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Flawed filing stalls Peters’ release bid as DOJ weighs in and President Trump demanding action
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Flawed filing stalls Peters’ release bid as DOJ weighs in and President Trump demanding action

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge on Monday warned former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters that her request to be released while she appeals her 2024 criminal convictions appears to be brought improperly and may be subject to dismissal. Jurors convicted Peters for her role in a security breach of her office's voting equipment. She is currently serving a nine-year sentence of incarceration. While the state's Court of Appeals reviews her conviction, Peters has filed a federal petition for "habeas corpus," a legal tool used to challenge one's confinement. Specifically, Peters is seeking to be released on bond while her appeal moves forward in state court. In a May 5 order, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak identified a problem with the petition....
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Former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg named head of Farm Service Agency for Colorado by President Trump
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Former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg named head of Farm Service Agency for Colorado by President Trump

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg has been named executive director of the Farm Service Agency for Colorado by the Trump administration. Sonnenberg served as a Logan County commissioner beginning in 2023. He resigned that seat on April 16. He starts as executive director on May 5. The Farm Services Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, administers farm commodity, disaster, and conservation programs for farmers and ranchers; and it makes and guarantees farm emergency, ownership, and operating loans through a network of state and county offices. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Colorado Senate committee approves bill aimed at boosting condo construction
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Colorado Senate committee approves bill aimed at boosting condo construction

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The bill that backers hope will breathe new life into Colorado's condo construction market won a solid 6-1 vote from a Senate committee. But will the bill do what backers hope — lead to a resurgence in condo construction? It depends on who gives the answer. The condo market all but died in 2010 after changes to property and casualty insurance drove those insurers out of the Colorado condo market. That has led to insurance costs of up to $40,000 per unit, which are less of an issue for a million-dollar condo but one that makes the "affordable" condo — in the $400,000 range — unaffordable. Ted Leighty of the Colorado Association of Homebuilders told the committee House Bill 1272 doesn't go far enough to solve the issue it is intended to...
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Gabel: Why I have no beef with President Trump’s beef tariffs
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Gabel: Why I have no beef with President Trump’s beef tariffs

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, Colorado Politics President Donald Trump’s tariffs should be on the radar of every agriculture producer in the U.S. Our country is not only the top producer of beef at 12.1 million metric tons annually, but also the top importer of beef, consuming 12.7 metric tons annually. There are hundreds of other ag commodities that rely on trade, of course, but beef is on my radar. One of the countries at the top of the beef tariff list is Australia, which is one of the countries that imports no American beef, a result of a 2003 restriction following a North American outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Our country, however, imports $4.8 billion in Australian beef annually, making the U.S. Australia’s largest beef market. Japan, Mexi...
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Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold joins Democratic primary for attorney general
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Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold joins Democratic primary for attorney general

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general in next year's election, promising to "stand up to Donald Trump to protect our rights and freedoms." "Attorneys general are on the front lines of defending our rights and our freedoms, which are under massive attack from Elon Musk and Donald Trump," Griswold told Colorado Politics prior to her campaign launch. "And I have a proven track record of standing up to MAGA extremists and Donald Trump over the last six and a half years of serving as secretary of state, and I hope to continue that as attorney general." Added Griswold: "I think we're at a tremendous risk nationally when there's a president who does not believe in ...
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Judge overrides parents, reinstates graphic books mid-appeal
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Judge overrides parents, reinstates graphic books mid-appeal

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge on Thursday refused to put her prior ruling on hold while an appeal plays out, and instead ordered Elizabeth School District to return 19 restricted books to library shelves by Saturday. U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney rejected the Elbert County district's claims that her original order was unfair, "breathtakingly broad" and would require whole new library policies. She also slammed the district for disclosing, only after she issued her order, that it had "discarded" the disputed books entirely. "Rather than being forthcoming with the Court about these facts, the District previously represented that the Removed Books were available to Plaintiffs, and only Plaintiffs," she wrote in an April 3 order. "No menti...
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Colorado lawmakers propose budget full of cuts and cash sweeps
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Colorado lawmakers propose budget full of cuts and cash sweeps

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Lawmakers on Monday introduced in the state Senate the legislation setting up the 2025-26 budget, which contains hundreds of millions of dollars in funding cuts, transfers and sweeps.   The spending plan comes in at $43.9 billion. The plan includes $16.7 billion in general fund dollars. That is the discretionary money that comes from corporate and individual income taxes, as well as sales and use taxes. Lawmakers use that money to fund new programs, although it will be in short supply in a year when the Joint Budget Committee will have to find ways to cover a $1.2 billion shortfall. Senate Bill 206 was introduced along with 63 "orbitals" — bills that make statutory changes to balance the budget. And that's where a lot...
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Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state
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Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics While they might agree on the problem, a group of Western Slope county commissioners and agricultural groups are asking proponents of a ballot measure to repeal Proposition 114, which allowed the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, to back off. A March 17 letter was sent to Patrick Davis, who heads Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy, which is supporting the repeal ballot measure. The signatories are county commissioners from Garfield, Grand, Mesa, Moffat, Montrose and Rio Blanco counties and four county-based wool growers associations. The letter indicates that ranchers and county officials opposed to the reintroduction program are willing to work within the system, utilizing the state's wolf management plan as a means of addressing...
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Colorado is Venezuelan gang’s ‘command center’
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Colorado is Venezuelan gang’s ‘command center’

By The Denver Gazette staff | Denver Gazette Via Colorado Politics The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed on Monday that it regards Colorado as “ground zero" for "some of the most violent criminals in America" and the "command center" of a transnational gang that originated in the prisons of Venezuela. “We are learning that the command and control for TdA in the entire United States of America is right here in Colorado,” Derek Maltz, the acting director of the DEA, said in a Denver7 report.   Maltz was referring to Tren de Aragua, a gang that started in Tocorón Penitentiary Center in Aragua, a state in north-central Venezuela. TdA has expanded the footprint of its criminal enterprises into at least eight Latin American countries, including Brazil, Colomb...
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Colorado Joint Budget Committee addresses wolf reintroduction concerns with budget footnotes
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Colorado Joint Budget Committee addresses wolf reintroduction concerns with budget footnotes

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics While agricultural organizations did not succeed in their efforts to halt the reintroduction of more wolves, they found a more sympathetic ear among policymakers at the state Capitol. In their work on "footnotes," which are directions to state departments on administering appropriations, the Joint Budget Committee adopted two items related to the wolf reintroduction program. Footnotes do not have the force of law, although state agencies comply. Even when the governor vetoes a footnote, usually due to a separation of powers issue, he often directs the agencies to comply anyway. The first said the annual $2.1 million general fund appropriation should be used to implement Proposition 114, the narrowly-adopted 2020 ballot measure that resulted...
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