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The Beats

A short list of select topics

Some Colorado voters now see racial justice and climate justice as intertwined issues

Last fall, high school senior Isha Kanu was all about raising awareness around climate change. “I saw activists like Greta Thunberg and how passionate they...
A Crestone Peak oil and gas operation on County Line Road in Weld County. The site contains 16 wells, 40 oil tanks, 26 combustors, 17 separators.

Oil and gas donors become an issue in Democratic primary, but most of the...

Andrew Romanoff is criticizing his opponent in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary for accepting money from oil and gas executives, but most of the...

Redlining in Denver’s past is shaping coronavirus hot spots now, researchers say

Add COVID-19 to the long list of things affected by the racist government practice of "redlining" minority neighborhoods starting back in the 1930s. Banks restricted lending in...
"Black Lives Matter, remember this time" street mural on Broadway between Colfax and 14th Avenues on June 13, 2020.

Tens of thousands of calls to re-examine Elijah McClain death inundate Aurora agencies

AURORA — Aurora-area law enforcement agencies are receiving a renewed flood of calls and emails asking officials to further examine the death of Elijah...
Sara Wittner (left) and her sister Grace Sekera on Sekera’s wedding day. Wittner began using narcotics again after the COVID-19 pandemic dismantled elements of her sobriety support system. On the Thursday after Easter, Sekera discovered her sister’s body. “No little sister should have to go through that,” Sekera says.

The hidden deaths of the COVID pandemic

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Sara Wittner had seemingly gotten her life back under control. After a December relapse in her battle with drug addiction, the...
Mireya Marquez sits in the shade at the Highland motel where she's been living. April 28, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Renters are worried a pandemic-caused eviction crisis is about to hit Colorado A statewide...

Mireya Marquez turned to a tenants’ rights lawyer after she became convinced her landlord wanted her out because she couldn’t pay her rent. Marquez’s landlord...
Needles from heroin-users are collected in bins at the Harm Reduction Action Center. The center counts more than 900 lives saved by training clients to use naloxone, the antidote to an opioid overdose. (Marvin Anani, Special to The Colorado Sun)

We’re dealing with a pandemic, but remember the opioid crisis? Coronavirus is likely to...

The coronavirus pandemic overshadowed a long list of other problems that suddenly seemed less urgent in the wake of a deadly virus and its...
A mural to bakers covers the back wall of a shop along Market Street as businesses creak back to life with the easing of restrictions to check the spread of the new coronavirus Wednesday, May 13, 2020, in Denver.

Coronavirus has been in Colorado for more than 100 days. How are we doing?

As some states across the country see an uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Colorado seems to be making tentative strides in containing the...
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs Senate Bill 217, a sweeping police accountability bill, into law at the Colorado Capitol on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)

Colorado governor signs sweeping police accountability bill into law. Here’s how it will change...

Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed Colorado’s sweeping police accountability bill, passed in the wake of George Floyd’s death, into law, calling it a...
Denver teachers' union and administrators negotiate potential pay freezes and furloughs during virtual bargaining on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Screenshot

Denver teachers, district reach agreement that keeps some raises amid budget cuts

The Denver teachers union and district officials reached an agreement late Thursday that preserves some pay raises won in last year’s historic strike even...
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