Denver, CO
Denver mayor agrees to restore some funding to city clerk’s office, but casts doubt on election concerns
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration agreed to restore some funding for the Office of the Clerk and Recorder, but called malarkey on Clerk Paul López’s claim that election integrity was in danger for the 2026 midterms.
After Johnston proposed cutting his budget by $210,000, López last month blasted the mayor, saying he would have to close eight ballot drop boxes and a polling center for the 2026 election as a result.
But in his letter to the City Council on Monday, Johnston wrote that “little evidence” had been presented to support the argument that the clerk’s funding request was necessary or that services would need to be “meaningfully reduced” under the proposed budget.
“Providing millions in new funding to the clerk when every other department is making cuts would result in even steeper cuts to other programs and personnel,” he wrote.
The budget proposed for the clerk in 2026 would have marked a reduction of nearly $4.5 million, or 24%, from the 2024 budget, when there was a presidential election. But the proposed amount was also 3% higher than the clerk’s budget was in 2022, the year of the last midterm election.
In his letter Monday, Johnston said he would add $800,000 to the clerk’s office budget.
López said he had provided proof of increasing costs and that the latest proposal was still $2.7 million short of what his office needs.
“Even after our own cuts, the shortage proposed by the mayor will harm Denver voters and undermine turnout in the 2026 primary and general midterm elections,” he said Monday.
López asked the City Council to amend the 2026 budget to add $2.7 million to his office’s spending plan.
The quarrel between elected officials comes as Denver is facing a bleak budget outlook for 2026. The city is expected to bring in $200 million less in revenue than originally anticipated. Already, Johnston’s office has imposed layoffs, a hiring freeze and service changes to help make up for that shortfall.
The mayor, whose office has wide latitude to write the city’s spending plan, proposed his 2026 budget — with $77 million in contract and service cuts — on Sept. 16. The City Council then voted to recommend 16 changes, amounting to $18.7 million more in spending, on Oct. 10.
Johnston ultimately addressed 11 of the council’s recommendations and added $4 million in additional spending.
Those extra dollars will come from interest earned on federal grant dollars awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act, Johnston wrote. He noted that funding is a one-time infusion that won’t be available next year.
Here are some of the other recommendations the mayor’s office accepted:
- Johnston agreed to add $2.9 million to the Temporary Rental and Utility Assistance Program, bringing it to $15.1 million in spending for 2026. The council had asked him to add $7 million. The mayor’s office will also add $2 million for this year’s budget, bringing 2025 funding for the program to $16 million.
- The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will create a new system for residents to appeal parking citations without having to attend court. Johnston’s proposal originally abolished the city’s parking magistrates, eliminating any non-court options for residents who want to appeal their ticket. There is no new cost associated with this item.
- Johnston’s team agreed to add the full $125,000 that council requested to the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund. That brings the budget for those services to $750,000 in 2026.
- The mayor’s office will restore $120,000 to the Auditor’s Office budget. The council requested the restoration of nearly $500,000.
- Mayoral appointees will be moved under the mayor’s office budget rather than being spread out among various departments. This change has no cost.
City Council president Amanda Sandoval said she received the letter and was “eager to review the details” with the rest of council.
“I’m encouraged that he agreed with some of City Council’s recommendations to the 2026 budget,” she said in a written statement. “This demonstrates the strength of our collective leadership and our shared commitment to serving Denver residents responsibly and equitably.”
Johnston said several council requests couldn’t be addressed without making further cuts elsewhere. Among those items were requests to restore $500,000 in funding for the city’s Support Team Assisted Response, or STAR program, which deploys behavioral health clinicians to people in distress. Johnston said that if the council is willing to consider a 5% budget reduction to their own budget, that savings could be used for STAR.
Here are some of the other council requests that the mayor’s team rejected:
- Johnston said the city won’t spend $500,000 for the Denver Day Works program, which helps homeless people find low-to-no-barrier work experience. He said the city’s workforce development program also assists homeless people.
- He also rejected a $600,000 request for the WorkReady Denver Program, which connected immigrants with jobs during the height of the migrant crisis. The mayor also pointed to the city’s workforce development program to absorb these services.
- The city won’t add $1.36 million for right-of-way enforcement, Johnston wrote. He said some right-of-way enforcement positions will be filled once the hiring freeze is lifted.
The council will have a chance to propose amendments Nov. 3 and has until Nov. 10 to approve Denver’s final budget.
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Denver, CO
Denver Barkey scores first career goal as Flyers take down Oilers
Item 1 of 33 Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
[1/33]Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images Purchase Licensing Rights
January 3 – Denver Barkey’s first NHL tally highlighted a three-goal first period for the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat the host Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Travis Sanheim and Bobby Brink also scored in the first, while Nick Seeler and Owen Tippett each posted a goal with an assist and Sean Couturier added two helpers for the Flyers, who finished a 3-2-0 road trip. Dan Vladar made 22 saves for Philadelphia, which allowed 13 Edmonton shots on goal in the first period, but just 11 the rest of the way.
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 15 games with his 25th goal of the season and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who have dropped two straight and three of four.
Philadelphia made its mark early in the first period. Tippett passed the puck into the slot for a streaking Barkey, who beat Oilers’ Calvin Pickard (24 saves) for his milestone goal just 7:16 into the contest.
Barkey’s marker essentially set the tempo, as the visitors made it 2-0 with 9:29 left in the first when Sanheim beat Pickard from the right circle.
Philadelphia then extended its lead a little over four minutes later when an Edmonton turnover led to the puck deflecting into the net off the heel of Brink’s skate off a shot from Cam York.
Vladar, meanwhile, was solid by stopping 12 shots in the first period. However, he couldn’t prevent McDavid from scoring on a breakaway, which came off a Sanheim turnover in the neutral zone, with 3:52 remaining before the first intermission.
The Oilers made it 3-2 on the power play with 10:06 remaining in the second period. With an assist from McDavid, Bouchard unloaded a successful slap shot from the left point to give Edmonton at least one goal on the man advantage in nine of the last 10 games.
Philadelphia found some breathing room with 10:51 remaining in regulation off Seeler’s wrister for his first goal of the season. Tippett added an empty-netter as the Flyers scored at least five goals for the third time in their last six.
McDavid, meanwhile, has 14 goals with 22 assists in the last 15 games.
–Field Level Media
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Denver, CO
A franchise quarterback is vital to winning division titles
You might respond to this headline with ‘and water is wet’ and I wouldn’t blame you, but I was looking over the Denver Broncos history and how often they have won a division title. In their 65 years, the Broncos have brought home 16 AFC West division titles. That’s not very many, but given their first winning season was almost 20 years into it then it doesn’t look so bad.
The other thing I noticed is that only those teams who had a franchise quarterback type player under center did they repeat often as division winners. 11 of those 16 titles were won while John Elway or Peyton Manning were quarterbacking the franchise. Craig Morton won two backed by the vaunted Orange Crush defense of the 70s, but the rest were one-off division winners like Jake Plummer and Tim Tebow. Now that latter list includes Bo Nix.
The craziest stat that I found researching this topic was that all but one Broncos team that did not win the division were one-and-done in the playoffs. The lone team that wasn’t was that 1997 Super Bowl winning squad. Every single other team that finished second or third in the division and made the playoffs did not win a game once they got there. That doesn’t have much to do with the franchise quarterback topic here, but I found this little tidbit too interesting to not share.
As for the division winners, there were plenty of one-and-done seasons there too, but all of their playoff wins sans-1997 are also there.
The question I meant to get to sooner before going off on that side quest regarding the playoff outcomes was whether or not Bo Nix joins Elway and Manning or ends up with the Plummer and Morton’s of history of pretty good but not all-time great. A few playoff wins over the next month would certainly move the needle some before adding more division titles down the road.
Denver, CO
Denver police report increase in street racing arrests and citations in 2025
DENVER — Street racing continues to pose threats to Colorado drivers, so Denver7 looked into the trends we saw throughout 2025.
Denver Police report 80 citations and arrests as of December 17 for 2025. That’s 20 more than last year, according to Doug Schepman, director of communications for the Denver Police Department (DPD).
There is one strip of road in Denver we asked Schepman about specifically, after hearing from business owners that it’s particularly troublesome.
We’re talking about the 2000 block of S. Santa Fe Drive in Denver.
Michael Gray, owner of Discount Fishing Tackle, said it’s a weekly occurrence to watch or hear cars and motorcycles zip past.
“Recently, we’ve seen the kids on the motorcycles coming by with the front wheel in the air, going just as dangerous as can be, and especially dangerous because so many other people are going so fast on this road,” Gray said.
He said he’s noticed that as more turnoffs are removed and the spacing between traffic lights gets longer, more drivers tend to use it as their personal raceway.
“It doesn’t affect us really too much, but you don’t like to have something as dangerous as that going on all the time,” he said.
Schepman said patrol districts are aware that street racing occurs along this stretch of South Santa Fe Drive, and that officers are directed to patrol the area during periods when reports are more prevalent.
He adds that the community plays a critical part in helping investigators curb this problem.
The Colorado State Patrol said it has received more than 1,700 reports from the community this year.
You can continue to report street racing here.
Denver7
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Allie Jennerjahn
Denver7’s Allie Jennerjahn covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, corruption and ways to protect your family. If you’d like to get in touch with Allie, fill out the form below to send her an email.
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