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More than 100 DPS schools will be closed Thursday as Colorado teachers rally for K-12 funding. These schools will stay open.

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More than 100 DPS schools will be closed Thursday as Colorado teachers rally for K-12 funding. These schools will stay open.


More than 100 schools in Denver will be closed Thursday as teachers and other educators plan to rally at the Colorado State Capitol to protest the state’s funding of K-12 schools.

Thousands of educators from across the state are expected to attend the event led by the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

While some districts are on spring break, others such as the Boulder Valley School District, Adams 12 Five Star Schools and the Aspen School District, have canceled all classes districtwide Thursday as employees have called out of work to attend the rally.

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At DPS alone, as many of 1,000 employees have expressed interest in attending, said Rob Gould, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.

“Our educators, they’re very concerned about the funding cuts,” he said.

DPS, which has more than 200 schools, will keep 30 district-run schools open Thursday by using substitutes and central office employees.

Another 55 DPS charter and innovation schools will also remain open, according to a list sent out by Superintendent Alex Marrero on Tuesday.

The rest of the district’s schools will be closed, with classes resuming Friday.

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“While we support fully funded education, we wish their action didn’t have a direct impact on students’ education,” Marrero wrote in a letter to families and employees. “Our goal is to do everything that we can do to keep our schools open so that our students do not lose a day of important instruction due to this event.

“In addition to the educational instruction that students will be missing out on, many of our students count on their schools for social-emotional support, mental health resources, and the only two meals that they will have to eat that day.”

DPS district-run schools that will remain open Thursday:

  • Barnum Elementary
  • Compassion Road Academy
  • Cory Elementary
  • Cowell Elementary
  • Denver Center for International Studies Fairmont
  • Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design
  • Delta High School
  • Eagleton Elementary School
  • Excel Academy
  • Florence Crittenton High School
  • Gilliam
  • Goldrick Elementary
  • Grant Ranch
  • Hallett Academy
  • International Academy of Denver Harrington
  • John H. Amesse Elementary
  • Manual Middle School
  • Marrama Elementary School
  • Montbello Career and Tech
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Middle School
  • Morey Middle School
  • Newlon
  • North Engagement Center
  • Polaris Elementary
  • Respect Academy
  • Schmitt Elementary
  • Steck Elementary
  • Steele Elementary
  • Trevista at Horace Mann
  • Willow Elementary

DPS charter and innovation zone schools that will remain open Thursday:

  • Charter and Innovation Zone
  • 5280 High School
  • Academy 360
  • AUL Denver
  • Cole Arts and Sciences Academy
  • Colorado High School Charter GES
  • Colorado High School Charter Osage
  • Compass Academy
  • Denver Justice High School
  • Denver Language School – Gilpin Campus
  • Denver Language School – Whiteman Campus
  • Downtown Denver Expeditionary School
  • DSST: Cedar High School
  • DSST: Cedar Middle School
  • DSST: Cole High School
  • DSST: Cole Middle School
  • DSST: College View High School
  • DSST: College View Middle School
  • DSST: Conservatory Green High School
  • DSST: Conservatory Green Middle School
  • DSST: Elevate Northeast High School
  • DSST: Elevate Northeast Middle School
  • DSST: Green Valley Ranch High School
  • DSST: Green Valley Ranch Middle School
  • DSST: Montview High School
  • DSST: Montview Middle School
  • French American School of Denver
  • Girls Athletic Leadership School High School
  • Girls Athletic Leadership School Middle School
  • Highline Academy Northeast
  • Highline Academy Southeast
  • KIPP Denver Collegiate High School
  • KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy
  • KIPP Northeast Denver Middle School
  • KIPP Northeast Elementary
  • KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy
  • KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary
  • Monarch Montessori
  • Omar D. Blair
  • RiseUp Community School
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Berkeley
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Creekside
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Federal
  • Rocky Mountain Prep GVR
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Noel
  • Rocky Mountain Prep RISE
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Ruby Hill
  • Rocky Mountain Prep SMART
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Southwest
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Sunnyside
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Westwood
  • SOAR Denver
  • University Prep – Arapahoe St.
  • University Prep – Steele St.
  • Valdez Elementary
  • Wyatt Academy

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Denver, CO

Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others

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Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others


Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.

Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.

Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.

Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.

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At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.



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Denver, CO

Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines

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Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines


The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.

Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.

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At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.

“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”

One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.

Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.

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“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”

The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.

Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.

“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”

McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.

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“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”

While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.

“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”

More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.

Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.

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Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.

“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.

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Denver, CO

Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy

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Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy


Denver will be the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy.

Funding for the project was approved by Denver voters in the Vibrant Denver Bond measure.

The vision is for the embassy to welcome Native people back home to Colorado.

On the snowy day of CBS News Colorado’s visit, Rick Williams observed the buffalo herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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“These animals are sacred to us,” said Williams, who is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne. “This was our economy. They provided everything we needed to live a wonderful lifestyle.”

Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, looks at buffalo at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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Williams is president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy.

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“‘Homeland’ is a special term for everybody, right?” Williams asked. “But for people who were alienated, for American Indians who were alienated from Colorado, they don’t have a home, they don’t have a home community that you can go to, this is it. And I think that’s sad.”

The First Creek Open Space — near 56th and Peña, near the southeast corner of the Arsenal — is owned by the City and County of Denver and is being considered for development of the embassy.

“To have a space that’s an embassy that would be government-to-government relations on neutral space,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who represents northeast Denver District 11. “But then also supporting the community’s economic development and their cultural preservation.”

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Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore speaks from the First Creek Open Space in northeast Denver about the possibility of building the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy at the site.

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Gilmore said $20 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond will support the design and construction of the center to support Indigenous trade, arts, and education.

“That sense of connection and that sense of place and having a site is so important if you’re going to welcome people back home,” added Gilmore.

“What a great treasure for people in Colorado,” Williams said as he read the interpretive sign at the wildlife refuge.

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Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, reads a sign at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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He said the proposed location makes perfect sense: “Near the metropolitan area, but not necessarily in the metropolitan area, we would love to be near buffalo. We would love to be in an area where there’s opportunities for access to the airport.”

The Denver March Powwow could one day be held at the embassy.

Williams dreams of expanding the buffalo herd nearby and having the embassy teach future generations Indigenous skills and culture.

The concept for the embassy is one of the recommendations emerging from the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, a group of American Indian leaders in Colorado who began to organize four years ago to study the history of Native Americans in our state.

And the work is just beginning.

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“We have to think about, ‘how do we maintain sustainability and perpetuity of a facility like this?’” Williams said. “So there’s lots of issues that are going to be worked on over the next year or so.”

Williams added, “One day our dreams are going to come true, and those tribes are going to come, and we’re going to have a big celebration out here. We’re going to have a drum, and we’re going to sing honor songs, and we’re going to have just the best time ever welcoming these people back to their homeland.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s staff sent the following statement:

“We are excited about the passing of the Vibrant Denver Bond and the opportunity it creates to invest in our city’s first American Indian Cultural Embassy. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with the Indigenous community to plan and develop the future embassy, and city staff have already been invited to listen and engage with some of our local American Indian groups, like the People of the Sacred Land. We are not yet at the stage of formal plans, but we are excited to see the momentum of this project continue.”

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