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Caldara: Bizarre bills flow from Colorado’s loony legislature
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Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com

Caldara: Bizarre bills flow from Colorado’s loony legislature

By Jon Caldara | Complete Colorado (You can listen to this column, read by the author, here.) While Colorado’s governmental core functions are going unattended, as witnessed by crime, traffic and crumbling roads, the legislature is busying itself with the most critical work of all — coming up with wing-bat crazy bills to promote the trans agenda by disempowering parents, crush needed industries and torture puppies. By far, my favorite is House Bill 1039. In its original version it empowers any kid in school to choose his own name “to reflect that individual’s gender identity.” The school must use the new name he, she or “they” chose in all their record keeping, teaching, activities — even the yearbook. Mind you, at 18 years old any young adult can legally change ...
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‘American elections should be decided by American citizens – full stop’: RNC wins suit to prevent non-citizens from voting in NY
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Approved, National, TownHall.com

‘American elections should be decided by American citizens – full stop’: RNC wins suit to prevent non-citizens from voting in NY

By Spencer Brown | Townhall.com A lawsuit in New York led by the Republican National Committee saw sanity prevail when an appellate court ruled that no, non-U.S. citizens cannot vote in our elections. If the absurd policy had been allowed to stand, some 900,000 non-citizens to cast votes in municipal elections in the Big Apple.  In a 43-page order in Fossella v Adams, Associate Justice Paul Wooten of the Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department in New York announced the decision that "the Local Law is null and void on the grounds that it violates the New York State Constitution and the Municipal Home Rule Law." RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel emphasized that "American elections should be decided by American citizens – full stop," in a statement provided to Townhall. ...
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GOP candidate Nikki Haley to host Front Range rally in Colorado and you can go if you register
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, National

GOP candidate Nikki Haley to host Front Range rally in Colorado and you can go if you register

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Republican candidate Nikki Haley, who has vowed to keep fighting presumptive nominee Donald Trump, is hosting a rally in Colorado next week. Colorado voters began receiving presidential primary ballots last week.   Haley, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, will host a rally at Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight at 13005 Wings Way in Centennial on Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m. The two-hour event is free and open to the public but requires a reservation. READ THE FUL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Q&A with Heather Graham | Pueblo’s new mayor aims to set narrative for Colorado city
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, Local, Southern Colorado

Q&A with Heather Graham | Pueblo’s new mayor aims to set narrative for Colorado city

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Heather Graham was sworn in as only the second mayor of Pueblo in more than a century on Feb. 1, following the first-term, at-large city council member's nearly 25-point win in a runoff against the incumbent mayor, Nick Gradisar. A Pueblo native and registered Republican, Graham traces her political awakening to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when she organized protests over city policies that restricted operations at her three restaurants — Ruby's Wine Bar and two Graham's Grills. Known for its namesake Pueblo chile and as the Home of Heroes — it's the hometown of four Congressional Medal of Honor recipients — Pueblo is Colorado's ninth-largest city, with a current estimated population of just over 110,000 putting it behind Westminster an...
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Colorado lawmakers decide to hold proposal exempting legislature from open meetings law’s provisions
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado lawmakers decide to hold proposal exempting legislature from open meetings law’s provisions

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A panel of lawmakers decided to hold a proposal that seeks to carve out the General Assembly from some of the provisions of the state's open meetings law after the sponsor indicated it may not be ready for prime time. Senate Bill 157 attempts to deal with one of the stickiest unanswered questions around the state's open meetings law — what exactly is an open meeting? The law, as it applies to the General Assembly, says that occurs whenever two or more lawmakers are together discussing public business. But over the law's 50-plus year history, lawmakers have held daily conversations on legislation on the floor of the House or Senate or in offices at the Capitol — all outside the public view. It's a conflict between what the ...
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Parents of medically fragile kids can’t find nurses because the pay is so low. They want Colorado lawmakers to step in. 
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Parents of medically fragile kids can’t find nurses because the pay is so low. They want Colorado lawmakers to step in. 

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun Nurses willing to care for medically fragile children and adults — including patients who use feeding tubes, can’t walk or speak, and rarely leave their homes — are hard to find in Colorado.  Amid a statewide nursing shortage so dire that even state mental institutions offer $14,000 signing bonuses, the lowest-paying nursing positions are going unfilled. That means many parents who have relied on “private duty nurses” for in-home care for their children and adult children are getting no help.  Colorado’s Medicaid program reimburses the agencies that employ these in-home nurses at some of the lowest rates in the nation, according to the Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado. The rate for registered nurses in Colorado is $...
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Garfield County commissioners deny Carbondale’s funding request to assist in migrant response
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Approved, Local, Post Independent, Western Slope

Garfield County commissioners deny Carbondale’s funding request to assist in migrant response

By Taylor Cramer  | Post Independent In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, Garfield County Commissioners denied the town of Carbondale’s request for $50,000 in aid to support groups of recently arrived immigrants who have been relying on the town for temporary shelter since November.  Approximately 150 immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, arrived in Carbondale seeking shelter and employment. These newcomers, discovered living under the Carbondale entrance bridge and in various precarious situations on Nov. 4, were part of a larger group migration in search for stability in the face of economic and legal uncertainties. The town of Carbondale previously received $223,800 from a Department of Local Affairs grant and has been actively responding to the needs of these newcomers. This fun...
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Colorado Democrats’ attempt to reduce gun violence is colliding with their criminal justice reform ethos
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Democrats’ attempt to reduce gun violence is colliding with their criminal justice reform ethos

By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun When it comes to preventing gun violence in Colorado, there’s not much Democrats and Republicans agree on.  Getting gun rights and pro-gun regulation groups on the same page? That’s unheard of.  So when a bill was introduced in the legislature this year to increase penalties for stealing guns that brought those groups together, it seemed like a slam dunk. But the measure, House Bill 1162, was rejected in the House Judiciary Committee last week in a collision of two priorities for the Democratic majority at the Capitol: its desire to curb gun violence and its push to reduce the number of people being sent to prison. “We’re not going to incarcerate ourselves out of this,” said state Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat and one of the leg...
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Cory Gardner reenters Colorado political conversation to make endorsement in crowded 4th Congressional District race
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Cory Gardner reenters Colorado political conversation to make endorsement in crowded 4th Congressional District race

By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun Cory Gardner reentered Colorado’s political conversation Wednesday to endorse former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg in the crowded Republican primary in the state’s 4th Congressional District, a race that includes U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.  “Jerry Sonnenberg is the conservative conscience of the 4th Congressional District,” Gardner, a former U.S. senator from eastern Colorado who lost his reelection bid in 2020, said in a written statement. “He will be a passionate and dedicated warrior for our nation and our shared conservative values.” Gardner represented the 4th District from 2011 to 2015 before he was elected to the Senate. He’s mostly shied away from the public spotlight since leaving Congress in early 2021, making his endorsement more notable. ...
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Mesa County is not illegal immigrant sanctuary, commissioners declare in letter, resolution
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Western Slope

Mesa County is not illegal immigrant sanctuary, commissioners declare in letter, resolution

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The solution to Denver’s illegal immigrant crisis cannot be transferring responsibility to other municipalities and governments, Mesa County commissioners said Tuesday. Commissioners have passed a resolution and written a letter to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, clarifying Mesa County as a non-sanctuary county. “We appreciate Denver's efforts to address the complex and sensitive immigration issues, but we must be clear and communicate Mesa County's inability to extend aid,” the letter reads. “Our decision stems not from a lack of empathy or understanding, but from fiscal responsibility and the constraints and challenges we face within our jurisdiction.” Mesa County’s resources are strained by an estimated population of 2,300 homeless, a popul...
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