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Musk and Ramaswamy: The DOGE plan to reform government
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Approved, Commentary, National, The Wall Street Journal

Musk and Ramaswamy: The DOGE plan to reform government

By Elon Musk and  Vivek Ramaswamy | Commentary, The Wall Street Journal Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections. This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers. Th...
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Pikes Peak Library District CEO responds to community concerns over Rockrimmon closure
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Approved, gazette.com, Local

Pikes Peak Library District CEO responds to community concerns over Rockrimmon closure

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette As Dec. 1 approaches and the Rockrimmon Library gasps its last breath, the Pikes Peak Library District’s Chief Librarian and CEO Teona Shainidze-Krebs said she feels the community’s pain over the decision to shutter the beloved space. “We know people have passion and love for their libraries, and so do we, the staff and the board of trustees,” she said Tuesday. “I understand the concerns — this is something very hard.” Working off a new master facilities plan that recommended closing some of the 15 branches, the board voted 5-2 at its Oct. 16 meeting not to renew the lease of the storefront library at 832 Village Center Drive, which opened in 1989 in northwestern Colorado Springs. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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Jussie Smollett conviction overturned by Illinois Supreme Court
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Approved, Fox News, National

Jussie Smollett conviction overturned by Illinois Supreme Court

By Lauryn Overhultz  | Fox News The Illinois Supreme Court overturned Jussie Smollett's hate crime hoax conviction Thursday. "Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants," the court wrote in documents obtained by Fox News Digital. "Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction." Smollett, who is Black and gay, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a ra...
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DOD ‘Intentionally Delayed’ National Guard Deployment To The Capitol On Jan. 6
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Approved, National, The Federalist

DOD ‘Intentionally Delayed’ National Guard Deployment To The Capitol On Jan. 6

By Tristan Justice | The Federalist ‘The DoD IG knowingly concealed the extent of the delay in constructing a narrative that is favorable to DoD and Pentagon leadership,’ the letter says. Federal bureaucrats within the Department of Defense (DoD) delayed the deployment of the National Guard on Jan. 6, 2021 and covered it up, according to a House Republican investigation of government conduct related to the Capitol riot. On Thursday, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., who is leading a review of the work completed by the partisan Jan. 6 probe run by then-Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, sent a letter to the inspector general for the Department of Defense demanding a correction to an agency report  published in November 2021. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE FEDERALIST
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Trump nominates Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary
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Approved, Fox Business, National

Trump nominates Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary

By Eric Revell , Paul Steinhauser  | Fox Business President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to serve as commerce secretary. Lutnick, 63, has served as the co-chair of Trump's transition team and was a key fundraiser for Trump's 2020 and 2024 campaigns. Billionaire and Trump backer Elon Musk endorsed Lutnick for Treasury secretary.  A source familiar with the selection process said that it's a free for all for Treasury secretary and that there's a mad dash to find someone pro-tariff to lead the Treasury with Lutnick being tapped to lead the Commerce Department. They added that Lutnick was offered an ambassadorship but declined that offer. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX BUSINESS
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Wray and Mayorkas provoke Senate fury after they bail on annual public hearing on threats
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Approved, National, Washington Examiner

Wray and Mayorkas provoke Senate fury after they bail on annual public hearing on threats

By Mike Brest | Washington Examiner Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee of both parties have voiced their anger at FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for declining to appear for their annual threat assessment public hearing. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the chairman of the committee, said the Cabinet officials “refused to appear” before the panel for its annual hearing about threats to the homeland for the first time in 15 years. “In a shocking departure from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s long-standing tradition of transparency and oversight of the threats facing our nation, for the first time in more than 15 years, the Homeland Security Secretary and the FBI...
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Matt Gaetz withdraws name from consideration as Attorney General
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Approved, National, The Daily Caller

Matt Gaetz withdraws name from consideration as Attorney General

By Katelynn Richardson | Daily Caller Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name Thursday from consideration as attorney general. Gaetz wrote on X that his confirmation was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the work of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General,” he wrote. “Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DAILY CALLER
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Two water bills by Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper advance in lame duck session
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, National

Two water bills by Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper advance in lame duck session

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The race to get bills signed into law before President Joe Biden leaves office is on, and two water bills sponsored by Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Denver, are trying to get on that list. The first is an extension of the Colorado River Basin System Conservation Act, which earlier this year put $125 million into the system conservation pilot program operated by the Upper Colorado River Commission. Under the latest iteration, the act would be extended until 2026. The system conservation pilot program is a voluntary, temporary, and compensated agreement to conserve consumptive use (or depletion) of agricultural, municipal, or industrial water. It was tested between 2015 and 2018 and allowed lapses, but it was restarted in 2023. However, the progr...
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Aurora lawmakers vote to go forward with repealing employee tax on businesses
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Aurora lawmakers vote to go forward with repealing employee tax on businesses

By Kyla Pearce | Denver Gazette Aurora lawmakers on Monday night decided to keep a promise made to businesses that they would repeal the occupational privilege tax, which taxes businesses for each employee. The decision came after a series of meetings during which councilmembers went back and forth on the issue and ended up in arguments with each other over whether they should keep the promise, made last year, or go back on it and keep the tax to fund new fire stations.  The occupational privilege tax collects $4 monthly from companies for each employee. Employers and employees split the dues, paying $2 respectively. The tax began in 1986 to support street maintenance, police and fire services. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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‘Something needs to be done’: Smash-and-grab burglaries on the rise
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

‘Something needs to be done’: Smash-and-grab burglaries on the rise

By Karen Morfitt | CBS Colorado Law enforcement agencies are seeing a spike in smash-and-grab burglaries across the northern part of the Denver metro area and up into Northern Colorado. The Boulder County Sheriff's Office is looking for what they are calling the Panda Bandit. Investigators say three young suspects, one dressed in a panda costume, burglarized a gas station in Superior and took vape products. In Greeley, a clothing store is asking for help after thieves drove through their front window. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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