Rocky Mountain Voice

Rocky Mountain Voice

Hancock: The future of Colorado hangs between boom and blackout
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Hancock: The future of Colorado hangs between boom and blackout

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Substack There's a difference between dreaming big and hallucinating. Colorado's progressive legislators have yet to figure that out. Once a beacon of frontier grit and entrepreneurial promise, Colorado is drifting into a twilight of self-imposed stagnation. This isn't the result of some unforeseeable external shock. No. The decline is being engineered — brick by legislative brick — by a political class more interested in social signaling than in fostering economic vitality. The question isn't whether Colorado faces a reckoning. The question is whether we will admit the cause before we hit the wall. Let's start with energy, the lifeblood of any serious economy. Colorado holds a wealth of natural resources—oil, gas, coal, and uranium— all of ...
Wolves roam, pups are born, riders deployed—but land-use plans still stuck in 2023
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Wolves roam, pups are born, riders deployed—but land-use plans still stuck in 2023

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Wolves are roaming, ranchers are riding – but the rulebook hasn’t changed. Wolves are traveling farther, forming dens and producing pups. Many have turned up dead — especially in Wyoming, where wolves that prey on livestock can be killed on sight under state law.  Yet not one federal or state land-use plan in Colorado has been updated since gray wolf reintroduction began in December 2023. That’s the backdrop for Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s May 13 press release announcing that its Range Rider Program is fully operational and patrolling western Colorado.  Eleven contracted riders hired by CPW have joined two staff from the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to monitor livestock, haze predators and report signs of wolf-livestock ...
LPEA special election: Mail ballots due by May 20 as member frustrations grow
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LPEA special election: Mail ballots due by May 20 as member frustrations grow

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice It’s crunch time for mail-in ballots in the La Plata Electric Association (LPEA)  board election – and with contested seats and rising costs in the mix, turnout matters. Ballots have to be in LPEA’s hands by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 20 – postmarks don’t count. With slow mail times a known issue, LPEA voters who haven’t yet mailed their ballot should drop it off in person or vote online through SmartHub. Online voting closes at noon on May 20. Paper ballots are due by 4 p.m. Results will be shared at the annual meeting on May 21, from 11:30 to 12:30 at LPEA’s Durango office. Drop boxes are located at: 45 Stewart Street, Durango 603 S. 8th Street, Pagosa Springs With four contested seats on the ballot this year, the stakes ar...
Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent
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Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent

By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  It is said there is no such thing as a free lunch.  One small school district in Pueblo, Colorado, recently learned that a free lunch can be served with a side of community outrage. When the Pueblo D70 Board of Education unanimously voted in March of 2024 to “accept” a significant in-kind gift of $700,000 from the organization TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students), did they realize what they were implementing in district classrooms?  D70 accepted a “gift” of controversial psychosocial educational content, financed and promoted by multi-million-dollar non-governmental organizations dedicated to transforming the world through social change.    The...
The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session
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The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board The 2025 legislative session officially adjourned Wednesday evening after 120 days, leaving behind a flood of new laws, deep partisan divides, and a public increasingly skeptical of the pace and priorities of progressive lawmakers. From sweeping gender identity mandates to gun control and TABOR attacks, the Democrat supermajority pushed through one of the most ideologically driven sessions in recent memory. Here’s a full breakdown of what passed, what failed—and what it all means for Colorado: 🔺 The Most Controversial Bills of Session SB25-003 – Gun Permit-to-Purchase Law (BECAME LAW): What began as a sweeping semi-auto ban was revised—under pressure from Gov. Polis—into a permit-to-purchase system. Starting in 2026, Coloradans must take ...
Devotional: The Breastplate of Righteousness – Character that Covers the Heart
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Devotional: The Breastplate of Righteousness – Character that Covers the Heart

By Pastor Drake Hunter | Commentary, Elevating Life Church In our previous devotional, we explored righteousness as God’s unwavering standard for building just and right “equable” relationships—between us and God, and with all creation. Righteousness, in simple terms, is doing what is right in God's eyes. This time, we turn our attention to one of the most powerful symbols of protection in the believer’s life: the Breastplate of Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). Why a breastplate? Because righteousness must not only be rooted in our hearts; it must also be worn. The breastplate protects our core—our heart, where our values, principles, and motivations reside. The armor we wear to shield that heart is character. However, it’s not just any character, it’s divine.  The Breastp...
GOP Chair Horn: President Trump delivered in 100 days – now Colorado Conservatives must lead the charge
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GOP Chair Horn: President Trump delivered in 100 days – now Colorado Conservatives must lead the charge

By Brita Horn | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “We will close the border. We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country,” President Trump said at an Aurora, Colorado, rally on October 12, 2024. That promise was central to his push for a second term. Now, just over 100 days in, he’s delivering – tightening the border and reversing years of neglect. The previous administration under President Joe Biden left a legacy of border chaos. Millions of illegal immigrants crossed into the United States, overwhelming not only border communities but also cities and states far from the frontier. Colorado has become a hotspot in the fight against organized crime and trafficking.  In Aurora, Tren de Aragua gang members were arrested after violent apartment takeovers. I...
The $5 million shadow ledger: Pueblo Democrats’ HQ funded by bingo, not disclosed in filings
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The $5 million shadow ledger: Pueblo Democrats’ HQ funded by bingo, not disclosed in filings

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A building paid for with bingo money. A political party using it as their headquarters. And more than $5 million in unreported financial activity that, to date, no one has answered for. That’s the core of Pueblo resident Jonathan Ambler’s ongoing legal challenge against the Pueblo County Democratic Party and its Central Committee. Ambler, a former Republican candidate, filed two complaints last fall alleging the party used a bingo-funded building for years without reporting it in TRACER. After the Colorado Secretary of State dismissed both complaints in April, Ambler – without an attorney – petitioned the Denver District Court for judicial review. "If political activities are occurring at the building – and the Party itself refers to it as...
Gimelshteyn: CPAN files federal complaint over D70’s deceptive TRAILS program violating rights
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Gimelshteyn: CPAN files federal complaint over D70’s deceptive TRAILS program violating rights

By Lori Gimelshteyn | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 25th, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) filed a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), urging an investigation into Pueblo County School District 70 (D70) and its use of the “Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students Social Emotional Learning” (TRAILS) program.  Our complaint is a direct response to the district’s reckless decision to embed this program into classrooms without parental consent, without transparency, and in direct violation of federal law. TRAILS, which was deceptively marketed as a “gift” to the district, is directly connected to the Tides Foundation, a radical political nonprofit. Under TRAILS,...
Cole: The hidden risks of gender-affirming care demand Colorado’s restraint
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Cole: The hidden risks of gender-affirming care demand Colorado’s restraint

By Shaina Cole | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado has embraced gender-affirming care for minors, covering treatments like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and, in rare cases, surgeries through Medicaid and other state programs.  While intended to address gender dysphoria, these interventions pose significant long-term dangers to children, potentially causing irreversible harm, with limited evidence of sustained mental health benefits. The rise in gender identity issues among minors may be fueled by social media influence, mental health challenges, and parental dynamics, raising concerns about premature medical decisions.  Given the lack of long-term data and children’s developmental vulnerabilities, we must restrict these treatments to rare, extreme c...