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Colorado Senate moves to widen red flag authority despite due process warnings
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Senate moves to widen red flag authority despite due process warnings

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Since its adoption five years ago, Colorado’s red flag law has not stayed static. Since its passage, lawmakers have kept returning to Colorado’s red flag law, expanding it piece by piece as new concerns arise. SB26-004 is the latest revision, reviving debate over how far intervention should reach — and how much due process should accompany it. SB26-004 cleared the Colorado Senate on Feb. 3, passing on a 20–13 vote and moving to the House for further consideration. Sen. Nick Hinrichsen the only Democrat to oppose it. The bill revises the state’s Extreme Risk Protection Order system, often referred to as red flag orders, and prompted extended debate during second reading the day before final passage. Supporters s...
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Parents allege school mistreatment of autistic child as Cherry Creek faces federal civil rights investigation
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Parents allege school mistreatment of autistic child as Cherry Creek faces federal civil rights investigation

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In response to concerns raised by a family in Colorado about the treatment of their young son in kindergarten, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into whether the Cherry Creek School District was in compliance with federal civil rights and special education law, a problem that is not new to the district.  The concern was raised after months of unanswered questions, the parents said. Special Education Changes the Parents Say Were Never Explained Ana and Brandon Lantz’s son started kindergarten in 2023. As time went on in the school year, records indicate that their son received special instruction outside of the general classroom. At first, it was ...
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DUI arrest tests public trust as Aurora councilman keeps safety oversight role
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

DUI arrest tests public trust as Aurora councilman keeps safety oversight role

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When an elected official is arrested, the expectation is simple: the law should apply the same way it would to anyone else. But public office brings added scrutiny that doesn’t disappear once the legal process begins. Those questions are now front and center in Aurora following the DUI arrest of Rob Andrews, who serves on City Council and chairs the council’s Public Safety, Courts, and Civil Service Committee. Since the arrest, Andrews has leaned heavily on due process, saying there are “inconsistencies” in how the incident has been described during the January 26 Aurora City Council meeting. The police report, body-camera video, and official responses show what happened — and why the public debate has shifted....
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Griswold blocks DOJ voter roll review while data flows elsewhere
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Griswold blocks DOJ voter roll review while data flows elsewhere

By Linda Good | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold wants the public to believe that a lawful voter-roll records request from the U.S. Department of Justice is an unprecedented threat to voter privacy. That framing is not principled. It’s strategic. When the DOJ asked Colorado to provide unredacted voter data, including full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers, Griswold didn’t offer a sober legal analysis—she offered a slogan.  In her office’s statement she said, “The DOJ can take a hike; it does not have a legal right to the information. Colorado will not help Donald Trump undermine our elections and hurt the American people.”  ...
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Frontline Peace: The Fight for Reconciliation
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Devotional, Top Stories

Frontline Peace: The Fight for Reconciliation

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Elevating Life Church Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. ~ Ephesians 4:26-27 ~ One of the most common—and most misunderstood—beliefs Christians carry is this: Avoiding conflict is an act of love. It sounds spiritual. It sounds peaceful. But it isn’t what Jesus teaches. Jesus does not command silence in close relationships—He commands reconciliation. And when we confuse avoidance with love, we quietly surrender ground the enemy is more than happy to occupy. Let me take you back to my younger Air Force days. I had just been stationed in Germany. I was a brand-new Christian—excited, sincere, and still very immature. I had started going to church and was building ...
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Colorado appeals court orders new briefs after state flags statute oversight in Tina Peters case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado appeals court orders new briefs after state flags statute oversight in Tina Peters case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Court of Appeals has reopened briefing in Tina Peters’ criminal appeal after the state acknowledged it overlooked a key statutory issue while briefing and arguing the case. The appeal’s timeline changed on Jan. 29, when the Court of Appeals ordered a new round of briefing following a late filing from the Attorney General, a “notice of erratum” addressing the felony charge. 2026-01-29 C ORDER OF THE COURT Respond to ErratumDownload The question surfaced during oral argument earlier this month. Judges asked whether the felony conspiracy charge was tied to the correct version of Colorado law. After oral argument concluded, prosecutors revisited the statute. In a filing submitted January 23, the Attor...
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Colorado’s quiet revival: A custody provision lawmakers stripped is back in SB26-018
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s quiet revival: A custody provision lawmakers stripped is back in SB26-018

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When Colorado lawmakers removed custody language from a transgender-related bill in 2025, the fight appeared to cool — or at least move out of view. It didn’t last. Jan. 14 marked the formal introduction of Senate Bill 26-018, backed in the Senate by Katie Wallace and Chris Kolker and carried in the House by Meg Froelich and Lorena García. No Republicans signed on. The bill was assigned to Senate Judiciary, chaired by sponsor Chris Kolker. Lead sponsor Katie Wallace has emphasized education and family policy in discussing the measure, drawing on her background on the Jefferson County School Board. The proposal revives a custody standard lawmakers stripped from a similar bill last session after pub...
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Joe Oltmann, Eric Coomer, and the War Over Reality
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Joe Oltmann, Eric Coomer, and the War Over Reality

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Joe Oltmann is one of the most polarizing political figures to come out of Colorado in the post-2020 era, but the real story isn’t whether you like him, dislike him, or agree with every word he has said. The story is what happens to a person who steps into the most dangerous topic in modern American life, election integrity, and refuses to retreat when the pressure escalates.  This is not a piece about campaign optics or personality. This is about dissent, institutional backlash, and the reality that when you collide with powerful systems, the “argument” often becomes legal, financial, and personal warfare. After the 2020 election, Dominion Voting Systems became a national flashpoint. Distrust spread fast, an...
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How Medicaid growth is crowding Colorado’s budget priorities
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Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, State, Top Stories

How Medicaid growth is crowding Colorado’s budget priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Medicaid and Colorado’s Spending on Same I wanted to share Nash Herman’s op ed from Complete Colorado with you. I will leave it to you to read it in full, but there are a couple of pertinent things to share. The op ed does a good job of providing an overview of what will likely be a big issue this legislative session: Colorado’s Medicaid spending, a largely self-caused injury. In typical government fashion, the relevant state department, the Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing, engaged a third party and paid them $600K to study the issue. The contractor came back and recommended that, quoting the op ed, “... the state should prioritize reductions in behavioral health, long-term...
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