Rocky Mountain Voice

Approved

Lake Powell Power Crisis: Hydropower Threatened as Water Levels Plunge
State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Lake Powell Power Crisis: Hydropower Threatened as Water Levels Plunge

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun Federal officials reported Tuesday that the water level in Lake Powell, one of the main water storage reservoirs for the Colorado River Basin, could fall low enough to stop hydropower generation at the reservoir by December 2026. The reservoir’s water levels have fallen as the Colorado River Basin, the water supply for 40 million people, has been overstressed by rising temperatures, prolonged drought and relentless demand. Upper Basin officials sounded the alarm in June, saying this year’s conditions echo the extreme conditions of 2021 and 2022, when Lake Powell and its sister reservoir, Lake Mead, dropped to historic lows. The basin needs a different management approach, specifically one that is more closely tied to the actual water supply ea...
30,000 Acres and Counting: Western Colorado Faces Worst Fire Season Yet
State, Approved, denvergazette.com

30,000 Acres and Counting: Western Colorado Faces Worst Fire Season Yet

Grace Brajkovich | The Denver Gazette Several wildfires continue to eat their way through western Colorado's mountainous terrain, with one growing more than 6,000 acres overnight and another crossing over from Utah, according to emergency officials. The four major wildfires on the western half of the state, including the one coming from Utah, have burned over 35,000 acres of land, according to Inciweb, a government wildfire tracker.  The scorching weather and "extreme" drought conditions still fan the blazes' flames as firefighters try to navigate steep, jagged terrain and fight back the four wildfires that prompted Gov. Jared Polis to issue a disaster declaration Sunday.  Here's a roundup from fire officials Wednesday. Turner Gulch and Wright Draw firesM...
Gazette editorial board: AG Weiser defends censure-shamed CU regent over public health warning
Local, Approved, gazette.com

Gazette editorial board: AG Weiser defends censure-shamed CU regent over public health warning

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Gazette For a politician with his eyes on a higher prize, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sure seemed shortsighted the other day when he took to social media in defense of the indefensible — a University of Colorado regent rightly rebuked by her peers for her abuse of office. Readers might recall the CU Board of Regents recently voted 7-1 to censure first-term board member Wanda James, a Democrat who represents Denver’s 1st Congressional District. James, arguably the state’s most politically ambitious pot dealer, has behaved at times as if she represents the marijuana industry rather than her district — and it finally backfired on her. The owner of a Denver marijuana retail outlet, James unconscionably attempted this year to s...
Senate backs Trump’s ‘DOGE cuts’ as conservatives target foreign aid, woke grants
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Senate backs Trump’s ‘DOGE cuts’ as conservatives target foreign aid, woke grants

By David Sivak | Washington Examiner Congress is poised to claw back billions in foreign aid after the Senate narrowly passed $9 billion in DOGE-inspired cuts on Thursday. In a 51-48 vote, the Senate approved the White House request, known as a rescission bill, all but clearing the way for it to become law. Just two Republicans – Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) – joined Democrats in voting “no.” The request now heads back to the House, which narrowly passed a similar version in June. Thursday’s vote, which came after a marathon voting session that stretched late into the night, is a major victory for President Donald Trump and a 180–degree turn from an unsuccessful rescission request Trump made in his first term. Centri...
Christian Bookstore Sues Colorado Over Forced Speech on Gender Identity
Local, Alliance Defending Freedom, Approved

Christian Bookstore Sues Colorado Over Forced Speech on Gender Identity

By Staff | Alliance Defending Freedom COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of a Christian bookstore in Colorado seeking to uphold its religious and commonsense beliefs about biological sex. Born Again Used Books, a family-owned bookstore in Colorado Springs, is challenging a state law that recently redefined “gender expression” to include “how an individual chooses to be addressed,” that is, pronouns and titles based on gender identity rather than biological sex. Although Born Again Used Books happily sells its products to everyone, Colorado now compels the bookstore to speak using pronouns and titles based on a person’s preferred gender expression—thereby requiring the store to prioritize a person’s professed ide...
Enos: One Big Beautiful Bill? Encouraging news for homeschool freedom—and reason to stay engaged
Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, National

Enos: One Big Beautiful Bill? Encouraging news for homeschool freedom—and reason to stay engaged

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado By now, everyone has heard about the passage of HR1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, by our Federal Congress. President Trump signed the bill into law on the 4th of July, before the fireworks began exploding in Washington, D.C., to celebrate America’s 249th birthday. The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) was included in the legislation. Passing the bill was a monumental event, with the Trump Administration touting it as its signature achievement. It is important to note that the Education Scholarship donations provided for in the bill are made by individuals and are, therefore, private monies. They are not tax dollars. Delmarva claims that “this structure is intended to address c...
Revealed Memo: D.C. Judges Admitted Bias Against Trump Agenda
National, Approved, The Federalist

Revealed Memo: D.C. Judges Admitted Bias Against Trump Agenda

By Margot Cleveland | The Federalist Federal judge James Boasberg advised Chief Justice John Roberts and some two dozen other judges that his D.C. colleagues were “concerned that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis,” according to a memorandum obtained exclusively by The Federalist. That Judge Boasberg and his fellow D.C. District Court judges would discuss how a named Defendant in numerous pending lawsuits might respond to an adverse ruling is shocking. Equally outrageous is those judges’ clear disregard for the presumption of regularity — a presumption that requires a court to presume public officials properly discharged their official duties. During the week of March 11, 2025, members of the Judicial Conference met in Was...
New Evidence Confirms Trump-Russia Story Was ‘Manufactured’
National, Approved, Real Clear Investigations, Trump Russia Hoax

New Evidence Confirms Trump-Russia Story Was ‘Manufactured’

By Paul Sperry | Real Clear Investigations The floodgates holding back long-buried classified documents exposing government efforts to claim Donald Trump conspired with Vladimir Putin to manipulate the 2016 U.S. presidential election might finally be opening. Trump administration officials held an urgent meeting Sunday to discuss “new information on Russiagate,” which they might use to build a criminal conspiracy case against Obama and Biden administration political appointees who allegedly weaponized the government against Trump, two Trump administration officials told RealClearInvestigations. The documents are said to contain long-classified information, including a secret 200-page congressional audit that reveals details about how an intelligence community assessment on Russia ...
Sengenberger: Weiser’s CU intervention reveals his true priorities
denvergazette.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Sengenberger: Weiser’s CU intervention reveals his true priorities

By Jimmy Sengenberger | Commentary, Denver Gazette On Sunday, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser picked a fight he shouldn’t have. In a thread on X, Weiser — a Democrat running for governor — defended CU Regent Wanda James by blasting her colleagues for recently censuring and sanctioning her in a bipartisan vote. The board had censured James, who is a pot shop proprietor, after she tried to discredit and defund the university’s award-winning “Tea on THC” awareness campaign. It educates the public on the risks of marijuana use for kids, including during pregnancy. James, a Democrat who boasts of being the nation’s first Black owner of a legal retail marijuana business, had demanded earlier this year that the campaign’s website be “taken down immediately” over “racist” illustr...
Joondeph: Indoctrinated, indebted and disillusioned—why socialism seduces Gen Z
American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Joondeph: Indoctrinated, indebted and disillusioned—why socialism seduces Gen Z

By Dr. Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Once seen as a taboo word in American politics, socialism has experienced a notable resurgence, especially among young voters. Polls show that more than half of millennials and Gen Zers now view socialism favorably. Politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have transformed what was once a fringe ideology into a highly popular political movement. Even more troubling, they’ve achieved this not through real policy solutions but by promoting a utopian fantasy rooted in grievance, entitlement, and historical ignorance. Image via ChatGPT Socialism is a system of “governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” No truly socialist socie...