Matt Sebastian

Who is DoBetterDNVR? Meet 3 women feeding information to Denver’s loudest social media critic The account routinely excoriates Denver’s current leaders for the way the city approaches addiction and homelessness.

wow, this story from Shelly Bradbury @denverpost.com is amazing work! important read if you live in Denver.

USDA proposes closing Forest Service offices while moving more workers to the Mountain West The plan, released last week by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would eliminate the Forest Service’s nine regional offices over the next year, including offices in Montana, Colorado, New Mexico ...

What's next in the feds plans to eliminate the Forest Service’s nine regional offices, including those in Missoula, Mont., Lakewood, Colo., Albuquerque, N.M. and Ogden, Utah? From the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen - www.kunc.org/regional-new...

Family’s attorney calls out Denver DA for not charging suspect in killing of East High student The 16-year-old was shot while sitting in his car outside of the school on Feb. 13, 2023, and died more than two weeks later.

“For whatever reason, the district attorney’s office refuses to charge this person,” said Matthew Barringer, attorney for Luis Garcia's family. “…You still have a dead kid that no one in city government seems to care about.” The DA's office tells @jessicaseaman.bsky.social the case remains open

Truly astounding.

Covered the jobs report for years and to be clear, the people over at BLS are numbers people. You never called them thinking you’d get a partisan answer.

In fact they NEVER for example offered interpretations. Ever. It’s just “here are the numbers.”

Saint Kendrick Castillo? Douglas County church submits petition for Catholic canonization “Although I have just begun to review the information submitted, it seems clear that Kendrick was an exceptional young man,” Colorado Springs Bishop James Golka said.

St. Mark Parish is petitioning to make Kendrick Castillo, the student killed in the 2019 shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch, a Catholic saint // Story by @jessicaseaman.bsky.social

Need a housing voucher to subsidize your rent in Colorado? You’re likely out of luck this year The federal Housing Choice Voucher Program has never been able to meet the needs of all the people in the state who are eligible to receive vouchers.

Public housing agencies across Colorado are not handing out new housing vouchers this year for low-income residents as they reckon with budgetary shortfalls // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social

Not exactly ~breaking news~ but Gov. Polis gave some strong indications this morning that a special legislative session to deal with revenue hole is imminent — & that lawmakers will be asked to tackle the state’s artificial intelligence regulations, too, which will come into effect in February.

A century later, Rep. Gabe Evans echoes anti-immigrant attitudes his grandfather’s family overcame | Colorado Newsline Many of Rep. Gabe Evans’ statements in support of Trump's immigration policies distinctly echo the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the 1930s.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans insists past generations of immigrants, including his grandfather's family, did it "the right way," while millions of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status today did it "the wrong way."

History offers little support for any such distinctions.

"WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 1, 2025) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations"

cpb.org/pressroom/Co...

Who is DoBetterDNVR? Meet 3 women feeding information to Denver’s loudest social media critic The account routinely excoriates Denver’s current leaders for the way the city approaches addiction and homelessness.

Deep look by @denverpost.com's Shelly Bradbury into DoBetterDNVR, social media account that stokes outrage with images of homeless people, public drug use and crime. “They’re doing it in a way that is hurtful, shameful and mocks people... it's just cruel," Colorado Coalition for the Homeless says

Denver may soon have multiple stadium districts along the South Platte River. Can the city support them all? The Broncos are eyeing a Burnham Yard stadium district. The Kroenkes have development plans around Ball Arena. Denver Summit FC wants a Santa Fe Yards site. Can the city support them all?

"....between plans for Ball Arena and a new NWSL team, and the possibility of Broncos redevelopment at Burnham, that’s three potential stadium districts in a constricted five-mile radius — not even including Coors in LoDo."

RSS for life

Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American History Museum A temporary placard, on display since 2021, described the president's historic impeachments. Officials said the exhibit was restored to an earlier version following a review of legacy content.

Exclusive: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History removed references to President Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit — an apparent change to its plans to update its collection of artifacts about the historic U.S. proceedings.

Colorado’s Law Enforcement Integrity Act does not permit agencies to charge requesters hundreds or thousands of dollars for body-worn camera footage showing possible misconduct by police officers, three briefs submitted to the Colorado of Appeals this week argue.
coloradofoic.org/cfoic-aclu-b...

$80 million cultural tax district names new director The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District covers the 7-country metro area.

Who's going to lead Denver's biggest arts and culture funding district? A little background on #SCFD's new leader, Andrea Albo, who's replacing the beloved Deborah Jordy. For @denverpost.com

Bloodied Faces, Sobbing Children: Immigration Officers Smash Car Windows to Speed Up Arrests We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...

NEW visual investigation:

ICE agents are smashing car windows & grabbing the people inside

There's footage of sobbing kids, pregnant women, & bloodied faces

We found ~50 cases but no civilians w/ sig criminal records

Insiders told us this used to be rare

projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...

Colorado’s cover bands and tribute acts make old music new again “If we play ‘Jessie’s Girl’ by Rick Springfield anywhere in the country in front of any audience, it’s going to get a great reaction,” said Travis LeRoy of That Eighties Band.

Don't get to write too often anymore, so this was fun to report and put together. Though I regret not sampling the churros.

Unemployed in America: My Own Story There's a critical shortage of journalists in the American news industry, with many talented reporters experiencing layoffs just like mine. What can be done about it?

There's a critical shortage of journalists in the American news industry, with many talented reporters experiencing layoffs just like mine. What can be done about it?

Colorado State Patrol, local police also shared information with ICE, Mesa County sheriff says State troopers no longer share information in the Signal chat, Colorado State Patrol Chief Matthew Packard said in a statement Wednesday.

Sheriff Todd Rowell called on AG Phil Weiser, who sued a Mesa County deputy for sharing info with ICE, to either drop the case or also sue other state and local officials who have violated state law by sharing information with the feds – including Gov. Jared Polis // Story by @katielang.bsky.social

Sloan’s Lake water crisis may force Dragon Boat Festival to leave Denver Colorado Dragon Boat Fest was moved from July to September this year over health and safety concerns

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival may soon need a new home due to a host of environmental issues — dead fish, increasingly warm and shallow water, blue algae blooms, lack of filtration from untreated runoff — at Sloan’s Lake in Denver // Story by @johnwenzel.bsky.social

Colorado’s Best of the Best: Our Individual Award Winners Each year, the Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Professional Chapter honors outstanding Colorado journalists and allies who exemplify the highest standards of professional excellence wi…

The BEST OF THE BEST in Colorado journalism! A beta version of the SPJ Colorado Pro Chapter's webpage honoring recipients of our annual individual awards (Keeper of the Flame, Journalist of the Year, First Amendment Award, Educator of the Year) is now live. And you can help us fill in some blanks.

Good morning from the state Capitol. Gov. Polis’ budget director is telling legislative leadership that, because of the federal tax bill, the state is facing an immediate deficit of $955 million. That means legislators will have to find or cut that money, which will likely happen in next few weeks.

COVID infection early in pandemic linked to higher risk of cancer death, CU study finds COVID-19 didn’t directly cause the cancer to spread, but created an environment where dormant cells elsewhere in patients’ bodies can wake up.

New study finds COVID didn’t directly cause cancer to spread, but created environment where dormant cancer cells can wake. The body responds to infection with inflammation to kill virus — which helps cancer cells. “It’s kind of like collateral damage,” says Colorado researcher who helped lead study

"For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing."

Police in rural Colorado plowed into a suspect who had his hands up. The undersheriff who gave the command has since been promoted. Police shootings and excessive-force allegations have become increasingly common in recent years in Craig.

In this rural Colorado town, violent police encounters have been on the rise in recent years.

Craig, pop 9k, has seen its only 3 police shootings in recorded history since 2023 and has paid at least 400k to settle excessive force claims in recent years.

www.denverpost.com/2025/07/27/c...

Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, along with U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, all out w/ statements about Gaza’s starvation. Bennet and Hick both signed on to a letter with most of their D colleagues calling for ceasefire, hostage return and permanent end to the conflict:

Colorado agency demolishes buildings at Denver’s Burnham Yard, stirring preservation backlash The agency reduced several significant buildings to rubble over the weekend.

CDOT has begun demolishing buildings at Burnham Yard, a historic railyard that once played a key role in Denver’s railroad industry and is linked to ongoing conversations about a future Broncos stadium // Story by @jessalvg.bsky.social

Inside Colorado’s famous resort for Black Americans Colorado was once a beacon for members of the Harlem Renaissance and Black families from all over the country.

Black families from all over the country flocked to Colorado’s Lincoln Hills during Jim Crow, a safe place for them to gather and relax

Figures like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B DuBois & more would hold literary salons there during visits

A Love Letter to Music Listings Publications like Time Out New York were my bible and my road map.

"How will historians write the story of a city that no longer maintains a record of its own cultural life?"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Mountain lion kills Boulder couple’s dog during evening walk Taulere and Arrone Appel were on their nightly walk with their small, white Cavachon dog on Friday. It was less than an hour after the sun set at 8:22 p.m., when their dog, Bodhi, stopped walking a…

A mountain lion pounced on and killed a couple's dog while they were walking it in Boulder one night last week. “It was just, like, out of nowhere,” one of the owners says. “We walked home in shock.”