Author: reporter

A Pueblo District Court judge on Friday ordered the immediate release of a man jailed since January on municipal contempt of court charges while he challenges the legality of his sentence in a case that could ultimately impact other inmates jailed by Pueblo for contempt.Judge Michelle Chostner freed Dean Lopez, 55, two days after the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a petition seeking his immediate release on the grounds that his 575-day jail sentence was illegal.RELATED: How Pueblo weaponizes contempt of court to inflate jail time for minor crimesThe judge did not rule Friday on whether Lopez’s sentence…

A Conifer woman died in an all-terrain vehicle crash in Park County this week.The Park County coroner on Thursday identified the victim as Shelley Maree Ekstrom, 60.According to the Park County Coroner, first responders responded to a report of missing persons and a fatal ATV crash in the National Forest near the border between Park counties on Oct. 2. Ekstrom’s body was recovered the next day, with several agencies working together in rough terrain. The coroner determined Ekstrom had died on Oct. 1.The crash was the second involving an ATV in Park County in two months, according to the coroner’s…

Reflecting on his nearly 40 years of business, Mike Tsikoudakis spoke slowly and carefully, with a tear in his eye.“(I’m) grateful forever,” he said about his customers. “They’re always going to be in my heart. And I’m going to miss them, but it was time for me to move on.”Tsikoudakis, 72, and 68-year-old business partner Terry Vaidis are retiring and selling their Greek eatery Monaco Inn Restaurant at 962 S. Monaco St. Parkway. They opened it in 1986.Pomodoro Pizza and Pasta, an Italian restaurant just across the Aurora border near Lowry, will be taking over the space for a second…

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — He isn’t the main event anymore, but Russell Westbrook might be the NBA star player you’d most want to see play in a preseason game, even at 35.His attacks on the rim are so fully committed, even when they fail, that he crash-landed behind the baseline after one of them Friday and stood up with a limp.Oh, boy. Was this seriously happening? After all the anticipation of Russ’ arrival in Denver, an immediate injury in an exhibition game that doesn’t mean anything? He walked gingerly to the defensive end of the court as play…

The chief of the Center Police Department and a sergeant, twin brothers, have been charged with theft and placed on administrative leave.Aaron Fresquez, the police chief, and Sgt. Adam Fresquez are accused of operating a private K-9 training business while on duty at the department in the San Luis Valley and using city resources. The 35-year-old brothers trained dogs for other police agencies and then kept the money that should have gone to the town of Center, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday.Aaron Fresquez was also cited with a misdemeanor count of official misconduct.The charges were…

Odds are now high that a system developing in the Gulf of Mexico could become a tropical depression or storm before it makes its way to Florida next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.As of the NHC’s 8 p.m. tropical outlook, forecasters are looking at a broad area of low pressure in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico with disorganized showers and thunderstorms.“Gradual development of this system is expected, and a tropical or subtropical depression or storm is likely to form late this weekend or early next week while the system moves eastward or northeastward across the Gulf of Mexico,”…

Zeev Buium had a freshman season for the ages a year ago, and now he’s got a chance to be one of the most decorated players in the history of college hockey’s most successful program.Buium set a record for assists by a freshman defenseman at the University of Denver. He became the first Pioneers freshman in three decades to reach 50 points in a season. Oh, he also won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships, won a national title and was selected in the first round of the 2024 NHL draft.What could he do for an encore? How…

The 46-year-old man fatally shot by Thornton police officers during an August standoff has been identified, coroner’s officials announced Thursday.Pedro Noe Sotelo was shot by Thornton officers on Aug. 12 after shooting his dog and firing at police, according to the police department.Paramedics took Sotelo to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries on Sept. 1, according to the Adams County Coroner’s Office.An autopsy was performed, but Sotelo’s cause and manner of death are pending further investigation, coroner’s officials said.The shooting happened in the 9700 block of Washington Street around 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12, police said.…

Three strip clubs are asking a Denver judge to stop city investigators from collecting dancers’ contracts, contact information and pay records in a first-of-its-kind wage-theft probe.RCI Holdings, which owns PT’s Showclub, Diamond Cabaret and PT’s Centerfold, sued the city’s Labor Division this week. It claims that the division’s issuance of “overreaching and unjustified” subpoenas is “an alarming abuse of power” that threatens privacy rights.RELATED: Denver subpoenas 3 strip clubs in first use of new tool to investigate wage theft “It appears to the clubs’ legal counsel that Denver Labor is operating with the belief that they have unfettered access to…

Leaves are holding tight to the trees this autumn along the Front Range, but home prices have started tumbling despite more-favorable mortgage rates for buyers, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.The median price of a single-family or “detached” home sold in metro Denver last month was $630,000, down 3.11% from August and 1.56% from September 2023. For townhomes and condos, the median price was $403,500, up 2% from August but down 3.93% from a year earlier.Looking at single-family-home prices on a year-to-date basis, the median sales price of $650,000 matches the year-to-date figure for…