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Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado Politics' Karlik lets his bias slip (again). Colorado Politics judicial reporter Michael Karlik is back at it (see the first link below for an earlier post about his reporting). If it's not using his pen to question the motives of a conservative judge, it's tossing softballs at a liberal judge rather than challenging him. It's framing his questions in such a way as to clearly indicate what the point of the whole endeavor has been. The Colorado Politics article linked second below is a Q and A Karlik had with retired judge John Leopold** to discuss Leopold's signing an amicus brief about the arrests of Minnesota Judge Hannah Dugan. She was the one who hustled someone ICE had a warrant for out the back door whe...
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Victory for the pulpit: Religious leaders no longer face tax threats for political speech
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I Stand for Freedom, Approved, National

Victory for the pulpit: Religious leaders no longer face tax threats for political speech

By Noah Stanton | I Stand For Freedom Every Sunday, millions of Americans go to church hoping to learn how to live better lives. For years, pastors have had to watch their words carefully. Say something about who to vote for, and the government might show up and take away the church’s special tax status. It’s like having a referee who can throw you out of the game for saying certain words. This hidden muzzle on church leaders has been around since 1954. Americans can speak freely almost everywhere else. But in church, the IRS could punish certain kinds of talk. Many religious people wondered: How can we have true religious freedom if our pastors can’t speak freely about today’s big issues? That question now has an answer. The Internal Revenue Service told a federal court on Monday...
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ICE expansion in Colorado draws fire as private prison firms compete for contracts
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

ICE expansion in Colorado draws fire as private prison firms compete for contracts

By Anna Alejo | CBS Colorado Just days after the passage of President Trump's budget bill allocating $45 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand detention facilities, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado made public documents submitted by private prison operators seeking to sign contracts with the federal government. The ACLU says the government provided the documents in response to its lawsuit filed in April. The Trump administration says it plans to build capacity for 100,000 ICE detention beds nationwide. Locations offered for new ICE detention centers in Colorado include Walsenberg, Colorado Springs, Hudson, and La Junta. "We sued the federal government because they were hiding these documents about their intent to expand ICE detention in Colorado...
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Denver’s $800M bond plan sparks backlash over priorities, transparency
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Denverite, Approved, Local

Denver’s $800M bond plan sparks backlash over priorities, transparency

By Paolo Zialcita | Denverite The package can still change significantly depending on actions from the mayor and Denver City Council. On Tuesday, we learned how the city plans to spend $800 million from a proposed new bond package. Members of the Vibrant Denver bond’s executive committee unveiled the project list after weeks of work to pare down ideas from city agencies, organizations and neighborhoods.  The bond process was criticized by community members and city officials for being rushed and not properly incorporating public feedback — and Tuesday’s rollout drew a strong reaction, too, with some Denver City Council members implying they could vote to block the proposal. The package will go before voters in November, though the project list could ...
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DEI at a cost: Colorado schools caught in $70M federal freeze
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

DEI at a cost: Colorado schools caught in $70M federal freeze

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado public schools are facing a $70 million funding freeze—part of a broader $6.8 billion nationwide hold triggered by the U.S. Department of Education. At the heart of the conflict are federal objections to DEI and LGBTQIA+ initiatives in schools, which have already led to lawsuits and pushed districts to search for new funding before fall. The freeze and federal justification The funding suspension follows executive orders issued by the Trump administration in early 2025. According to a July 2 notice sent to state education departments, the Department of Education is reviewing already-approved funds to ensure they align with new presidential priorities. Governor Jared Polis responded the same day, calling the act...
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New report blames bureaucracy, labor gaps for Colorado’s housing affordability crisis
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DENVER7, Approved, State

New report blames bureaucracy, labor gaps for Colorado’s housing affordability crisis

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 Mile High United Way, BuildStrong Foundation and McKinsey & Company collaborated on the in-depth housing report DENVER — A new report from Mile High United Way, BuildStrong Foundation and McKinsey & Company reveals that 51% of renters and 21% of homeowners in Colorado are cost-burdened. That means more than 30% of their income is spent on housing. But after surveying 200 various stakeholders involved in housing in Colorado, the report brought to the table six potential solutions to address the problem. Read the full report in the embed below: One solution was to improve plan review and permitting speeds. The report cited feedback that long redundant review processes can often delay projects. "There are technology solutions now ...
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Court lets defamation case against SPLC proceed over weaponized ‘hate’ label of Dustin Inman Society
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The Daily Signal, Approved, National

Court lets defamation case against SPLC proceed over weaponized ‘hate’ label of Dustin Inman Society

By Tyler O'Neil | The Daily Signal How can a leftist group present itself as the authority on “hate groups” in public, touting the fact that police and even the FBI have relied on its materials, and then reverse course when challenged in court, claiming that its statements are unprovable “opinion” rather than expert statements of fact? Has the Southern Poverty Law Center no shame? To ask the question is to answer it. As I wrote in my book “Making Hate Pay,” the SPLC has long engaged in ritual character assassination, putting mainstream conservative and Christian nonprofits on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, claiming that the map exposes the “infrastructure upholding white supremacy.” It persisted in doing this after the “hate map” inspired a terrorist att...
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Joondeph: What would our Founding Founders think? An Independence Day reality check
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Rasmussen Reports, Approved, National

Joondeph: What would our Founding Founders think? An Independence Day reality check

By Dr. Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, Rasmussen Reports As we lit sparklers and grilled burgers this Fourth of July, a new Rasmussen Reports poll provided a sobering dose of reality. Only 36% of Americans believe the Founding Fathers would see today’s America as a success. Forty-one percent (41%) think they’d view it as a failure, and the rest aren’t sure. That’s not just political frustration speaking. It’s a warning sign that something has gone off course. The ideals that launched our republic, including liberty, limited government, and personal responsibility, seem more like museum relics than guiding principles. Picture Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, men who risked everything on the idea that a free people could govern themselves. They didn’t agree on everything, ...
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Western Slope river channel tests positive for invasive and ‘devastating’ zebra mussels—again
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Western Slope river channel tests positive for invasive and ‘devastating’ zebra mussels—again

By Michael Booth | Colorado Sun New rounds of samples for the voracious creatures keep turning up positive, complicating containment The Colorado River is now officially “positive” for invasive zebra mussels in the latest failure of containment for the voracious species, after three new samples came up with larvae July 3, from between Glenwood Springs and Silt. The main stem Colorado River discoveries piled on top of a confirmed “large number” of adult zebra mussels in a private body of water in western Eagle County, and two more positive larvae tests, at Highline Lake and Mack Mesa Lake, both near the Utah border, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Wednesday. Sampling was redoubled throughout June after tests found a single zebra mussel larvae, or veliger, in the Colorado...
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HHS shuts door on illegal immigrants’ access to taxpayer-funded benefits
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Just The News, Approved, National

HHS shuts door on illegal immigrants’ access to taxpayer-funded benefits

By Natalia Mittelstadt | Just the News “For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said The Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday banned illegal immigrants from accessing the agency's taxpayer-funded benefits. Since 1998, HHS has interpreted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to let illegal immigrants use certain federal public benefits, according to the department. On Thursday, HHS announced that it has formally rescinded the interpretation that began under the Clinton administration. “For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” HHS Secretary Robe...
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