Kelly Werthmann

Parents from an Aurora elementary school are livid at the response of school staff during and in the hours following an alleged kidnapping attempt of a 5th-grader from school grounds.That kidnapping attempt is alleged to have happened last Friday at Black Forest Hills Elementary School, police and school officials say. Notifications to parents about the incident went out Friday and then another with some more information went out Sunday afternoon. Aurora police say 33-year-old Solomon Galligan w…

Fractured bones, a knocked-out tooth, deep bruises, and immeasurable heartache. Those are just some of the injuries suffered by at least three students with autism allegedly at the hands of a Littleton Public Schools paraprofessional trusted to care for them.The kids take a dedicated bus provided by the LPS transportation system to get to one of Colorado’s most highly regarded private schools for students with autism – The Joshua School. Yet, as some parents discovered and told CBS News Colorado…

Buttons, booklets and tasty treats. At the newly opened Crossroads Trading Post in Aurora, you’re bound to find something wonderful to enjoy.“We have a coffee shop, we have a smoothie shop, we have merchandise that we sell,” said Alison Merritt, a paraeducator at the Crossroads Transition Center, “and it’s all done by students.“Students like Fabian Barrios Martinez who helps stock the store shelves and makes some of the merchandise.“I make buttons and use the laminator,” he said.Martinez is non-…

Parts of Colorado are getting a financial boost thanks in part to Congressman Jason Crow. Last month, he secured $12.2 million for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District to fund critical services like infrastructure improvements, community revitalization and student support. Among the projects receiving the generous funds is a new workforce training and education space in Aurora. “This is going to be a state-of-the-art facility, over 50,000 square feet,” said Dr. Mordecai Brownlee, President of…

Nuggets star Jamal Murray took to the hardwood Tuesday not as a player but as a coach. He surprised students at North Middle School for a unified basketball game against Aurora Hills Middle School. Unified sports is a collaborative approach to create opportunities for students with and without disabilities to participate in school sports. “It’s a lot of fun, obviously, anytime I get to play basketball and put smiles on kids’ faces,” Murray told CBS News Colorado’s Kelly Werthma…

A 17-year-old from Aurora is facing several felony charges for an armed carjacking and fatal crash in Aurora Sunday night. It is yet another example of violent youth crime in the city, and the police chief calls it “tragic.”“What was a 17-year-old thinking when he felt like this is the thing I’m going to do today, ‘I’m going to steal this car and I’m going to use a gun to steal the car, and then I’m going to run when the police try to stop me,’” said Aurora Police Chief Heather Morris. “That’s t…

For the first time ever, the city of Aurora is creating a transportation master plan that includes any way people get around – whether by bike, bus, car, public transit, or walking. As Colorado’s third-largest city keeps growing, city planners want to take a closer look at how Aurora residents get from A to B, and what improvements could make the transportation system more convenient. “It’s a little bit convenient, I’m not going to lie,” said Maria Thomas, while waiting for a bus at the Aurora M…

Police in Aurora are investigating a deadly crash that began with a carjacking on Sunday night. Officers rushed to a report of an armed carjacking in the 1700 block of North Clinton Street about 7 p.m. Sunday. Less than 10 minutes later, officers located the stolen vehicle near 25th Avenue and Dallas Street thanks to the help of the carjacking victim. But when officers tried to stop the suspect, later identified as a 17-year-old from Aurora, that person drove away.Police pursued the stolen veh…

Snow is nothing new for Colorado, but each storm requires a coordinated response. For the winter blast expected to roll in Wednesday, the City of Aurora is preparing all its plows, emergency response teams, and cold-weather shelters. “We’re expecting the worst right now,” said Kurt Braaksma, operations supervisor for the city’s streets department. “We’re bringing in all the other departments — basically anyone with a CDL license we can call upon to plow snow for us.“Braaksma says it’s “all han…

When it comes to cancer survival, early detection is key. Unfortunately, that’s next to impossible for ovarian cancer. Right now, there is no screening or tool to detect ovarian cancer early, leading to 80% of women diagnosed at a late stage. By the time Ingrid Kolstoe of Denver learned she had the disease, it had already reached stage 4. “Ovarian cancer has traditionally been called a silent killer because it really whispers,” said Kolstoe. “In the beginning, the symptoms are very subtle. Many…

Construction sites aren’t hard to find in Colorado – whether it’s a new neighborhood being built or roads getting much-needed repair. Yet, what is hard to find are women who work in construction. Women make up just about 11% of the industry’s workforce, and Heather Yurka of Aurora is among those few. She has a big job noting the little things for Taylor Morrison, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.“I am a quality inspection superintendent,” Yurka said. “I make sure that things are in the r…

Aurora is looking to make some development changes, such as a large often empty parking lot at the 13th Avenue Station near I-225. Should it become affordable housing? That’s one thought, but the city wants you to help decide. From the Colfax corridor to the Anschutz and Veteran Affairs medical campuses, that west corner of Aurora sure looks a lot different than it did 15 years ago when the city last conducted a study for development.“The area has totally changed since 2009,” said Jennifer Orozc…

Colorado is in its psychedelic era. In 2022, voters agreed to legalize psilocybin, known better to some as magic mushrooms. Since then, the state has been working on developing framework and regulations for using the psychedelic mushrooms under supervision. That work is still underway, even as the state is set to start accepting applications later this year for “natural healing centers,” which would be staffed by so-called “facilitators” who would supervise psilocybin use.It’s what Courtneyrose…

A large kitchen inside the Gaylord Rockies Hotel & Convention Center may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a classroom. Yet that’s exactly what one of the Gaylord’s kitchens became on Tuesday for Aurora high school students hoping to pursue a culinary career.Like Carlos Rodriguez, a senior at Gateway High School. He might not look like a professional chef now, but he plans to be one someday.“I love cooking, ever since I was little, and it’s been my favorite thing to do…

Denver Zoo is now home to 130 more animals after acquiring them from the recently closed SeaQuest aquarium in Littleton. SeaQuest closed for good on Feb. 4 following multiple citations and complaints of animal welfare concerns. Along with the Downtown Denver Aquarium, the zoo acquired several of SeaQuest’s aquatic creatures including a variety of fish, reptiles, sharks and wallabies.“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind,” said Emily Insalaco, Senior Director of Animal Care at Denver Zoo. “It h…

The City of Aurora is considering a resolution to change how it supports migrants. Aurora is just one of the many looking at the financial concerns after seeing what’s happening in Denver. “It’s ridiculous. It is ridiculous,” said Aurora city councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky of the migrant crisis. That’s how Jurinsky described Denver’s large volume of migrants and the impact it has had on the Denver metro area during Aurora City Council’s Federal, State and Intergovernmental Committee meeting last…

Justin Dodge is determination in motion. “I actually feel blessed because I got to walk for the second time,” he said. “I got to relearn how to walk.” And he’s walking confidently on a prosthetic leg he’s only had a few weeks. “I’m at a point where I’m comfortable just walking normal,” Dodge said while walking around Denver’s Washington Park in shorts on a breezy February afternoon. “Eventually, I’d like to get it to where if I had pants on you would have no idea whether I w…

No city is without its challenges, let alone the third largest city in all of Colorado. “What motivates me every day is to solve problems, to come to work and solve problems,” said Jason Batchelor, city manager of Aurora.Batchelor has been solving problems in Aurora since his first role with the city more than a decade ago. “I started off as the budget officer, then I had an opportunity to be finance director, and then I was deputy city manager,” he said. Also on the West Point grad’s resume, tw…

Migrant families in Colorado are once again on the move. As of Monday, the City of Denver has reactivated a policy to discharge families from shelters after reaching the 42-day limit. It will occur in a rolling fashion, with discharges based on arrival date. While some families have already found new housing, according to a spokesperson for Denver Human Services, others aren’t so sure what they’ll do next. “There may be some cases where families we haven’t figured out the housing situation yet –…

The City of Aurora has long worked to curb youth violence, often partnering with organizations across the metro area to give kids and teenagers access to the resources they need. Now the city is taking those efforts a step further with a first-of-its-kind “Youth Empowerment Center.” But first, they need input. “We’re trying to find and create a center for our at-risk youth to feel a belonging, a sense of belonging,” said Joseph DeHerrera, Manager of the city’s Youth Violence Prevention Program.…