DENVER (KDVR) — The Michelin Guide has awarded several Colorado hotels with Michelin Keys, including one Denver hotel that was honored with its first ever.

There are 7,000 properties included in the Michelin Guide hotel selection. Hotels can earn one to three Keys, with three being the best. The Michelin Guide began awarding Keys in 2024.

Denver’s Populus Hotel was awarded its first-ever Michelin Key. The hotel opened last fall and strives to be the world’s first carbon-positive hotel.

The hotel was recognized for its commitment to sustainability, nature-inspired design, service and guest experience.

Populus was named one of the world’s greatest places in 2025 by Time Magazine, and it was named hotel of the year by Esquire magazine.

Other Denver hotels that have received the award before were also crowned with keys this year, including:

• The Crawford Hotel
• Clayton Hotel and Members Club
• Four Seasons Denver

“Congratulations to Denver’s Michelin Key and Selected hotels including Populus joining The Crawford Hotel, Clayton Hotel & Members Club and Four Season as Key recognized,” said Richard W. Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver. “Receiving a Michelin Key indicates a hotel has shown excellence in architecture and interior design, quality and consistency of service, overall personality and character, value for the price and a significant contribution to the neighborhood or setting. We are grateful to hotel owners and staff who work hard every day to create an inviting environment for visitors across the city.”

Other Colorado hotels were also recognized in the awards.

Dunton Hot Springs in southwestern Colorado earned two Michelin Keys.

The following hotels earned one Michelin Key:

A full list of hotels that received the honor can be found on the Michelin Guide website.

Nearly 40% more relatives and other “kin” are receiving state support to help raise children in Colorado’s foster care system than were at this time last year, after legislators streamlined the process for families that want to take in a child.

Last year, a change in state law made it easier for “kinship” caregivers to get certified as foster care providers for a child they know. Once a kinship family gets certified, they receive the same daily rate as foster families that take in children they don’t know, which ranges from $43 to $66 per day, depending on the child’s age.

The law change also allowed kinship families who hadn’t completed the certification process to get paid 30% of the rate the state normally contributes to foster families. In July, those families will become eligible for half the normal rate.

Now, family members who want to get certified can complete a shorter training course and a less-complex version of the vetting process than families who are fostering children they don’t know have to go through. Uncertified families also have to complete some paperwork, such as background checks on the adults in the house.

DeAndrea Beres, of Delta, underwent the more-intensive certification process when she took in her nephew in December 2022, and now guides families through the simplified version as a caseworker. She adopted the boy, now 3, in June.

The training was “a lot,” particularly at a time when she was rearranging her life to prepare to care for a child, Beres said. At the time, she was traveling frequently between Delta and Denver for work and had no plans for motherhood.

“It definitely changed my life, for the better in a lot of ways,” she said of fostering and then adopting her nephew.

Streamlining the process made it easier for more families to step up, Beres said. Easing certification has particularly helped grandparents and others on fixed incomes who can’t raise a child without the financial support that foster families receive, she said.

“For a lot of my families, this has made a big difference,” she said of the change to state law. “You can do it if you want to open up your heart and your home.”

‘The more grace we’re able to give’

As of Sept. 3, the state had certified 813 kinship families, up from 588 in early September 2024, said Toilynn Edwards, placement resources administrator with the Colorado Department of Human Services.

The number of children in out-of-home placements — including both traditional foster care and kinship homes — has remained stable, so it appears that more kinship families have been able to make it through the certification process, she said.

About 41% of 2,385 children in certified placements as of early October are in kinship homes. The group only includes families caring for kids who are in the child welfare system; an unknown number of people are caring for children of their relatives or friends without any state involvement.

Kids who live with a kinship caregiver tend to have fewer placements because going to stay with a relative is less traumatic than moving into a stranger’s house, Edwards said. In addition, kinship providers are less likely to give up on kids with challenging behaviors related to trauma, since they know the child’s story and already have a relationship, she said.

“The longer that we’ve known somebody, the more grace we’re able to give people,” she said.

Previously, kinship families had to complete 27 hours of training to get certified, as traditional foster families do, Edwards said. Now, they only have to complete six hours of initial training, with continuing education and support throughout the child’s stay, she said.

“We’ve taken down those barriers,” she said.

The first round of training focuses on keeping the child safe, how the foster system works and dealing with behaviors resulting from trauma, Edwards said. It also covers ways to handle changing roles when a grandparent or aunt becomes a full-time caregiver, she said.

Families going through the process now tend to report less stress than those who had to take the full training, which wasn’t always feasible for people working full time, said Suzanne Daniels, family engagement division manager for Boulder County.

“Six hours is so much more manageable,” she said.

‘The opportunity to focus on parenting’

The larger counties have designated kinship workers to help families with whatever resources and training they need while caring for a foster child, Daniels said. Generally, that works better than trying to teach everything they might need to know when the child first moves in, she said.

“We’re able to support families, get them the financial assistance they need, while allowing them the opportunity to focus on parenting,” she said.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) -After receiving dozens of reports, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is looking for an injured deer that has been tied up by red material.

Residents have spotted the deer in the Gleneagle neighborhood in North El Paso County.

According to CPW, a wildlife officer found it in a residential garage with a deep wound on its backside. They approached the deer before it ran away, and over a neighbor’s fence. CPW says they only intervene if there is a chance the animal will suffocate, strangle, struggle to eat, or see due to the entanglement.

As the holiday season is coming around, wildlife officers are also asking you to consider wildlife safety when decorating for the holidays, advising people not to put lights on trees or bushes.

In a statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, they say in part, “Antlered animals like deer and elk naturally shed their antlers each winter, providing a passive way to shed an entanglement. Sedating, immobilizing and handling wild animals can cause stress and injury to the animal, so if there isn’t an immediate health concern, the animal is better off carrying the item instead of removing it.

Updated photos from the Gleneagle community on Monday showed red material around the deer’s front leg. Combined with the visible backside injury, this has increased CPW’s interest in locating this deer…Our officers will continue their efforts to ensure the safest possible response. “

If you spot the deer, you can report it to Colorado Parks and Wildlife at (719) 227-5200.

Copyright 2025 KKTV. All rights reserved.