Colorado
Millions of dollars collected through Colorado express lane enforcement

In a matter of months, the Colorado Department of Transportation has issued more than $11 million in fines to drivers crossing in and out of the express lanes.
Enforcement started on the Mountain Express Lanes in July of last year and on Interstate 25 North and C470 South in October.
“When I found out, I was up to $1,500 in fines,” Marcos Rodriguez said.
He’s one of the hundreds of thousands of drivers in Colorado who have now received a violation notice and a $75 fine for crossing in and out of the express lane.
“I saw the sign that’s like, ‘if you’re in violation.’ I thought that just meant if you didn’t have a tag,” he said.
Tim Hoover, deputy director of communications for CDOT, says highly sophisticated cameras and sensors along the express lanes capture images of a vehicle’s license plate as they cross over the white line.
Since putting the technology in place, he says they’ve seen a significant decline in the behavior.
“Violations are down 60%. We would like to drive them down even more — as low as they’ll go,” he said. “It would be wonderful if we didn’t collect a single dollar in revenue.”
But right now they are, having collected millions of dollars in a matter of months. CBS News Colorado requested a breakdown of the numbers.
Along the Mountain Express Lanes, more than $1.1 million has been collected in penalties. On I-25, that number jumps up to over $3.5 million and C470 tops the list with more than $3.7 million collected.
“They carry about ten times more traffic than I-70 in the mountains does,” Hoover said. “Once we add central (Interstate) 70 to the system, that’s going to change things because central 70 does carry quite a lot of traffic.”
While they’ve heard a number of reasons for the violations, most of the disputes that have come in are denied.
“When somebody says, ‘oh well I was forced into the express lane,’ and we say, ‘OK, tell us why,’ and they say, ‘well the car in front of me slammed on its brakes,’ well that generally means you were following to close,” he said.
Rodriguez claims he wasn’t weaving in and out, but instead would get out of the express lane before missing his exit, outside of the designated areas.
“I go but then I have to go past my exit. It makes no sense,” Rodriguez said.
His violation notices went to a temporary address, which meant every $75 ticket doubled to $150. Whether he agrees or not, he has little recourse.
“The way things are going for me right now, financially there’s no way I have $1,500,” he added.
After operating costs — which largely pay for contractors to run the system — the amount CDOT walks away with is around $4 million.
That money, Hoover says, will be put into additional education and ads telling drivers not to weave.
The department hopes to launch the same enforcement along central I-70 and the south gap sometime this year.

Colorado
Colorado weather: Two waves of snow headed for mountains, metro Denver

Two waves of snow will blow through Colorado this week, according to the National Weather Service.
The first wave is forecast to start Thursday afternoon in Colorado’s mountains and continue overnight, spreading into the Front Range, Eastern Plains and metro area. A second wave of mountain snow will begin Friday afternoon, forecasters said.
Multiple Winter Weather Advisories will be in effect from 3 p.m. Thursday to 11 p.m. Friday, according to NWS forecasters. The advisories cover Rocky Mountain National Park, the Medicine Bow Mountain Range, the Mosquito Range, the Indian Peaks and the mountains of Summit County.
As of Thursday morning, snow forecasts include:
- Up to 1 inch of snow in Denver and at Denver International Airport
- Between 2 and 8 inches of snow in Winter Park, Vail and Nederland
- Between 2 and 7 inches of snow on U.S. 40’s Rabbit Ears Pass
- Between 3 and 7 inches of snow on Interstate 70 at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel
- Between 2 and 6 inches of snow in Estes Park, Evergreen, Fairplay and Frisco
- Up to 2 inches of snow on the northeast corner of the Eastern Plains
If snow does hit the metro area, NWS forecasters said it will start as rain around 4 p.m. Thursday and turn to snow after 11 p.m., continuing through Friday morning.
Rain and snow are forecast to start at about 2 p.m. Thursday in the mountains and continue through 8 a.m. Friday, forecasters said. Snow will then restart Friday afternoon and last through 11 p.m.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.
Colorado
Colorado bill would make financial literacy course a requirement for high school graduation across state

Some Colorado lawmakers want financial literacy to be a requirement for high school graduation. Only about 25% of Colorado school districts require a personal finance course to graduate, according to the Colorado Department of Education. Denver Public Schools is one of the districts.
West High School in Denver is one of the schools that has offered the course for the past five years, in English and Spanish. At Denver West High School, more than 80% of students identify as Latinx.
House Bill 25-1192, which has bipartisan support from state lawmakers including Reps. Don Wilson, Lorena Garcia, and Sens. James Coleman and Barbara Kirkmeyer, would make financial literacy a graduation requirement statewide.
Statewide, only 13% of students are guaranteed access to a high school personal finance course before graduation.
Alejandro Palma is a senior at West High School who is taking a financial literacy course as an elective.
“You learn a lot from it, you learn about investments,” said Palma.
As a second generation Latinx student, he feels the pressure to build on generational wealth.
“You learn how to make a resume and how to keep a job,” said Palma.
It may seem like basic life skills, but they are necessary to learn.
The course teaches students to manage finances, understand credit and invest while tailoring to the needs of bilingual students.
Chris Velasquez, a teacher at Denver West, teaches the course in Spanish.
“A lot of kids that we have here because it is a huge immigrant population, start growing businesses, whether its concrete and painting, and they ask us ‘How can I network?’” said Velasquez.
For the past five years, Velasquez says the course has been extremely helpful for many students and is the first school in the district to offer the course in Spanish.
“They get to understand what a co-signer is, what does credit mean, especially since some of our populations, they don’t even use credit — they grew up thinking credit was the devil,” said Velasquez.
Meanwhile, inside Daniel Walter’s classroom students are learning how to manage their finances using apps.
“When I talk to other people about what I do and what I teach every time their jaws hit the floor and say ‘I wish I would have taken that class,’” said Walter.
He says regardless of one’s race or socioeconomic status, the lessons learned in this class can be used for life.
“There’s just a great need to learn the tools of our system and to be financially stable,” said Walter.
The organization Ednium is in support of a bill at the Colorado State Capitol. It would make this course a requirement statewide. In 2021, the organization helped make the course a requirement in Denver Public Schools. Now the 2024-2025 year the course would be required for graduation.
Elijah Huff with the Ednium says the push for this course would be extremely beneficial to educating young people to save money.
“I think its also a huge culture boost for certain communities as well to learn how to manage money and how to work with money when we know there has been a huge gap in some of our communities in Denver,” said Huff.
The bill would also make it a requirement for students to apply for state aid.
Although the state board strongly encourages local school districts to require personal finance education, most do not. Colorado ranks 46th in FAFSA completion nationwide, and it’s estimated that students in the state leave more than $30 million in federal aid on the table annually.
“Across time I just think it’s the community that has been really big on trying to tear down the barriers and being vocal about it,” said Huff.
As for Palma, he plans to join the military, but first he’ll use what he learned in class to land his first job.
The hearing for the bill, which has bipartisan support, is scheduled for March 6.
Colorado
One year later, remains of missing Indiana man found in Colorado national park
A little over a year after he went missing, Colorado officials have confirmed they have located the remains of an Indianapolis man. Thomas Irwin, 73, went missing in January 2024 at the Mesa Verde National Park.
Irwin’s remains were found on Feb. 28, 2025.
“We are glad this provides some closure for his family,” Mesa Verde Superintendent Kayci Cook said. “We sincerely appreciate and recognize the dedication of the Mesa Verde Resource and Visitor Protection Team and other park staff who continued the search for Mr. Irwin.”
He was last seen on the Petroglyph Point Trail on the afternoon of Jan. 15, 2024. Law enforcement found his vehicle and it was shared that he had cognitive impairment, which may cause him to be easily confused. He also required medications that he may have been without when he went missing.
On Jan. 16, 2024 his family contacted the park, and a search and rescue operation began. After an extensive, initial 10-day effort, Irwin wasn’t found.
Using a human remains detection canine, Irwin was found within the original search area during an off-trail grid search.
A cause of death was not immediately provided by officials in a news release.
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
-
Sports1 week ago
NHL trade board 7.0: The 4 Nations break is over, and things are about to get real
-
News1 week ago
Justice Dept. Takes Broad View of Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons
-
World1 week ago
Hamas says deal reached with Israel to release more than 600 Palestinians
-
Science1 week ago
Killing 166 million birds hasn’t helped poultry farmers stop H5N1. Is there a better way?
-
News1 week ago
Christianity’s Decline in U.S. Appears to Have Halted, Major Study Shows
-
World1 week ago
Germany's Merz ‘resolute and determined,' former EU chief Barroso says
-
Technology1 week ago
Microsoft makes Copilot Voice and Think Deeper free with unlimited use
-
Culture1 week ago
Ostriches, butt cheeks and relentless energy: How Austin Hedges became an indispensable MLB teammate