Rocky Mountain Voice

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Colorado family hopes murder suspect will reveal location of man missing for 25 years
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Colorado family hopes murder suspect will reveal location of man missing for 25 years

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado He played Santa Claus during the holidays and hand-delivered gifts to local children. He drove teenage royalty in the high school's homecoming parades with his rebuilt classic cars. He picked up broken down motorists and fixed their cars.  But his body has never been found.  Dale Williams was presumably murdered by a childhood friend 25 years ago.  His willingness to help others appears to have contributed to his disappearance. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
When the utilities lobby received an icy reception from Colorado state senators
Approved, Law Week Colorado, State

When the utilities lobby received an icy reception from Colorado state senators

By Michael Rummel | LawWeekColorado.com While lobbyists have always been a fairly regular fixture at the Colorado General Assembly, there have been moments in Colorado history when their presence wasn’t appreciated. Late January 1957 was one of those moments.  Improvements in transmission technology had made power generation using natural gas a more economic and feasible option following World War II. The 1950s also saw a rise in the production of natural gas in the Denver Basin, adding to the existing natural gas developments on the Western Slope.  These factors led to a rise in interest from municipalities in pursuing natural gas power plants for their citizens. But an issue arose when Rocky Ford attempted to build one. According to a Rocky Mountain News article from the ti...
Rep. Iman Jodeh selected by Democrats to replace District 29 Sen. Janet Buckner
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Rep. Iman Jodeh selected by Democrats to replace District 29 Sen. Janet Buckner

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A Democratic vacancy committee in Arapahoe County on Monday night chose Rep. Iman Jodeh of Aurora to succeed state Sen. Janet Buckner. Buckner resigned last month, just weeks after winning an uncontested race for her second term in the state Senate. Jodeh, who won her third term in the House by 25 percentage points in November, defeated two challengers for the seat, including Maya Wheeler and Christian Caldwell. Jodeh won with 35 votes out of 42 cast; Wheeler got seven votes, and Caldwell did not receive any votes. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
School districts grappling with new state law to honor students’ chosen names
Approved, gazette.com, State

School districts grappling with new state law to honor students’ chosen names

By ERIC YOUNG | The Gazette As more school districts adopt policies to adhere to a new state law regarding students’ chosen names, it’s been far from a simple decision for some in the Pikes Peak region. With the passage of House Bill 1039 into law last April, all public schools must now implement a written policy outlining how staff will honor a student’s request to use a name different than their legal name. All school personnel must address students and refer to them by these names during school and extracurricular activities. The new law intends to protect LGBTQ+ students whose chosen names differ from their legal names given at birth and reflect their gender identity. Refusing to do so now constitutes discrimination, and students subjected to it can file a school rep...
Browning: Colorado egg law and bird flu has people ‘scrambling’ to find eggs
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Browning: Colorado egg law and bird flu has people ‘scrambling’ to find eggs

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice During the last few weeks, there have been a couple of notable changes you may have noticed at your local grocer. The old saying that warns us not to keep all of our “eggs in one basket”, has now become, “I can’t find or afford eggs in my basket.” People are divided as to what has caused this “poaching” of their wallets, if they can find eggs on the shelf. No matter the cause, it has many people "fried.” Some people believe that the new Colorado law, which mandates that only cage-free eggs will be sold in Colorado, is to blame for the nearly-empty egg shelves and high cost of eggs, if you can find them.  The “egg-ception” to the law is that egg-producing operations with 3.000 or fewer hens are not required to ...
District 11 ends decades-old contract with teacher union in effort to deliver for students, families
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

District 11 ends decades-old contract with teacher union in effort to deliver for students, families

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The District 11 School Board has decided against renewing its master agreement with the local teacher union — the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA). The CSEA is a branch of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), an affiliate of the largest teacher union – the National Education Association (NEA).  District 11 President Dr. Parth Melpakam described it as a move to empower nimble governance and improve student outcomes: “Without the master agreement, it just gives us a lot more flexibility to address some of our persistent challenges and change the narrative of a district that was becoming irrelevant in the landscape of Colorado Springs.”  “The agreement was a layer of complexity that limited our ability t...
Aurora’s mayor questions why Tren de Aragua impacts have been felt less in Denver
Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Aurora’s mayor questions why Tren de Aragua impacts have been felt less in Denver

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 News At the same time that the ACLU of Colorado is investigating the Aurora Police Department’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Aurora’s mayor is asking Denver’s mayor for clarity on how and why the migrant population spread to Aurora. Specifically, Mayor Mike Coffman wants to know why the ongoing Tren de Aragua gang activity has been largely tied to Aurora when busloads of migrants were sent to Denver from Texas last year. Denver reported over 42,000 migrants, mainly from Central and South America, were sheltered by the city between Jan. 2023 and July 2024. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
Bzdek: If our leaders don’t obey federal laws, why should we?
Approved, Commentary, gazette.com

Bzdek: If our leaders don’t obey federal laws, why should we?

By Vince Bzdek | Commentary, The Gazette When deciding on new year’s resolutions this year, my first thought was to follow my governor’s example, my state’s example, the Denver mayor’s example, and even our new vice president, and resolve to ignore federal laws this year. I got pretty excited about this idea when I started to contemplate all the money I might save if I ignored federal tax law and simply refused to pay federal income tax this year. I mean if the governor and mayor say they don’t have to follow federal immigration law when it comes to deporting folks who aren’t eligible for asylum or did not follow procedures for living here legally, then why do I have to follow federal laws concerning taxes? Or if my state can simply vote to ignore federal law when it comes to the ...
In four days, wintry weather has canceled 250 flights, delayed 2,820 more at DIA
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

In four days, wintry weather has canceled 250 flights, delayed 2,820 more at DIA

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A four-day snow event in Denver and areas east of the Continental Divide has done more than dump some badly-needed moisture on half the state. It has greatly affected air travel. As of Tuesday mid-morning, there have been 2,820 flights delayed and 250 flights canceled since the beginning of the snow event on Saturday, according to Flight Aware. There has been some amount of snow accumulation each day. The heaviest cancelation day was Sunday, with 106; the heaviest day for delays was Saturday, with 1,119. Flight Aware breaks delays and cancelations related to an airport into outbound (departure) and inbound (arrival). There have been 113 outbound cancelations and 1,634 delayed outbound flights since Saturday. The most affected carier was...
Grocery chains and union workers temporarily extend contract negotiations
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Grocery chains and union workers temporarily extend contract negotiations

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado Contracts for union employees at King Soopers and City Market have been extended almost two weeks in a stopgap measure while negotiations continue. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 President Kim Cordova and the bargaining committee met with representatives from the grocery chains on Jan 3, one day before their contracts were set to expire. The bargaining committee said they accepted an offer to continue negotiation on Jan. 15-16 and a short extension of contracts. Those contracts are now set to expire on Jan. 16. The union said it continues to have concerns about chronic understaffing in the stores and the ability to protect seniority in the scheduling and vacation processes. They also expressed the desire to share in the company's ...