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Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The cost of housing has soared in our state in recent years, outpacing income growth and making it especially challenging for lower-wage earners and younger, entry-level workers to afford rent. Buying a place of their own is an even taller task for many. It all has led to much public debate and, inevitably, hyperventilation by politicians pledging to solve what they have dubbed an affordable-housing “crisis.” The panic also has led to a lot of misfires by policymakers.  Among those are proposals that would put the squeeze on providers of rental housing, presuming them to have bottomless pockets. Rent control is an example. There also have been various policy prescriptions making it harder to evict tenants. Some o...
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Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The two biggest ongoing threats to democracy in Colorado are the less-than-competent Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, and Colorado’s Supreme Court. You will recall that last year both blocked the inclusion of Donald Trump’s name on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado only to have the nation’s Supreme Court definitively overrule both. I didn’t notice anyone getting into trouble or apologizing for those blatant attacks on democracy but it managed to get me thinking (no mean feat) about the legal profession in general and whether it was changing in Colorado in the face of artificial intelligence (AI). Admittedly, I’m personally not a big fan of AI because, just like history, it is crafted by the victors / the ...
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“Harris Water Time” and the Colorado River Compact’s century of lessons
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

“Harris Water Time” and the Colorado River Compact’s century of lessons

By Steve Harris | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Any good water management effort, process or project takes what I like to call “water time”—if you expect a water negotiation to take one year, add a zero because it will more likely consume 10! This I now officially and publicly trademark as “Harris Water Time,” patent pending. Yet somehow the sturdy Colorado River Compact seems to turn my “water time” on its head—a complex, controversial interstate compact was negotiated in a year and has withstood over 100! The Colorado River Compact split the basin into Upper and Lower regions, shaping water rights for seven states. Photo source: U.S. Geological Survey (2016a). To explore this confounding story, my young friend suggested I write a series of articles on the Com...
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Colorado’s Surge In Prison Population Signals Return To Law And Order
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Surge In Prison Population Signals Return To Law And Order

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette Let’s welcome news reported by The Gazette this week that Colorado’s prison population is on the rise, with more lawbreakers reportedly behind bars for parole violations. That’s encouraging in a state that has weathered an epic crime wave in recent years, often enough at the hands of parolees. The surge in our prison population reflects a renewed commitment by law enforcement — including parole officers, who police parolees and try to keep them on track — to prioritize public safety. Misguided, out-of-touch advocates of the “justice reform” movement already are wringing their hands over the thought of convicts out on parole being sent back to the slammer for what the justice reformers insist are mere “technical” viola...
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How early Christians stood against Rome, Part 2
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

How early Christians stood against Rome, Part 2

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s note: Douglas County resident Russ Minary first wrote this devotional in 2013 and felt prompted to share it now, in a season when revival is stirring across communities. This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read Part 1 here. Every spiritual movement takes place in a practical way, from person to person, in the real world. Miracles did take place, the faith spread, and the church grew, for a few reasons which I provide here. Please note that this is entirely conjecture, but I believe that it aligns with Scripture and historical fact, and the context of the times in which it took place.   Here are nine principles that were used by the early church to survive and thrive in a world that was openly hostile to th...
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Public Land Policy Should Serve All Users Not Just One Vision
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Approved, Commentary, National, The Denver Gazette

Public Land Policy Should Serve All Users Not Just One Vision

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to rescind the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, which was issued as a final rule last May. The rule, which puts conservation at the same level as other multiple uses like recreation, mineral extraction, grazing, and energy development, came out of the Joe Biden administration and earned fierce opposition. It would have allowed the well-funded who are opposed to, for example, grazing, to gather BLM leases and “conserve” the land by rejecting all other multiple uses. This flies in the face of the statute set forth by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, FLPMA, that charges the BLM with regulating the “use, occupancy, and development” of public lands in accordance with the p...
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Violence tied to transgender ideology grows harder to ignore
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The Daily Signal, Approved, Commentary, National

Violence tied to transgender ideology grows harder to ignore

By Tyler O’Neil | Commentary, The Daily Signal An increasing number of alleged murderers, mass shooters, and violent offenders have apparently tried to silence Christians or critics of transgender ideology, acting on the assumption that those who disagree with transgender claims represent a violent threat. The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk only underscores this unnerving trend, and makes the case for the FBI to formally characterize the threat of transgender ideology violent extremism. The Oversight Project and The Heritage Foundation formally called on the FBI Thursday to use its authority under 18 U.S. Code § 2331 to designate this threat, and I wholeheartedly agree. The FBI declined to comment on the subject when approached Friday. That statute defines&...
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Study on right-wing violence collapses under fake data claims
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The Federalist, Approved, Commentary, National

Study on right-wing violence collapses under fake data claims

By: Beth Brelje | Commentary, The Federalist An Antifa-connected researcher with rabid bias against the right is held out as an expert on deciding who is extreme. After Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week, conservatives noted that most political violence comes from the left. The left bristles at this fact and has responded by dramatically padding the numbers to pretend the reverse is true. Consider a Sept. 12 piece from The Economist claiming, “extremists on both left and right commit violence, although more incidents appear to come from right-leaning attackers.” Right up front, the piece admits it used data “largely compiled by researchers whom sceptical (sic) conservatives would probably dismiss as biased.” The disclaimer is meant to inoculate The Economist’s au...
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Trained Armed Staff Could Be Key to School Safety
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Trained Armed Staff Could Be Key to School Safety

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Enough. Damn it, enough! Enough virtue signaling instead of preventing school shootings. Enough of elected school boards denying reality. It is time for all of Colorado’s 178 school districts to join the 50 that currently have volunteer, trained, concealed armed staff to stop a shooter the moment he begins — because when seconds count, the police are only minutes away The difference is wanting to feel safe versus wanting to be safe. By constantly making it harder and more expensive for law-abiding people (i.e. the good guys) to purchase, practice and legally carry firearms, our lawmakers think we will feel safer. Maybe some will even fall for it and feel safer. But none of it makes us any safer. Reality check Actually ...
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