West
Colorado woman says she was bullied by community who wanted to take her property, this is how she fought back
Editor’s note: This is the second story in a series about Taralyn Romero’s property rights battle in Kittredge, Colorado. Read part 1 here.
Social media can distort truth, warp reality, and pit neighbors against each other. It can even turn a woman living in a house next to a park into a “wicked witch.”
The first confrontation that blew up online seemed innocuous in Taralyn Romero’s memory. A grandmother and two young children were in her backyard. The kids, armed with small shovels, were digging holes in the creek bank as if it were a beach, she said.
Romero said she walked over and asked the woman if the kids could go dig in the playground where there was a sandbox. Romero said she made the request in a normal tone, but the woman seemed startled, like she hadn’t expected anyone to come talk to her.
But on social media, Romero saw a rant from the woman’s daughter. In this telling, Romero was a nasty woman who had screamed at the grandmother and terrified the children.
“In people’s minds, they said … ‘This is the type of family that we don’t want in our community and in our neighborhood,’” Romero told Fox News Digital. “And once they got convinced of that false narrative, they felt emboldened and almost heroic for threatening us.”
BRENTWOOD BLIGHT: HOW A SUPREME COURT CASE ALLOWED GOVERNMENTS TO SEIZE PROPERTY ON BEHALF OF DEVELOPERS
Taralyn Romero said a survey of her property showed that she owned the land on either side of Bear Creek. County officials originally said they weren’t sure where the property lines were, and that the course of the creek had likely changed over the years. (Courtesy Taralyn Romero)
Romero’s battle with her community and, ultimately, her local government, began in early 2021 when she bought a house in the woods about half an hour outside Denver, Colorado. Her backyard included a steep hill and, below, a creek ran through the edge of the property with a community park on the other side.
Locals had played in the creek for decades, but Romero said a survey of the property showed the land on either side of the water belonged to her.
When that rope went up, people lost their damn minds … It catapulted this situation into a whole other stratosphere.
County officials said they didn’t know who owned the land because the creek had likely changed course since the original property lines were drawn. They asked community members to access the creek from a different park about a mile east of Kittredge instead while both sides hashed out the issue.
Many people ignored the request.
After about a year of dealing with the trash and damage left behind by visitors, not to mention worrying about potential legal liability if anyone got hurt, Romero said she’d had enough. She hung a thin blue rope across her property line, blocking access to the creek, and posted “no trespassing” signs on the trees.
“When that rope went up, people lost their damn minds,” she said. “It catapulted this situation into a whole other stratosphere.”
Romero said people started conspiring online in Facebook and Nextdoor groups, collectively agreeing to ignore the rope and “openly trespass.” They believed the land was public property or, even if it wasn’t, it should be because the community had enjoyed it for so long.
Romero took numerous videos of people disregarding the signs and sauntering up to the water’s edge, even waving at her as they did so.
“Hi. You guys are trespassing,” she can be heard calling out in one video.
“Yes, I know,” a woman responds. “Thanks for being an awesome neighbor.” She flashes a thumbs up.
Romero felt like she was portrayed “as a villain … someone who didn’t want to watch children have fun.”
“They called me a rich White woman from California — or they told me to go back to Mexico,” the native Coloradan recalled.
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Taralyn Romero and her partner filmed numerous exchanges they had with people they say openly trespassed on their property. (Courtesy Taralyn Romero)
Screenshots shared with Fox News Digital show some of the posts. In one, a purported member of the Save Kittredge Park committee wrote an alternate version of Martin Niemoller’s famous critique of Nazism, and those who said nothing in the face of evil.
“First they came for the city dwellers, And I did not speak out because I was not a city dweller,” the woman wrote in part. “Then they came for the locals, and I did not support them.”
Michael Eymer, Romero’s partner, was aghast.
“You are comparing us to Nazis,” Eymer wrote in the comments under the post, adding that, as someone with Jewish lineage, he found this “deeply offensive.”
It didn’t take long for the “social media bullying” to cross over to “real life danger,” Romero said.
“Sad woman you are what goes around comes around, is it worth having your house burned down or even worse cause that’s what’s gonna happen if you piss the wrong person off,” a message sent through a GoFundMe page Romero eventually started for her legal fees reads in part. “I hope for your sake you lose that land.”
People flipped off Romero and Eymer from down by the creek. “Suck my d—,” a man yelled when Eymer told him to stay off their property. A woman twice mooned a surveillance camera near the street by Romero’s house.
SUPREME COURT DECIDES CASE OF CALIFORNIA MAN CHARGED $23,000 BY COUNTY TO BUILD ON HIS OWN LAND
Crowds gathered at Bear Creek all summer long, Romero said, and many people ignored signs requesting that people not dig or otherwise damage the property. (Courtesy Taralyn Romero)
Romero still felt like facts could overpower feelings. But when she tried to share the survey showing the property lines, she says she got blocked from community groups, or people suggested she may have bribed the surveyor. Friends who tried to advocate for Romero and her family were similarly blocked, she said.
As the gossip swirled online, one community member dubbed Romero the wicked witch, then changed her own profile picture to one depicting Glinda the Good Witch from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”
Shut out of the online community groups, Romero turned to TikTok and created her own persona in August 2022: The “Wicked Witch of the West.”
“If someone like that comes to my property, cusses me out, flips me off, trespasses, and is just a general bully, if she is the good witch, I guess I am the wicked witch, right?” Romero said. “Because I am the opposite of her.”
One of her first videos, which has since amassed more than 4.5 million views, shows crowds of families playing in Bear Creek. A disgruntled Romero, with her raven hair, red lipstick and black felt hat, is superimposed over the scene.
“POV: they tell you it’s not a big deal and you shouldn’t have bought property next to a park if you don’t want the Public in your backyard,” reads an onscreen caption.
Romero said she wanted a place to express herself using humor. Her first posts mocked the women she said accused her of “stealing” the land. Seemingly overnight, she gained 15,000 followers. Then 100,000.
If she is the good witch, I guess I am the wicked witch, right? Because I am the opposite of her.
“What started out as a forum for artistic expression, to literally just cope with what had happened, quickly became a platform for sharing my side of the story,” she said.
She shared “endless videos of us being cut out and harassed and antagonized.” And now, instead of being kicked off platforms, she had a sympathetic audience, outraged at peoples’ lack of respect for private property.
“It changed how I started to use social media in order to basically pull a reverse uno on what was a very traumatic and prolonged and unnecessary situation over my property,” she said.
Taralyn Romero says she roped off the portion of her property on the north side of Bear Creek after repeated requests that visitors respect the land went ignored. Community members who previously enjoyed access to the creek were outraged. (Fox News Digital)
And it proved to be a valuable platform for venting about her newest enemy. Because just three weeks before Romero posted her first TikTok video, the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners had sued her for access to the land.
“They were going after anything and everything that they possibly could in order to take my property from me,” she said.
This is the second story in a series about Taralyn Romero’s property rights battle in Kittredge, Colorado. Read the final installment on Tuesday.
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WASHINGTON STATE — Winter was nearly out of here, but after months of hitting the snooze button, the season has decided to wake up.
Western Washington has already seen a return to wintry conditions over the past few days, including brief lowland snow in the North Sound on Tuesday morning. The Cascades are covered in fresh snow, with nearly 3 feet reported at Stevens Pass in the past 48 hours.
An extended plume of moisture — known as an atmospheric river — is expected to move into the Northwest tonight through Thursday. This is not a “Pineapple Express”-style system, as it is oriented straight across the Pacific rather than tapping into warmer air near Hawaii. That means steady precipitation, but snow levels should remain near pass level instead of rising significantly, as they did during storms in December.
Rain is spreading across the region tonight, gradually pushing out the remaining cold air near sea level. Some wet snow or sleet may briefly mix with rain in the lowlands, but it is not expected to last. Overnight lows will hover near 40 degrees in Seattle and Tacoma.
Snow is already falling in the mountains and will intensify on Wednesday. A winter storm warning is in effect for the Cascades, where an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow is expected in the next 24 hours. In the lowlands, periods of cool March rain are expected on Wednesday, with damp conditions for both the morning and evening commutes. High temperatures will reach about 50 degrees in the metro area, close to normal for this time of year.
Feet of snow, gusts up to 50+ mph expected in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains
The heavy snow and gusty wind expected have prompted a rare Blizzard Warning in the mountains Wednesday Evening.{ } Image courtesy of the KOMO 4 Forecast Team.{ }(KOMO News)
By Wednesday evening, a rapidly strengthening area of low pressure will move through Western Washington. Southerly winds of 30 to 50 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph, are expected across the region, including along the coast and through Puget Sound. The strongest winds between Kitsap and King counties are expected between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. A wind advisory is in effect, and gusty conditions could cause tree damage and power outages.
As the storm moves east, winds will shift to the west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands. Gusts of 40 to 55 mph are possible in areas such as Oak Harbor, Port Angeles, and Anacortes.
Strong winds combined with heavy mountain snow have prompted a blizzard warning for parts of the Cascades and Olympics from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday. Winds could exceed 60 mph near mountain peaks and remain strong near the passes. Travel across the Cascades is expected to be hazardous on Wednesday night.
Heavy rain, mountain snow and gusty winds will make for a stormy Wednesday and Thursday around the region. Image courtesy of the KOMO 4 Forecast Team. (KOMO News)
By Thursday, winds will ease, but rain in the lowlands and snow in the mountains will continue. Snow levels are expected to remain near 2,000 feet through Thursday and Friday, adding to late-season snowfall at the passes and ski areas.
Another push of colder air is expected Friday night into Saturday, lowering snow levels to about 500 feet by Saturday morning. Some brief, light accumulations of lowland snow are possible. High temperatures on Saturday will struggle to rise much above the lower 40s.
Conditions are expected to improve Sunday and Monday, with drier weather and increasing sunshine just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Highs could approach 60 degrees by Monday afternoon.
Until then, winter appears to be making one final push.
The top boys’ basketball players in Wyoming for Classes 1A and 2A were chosen for the 2026 high school season. The Wyoming Coaches Association has unveiled the all-state awards for this year, as voted on by the head coaches in the two classifications, respectively. The Wyoming Coaches Association only recognizes one team for all-state, and only these players receive an award certificate from the WCA. WyoPreps only lists all-state players as defined by the WCA.
WCA 1A-2A BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STATE SELECTIONS IN 2026
Each class selected 14 players for all-state, reflecting a broad recognition of talent across Wyoming. Notably, congratulations go to Hulett’s Kyle Smith, Brady Cook from Lingle-Fort Laramie, and Carsten Freeburg from Pine Bluffs, who earned all-state honors for the third straight year. In addition, eight more players achieved all-state status for the second time in their prep careers.
Class 1A
Paul McNiven – Burlington
Bitner Philpott – Burlington
Ammon Hatch – Cokeville (All-State in 2025)
Hudson Himmerich – Cokeville
Kyle Smith – Hulett (All-State 2024 & 2025)
Anthony Arnusch – Lingle-Ft. Laramie
Brady Cook – Lingle-Ft. Laramie (All-State 2024 & 2025)
Tymber Cozzens – Little Snake River (All-State in 2025)
Corbin Matthews – Lusk
Max Potas – Meeteetse (All-State in 2024)
Jace Westring – Saratoga
Hazen Williams – Saratoga
TJ Moats – Southeast (All-State in 2024)
Nic Schiller – Upton
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Class 2A
Caleb Adsit – Big Horn
Chase Garber – Big Horn
Carsten Freeburg – Pine Bluffs (All-State 2024 & 2025)
Mason Moss – Rocky Mountain
Oakley Hicks – Shoshoni
Kade Mills – Sundance
Cody Bomengen – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)
Zak Hastie – Thermopolis
Ellis Webber – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)
Joseph Kimbrell – Wright
Mitchell Strohschein – Wright (All-State in 2025)
Adriano Brown – Wyoming Indian
Heeyei’Niitou Monroe-Black – Wyoming Indian (All-State in 2025)
Cordell Spoonhunter – Wyoming Indian
The 2026 state champions were the Saratoga Panthers in Class 1A. They beat Lingle-Fort Laramie, 50-45, in the championship game. The 2A winners were the Thermopolis Bobcats, who repeated as champions, after a 45-38 victory over Wyoming Indian in the title game.
Lusk versus Rock River high school basketball 2026
Game action between the Tigers and Longhorns
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Lisa Shaw
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Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., will retire at the end of his current term and is backing San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond to succeed him, he confirmed to Fox News Friday.
Issa’s seat is in California’s newly redrawn 48th District, which has been reshaped to favor Democrats under the state’s Prop 50.
“Today I’m announcing my enthusiastic endorsement of Supervisor Jim Desmond for Congress to represent California’s new 48th district,” Issa told Fox News.
“Jim is not only a personal friend, he’s a true patriot, a Navy veteran, a successful businessman and has a 20-year record of public service. He understands this community, was born and raised here and will make a terrific Congressman.”
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Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Issa said stepping down after 25 years in Congress — and another 25 in business — was not an easy decision.
“First, we built the right campaign infrastructure. Support has been overwhelming — including from President Trump — and our polling was unmistakable: We would win this race,” he said. “But after a quarter-century in Congress — and before that, a quarter-century in business — it’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges.”
Among his recent efforts, Issa pointed to securing the Congressional Medal of Honor for retired Navy Capt. Royce Williams, crediting President Trump with making the award possible.
“For a decade, my team and I waged a nonstop fight for Royce, and we were turned down on his behalf more times than I can remember,” he said. “But that all changed this year.
“President Trump made Royce’s award possible, and when I witnessed the first lady place the Medal of Honor on my hero, it was more than just a job done. It felt like a career accomplishment.”
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Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 27, 2022. (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Issa said he will remain focused on serving through 2026.
“There is still work to be done throughout 2026 both in Washington and my beloved current 48th District. And as many days that remain, I’ll dedicate each one of them to the people I serve and the indispensable nation I have sworn to protect as a soldier in the Army and as a proud and grateful Member of the People’s House of Representatives,” he said.
In a phone interview with Fox News, Issa also argued Congress has “diminished itself,” citing stagnant pay and the growing influence of outside money in elections.
“They have really, unfortunately, allowed outside money to exceed inside money in elections,” he said. “And more people live and die with social media rather than substance, so, I’m hoping that there’s a pendulum there. You know, some of only Congress can change.”
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U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif, speaks to the media during a news conference May 28, 2010, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) praised Issa’s tenure.
“We are grateful for Congressman Darrell Issa’s decades of dedicated service to the people of California and our nation,” NRCC Spokesman Christian Martinez told Fox News. “Throughout his career, he has embodied the spirit of public service, championed our military and fought tirelessly for a stronger America.
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“We are optimistic that this district will continue to be represented by a Republican who will stand for common sense and reject the radical agenda and chaos that progressive Marni von Wilpert and socialist Ammar Campa-Najjar would bring.”
Read the full article from Here
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