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Same Colorado law, different outcomes: Probation in Denver, prison in Mesa County
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Same Colorado law, different outcomes: Probation in Denver, prison in Mesa County

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice In Colorado, the same felony statute led to two very different courtroom outcomes. One walked away with probation. Peters is now serving a prison sentence that stretches close to a decade. The case against Peters unfolded under Colorado’s statute on attempting to influence a public servant—§ 18-8-306, the same law used in the prosecution of former Colorado state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis. In Denver District Court, jurors convicted Lewis on four felony counts tied to forged letters submitted during a Senate ethics investigation. The Mesa County verdict came with far steeper consequences. Peters received a prison sentence totaling nine years. Gov. Jared Polis referenced the Lewis sentencing this week while ...
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Why Iran Matters to Every Single American
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Why Iran Matters to Every Single American

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice There are Americans right now screaming, “Why are we in Iran? This isn’t our fight.” Let’s slow that down. What’s unfolding in the Middle East isn’t a foreign skirmish on a map most people can’t read. It’s a defining moment for American security, American prosperity, and American credibility — and it affects every one of us, whether we’re paying attention or not. This Didn’t Start in Tehran Before Operation Epic Fury, the Trump administration removed Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela — not with a strongly worded letter or another round of sanctions, but with decisive action and the kind of political will Washington hadn’t shown in decades. Maduro had turned Venezuela into a narco-state actively poiso...
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From ethics complaint to felony conviction: How forged letters ended a Colorado lawmaker’s career
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From ethics complaint to felony conviction: How forged letters ended a Colorado lawmaker’s career

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The investigation that ended former Colorado Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ political career did not begin with police or prosecutors. It began inside her own office. It ended in a Denver courtroom. There, jurors found the former lawmaker guilty on four felony counts tied to letters submitted during a legislative ethics investigation. The workplace dispute had become a criminal case. No prison sentence followed. The judge handed down two years’ probation, 150 hours of community service and a $3,000 fine. Months earlier, aides had begun raising complaints about how Jaquez Lewis ran her office. They accused her of mistreating staff and assigning work unrelated to legislative duties. Those complaints quickly reached S...
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Colorado’s most valuable company leaves—Weeks after protests outside its Denver office
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Colorado’s most valuable company leaves—Weeks after protests outside its Denver office

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice On February 17, Palantir Technologies posted a single sentence on X: “We have moved our headquarters to Miami, Florida.” There was no press conference and no detailed explanation. https://twitter.com/PalantirTech/status/2023780511051809010 At the time of the move, Palantir was the most valuable publicly traded company headquartered in Colorado, with a market capitalization in the tens of billions of dollars. And just like that, the state’s highest-valued corporate name had a new address. The announcement was brief. The consequences may not be. What the Economic Modeling Shows A February 2026 report from the Common Sense Institute examined what Palantir’s departure could mean for Colora...
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Grassroots-backed election amendments fall short as House advances HB26-1113
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Grassroots-backed election amendments fall short as House advances HB26-1113

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers approved a sweeping update to the state’s election laws Tuesday after rejecting several amendments that would have added voter roll verification requirements and expanded cybersecurity standards for election infrastructure. The vote followed a second-reading debate on HB26-1113 the previous legislative day that centered on election security proposals and questions about the accuracy of Colorado’s voter rolls. Sponsors describe bill as routine election law update Rep. Jenny Willford (Adams County) rose first to present HB26-1113 to the chamber. “The house bill that you have in front of you today is a cleanup bill for elections and voting,” Willford said. She told colleagues Colorado’s electio...
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Former Judicial Discipline Director Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Colorado Supreme Court Oversight
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Former Judicial Discipline Director Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Colorado Supreme Court Oversight

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A former top official inside Colorado’s judicial discipline system is accusing the state’s highest court of protecting itself — and says he was fired after trying to hold it accountable. Christopher S.P. Gregory’s federal lawsuit names an unusually broad group of defendants: the Colorado Judicial Discipline Rulemaking Committee, the Colorado Supreme Court, Governor Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, current and former justices, senior judicial administrators, and other state officials. The breadth of the case is intentional. He is not just accusing individuals of wrongdoing. He is challenging the framework that he says allowed those individuals to influence — and ultimately suppress — the very pr...
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The Friendship Test: What Happens When They Learn You’re Conservative
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The Friendship Test: What Happens When They Learn You’re Conservative

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I don’t have to reach back into old stories to explain why I believe the Left has become unmoored. I can simply look at the present, at what happens in ordinary human moments, and watch the evidence unfold in real time. For years, the popular narrative has been that conservatives are the ones driven by fear and hostility. That we are the ones who are “other” people. That we cannot live alongside disagreement without turning it into a moral indictment. I used to take those claims seriously, partly because I wanted to be fair, partly because I assumed good faith is the default in grown-up relationships. But something has changed. Not in headlines. Not in party platforms. In people. And the change is easiest t...
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Why we started Mesa County Compass
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Why we started Mesa County Compass

By Ruth Kinnett and Lisa Fry | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In June 2023, we were sitting at a kitchen table watching headlines move faster than facts. A recall effort was underway against District 51 School Board member Andrea Haitz, and something didn’t sit right. We kept hearing fragments — social media posts, clipped quotes, secondhand outrage — but we couldn’t find the full conversation. So we decided to start one. Mesa County Compass began on June 10, 2023, during that recall effort. At the time, we believed the full truth had not been properly revealed and that Haitz was being unfairly accused of something she had not done. What started as a response to that moment grew into something larger — a platform dedicated to conversation, clarity, and giving p...
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Why I’m Running for United States Senate
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Why I’m Running for United States Senate

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is being managed into decline. Not in one dramatic collapse. Not in one headline. In slow motion. Costs go up. Public safety goes down. Energy gets strangled. Rural communities get ignored. And government keeps getting bigger. I am running for United States Senate because I am tired of watching it happen. I am not running to join the club. I am running to reverse the direction this state is headed. I am a fifth generation Coloradan. A Navy veteran. A county commissioner. A business owner who has signed the front of paychecks and felt the weight of bad policy in real time. I have lived under the consequences of decisions made in Denver and...
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State bill creates new path for school discrimination complaints, sparks debate over harassment standard
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

State bill creates new path for school discrimination complaints, sparks debate over harassment standard

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice House Bill 26-1141 cleared the House Education Committee last week on a 9–3 vote and now moves to the Appropriations Committee before it can reach the House floor. The proposal would create a state-level process for handling discrimination complaints in K–12 schools and higher education. Complaints would go through the Colorado Civil Rights Division. The agency could investigate, try to resolve cases through mediation, and, if necessary, allow a case to move into court. The proposal covers claims tied to legally protected characteristics — or even the perception that someone belongs to one of those groups. The categories aren’t new. They’re the same ones already written into Colorado’s civil rights law — race, ...
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