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
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...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
The Denver Post's @elliottwenzler.bsky.social interviewed 5 former city employees laid off by Denver last month about what the loss of their jobs means for them and their families. “It felt horrible,” one said through tears. “I honestly thought I was a person who was going to retire from the city.”
From feeling betrayed to volunteering to leave, five former Denver city employees tell their layoff stories
On the other side of Denver’s city budget savings are laid-off workers who now face their own budget crises. “I can’t afford to be without a job,” Mikhail Vafeades told The Denver Post.
www.denverpost.com
September 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
The Denver Post's @elliottwenzler.bsky.social interviewed 5 former city employees laid off by Denver last month about what the loss of their jobs means for them and their families. “It felt horrible,” one said through tears. “I honestly thought I was a person who was going to retire from the city.”
JBS USA, the meatpacking giant headquartered in Greeley, pressures instructors to falsify safety trainings so its employees can get to work on production lines with a history of causing injuries, a whistleblower alleges in a recent lawsuit.
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/28/j...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/28/j...
Meat processor JBS pushed Greeley instructors to falsify safety trainings, whistleblower says
Salima Jandali alleges JBS engages in “systematic workplace discrimination” and retaliated against her after she refused to engage in “illegal, dangerous and exploitative practice…
www.denverpost.com
August 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
JBS USA, the meatpacking giant headquartered in Greeley, pressures instructors to falsify safety trainings so its employees can get to work on production lines with a history of causing injuries, a whistleblower alleges in a recent lawsuit.
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/28/j...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/28/j...
Experts say they have never seen this many deaths from a single hydrogen sulfide exposure incident
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/27/d...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/27/d...
What is hydrogen sulfide? Toxic gas eyed in Colorado dairy deaths is infrequent but dangerous feature of agricultural work.
Two agricultural safety experts told The Denver Post that in their decades of work, they had never seen six people die from hydrogen sulfide in the same exposure incident.
www.denverpost.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Experts say they have never seen this many deaths from a single hydrogen sulfide exposure incident
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/27/d...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/27/d...
Some really great journalism in here - honored to work alongside so many super talented folks
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/18/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/18/c...
The Denver Post takes top honors from Colorado Press Association — including inaugural A-Mark Prize
The Denver Post won 31 awards for stories, columns, photographs, newsletters and page design — including first place for public service.
www.denverpost.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Some really great journalism in here - honored to work alongside so many super talented folks
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/18/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/18/c...
Colorado law prohibits landlords from evicting people who utilize voucher or subsidy programs solely over the nonpayment of utilities. Yet this phenomenon is happening frequently across the state, advocates and legal aid organizations say.
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/17/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/17/c...
Colorado law prohibits evictions over unpaid utilities. Advocates say landlords do it anyway.
Residents often don’t know their rights and lack legal representation, leaving them unable to adequately defend themselves in court against well-resourced landlords.
www.denverpost.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Colorado law prohibits landlords from evicting people who utilize voucher or subsidy programs solely over the nonpayment of utilities. Yet this phenomenon is happening frequently across the state, advocates and legal aid organizations say.
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/17/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/17/c...
Even if you win the lottery and receive a federal rental voucher, it’s a coin flip as to whether you’ll be able to find a place to use it.
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/11/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/11/c...
Looking to use a federal housing voucher in Colorado? It’s a coin flip whether you’ll be able to redeem it
NYU’s findings come as housing agencies in Colorado and around the country are issuing few new vouchers this year amid budget constraints and uncertain federal funding.
www.denverpost.com
August 14, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Even if you win the lottery and receive a federal rental voucher, it’s a coin flip as to whether you’ll be able to find a place to use it.
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/11/c...
www.denverpost.com/2025/08/11/c...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
A study published this year by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy found just 57% of voucher recipients nationally have successfully used the rental assistance to lease a home — down from 65% in previous years // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
Looking to use a federal housing voucher in Colorado? It’s a coin flip whether you’ll be able to redeem it
NYU’s findings come as housing agencies in Colorado and around the country are issuing few new vouchers this year amid budget constraints and uncertain federal funding.
www.denverpost.com
August 14, 2025 at 7:43 PM
A study published this year by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy found just 57% of voucher recipients nationally have successfully used the rental assistance to lease a home — down from 65% in previous years // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
Public housing agencies across Colorado are not handing out new housing vouchers this year for low-income residents as they reckon with budgetary shortfalls // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
Need a housing voucher to subsidize your rent in Colorado? You’re likely out of luck this year
The federal Housing Choice Voucher Program has never been able to meet the needs of all the people in the state who are eligible to receive vouchers.
www.denverpost.com
August 1, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Public housing agencies across Colorado are not handing out new housing vouchers this year for low-income residents as they reckon with budgetary shortfalls // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
In this rural Colorado town, violent police encounters have been on the rise in recent years.
Craig, pop 9k, has seen its only 3 police shootings in recorded history since 2023 and has paid at least 400k to settle excessive force claims in recent years.
www.denverpost.com/2025/07/27/c...
Craig, pop 9k, has seen its only 3 police shootings in recorded history since 2023 and has paid at least 400k to settle excessive force claims in recent years.
www.denverpost.com/2025/07/27/c...
Police in rural Colorado plowed into a suspect who had his hands up. The undersheriff who gave the command has since been promoted.
Police shootings and excessive-force allegations have become increasingly common in recent years in Craig.
www.denverpost.com
July 28, 2025 at 7:41 PM
In this rural Colorado town, violent police encounters have been on the rise in recent years.
Craig, pop 9k, has seen its only 3 police shootings in recorded history since 2023 and has paid at least 400k to settle excessive force claims in recent years.
www.denverpost.com/2025/07/27/c...
Craig, pop 9k, has seen its only 3 police shootings in recorded history since 2023 and has paid at least 400k to settle excessive force claims in recent years.
www.denverpost.com/2025/07/27/c...
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
A lot of really eye-popping details in this @samtabachnik.bsky.social piece about Craig’ police department, including: The police paid out two settlements to the same guy, 20 years apart, and then shot & killed him in a 3rd incident, when the man pulled a gun and told officers to shoot him.
Police in rural Colorado plowed into a suspect who had his hands up. The undersheriff who gave the command has since been promoted. https://trib.al/YwUfkpP
Police in rural Colorado plowed into a suspect who had his hands up. The undersheriff who gave the command has since been promoted.
Police shootings and excessive-force allegations have become increasingly common in recent years in Craig.
trib.al
July 28, 2025 at 2:47 AM
A lot of really eye-popping details in this @samtabachnik.bsky.social piece about Craig’ police department, including: The police paid out two settlements to the same guy, 20 years apart, and then shot & killed him in a 3rd incident, when the man pulled a gun and told officers to shoot him.
Reposted by Sam Tabachnik
Denver Fire responded to 3,481 elevator rescue calls since the start of last year, and @denverpost.com reviewed the 30 addresses with the most elevator entrapments. In 33% of those cases, one or more of the elevators had expired certificates of operation // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social
How Denver allows faulty or inoperable elevators to keep trapping people
Elevators across Denver are trapping people inside or are otherwise inoperable, and conveyance regulators aren’t doing enough to ensure they’re working safely, a Denver Post investigati…
www.denverpost.com
July 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Denver Fire responded to 3,481 elevator rescue calls since the start of last year, and @denverpost.com reviewed the 30 addresses with the most elevator entrapments. In 33% of those cases, one or more of the elevators had expired certificates of operation // Story by @samtabachnik.bsky.social