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Tenth Circuit strikes down DOJ detention theory, ruling affects Colorado courts
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Tenth Circuit strikes down DOJ detention theory, ruling affects Colorado courts

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Rigoberto Santillan Quiroz entered the United States without inspection in 2006.  ICE arrested him at a traffic stop on November 2, 2025 and initiated removal proceedings on the ground that he entered without admission or parole.  His federal habeas petition, filed in the Western District of Oklahoma, became Quiroz v. Mullin.  On June 30, the Tenth Circuit ruled in his favor, covering six states and striking down the theory behind 722 such petitions filed in Colorado in 2026 through June 15. What the court decided Judges Federico, Bacharach, and Ebel produced a 48-page unanimous opinion, with Federico authoring.  The government's theory rested on §1225(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration and National...
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Getting on is the easy part
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Getting on is the easy part

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I’ve spent the last few months digging deeply into the Colorado voter roll from all sorts of different angles and although politicians of a certain party and their supporters are quick to parrot that Colorado exemplifies the “gold standard” of election integrity, that very definitely does NOT appear to be the case after a close examination of Colorado’s voter roll, the rightful starting point for any such assessment of the quality of election integrity in this or any other state. A closing line from the Eagles' 1976 hit song ‘Hotel California’ seems to be the most appropriate way to summarize the apparent philosophy behind the approach taken by Colorado’s legislature and the current Secretary of State when it comes to the...
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Colorado primary delivers a warning conservatives shouldn’t ignore
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado primary delivers a warning conservatives shouldn’t ignore

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice What happened in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District should get everyone’s attention. Democratic socialist Melat Kiros just defeated Diana DeGette, a 15-term Democratic incumbent who has represented Denver for nearly three decades. This was not a conservative beating a liberal. This was the activist left defeating the Democratic establishment from inside its own party. That matters. The Democratic Party increasingly has no effective guardrails against its most radical elements. The fringe is no longer staying on the fringe. It is organizing, primarying incumbents, capturing safe seats, and moving ideas once considered extreme into the party’s mainstream. That is dangerous for the country because democratic sociali...
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How one volunteer connected the dots at RMV’s Freedom Fest
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

How one volunteer connected the dots at RMV’s Freedom Fest

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice After Freedom Fest ended, Pueblo resident Randy Thurston was still talking his way through the weekend. Not in order. One speaker reminded him of another, and a story from Saturday connected to something he had heard Friday. He was not replaying the event. He was still putting it together. "I still don't know how she pulled it off," he said, meaning Rocky Mountain Voice founder Heidi Ganahl. "I don't know how she even had that vision and then the ability to manifest it. Do you know what it took to get everybody there on the weekend before the Fourth of July? That in itself was impossible." A little later, after talking through several of the presentations, he came back to it again. "Any one of these speakers, I would've driven a thousa...
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright makes the case for data centers, and admits they’re not for everyone
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Rocky Mountain Voice, National, Top Stories

Energy Secretary Chris Wright makes the case for data centers, and admits they’re not for everyone

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright sat down on stage at Douglas County Fairgrounds and told a Colorado crowd that the data centers many of their neighbors are fighting will help cure cancer. Wright, the former Liberty Energy CEO turned 17th U.S. Secretary of Energy, joined Heidi Ganahl for an onstage interview at RMV Freedom Fest on June 27.  Most of the conversation covered familiar Wright territory: oil prices, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Iran.  But when Ganahl turned the conversation to data centers, Wright gave a more layered answer than the typical political pitch, one that conceded real tradeoffs while still landing firmly on the side of building. The comments come as Colorado works throug...
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Pride changed. I didn’t.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Pride changed. I didn’t.

By Valdamar Archuleta | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As the world wraps up another June, filled with rainbows and unicorns, I, as a gay Republican, reflect on 30 days of what always ends up being unproductive conflict. And once again, I prepare to face the inevitable question: “How can you be a gay Republican?” Well, it’s pretty easy. Donald Trump was the first American President to take office supporting same-sex marriage. He was also the first President to wave a rainbow on the campaign trail before being elected. Which, he did right here in Colorado. Sure, this can just be tossed up as political lip service, but Trump went further. In 2019, President Donald Trump introduced the “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” initiative. At the same time, his adminis...
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An open letter to Elon Musk
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

An open letter to Elon Musk

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Dear Elon, You do not know me. I am one of millions of Americans who will likely never meet you, never stand on a launch pad, never design a rocket engine, never build a global company, and never appear in the history books. Yet I owe you a debt of gratitude. Not because of your wealth. Not because of your fame. Not because I agree with every decision you have ever made. I owe you gratitude because your success serves as evidence. Evidence that reality still rewards excellence. Evidence that competence still matters. Evidence that discipline, sacrifice, intelligence, and relentless effort can still bend the world toward something better. That evidence has become increasingly valuable. Everywhere I loo...
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Volunteers bring America’s 250th birthday party to Grand Junction’s fairgrounds
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Volunteers bring America’s 250th birthday party to Grand Junction’s fairgrounds

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice July 4 has always meant fireworks in Grand Junction. This year, a group of local volunteers think it should mean something more. Liberty on the Lawn – America 250 comes to Mesa County Fairgrounds/Lions Club Park on July 4, noon to 7 p.m. It's free. Bring a chair, a cooler and the kids. Austin Dewitt, the event's coordinator, had one goal going into it. "I wanted Liberty on the Lawn to be more than just another Fourth of July celebration,” he told RMV. “I wanted to create something that brings people together, honors America's 250th birthday, and reminds us that even with different backgrounds and perspectives, we share a lot more in common than we often realize." How it came together About a dozen community membe...
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They almost stayed home: What a Douglas County couple took away from RMV’s Freedom Fest
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

They almost stayed home: What a Douglas County couple took away from RMV’s Freedom Fest

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice By Saturday morning, Russ and Deb Minary were home, a refrigerator due to be delivered and an ordinary weekend resuming around them. They couldn't stop replaying the day before. They almost hadn't gone. Their Friday had cleared at the last minute, and they drove over for day one of Rocky Mountain Voice's two-day Freedom Festival, marking America's 250th birthday and Colorado's 150th. "It's frightening when you see how easily our elections are being changed and manipulated," Deb said. "But it's also encouraging to know there are people trying so hard to fight for our freedom." The day had split in two for them—what frightened them, and what gave them hope. https://twitter.com/TheRMVoice/status/2070592878896717919 They...
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The SAVE Act is about citizenship not suppression
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The SAVE Act is about citizenship not suppression

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” – Mark Twain Today, many Americans across the political spectrum are uninformed and/or unfamiliar with the US Constitution and US legal code. Yet they want elections and election results to be fair and accurate. Confusion, division and conflict are common, often guided more by opinion or emotions, but not the truth or facts. Social or mainstream media will never be a substitute for primary research from reliable sources. In this article, you’ll get some facts and reliable info on WHY the SAVE Act, free and fair elections, and the Electoral College are absolutely necessary to protect our most basic freedoms as Ame...
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