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Polis Backs New AI Framework To Replace Controversial 2024 Law
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Backs New AI Framework To Replace Controversial 2024 Law

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A group that has been working on artificial intelligence policy has reached an agreement on a framework that would replace the regulations adopted by Colorado legislators two years ago. The agreement has the backing of Gov. Jared Polis, who reluctantly signed the AI law in 2024. The agreement reached by the Colorado AI Policy Work Group is meant to repeal and replace the 2024 law, whose sponsors said would protect consumers and residents from algorithmic discrimination but which critics called heavy handed and unworkable. A multi-billion dollar technology company, which recently decided to leave Colorado, cited the new regulations on artificial intelligence as a cause of concern, comparing the “state-level over...
Colorado’s corporate exodus: Nearly 12,000 jobs gone — and the tracker Polis hopes you’ll ignore
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s corporate exodus: Nearly 12,000 jobs gone — and the tracker Polis hopes you’ll ignore

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project   I found something interesting in Jon Caldara's recent op ed that I thought worth sharing. A quote (with link left intact--though I link to the opportunity tracker separately at bottom so you can share that link if you've a mind to) shows what I mean: "So, what's the pattern here? It's not just 'companies move sometimes.' We're building a list. A tracker. A scoreboard. The Colorado Chamber literally maintains a 'Lost Opportunities' compilation of companies leaving, downsizing, or choosing to expand somewhere else. Nearly 12,000 jobs have moved away. When you need a tracker for corporate departures, you're no longer 'a state with some challenges.' You're a gate agent announcing final boarding for Flight 970 to Anywhere Else." Ye...
Tina Peters Cleared In Prison Assault Case After January Scuffle
Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Tina Peters Cleared In Prison Assault Case After January Scuffle

By Ava Kian | CPR News Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence for her role in tampering with Mesa County’s election equipment in search of election fraud, was found not guilty of assault after shoving another inmate last January in state prison. She was found guilty for the lesser charge of “unauthorized absence” after being in a restricted area where she was not assigned, Corrections Department spokeswoman Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia said. It’s not a criminal charge, but instead an internal process used to address behavior. Gonzalez-Garcia said the determination was after reviewing evidence, including video footage, medical anatomical forms for both inmates involved, and witness testimony. One of Peter’s attorn...
Legal Battle Erupts Over NCAR Shutdown And Federal Authority
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Legal Battle Erupts Over NCAR Shutdown And Federal Authority

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 Consortium alleges NCAR dismantling is "collateral damage" for Colorado’s refusal to bow down to the Trump administration and its demands to end mail-in voting and release Tina Peters from prison. DENVER — A consortium of more than 100 colleges and universities filed a lawsuit Monday against their federal partners, alleging the dismantling of Boulder’s National Center for Atmospheric Research by the Trump administration is illegal and part of a “campaign of retaliation” against the state of Colorado. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research against the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies and its leaders, alleges the dismantling of NCAR is motivated by t...
Joe Kent Departure Follows Leak Allegations And Security Concerns During Tenure As Counterterrorism Director
The Western Journal, Approved, National

Joe Kent Departure Follows Leak Allegations And Security Concerns During Tenure As Counterterrorism Director

By Jack Davis | The Western Journal The departure of Joe Kent, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, means one less leaker in Washington, according to multiple reports. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote on X after splashing his resignation letter across social media. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, was quick to celebrate. “Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” he wrote on ...
Strategic Gains Mount for the United States and Israel As Iran Missile And Proxy Networks Falter
Al Jazeera, Approved, Commentary, National

Strategic Gains Mount for the United States and Israel As Iran Missile And Proxy Networks Falter

By Muhanad Seloom | Al Jazeera Every aspect of Iran’s ability to project regional power is being successfully degraded. Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war. The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in. But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but b...
Colorado Senate Panel Advances Bill To Redirect TABOR Refunds
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Panel Advances Bill To Redirect TABOR Refunds

By: Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Couched as a state education funding effort, legislation to siphon off overcollected revenue that would otherwise be refunded to Colorado taxpayers passed out of a Democrat-controlled Senate committee on Thursday. Senate Bill 26-135, “State Public K-12 Education Funding,” refers a question to Colorado’s November ballot to increase K-12 education funding by 2% annually for the next ten years. According to the bill, the money is intended to go towards teacher pay increases and retention, lowering class sizes, and technical career programs. Along with raising education appropriations, the bill allows the state to keep and spend excess revenue collected above the limitations in the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). ...
JBS Labor Dispute in Greeley Could Complicate Beef Markets Beyond Colorado
DENVER7, Approved, Local

JBS Labor Dispute in Greeley Could Complicate Beef Markets Beyond Colorado

By Jessica Porter | Denver7 The plant which processes up to 6,000 heads of cattle per day will impact the beef supply chain. GREELEY, Colo. — The impact of the JBS meatpacking plant strike on consumer beef prices is imperceptible in the short term, but the long-term impact is more complicated. About 3,800 workers at JBS Beef in Greeley walked off the job Monday as the union claimed the company retaliated against workers and committed unfair labor practices. The beef production facility processes between 5,000 and 6,000 head of cattle per day. “In the short term, the impact of the consumer level is probably pretty small, negligible, maybe not even present whatsoever, but if this continues, supply and demand will play out, and it's almost unavoi...
Report Ties Colorado’s Fentanyl Death Surge To Weaker Drug Laws
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Report Ties Colorado’s Fentanyl Death Surge To Weaker Drug Laws

By Jacob Mauk | Colorado Politics Overdose deaths from opioids rose in Colorado, diverging from the national trend, which has been decreasing, according to a new study from a think tank. In its new report, the Common Sense Institute said synthetic opioid overdose deaths in Colorado have grown by 17% since November 2024, the third-fastest growth rate in the country. The only states with higher spike rates are Arizona and New Mexico, according to the report. If Colorado had followed the national trend, some 1,600 lives could have been saved, the study said, adding the opioid deaths represented a cost of roughly $18.3 billion. “While this number does not encompass the entire value of human life, it does indicate that lives lost due to fentanyl and other opioids red...
Intelligence Community Knew in 2020 China Had Access to Voter Data
Just The News, Approved, National

Intelligence Community Knew in 2020 China Had Access to Voter Data

By John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy | Just the News Hidden from lawmakers, new evidence emerges that the Biden White House knew that China accessed voter registration data as far back as 2020. But as a vote comes up on election security laws, legislators have been kept in the dark. The United States expressed outrage when Great Britain revealed two years ago that its voter registration databases were hacked by China in what became a global scandal. But it turns out the U.S. intelligence harbored its own secret at the time, knowing since 2020 that Beijing also gained access to American voter registration data, according to documents reviewed by Just the News and interviews with officials with direct knowledge. “[Redacted] Chinese intellige...