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Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, Denver Gazette Much of the land around Vail that is now developed as resorts, ski slopes, and golf courses first belonged to sheep ranchers with Greek roots. By the 1960s, development was pushing them out of the valley and activists were bemoaning the negative effect on wildlife that took place when livestock grazing was replaced by progress. In 1998, Vail Resorts was on the cusp of developing 2,2oo acres of backcountry. The plan riled activists, especially those devoted to preserving the habitats of elk and Canada Lynx that thrived before development came to town. Members of the radical Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the now-defunct Rocky Mountain Animal Defense (RMAD) marched and chanted through Vail with police on their tails, wielding decibel me...
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Chai: Big lies about the Big Beautiful Bill? Miller says facts say otherwise
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Approved, National, The Western Journal

Chai: Big lies about the Big Beautiful Bill? Miller says facts say otherwise

By Bryan Chai | Commentary, The Western Journal They often say light is the best disinfectant, and whomever “they” are, they’re right. In a related note, it’s pretty clear that most Americans — this writer included — are in the complete dark about the “Big Beautiful Bill” that keeps making the headlines. If you were to consume your news exclusively from the establishment (my sincerest condolences if that’s the case), you would think the bill was some sort of hypothetical bogeyman, a looming Sword of Damocles over the U.S. economy. It’s all a “big risk,” if you want to take the liberal Washington Post at its word. Thankfully, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — a longtime advisor to President Donald Trump — is shedding some light on it all, and i...
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SB276 would fine deputies $50K for helping ICE—Sheriff Mikesell says enough is enough
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local, State

SB276 would fine deputies $50K for helping ICE—Sheriff Mikesell says enough is enough

By Pat Hill | Pikes Peak Courier via Denver Gazette Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell is so concerned about the effects of Colorado Senate Bill #276 he appealed in a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week. The bill, if signed by Gov. Jared Polis, prohibits law enforcement from sharing information with the federal government about illegal immigrants who have committed crimes. At issue is the bill’s interference with Mikesell’s 287(g) agreement with ICE. The only sheriff in Colorado to have signed the agreement, Mikesell was sued over the issue by the ACLU in 2019. After a series of wins, losses and appeals by both parties, in February, Mikesell retained his ability to work with ICE to detain illegal immigrants who commit crimes. However, if the governor do...
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DOGE flags $370B in waste: Social Security purges 12.3M phantom accounts aged 120+
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Approved, Breitbart, National

DOGE flags $370B in waste: Social Security purges 12.3M phantom accounts aged 120+

By Hannah Knudsen | Breitbart Social Security has removed from its rolls 12.3 million individuals listed as 120 years old or older, according to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The discrepancies in the Social Security figures and the alarming ages of some of the individuals listed have garnered national attention over the last several months. As a result, in March DOGE began to update the American people on the massive cleanup begun by Social Security. In a March 18 update, DOGE said Social Security had marked 3.2 million social security number holders aged 120 or older as deceased, warning that there was still more work to be done. https://twitter.com/DOGE/status/1901882509463630073 Over one month later, on April 24, DOGE provided another update, reve...
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Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners
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Approved, Commentary, denvergazette.com, State

Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners

The Gazette editorial board | Denver Gazette Colorado’s governor and Legislature may claim they want more affordable housing — but they aren’t about to let it stand in the way of their headlong rush toward green energy. Their zero-emissions-at-any-cost dogma seems to trump all other policy priorities. Which helps explain why the state’s Energy Code Board is poised to impose extreme energy standards — even more stringent than those already in effect — on new home construction. The pending rules would turn the screws on wide-ranging aspects of the building code — and are projected to add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home in Colorado. That’s right — it’ll add $25,000 to $35,000, by one estimate, in what is already the most expensive state for housing that is not ...
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Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Something is happening in Colorado. You can feel it. Not on the surface, but beneath it. Beneath the silence. Beneath the carefully packaged language of equity, sustainability, and progress. We are being conditioned. Slowly, quietly, and deliberately. Conditioned to comply. Conditioned to accept change without question. Conditioned to believe that liberty is negotiable, that tradition is outdated, and that resistance is somehow wrong. But here’s the truth they don’t want you to hear. The Constitution doesn’t need to evolve. It needs to be defended. Freedom isn’t something you bargain with. It’s something you protect. And this get-along-with-everybody mentality? That’s the problem. That’s the trap. In my first 100...
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Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump
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Approved, Education Week, National

Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump

By Evie Blad | Education Week When the Trump administration urged states to use a little-known provision in federal education law to boost school choice, the congressman who helped author the language 24 years ago had an immediate reaction. “It’s about time,” said former Congressman Bob Schaffer. In a May 7 letter, Acting Assistant Education Secretary Hayley B. Sanon urged states to ease their criteria for labeling schools as “persistently dangerous"—a designation that legally comes with an obligation to offer families an option to transfer to another public school. “The number of persistently dangerous schools reported nationwide appears low particularly given the number of violent offenses in schools reported” in federal data, she wrote. It’s a message that Schaffer, ...
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Denver’s not just going to the dogs—it’s leaving children behind
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Approved, Local, Westword

Denver’s not just going to the dogs—it’s leaving children behind

By Thomas Mitchell | Westword About 50 percent of this city's residents have a dog. Only 20 percent have children under eighteen. Denver is no longer a cowtown. It's a dog city. Long known as a hub for livestock, Denver has corraled several more amenities over the years. Outdoor sports, craft beer, legal weed, live music and a wave of tech jobs have attracted travelers and transplants alike. But those who stay in this city must acknowledge its four-legged rulers, whether you own one or not. Around 50 percent of Denver's residents have a dog, with 68 percent reporting that they own at least one pet, according to a 2024 survey by the Colorado Polling Institute. In the same poll, just 20 percent of Denver residents said they had children under eighteen. Population n...
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O’Donnell: Behind the headlines, Colorado’s job growth tells a different story
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

O’Donnell: Behind the headlines, Colorado’s job growth tells a different story

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released April 2025 job creation numbers by state. The national numbers were released earlier in the month and for the nation as a whole 177,000 new jobs were created in April, and this was considered a “solid” number by those who consider themselves experts. Colorado’s share of that total was 8,400 and those same experts consider that an “exceptionally solid” month for Colorado. Somewhere, champagne corks were likely popped. Nonetheless, behind every number is a story and that story for Colorado is quite revealing.  Yes, Colorado added 8,400 new jobs in April – but 5,500 (65%) were in bars and restaurants, and 4,500 (54%) in health care and social assistance. ...
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Illegal immigrant stole $400,000 in benefits and voted in U.S. elections, DOJ reports
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Approved, National, The Western Journal

Illegal immigrant stole $400,000 in benefits and voted in U.S. elections, DOJ reports

By Jack Davis | The Western Journal A Colombian woman who masqueraded as an American citizen for more than 20 years has been indicted for identity theft. The woman received rental assistance, Social Security and SNAP benefits under a phony name, according to a Department of Justice news release, and also was able to vote. Through use of the fake identity, she obtained a REAL ID in Massachusetts as well as eight other state IDs. A court filing said the suspect obtained her first state ID – a learner’s permit – in 2004 by using a false identity. The filing indicated that officials who vetted her passport application in November 2024 were the first to catch on to the fraud that had been taking place. After being initially arrested and indicted in February, Lina M...
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