First Thoughts: Is This What Change Looks Like?

The director of the city agency tasked with screening recruits for the Denver police and fire departments on Tuesday accused Mayor Mike Johnston of pressuring that agency to lower its standards so the mayor can meet his promise to hire 167 new police officers this year. Niecy Murray is the executive director of the Denver Civil Service Commission, an independent city agency tasked with working hand-in-hand with an appointed board of five commissioners to set and apply standards for hiring, promotions and disciple within the ranks of the city’s police and fire departments. Originally a commission member appointed by then-Mayor Michael Hancock in 2018, Murray on Tuesday issued a news release in coordination with City Council members Shontel Lewis, Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez that directly accused Johnston of interfering in the commission’s work. The accusations include pressure to reduce standards for new police recruits seeking admittance to the department’s training academy to the point of outright ignoring a psychological evaluation that would have disqualified an applicant from moving forward. “The public’s trust is placed in us to ensure standards for safety are being met,” Murray said during a brief news conference in front of the Denver City and County Building on Tuesday morning.

CU Health must stop using debt collectors I will not participate in any event or make any more donations to support my alma mater The University of Colorado College of Nursing until UCHSC Anschutz stops its predatory practice of turning over unpaid medical bills to collections agencies. I will suggest to my 1965 CU Health Sciences Center classmates and my health care colleagues who use your medical services that they do the same.

A Southwest flight conducted an emergency landing at the Colorado Springs Airport on Monday after the crew smelled smoke in the cabin, according to a statement from Southwest. Southwest Flight 1070 was flying from Denver to Tampa on Monday evening when flight attendants reported a possible smoke smell in the cabin.

For three decades, Colorado politicians have been trying to fix the broken school funding formula. It was inequitable, underfunded and resulted in poor school districts and affluent ones being pitted against each other. On Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis signed a school finance act that finally changes the formula, using $80 million from the state’s education reserves to keep school districts whole and end a 30-year dispute over how to fix the formula without creating winners and losers. The Denver Post documented just how broken the school finance formula was in 2019 by heading to southern Colorado where two rural school districts were separated by only a few miles, but one district had $5,000 less per student than the other.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed another gray wolf attack on livestock in Jackson County on Saturday, according to the agency’s list of confirmed wolf depredations. The incident involved one calf and a claim has not yet been submitted. CPW could not immediately be reached for more details regarding the attack. This is the second time a gray wolf has attacked livestock so far this month, a sharp decrease from the six depredation incidents that occurred in Grand and Jackson counties in April. Saturday’s incident marks the eighth attack on livestock since 10 gray wolves were released in Colorado in December 2023. Related Articles Colorado News | Denver mayor is pressuring Civil Service Commission to accept unqualified police recruits, director alleges Colorado News | Southwest flight conducts emergency landing in Colorado Springs after crew smells smoke, airline officials say Colorado News | Morrison’s new radar camera ticketed more than 10,000 speeders in its first two weeks Colorado News | Part of RTD A Line to be replaced by shuttle buses Saturday for maintenance Colorado News | Colorado weather: Afternoon scattered showers, thunderstorms Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.

MORRISON — In its first two weeks, the Town of Morrison’s new automated radar camera issued more than 10,000 tickets to speeding drivers, according to Morrison Police Chief Bill Vinelli. The camera is permanently stationed at Bear Creek Avenue and Mount Vernon Avenue. With a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour along Bear Creek Avenue, the eastbound camera automatically captures the license plate of drivers going 35 mph or more. Tickets are then mailed directly to drivers. The camera will still take a picture of drivers caught going 34 mph, but they will not be issued tickets. Read the full story at Denver7.com. Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.