Former Gov. Roy Romer and Gov.-elect Phil Weiser, current Colorado Attorney General, held a fireside chat at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Tuesday afternoon.

Romer, who was recently made an honorary co-chair of Weiser's transition team, shared stories of his governorship and how he built bipartisan consensus, while Weiser asked questions. 

The chat weaved through many topics, but the topic discussed the most was listening to the public.

Romer was famous for his "Dome on the Range" outreach efforts, where he would travel with his cabinet throughout the state, so officials could connect with a wider range of Coloradans.

"The most important thing I shared with Phil was listening," Romer said. "The key to governing well is to listen, listen, listen."

It resonates with Weiser too.

"I'm committed to showing up for Colorado," Weiser said.

"I'm here to listen to you to learn from what is on the people's minds, and, mostly, I'm here to deliver results, and Roy Romer is a model of what that looks like," Weiser continued. "We have made huge progress in Colorado when he was governor. We're at a time right now where we need to make huge progress. So I've got work to do. I'm ready to get to work."

The two also discussed bipartisanship and the importance of avoiding building a partisan bubble around the governor's office.

"What I have learned from him is, no matter what part of the truth you might be seeing, you need to get to know other people who see things differently," Weiser said.

"I'm proud to say one of my first picks from my cabinet is Cleave Simpson. He's a farmer. He's a Republican from the San Luis Valley," Weiser said. "He is going to help us search for truth by helping us understand more of what his community is seeing. That's how we build the best Colorado together."

Romer was a champion of public education, even serving as the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District for six years. He spoke about the importance of raising the state's educational bar.

"We got to go back to where we actually have expectations at third grade reading, third grade math, and, if you don't meet them, we got to change the program so you do meet them," Romer said. "You don't just pass over it."

Again, it's a passion echoed by Weiser.

"Giving people access to more education that gets them a good job, helping people in third grade learn how to read, helping people build the skills they need," Weiser said. "We've got work to do. For me, that's part of my core agenda."

Colorado will see how closely he follows the Romer legacy soon. Weiser will be officially sworn in as governor Tuesday, Jan., 12.

The ACLU, ACLU of Colorado and the Exoneration Project are urging the Colorado Supreme Court to hold the state accountable for what attorneys describe as a years-long cover-up that may have compromised thousands of criminal cases.

Investigators found Woods altered or deleted DNA data in at least 1,045 cases during her nearly three decades working for CBI. But attorneys argue the number of cases affected could be significantly higher, because some of the original forensic data is no longer available.

Matthew Segal, co-director of the ACLU's State Supreme Court Initiative, told CBS Colorado this should not be viewed as the misconduct of a single employee.

"The evidence is that in both 2014 and 2018, fraud by Missy Woods was brought to the attention of supervisors at the CBI, and instead of discharging their obligation to do something about it and to disclose that fraud to criminal defendants, supervisors covered it up," Segal said.

The ACLU argues that the failure to disclose Woods' misconduct violated defendants' constitutional rights and allowed her to continue working on criminal cases for years after concerns were first raised.

In a statement to CBS Colorado, CBI Strategic Communications Director Rob Low wrote:

"We continue to recognize the seriousness of Missy Woods' misconduct and the concerns it has raised about the integrity of forensic evidence. CBI has addressed these issues extensively and remains committed to ensuring the reliability of its forensic work and maintaining public trust.

We have confidence in the dedicated investigators and scientists who carry out CBI's mission every day. We respect the judicial process and believe that questions concerning individual cases are best addressed through that process."

The agency has a web page that details its response to Woods' misconduct.

According to the filing, the ACLU says the delay also resulted in the loss of crucial DNA instrument data, making it difficult or impossible to determine whether Woods manipulated evidence in additional cases.

"It's important to remember here that it is the state that committed this misconduct," Segal said.

Now, the ACLU wants the Colorado Supreme Court to shift responsibility for addressing those potentially compromised cases. Rather than requiring individual defendants to prove Woods tampered with evidence in their cases, attorneys want the state to demonstrate that misconduct did not occur.

Segal said the issue is also about preserving confidence in Colorado's criminal justice system.

"One way I would put it is that it takes a village to do a criminal case right, and it can take a village to taint a criminal case as well," he said. "And here, unfortunately, the second thing happened."

Mims partners with Aurora Mental Health and Recovery, and his family has experience working with mental health. It's an issue that deeply matters to him.

He stopped by Aurora West Preparatory Academy to encourage students to take care of their mental health. He shared that mental health is just as important as physical health and that asking for help is a sign of strength.

While he acknowledged that the pressures he faces may be a little different, taking care of yourself is the same in many ways. One thing he says is important is to have a support system.

"I tell them to open up. That's huge. A lot of people deal with it, I deal with it. Sometimes people struggle at all different times with mental health," Mims said. "Even if you don't think you have before, everyone has at some point in time in their life, and it's just something that happens. But at the end of the day, you know that there are people out there, definitely professionals, that know how to deal with it and have your best intentions in mind."

Meanwhile, families receiving a free Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday had a special surprise from defensive lineman Zach Allen. This is the second year Allen has partnered with the Food Bank of the Rockies to help give away Thanksgiving meal boxes.

Allen donated the food he handed out today, including frozen turkeys, stuffing mix, green beans, corn muffin mix and ham. He says he wants to give back to a community that has given him so much.

"The minute we came here with me and my family they've been so incredible and great to us. Any way you can give back in a small way, you want to be able to do that," Allen said.

A week after Griswold was elected as the next Attorney General, her team of lawyers from the Attorney General's Office was back in court to determine whether more efforts need to be made to obtain them.

A Denver district court judge says her office should have kept those documents but didn't.

"The court sort of emphasized that in the first round they found that the report existed, and the secretary had an obligation to preserve that report and did not," said Former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri, who helped spearhead the cause brought by the Public Trust Institute.

"This may end up being a case where the secretary, having destroyed that document, we're never going to be able to see it," said Taheri.

An invoice in the court record shows the state paid an outside firm, Sage River Consulting, nearly $25,000 to conduct "leadership development" and make "findings, conclusions, and recommendations." Former Secretary of State's Office employees told CBS Colorado that Griswold refused to take custody of the documents because they're highly critical of her and she didn't want the information subject to open records requests. 

"That's unfortunate that there is no consequence for an elected official who received a document that we have every reason to believe was a very negative portrayal of her leadership skills," said Taheri.

The court ordered Griswold's team to negotiate in good faith with Sage River Consulting, which is no longer operating, to obtain documents they say they've deleted but might be able to revive at a cost. 

Tehari now feels this case may have hit a dead end. 

"When the department was negotiating with them, it was a very slow process and still somewhat hostile," she said.

Griswold was not in court Tuesday, but a spokesperson for her office told CBS Colorado:

"The records requested are from over five years ago, from a vendor that the Department of State no longer has an active contract with. The Department complies with all record retention obligations, and any suggestion otherwise is incorrect. 

Ms. Taheri's complaints at this point are directed at the vendor and not at the Department of State. We will continue to work on a solution that works for all parties – as we had been doing before Ms. Taheri brought this before the Court. The Department of State has previously provided Ms. Taheri with all records responsive to her request in our possession."

The ski area in southwest Colorado opened for the season on Oct. 31. The next day, historic flooding tore through parts of the region — washing out highways, triggering rock and mudslides and cutting off communities that have spent more than a week navigating lengthy detours.

Now, as winter approaches, the Colorado Department of Transportation is working around the clock to restore mobility and access. Officials said Tuesday the hope is to reopen parts of U.S. 160 over Wolf Creek Pass to limited traffic as early as this weekend.

"In some places we have 6 to 8 feet of rocks, mud, debris on the highway that crews have been working on getting rid of," Julie Constan, CDOT's southwest regional transportation director, said. "Some of those locations are a couple hundred feet long." 

For drivers, those numbers help explain why restoring travel through the mountain corridor has been such a massive challenge. For local businesses, the closure has also brought major economic consequences.

Davey Pitcher, CEO of Wolf Creek Ski Area, told CBS Colorado the closure has effectively halted operations. He said many employees have spent the past several days helping CDOT with recovery work.

"Our focus has been working with CDOT on getting the water off the road. The culvert systems were overwhelmed," Pitcher said. 

As an equipment operator himself, Pitcher said seeing the devastation firsthand was shocking.

"I went down and took a look and was mortified," he said.

The resort's heavy equipment and skilled workforce quickly became part of the recovery effort.

"Using our heavy haul equipment to remove somewhere around 20,000 tons of mud that was blocking both lanes, all three lanes of the road," Pitcher said.

The work hasn't gone unnoticed by transportation officials.

Constan praised the ski area's response, noting that Pitcher "mobilized some of his crews out there to start removing material and debris. It's been a huge effort, but the ski area has definitely been a part of that."

The cleanup continues to be extensive. Pitcher said crews are still hauling large boulders and rockfall more than a week later.

"We've come up with a ton of rock that's cascaded off the mountain, big giant boulders, and we're constantly loading them on these trucks that are going to priorities that CDOT have," he said. 

Despite the challenges, CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said progress is being made. She explained the Federal Highway Administration's emergency funding, known as "quick release" dollars, has already been committed to the project, along with state transportation funding. That's why, she added, resources are not a barrier to completing the projects.

"Our highest priority right now is to get the temporary repairs in place so that folks across southwest Colorado have full mobility in the winter," Lew said.

CDOT's goal is to open Wolf Creek Pass to limited traffic with alternating one-lane operations in damaged areas. Officials also expect Colorado Highway 151 to reopen before Thanksgiving, restoring another route between Pagosa Springs and Durango. Meanwhile, work is underway to replace the washed-out bridge over the Piedra River on U.S. 160, where officials currently estimate a temporary bridge could be installed sometime in January.

For Pitcher, the recovery effort is about more than reopening a ski resort and getting his staff of 400 people back on the job; it's about helping the entire region get back on its feet.

"We're hoping to get open and get rolling and build everybody's confidence not only in the ski area, but in the highway systems," he said. 

For information on the latest projects and road closures, visit: https://www.codot.gov/projects.

The exact margins of Congress are not yet clear, as winners have not yet been projected in two Senate races and more than two dozen House races. They include GOP-held districts with razor-thin margins, a few Democratic seats that could flip to Republicans and several races in California and other Western states that still need to count ballots.

Here's a look at the congressional races that CBS News has not yet projected, including where the results stand:

Senate Battlegrounds

Democrats are set to enter next year with at least 54 Senate seats, compared to Republicans' 44. Two Senate races still haven't been called — one has long been viewed as a battleground, and the other came out of nowhere.

Alaska Senate: Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is running for reelection against Democrat Mary Peltola, a razor-thin race rocked by a last-minute scandal over how another Dan Sullivan got on the ballot. The count could drag on due to both outstanding ballots and Alaska's ranked choice voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate is the top choice of a majority of voters, the last-place candidate is eliminated and the counting process moves to a second round. Final results aren't expected until 15 days after Election Day. Both the Sullivan and Peltola campaigns have argued they have the upper hand.

Mississippi Senate: The race between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom was not widely expected to be competitive, but it remains close. State officials say thousands of mail ballots are outstanding and can legally arrive within five days of the election, and there are an unknown number of "affidavit" ballots from voters whose eligibility needs to be checked. Colom and Hyde-Smith have both predicted that they'll emerge victorious.

Democrats on Defense

The dozens of red districts that Democrats flipped were the primary story of Tuesday night, but a few Republican House candidates are still trying to swim against the tide, either due to redistricting or a favorable local political makeup.

Maine's 2nd District: This red, pro-Trump district is one of Republicans' top opportunities to flip a House seat, after moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden's decision not to run for reelection set the stage for a contest between former GOP Gov. Paul LePage and Democrat Matt Dunlap. Even though Dunlap conceded, officials in Maine say the race will proceed to a ranked-choice tabulation because LePage was just shy of the 50% mark. The tabulation will start Nov. 9.

Louisiana's 6th District: This formerly blue-leaning, majority-Black district was redrawn after the Supreme Court voided the state's maps, finding that mapmakers relied too heavily on race and narrowing the Voting Rights Act. It's now significantly redder, but since no candidate won a majority under the state's "jungle" primary system, it will go to a runoff between Democrat Chauna Banks and Republican Blake Miguez.

GOP-Held Battlegrounds

Several races held by Republicans still don't have projections — including in districts that Democrats are hoping to flip.

Colorado's 4th District: Firebrand Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is running against Democrat Eileen Laubacher. Boebert switched to the district two years ago, after narrowly winning reelection in a more competitive district in 2022.

Minnesota's 1st District: Republican Rep. Brad Finstad is locked in a tight battle against Democrat Jake Johnson, after Finstad won by 17.2 points in 2024. Under state law, candidates who are behind by less than 0.25 points can request a recount.

Tennessee's 4th District: GOP Rep. Scott DesJarlais is defending his seat against Democrat Victoria Broderick. It's a red district, though it was made somewhat less red in redistricting.

North Carolina's 3rd District: GOP Rep. Greg Murphy is running against Democrat Raymond Smith. The district was made slightly bluer during redistricting last year, but it still favors Republicans. 

North Carolina's 5th District: GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx is facing Democrat Chuck Hubbard. First elected over 20 years ago, Foxx is the longest-serving member of the Tar Heel State's congressional delegation, which was shaken up in the midterms, with Democrats flipping several House seats and a Senate seat.

North Carolina's 7th District: Republican Rep. David Rouzer is running against Democrat Kimberly Hardy.

North Carolina's 10th District: Republican Rep. Pat Harrigan faces Democrat Ashley Bell.

South Carolina's 2nd District: Longtime Republican Rep. Joe Wilson is running against Democrat Zyon Khalifa.

Please hold...

Results could take a while in some House districts, either because ballots still need to be counted or because of runoffs. In some California districts, both candidates belong to the same party, so they don't have any implications for the makeup of Congress.

Alaska's At-Large District: Republican Rep. Nick Begich is running against Bill Hill, an independent endorsed by Democrats, and a few other candidates. Remember: Alaska has ranked-choice elections, so further tabulation may be needed.

California's 4th District: In the Napa Valley area, longtime Rep. Mike Thompson is running against businessman and fellow Democrat Eric Jones.

California's 23rd District: Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte is running against Democrat Tessa Hodge.

Louisiana's 5th District: Democrat Patricia Moore and Republican Gabe Firment are headed to a December runoff in this deeply conservative district. It's currently held by GOP Rep. Julia Letlow, who was elected to the Senate this week.

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because neither team immediately announced the trade, said the Broncos were sending a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder to Los Angeles for the fourth-year linebacker.

Nobody made a bigger leap in the standings at the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline than Henley, who went from 0-8 in L.A. to 7-2 with the Broncos, who are on a bye this week.

In eight games this season, Henley has 51 tackles, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and an interception, which came against the Houston Texans on Sunday. He had six stops against the Broncos in Week 5.

Henley has 301 tackles since becoming a starter in 2024, a year after he was drafted in the third round out of Washington State. He also played at Nevada.

Henley solidifies the second level of Denver's interior defense alongside Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad.

The charges were laid out in a 34-page impeachment resolution spanning eight articles that Massie introduced in the lower chamber on Monday. The House voted late Tuesday to refer the resolution to a committee, effectively killing it, after no Republicans joined Massie and House Democrats.

The impeachment resolution focused on Hegseth's involvement in some of the most controversial episodes of President Trump's second term: the war with Iran, boat strikes in the Caribbean, an attack on an Iranian school and the capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Hegseth called the resolution "political spectacle" in a press conference Tuesday morning. 

Here's a look at what the impeachment resolution says:

Article I: Starting the Iran war without authorization

The first impeachment article accuses Hegseth of following illegal orders to begin the Iran war.

"Secretary Hegseth directed and caused United States Armed Forces to be introduced into hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran," even though Congress had not declared war or authorized an attack, Article I says.

The resolution says Hegseth acted in violation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to use force without congressional authorization in narrow circumstances.

"Secretary Hegseth nevertheless knowingly executed and implemented the order to commence such hostilities, employing the powers, personnel, weapons, and resources of the Department of Defense to initiate military action against another sovereign nation," the article says.

Article II: Ignoring Congress to continue the war

The second article accuses Hegseth of ignoring a resolution approved by both chambers of Congress that directed the administration to end the Iran war.

The House and Senate both approved a measure in June that ordered the administration to "remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran," the mechanism for Congress to force the executive branch to end fighting under the War Powers Resolution. Massie's impeachment article notes that this was "the first successful passage of such a legislative vehicle by both chambers of Congress" in history. 

"In response, and without lawful cause or excuse, Secretary Hegseth continued to direct United States Armed Forces into hostilities with the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 26, 2026, and continues to do so," the impeachment article says.

At the time, the administration argued that "hostilities" with Iran had already ended, rendering the war powers measure inapplicable.

Article III: Ignoring the War Powers Resolution's deadline

The War Powers Resolution says the executive branch must end the use of force within 60 days if Congress has not approved the operation, with another 30-day window to safely remove troops. 

Mr. Trump notified Congress of the hostilities on March 2, so the 60-day window closed on May 1. In a letter that day, the administration told Congress that "hostilities" had "terminated." Hegseth told senators: "We are in a ceasefire right now, which in our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire."

But the impeachment resolution says Hegseth kept directing hostilities after that deadline and beyond June 1, "the date on which even the maximum possible additional 30-day withdrawal period would have expired."

The article also says Hegseth directed U.S. forces to keep fighting "in a manner calculated not to terminate the unauthorized use of such forces and bring about their prompt removal, but rather to continue prosecuting the war to pursue additional military objectives not authorized by Congress."

Article IV: Ignoring laws meant to minimize civilian casualties

The fourth article accuses Hegseth of dismantling systems and processes at the Pentagon that Congress established to minimize civilian casualties, saying that his actions led to the deadly strike on an Iranian school in the first wave of attacks against the country in February. The Tomahawk missile strike killed roughly 170 civilians, most of them children, Iranian media has reported. The U.S. has not directly accepted responsibility for the attack.

The resolution says Hegseth oversaw "the systemic deterioration and removal of Department of Defense infrastructure that Congress had mandated by law to limit collateral damage to civilians and non-military objects during military operations." The article cites Hegseth's cuts to staff dedicated to mitigating civilian casualties, his firing of the military's top lawyers and his public comments about the "stupid rules of engagement."

Hegseth's actions laid the groundwork for the strike on the school, Massie alleges.

"By directing the Department of Defense in a manner that foreseeably dismantled the safeguards necessary to distinguish civilian objects from military objectives, Secretary Hegseth thereby effected the murder of civilians," the article says.

"The strike on the elementary school was not an isolated targeting failure divorced from the conduct of the Secretary of Defense, nor can Secretary Hegseth's conduct be dismissed as a single targeting error or isolated failure in the fog of war," the resolution says.

Article V: Carrying out "extrajudicial killings" through boat strikes

The fifth article centers on the Pentagon's campaign against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. The resolution says the strikes have killed at least 243 people since September 2025.

Massie accuses Hegseth of using the military to target suspects of crimes.

"By subjecting persons merely suspected of criminal conduct to lethal military force without judicial process, without congressional authorization, and without establishing a lawful basis for treating such persons or vessels as military targets, Secretary Hegseth arrogated to himself and the Executive Branch the roles of judge, jury, and executioner and asserted a unilateral power to determine who may live and who may die," the article says.

The article also cites the first strike of the campaign, on Sept. 2, 2025, when the military hit the same boat a second time.

"The strike destroyed and capsized the vessel. Approximately 45 minutes later, while two survivors clung to the wreckage, a secondary strike was ordered, killing both survivors," the resolution says. "In doing so, Secretary Hegseth has endangered members of our Armed Forces in future military engagements by encouraging adversaries to subject American service members to the same treatment."

Article VI: Retaliating against Sen. Mark Kelly

The sixth article accuses Hegseth of "retaliating against a Member of Congress for constitutionally protected speech," specifically Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

In November 2025, Kelly, a retired Navy captain, appeared in a video with other lawmakers to deliver a message to members of the military and intelligence community: "Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders."

Hegseth issued a letter of censure and threatened to reduce Kelly's rank, which would have cut his retirement benefits. A federal judge blocked the move.

Massie's resolution says Hegseth "weaponized the Department of Defense to chill a core function of the Legislative Branch" and "place the First Amendment rights of millions of United States veterans at risk of irreparable harm."

Article VII: The capture of Venezuela's Maduro

Article VII deals with the military operation to capture Maduro and his wife in Caracas in January 2026. It calls the raid "an act of war against a sovereign country executed under the guise of narcotics law enforcement, though in actuality intended to assert U.S. control over Venezuela's oil reserves."

The resolution says the operation involved more than 200 special operations personnel and more than 150 aircraft and drones, and killed at least 83 people. It argues Hegseth acted without a declaration of war or authorization from Congress, in violation of the War Powers Resolution.

The article cites Mr. Trump's remarks after the raid that "we're going to run the country" and that U.S. oil companies would "go in… and start making money."

Hegseth "gambled the lives of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel in order to facilitate the illegal taking of national oil," the article says.

Article VIII: Strikes on Yemen

The eighth and final article focuses on more than 1,100 U.S. strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen between March and May 2025. 

The article again accuses Hegseth of using military force without congressional authorization and says the strikes led to civilian casualties.

"In less than eight weeks, there were nearly as many civilian deaths in Yemen as United States military actions had caused in that country during the preceding twenty-three years," the article says.

The article cites leaked messages from Hegseth and other top officials in a group chat on Signal that The Atlantic published last year. It argues that the conversation shows the administration knew the Houthis did not pose an imminent threat that would have required an immediate U.S. response.

Weiser, the Democratic candidate, was projected to win the race to become the state's next governor on Election Day, according to CBS News. He currently serves as the state's District Attorney and will assume his new office on January 12. Polis is term-limited after eight years in the state government's highest office.

Before he is sworn in, Weiser is laying out a plan for the transition. On Tuesday, he announced his cabinet picks who will advise him as governor and manage state executive agencies. Weiser says the appointees share his commitment to collaboration across the state and to building an inclusive administration that includes all viewpoints.

"Communities across Colorado face a range of challenges, and I'm committed to working with diverse leaders to solve our biggest problems," Weiser said. "My administration will represent all of Colorado – and I'm proud to announce my latest appointees, which demonstrates my commitment to building a collaborative administration that's inclusive of voices from across Colorado and the political spectrum. As governor, I will ensure that Coloradans from all walks of life have a seat at the table – because that's the only way we will be ready on day one to make state government work better and build a brighter future for all Coloradans."

Those appointees include:

Agriculture Commissioner

State Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson will serve as the state's Agriculture Commissioner. Coming from a farming and ranching background himself, Simpson will help advance agriculture in the state, promote a safe and high-quality food supply, protect customers and work to responsibly manage Colorado's environmental and natural resources.

Director of Rural Advancement

State Rep. Jeni Arndt previously served as the mayor of Fort Collins before she was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives. During her time there, she chaired the House committee on agriculture, natural resources and water policy.

Senior Director of Water Policy

Scott Steinbrecher, the current Deputy Attorney General for Natural Resources and Environment, will serve as the Senior Director of Water Policy. Weiser chose him because of his experience with Colorado water law, including serving as the AG's lead advisor on water policy and his work on interstate compact negotiations.

Director of the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting

Dominick Moreno has served on the legislature's Joint Budget Committee and has chaired the committee twice. He was the youngest member of Commerce City's City Council in history. Moreno also served as the Colorado Senate Majority Leader before becoming Deputy Chief of Staff for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. He will take over as the Director of the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting.

More information on Weiser's transition plan can be found online.

On Dec. 26, 1996, the 6-year-old was reported missing before she was found dead in the basement of the family's home in Boulder. JonBenét Ramsey was described by her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, as an outgoing child who performed in local beauty pageants. She had been bludgeoned and strangled.  

Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said police are still regularly working on this case and have fielded hundreds of thousands of tips over the years. 

When asked about current DNA evidence, officials said they could not share specifics of  what evidence they have, but Redfern said that they are waiting on advanced technology and only have "one shot." Redfearn emphasized that the department is regularly researching and engaging with DNA labs to see if the technology is up to the task.

"It really depends on the quantity, the quality, and the location of the DNA. Those three things. And if it were easy to solve this case, we would not be sitting here today. It would have been solved 30 years ago or 20 years ago," said District Attorney Michael Dougherty. "So when you think about quality, quantity, and location in any homicide case where there's DNA, those are the key factors to me, to us that we continue to look at. I can't emphasize enough: we want this case solved. We want justice for JonBenét Ramsey."    

In a message to CBS Colorado on Tuesday, John Ramsey pushed for BPD to use private labs that claim to have the technology to successfully test small samples of DNA. Ramsey said in that message in part, "…That's who Boulder Police should turn to now."

District Attorney Michael Dougherty also addressed a question about ruling out the Ramsey family as potential suspects. Dougherty said that despite officials previously ruling out anyone in the Ramsey family, he, as a prosecutor, never rules anyone out during active investigations.

Both officials mentioned their regular contact with the Ramsey family and willingness to work with them.

Officials also emphasized in the conference the importance of finding justice for JonBenét as they continue to look at every aspect of the case.

"To bring justice to JonBenét, everything we do is being done incredibly thoughtfully, with consistent conversation with experts," said Redfearn.   

Authored by Cornell University researchers and published this week in the journal Nature Energy, the study analyzed growth in both energy demand and infrastructure projects along four major U.S. power grids between 2020 and 2025. It also looked at data from 4,000 existing and proposed data centers across the U.S. Its results showed that the AI boom, and the buildout of data centers used to support it, hike up energy costs in ways that place the greatest economic strain on people who benefit least from the technology.

The study found that data centers unevenly raised wholesale power prices. Those costs are determined through an open marketplace where electricity is bought and sold in bulk between power generators and utilities before reaching transmission lines, and, eventually, consumers. Power grids that were already stretched saw the greatest price increases, researchers said. 

In California's southern Bay Area, data centers were estimated to raise wholesale energy prices by almost 20% last year. In Texas' Dallas-Fort Worth area, the increase in 2025 approached 17%, according to their estimates. Both regions have seen influxes of data centers in recent years. Places like New York, where data centers are less prevalent, didn't experience significant changes in wholesale energy prices, according to the study.

Higher wholesale prices had a downstream effect on energy consumers, the researchers said, as residential customers paid huge fractions of the spending on transmission built for data centers. The study found that spending across the four power grids jumped from $2 billion in 2020 to $34.2 billion in 2025, with data centers responsible for $8.25 billion of energy infrastructure costs last year. Residential users were responsible for just under $3.5 billion, but they were billed more than $16 billion while data centers were billed about $3 billion. 

Researchers said that antiquated formulas used to allocate energy costs along a power grid have historically divided those costs based on previous energy consumption, rather than new growth. That means households take on much of the costs for developing new power infrastructure.

"It's kind of a chicken-and-egg problem," said Fengqi You, one of the study's authors, in a statement. "Because if you're going to build a data center, you need to expand this power infrastructure. Otherwise, there's no electricity for them to run. But before they build, they're not using energy."

Residents of rural and lower-income areas saw their bills skyrocket, and in some cases faced increases in energy costs that were 76% larger than residents of urban communities, according to the study. 

The researchers said that despite the concentration of data centers near metropolitan hubs, the financial loads they trigger often seep into surrounding suburban and rural areas because of policies that govern how energy costs are shared across regions. They argued that such policies warrant review.

Researchers also pointed to what they called a "paradoxical mismatch": According to the study, states that faced the largest cost increases, like West Virginia and Ohio, also reported the lowest uses of generative AI compared with other states around the country. 

The study also found instances where states saw price increases linked to AI data centers located geographically far from them, essentially paying for infrastructure "they neither contribute to nor benefit from," researchers said. Residents in New Jersey and Pennsylvania helped pay for power grid updates tied to data center growth in Virginia, for example. 

"As I often emphasize, you do not have to live next to a data center to help pay for its power infrastructure," You told CBS News. "Our goal is to provide science-based evidence so policymakers, companies, and communities can make informed decisions about how to balance these benefits and costs."

Researchers suggested that data centers cut back on their energy use during their region's peak demand hours or pay states directly for the new energy demand they add to a given power grid. Since regulating data centers was a huge focus of November's midterm elections, You said his team hoped their findings could help lawmakers decide what to do next. 

"This is an issue that connects directly to debates in many states and in Congress," said You. "We want to provide science-based evidence and concrete data so that all the stakeholders can better understand the picture and weigh their options."

You told CBS News that, eventually, "the key idea is that the data center sector should really pay for the power energy infrastructure upgrades they need, not the other customers, not the households, and definitely not the low-income ones." But, he added, "unfortunately, that's the situation right now."

Set on 107 acres just outside Castle Rock, the nonprofit offers a different approach to equine-assisted therapy. Veterans don't simply spend time around horses — they learn every aspect of horsemanship while also participating in peer support and therapy. 

"What's unique about our program is we work with them all the way from ground level with the horses to trail riding and so on to move them forward in that direction," said Mark Renn, an instructor with Colorado Horsepower.

Renn said the goal extends far beyond teaching someone how to ride.

"Horsemanship is key. It's not just walking with the horse and talking with the horse; it's actually becoming one with the horse," he said.

The program has worked with veterans for about a decade now and currently serves about 30 participants, many of whom are combat veterans coping with PTSD and other trauma-related challenges. For combat veteran Jeremy Walsh, that connection with horses has had a profound impact on his mental health.

"Because of how skittish they are, you have to be confident and worry about the horse instead of your own problems," Walsh said. "And somehow through that connection you end up rewiring your own brain to better handle your own stresses and trauma."

Walsh, who now serves as an outreach coordinator with the Denver Vet Center, also participates in the program as a peer mentor, helping other veterans access resources while riding alongside them.

"I ride with the veterans and answer any questions they may have about VA benefits, resources, or the horses because I've been doing this for a while, so I've gotten really close with the Horsepower people here," Walsh said.

He said the benefits became apparent in his own life after joining the program.

"I was noticing as I was coming, I was sleeping better," Walsh said. "All the little problems that were stressing me out in my life didn't seem like problems at all."

Walsh believes the experience extends beyond the horses themselves.

"We are truly healing people here," he said. "People feel like they have a purpose; people are falling in love with the animals here and the staff here. They're also connecting with other veterans."

That sense of connection is something Melody Ripsom knows firsthand. The Navy veteran joined the program about two years ago while searching for an alternative therapy option.

"I've never really been around horses before, like I didn't even really know how big they are, so that was a surprise," Ripsom said with a laugh.

What began as an unfamiliar experience gradually became an important part of her mental health journey.

"For a lot of veterans, myself included, we dissociate a lot, and that's just kind of how we deal with mental stress; it's just kind of taking ourselves out of the world basically and not being there mentally," Ripsom said, adding that being on a horse and learning how to communicate with one helps that feeling "melt away."

"From a day-to-day perspective, that really helps in staying grounded," she said.

Ripsom said the program has also helped her become more engaged with the world around her.

"It's definitely got me more socialized and more involved in the community," she said. 

But the biggest change, she added, has been a newfound sense of confidence.

"Going about the world feeling like an odd man out, that does something to your brain," Ripsom explained. "Like, is there something wrong with me? But being here, having an animal that's bigger and stronger and tougher than you, listen to you, especially being able to calm them down, that's so cool to have a giant animal freaking out and you just go 'hey,' and they listen to you. That's like, woah."

Renn said stories like Ripsom's are common at Colorado Horsepower.

"What happens is I watch these individuals grow as they work with these horses, and they actually grow a bond with the horse, but they also grow in their confidence level," he said.

He has seen veterans arrive uncertain, withdrawn, or intimidated by horses, only to leave transformed.

"One, for example, didn't even want to look at a horse or touch it; he stood 20 feet away," Renn said. "And at the end of the two hours, he wouldn't leave the horse alone."

For veterans like Ripsom and Walsh, that transformation isn't about becoming a better rider. It's about finding confidence, community, and support in a place where both horses and fellow veterans help carry the load.

"It's just a special experience," Walsh said.

Colorado Horsepower programs are free for veterans and first responders. The nonprofit relies on donations from individuals and businesses for support. 

High Plains Environmental Center has worked with developers for 25 years, including Centerra, and now Baseline in Broomfield, to build sustainable landscapes.

"So we've created all these ecosystems within a designed community, which puts nature in the lives of people who live here," Executive Director Jim Tolstrup said. "It's also marketable, because people want to live where there's nature and birds."

Early on, Tolstrup said, homeowners all over the region, including out of state, identified a need.

"We realized there is a big hole in the market where people might love to plant native plants, but couldn't find them," he said. "So we started growing native plants here and grow over 180 species."

This year put the center's designs to the test. One example is a bioswale, a shallow planted channel that catches runoff from a parking lot. The channel slows the water down so it soaks into the ground. It has no mulch or irrigation.

"For a long time, we've been preparing for the kind of weather that we had this summer, and that is extremely hot, very, very dry," Tolstrup said. "And where I'm standing right here is a landscape that is never watered."

"All of this lushness and tall grasses and shrubs and flowers, beautiful and colorful all summer, is never, ever watered," he said. "And it's all native plants. We've created a meadow ecosystem here."

Dr. Tobias Guzman lives in Kinston, another Loveland development whose grasses and plants the center manages. He said the neighborhood has changed how he thinks about a good landscape.

"It's not just the physical appearance of something, but actually what it can offer," Guzman said. "It can offer us less money going into watering. It can offer healing, you know, salves that come from particular plants. It can feed bees differently."

The center relies on donations, and Tolstrup said Colorado Gives Day is key to its fundraising.

"Colorado Gives Day is really one of our most important fundraising campaigns of the year," he said.

Past Colorado Gives Day donations helped pay for a new greenhouse, allowing the center to grow even more native plants for Colorado yards.

People can support High Plains Environmental Center and other nonprofits through Colorado Gives Day. Every gift made through Dec. 8 is boosted by a $1 million incentive fund.

Details for giving to High Plains are at https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/HighPlainsEnvironmentalCenter