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Michael Hancock Is a Sexual Harasser and Must Resign, Police Union Says

By Michael Roberts

Ever since Denver Mayor Michael Hancock apologized for sending inappropriate texts to Denver police officer Leslie Branch-Wise during the 2011-2012 period when she was on his security detail, various organizations related to local law enforcement have made their displeasure with the situation clear. The latest: Hours after Nick Rogers, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, told us that Hancock had lost the respect of cops in the Mile High, the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police, the state’s primary police union, sent a scathing letter to Governor John Hickenlooper demanding that the mayor resign over his treatment of now-Detective Branch-Wise and plenty more.

Resigning Manual Principal “Targeted by Those That Called Me N*gger”

By Michael Roberts

On Friday, March 2, news broke that Nick Dawkins had resigned as principal of Manual High School, and the initial letter describing the reasons behind his decision was exceedingly polite, albeit with an edge of sadness. But the following day, in an essay entitled “Why I Left Denver Public Schools,” Dawkins was much more blunt, revealing that a controversy over reports of a confederate flag at a Manual-Weld Central High School football game last September was among the factors that led to his departure. “For weeks as this situation played out I was targeted by those that called me a nigger and vowed to bring harm to me,” Dawkins wrote.

Michael Hancock Sexy Text Scandal: He’s Lost Respect of Police, Critic Says

By Michael Roberts

The fallout continues following Mayor Michael Hancock’s apology for inappropriate texts sent to Denver police officer Leslie Branch-Wise. The scandal has led to veiled lawsuit threats from an attorney representing Wayne McDonald, a former Hancock pal who won $200,000 in a previous suit over over his 2012 firing from a position with the mayor; he’d supposedly made similarly problematic comments to Branch-Wise. And it’s also emboldened critics such as the Colorado Latino Forum’s Lisa Calderón, organizer of a March 7 march to call for his resignation. Nick Rogers, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, doesn’t go quite as far as Calderón. But he sees the Branch-Wise matter as another example of Hancock’s flawed leadership.

Richard Darling Dismemberment Murder: A Survivor’s Story

By Michael Roberts

Earlier this month, Richard Darling was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for allegedly killing, dismembering and “filleting” the body of Rey Pesina in an Aurora homeless encampment on Halloween of 2015. The sentence would seem to offer some solace to Candace Chamberlain, who was romantically involved with both men before getting caught in the middle of their fatal conflict. But more than two years later, she’s still struggling to deal with her memories from that awful day.

Steve Lebsock Gets the Boot

By Nora Olabi

In a historic move, Thornton Democrat Steve Lebsock was expelled today by the Colorado House of Representatives in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment by at least eleven women, including Democratic colleague Representative Faith Winter.

How Nurse Tom Moore Got Away With Groping Patients for a Decade

By Michael Roberts

In 2016, as we’ve reported, at least eleven women accused nurse Tom Moore of improperly touching them while he was supposed to be providing medical care. Now, he’s been given a twelve-year sentence for unlawful sexual contact in the 17th Judicial District, to run concurrently with a dozen year jolt previously doled out in Weld County. But according to one of Moore’s multiple arrest affidavits, the amount of time he’s been ordered to serve is only a little longer that the decade during which he allegedly used his profession as a means to violate one female victim after another.

This Is the Day Accused Pit Bull Bandit Is Going to Die

By Michael Roberts

The owners of Bandit say that the dog is a boxer mix. But as we’ve reported, officials in Aurora believe he’s a type of pit bull, a breed banned in the community for a decade-plus, and they’ve spent more than a year trying to put him to death over a January 2017 biting incident. Today, March 2, they’ll succeed. He’s scheduled to be euthanized at the Aurora animal shelter this morning.

Did Hancock Throw Ex-Pal Under Bus to Save Himself in Sexy Text Scandal?

By Michael Roberts

The fallout has been considerable in the wake of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s apology for inappropriate texts sent to Denver police officer Leslie Branch-Wise. The latest example comes from an attorney representing Wayne McDonald, a former Hancock friend and onetime City of Denver employee who won a $200,000 settlement four years after filing a lawsuit over his 2012 firing, which had reportedly been prompted by “inappropriate comments” he’d made to Branch-Wise, then a part of the mayor’s security team. According to the lawyer, Milwaukee-based William Sulton, corresponding via email, Hancock told untruths about McDonald after sacking him, and in alluding to him during his video apology to Branch-Wise, “Mayor Hancock caused the same false statements to be published about Mr. McDonald.”