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O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment
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O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  January 2023 was a changeover month of sorts in the United States because it marked a division between the taxpayer subsidized COVID economy and the less subsidized post-COVID economy. According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the United States added 3,149,000 jobs between January 2023 and June 2025, a 2.0 percent increase for the nation as a whole.  Employment growth so far this century has averaged just under one percent a year, so the 2.0 percent figure is roughly on track (although preliminary July BLS data are less positive and subject to revision). At the same time, unemployment increased by 1,268,000, a 22.1 percent rise. This is a less positive aspect of the economy that few seem ...
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Devotional: Belief plus action equals unshakable faith
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Devotional: Belief plus action equals unshakable faith

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Elevating Life Church Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ~ Mark 11:24 (ESV) Let’s be honest, everyone believes in something. Even the person who proudly claims to “believe in nothing” is holding on to a belief about that nothing. (Which is something... Try not to get a headache.) I still remember the first time I was taught the Big Bang Theory at Valley Junior High in Carlsbad, California. The basic idea? “In the beginning, there was nothing... and then it exploded.” Wait, what? Nothing with a bang. It exploded?! What! I’m so confused.  I don’t mean to be sarcastic (well, maybe just a little), but are we really supposed to believe that nothing, such as no time, no s...
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The man Polis vowed to destroy: Kevin Kauffman’s final fight for truth and legacy
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The man Polis vowed to destroy: Kevin Kauffman’s final fight for truth and legacy

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice They tried to bury him. He’s still standing—with the paperwork to prove it. On his 50th birthday, Kevin Kauffman stood waist-deep in the waters off Eilat, Israel. His son handed him a sealed envelope his accountant asked him to deliver on this day. He opened it, read what was inside and stood in silence. It wasn’t just a numerical milestone in that envelope—it carried the weight of a life built by a self-made man. Kauffman had earned every cent the hard way, guided by mentors, not inheritance.  What he saw didn’t make him feel powerful. It made him reflect. “The achievement led me to a deeply felt realization—I had a responsibility to my family and my community,” Kauffman said. “So I started thinking about how to give some of it ba...
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Bled dry by the state: One oil company’s fight to survive ECMC’s war of attrition
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Bled dry by the state: One oil company’s fight to survive ECMC’s war of attrition

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice An oil company’s $7M cleanup plan became the state’s excuse to shut it down. Jeffrey Kauffman stood at the edge of an excavation site—not to check production, but to explain why there wasn’t any. There was no rig, no flaring, no signs of oil moving to market. Just a fenced-off hole in the earth—and a state agency that wouldn’t let them fill it back in. “This one’s cost between $200,000 and $300,000,” said Kauffman, who serves as KPK’s Chief Operating Officer. “We submitted clean soil results months ago. Still no approval to close it.” The site is one of roughly a dozen that KPK has excavated under orders from the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). Some holes have remained open since early 2024. This one, the s...
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The Rule 211 gamble: How two towns used Colorado law to effectively shut down an oil company’s core assets
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The Rule 211 gamble: How two towns used Colorado law to effectively shut down an oil company’s core assets

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Buried wells, sworn affidavits and a state determined to make an example. This is the opening chapter of a three-part series on one oil and gas company’s final stand—and what the documents and data actually reveal. Start with the towns. Stay for the verdict. Start with the towns. Stay for the verdict. In September 2024, the cities of Dacono and Frederick uploaded a PDF to the Energy and Carbon Management Commission’s (ECMC) filing system. It was short, simple—and explosive. The two municipalities weren’t asking for a cleanup, a fine or a negotiated fix. They were asking the state to order the permanent plugging and abandonment of 45 wells operated by K.P. Kauffman Company (KPK). Their argument relied on Rule 211, a provision historically u...
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DiGirolamo: The predator playbook every parent needs to know about
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DiGirolamo: The predator playbook every parent needs to know about

By John DiGirolamo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Internet is a 24\7 how-to manual. Unfortunately, it’s also available for predators to gather advice to target and manipulate your child. All in a matter of seconds, simply by asking. Staca Shehan, Vice President at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children recently said, “We're also seeing offenders enter questions asking for guides or tutorials on how to groom or recruit children and do it more efficiently.” The following summarizes the ways predators go after your kids: Predator Grooming Tactics: Victim Targeting: Constantly seek children and teens to interact with. It is quick and easy to find others online. Predators seek anyone who is vulnerable and willing to interact in a chat room, on social me...
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Garbo: Colorado Democrats set the house on fire, then send you the insurance bill
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Garbo: Colorado Democrats set the house on fire, then send you the insurance bill

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you’re a Colorado homeowner staring down another massive insurance premium hike - welcome to the consequences of single-party rule. For over a decade, Democrats have run this state. For the last four years, they’ve enjoyed unchecked supermajorities. And yet, while your coverage hasn’t improved, your bill has exploded. In just two years, my own homeowners insurance jumped 190%: - 2023–24: $3,029 - 2024–25: $5,230 (+72.66%) - 2025–26: $8,768 (+67.65%) I’ve filed zero claims. My house hasn’t changed. But the policies passed under Democratic control have made everything worse. This is what happens when public policy is written by unskilled, untalented, uninformed people who face no meaningful opposition or accountabil...
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Minary: Why merit beats seniority and DEI in hiring and leadership
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Minary: Why merit beats seniority and DEI in hiring and leadership

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice With the federal debt now topping $35 trillion, it’s clear there’s too much fraud, waste, abuse, corruption, redundancy, reckless spending and status quo. Change is in order. In Jan. 2025, Pres. Trump issued an Executive Order entitled: “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing” which introduced MERITOCRACY into the system.  A lot of people applauded the change and others reacted negatively.   MERIT is a good thing. The dictionary defines MERIT as: 1) Superior quality or worth; 2)  Quality deserving praise or approval; 3) Virtue and demonstrated ability or achievement.  Those qualities are all good when you’re looking for a surgeon, banker, financial advisor, employee, m...
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Daniel: Colorado’s political ruling class has turned common sense upside down
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Daniel: Colorado’s political ruling class has turned common sense upside down

By Bobbie Daniel | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice There was a time when Colorado ran on common sense. We valued hard work, local control, and the idea that if you played by the rules, you’d get a fair shake. But somewhere along the way, the folks running this state traded those values for political theater and personal ambition. Today, agriculture, coal mining, oil and gas, small businesses, and law enforcement — the very things that help keep our state running — are treated like the enemy. The latest example proves just how upside‑down things have gotten: the Attorney General of Colorado is suing a Mesa County deputy… for doing his job. Now, I don’t know about you, but where I come from, you don’t punish the people who keep you safe. Yet here we are — living in a state wh...
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“We absolutely back the badge”: Mesa County defends deputy in federal suit
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“We absolutely back the badge”: Mesa County defends deputy in federal suit

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County is taking Colorado’s top political figures to court. On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously voted to authorize a federal lawsuit against Governor Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser over what they called “politically motivated litigation” targeting local law enforcement under a controversial new state law. The board’s action followed a detailed legal presentation from County Attorney Todd Starr and remarks from all three commissioners defending Sheriff Todd Rowell and other named deputies. “This action is necessary to protect the constitutional rights of our employees at the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office,” Starr said. “They’re  facing imminent threats of civil liability and penalties.” At issue is Senate Bill 276, which ...
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