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Colorado Precinct Caucuses Begin As Parties Launch 2026 Election Cycle
KSUT, Approved, State

Colorado Precinct Caucuses Begin As Parties Launch 2026 Election Cycle

By Maeve Conran | KSUT The Democratic and Republican parties in Colorado are holding precinct caucuses between March 3 and March 7. These are small, neighborhood-level meetings where party members gather in-person or on zoom. The Democratic and Republican parties in Colorado are holding precinct caucuses between March 3 and March 7. These are small, neighborhood-level meetings where party members gather in person or on Zoom. At the caucus, party members discuss candidates and party platforms and select delegates to advance to the county assemblies. Party members also elect precinct organizers for the next two years and help recruit election judges and poll watchers. Delegates chosen at precinct caucuses advance to county assemblies, held between March 3 and Ma...
Colorado Lawmakers Split on Iran
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Split on Iran

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado’s congressional delegation split sharply along party lines Saturday after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, triggering a fresh debate in America over presidential war powers. Trump announced early Saturday morning that U.S and Israeli forces had begun “Operation Epic Fury” after multiple explosions were reported around Iran. Later in the day, the president said that Iran’s leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed. Iranian state media also confirmed Khamenei’s death. Both sides of the political aisle agree that Iran — one official called the country a “terrorist state” — should never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. But Democrats and Republicans clashed over the latest operations, just ...
Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A proposal to limit the use of neonicotinoid-coated crop seeds collapsed in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee last week, as rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, joined Republicans to reject what they called an expensive, impractical mandate on farmers. Senate Bill 65 would have required farmers to obtain permission from third-party evaluators before using crop seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, also known as neonics. But the committee’s rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, weren’t persuaded that the program sponsored by Democratic Sens. Katie Wallace of Longmont and Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins was the right step, killing the bill in a 2-5 vote last week. Wallace claimed farmers are p...
Federal Audit Finds Colorado Misspent $78 Million On Autism Therapy
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Federal Audit Finds Colorado Misspent $78 Million On Autism Therapy

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The state must repay the federal government $42.6 million after “questionable billing patterns.” Colorado made at least $77.8 million in improper payments for Medicaid services for children with autism and must refund the federal government $42.6 million, federal officials said Monday.  Auditors at the federal Office of the Inspector General found the state Medicaid program has been improperly covering care by uncredentialed behavioral technicians for children with autism, among other billing discrepancies.  The audit released Monday comes as the state is already dealing with a $1 billion budget shortfall and cuts to Medicaid benefits that have affected multiple programs for people with low incomes and disabi...
The Rorschach republic: The MLK test for a divided nation
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Think Again USA

The Rorschach republic: The MLK test for a divided nation

By Melanie Sturm | Commentary, Think Again USA Substack From ICE to Epstein to gender medicine, we keep seeing what we want in the ink blots. See if you pass the MLK Test. Same ink blot. Different realities. Do you pass the MLK Test? We are living through a Rorschach moment. We look at the same ink blots — the border, Epstein, gender medicine — and swear we’re seeing opposite realities. I was reminded of that recently when I found myself seated next to a gentleman at a luncheon. We discovered easy common ground: he grew up in Indiana, I grew up in Nebraska. We traded a few jokes about Hoosiers and Huskers swapping basketball and football fortunes. Then the conversation turned to Indiana’s former fiery basketball coach Bobby Knight, whom he idolized growin...
“The market can’t fix childcare”: Who is shaping Colorado’s narrative
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

“The market can’t fix childcare”: Who is shaping Colorado’s narrative

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Gary Community Ventures, The Colorado Sun and setting common sense The Colorado Sun recently launched a series, “Out of Reach”, describing what they term “Colorado’s crumbling child care system”. The series caught my eye due to a statement appearing in the first installment. William Browning, president and CEO of Clayton Early Learning in Denver, said (among other things, and I quote here from the first link below): “The market can’t fix child care.” This brought to mind something a friend had told me a while back. Depending on the individual the blame may lay anywhere on the spectrum from intent to a variety of unrelated factors lining up, but the thinking is the same. If the childcare ...
Iran Strike Underscores The Reality Of American Military Power
The Federalist, Approved, National

Iran Strike Underscores The Reality Of American Military Power

By: Chris Bray | The Federalist American military power is unrivaled, while Europeans and Canadians give speeches about shoving the American military aside and becoming rival powers. This is not real. Less than a month ago, Politico put this remarkable statement in a headline: “Top NATO allies don’t think US helps deter enemies anymore.” The body of the story went on to explain that “American military power is increasingly seen as an uncertain asset,” while fewer Europeans “still see the U.S. as an effective deterrent against enemy attacks.” Doubting the value of American hard power, Europeans have called for a transition to a new era of security independence in which they can confront enemies like Russia without the handicap of being yoked to a dumb and declining Un...
Arizona Activist Group Revives Effort To Block Wildlife Fur Sales In Colorado
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Arizona Activist Group Revives Effort To Block Wildlife Fur Sales In Colorado

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–An out-of-state animal rights group is back for another swing at banning the sale of wildlife fur in Colorado. As with a previous, failed attempt, hunting, fishing and conservation interests are lining up in opposition. As previously reported by Complete Colorado, the Tucson, Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity filed a citizens’ petition for rulemaking in June, 2025 urging the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission to amend agency regulations to “prohibit the commercial sale, barter, or trade of wildlife fur in Colorado.” While that effort never made it past commissioners, the petition has been filed again for another round in 2026 and will be heard by the CPW commission in early March. &nb...
ICE Operation In Lakewood Turns Violent As Suspect Rams Vehicles and Flees Into Apartment Building
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

ICE Operation In Lakewood Turns Violent As Suspect Rams Vehicles and Flees Into Apartment Building

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado A man has been accused of a hit-and-run in the Denver metro area involving two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles. Around 9:58 a.m., Lakewood police were called to the 200 block of S. Ingalls Street. ICE agents reported that they were attempting to detain a suspect when that person rammed two of their vehicles with his car, injuring one of the agents. That suspect then left his car and entered a nearby apartment, according to a Lakewood PD spokesman. A crowd of people began gathering near the scene. According to LPD, officers set up a perimeter around the area due to concerns for community safety, but said the officers didn't engage with the suspect or the ICE operation. After federal agents obtained a warrant and additi...
Audits Across 28 States Halt $5.7 Billion in Improper Spending
Red State, Approved, National

Audits Across 28 States Halt $5.7 Billion in Improper Spending

By Ben Smith | RedState.com For years, fraud has been dismissed as a right-wing talking point from the Trump administration. A new report from state financial officers makes that claim harder to ignore. Across 28 states, auditors say they identified and stopped $5.7 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse in a single year. Those findings span Medicaid eligibility systems, local government budgets, payroll controls, and nonprofit oversight. The money did not disappear into thin air. It was tracked, documented, and stopped once someone chose to look. The State Financial Officers Foundation’s 2025 Oversight Report lays out what 40 state treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers say they uncovered after digging into eligibility systems, payment flows, an...