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Author: Jen Schumann

Alexis Hitzeroth challenging Cody Kennedy for District A on Grand Junction City Council
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Alexis Hitzeroth challenging Cody Kennedy for District A on Grand Junction City Council

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Grand Junction voters on April 8 will choose between incumbent Cody Kennedy and Alexis Hitzeroth for the District A seat on City Council. Kennedy, who served a 17-year career as a police officer and is now a small business owner, has served on the boards of Crime Stoppers of Mesa County, Grand Valley Resettlement Program among others. His primary issues are "compassionate" fiscal responsibility, affordable housing and public safety. Hitzeroth served 13 years in the Army National Guard, earning the Outstanding Service Medal during Operation Enduring Freedom. She earned a degree in environmental science and performed watershed conservation work for the U.S. Geological Survey. Her platform focus is affordability, honoring Gr...
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Candidates for Grand Junction City Council tackle key issues at Mesa Co. Republican Women’s forum
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Candidates for Grand Junction City Council tackle key issues at Mesa Co. Republican Women’s forum

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Candidates for Grand Junction City Council recently gathered at a forum hosted by Mesa County Republican Women, addressing the city's pressing issues ahead of the April 8th municipal election.  Homelessness, housing affordability, impact fees and the 4th/5th Street project were central themes as candidates laid out their priorities. Government vs. nonprofits: Who should take charge on homelessness? Views diverged on whether the city or nonprofits should lead homelessness efforts.  Alexis Hitzeroth (District A), a veteran, called for more advocacy and outreach. “I know that the city can do better when it comes to our unhoused population. I think we need to get more advocates out there within the city and speak t...
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How Durango’s school board kept a charter school out by prioritizing DEI over parents
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How Durango’s school board kept a charter school out by prioritizing DEI over parents

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Ascent Classical Academy seemed to have the community support, the resources and the experience to launch another successful charter school in Colorado. Parents in Durango seemed to want the option. More than 600 families signed letters of intent, but the Durango School Board said no in 2022. This wasn’t a decision based on academic concerns, some say. The school board, backed by a mobilized teachers’ union, rejected Ascent on ideological grounds, blocking an alternative educational model that didn’t align with its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) priorities. The Durango school board rejected Ascent twice, despite the Colorado State Board of Education’s original ruling in the charter school’s favor. The official r...
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Moms for Liberty leader targeted after El Paso Democratic Party vice chair’s call to ‘choose violence’
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Moms for Liberty leader targeted after El Paso Democratic Party vice chair’s call to ‘choose violence’

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Kristy Davis woke up to an email that made her stomach drop. "Where you live, worthless c$#!? I have a sharp blade to stick in your worthless neck." Less than 24 hours earlier, El Paso County Democratic Party First Vice Chair Rob Rogers had posted online: "Being nice is overrated. Just find a good lawyer and choose violence." Davis, the El Paso County chapter president for Moms for Liberty (M4L), doesn’t believe it was a coincidence. "While I cannot definitely tie the death threat to the vice chair, the timing is just really suspect," Davis said. The Colorado Springs Police Department provided Davis with a case number. But beyond that, no action has been taken. "Law enforcement provided me with a case ...
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Durango school board doubles down on DEI and keeps their LGBTQ+ and BLM flags raised
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Durango school board doubles down on DEI and keeps their LGBTQ+ and BLM flags raised

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice "Flags do not harm kids. Hateful words and hateful people harm children." This was the message delivered by Terry Kopack, a local parent, during the Jan. 28 Durango 9-R School Board meeting, where school board members voted unanimously to approve two resolutions supporting LGBTQIA2S+ and IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, and People of Color) students, staff and community members. A public comment session preceded the board’s vote, with all speakers voicing support for the proposed resolutions. The board limited public comments to 10 speakers, before moving into discussion and voting on the resolutions. Among those who spoke, one mother took direct aim at the Colorado GOP.  “I want the Colorado Republican Party to open their...
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Stories of struggle, hardship fuel Rep. Ryan Gonzalez’s push for practical state solutions
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Stories of struggle, hardship fuel Rep. Ryan Gonzalez’s push for practical state solutions

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice What makes a leader relatable? For newly-elected Rep. Ryan Gonzalez, R-Greeley, representing the 50th District in Weld County, it’s growing up in a household where sacrifices weren’t optional, but survival. Gonzalez knows the struggles of everyday Coloradans. As the son of a single mother and a domestic violence survivor, he has lived through them. “When I was 12, my sister ran away. She was gone for three weeks. And I was out putting up missing signs everywhere,” Gonzalez said. “My mom couldn’t eat or sleep. A mother’s worry is, is my daughter safe? Will I find her in a ditch somewhere? The whole time, my dad knew where she was and was covering it up.” For Gonzalez, these moments reflected his mother’s enduring streng...
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Longmire resigns Douglas Co. planning post in protest of treatment Commissioner Thomas received
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Longmire resigns Douglas Co. planning post in protest of treatment Commissioner Thomas received

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor's note: This is a developing story and may be updated. Jay Longmire quit the Douglas County Planning Commission this week, protesting what he called years of alleged "bullying, antagonization, abuse, and slander" of Commissioner Lora Thomas by fellow commissioners George Teal and Abe Laydon. "Effective immediately, upon the conclusion of this planning meeting, I’m submitting my resignation as a commissioner on the Douglas County Planning Commission. I find that I must stand on principle. I’m resigning in protest to the way former Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas has been treated by Commissioners George Teal and Abe Laydon over the past several years," Longmire said. He accused Teal and Laydon of stripping...
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Rep. Soper joining sex-assault victims to urge reform in addressing 400-day rape kit processing delays
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Rep. Soper joining sex-assault victims to urge reform in addressing 400-day rape kit processing delays

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In Colorado, when someone is raped, it may take more than a year before a district attorney can assess the evidence and open an investigation. The problem is because of long delays in processing rape kits, which takes more than 400 days now, exceeding the state’s 90-day goal.  To put the rape kit backlog issue into perspective, investigations cannot begin without the results of the forensic analysis, making the overall delay even more damaging. "The longer we're delaying the ability for the criminal justice system to even begin — not just to complete a trial, but for law enforcement and prosecutors to start an investigation — justice is completely stalled," said Republican Rep. Matt Soper, who represents District 54 in th...
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‘Top shelf’ lawmaker Rep. Dan Woog finds inspiration at capitol from his collegiate hockey past
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‘Top shelf’ lawmaker Rep. Dan Woog finds inspiration at capitol from his collegiate hockey past

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Dan Woog doesn’t hesitate when asked which hit was harder — one on the ice as a hockey player or one in politics as an elected official. “Hockey taught me resilience,” said Woog, a former collegiate athlete from Minnesota and the newly-elected House District 19 state representative. “As an athlete, you never quit. You practice, work hard and learn to work with people you might not always agree with.” These lessons prepared him for the highs and lows of his political journey, including his 2022 re-election loss. Hockey, Woog explained, also instilled a drive to persevere through setbacks: “I just believe in the will,” he said. “If we have the will and never give up, great things can happen.”  That drive brought ...
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Cody Davis, the new Mesa Co. Commission chair, prioritizes listening, engaging with community
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Cody Davis, the new Mesa Co. Commission chair, prioritizes listening, engaging with community

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice As Cody Davis received the gavel as the new chair of the Mesa County board of commissioners, he reflected on its playful history. Like when Bobbie Daniel became chair, Davis helped bedazzle it to add a glittery flair in honor of her leadership.  Now that the gavel has been passed to him, Davis joked about expecting “something like Thor’s Hammer” but admitted the simple wooden gavel feels fitting for his no-nonsense approach. “I’m not a very glittery, in-your-face personality," he said. "If I were to upgrade it, maybe I’d add a little plane or something aviation-related." In December, Davis accomplished a little-known feat — he earned his pilot's license. Flying has been a lifelong aspiration inspired by his father, who...
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