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DiGirolamo: The new Terminator is disguised as your teen’s ‘AI boyfriend’
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DiGirolamo: The new Terminator is disguised as your teen’s ‘AI boyfriend’

By John DiGirolamo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Make The Terminator fiction again. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the movie was released in 1984. The Hollywood hit focused on the sinister power of artificial intelligence in the form of a killer cyborg robot who looked human.  With billions of online images, AI can use that data to easily generate realistic-looking people. It’s difficult to tell the difference between an AI created image vs. a real person. Unfortunately, people are using this powerful technology to exploit children, all while sitting in the comfort of their own chair.  Artificial intelligence has already wreaked havoc on today’s children. Digitally generated or altered images are commonly known as “deepfakes.” Here’s some examples of how ...
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Boll: A day camp in Paonia shows how far the agenda to sexualize kids has gone
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Boll: A day camp in Paonia shows how far the agenda to sexualize kids has gone

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In the small, conservative town of Paonia, Colorado, with a population of just 1,500, a local organization is stirring debate with a new initiative aimed at children. The Learning Council, a tax-exempt nonprofit based in downtown Paonia, is hosting a "Sex Health Education Day Camp" for 10- to 13-year-olds on July 14–16.  Led by Alicia Michelsen, the organization’s executive director, the camp has raised eyebrows among some residents who question its motives and appropriateness, particularly given Michelsen’s history of pushing for controversial changes to local school curricula and a broader societal trend where adults seem increasingly focused on the sexuality of other people’s children. A Rejected Vision Fuels a New I...
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Garbo: Let the purists prune—a thought exercise in Republican renewal
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Garbo: Let the purists prune—a thought exercise in Republican renewal

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The below op-ed is a thought exercise - a structured hypothetical meant to test assumptions, reveal contradictions, and sharpen our understanding by playing out ideas to their logical end. It is not a forecast or a policy proposal. It’s a lens designed to examine the mindset, strategy, and consequences of a particular ideological posture within the Republican Party. Specifically, I explore what happens when purist Republicans are given full authority to define and reshape the party without reasonable question or resistance. No opposition, no internal debate, no moderating voices - just a blank check to purge, label, and remake the GOP according to their uncompromising standards.  Rather than argue with them, I follow the...
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Ganahl: Trump’s new MABA commission puts conservation back in the hands of the people
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Ganahl: Trump’s new MABA commission puts conservation back in the hands of the people

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice While most folks were watching fireworks, President Trump was signing something far more lasting—an Executive Order that could reshape how we care for the land we love. It’s the kind of bold step we need to bring common sense back to how we manage the wild, wide-open spaces that make this country worth fighting for. The creation of the Make America Beautiful Again (MABA) Commission is about more than pretty trails and national parks. It’s about restoring common sense and local control in how we care for the land we love. As a board member of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), I’ve long pushed for this kind of approach—where conservation doesn’t mean locking up our lands, but opening them to responsible use, careful steward...
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They never saw it coming: Kerrville flood sparks call for weather readiness
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They never saw it coming: Kerrville flood sparks call for weather readiness

By RMV Staff At least 82 people lost their lives in Kerrville when floodwaters tore through the area in the middle of the night. Families had no warning. Rain poured harder and faster than forecasted. In Kerrville, the flood was already doing damage before most people knew it was coming. Surging rapidly in the darkness, the Guadalupe River caught sleeping Texans off guard. A Western Colorado weather aficionado contacted RMV following the tragedy to urge more people to take advantage of advanced mobile tools. “As a weather enthusiast with 55 years of experience, I’ve seen major advances in the past decade, including apps that let you track storm signatures and receive early warning alerts,” he said. “Radar Omega puts that in the palm of your hands.” He described receiving an Eme...
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Baker: Freedom still rings loud in Brush
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Baker: Freedom still rings loud in Brush

By Harvey Baker | Guest Commentary, NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice In Northeast Colorado, where faith, family, and freedom still shape daily life, over 1,200 residents lined the streets under clear skies to celebrate the 70th Annual Brush Fourth of July Parade. This wasn’t just another parade—it was a full-hearted tribute to the traditions and people who keep the American spirit alive. This year’s celebration carried special meaning as the community came together to honor Chester McCoy posthumously as Grand Marshal—a man known for his quiet service, steady integrity, and deep loyalty to both neighbors and country. Alongside his memory, the Brush VFW Color Guard led the way, the American flag held high, reminding everyone that freedom has a price—and every generation must ch...
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Hearing lays groundwork for GOP-led reform after 3-year immigration surge, 500K visa overstays
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Hearing lays groundwork for GOP-led reform after 3-year immigration surge, 500K visa overstays

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing June 25 on visa security and legal immigration pathways, revisiting the Trump administration’s policies and examining how current enforcement gaps could be putting national security at risk. Republican lawmakers and expert witnesses repeatedly pointed to vulnerabilities in the visa system and criticized relaxed vetting protocols. “The purpose of today’s hearing is to determine to what extent our legal immigration system has been exploited, abused, and defrauded,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., “and to recommend measures to assure that legal immigration to the United States is legitimate, honest, fully vetted, and above board.” Jessica Vaughn of the Center for Immigrati...
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The COvid Chronicles June 8–15, 2020: Can’t visit grandma—but defund-the-police protests are doctor-approved
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The COvid Chronicles June 8–15, 2020: Can’t visit grandma—but defund-the-police protests are doctor-approved

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board In this eighth chapter of The COvid Chronicles, the absurd became policy. You could chant in a crowd but not hold your father’s hand in the hospital. Visiting grandma was dangerous. Rioting, doctor-approved. The week was long. So is the memory of what they let unravel. By mid-June, Colorado’s citizens, corporations and governing bodies had been cowered into full complicity. The angry activists who long despised democracy finally found their authoritarian moment—and seized it with glee. It was pure bliss for the non-peaceful “progressive” puritans now in power. While COVID numbers steadily improved, health providers across the state lobbied to keep patients isolated and suffering—all while marching in lockstep to cure what they claimed was...
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Devotional: When the truth calls you back into formation
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Devotional: When the truth calls you back into formation

By Pastor Drake Hunter | Commentary, Elevating Life Church I remember the day truth found me, normative truth that is, and it wasn’t in a church pew or quiet devotional moment. It was on a drill pad, surrounded by hundreds of Airmen at Lackland Air Force Base, standing at attention in full formation. I was in Basic Military Training, still full of fight, pride, and the need to prove myself.  When the Training Instructors (TIs) clocked out for the day, I’d go looking for a different kind of training, one that involved fists, not formation. I would stir up fights in the dorms, trying to dominate the other guys in our squadron.  In other words, I thought I was all that and a bag of Doritos with a Mountain Dew on the side, so much so–that I thought I was getting away with...
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Hancock: July 4 is a call to fulfill, not destroy
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Hancock: July 4 is a call to fulfill, not destroy

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Substack Rediscovering Frederick Douglass’s Real Message Every year around this time, we dust off the words of Frederick Douglass’s famous 1852 speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?", and parade them around like fireworks—bright, dramatic, and quickly forgotten. In recent years, Douglass has been appropriated into the modern progressive narrative, a voice supposedly echoing today’s claims that America was founded as a white supremacist project, rooted not in liberty but in racial hierarchy. That’s the popular takeaway. But that’s not Douglass’s message. Not even close. Douglass’s words, when read in full, don’t damn the Constitution or the founding ideals—they uphold them. He doesn't condemn the Declaration of Independence as a fr...
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