Rocky Mountain Voice

Approved

Colorado Springs Braces For Space Force Growth And Infrastructure Demands
Approved, Local, The Gazette

Colorado Springs Braces For Space Force Growth And Infrastructure Demands

By Mary Shinn | The Gazette As the Space Force prepares to double in size over the next five years, Peterson Space Force Base will need additional space and people to support the growth. The intense period of expansion is expected even as Space Command headquarters relocates to Huntsville, Ala., because it is a small piece of all the space operations in town. Peterson Space Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station employ about 8,200 active-duty troops, civilians and contractors and have a combined payroll of $837 million, according to a Tuesday presentation by Col. Kenneth Klock, commander of the Space Base Delta 1. The combined economic impact of the two bases is about $2.6 billion, per the report. The entire Space Force employs about 10,000 people in specialized r...
Colorado Nonprofit Steps In As Immigrants Exit Aurora Detention Facility
Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Nonprofit Steps In As Immigrants Exit Aurora Detention Facility

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun Casa de Paz gives people a warm meal, a suitcase, a phone charger and a way home, no matter how far that may be. Sitting on a couch in a one-story house near the immigration detention center in Aurora on a recent rainy weekday, J.R.V. began to retether himself to the life he was ripped from nearly five months ago. At his feet, tan work boots were in a plastic bag with his name written in Sharpie. He had last worn them on a Saturday morning in December when a sheriff’s deputy arrested him as he was driving to a construction site in Florida. They were a reminder of how quickly life changed. J.R.V., 40, spent about three days at the county jail followed by 12 at Alligator Alcatraz, the infamous, new immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades,...
Denver Teacher Dismissed After Students Asked To Act Out Kissing Scenes
Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Denver Teacher Dismissed After Students Asked To Act Out Kissing Scenes

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette An administrative law judge has recommended the dismissal of a teacher at Northeast Early College — a high school in the Denver Public Schools district — after finding classroom activities and personal disclosures to students amounted to “incompetence and neglect of duty,” setting up a final vote by the school board. After meeting in executive session Wednesday, the DPS Board of Education unanimously voted to accept the dismissal of Jennifer Honka, a French teacher. They could have rejected the April 30 decision by Judge Keith J. Kirchubel. The board’s action came without public discussion. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
JD Vance To Address Air Force Academy Graduates In Colorado Springs
Approved, CBS Colorado, National

JD Vance To Address Air Force Academy Graduates In Colorado Springs

By Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado The U.S. Air Force Academy announced on Tuesday that Vice President JD Vance will be the guest speaker for this year's commencement ceremony. Graduation will take place on May 28 at Falcon Stadium on the academy's campus in Colorado Springs, and as usual it will include a flyover by the Air Force Thunderbirds at the end of the ceremony. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
Gambling with taxpayer dollars: Colorado bill could allow nonprofits to get paid before work is done
Approved, Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, State

Gambling with taxpayer dollars: Colorado bill could allow nonprofits to get paid before work is done

By Cory Gaines | Colorado Accountability Project Gambling taxpayer money to bolster our nonprofit ecosystem. When you hire someone to do something for you, do you give them an advance? I’ve done it both ways: cash on delivery only and an upfront payment for, say, the materials. The bill linked at bottom makes some noteworthy changes to the way our state interacts with multiple nonprofits it pays to do its work. There are multiple directions you could go in with your speculation, but I think it’s reasonable to conclude overall that the bill bolsters the connection between our government and nonprofits, that it enriches the tightly-interconnected ecosystem of NGO’s and nonprofits in Colorado.** Under current law, prior to this bill, if a state awards a grant to a nonprofit for so...
Nonprofit Builds Real Time Network To Monitor ICE In Western Colorado
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Nonprofit Builds Real Time Network To Monitor ICE In Western Colorado

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun Voces Unidas de las Montañas began as a political organization for Latinos. It pivoted when the federal immigration crackdown came to Colorado. CONFIRMADO. The Facebook post in Spanish is a community alarm for Colorado mountain towns along Interstate 70, a warning to stay alert because ICE is in action. Confirmed, it translates, a person was taken by ICE agents as he left the Mesa County Courthouse in Grand Junction at 10 a.m. May 1. Three days earlier: CONFIRMADO, a person with legal immigration status was taken by ICE agents from the parking lot of an apartment complex in Grand Junction.  And a few days before that: CONFIRMADO, federal immigration agents took a man from the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs.  The warnings from Voc...
Colorado Churches Growing Again Driven By Younger Generations
Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Colorado Churches Growing Again Driven By Younger Generations

By Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette If churchgoing ever hit a low point in American history, it would have been exactly six years ago, just as the year 2020 arrived. Late the previous year, a widely publicized Pew Research study had documented an ongoing erosion of Christianity and of general religious identity in the U.S. The tally of Americans who identified as Christian, the research said, had fallen to 65% — down 12 points over a single decade. Moreover, those identifying as atheist, agnostic or as “nones” had climbed to 26%. The unconformity widened further by age groups, older to younger. Then COVID-19 arrived, with public health orders by governments effectively closing down places of worship, along with schools, businesses and other public buildings. In Colorado, ...
Homelessness Rises In El Paso And Teller Counties As Statewide Numbers Fall
Approved, Axios, Local

Homelessness Rises In El Paso And Teller Counties As Statewide Numbers Fall

By Glenn Wallace | Axios Homelessness in El Paso and Teller counties rose in 2025, even as statewide numbers declined slightly, according to a statewide report released Monday. Why it matters: The increase is adding strain to local shelters and housing programs even as much of Colorado saw modest improvement. Driving the news: Colorado's State of Homelessness Report counted 7,078 people experiencing homelessness in the Pikes Peak region in 2025, up from 6,787 the year before. Local service providers saw demand jump nearly 19% year over year, helping 16,245 people in 2025. Meanwhile, homelessness declined slightly in Denver, northern Colorado and statewide overall. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT AXIOS
Federal Lawmakers Question Colorado Sanctuary Policies In New Investigation
Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Federal Lawmakers Question Colorado Sanctuary Policies In New Investigation

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A congressional panel is reviewing Denver and Boulder’s policies, alleging that these cities, along with other “sanctuary” jurisdictions, are declining to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the body announced Wednesday. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, issued letters to the district attorneys, sheriffs and police chiefs of Denver and Boulder, accusing the local officials of prioritizing “illegal and criminal aliens over American citizens,” undermining public safety and hindering “the efficient enforcement of federal law.” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California, chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Environment, also signed the letters. Rep. Gabe Evans, the Republic...
Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters
Approved, DENVER7, State

Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters

By April Schildmeyer | Denver7 DENVER — A judge rejected three Republican primary candidates' request to block unaffiliated voters from participating in the upcoming party primary election. Former State House Rep. Ron Hanks, State Rep. Scott Bottoms and David Willson, a candidate for attorney general, filed the suit, claiming that allowing non-party voters to participate dilutes the votes of registered Republicans and violated the party's First Amendment rights. In 2016, Colorado voters approved Proposition 108, which opened primaries to unaffiliated voters. Judge Jon J. Olafson found the plaintiffs waited too long to file their lawsuit, noting that ballots had already been mailed to overseas military voters. County clerks must mail ballots to military and overseas voters by...