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A conflict brewing in southwestern Colorado pits ranchers and outdoors enthusiasts against survivors of former polygamist leader Warren Jeffs after the latter group declared itself the Free Land Holders Committee and began fencing off about 1,000 acres of public U. S. Forest Service land. Angry residents — some of them carrying sidearms — started cutting down portions of the fence around 1 p.m.

Denver’s free shuttle buses along the 16th Street Mall are scheduled to resume on Sunday for the part of the mall between Union Station and Curtis Street, Regional Transportation District officials announced Thursday morning. People downtown can board them at any of the blocks reopened following months of disruption during mall reconstruction work. RTD’s free “mall ride” shuttles won’t run along 16th Street between Curtis Street and the easternmost Civic Center Station until the reconstruction project is completed in 2025, agency officials said.  For riders headed to Civic Center, free shuttles will continue to run along 15th and 17th streets, officials said. Since September, RTD has been training bus drivers to familiarize them with the new shuttle route down the mall’s center. Related Articles Transportation | Ballot Issue 7A would allow the Regional Transportation District to keep tax money Transportation | How to move faster around metro Denver at stake in RTD election battles Transportation | Colorado, Federal boulevards will follow Colfax for Denver bus rapid transit expansion Transportation | Part of RTD’s W Line to shut down in Jeffco for weekend repairs Transportation | Air on the Front Range was more polluted than usual this summer — and wildfires were not to blame Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.

The northern lights will color Colorado skies once again tonight, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last week’s burst of geomagnetic storms was just a sampling of the ones expected to reach Earth tonight, meaning the lights will be more vibrant and easier to see — especially if you know where to look. The NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center a severe, G4 geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday — the second strongest storm level on the scale. Space weather officials said a G4-level coronal mass ejection “erupted from the Sun” Tuesday evening and is expected to arrive at Earth on Thursday. G4 storms are rare, according to space weather officials.

The Nuggets will exercise their 2025 club options on Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther, the team announced Thursday morning. All three moves were expected with Denver needing affordable rotation players next season, when Jamal Murray’s max contract extension will boost roster payroll and a potential Aaron Gordon extension could also go into effect.

Castle Rock police officers fatally shot a man Wednesday night following a shootout after he barricaded himself in an apartment building, according to police. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Man dies after exchanging gunfire with Thornton police, injuring 2 officers Crime and Public Safety | Colorado Springs police fatally shoot suicidal man Crime and Public Safety | Man killed by Aurora police carried air rifle that looked like AR-15, chief says Crime and Public Safety | Police ID man shot, killed by Thornton police in August standoff Crime and Public Safety | Aurora police fatally shoot man while responding to a fight in a parking lot About 10:15 p.m.

A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday for the attempted murder of a Wheat Ridge police officer and the later assault of a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy. Jefferson County Court Judge Andrew Poland sentenced Andre Jones to 32 years in prison on each of three charges — one count of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault — all to be served concurrently. Poland also sentenced Jones to six years in prison for motor vehicle theft and 364 days in prison for resisting arrest, both to be served concurrently with the 32-year sentences. In August, a Jefferson County jury found Jones guilty of second-degree attempted murder, multiple counts of first-degree assault, aggravated motor vehicle theft and resisting arrest, according to court records. Jones stabbed Wheat Ridge officer Allan Fischer 12 times in April 2022 — 10 times in the neck, once in the chest and once in the back — when Fischer responded to reports of a stolen U-Haul rental truck that had crashed into a fence. Fischer’s daughter, Kylee, said she was in the final days of field training at the Wheat Ridge police department and was working when her father was stabbed. “All I could hear over the radio was screaming,” Kylee Fischer, said Thursday morning.