Rocky Mountain Voice

Author: External Outlet

Declining marijuana industry sales in Colorado hit seven-year low in 2024
Approved, State, Westword

Declining marijuana industry sales in Colorado hit seven-year low in 2024

By Thomas Mitchell | Westword Colorado's legal marijuana market continued sliding in 2024, hitting a seven-year low in annual dispensary sales. According to monthly reports from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, Colorado dispensaries brought in just over $1.28 billion in sales through the first eleven months of 2024, with around $109 million of that sold in November. Unless pot shops raked in over $200 million in December, in 2024 Colorado won't break $1.5 billion in annual marijuana sales for the first time since 2016. Based on state marijuana tax revenue numbers, dispensaries didn't sell enough pot to last month to keep that streak going. READ THE FULL STORY AT WESTWORD
Republicans, led by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, move to repeal the act Biden used to jail peaceful pro-lifers
Approved, National, The Federalist

Republicans, led by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, move to repeal the act Biden used to jail peaceful pro-lifers

By Jordan Boyd | The Federalist Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, with the support of 25 Republican cosponsors, reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that seeks to prevent the political prosecution of peaceful pro-lifers by repealing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Congress first passed the FACE Act in 1994. It was at the direction of President Joe Biden after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision nearly two decades later, however, that the FBI and Department of Justice started to arrest and hand down uncharacteristically harsh sentences to dozens of people, many Christians, who peacefully protested ending life in the womb. “Americans just spent the last four years being targeted by a weaponized justice system. The FACE Act was one of the primary ...
Trump directs feds to target cartels that threaten homeland security
Approved, National, The Center Square

Trump directs feds to target cartels that threaten homeland security

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square President Donald Trump is directing federal agencies to target Mexican cartels and other foreign groups that are a threat to American citizens and national security. Trump’s executive order designates Mexican cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, Salvadoran La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) and specially designated global terrorists (SDGTs) under the U.S. Constitution, Immigration and Nationality Act and International Emergency Economic Powers Act. “International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime, with activities encompassing convergence between themselves and a range of extra-hemispheric actors, f...
U.S. Department of Homeland Security fires advisory committees
Approved, National, The Daily Signal

U.S. Department of Homeland Security fires advisory committees

By John Oyewale | Daily Signal The leadership of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fired all of the members of the department’s advisory committees Monday, a memo shared by Reuters shows. Acting Secretary of DHS Benjamine Huffman ordered the termination, according to the memo shared by Reuters. “In alignment with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security, I am directing the termination of all current memberships on advisory committees within DHS, effective immediately,” Huffman wrote in the memo. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DAILY SIGNAL
Trump plans 10% tariffs on Chinese imports on Feb. 1
Fox Business, National

Trump plans 10% tariffs on Chinese imports on Feb. 1

By Greg Norman  | Fox Business President Donald Trump announced he is planning a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports on Feb. 1 over the country’s role in fentanyl trafficking.  "We're talking about a tariff of 10% on China, based on the fact that they're sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. "Probably February 1st is the date we're looking at."  When asked about a conversation he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of his inauguration this week, Trump added that "We didn't talk too much about tariffs other than he knows where I stand."  READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX BUSINESS
State Department blocks pride, BLM flags from embassies, outposts with ‘one flag policy’
Approved, Fox News, National

State Department blocks pride, BLM flags from embassies, outposts with ‘one flag policy’

By Stephen Sorace  | Fox News The U.S. State Department has adopted a new policy under the Trump administration that effectively blocks U.S. embassies and outposts from flying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, a report said Tuesday. The Washington Free Beacon first reported that it obtained a copy of the "One Flag Policy" order, which permits only the American flag to be flown at U.S. facilities at home and abroad, with two notable exceptions: the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) emblem and the Wrongful Detainees Flag. "Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content," the memo states, according to the outlet. "The flag of the Unite...
Trump admin orders federal employees in DEI offices to be placed on paid leave as agencies wind down diversity initiatives
National, New York Post

Trump admin orders federal employees in DEI offices to be placed on paid leave as agencies wind down diversity initiatives

By Victor Nava | New York Post The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered all federal employees working on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be placed on paid leave as government agencies work to shutter DEI offices.  The Office of Personnel Management, the government’s top human resources agency, informed federal department heads in a memo that DEI program employees must be notified by 5 p.m. Wednesday that their administrative leave is “effective immediately.”  The memo further directs federal agencies to take down all “outward facing media” — such as webpages and social media accounts — focused on DEI programs, cancel all employee diversity trainings and terminate any DEI-related contracts by the same deadline.  READ THE FULL ...
Outgoing Canadian PM Trudeau says ‘there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell’ Canada will become part of U.S.
Approved, National, The Post Millennial

Outgoing Canadian PM Trudeau says ‘there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell’ Canada will become part of U.S.

By Hannah Nightingale | The Post Millennial Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday that said there was no chance Canada would become a part of the United States. This comes after President-elect Donald trump has referred to the United States’ northern neighbor as the 51st state and has said that Canadians would enjoy becoming part of America. "There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States," Trudeau wrote. "Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner." On Monday, Trudeau announced his intention to resign after a new Liberal Party leader is selected. In response to the news, Trump wrote, "Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st state. The United...
Hegseth’s ex-wife disputes claims from estranged ex-sister-in-law: ‘there was no physical abuse in my marriage’
Approved, Breitbart, National

Hegseth’s ex-wife disputes claims from estranged ex-sister-in-law: ‘there was no physical abuse in my marriage’

By Kristina Wong | Breitbart Pete Hegseth’s ex-wife has disputed claims made by an estranged ex-sister-in-law she was abused during their marriage — a fact being downplayed by the mainstream news media and Democrats in a last-ditch effort to tank Hegseth’s confirmation as defense secretary. Samantha Deering, Hegseth’s ex-wife, said in an email to NBC News, who first reported the ex-sister-in-law’s claims: “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.” She added, “There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.” READ THE FULL STORY AT BREITBART
‘An elephant is not a person’ and doesn’t enjoy same liberties, Colorado Supreme Court decides
Approved, kdvr.com, Local

‘An elephant is not a person’ and doesn’t enjoy same liberties, Colorado Supreme Court decides

By Jacob Factor | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News “An elephant is not a person” and is not afforded the same liberties as a person under the Colorado Constitution, the Colorado Supreme Court decided Tuesday. The state’s highest court upheld an El Paso County District Court decision that decided five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo were not included in state liberty statutes. The petitioner, the Nonhuman Rights Project, had argued the animals should be included and should be moved to a sanctuary “because they are autonomous and extraordinarily cognitively and socially complex beings,” according to the opinion announcement. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo officials in a statement claimed the Nonhuman Rights Project is “abusing court systems to fundraise” by publicizing “sensational” court cas...