offers overnight accommodation for people who are working on recovery, employment and housing pathways at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Tier III residents live in the 255 hotel rooms. They must have a full-time job and are required to pay a third of their income to the program. Residents in this tier will typically remain at Advance Pathways for up to two years before they have the skills and stability to find housing on the outside, Goebelbecker said.
People living in the congregate tiers can house their dogs in a pet room, which can accommodate 40 canines. (No cats, gerbils or fish). The center also doesn’t accept children. Around 60 staff members, plus 10 contracted security personnel, will work at the facility 24/7.
Shining a bright light on the path forward and upward inside the facility — the windows of some of the coveted private rooms are fully visible from the lobby — is an “intentional design feature,” Prosser said.
“How do I move up?” she mused, stepping into the shoes of a resident eyeing the facility’s layout. “How do I get in there?”
The Tier III “Commitment” space, which provides private rooms that will serve people who are in the workforce and are building towards financial independence, seen at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
It’s a system that demands something of the people using it, Coffman said, while at the same time providing the guidance and help that clients will need.
“This is not just maintaining people where they are — this is about moving people forward,” the mayor said.
The approach is familiar to Shantell Anderson, Advance Pathways’ program director. She told her life story during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, bringing tears to the eyes of some in the audience.
A native of Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, Anderson fell in with the wrong crowd. She became pregnant at 15 and got hooked on cocaine. She spiraled into a life on the streets that resulted in her children being sent to an aunt for caretaking.
But through treatment and by intersecting with the right people, she recovered. She earned a nursing degree and worked at RecoveryWorks, a nonprofit organization that operated a day shelter in Lakewood, before taking the job at Advance Pathways.
The Tier I “Compassion” emergency shelter, which provides immediate short-term shelter for those in need at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
“This is a system that honors people’s dignity,” Anderson said, her voice heavy with emotion.
In an interview, she said assuming the burden to improve her situation was critical to her transformation.
“I actually did that — no one gave me anything,” said Anderson, 48. “If it was handed to me, I didn’t appreciate it.”
How much responsibility to place on the people being helped by such programs is still a matter of intense debate by policymakers and advocates for homeless people. The housing-first approach favored by Denver and many big cities across the country is anchored in the idea that work or treatment requirements will result in many people falling through the cracks and staying outside, particularly those who face mental-health challenges.
The Bridge House in Englewood, one of the five metro area navigation centers, follows a “Ready to Work” model that is similar to that of the upper tiers of the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus.
Opened in May, the Bridge House has 69 beds. CEO Melissa Arguello-Green said the organization asks its clients (called trainees) to put skin in the game by landing a job with Bridge House’s help and then contributing a third of their paycheck as rent.
“We help them find employment through our agency so they can leave our agency,” she said. “We’re looking for self-sufficiency that will get people off system support.”
Arguello-Green said she would like to see more coordination between the metro’s five navigation centers, though she acknowledged it’s still in the early going.
“We’re missing that come-to-the-table collaboration,” she said.
Advance Pathways volunteer outreach coordinator Evan Brown organizes the clothing bank before the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ grand opening ceremony in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Homeless numbers still rising
Shannon Gray, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, said her department had started convening quarterly in-person meetings across the locations.
“While each navigation campus is unique and reflects community-specific strategies, they are all a part of a regional effort to bring external partners together onsite to provide needed services and referrals,” Gray said. Together, they are “building towards a larger regional system to connect homeless households to a larger network of opportunities.”
The centers are permitted to “tailor their approach to their unique needs and vision,” she said. While Englewood and Aurora use a tiered system, Gray said, the other three centers don’t.
“It is important to understand that DOLA serves as a funder for these regional navigation campuses — we do not oversee their operation or maintenance,” she said.
Denver’s navigation center, which opened in December 2023 in a former DoubleTree Hotel on Quebec Street, offers 289 rooms to those in need, said Julia Marvin, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Housing Stability.
She called the facility an “integral component of Denver’s All in Mile High homelessness initiative,” Mayor Mike Johnston’s ambitious effort to appreciably reduce homelessness in the city. The center is just one of several former hotels and other shelter sites in the system.
Earlier this year, his administration cited annual count numbers showing a 45% decrease in the number of people sleeping on the streets since 2023 — dropping from 1,423 to 785 people, despite overall homelessness continuing to increase in that time.
In fact, homelessness numbers are still going in the wrong direction across the seven-county metro, per the latest Point-in-Time survey from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which captures a one-night snapshot. The January count revealed that 10,774 people were homeless on the night of the survey, up from 9,977 in the count the year before.
Anderson, the Advance Pathways program director, said the new Aurora facility was opening at just the right time. Despite a recent calming in runaway home values in metro Denver, the $650,000 median price of a detached home in October still demarcated a housing market that was out of reach for many.
“I am excited,” Anderson said of the Aurora navigation campus’ debut. “I’m waiting for people to walk through the door and start the next chapter of their journey.”
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Sterling Ranch, one of Colorado’s master-planned communities, has become the center of a heated debate over school land.
The controversy centered on whether John Adams Academy, a 26-acre charter school currently under construction in Sterling Ranch, should count toward the developers’ commitment to dedicate 110 acres for schools in the community.
Douglas County leaders faced the decision Tuesday night of whether to include the charter school in the public school land dedication total, with state law defining charter schools as public institutions.
Ultimately, commissioners voted unanimously to allow John Adams Academy to be included, and Sterling Ranch developers increased their land donation from 110 acres to 125 acres, which they said will create space for another district-led school.
Leading up to the vote, there was nearly four hours of public comment.
Denver7
Pictured: A packed house at Tuesday’s Land Use Public Hearing in Douglas County
“This is in honor of fairness and honoring parental choice,” one woman said at the podium, in support of including the charter in the land dedication.
However, other residents argued the decision would break promises made about traditional neighborhood schools, which influenced their decision to move to Sterling Ranch in the first place.
“Making this change damages our community potential and community trust,” one resident told Douglas County commissioners.
Robyn DePan, a Sterling Ranch mother leading efforts for more district-led schools in the community, expressed concerns about future educational options if they amendment to Sterling Ranch’s planned development agreement passed.
Right now, a DCSD public elementary school funded by a bond passed last year is set to open in Sterling Ranch in fall of 2027.
Denver7
Pictured: Robyn DePan, Lives in Sterling Ranch
“I have fears and cautions that if this amendment passes, we’ll never have another Douglas County School District school here, and that means we have one elementary school and we’ll never have a middle or high school,” DePan said.
Ellie Reynolds, co-founder of John Adams Academy, defended the charter school’s inclusion in the land dedication.
“My big message to everyone is that charter schools are public schools, and they should qualify for land dedication, just like district schools,” Reynolds said.
Denver7
Pictured: Ellie Reynolds, co-founder of John Adams Academy in Sterling Ranch
Commissioners praised Brock Smethills, president of Sterling Ranch development company, for offering up the additional land at the end of the public hearing.
After the vote, Douglas County Schools provided Denver7 with this statement which says in part, “We are disappointed that a land use issue where the district’s primary concern is ensuring that sufficient land for future schools is set aside turned into a debate about charter schools.”
You can read the full statement from DCSD below:
“We are disappointed that a land use issue where the district’s primary concern is ensuring that sufficient land for future schools is set aside turned into a debate about charter schools. 25% of our students attend public charter schools and we honor those family choices and appreciate all of our amazing schools, neighborhood and charter.
It was also disappointing that the County Commissioners denied the school district the opportunity to testify as a referral agency and a community partner. The School District’s priority remains the best interest of our students (current and future) and our community.
We will continue to work with Sterling Ranch and the County on solutions that benefit our entire community and we believe some progress is being made in that regard.”
Douglas County School District
Conversations between the school district and developers are expected to continue in the coming months as the community continues to grow.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Claire Lavezzorio
Denver7’s Claire Lavezzorio covers topics that have an impact across Colorado, but specializes in reporting on stories in the military and veteran communities. If you’d like to get in touch with Claire, fill out the form below to send her an email.
