Colorado

A Colorado Fire Department says another state tax cut could cost the safety of residents

Published

2 years ago

August 26, 2024

A Colorado Fire Department says another state tax cut could cost the safety of residents

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – The Cimarron Hills Fire Department today said if they are included in the property tax reductions being negotiated this week- they may have to cut staff.

Gov. Jared Polis called for a special session on Monday to discuss a property tax cut that could save over a billion dollars for Coloradans. But he says he doesn’t want to be at the expense of the school system.

“I’m hopeful, I am always supportive of property tax relief. There is an opportunity here to provide some prop property tax relief for every homeowner in the state at the same time, we can reduce the risk going forward. I have several different kind of ballot initiatives. It seems like every year we have different ballad initiative. They can threaten school funding and planning,” said Gov. Polis.

The Cimarron Hills Fire Department says they also want to be exempt from those tax cuts and maintain their funding.

“Those impacts are already devastating enough, but we think that moving forward we’re able to sustain under those we’re just asking for no further cuts. So the cuts that were made in (Senate Bill) 233 we aren’t going to have to cut any stuff, but it doesn’t look like we’re gonna have the ability to add any additional staff either,” said Cimarron Hills Fire Chief, Andrew York.

The Fire Chief said that for 1 in every 3 calls they get, they have simultaneous emergent calls and want to ensure they have the proper staffing to respond to people at risk.

“There’s going to be a very real impact to the public and what we said to the legislators and I know it’s gonna sound abrasive, but the bottom line is that houses could burn down and lives could be lost,” said Fire Chief York.

The special session is between Advance Colorado, Colorado Concern and state legislative leaders to negotiate a tax cut without enacting Initiatives 50 and 108. Those measures, if passed, would cap property tax revenue per year and reduce the assessment rates when considering the property values.

Allegedly there has been an agreement between the groups that would

Cut the effective residential property tax rate to 6.3 or 6.4 percent depending on assessment growth;
Cut the commercial property tax rate to 25 percent;
Implement a property tax cap of 5.25 percent for local governments and 6 percent or inflation growth (whichever is greater) for school districts.
Ensure clear and non-biased ballot language in the required vote of the people to opt out of the local cap.

The session will be held this week until Wednesday.

For more information on the session, click here.

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Colorado

Dog reunites with owner after 43 days lost in the mountains

Published

59 seconds ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Dog reunites with owner after 43 days lost in the mountains

Storyful
| Annalisa Mastronardi

A dog named Rocky was rescued and reunited with his owner after surviving 43 days alone in Summit County, Colorado.

Rocky, age 10, had gone missing in late December after escaping from a pet sitter while his owner was traveling.

According to local media, volunteers from Summit Lost Pet Rescue and members of the local community helped search for the dog for weeks, eventually locating and capturing him using a tip from a homeowner who spotted the dog on her Ring camera and a trap set with the owner’s scent.

According to Summit Daily, Rocky had gone from 50 pounds to 28 pounds during the time he was lost.

Video posted by Summit Lost Pet Rescue shows the heartwarming moment Rocky is reunited with his owner, Steven Maa.

“It takes partnership, a village, and donations to save lost pets,” the organization wrote on social media.

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Colorado

Greer, Wooten combine for 20, Colorado women advance in Big 12 Tournament with 55-48 win over Kansas

Published

12 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Greer, Wooten combine for 20, Colorado women advance in Big 12 Tournament with 55-48 win over Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Logyn Greer and Desiree Wooten both scored 10 points in No. 6 seed Colorado’s 55-48 win over No. 11 seed Kansas on Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

Greer shot 4 for 7 from the field and drained both her attempts from 3-point range from the Buffaloes (21-10). She had six rebounds and four blocks. Wooten added four assists.

Colorado was in foul trouble early, racking up seven fouls in the first quarter. A 9-0 run in the second quarter broke the game open for the Buffaloes and they entered halftime up 26-18. Their defense held Kansas to 36% (19 of 53) from the field and 15% (2 of 13) from 3-point range.

Kansas (19-13) was led in scoring by S’Mya Nichols, who put up 14. Her and Sania Copeland scored the only 3-pointers for the Jayhawks.

Colorado: Will play No. 3 seed Baylor on Friday. The Lady Bears are ranked No. 20 in the country.

Kansas: Will wait for an invitation into a postseason tournament.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

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Colorado

Deen: Avalanche Solve Roster Needs. What’s Next? | Colorado Hockey Now

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Deen: Avalanche Solve Roster Needs. What’s Next? | Colorado Hockey Now

The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away and the Avalanche have already made the three moves that had been clear-cuts needs for the team.

They needed to improve their third pair. They did that by swapping Samuel Girard for Brett Kulak.

They needed to replace the recently departed Ilya Solovyov with a more capable No. 7 option on the blueline. That was accomplished with Wednesday’s trade for Nick Blankenburg.

Most importantly, the Avs needed a third-line center. On Thursday, they paid a hefty price to acquire Nicolas Roy from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

These are all things that had to be done. Now? They have nearly $7 million in available cap space (with Logan O’Connor on LTIR), with an opportunity to improve on the roster they have. This is the part of the trade deadline where general manager Chris MacFarland can bolster the team, find those luxury additions, and maximize his team’s chances and winning a Stanley Cup.

So what could that look like?

Most of the season has seen Ross Colton, Victor Olofsson, and even Gavin Brindley occupy the wings on the third line. With Roy expected to settle into that 3C role, there’s an opportunity to build on the wing. Elliotte Friedman mentioned last week that the Avs could move on from Colton. If so, that would give them a lot more cap space and a valuable asset they can use on the trade market to bring in a solid middle-six winger. Perhaps someone like Blake Coleman.

Olofsson has chemistry with Roy dating back to last season with Vegas, but you have to wonder if they’d be looking to upgrade on his position, too.

That leaves Jack Drury on the fourth line, centering Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta. Brindley slots down to the No. 13 forward (when everyone is healthy), while Zakhar Bardakov is the 14th option.

If O’Connor returns before the postseason, he instantly rejoins the fourth line. That would push Kiviranta out, and he’d be the 13th forward just like he was last year. Even in that scenario, I do wonder if the Avs decide to improve on Bardakov. He’s a young centerman who has impressed in limited minutes but has struggled to gain the full trust of the coaching staff.

There’s also the option to add another depth defenseman. Right now, an injury to Kulak or Devon Toews would again force Colorado to have five right-shot defensemen in the lineup. Blankenburg, who also shoots right, would be an ideal fill-in if an injury were to strike on the right side.

But what about another depth option? Colorado won the Cup in 2022 with both Ryan Murray and Jack Johnson on the outside looking in. After Girard’s injury, Johnson stepped in. But it didnd’t hurt to have multiple depth options just in case.

Could the Avs target another depth blueliner? If so, will they go for a bigger body? I’ve seen the name Urho Vaakanainen floated around. He would be the type of left-shot defenseman who could fill that role as an extra. Albeit his $1.55 million cap hit might be too large to take on without retention for such a limited role.

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