Children’s Hospital CO Fights DOJ Subpoena on Gender-Affirming Care, Colorado Prison Backlog on Sex Offenders, Denver Phases out Lime, Bird Scooters – Replaces Them With Veo

Headlines Monday, December 29, 2025

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    Children’s Hospital CO Fights DOJ Subpoena on Gender-Affirming Care, Colorado Prison Backlog on Sex Offenders, Denver Phases out Lime, Bird Scooters – Replaces Them With Veo KGNU News

 

Children’s Hospital CO Fights DOJ Subpoena on Gender-Affirming Care

Children’s Hospital Colorado is challenging a U.S. Department of Justice Subpoena requesting access to sensitive patient data, employee personnel files, and guardian authorization records related to the hospital’s gender-affirming care services. In a motion to quash the case, the lawyers representing the hospital wrote that the subpoena was,“…designed to intimidate and harass Children’s Hospital into stopping its lawful provision of gender-affirming care to transgender youth.”

The subpoena was originally issued in July after a series of Trump administration moves to crack down on gender-affirming care. According to the Colorado Sun, Children’s Hospital requested a federal judge in Denver to cancel the subpoena in August. Information about this case has been released to the public after November with a federal judges’ authorization.

The subpoena requested the turn over of many documents – including: “complete personnel files” for potentially hundreds of employees connected to the Hospitals TRUE Center for Gender Diversity, as well as “documents sufficient to identify each patient” who was prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy and information on guardian authorization for the treatments.

Federal attorneys told Children’s Hospital they had, “no reason to suspect […] any evidence of misconduct by Children’s Hospital or anyone connected with it,” affirming the Trump administration is in the right to request the documentation.

Dr. David Brumbaugh, the hospital’s chief medical officer, told the Colorado Sun that in the months after the subpoena had been issued, the number of patients seeking gender-affirming care from the hospital has evaporated – completely exhausting a six-month waitlist that had formed at the beginning of this year.

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Colorado Prison Backlog on Sex Offenders 

The Denver Post is reporting that Colorado Prisons have a backlog of sex offenders with inconsistencies in their release dates – the backlog growing longer from a critical shortage of sex offender treatment professionals in the prisons. 

Hundreds of inmates are waiting to receive treatment the corrections department has struggled to provide, while offenders with similar sex offenses are released without treatment.

Colorado Department of Corrections data shows more than 43% of jobs in the state’s treatment program were vacant as of early December. The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault said victims wanted transparency and clarity, and to know when offenders would be released and under what conditions.

The Denver Post cited a 2016 audit on Colorado’s sex offender treatment system where an annual $44 million was spent on 1,200 inmates who had previously passed their parole dates but were still awaiting mandatory treatment for release.

Lawmakers have been hesitant to address the issue, as a 2024 bill to eliminate indeterminate sentences and replace them with determinate prison terms was killed in its first committee hearing.

Budget analyst for the state’s Joint Budget Committee, Justin Brakke, said the state’s prisons are nearly full, and the male prison population is expected to exceed the state’s capacity in the next fiscal year.

A class-action lawsuit challenging the sentencing system, brought by inmates, has persisted for 18 months, despite state efforts to dismiss it. Attorneys and advocates critical of the system have argued that the state needs to address underlying sentencing laws.

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Denver Phases out Lime, Bird Scooters – Replaces Them With Veo

The city of Denver’s contract with Lime and Bird ride-share scooters is coming to a close in spring of 2026 – Denver Department of Transportation selected a new scooter and bike operator Veo to take the spot as Denver’s go-to scooter commute.

Colorado politics said the so-called micro mobility company was chosen among other applicants as they have a large fleet of scooters with a proven safety track-record.

Denver City Council will have the final say on the agreement – a three-year license agreement was confirmed to be in the works by Denver’s transportation department.

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Near 700 Flights Yesterday at Denver International Airport

Near 700 flights were reported delayed going to and from Denver International Airport yesterday as light snow cropped the area surrounding the airport. The Denver Post reported that an additional 15 fights were canceled.

A little more than 2 inches of snow touched down at the airport over the course of the day, with other parts of the front range seeing between a half an inch and 3 and a half inches of snow…

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You can hear daily headlines on the Morning Magazine, KGNU’s weekday morning show with coverage of local and regional public affairs and news with headlines and commentary. Click here to listen to full episodes of the Morning Magazine.

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