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WEEK OF DECEMBER 26, 2024
VOLUME 121 | ISSUE 52
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RALLYING FOR PALIZZI
State mulls stricter rules for police licensing Standard board asks to add 31 misdemeanors to disqualifying list BY ALLISON SHERRY CPR NEWS
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PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR
Ten stories we talked about in 2024 A tight race in CD 8, threats to Palizzi Farm and Brighton and Fort Lupton go green STAFF REPORTS
Close race for the 8th Congressional District goes to Gabe Evans After a neck-and-neck race for a seat in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District in November, incumbent Democratic Yadira Caraveo conceded to Republican Gabe Evans five days after the final votes were cast. The two ran a tight race since the Nov. 5 vote, with Caraveo holding a narrow lead until votes began trickling in from conservative Weld County in the farflung 8th District.
The district was created in 2022 and Caraveo won the seat with by just over 1,632 votes over her Republican opponent Barb Kirkmeyer that year. The race was considered pivotal as Republicans and Democrats tried to hold majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nearly $15 million in super PAC money streamed into the race by late October. In all, over $20 million in total was spent by PACs and the candidates on the 8th Congressional District contest by late fall. – Monte Whaley Brighton rallies to defend Palizzi Farm
The signs were everywhere in Brighton in 2024: Save Paliizzi Farm. When the Brighton City Council voted unanimously in September 2023 to create a new metropolitan district, Park-
VOICES: PAGE 6 | CULTURE: PAGE 8 | BRIEFS: PAGE 10
land Metropolitan District No. 1, it approved a development project on 140 acres south of Bromley Lane between Chambers Road and the Bromley Koizuma-Hishunuma Farm. To make that work, developers said they needed to attach to a storm sewer line from the west, and the most direct route would be through the southern end of Palizzi Farm. But farm owner Debora Palizzi said doing that cut her property in half and could put her popular Bromley Lane farm stand out of business. “If it were a pizza parlor, Palizzi’s could move to another location and reopen to continue serving pizza,” her website read. “This is not the case with a vegetable farm. It will end the livelihoods of everyone employed at Palizzi Farm.” SEE STORIES, P4
Child abuse, animal cruelty, theft, fraud, invasion of privacy for sexual gratification. In Colorado, a person can be convicted of these crimes — plus dozens of others — and still qualify to be a licensed peace officer responsible for dealing with people at their most vulnerable moments. The state agency in charge of licensing the state’s law enforcement officers wants that to change. The Peace Officers Standards and Training Board voted unanimously this month to ask the state legislature to add another 31 misdemeanor crimes to the existing list of 44 as “decertifying to be a peace officer.” That means if the legislature agrees, a law enforcement officer convicted of any of these crimes will also be decertified. The state already bars anyone convicted of any felony from being able to serve as a law enforcement officer. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose office manages the POST board, said that adding to this list of disqualifying misdemeanors is long overdue. “Over a decade ago, the POST Board had recommendations for additional categories that should merit being decertified. The legislature failed to act,” he said. “It’s important that the public have full confidence in law enforcement, and conduct in these misdemeanor categories is unacceptable and should prevent someone from serving in law enforcement in Colorado.” Currently not included in that disqualifying list is violating a protective order – something state officials hope the legislature adds. SEE RULES, P2
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