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Author: Jen Schumann

While she fought cancer, a Durango teacher moved in on her child
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

While she fought cancer, a Durango teacher moved in on her child

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice When Colorado mom Cindy Stein sat before state lawmakers last spring, she was still recovering from cancer—and from losing her child to a teacher’s influence in a system that no longer sees parents as essential. “While I was fighting for my life, this teacher inserted herself into my daughter’s world, convincing her to reject me and her family,” Stein told the Senate Judiciary Committee.  https://twitter.com/OffThePress1/status/1917709537177424184 The clip spread quickly online. A month earlier, the Daily Wire broke the story, exposing what she says Durango schools tried to keep quiet. When a teacher’s comfort crossed a line Stein says her 16-year-old met Durango High School math teacher Joanne Smotherman while she was enduring...
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Ganahl’s “DougCo Dirty Dozen” puts union power on trial ahead of school board elections
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Ganahl’s “DougCo Dirty Dozen” puts union power on trial ahead of school board elections

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice If the union were grading its own influence, the American Federation of Teachers would be giving itself an A+. Parents, on the other hand, are handing out detention slips—and Heidi Ganahl’s “DougCo Dirty Dozen” is the roll call. With ballots out and school board races underway, Heidi Ganahl has posted six “Douglas County Dirty Dozen” videos asking one question—who sets priorities inside local classrooms? Her focus is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and four Douglas County candidates backed by $2,500 donations from AFT Colorado each—proof, she says, that national politics are steering local schools. “These aren’t local debates anymore,” Ganahl said. “The same union driving politics in Washington is writing the playbook for our school...
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From stomachache to ideology: How Colorado’s “Right to Know” built a hospital compliance registry
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From stomachache to ideology: How Colorado’s “Right to Know” built a hospital compliance registry

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Just after midnight, an 18-year-old Colorado woman—identified here as “Clarity” to protect her identity—went to the ER, hoping the pain was only a severe case of gastritis. She’s a recent high-school graduate now working for a Colorado nonprofit and was granted anonymity by RMV. When Clarity was finally told she could leave, someone brought over an iPad and said she needed to finish a few discharge questions before going home. On the screen was Colorado’s Patients’ Right to Know Act Service Availability Form—pages of items about gender-affirming care, abortion services and end-of-life options. “She was yelling at us over Zoom, saying, ‘Do you understand that you have access to these services and you’re knowingly denying them?’” Clarity ...
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Rep. Hurd refuses pay, passes first bill and earns Trump endorsement in decisive week
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Rep. Hurd refuses pay, passes first bill and earns Trump endorsement in decisive week

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice President Trump’s “Complete and Total Endorsement” of Congressman Jeff Hurd on Saturday capped a remarkable week for the freshman lawmaker from Colorado’s Third District. Trump praised Hurd's “strong Record of SUCCESS,” for “fighting tirelessly to… Advance American Energy DOMINANCE, Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations...” and “HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.” Hurd has characterized his first term as a test of performance over politics. “If you look at all that we’ve accomplished in the first eight months of this Congress, it’s more than a lot of congresses accomplish in their entire two years,” Hurd told Rocky Mountain Voice before returning to session after the summer recess. “We’ve passed 27 pieces of legislation that have actually gotten...
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Tina Peters’ attorney presses Governor Polis and Secretary Griswold to eliminate computer voting machines
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Tina Peters’ attorney presses Governor Polis and Secretary Griswold to eliminate computer voting machines

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Attorney John Case, who represents former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, has sent an open letter to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold urging the state to immediately discontinue electronic voting systems and return to in-person, hand-counted paper ballots. Case’s letter, dated October 21, outlines a series of concerns about the Dominion voting software used in 60 counties. It cites sworn testimony from two former Venezuelan election insiders who claim Dominion’s systems share code and design elements with Smartmatic software previously used in Venezuela—software the witnesses allege was developed to ensure predetermined outcomes. According to the letter, those sworn statements were part of federal court filings in...
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Pueblo’s game changer: 2C asks who should run the city—a professional or a politician
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Pueblo’s game changer: 2C asks who should run the city—a professional or a politician

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Pueblo is about to decide–as Randy Thurston puts it—whether power belongs to a politician or a professional. On Unleashed with Heidi Ganahl: Pueblo pushback: the mayor, the vote & the battle for Colorado’s soul, Thurston, a former city councilman and broker called 2C “one of the most massive game changers” Pueblo has faced in decades. If approved, 2C would eliminate the strong-mayor system adopted seven years ago and return the city to a professional manager model—where council hires an administrator to run daily operations instead of leaving those duties to one elected office. “There are historic moments in every community, and this is one of the most massive game changers that’s on the table here,” Thurston said. “The question really is...
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Two doors and an insurance policy: Inside the legal backstops in Tina Peters’ October 16 hearing
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Two doors and an insurance policy: Inside the legal backstops in Tina Peters’ October 16 hearing

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice After more than four years of courtroom battles and appeals, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ fight now hinges on a single federal question: whether Colorado courts violated her constitutional rights by denying her bond pending appeal.  The Oct. 16 motions hearing was part of a broader federal proceeding stemming from Peters’ Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus filed in February. That petition asks the U.S. District Court to determine whether her ongoing detention violates the Constitution. It argues that the state’s denial of bail pending appeal punished Peters for her speech, violated her First and Fourteenth Amendments, and ignored the federal obligations that she says guided her actions as Mesa County Clerk under the Supremacy ...
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School unions gave $11K to Jeffco candidate who admitted to a sealed juvenile sexual offense
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School unions gave $11K to Jeffco candidate who admitted to a sealed juvenile sexual offense

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice When the Jefferson County Education Association endorsed Michael Yocum for school board this fall, few voters—perhaps not even the union itself—knew the full story. According to verified audio recordings obtained by Rocky Mountain Voice (RMV), Yocum privately acknowledged a deferred adjudication involving a sealed juvenile sexual offense.  Yocum received thousands in funding and endorsements from education-aligned groups.  Now, with ballots dropping in one of the state’s largest school districts, the public is left to decide whether this is the kind of leadership that belongs at the helm of a district serving more than 75,000 students across 145 schools in Jefferson and Broomfield counties. Two conversations, two answers RMV obt...
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Carrying the mission forward: October 11 Legacy Rally to honor Charlie Kirk in Grand Junction
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Carrying the mission forward: October 11 Legacy Rally to honor Charlie Kirk in Grand Junction

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice One month after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, his message of faith and freedom is rallying new ground. On Saturday night, Turning Point USA will gather national speakers, local pastors and community leaders at the Mesa County Fairgrounds—marking both remembrance and renewed resolve. Turning Point USA will bring national speakers and community leaders to Grand Junction on Saturday night for the Legacy Rally—set for 6 p.m. at the Mesa County Fairground grandstands. Set one month after Charlie Kirk’s death, the event is focused on helping Coloradans—especially youth—continue the mission he built his life around. Organizers say donations will support the local TPUSA chapter at Colorado Mesa University. Security for the event will...
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