Author: David Migoya
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Judicial discipline changes moving at a slow pace
Colorado’s judicial system is barely closer to fixing what some have called a broken process of disciplining judges a year after voters approved a new method of dealing with the issue and eight months after revelations the state fosters a private system of judges who fall outside of that oversight. The state’s Commission on Judicial…
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New charitable gaming board meets following Gazette series
The latest iteration of Colorado’s long-defunct advisory board for charitable gaming met Friday for the first time since legislators revived it more than 18 months ago. The Charitable Gaming Board did little more than elect its chairman, Maytham Alshadood, the director of business licensing for the Secretary of State’s Office, and its vice chairperson, Michelle…
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Private judge agrees to hear arguments to unseal divorce
A journalist divorcing her husband – a Colorado deputy attorney general – said in court filings that she never asked that the private judge hired to handle their case seal it from public view and supports efforts to open it. Former Denver District Court Judge William Meyer, who now works as the top private judge…
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6 key takeaways from 3-month investigation into Colorado’s charitable gaming world
A summary of the findings of senior investigative reporter David Migoya’s three-month probe into the inner workings of the state’s $110 million charitable gaming world:
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Colorado charities pay bingo volunteers despite law prohibiting it
Colorado’s charitable gaming laws succinctly prohibit state nonprofits from paying or remunerating volunteers who work the bingo and raffle games they host. That doesn’t seem to stop them. The Denver Gazette identified at least three organizations – all of them related to youth sports – that funnel charitable gaming proceeds to the financial benefit of…
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Colorado bingo nonprofits don’t always tell the IRS what they tell the state, some say nothing
Editor’s note: This is the last in a three-part series examing Colorado’s $110 million charitable gaming industry. Colorado nonprofits that rely on charitable gaming to raise funds – most through bingo nights – are required to file regular financial reports with state regulators that track how much money comes in, how much goes out and…
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Winning a raffle in Colorado doesn’t always mean someone actually wins
Colorado’s professional sports teams at one time each paired with local nonprofits to run 50/50 raffles that yearly pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not all have kept with the practice. The Colorado Rockies and its namesake foundation is the sole team that maintains a partnership. But records show even with a lousy team…
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Felons engaged in Colorado’s charitable gaming industry
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Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series examining Colorado’s $110 million charitable gaming industry. Howard Geller told police that Big Dog wanted Geller to get some people and head to Akron, Colo., so he hopped into his Dodge Durango along with his buddy, Cricket, and a woman he knew and off they…
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Colorado bingo night: It’s all about the prizes, not so much the charity
It’s a Thursday night at Bingo Oasis in Northglenn. Located on the outer edge of a nondescript strip mall just west of I-25, it has a simple façade sign advertising what goes on behind the mirrored and postered windows: BINGO. About the only giveaway to the activity there is that the 50 or so cars…
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Colorado’s $110M bingo industry is littered with loopholes — and hardly anyone is watching
Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series examing Colorado’s $110 million charitable gaming industry. Colorado’s charitable gaming industry – hundreds of bingo nights and raffle drawings across the state – is a $110-million-a-year enterprise that for decades has operated with thin oversight and little actual financial return to the charities the law…