Sam Tabachnik
@samtabachnik.bsky.social
Investigative reporter with the Denver Post | formerly NBC News, Washington Post and New Orleans Times-Picayune | Long live TB12 | Send me your nicest comments: stabachnik(at)denverpost.com
9 current and former BHA staffers told me that Dannette Smith fostered a chaotic and stressful work culture, which forced many people to seek other employment opportunities. The commissioner exhibited paranoid tendencies and managed through fear.
www.denverpost.com/2026/02/02/b...
www.denverpost.com/2026/02/02/b...
Fear, tears and stress: Workers allege toxic culture inside Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration
Nine current and former Colorado Behavioral Health Administration staffers told The Denver Post that Commissioner Dannette Smith fostered a chaotic and stressful work culture.
www.denverpost.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:28 PM
9 current and former BHA staffers told me that Dannette Smith fostered a chaotic and stressful work culture, which forced many people to seek other employment opportunities. The commissioner exhibited paranoid tendencies and managed through fear.
www.denverpost.com/2026/02/02/b...
www.denverpost.com/2026/02/02/b...
Yesterday, I spoke with Molly Long, whose brother, Dennis Coyle, was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan a year ago.
He remains in detention w/no bed & no light in his room.
"He had all his rights and freedoms taken away," Molly said.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/29/d...
He remains in detention w/no bed & no light in his room.
"He had all his rights and freedoms taken away," Molly said.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/29/d...
Family of Coloradan detained in Afghanistan: ‘He had all his rights and freedoms taken away’
The family’s first contact, Molly Long told The Denver Post in an interview Wednesday, was not until July 3.
www.denverpost.com
January 29, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Yesterday, I spoke with Molly Long, whose brother, Dennis Coyle, was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan a year ago.
He remains in detention w/no bed & no light in his room.
"He had all his rights and freedoms taken away," Molly said.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/29/d...
He remains in detention w/no bed & no light in his room.
"He had all his rights and freedoms taken away," Molly said.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/29/d...
The world of city courts was upended in late December, when the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that municipalities cannot impose harsher punishments on lawbreakers than state statute would allow for the same offense.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/16/c...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/16/c...
How a Colorado Supreme Court ruling is reshaping the state’s municipal courts
Now, weeks after the court’s decision, cities are reexamining their local ordinances, judges are altering their courtroom advisements of defendants, and defense attorneys and prosecutors are negoti…
www.denverpost.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:49 PM
The world of city courts was upended in late December, when the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that municipalities cannot impose harsher punishments on lawbreakers than state statute would allow for the same offense.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/16/c...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/16/c...
Colorado has barred the long-troubled Star Farms in Brighton from bringing migrant workers under the H-2A program after an investigation found the employer, Angelo Palombo, did not pay his laborers for months and obstructed state investigators.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/15/s...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/15/s...
Colorado bars Brighton farm from H-2A foreign-worker program for failing to pay laborers
Star Farms in Brighton must also pay more than $1.7 million in back wages and penalties, according to the state labor department.
www.denverpost.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Colorado has barred the long-troubled Star Farms in Brighton from bringing migrant workers under the H-2A program after an investigation found the employer, Angelo Palombo, did not pay his laborers for months and obstructed state investigators.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/15/s...
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/15/s...
J-1 students say the opportunity to come to the U.S. on a work visa represents a life-changing experience.
At other times, though, the program makes participants feel like exploitable low-wage workers with few protections.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/06/j...
At other times, though, the program makes participants feel like exploitable low-wage workers with few protections.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/06/j...
The J-1 visa is supposed to be a cultural exchange program. Is it working as intended?
More than 9,000 people came to Colorado last year on the J-1 visa, working as physicians, professors, researchers, ski workers, restaurant servers and au pairs.
www.denverpost.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:20 PM
J-1 students say the opportunity to come to the U.S. on a work visa represents a life-changing experience.
At other times, though, the program makes participants feel like exploitable low-wage workers with few protections.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/06/j...
At other times, though, the program makes participants feel like exploitable low-wage workers with few protections.
www.denverpost.com/2026/01/06/j...
Colorado’s youth detention centers are facing a staffing crisis, leading to serious safety concerns for employees and youth and low worker morale.
The Division of Youth Services employs more than 1k employees. Nearly 500 additional jobs remain vacant.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/22/c...
The Division of Youth Services employs more than 1k employees. Nearly 500 additional jobs remain vacant.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/22/c...
Violence, 16-hour days and no support: Why staff say they’re fleeing Colorado’s juvenile detention centers
The Division of Youth Services, which oversees the state’s 12 detention and commitment facilities, employs more than 1,000 employees. Nearly 500 additional jobs remain vacant.
www.denverpost.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Colorado’s youth detention centers are facing a staffing crisis, leading to serious safety concerns for employees and youth and low worker morale.
The Division of Youth Services employs more than 1k employees. Nearly 500 additional jobs remain vacant.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/22/c...
The Division of Youth Services employs more than 1k employees. Nearly 500 additional jobs remain vacant.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/22/c...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
NEW: The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled that cities cannot punish lawbreakers beyond what state courts would allow for the same offense in a ruling that could set precedent for hundreds of municipal courts around the state // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
Municipal courts can’t issue harsher punishment than state court for same offenses, Colorado Supreme Court rules
The justices ruled that when a municipal ordinance and a state statute prohibit identical conduct, the municipal penalties for such conduct “may not exceed the corresponding state penalties f…
www.denverpost.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:41 PM
NEW: The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled that cities cannot punish lawbreakers beyond what state courts would allow for the same offense in a ruling that could set precedent for hundreds of municipal courts around the state // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
3 Haitian refugees say their experience at JBS in Greeley has been marked by injuries, discrimination and inhospitable living conditions.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/17/j...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/17/j...
How JBS used TikTok to lure Haitian refugees to work at its Colorado meat-processing plant
Nesly Pierre, Louine Jean-Louis and Carlos Saint Aubin — all Haitian refugees — were living in states across the country when they learned about the JBS opportunity through TikTok.
www.denverpost.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:46 PM
3 Haitian refugees say their experience at JBS in Greeley has been marked by injuries, discrimination and inhospitable living conditions.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/17/j...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/17/j...
This story shows the lengths to which a private-equity landlord will go to quash its tenants’ union efforts, organizers allege, using aggressive tactics honed by employers in the days before the National Labor Relations Act.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/11/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/11/c...
A Denver building for elderly and disabled residents wanted to unionize. The private-equity landlord had other ideas.
Residents involved in the tenants union say they want a voice to help them improve living conditions.
www.denverpost.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
This story shows the lengths to which a private-equity landlord will go to quash its tenants’ union efforts, organizers allege, using aggressive tactics honed by employers in the days before the National Labor Relations Act.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/11/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/11/c...
Breaking: The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the conditions inside Colorado’s prisons and juvenile detention facilities
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/08/d...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/08/d...
U.S. Department of Justice launches investigation into Colorado prisons, youth detention centers
The Department of Justice, in a letter to Gov. Jared Polis, says it will determine whether the constitutional rights of prisoners and detainees are being violated.
www.denverpost.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Breaking: The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the conditions inside Colorado’s prisons and juvenile detention facilities
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/08/d...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/08/d...
The Cambodian government has formally requested records from the family of the late Emma C. Bunker, a former Denver Art Museum consultant who helped museums around the world acquire looted Southeast Asian antiquities.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/04/e...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/04/e...
Cambodia seeks records from family of late Denver Art Museum consultant Emma Bunker
Bradley Gordon, an American attorney who serves as a legal adviser to the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, called the documents a “missing roadmap.”
www.denverpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The Cambodian government has formally requested records from the family of the late Emma C. Bunker, a former Denver Art Museum consultant who helped museums around the world acquire looted Southeast Asian antiquities.
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/04/e...
www.denverpost.com/2025/12/04/e...
The National Labor Relations Board has found Starbucks illegally fired workers in response to organizing, closed stores because of union votes and engaged in widespread unfair labor practices designed to quash workers’ efforts.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/23/s...
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/23/s...
How Starbucks tried to quash union activity in Colorado
The coffee giant shuttered a store in Colorado Springs in 2022 shortly after its workers voted to unionize. A federal agency later ordered Starbucks to reopen that store, along with 22 others.
www.denverpost.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The National Labor Relations Board has found Starbucks illegally fired workers in response to organizing, closed stores because of union votes and engaged in widespread unfair labor practices designed to quash workers’ efforts.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/23/s...
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/23/s...
Update: DOC officials are now allowing all inmates at YOS to purchase food from the canteen.
Previous policy only allowed those who hit certain levels based on good behavior.
Families say their sons have lost 20-30 lbs in recent weeks
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/21/c...
Previous policy only allowed those who hit certain levels based on good behavior.
Families say their sons have lost 20-30 lbs in recent weeks
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/21/c...
November 21, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Update: DOC officials are now allowing all inmates at YOS to purchase food from the canteen.
Previous policy only allowed those who hit certain levels based on good behavior.
Families say their sons have lost 20-30 lbs in recent weeks
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/21/c...
Previous policy only allowed those who hit certain levels based on good behavior.
Families say their sons have lost 20-30 lbs in recent weeks
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/21/c...
10 mothers told The Post that they have watched their boys lose concerning amounts of weight over the past few months, as they complain about the lack of sufficient food at the Pueblo detention facility.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/15/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/15/c...
Young people held at Pueblo detention facility aren’t getting enough food, parents allege
Ten mothers told The Denver Post they have watched their boys at the Youthful Offender System detention facility in Pueblo lose concerning amounts of weight over the past few months.
www.denverpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:25 PM
10 mothers told The Post that they have watched their boys lose concerning amounts of weight over the past few months, as they complain about the lack of sufficient food at the Pueblo detention facility.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/15/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/15/c...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
Ten mothers told @denverpost.com they've watched their sons in Colorado’s youth detention facility lose extreme weight over the past few months as they complain about the lack of sufficient food. “They don’t even treat prisoners of war like this,” one mother told @samtabachnik.bsky.social
Young people held at Pueblo detention facility aren’t getting enough food, parents allege
Ten mothers told The Denver Post they have watched their boys at the Youthful Offender System detention facility in Pueblo lose concerning amounts of weight over the past few months.
www.denverpost.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Ten mothers told @denverpost.com they've watched their sons in Colorado’s youth detention facility lose extreme weight over the past few months as they complain about the lack of sufficient food. “They don’t even treat prisoners of war like this,” one mother told @samtabachnik.bsky.social
The city of Craig has paid $300k to a man who suffered injuries after law enforcement intentionally plowed into him with an SUV.
Tanner Sholes sued the city and members of law enforcement last year, alleging they violated his constitutional rights.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/07/c...
Tanner Sholes sued the city and members of law enforcement last year, alleging they violated his constitutional rights.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/07/c...
Colorado city pays $300,000 to settle claims from man intentionally run down by law enforcement
The lawsuit’s claims against five members of the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office remain ongoing.
www.denverpost.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:34 PM
The city of Craig has paid $300k to a man who suffered injuries after law enforcement intentionally plowed into him with an SUV.
Tanner Sholes sued the city and members of law enforcement last year, alleging they violated his constitutional rights.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/07/c...
Tanner Sholes sued the city and members of law enforcement last year, alleging they violated his constitutional rights.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/07/c...
NEW - The Trump admin has disbanded its federal cultural property investigations team and reassigned the agents to immigration enforcement, delivering a blow to one of the world’s leaders in heritage protection, according to multiple ppl familiar with the changes.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
The U.S. was a leader in cultural heritage investigations. Now those agents are working immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the department’s investigative arm, once had as many as eight agents in its New York office investigating cultural property cases.
www.denverpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
NEW - The Trump admin has disbanded its federal cultural property investigations team and reassigned the agents to immigration enforcement, delivering a blow to one of the world’s leaders in heritage protection, according to multiple ppl familiar with the changes.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
For the past few months, I've been digging into the tenuous relationship between Telluride and the enigmatic owner of the town's famed ski resort.
Everybody in town has a Chuck Horning story.
Here's why locals say it's time for him to go.
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/30/t...
Everybody in town has a Chuck Horning story.
Here's why locals say it's time for him to go.
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/30/t...
Is Telluride ready to ‘chuck Chuck?’ Why the opulent ski town turned on the resort’s longtime owner
Critics in Telluride point to Chuck Horning’s unpredictable nature, his my-way-or-the-highway leadership style and his refusal to let executives help him run the business.
www.denverpost.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:47 PM
For the past few months, I've been digging into the tenuous relationship between Telluride and the enigmatic owner of the town's famed ski resort.
Everybody in town has a Chuck Horning story.
Here's why locals say it's time for him to go.
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/30/t...
Everybody in town has a Chuck Horning story.
Here's why locals say it's time for him to go.
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/30/t...
Billups, investigators allege, was known as a “face card.” He and other former professional athletes were used to attract victims to the poker games. In exchange, they received portions of the criminal proceeds, authorities said.
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/23/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/23/c...
Feds allege Chauncey Billups was ‘face card’ in high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker scam
Chauncey Billups, investigators allege, was known as a “face card.” He and other former professional athletes were used to attract victims to the poker games.
www.denverpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Billups, investigators allege, was known as a “face card.” He and other former professional athletes were used to attract victims to the poker games. In exchange, they received portions of the criminal proceeds, authorities said.
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/23/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/10/23/c...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
ICYMI: Our look at how the “deportation machine,” as one lawyer called it, is working as designed in Colorado: www.denverpost.com/2025/10/22/i...
Stuck in Aurora ICE facility, more detainees are agreeing to leave the U.S. voluntarily
The government’s goal, lawyers argue, is to create conditions inside ICE facilities that push immigrants to voluntarily leave or to accept a deportation order.
www.denverpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
ICYMI: Our look at how the “deportation machine,” as one lawyer called it, is working as designed in Colorado: www.denverpost.com/2025/10/22/i...
Non-lawyers offering fraudulent legal advice has been going on for a long time.
But advocates and attorneys say we're seeing sophisticated scams targeting immigrants now more than ever as arrests, detentions reach record levels
Story w/@sethklamann.bsky.social
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/22/c...
But advocates and attorneys say we're seeing sophisticated scams targeting immigrants now more than ever as arrests, detentions reach record levels
Story w/@sethklamann.bsky.social
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/22/c...
Colorado immigrants are desperately seeking legal help. They often run into fake lawyers and other scams.
Kathia Blanco unwittingly joined a growing number of Colorado immigrants who have been scammed by people impersonating lawyers.
www.denverpost.com
September 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Non-lawyers offering fraudulent legal advice has been going on for a long time.
But advocates and attorneys say we're seeing sophisticated scams targeting immigrants now more than ever as arrests, detentions reach record levels
Story w/@sethklamann.bsky.social
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/22/c...
But advocates and attorneys say we're seeing sophisticated scams targeting immigrants now more than ever as arrests, detentions reach record levels
Story w/@sethklamann.bsky.social
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/22/c...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
Lotta people know the Beatles story in Colorado. Not a lotta people have actually reported it out, as @denverpost.com's @samtabachnik.bsky.social did. Plus lots more weird Colorado music lore!
Riots, threats, The Beatles and other stories from Colorado music lore
There are hidden tales behind the lore about Colorado’s seediest, funniest and scariest concerts.
www.denverpost.com
September 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Lotta people know the Beatles story in Colorado. Not a lotta people have actually reported it out, as @denverpost.com's @samtabachnik.bsky.social did. Plus lots more weird Colorado music lore!
Colorado’s Division of Youth Services last month removed all youth from its Lookout Mountain detention center amid what advocates say were deteriorating safety conditions.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/08/l...
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/08/l...
Youth detention center in Golden emptied amid what advocates called deteriorating safety conditions
Many of the staff members at Lookout Mountain have also been temporarily relocated to support youth at their new centers.
www.denverpost.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Colorado’s Division of Youth Services last month removed all youth from its Lookout Mountain detention center amid what advocates say were deteriorating safety conditions.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/08/l...
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/08/l...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
Discipline authorities seek removal of Colorado judge over frivolous hearing, lies, ticket-fixing attempt trib.al/RkP39rH
Discipline authorities seek removal of Colorado judge over frivolous hearing, lies, ticket-fixing attempt
Jeffrey Walsh, special counsel for the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, is seeking both a public censure and Judge Ian MacLaren’s removal from the bench.
trib.al
September 9, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Discipline authorities seek removal of Colorado judge over frivolous hearing, lies, ticket-fixing attempt trib.al/RkP39rH
Every 15 days, Ruth Rivas and her fellow housekeepers received two checks.
This arrangement allows Telluride Ski & Golf to avoid paying all the overtime that Rivas and her colleagues were owed under Colorado wage and hour laws, she alleged in the legal filing.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/04/t...
This arrangement allows Telluride Ski & Golf to avoid paying all the overtime that Rivas and her colleagues were owed under Colorado wage and hour laws, she alleged in the legal filing.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/04/t...
She worked 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. Telluride-owned hotel wouldn’t pay overtime, lawsuit alleges
Despite being paid by two separate entities, housekeepers at Peaks Resort & Spa were effectively controlled by Telluride Ski & Golf, the lawsuit alleges.
www.denverpost.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Every 15 days, Ruth Rivas and her fellow housekeepers received two checks.
This arrangement allows Telluride Ski & Golf to avoid paying all the overtime that Rivas and her colleagues were owed under Colorado wage and hour laws, she alleged in the legal filing.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/04/t...
This arrangement allows Telluride Ski & Golf to avoid paying all the overtime that Rivas and her colleagues were owed under Colorado wage and hour laws, she alleged in the legal filing.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/04/t...