Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Top Stories

Tristan: Is Trump administration’s DOGE cutting waste or slashing jobs?
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Tristan: Is Trump administration’s DOGE cutting waste or slashing jobs?

By George Tristan | Guest Columnist, Rocky Mountain Voice In November 2002, I was informed I would be terminated from a well-paying position at Hewlett-Packard. The HP layoffs (approximately 30,000 employees) were prompted by volatile industry turmoil (Dotcom bust) and a merger with Compaq. The 10 years of employment at HP were some of the very best of my career. HP, at that time, was the darling of the Silicon Valley empire, as the Palo Alto garage where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started the fledgling company is a California landmark and considered by many the birthplace of the high-tech industry.  This dramatic upheaval in the telecommunications industry resulted in a labor market flooded with unemployed IT professionals. With few options, I accepted a management position ...
Read More
Lundberg: Colorado’s 2025 legislature—a case study in big government overreach
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Lundberg: Colorado’s 2025 legislature—a case study in big government overreach

By Kevin Lundberg | Guest Columnist, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado legislature is more than halfway through this year’s session.    Like the past six years of the Polis administration, this session has seen radical bills roar through the legislature with many passing on party-line votes. If the governor is consistent with what he has done in the past he will sign virtually all of these extreme bills and continue to fundamentally transform Colorado. This is a brief overview of bad, dumb and dangerous bills that are currently moving through the Colorado legislature. For a more complete listing of the worst bills I have identified, check out the weekly Lundberg Report I publish on my website, KevinLundberg.com. My criteria for bad bills are those that grow go...
Read More
Mesa County Republican Women’s Lincoln Day Dinner to Feature Congresswoman Harriet Hageman
No Comments
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Mesa County Republican Women’s Lincoln Day Dinner to Feature Congresswoman Harriet Hageman

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff GRAND JUNCTION, CO – The Mesa County Republican Women (MCRW) are set to host their highly anticipated Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at the Clifton Community Center. This year’s keynote speaker is none other than Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, Wyoming’s sole representative in the U.S. House and a staunch advocate for conservative values and policies. Congresswoman Hageman, known for her commitment to constitutional rights and government accountability, recently co-sponsored a bill aimed at permanently relocating the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) headquarters to Grand Junction—a move widely supported by Western conservatives who believe in local governance over federal overreach. Joining her at the ...
Read More
Ganahl: Smears and fearmongering—The fight for John Adams Academy and school choice in Douglas County
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Ganahl: Smears and fearmongering—The fight for John Adams Academy and school choice in Douglas County

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In Douglas County, Colorado, a battle over education choice is brewing as efforts to open a new classical charter school, the John Adams Academy, face fierce opposition. Spearheading the initiative is Ellie Reynolds, a Sterling Ranch resident and mom, and Kim Gilmartin, a seasoned advocate for school choice, who has helped launch multiple classical charter schools across the state.   However, the journey to establish this school in Sterling Ranch, a rapidly growing community with no existing school, has been met with aggressive and, at times, deeply personal hostility. The John Adams Academy, modeled after three successful classical charter schools in California, aims to provide an American classical leadership education...
Read More
UCCS under scrutiny for alleged race-based policies in higher education shakeup
No Comments
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

UCCS under scrutiny for alleged race-based policies in higher education shakeup

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is among more than 50 universities facing federal investigations as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to restore merit-based education and dismantle discriminatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The U.S. Department of Education announced the investigations on Friday, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring that federal funding is not used to support race-based preferences in admissions, scholarships, or other aspects of student life. This move comes after a memo last month warning institutions that such policies violate federal civil rights laws and could result in a loss of federal funding. The investigation into UCCS stems from allegations that the university engaged in ra...
Read More
Choked out: How Colorado’s regulatory maze is starving its energy producers
No Comments
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Choked out: How Colorado’s regulatory maze is starving its energy producers

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Few states rival Colorado’s wealth of energy resources, but its oil and gas industry is up against increasing challenges. Small and mid-sized operators, once the industry’s backbone, are struggling with a growing tangle of regulations.  Delayed permits, overlapping oversight and rising fines are making it harder to stay in business, forcing many to reconsider their future in the state. Ryan Clark, Vice President of Engineering at Petrox Resources and a fourth-generation Coloradan working in his family’s oil and gas business, has watched small operators disappear under the weight of increased regulations. "Honestly, I don’t know if oil and gas has a future here," he said. "Growing up, this was a business people bui...
Read More
Colorado ‘ground zero for some of the most violent criminals in America’ says acting DEA administrator
No Comments
Approved, DENVER7, State, Top Stories

Colorado ‘ground zero for some of the most violent criminals in America’ says acting DEA administrator

ByTony Kovaleski | Denver7 CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Colorado is “ground zero for some of the most violent criminals in America” and leadership for the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. “We are learning that the command and control for TdA in the entire United States of America is right here in Colorado,” said Derek Maltz, who stepped into his role just after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, adding that this new information was based on intelligence from front-line agents in the Rocky Mountain Division of the DEA. Maltz was in Denver on Thursday to visit with roughly 150 agents and employees of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division. He spoke exclusively with Denver7 Investigates during his visit regardi...
Read More
Rio Blanco County hires deputy trained to investigate livestock depredation
No Comments
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Rio Blanco County hires deputy trained to investigate livestock depredation

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Responding to concerns of livestock growers and community members, and to assist in investigating livestock depredations that occur in Rio Blanco County, commissioners have authorized the sheriff’s office to hire their first Animal and Livestock Conflict Investigator. Some have voiced concerns that, to receive compensation for livestock killed by wolves, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) must confirm the kill was caused by a wolf. When a rancher finds a dead animal, they are instructed to call CPW to investigate. Sometimes CPW could not come out to the ranch or grazing allotment for a day or two. In the meantime, other wild animals and birds were coming to the carcass and changing the “scene of the crime,” making it mor...
Read More
Senate Democrats — including Colorado’s John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet — refuse to go along with GOP spending plan
No Comments
State, The Colorado Sun, Top Stories

Senate Democrats — including Colorado’s John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet — refuse to go along with GOP spending plan

By Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press via The Colorado Sun WASHINGTON — A day before a shutdown deadline, Senate Democrats are mounting a last-ditch protest over a Republican-led government funding bill that already passed the House but failed to slap any limits on President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to gut federal operations. Senate Democrats are under intense pressure to do whatever they can to stop the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is taking a wrecking ball to long-established government agencies by purging thousands of federal workers from jobs. U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, said Wednesday during a virtual town hall he would vote against the Republican bill and vote “no” on the Senate...
Read More
Who gets to know? Lawmakers, media and watchdogs wrangle over public records access
No Comments
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Who gets to know? Lawmakers, media and watchdogs wrangle over public records access

By RMV Staff | Rocky Mountain Voice Last year Democrat lawmakers created a loophole to dodge public scrutiny—and Governor Polis made it law. Now it’s easier for lawmakers to evade state open meetings law, through written and electronic communication. Republicans Sen. Byron Pelton and Rep. Lori Garcia Sander introduced House Bill 25-1242 to repeal and close that loophole. But the bill was killed in committee along party lines, reinforcing a trend toward less transparency at the state capitol. In response, a coalition of government watchdogs and media groups from across the political spectrum is pushing a ballot measure to strengthen public access to records and keep legislative meetings open. Transparency advocates, including the Independence Institute, League of Women Voters an...
Read More