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Return to Nature owners plead guilty to wire fraud charge at federal court hearing
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Return to Nature owners plead guilty to wire fraud charge at federal court hearing

By Zachary Dupont | Colorado Politics, via The Gazette Return to Nature Funeral Home owners Jon and Carie Hallford appeared in federal court on Thursday to accept a plea deal, which could land the couple in prison for up to 15 years.  In September, Jon and Carie Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home, filed a notice of disposition and a motion requesting a change of plea on the 15 counts of wire fraud the pair face in federal court.  The funeral home, about 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, came under a multi-agency investigation in October after reports of a complaint about a foul odor in the area. Investigators said they found nearly 190 bodies in various states of decomposition that were not properly stored. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO...
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In two weeks, $6.6 million was raised for 14 ballot issues on the Colorado ballot
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In two weeks, $6.6 million was raised for 14 ballot issues on the Colorado ballot

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics In just under two weeks, the issue committees battling over most of the 14 statewide ballot issues have collectively raised more than $6.6 million. The most fundraising between Oct. 10 and Monday is Colorado Voters First, which backs Proposition 131, the open primary/ranked choice voting measure. Ben Walton, of the Walton family that owns Wal-Mart, donated $1 million on Oct. 18 to the pro-131 committee. That brings his total to $2 million. Through Oct. 9, the committee had already raised $10.8 million. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Group opposed to ranked-choice voting warns it will make elections less secure
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Group opposed to ranked-choice voting warns it will make elections less secure

By Brady Knox | Colorado Politics, via Washington Examiner An anti-ranked choice voting group warned that ballot initiatives in favor of the practice would make elections less secure. Eight states and the District of Columbia will have ballot initiatives related to ranked choice voting. RCV is a method of voting where voters can vote for multiple candidates in order of preference. While activists praise the method as being more fair and allowing voters' voices to be better heard, opponents making up the Stop RCV Coalition, such as Honest Elections Project Executive Director Jason Snead, argue that the process serves only to confuse voters. "Ranked choice voting is a convoluted scheme that confuses voters," he said. "Across the country, millions of citizens...
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Elbert County commissioners seek to dismiss lawsuit filed by county residents
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Elbert County commissioners seek to dismiss lawsuit filed by county residents

By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics, via Denver Gazette Three Elbert County Commissioners named in a lawsuit alleging they conducted official business outside of public purview have asked the court to dismiss the case that could hold them financially responsible for contracts they awarded. In September, a group of Elbert County residents sued the board and commissioners Chris Richardson, Dallas Schroeder, and Grant Thayer in their official capacities after it was discovered they gave hefty employment contracts to County Manager Shawn Fletcher and longtime County Attorney Bart Greer.  The defendants, as stated in court documents filed on Friday, assert that two plaintiffs' three claims are moot because the county approved the employment contracts in question at a speci...
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Colorado insurance rates will increase more than three times the rate of inflation in 2025
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Colorado insurance rates will increase more than three times the rate of inflation in 2025

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics With open enrollment for health insurance set to begin in two weeks, Colorado's Division of Insurance has finalized rates for premiums in the individual and small group markets. Premium increases in both markets for 2025 are set to rise at more than three times the rate of inflation forecast for next year. Individual premium increases will rise 5.6%, and small businesses, those with 100 or fewer employees, will rise 7.1%. However, medical inflation rises faster than consumer inflation, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In an August report, the foundation said that in June 2024, medical prices grew by 3.3% from the previous year, higher than the 3.0% overall annual inflation rate. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Colorado justices, 4-2, rule tenants have right to a jury trial in eviction cases
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Colorado justices, 4-2, rule tenants have right to a jury trial in eviction cases

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Noting that trial courts across the state are routinely denying tenants the ability to have a jury hear their eviction cases, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that certain types of disputes do qualify for a jury trial after all. By 4-2, the Supreme Court's majority acknowledged the concern that county courts, where evictions largely are heard, could become overwhelmed if even a fraction of tenants demand jury trials. But Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. explained numerous other states honor the right to a jury trial and several factors work to limit the actual frequency of eviction trials. "And of those cases that do proceed to trial, many are ineligible for a jury trial," Samour wrote in the Oct. 21 opinion, given that a jury would...
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Study finds homeless sweeps don’t reduce crime, may even increase violence
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Study finds homeless sweeps don’t reduce crime, may even increase violence

By Jenny Deam | Colorado Politics Despite prevailing public and political wisdom that removing homeless encampments is necessary to reduce crime in an area, a new national study looking specifically at Denver’s crime rates after sweeps found the narrative was, in fact, mostly false. “There is no evidence that sweeps make our community safer,” said Pranav Padmanabhan, the Denver-based lead author of the study published Wednesday in the national Journal of Urban Health. Padmanabhan is a graduate student in Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and one of four authors affiliated with the medical school. The fifth is with the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Fundraising for Colorado’s ballot measures picks up with less than three weeks before Election Day
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Fundraising for Colorado’s ballot measures picks up with less than three weeks before Election Day

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics With less than three weeks to go to Election Day, groups working on some of the 14 statewide ballot measures are getting ready for the final spending push. And the backer of Colorado's most advertised ballot measure has been making contributions to other issue committees in the last 48 hours. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Wildlife commissioners divided on Prop. 127, banning mountain lion, lynx and bobcat hunting
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Wildlife commissioners divided on Prop. 127, banning mountain lion, lynx and bobcat hunting

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A ballot measure that seeks to prohibit the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx has created a divide among current and former members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife commission, with animal rights activists arguing that hunting big cats is cruel and unnecessary, and sportsmen asserting that wildlife management should be left to the experts. A number of opinion pieces penned by current and former CPW commissioners have been circulating in newspapers around the state. This practice isn't illegal in itself, but the pieces must include a disclosure stating that the commissioners are expressing their personal views and not those of the state wildlife agency, as it is legally prohibited from taking an official stance on the mea...
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Amendment H: What to expect if judicial discipline measure passes
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Amendment H: What to expect if judicial discipline measure passes

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Voters in this election will decide whether to modify Colorado's current system of judicial discipline through a proposed constitutional measure, Amendment H, intended to increase the transparency and independence of the disciplinary process. The legislature referred the amendment to the ballot following a series of committee hearings. It has the support of the Colorado Judicial Institute, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of the judiciary, informs the public about the courts and supports the continuing education of judges. Although there is no coordinated opposition, the Judicial Integrity Project argues the amendment continues to preserve too much secrecy in the disciplinary process and too little independence fro...
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