Rocky Mountain Voice

Author: RMV Editor

Gonzalez: Needle exchange site in Colorado Springs lacks transparency
Approved, Commentary, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Gonzalez: Needle exchange site in Colorado Springs lacks transparency

By Longinos Gonzalez, Jr. | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Needle exchange programs and drug injection sites, described by proponents as “safe injection sites” or “overdose prevention centers,” are ideas that radicals throughout the state continue to push upon our communities, even where they are largely opposed by the public and previously rejected by local institutions.   Luckily, at least for one more year, the legislature rejected the most recent supervised drug injection site bill proposal.  Unfortunately, this bill is likely to find renewed advocacy in 2025 by numerous Democrats.  However, the push for needle exchanges, or syringe access programs, under the guise of “harm reduction” continues and has come to Colorado Springs without ever having compl...
Emails from Readers: Say ‘Nuts’ to Polis and Dems, keep property tax on the ballot
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Emails from Readers: Say ‘Nuts’ to Polis and Dems, keep property tax on the ballot

Editor's note: Want to express your opinion? Email [email protected]. Give us your succinct thoughts on current events, be sure to include your name and hometown, and we might feature your letter. Dear Mr. Editor, I cannot believe the arrogance of the Democrat-led legislators and the posturing of Gov. Polis over the property tax issue. The Democrats seem to think that law-abiding, tax-paying, freedom-loving Colorado citizens are too stupid to really comprehend the importance of their socialist agenda. So much so, that when Prop. HH failed by a 59% to 41% margin, Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg stated in a TV news interview that Coloradans were swayed by extreme right-wing propaganda. Really! We're that gullible? Wow. It seems Colorado voters aren't as ignora...
Constas: Colorado’s property tax crisis, the partisan divide driving the state’s housing affordability crisis
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Constas: Colorado’s property tax crisis, the partisan divide driving the state’s housing affordability crisis

By James Constas | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Homeowners across Colorado with mortgages are opening their annual escrow analyses and facing a shocking reality. I am one of them.  To my dismay, I discovered my mortgage will increase by a staggering $1,000 per month. This 54% surge in my monthly payment was driven by soaring property taxes and an even more exorbitant rise in homeowner's insurance premiums. Astonishingly, I now pay more towards taxes and insurance than towards the principal and interest on the property! Outraged, I shared my escrow analysis on X (formerly known as Twitter), where it garnered 887 likes, 263 retweets, and over 24,000 views in just 24 hours, clearly striking a chord. The 72 comments came from fellow homeowners sharing their fiscal misery and ...
Commentary: Letters from readers (week of July 22)
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Commentary: Letters from readers (week of July 22)

By Rocky Mountain Voice Following are letters recently received from readers of the Rocky Mountain Voice. To have your letter considered for publication, email [email protected] with the heading "Letter to the Editor" and be sure to provide your name, hometown (only) and permission to reprint. Registration fees are out of control Most people probably remember how a frog cannot be put directly into boiling water, however, if it's put in and the heat is slowly turned up it will become cooked. I'm wondering if this is a picture of many Coloradoans with regard to vehicle registration cost. I'm renewing the registration on my two-year-old car -- more than $500! I've lived in Colorado for more than 20 years now and I can't remember when the exponential increases too...
Moriarty: Democrats’ Colorado Energy story has a bad ending
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Moriarty: Democrats’ Colorado Energy story has a bad ending

By Tom Moriarty | Guest Columnist Colorado Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado democrats tell us a story about fossil fuels. This story has three parts: fossil fuels are bad, the democrats have a plan to eliminate fossil fuels, and their plan is working. They pander to the “fossil fuels are bad” fear that has been exaggerated by relentless climate porn. This old fashioned fear mongering is an effective political strategy among their base and many in the middle. But “feat not,”they say, because the Colorado democrats have a plan to slay the fossil fuel monster. This plan was laid out in the Polis administration's 2019 document “Roadmap to 100% Renewable Energy by 2040 and Bold Climate Action.” The title is unequivocal: “100% Renewable Energy by 2040.” Now that is the kind of plan...
Applegate: Possible solutions for El Paso County’s immigration problem
Approved, Commentary, El Paso County, Rocky Mountain Voice

Applegate: Possible solutions for El Paso County’s immigration problem

By Cory Applegate | Guest Columnist El Paso County recently saw two busloads of immigrants here illegally come down from Denver. Since Denver's sanctuary city policies create their own fiscal burden, they now claim they cannot afford to keep taking care of lawbreakers they attracted in the first place. The hospitals in the Denver area gave away $136 million in care last year, which will never be paid back by those with no income or insurance. While Denver's hospitals teeter on the edge of bankruptcy, President Joe Biden refuses to shut down the border. With more than 8,000 illegal crossings per day, none of which are going through a proper port of entry, El Paso County needs to prepare themselves for the inevitable. A distant problem at the southern border is now becoming a present p...
Cooper: Colorado May Have A Problem with 12,000+ Disappearing Undeliverable Ballots
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Cooper: Colorado May Have A Problem with 12,000+ Disappearing Undeliverable Ballots

By Bob Cooper | Guest Contributor The Colorado Open Record Act (CORA) allows citizens to examine public records of payments via invoices as well as a long list of election records for every election.  CORA enables state and county officials to provide transparency for citizens, so they have access to and confidence in our governance. It is a valuable resource especially considering the national concern over our election systems. The information for this article is based on CORA information from 11 Colorado counties. Undeliverable ballots are a vital election record in every election. States with mail in voting systems, like Colorado, mail out millions of ballots at the start of an election. The USPS delivers ballots to voters based on the mailing address in the voter registratio...
Copeland: How to stop wrecking our country
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Copeland: How to stop wrecking our country

By Dr. Tom Copeland | Guest Columnist President George Washington, wearing a keffiyeh with a Palestinian flag across his shoulders? That’s what anti-Israel agitators recently did to the statue of our founding President, at the university named after him.  Protests at universities across the country are being organized and funded by anti-Israel groups. Many administrators have shown no backbone in dealing with them. But let’s add the boards of trustees, faculty, staff and parents of the agitators. Where are they? They are either completely absent, or in the case of faculty at places like Columbia, actively encouraging and supporting the protests. Yet we cannot absolve the students themselves of responsibility. They are adults, although they have often been coddled. They believ...
Smrz: Thirty-seven 1st Amendment advocates denied a voice at Colorado Capitol 
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Smrz: Thirty-seven 1st Amendment advocates denied a voice at Colorado Capitol 

By Jimmy Smrz | Guest Commentary DENVER, COLORADO—On May 1, 2024, The state House Education Committee hearing for Colorado Senate Bill 24-158 proceeded without calling for testimony from any of the 37 opponents who had registered to speak against the bill. Insiders were struck by the one-sided monopolization of the hearing, where only testimony in support of the proposed legislation was heard. This raises concerns about legislative protocols and stakeholder engagement.  Following its introduction in February, "Social Media Protect Juveniles Disclosures Reports'' garnered significant legislative support. The bill passed out of the state Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee hearing on March 28 unanimously, and encountered only one dissenting vote in the full state Sena...
It was a no-good, very bad Opening Day for Rockies with 14-run third, most runs in inning on Opening Day since 1900
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It was a no-good, very bad Opening Day for Rockies with 14-run third, most runs in inning on Opening Day since 1900

By Rocky Mountain Voice The tradition of Opening Day will be a historical one for the Colorado Rockies in 2024, just not a memorable one. The Arizona Diamondbacks scored 14 runs in a third-inning offensive onslaught Thursday night and by then the Rockies trailed 16-1. It marks the worst single inning in franchise history in terms of most hits, runs and batters allowed, the Associated Press reported. The 14 runs are the most in an inning on Opening Day for any team since 1900, more than a century, according to Elias Sports. The D-backs sent 18 batters to the plate and had 13 hits, two walks and one sacrifice fly, the Associated Press reports. The Rockies used three pitchers in the inning; Kyle Freeland, Anthony Molina and Jalen Beeks. While no one homered in the 14-run outbur...