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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on immigration raids: “We know there’s a lot of fear … we’re not going to be bullied”

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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on immigration raids: “We know there’s a lot of fear … we’re not going to be bullied”


In recent years, the City of Denver has served more than 40,000 migrants. Now, Mayor Mike Johnston is being asked to testify in a hearing on immigration and so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

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On Wednesday Johnston and CBS Colorado’s Jasmine Arenas discussed how immigration issues have impacted the community. He said it has been difficult to have conversations with families about deportation, but despite the challenges, he stands by his decision to support families with what the resources the city can.

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“We didn’t choose this outcome. When the governor of Texas decided to send 40,000 people on buses to Denver, we made sure we were going to serve them,” Johnston said.

Since then, the City of Denver has spent more than $350 million on migrant services. Despite this, Denver has never identified itself as a “sanctuary city.” Johnston is at the forefront of the criticism.

“What does the term ‘sanctuary city’ mean to you?” Arenas said.

“What that means for Denver is we do not ask someone’s immigration status. We don’t know your status, so we don’t share your status with other federal agencies. However, if the federal government, like (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), identifies someone in our jails and wants to deport them or take action when they’re released, we notify them when the person is being released, and they can pick them up at that point,” Johnston said.

Johnston added that, so far, ICE has not directly reached out to his administration for any collaboration on this.

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“But if they do send notice requests to the jail, we respond, and we’ve had a few over the last few weeks,” he said.

In the past year, Johnston’s administration has been focused on finding solutions, including launching the Denver Asylum Seeker Program, which has successfully integrated migrants into the workforce.

“They’re now working, paying taxes and supporting their families. We don’t want to see those folks pulled off the job or their kids taken out of school,” he said.

In recent weeks, his office has received a surge of calls from families concerned about their future.

“We know there’s a lot of fear, and we’re having those hard conversations. Denver is not going to change our values. We’re not going to be bullied or blackmailed into changing our approach,” Johnston said.

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The mayor remains noncommittal on whether he will testify before Congress but said he is having conversations about it. Today, he also outlined his citywide goals for 2025, including lowering housing costs and increasing public safety.



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Denver, CO

Mean Girls musical cast prepares for visit to Denver, demonstrates popular dance from show

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Mean Girls musical cast prepares for visit to Denver, demonstrates popular dance from show


For one week only, the cast of Mean Girls the musical will be playing at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The musical will take the stage at the Buell Theatre starting Feb. 25.

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Mean Girls the musical at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

DCPA


Katie Yoemans and Kabir Ghandi are two of the talented performers who are on tour with the production. Before they arrived in Denver for their stay they met up with CBS News Colorado’s Dillon Thomas at the Mathnasium in Fort Collins.

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The show also plays into the idea of “mathletes,” much like the original film from 2004, setting up the Mathnasium as the perfect place to meet up with Thomas.

“We are so happy to be playing these really fun characters in a super high energy beloved show,” Yoemans said.

“The biggest addition from the original movie to our musical is the great dancing and singing. It does a good job at giving you what you love but giving it that big Broadway feel,” Ghandi said.

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Katie Yoemans and Kabir Ghandi show CBS News Colorado reporter Dillon Thomas some dance moves from Mean Girls the musical.

CBS

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Both Ghandi and Yoemans joined the musical tour in November of 2024 and have already toured to places like Mexico, and Alaska and from coast to coast of the lower 48 states.

However, they did not have much time to learn every step of the show before being put on stage.

“Learning on the road was definitely a new challenge,” Yoemans said.

“I think we learned the whole show within a week,” Ghandi said.

The duo gave Thomas a crash course lesson on how to do one of the popular dances from the production, which you can see by watching the video attached to this report.

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Both Ghandi and Yoemans said the show is a great time for people of all generations.

“It is a good time for the family, it is a good laugh,” Ghandi said.

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Mean Girls the musical

DCPA


Tickets to Mean Girls at the Denver Center at the DCPA are available online. 

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CBS Colorado is a proud partner of the DCPA.



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ESPN Insider Reveals Broncos Plan to Create Even More Cap Space

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ESPN Insider Reveals Broncos Plan to Create Even More Cap Space


In the wake of the NFL raising the salary-cap ceiling for 2025 to $279.5 million, based on Over The Cap‘s projections, the Denver Broncos now have $41.7 million in breathing room. The new NFL cap ceiling opened up roughly $7 million in cap space for the Broncos, which can go a long way on the free-agent market.

However, the Broncos could be planning to create even more salary-cap space between now and when the new league year opens on March 12. ESPN‘s Jeff Legwold reported this week that Broncos GM George Paton expects to have “about $52 million” by then.

“Denver should have at least $38 million to $40 million worth of cap space prior to any roster maneuvers or potential restructurings before the league year opens March 12,” Legwold wrote. “Paton said in January that he expected the Broncos to have ‘about $52 million’ in salary cap space by the time the new league year begins.”

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Where is that extra $10 million coming from? The Broncos clearly have some plans in place, and one way to create cap space is to restructure existing player contracts to free up room.

Teams can also release a player, convert salary to bonuses, or add additional void years on a contract, along with other forms of ‘salary-cap voodoo,’ to create cap space. However, the Broncos also have the option to move on from certain players to help get to that $52M number.

In terms of current Broncos contracts that could be restructured, candidates to consider include left guard Ben Powers and right tackle Mike McGlinchey, both of whom signed new deals in 2023 and have multiple years left on their contracts. The Broncos also have players they could approach about an extension, and none are more deserving than wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who enters a contract year set to make $13.5 million in salary.

Sutton will not only be hoping for an extension, but on the heels of a 1,000-yard receiving campaign, he’ll be looking for a raise. There are ways for the Broncos to extend him and even pay him more money, while reducing his 2025 cap hit, which currently sits at $20.2M.

When it comes to cutting players to free up cap space, the NFL rumor mill has floated multiple candidates this offseason, including Broncos safety P.J. Locke, linebacker Alex Singleton, and defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers. Such moves are always painful, and while there’s an argument for Locke and Singleton, it’s hard to see the Broncos moving on from Franklin-Myers after he over-delivered in Year 1 with seven sacks.

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Suffice it to say, we’ll be keeping our ear to the floor on the subject of possible cap casualties between now and March 12. But when free agency rolls around, what really makes a difference is when teams have the available cash on hand to out-compete other suitors.

Sports Illustrated‘s Andrew Brandt, a former Green Bay Packers executive whose responsibility was to manage the salary cap and negotiate contracts, explained in a column from 2023 how cash is king in the NFL, not cap space, per se.

“In analyzing a player contract or a team payroll, many fans (and even media) focus on cap impacts. I am here to tell you to stop doing that,” Brandt wrote. “What matters is the cash, not the cap. Cash is real money in and real money out. Cap is simply bookkeeping. Even dead money—leftover nonroster charges for players no longer with the team—is merely unamortized proration clogging up the pipes of the overall cap. It is not cash.”

Denver has the wealthiest ownership in the NFL in the Walton/Penner group, which gives the Broncos a real advantage when negotiating with their own players and outside free agents. If a player is presented with a similar contract by two teams, but one offer includes a lot more cash upfront (signing bonus/early payout), that team will, more often than not, out-compete the other for said player’s services.

It will be interesting to see how Paton plans to get to $52 million in cap space and how much of that arithmetic from back in January included the projected NFL salary-cap increase. The NFL increases the cap ceiling every year, but it’s hard to predict accurately in January exactly how much it’ll climb by March.

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Even at $41.7M in cap space, the Broncos are in a far better situation than they were last year. The specter of Russell Wilson’s punitive contract still haunts the Broncos, but it won’t be as restrictive on the team’s offseason maneuvers this year.

The Broncos had to get skinny last season and rely on the rookie class and the youth of the roster, which not only led to a great season and multiple players emerging as cornerstone pieces but also provided excellent fiscal experience for the front-office shot-callers. Credit to Sean Payton and his coaching staff for pulling off the feat.

“We had no choice,” Paton said back in January. “We could’ve taken a less of a hit last year, but we wanted to take the full hit because we were going to go young. Sean emphasized that to the coaches. We’re playing our young players.”

Armed with that much cap space and the wealthiest owners in football, fans can expect the Broncos to be bigger players on this year’s free-agent market. With needs at running back, tight end, wide receiver, defensive line, linebacker, and safety, the Broncos have the resources to fill most of them before the NFL draft rolls around in April.

Follow Denver Broncos On SI/Mile High Huddle on InstagramX, and Facebook and subscribe on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!

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Fatima Ibrahim delivers key plays as UND beats Denver 73-68

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Fatima Ibrahim delivers key plays as UND beats Denver 73-68


DENVER — With UND starting center Walker Demers missing a second-straight game, backup Fatima Ibrahim is making the most of her increased opportunities.

Ibrahim scored two key baskets in the game’s final 74 seconds as UND beat Denver 73-68 on Saturday in Hamilton Gymnasium.

Ibrahim notched her second career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The Summit League’s blocks leader had three more blocks.

Her first big basket late came with 1:14 remaining when she snagged a Jocelyn Schiller miss and put it back for a 67-62 advantage.

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Then with UND clinging to a two-point lead following three Angelina Robles free throws for Denver, Ibrahim grabbed another offensive rebound and put back a Kiera Pemberton miss for a 69-65 advantage with 20 seconds left.

UND would then ice the game at the foul line.

Pemberton finished with 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting. She added seven rebounds and three steals.

Schiller scored 12 points, with seven rebounds and two steals.

Nevaeh Ferrara Horne added 10 points.

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Denver led by as many as eight in the third quarter.

The Pioneers were led by Robles with 21 points, while Jordan Jones had 15 points on 6-for-19 shooting.

UND improved to 5-9 in the league and sit in sixth place in the Summit League standings. Denver is at the bottom of the league race, dropping to 1-13 in Summit play.

The Hawks have two regular-season games remaining. UND hosts Omaha on Thursday and Kansas City on Saturday afternoon.

Staff reports and local scoreboards from the Grand Forks Herald Sports desk.

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