denvergazette.com

Colorado taxpayers footed $7.3M bill for dead Medicaid enrollees, audit finds

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Thousands of deceased Coloradans stayed on the state’s Medicaid rolls, as the state continued paying managed care organizations to cover them, a lapse federal investigators flagged as wasteful in a recent audit.

Colorado made an estimated $7.3 million in capitation payments between 2018 and 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). The payments continued for some Coloradans months after their deaths because of outdated reporting and system delays, state officials said.

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Perceptions of downtown Denver plummet despite $1.2B in investment

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City leaders have stressed downtown Denver has several things going in its favor — reopening of 16th Street Mall, new businesses moving in, stronger police presence and $570 million of investment money.

Despite efforts to make a comeback, optimism fell among the public last year.

Perceptions of downtown Denver plummet despite $1.2B in investment Read More »

Rosen: Eco-radicals push watermelon socialism, not science

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I recently stumbled on one of my all-time favorite movies on TV. It was the 1965 film of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. So, I watched the whole thing for 10th time. One particular scene stands out.

After his service as a doctor in the Russian Army during World War I, Zhivago returns to his family who’d been living with his in-laws, in Moscow. By this time, the Russian Army had disintegrated, the Czar had been overthrown and the Bolsheviks had taken control following the 1917 Revolution.

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House approves $44B budget, GOP spending cut efforts rejected

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Colorado state House legislators on Wednesday debated and advanced a $44 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year.

They also approved 63 “orbital” bills designed to change state law in order to balance the state budget.

As introduced, the fiscal year 2025-26 budget stands at $43.9 billion, including $17 billion in general funds and $14 billion in federal dollars. General funds are the discretionary dollars, derived from individual and corporate income taxes, as well as sales and use taxes. Cash funds make up the rest, about $12.8 billion.

Lawmakers’ biggest hurdle is closing a $1.2 billion general fund shortfall, driven by higher-than-expected Medicaid costs and a structural deficit.

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‘I can’t do business in Denver now’: Developers flee as climate mandates bite

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While Colorado is earning praise from climate advocates for its new mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developers and their economists are giving D and F grades to the state and its capital city, blaming the regulations for a noticeable decline in some projects.

Representatives for developers and property owners are flagging new data showing a marked drop-off in investments and revenues from commercial projects in Colorado. That decline, they said, follows directly on the heels of Colorado’s adoption of some of the nation’s boldest carbon-reducing strategies.

‘I can’t do business in Denver now’: Developers flee as climate mandates bite Read More »

Gazette editorial board: Palmer Lake recall effort shortsighted, could derail opportunity

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The quaint Tri-Lakes town of Palmer Lake is a gem Coloradans cherish- its serene lake, charming shops, and tight-knit community make it a Front Range treasure. Sadly, a storm brews over a proposed Buc-ee’s travel center at 1-25 and County Line Road, sparking a recall effort against Trustees Shana Ball, Kevin Dreher, and Dennis Stern.

This push, fueled by an outside activist club – the leader of which compared trustees to the “Taliban” – risks needlessly fracturing an otherwise peaceful village. 

Palmer Lake’s leaders deserve a chance to navigate this opportunity, not a divisive ouster.

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Faculty reform underway at Air Force Academy to meet Secretary Hegseth’s directive

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The Air Force Academy superintendent is proposing to cut civilian faculty positions without hiring uniformed instructors to replace them — a change that could eliminate some majors. 

The proposal floated in internal meetings and communications is intended to increase the percentage of military service members among the faculty up to 80% and bring the percentage of civilians down from about 37% to 20%.

Faculty reform underway at Air Force Academy to meet Secretary Hegseth’s directive Read More »

Gazette editorial board: CO drivers footing the bill for transit dreams amounts to highway robbery

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A lot of motorists aren’t crazy about driving our crumbling and congested traffic corridors. But only a handful actually hates motor vehicles.

Unfortunately, that unrepresentative handful is overrepresented in our state legislature and the Governor’s Office. In some city halls, too. And they’d like nothing more than for the rest of us to quit driving and ride a bus or light rail, instead. Or ride a bike.

Which explains those empty bike lanes you see squeezing cars and trucks aside on busy transportation thoroughfares and neighborhood streets.

It also helps to explain the abysmal condition of Colorado’s highways, bridges and other basic transportation infrastructure. It’s getting worse by the day.

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Democrats launch legal assault on TABOR: Will the courts undo the will of Colorado voters?

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By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette In 2011, a coalition of 33 individuals and groups, including current and former lawmakers, county commission and other elected officials and school districts, sued

Democrats launch legal assault on TABOR: Will the courts undo the will of Colorado voters? Read More »

Colorado judges made campaign contributions despite rules prohibiting the practice

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More than a half dozen judges in Colorado — each of them specially appointed and paid to oversee a divorce case since 2019 — has made at least one political campaign contribution while serving in that capacity despite a prohibition against the practice and an affirmation to uphold it, The Denver Gazette has found.

Colorado judges made campaign contributions despite rules prohibiting the practice Read More »