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Colorado Lawmakers Face Tough Choices As Medicaid Drives Increased Spending
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Face Tough Choices As Medicaid Drives Increased Spending

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics This week, the state Senate is reviewing revisions to the 2025–26 state budget, which has been reduced by hundreds of millions of dollars in each round of cuts. But the bottom line is that, because of Medicaid costs, the state will spend more in 2025-26 than lawmakers approved in the 2025 session. Last week, the 29 bills in the supplemental package were approved by the House, with most passing with broad support. That didn’t mean all of them did: bills changing the budgets for the departments of state, treasury, health care policy and financing, personnel, public health and environment and higher ed all passed largely along party lines. A supplemental for the Department of Corrections, which increased its budget by $29...
Feds Shut Down 550 Commercial Driving Schools Over Safety Failures
KKCO-TV Grand Junction, Approved, National

Feds Shut Down 550 Commercial Driving Schools Over Safety Failures

By The Associated Press and Josh Funk | KKCO TV (AP) - More than 550 commercial driving schools in the U.S. that train truckers and bus drivers must close after investigators found they employed unqualified instructors, failed to adequately test students and had other safety issues, the federal Transportation Department announced Wednesday. The move marks the Trump administration’s latest effort to improve safety in the trucking industry. And unlike its actions last fall to decertify up to 7,500 schools that included many defunct operations, this latest step is focused on active schools inspectors identified as having significant shortcomings in 1,426 site visits completed in December. The department has been aggressively going after states that handed out c...
Colorado Bill To Decriminalize Prostitution Sparks Sharp Debate At Capitol
kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado Bill To Decriminalize Prostitution Sparks Sharp Debate At Capitol

By Anna Coon | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — A bill that would decriminalize prostitution in Colorado is drawing sharply divided reactions from lawmakers and advocacy groups. Supporters argue the measure would improve safety, while opponents warn of broader social consequences. The proposal, introduced by four Democratic lawmakers, would remove criminal penalties for adults who buy or sell consensual commercial sex. It would also prohibit local governments from banning consensual commercial sexual activity. The policy is also backed by the ACLU, and if passed, Colorado would become the first state to fully decriminalize prostitution. Supporters say the legislation would reduce violence against sex workers, curb human trafficking and slow the spread of disease by allowing...
Colorado Ballot Push Aims To Redraw Maps And Diminish GOP Representation
Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Push Aims To Redraw Maps And Diminish GOP Representation

By Caitlyn Kim | CPR News The group Coloradans for a Level Playing Field wants to put an initiative on the 2026 ballot that would allow the state to draw new Congressional maps for 2028 and 2030. If voters approve, the state would join the redistricting tit-for-tat going on across the country after President Donald Trump urged Texas to redraw its congressional map to help Republicans retain control of the House in 2026. Several other Red and Blue states have followed or plan on following suit, such as Missouri, North Carolina, California and Virginia. “No one wanted to have to take this action,” said Curtis Hubbard, spokesperson for Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, adding independent commissions that make such decisions are ideal. “But with Donald Trump and his MA...
Electric school buses and winter limits: What physics has to say
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Electric school buses and winter limits: What physics has to say

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project So, about those electric school busses… It's been so mild here in Colorado, I wonder if this has been noticed, but I saw the NY Post article below and thought I'd share.It details some parental complaints out of New York about the mandated electric busses. Quoting the lede:"Parents in Western New York are raising alarms over cold rides and breakdowns after officials mandated that all school bus purchases must be electric by 2027."The problem's not hard to figure out. It's so fundamental that it goes all the way down to energy conservation (and something I've touched on more than once in the past -- see "Related" below).For an internal combustion engine, the heat in the compartment is either waste heat from t...
Supreme Court Petition Targets Washington Law Allowing Gender Treatments Without Parental Consent
Just The News, Approved, National

Supreme Court Petition Targets Washington Law Allowing Gender Treatments Without Parental Consent

By Greg Piper | Just the News SCOTUS must heed three justices' warnings that lower courts are avoiding "contentious constitutional questions" on parental rights in state-facilitated gender transitions by denying legal standing, wide coalition says. When runaway minors ask for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical interventions to resemble the opposite sex, Washington state not only refers them for potentially irreversible treatment but also does not require parental notification and consent, hides their "location and condition" and unilaterally decides "reunification" conditions, a lawsuit alleges. According to the historically overturned 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, parents cannot challenge the Evergreen State's laws in court bec...
Simple Backyard Upgrade Leads To Costly Zoning Battle in Denver
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Simple Backyard Upgrade Leads To Costly Zoning Battle in Denver

By Chierstin Roth | CBS Colorado Denver homeowner EJ Braquet built a pergola over his back patio for his aging mother back in 2023. She can no longer make it to the nearby park, so he wanted to give her a shaded spot in the backyard to get outside. However, he could never have imagined what happened next.  "I basically said I don't want to cut any corners," said Braquet. "I want to build it right and build it nice." Little did he know that his backyard project would spark a multi-year battle with the city. "Didn't have anything to hide, didn't realize I needed a permit at the time, I thought this was very similar to what you could buy at Costco and assemble yourself," Braquet said. Braquet says he was contacted by city zoning after a neighbor reported th...
Polis Names Northern Colorado Judge Susan Blanco To Supreme Court
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Names Northern Colorado Judge Susan Blanco To Supreme Court

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Chief Judge Susan Blanco of Larimer and Jackson counties is the newest member of the Colorado Supreme Court, Gov. Jared Polis announced on Tuesday. “A few words come to mind: Innovation. Excellence. Creativity. Hard work. These are values we need across society,” said Polis during a news conference announcing Blanco’s appointment. Blanco, 48, became a district judge in January 2017. She will join four other former trial judges, including two other former chief judges, on the seven-member Supreme Court. “I’ve conducted home visits, jail visits, and appeared in dozens of Colorado courtrooms witnessing firsthand the extraordinary diversity of our communities and the very vast barriers that many face in accessing justice,” Blanc...
Gov. Polis Seeks Answers As Colorado’s Largest Publicly Traded Company Leaves for Florida
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Gov. Polis Seeks Answers As Colorado’s Largest Publicly Traded Company Leaves for Florida

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun Valued at $300B, Palantir was the largest publicly traded company in Colorado. CEO Alex Karp recently bought a monastery in Old Snowmass. Palantir Technologies, a government contractor known for mass surveillance technology aided by artificial intelligence, has moved its headquarters out of Denver in favor of the Miami area, the company said Tuesday in a post on X.com.  The company left Palo Alto, California, in 2020 to move to Denver. Founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and its CEO Alex Karp, Palantir was in the news this month after activists behind the “Purge Palantir” database publicized the company’s donations to two of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress. U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Aurora and Sen. John Hickenlooper ...
Georgia Pollster Says 2020 Election Questions Were Never Fully Debunked
James Magazine Online, Approved, Commentary, National

Georgia Pollster Says 2020 Election Questions Were Never Fully Debunked

By Matt Towery | Commentary, James Magazine Online Since the 2020 presidential election I’ve consistently stated that, while the election may have experienced fraud, it would never be quantified. I still don’t believe it will. But if I am wrong, I will debunk my own statement. One reason I could have to correct myself is if the U.S. Department of Justice can get its hands on the state’s complete voters list that existed during the 2020 election, and can use its vast resources to see how many improper voters were on that list who voted. That would be telling. I know that issue has allegedly been debunked but data experts I consider the best in Georgia tell me the list was full of vot...

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