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Lawmakers To Examine Claims Of Financial Mismanagement By House Democrat Leader
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Lawmakers To Examine Claims Of Financial Mismanagement By House Democrat Leader

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A legislative ethics panel in Colorado is scheduled to meet Wednesday to review a complaint alleging that Aurora Democrat Rep. Mandy Lindsay misused House Democratic caucus funds. Rep. Bob Marshall, D‑Highlands Ranch, filed the complaint on Jan. 26. Marshall’s complaint outlines the structure of caucus funds and details the responsibilities Lindsay has in managing them. Lindsay told Colorado Politics on Tuesday, “I respect the ethics committee, trust in the work they will do, and I look forward to the process.” Lindsay has served as one of the two House Democratic caucus co‑chairs — alongside Rep. Junie Joseph of Boulder — since November 2022. The caucus chair is responsible for managing the group’s fund, including...
Aurora Rejects Police Coordination Plan With ICE Facility Amid Public Concerns
Uncategorized, Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Aurora Rejects Police Coordination Plan With ICE Facility Amid Public Concerns

By Kyla Pearce | The Denver Gazette Aurora City Council on Monday rejected a memorandum of understanding that outlined guidelines for Aurora police officers responding to the GEO Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. After more than an hour of public comment and discussion, six councilmembers voted against passing the MOU, killing the proposed agreement. Aurora Police Department officials have said the MOU was written simply to clarify the role of APD in responding to emergencies at the ICE facility in Aurora. More than a dozen members of the public attended Monday night’s meeting to object to the MOU, saying it does not help with public safety and rather supports ICE in its poor treatment of detainees. A report released in early March b...
Trump Allies Eye Unconventional Response To Virginia Redistricting Fight
Fox News, Approved, Commentary, National

Trump Allies Eye Unconventional Response To Virginia Redistricting Fight

By Chad R. Mizelle | Commentary, Fox News Returning Arlington to the District of Columbia would fight fire with fire. If you’re proud of something, you want people to see it. That is why it’s telling that Virginia Democrats are asking Old Dominion residents to vote for a redistricting scheme without allowing their proposed map to be printed on the ballots. But it’s no wonder: the mid-decade redistricting proposal is an obscene gerrymander that will wipe out all but one GOP-leaning congressional district in the state. And, of course, they claim it’s all done in the name of "democracy." This dishonest power play seeks to make the congressional representation of a purple state nearly as blue as Massachusetts. It disenfranchises nearly half the commonwea...
DOJ Indicts Southern Poverty Law Center Alleging Millions Funneled To Extremist Groups
Fox News, Approved, National

DOJ Indicts Southern Poverty Law Center Alleging Millions Funneled To Extremist Groups

By Alexandra Koch, David Spunt, Jake Gibson, Alec Schemmel | Fox News DOJ alleges SPLC used shell accounts and prepaid cards to funnel funds to individuals tied to the KKK and other neo-Nazi groups. FBI Director Kash Patel and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a sweeping indictment Tuesday against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), accusing the far-left nonprofit of fraudulently paying members of extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment charging the SPLC with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the Justice Department (DOJ). Between 2014 and 2023, according to the DOJ, the SPLC "...
When music floods the market: What still holds value in an AI-driven industry
Undercurrent, Approved, Commentary, National

When music floods the market: What still holds value in an AI-driven industry

By Michael Hancock | Commentary, Undercurrent Substack As artificial intelligence transforms music creation, the industry must rethink price, purpose, and prestige. For most of the modern era, the music business was built on scarcity. Studio time was scarce. High-end production talent was scarce. Distribution was scarce. Radio access was scarce. Even the ability to turn a songwriter’s idea into a polished, commercially viable recording required an expensive chain of specialists: musicians, engineers, producers, labels, promoters, marketers, distributors. The structure of the industry followed from that fact. Whoever controlled access to production and distribution controlled the business. That era is ending. AI-powered music tools like Suno do not merely make mu...
Iran Threatens Escalation Ahead of Ceasefire Expiration
Fox News, Approved, National

Iran Threatens Escalation Ahead of Ceasefire Expiration

By Robert McGreevy | Fox News Iran ceasefire expires Tuesday as Vance heads to Pakistan for a second round of negotiations. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatened to "reveal new cards on the battlefield" in a Monday evening social media post just days before the agreed ceasefire between the United States and Iran is set to expire. "Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table — in his own imagination — into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering," Ghalibaf wrote on X. "We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield," he concluded. Ghalibaf led the Iranian delegat...
Insurance relief or government growth: Colorado bills reveal two competing paths
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Insurance relief or government growth: Colorado bills reveal two competing paths

Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The two bills linked at bottom (SB26-049 and SB26-155 respectively) present an interesting contrast in policy intended to lower homeowners insurance premiums. I thought a comparison of the two might be illuminating. It’s not going to be entirely black and white, these aren’t polar opposites, but in looking at the bills together I think you can get a sense of the “legislative style” of those involved. The fiscal notes of both provide a pretty apt summary, so let’s start there. Screenshots 1a and 1b show the summary for SB26-049. Screenshots 2a and 2b show the summary for SB26-155. In the former you increase the people who qualify for grants from an existing enterpr...
Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Advances Bill to Ease Landfill Regulation Burden

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A bipartisan bill to backfill county governments for an unfunded methane emissions mandate is counting on money from existing state grant programs, which, according to Sen. Byron Pelton, is necessary to ensure Colorado counties don’t go bankrupt from the environmental rules put in place by unelected boards appointed by Gov. Jared Polis. Senate Bill 26-101, Local Government Landfill Methane Emission Reduction Regulations, will allow counties to use money from the community impact cash fund, air quality enterprise cash fund, and local government mineral impact fund “for the purpose of complying with landfill methane emission reduction requirements adopted by the air quality control commission, a division of the department of public h...
Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Lawmakers Push Back On Taxpayer Funding For Colorado Wolf Program

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Sen. Dylan Roberts and Rep. Meghan Lukens led the charge to keep Colorado Parks and Wildlife from using general fund money to bring more wolves to Colorado. The General Assembly sent a strong message over the last few days to Gov. Jared Polis in footnotes to the proposed state budget: Stop using general fund money to reintroduce wolves to Colorado. Footnotes to the budget, also known as the long bill, aren’t legally binding. And the spending plan still has a few steps to go before it can be signed into law by Polis. But if approved, Colorado Parks and Wildlife would be on notice not to use taxpayer money to reintroduce wolves. Instead, lawmakers want the program authorized by voters in 2020 to rely on gifts, grants an...
Democrat Infighting Derails Transparency Push At State Capitol
KUNC, Approved, State

Democrat Infighting Derails Transparency Push At State Capitol

By Jesse Paul, Taylor Dolven | KUNC Radio This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com. An effort to bridge the divide between more liberal and more moderate Democrats in the state legislature has fallen apart. The two sides were working on a bill to increase transparency around legislative caucuses in response to the Colorado Opportunity Caucus’ retreat at a hotel in Vail in October. The caucus is made up of moderate Democrats at the Capitol and doesn’t disclose all of its donors, though at least one of their funders is a nonprofit that has targeted liberal Democrats in primaries. But now the two sides are no longer talking about their transparency effort and the more libera...

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