Matt Sebastian
@mattsebastian.com
Managing Editor, @denverpost.com. "There's a bit of magic in everything, and then some loss to even things out" — Lou Reed
"Gov. Jared Polis has been less outspoken than some other officials. His office did not accommodate an interview request last week for this story, but it provided a statement... hours after he was pressed about Trump’s targeting of Colorado at a gathering of state senators." by @coltrain.bsky.social
As President Trump targets Colorado, its Democrats — and some Republicans — struggle to play defense
President Donald Trump’s ongoing pressure campaign against Colorado has left state Democrats on the back foot in trying to fend off threats to nearly $1 billion in federal funding, a drinking water…
www.denverpost.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:13 PM
"Gov. Jared Polis has been less outspoken than some other officials. His office did not accommodate an interview request last week for this story, but it provided a statement... hours after he was pressed about Trump’s targeting of Colorado at a gathering of state senators." by @coltrain.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
Breaking NYT:
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Breaking NYT:
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
i wrote an afterword about bobby weir for @pitchfork.com, but probably could've kept going for a few more days. pitchfork.com/features/bob...
Bob Weir’s Cosmic Touch
The inimitable Bobby Ace played guitar alongside Jerry Garcia for over three decades. His unique style and merry personality helped shape the sound and spirit of the Grateful Dead, and his lifelong de...
pitchfork.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:11 PM
i wrote an afterword about bobby weir for @pitchfork.com, but probably could've kept going for a few more days. pitchfork.com/features/bob...
The Denver City Council is considering a new policy that would ban law enforcement officers — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — from covering their faces during arrest and detention operations // Story by @elliottwenzler.bsky.social
Denver considers ban on face coverings for ICE agents in council proposal
“Federal law enforcement agents operating in Denver have increasingly worn opaque face coverings that obscure identity while conducting arrests and detentions,” according to a council slide deck.…
www.denverpost.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:24 PM
The Denver City Council is considering a new policy that would ban law enforcement officers — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — from covering their faces during arrest and detention operations // Story by @elliottwenzler.bsky.social
He released a statement that said his "dedication remains firmly with Denver Public Schools," but he didn't deny having sought the job. Media in Chicago reported he withdrew after his name leaked.
January 12, 2026 at 6:17 PM
He released a statement that said his "dedication remains firmly with Denver Public Schools," but he didn't deny having sought the job. Media in Chicago reported he withdrew after his name leaked.
The Chicago school board is investigating the leak that exposed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero had applied for and was a finalist for the top job in Chicago. He withdrew without publicly acknowledging he'd sought the job.
This appears to be the first time in recent memory that Chicago Public Schools has tried to track down the source of a leak, and one of the inquiries is targeting board members.
CPS Board is investigating two leaks of internal board information
www.wbez.org
January 12, 2026 at 6:11 PM
The Chicago school board is investigating the leak that exposed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero had applied for and was a finalist for the top job in Chicago. He withdrew without publicly acknowledging he'd sought the job.
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
Scoop: The EPA will no longer estimate the lives saved by reducing air pollution when writing clean-air regulations, according to documents reviewed by @nytimes.com.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Scoop: The EPA will no longer estimate the lives saved by reducing air pollution when writing clean-air regulations, according to documents reviewed by @nytimes.com.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
Pueblo County officials have ordered the closure of what’s been billed by backers as Colorado’s “first public Christian school,” citing unaddressed safety concerns at the school’s building — a former office located in an area zoned for light industrial use // Story via @chalkbeat.org
Colorado’s ‘first public Christian school’ ordered to close building over safety concerns
Riverstone Academy officials must acknowledge by Monday evening their intent to close the school at its current location, according to a Jan. 6 letter.
www.denverpost.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Pueblo County officials have ordered the closure of what’s been billed by backers as Colorado’s “first public Christian school,” citing unaddressed safety concerns at the school’s building — a former office located in an area zoned for light industrial use // Story via @chalkbeat.org
Rural hospital CEOs have raised concerns that Colorado's plans for transformation could reduce services in their communities by pushing them to centralize some types of care. They say they need cash and other resources to stabilize their operations before they can focus on reinvention
Colorado’s getting $1 billion to ‘transform’ rural health care. But hospitals aren’t thrilled with the state’s plan.
Last year’s H.R. 1 — also known as the “big beautiful bill” — allocated $50 billion for the federal Rural Health Transformation Program over five years.
www.denverpost.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Rural hospital CEOs have raised concerns that Colorado's plans for transformation could reduce services in their communities by pushing them to centralize some types of care. They say they need cash and other resources to stabilize their operations before they can focus on reinvention
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
Did you know we see our “cosmic selves” when we look at neon?
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/11/d...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/11/d...
Denver’s historic neon signs are in danger. And these are the people trying to save them.
“When we hold a neon tube in our hands or see a neon sign we are seeing our cosmic selves illuminated,” Matuszewicz said. “… And that’s why we need to save them.”
www.denverpost.com
January 11, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Did you know we see our “cosmic selves” when we look at neon?
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/11/d...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/11/d...
A+
"You belittle the Pixies? You diss Black Francis? On the way to Massachusetts? On my gal, the bassist Kim Deal, you didn’t have a crush at Smith College in 1992? Were you not even born?"
An Open Letter to the Pair of Gen-Z Men in the Northeast Regional Quiet Car Loudly Discussing Pitchfork’s 100 Best Albums of All Time
Gentlemen, Your opinions on the discography of the last fifty years interests me about as much as you think it does a middle-aged woman traveling c...
buff.ly
January 10, 2026 at 10:34 PM
A+
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
www.wsj.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:44 PM
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
A combustible artist. A brazen theft. A stricken family. And the thieves in the wind.
A tremendous yarn from Sebastian Smee: www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
A tremendous yarn from Sebastian Smee: www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The hunt for a stolen Jackson Pollock — and answers to a family’s pain
Decades after a brazen art theft drove Merry White’s father to despair, federal agents closed in on one last missing work. For White, the search is personal.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:14 PM
A combustible artist. A brazen theft. A stricken family. And the thieves in the wind.
A tremendous yarn from Sebastian Smee: www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
A tremendous yarn from Sebastian Smee: www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
NEW: Federal judge grants emergency temporary restraining order to prevent Trump administration from withholding $10 billion in child care funds and cash assistance for low-income working families in Colorado and 4 other Democratic-led states while their legal challenge plays out
Judge orders Trump administration to keep social safety net funds flowing to Colorado, 4 other states
In Colorado, the frozen funds amount to more than $300 million meant to help with child care, social services and low-income families.
www.denverpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:52 PM
NEW: Federal judge grants emergency temporary restraining order to prevent Trump administration from withholding $10 billion in child care funds and cash assistance for low-income working families in Colorado and 4 other Democratic-led states while their legal challenge plays out
The Trump administration determined Colorado cannot order the closure of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act. "You do not have to shut these down to ensure the people in Colorado have clean air," the EPA's Region 8 administrator tells @thenoellephillips.bsky.social
EPA opposes Colorado plan to close coal-fired power plants
The move is part of the Trump administration’s push to make sure no federal regulations stand in the way of restoring the coal industry and powering the electric grid with the fossil fuel.
www.denverpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:56 PM
The Trump administration determined Colorado cannot order the closure of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act. "You do not have to shut these down to ensure the people in Colorado have clean air," the EPA's Region 8 administrator tells @thenoellephillips.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
In 2023, two cops knocked at the door of Tupe Smith, a humble volunteer at the school in her small Alaska town. They handcuffed her in front of her young kids and took her to jail 72 miles away, where she was ordered naked and searched. She cried; she had no idea she’d broken any law.
Thread:
Thread:
Americans by Name, Punished for Believing It - Bolts
In a small Alaska town, American Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. They live in a limbo, created by colonial expansion, that now confuses even public official...
boltsmag.org
January 9, 2026 at 7:24 PM
In 2023, two cops knocked at the door of Tupe Smith, a humble volunteer at the school in her small Alaska town. They handcuffed her in front of her young kids and took her to jail 72 miles away, where she was ordered naked and searched. She cried; she had no idea she’d broken any law.
Thread:
Thread:
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told a Denver TV station that the prison sentence levied against former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was “harsh” and suggested he was “looking at” revisiting it // Story by @sethklamann.bsky.social and @coltrain.bsky.social
Gov. Jared Polis calls Tina Peters’ sentence ‘harsh,’ suggests he’s looking at potential commutation
“She got a sentence that was harsh. It was a nine-year sentence,” Gov. Jared Polis told CBS Colorado about Tina Peters adding that “we always look at people’s sentences.R…
www.denverpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told a Denver TV station that the prison sentence levied against former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was “harsh” and suggested he was “looking at” revisiting it // Story by @sethklamann.bsky.social and @coltrain.bsky.social
"A pro-union bill that has pitted Gov. Jared Polis against every Democratic lawmaker and Colorado’s major labor groups is set to return to the Capitol this year. But this time, the focus will begin to turn toward two men hoping to occupy the governor’s office next." // by @sethklamann.bsky.social
Democratic lawmakers will resurrect vetoed labor bill with an eye toward Colorado’s next governor
“I don’t know if that’s enough to get him to change his veto,” Rep. Javier Mabrey said of outgoing Gov. Jared Polis, “but maybe if we fail this year, we can get it don…
www.denverpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:56 PM
"A pro-union bill that has pitted Gov. Jared Polis against every Democratic lawmaker and Colorado’s major labor groups is set to return to the Capitol this year. But this time, the focus will begin to turn toward two men hoping to occupy the governor’s office next." // by @sethklamann.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
Awesome article with tantalizing details about the Tom Verlaine archives. Includes a snippet of a solo acoustic "Marquee Moon" demo from 1974! www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Tom Verlaine Was a Mystery. His Archives Reveal More of His Story.
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Awesome article with tantalizing details about the Tom Verlaine archives. Includes a snippet of a solo acoustic "Marquee Moon" demo from 1974! www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
Names aren't classified, publishing a government higher-up's name is not "doxxing," and journalists are entitled to publish news, even if it is classified, as long as they don't break the law to get it.
It's not the press's job to keep the government's secrets.
It's not the press's job to keep the government's secrets.
January 9, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Names aren't classified, publishing a government higher-up's name is not "doxxing," and journalists are entitled to publish news, even if it is classified, as long as they don't break the law to get it.
It's not the press's job to keep the government's secrets.
It's not the press's job to keep the government's secrets.
Attorneys general in Colorado and 4 other Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration after it froze $10 billion in child care and social service funds to the states earlier this week
Colorado, 4 other states sue Trump administration for withholding billions in social safety net funds
In Colorado, the frozen funds amount to more than $300 million meant to help with child care, social services and low-income families.
www.denverpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:40 AM
Attorneys general in Colorado and 4 other Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration after it froze $10 billion in child care and social service funds to the states earlier this week
The Weld County coroner could not determine how a woman who disappeared from her Lochbuie home died after her body was discovered 7 years later in a detached garage steps from her house, according to an autopsy report released today
Autopsy offers few answers about Colorado woman missing 7 years, found dead steps from home
Terri Ackerman disappeared from her Lochbuie home in August 2018. Her body was discovered seven years later inside a detached garage just feet from her house.
www.denverpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:08 AM
The Weld County coroner could not determine how a woman who disappeared from her Lochbuie home died after her body was discovered 7 years later in a detached garage steps from her house, according to an autopsy report released today
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
The moment many have been waiting for: After 13 days on strike, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association has accepted a new contract offer from Telluride Ski & Golf to end the work stoppage. The mountain will begin reopening more terrain this weekend.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/08/t...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/08/t...
Telluride ski patrol strike ends, resort to begin reopening this weekend
After 13 days on strike, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association has accepted a new offer from Telluride Ski & Golf to end the work stoppage.
www.denverpost.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:36 PM
The moment many have been waiting for: After 13 days on strike, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association has accepted a new contract offer from Telluride Ski & Golf to end the work stoppage. The mountain will begin reopening more terrain this weekend.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/08/t...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/08/t...
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
The AI-generated podcast stuff truly confounds me. I guess there are people who enjoy asking Alexa or Siri things and expand that into: What if my robot friend could tell me a story about the news?
These people have wrinkle-free brains.
These people have wrinkle-free brains.
Storied newspaper chain McClatchy recently shuttered its Washington bureau and laid off staff. Now its told union leaders it wants to publish AI-generated stories without human review and create AI impersonations of reporters for podcasts.
The scoop in @status.news www.status.news/p/mcclatchy-...
The scoop in @status.news www.status.news/p/mcclatchy-...
McClatchy’s Machine Mindset
A recent meeting with McClatchy executives left union leaders stunned and deeply alarmed about how the company wishes to implement A.I. in the newsroom, Status has learned.
www.status.news
January 8, 2026 at 1:53 PM
The AI-generated podcast stuff truly confounds me. I guess there are people who enjoy asking Alexa or Siri things and expand that into: What if my robot friend could tell me a story about the news?
These people have wrinkle-free brains.
These people have wrinkle-free brains.
Reposted by Matt Sebastian
"An analysis of footage from three camera angles shows that the motorist was driving away from—not toward—a federal officer when he opened fire."
Great video analysis of Minneapolis shooting from NYT. These frames show drawing of gun and exact moment of first shot.
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Great video analysis of Minneapolis shooting from NYT. These frames show drawing of gun and exact moment of first shot.
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
January 8, 2026 at 12:48 PM
"An analysis of footage from three camera angles shows that the motorist was driving away from—not toward—a federal officer when he opened fire."
Great video analysis of Minneapolis shooting from NYT. These frames show drawing of gun and exact moment of first shot.
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Great video analysis of Minneapolis shooting from NYT. These frames show drawing of gun and exact moment of first shot.
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...