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Denver City Council voted Monday unanimously to delay the voter-approved sidewalk repair program until 2025 to give city staff and stakeholders more time to figure out a fee structure and billing system. Approved by voters in 2022, Denver’s sidewalk program will collect fees from property owners to repair the city’s dilapidated sidewalk network, 40% of which needs repairs, is too narrow or hasn’t been built out, according to city estimates. Related Articles Politics | Voters will decide whether to support Denver Health through increase in city’s sales tax Politics | Denver takes aim at traffic deaths on two major streets, hoping to slow down speeding drivers Politics | Nearly 100-year old Denver theater’s owners say steep property taxes threaten its future Politics | Denver to pay $500,000 to settle misconduct lawsuits against police officers, sheriff’s deputies Politics | Colorado hospital systems’ finances rebound after a difficult 2023 The program was initially set to begin in January, but council members voted to delay it until July 1 over concerns that the fee structure was not equitable. The program’s stakeholder committee recommended delaying the ordinance again so the committee and Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure can work out additional amendments, including the fee structure, and set up and test a billing system, said Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval. “They’ve done a lot of good work, but it’s still not ready for prime time,” Sandoval said Monday. The ordinance will now go into effect Jan.

Washington — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U. S. Justice Department that will free him from prison and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centered on the publication of a trove of classified documents, according to court papers filed late Monday. Assange is scheduled to appear in the federal court in the Mariana Islands, a U.

Denver voters will be asked in November to consider increasing the city’s sales tax to raise $70 million a year to help stabilize Denver Health, the region’s financially ailing safety-net hospital. The Denver City Council voted 12-1 without discussion Monday to send the .34% sales-tax increase — which would add 34 cents to a $100 purchase — to the ballot. The city’s current sales tax is 8.81% and, if this measure is approved by voters, it will increase to 9.15%. Councilman Kevin Flynn, who represents District 2, cast the only dissenting vote.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected a proposed ballot measure that would have broadly banned gender-affirming care and surgery for minors. The court ruled that the supporters of Initiative 175 had not quickly enough appealed a state administrative board’s rejection of the proposal. If it had advanced and then passed in November, the measure would have prohibited the use of surgeries or hormone treatments on people younger than 18 unless necessary for reasons other than gender affirmation, like premature puberty or a birth defect. The Colorado Title Board, the administrative body that approves and rejects ballot measures, at first approved the initiative earlier this spring — and then rejected it after receiving an appeal from opponents.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is trying new strategies to curb traffic fatalities on his city’s streets in a pilot program aimed at slowing down drivers who speed along major thoroughfares. Denver has recorded 27 traffic deaths so far this year, with the latest occurring last week on June 17. Last year, 83 people died, according to the city, despite officials launching the Vision Zero initiative several years ago, setting a goal of reaching zero traffic deaths by 2030. On Monday, Johnston announced the rollout of new approaches — initially along stretches of Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue — that include investing in more speed limit and speed feedback signs, expanded signal timing to give pedestrians extra moments to cross the street and more speed enforcement, such as ticketing. The city aims to cut the number of traffic fatalities by half over two years.

Special carveouts for special interest groups is not what beaches are for. What next, burka day at the beach? Where does it stop?