Your Daily Guide

⚖️ Reduced Sentencing for Shoplifing

Denver City Council passed a bill last week reducing maximum punishments for certain crimes to match state penalties. This comes after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that cities could not impose harsher punishments than the state law allows. Mayor Johnston’s office was initially skeptical of some aspects of the proposal, but he reportedly intends to sign. It would make shoplifting a class 2 misdemeanor, with a charge of up to $750 and up to 120 days in jail. [Denverite]

• Colorado enacted state-level sentencing reforms during the pandemic: During the nationwide George Floyd protests in 2021, Colorado lawmakers voted to significantly lower penalties for misdemeanor and petty offenses, like shoplifting, in the state's courts. This did not impact municipal courts until the recent Supreme Court ruling. [The Denver Post]
• Local businesses feel defeated by retail thieves: In the last few years, some local businesses have reported seeing an uptick in shoplifters, believing the increase is due in part to law enforcement's shift away from low-level crimes. [The Denver Post]
• $1.3 billion lost: According to Common Sense Institute, a conservative think tank, retail crime has reached record levels in the state, up 10% in the last decade. CSI reports Colorado posted a “loss rate” of “about 19% lower than the national average.” [Common Sense]

🦅 A Colorado Politics Legend Faces a Changing of the Guard

We are digging into the archives of history today on the podcast. As our team worked on our big Lauren Boebert project a couple years ago, Producer Paul Karolyi followed a tangent to Gary Hart and the tabloid-ified sex scandal that ended his career in 1987. [City Cast Denver]

• Last week’s election posed a question: What happened to Colorado’s political establishment? Gary Hart has answers. [🎧 City Cast Denver]

❌ Gov. Polis Ousts Dissenters

Gov. Jared Polis last week fired Hannah Seigel Proff and Azra Taslimi, two members of the governor's clemency board. He says they broke confidentiality rules. Proff and Taslimi co-authored an op-ed in the Denver Post speaking out against his decision to grant clemency to disgraced Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in May. [The New York Times 🔒; The Denver Post 🔒]

• ICYMI: President Donald Trump hosted Tina Peters at the White House last week. [9News]

🛴 Veo Enhances Technology to Limit Sidewalk Riding

Per a mandate from City Council, Veo is expanding the use of light detection and geofencing technology across its fleet to help reduce sidewalk riding, a concern many raised ahead of the company's initial launch in May. When the system detects a rider on the sidewalk, it shows an alert to direct them to a designated riding area. If the rider continues on the sidewalk, the device should slow or automatically end. [9News]

🎭 City-Backed Downtown Project Evicted, Sued Over Unpaid Work

Last Thursday, BusinessDen reported that the Denver Immersive Repertory Theater has been evicted from its theater space at 1431 15th St. The eviction comes after Beaver Construction Consulting, the general contractors hired to build DIRT, filed a lawsuit last week claiming the theater-to-be still owes them $269,000 for completed work. The fledgling theater company has suffered months of financial setbacks for the theater, and opening had reportedly been delayed due in part to a lengthy effort to secure a $400,000 Downtown Denver Development Authority loan. [BusinessDen 🔒]

• Check out our past reporting on DIRT performers being hired and then unexpectedly furloughed without pay. Comedian Josh Emerson brought all the inside info. [🎧 Cty Cast Denver]