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Three minutes at the microphone: What Colorado’s 2026 session really looked like
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Three minutes at the microphone: What Colorado’s 2026 session really looked like

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board From housing fights and election battles to late-night hearings and grassroots backlash, the 2026 session left many Coloradans questioning where decisions are really made. Arrive early. Sign up fast. Wait six hours. Get three minutes at the microphone. By April, Colorado citizens had learned the Capitol routine. Parents waited to testify on parental rights and gender policy bills. Survivors of child trafficking described years of trauma while lawmakers debated sentencing standards. Gun owners warned against expanding red flag authority to what Senate Bill 26-004 would ultimately define as “institutional petitioners”—a category now including schools, healthcare facilities and behavioral-health entities authorized to seek firearm se...
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The meekness weapon: The hill where warriors win
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Top Stories, Commentary, Devotional, Rocky Mountain Voice

The meekness weapon: The hill where warriors win

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”   ~ Matthew 4:19 ~ We continue with our nursery rhyme, The Itsy Bitsy Spider – Part Two. So, become that child again and remember: The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout… Most are familiar with the rest. Christianity is more than a fleeting encounter with Jesus. It means following Him into a radically different reality that begins on a mountain. Let’s start with our spider. In our last devotion, we discussed climbing and how human nature drives us to reach upward—to grow, to overcome, to become. That small spider keeps climbing because something inside it says, “There’s more up there.” Honestly, that’s also us—we pursue power...
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From a Detroit crack house to the National Mall: The pastor Colorado sees in June
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Rocky Mountain Voice, National, Top Stories

From a Detroit crack house to the National Mall: The pastor Colorado sees in June

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Lorenzo Sewell sold drugs on Detroit's east side as a kid. His father went to prison for murder. His younger brother was killed by a car. Today he stands on the National Mall with House Speaker Mike Johnson and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, part of a national moment of rededication that organizers expect to draw 15,000 people. "We can be in a crack house or we can be in the White House," Sewell said on Fox & Friends Weekend Sunday morning. He says faith took him from the one toward the other. "God loves us and willing to reach out to us regardless." Next month, Colorado will meet him in person. Sewell now leads Detroit's 180 Church and is one of the faith leaders at Rededicate 250, the National Mall gathering marking the country's ap...
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Colorado’s $500,000 Medicaid commission has no mandate to investigate fraud
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s $500,000 Medicaid commission has no mandate to investigate fraud

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers spent weeks debating a new commission to study Medicaid sustainability. The bill they sent to Gov. Jared Polis on May 9 names three major failures inside the state’s Medicaid system in its legislative declaration—the post-COVID eligibility purge, the rideshare scandal and the autism therapy audit. But the bill never directs the commission to investigate fraud, waste or abuse. Instead, SB26-187 creates a 10-member Medicaid Cost Containment and Sustainability Commission tasked with “establishing shared understanding,” exploring policy options and producing recommendations. The bill includes a $500,000 appropriation, including $415,000 for a contractor to facilitate meetings and roughly seven months to produce a report—due...
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Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Two weeks ago, the judge who first sent Tina Peters to prison called her resentencing “inevitable.” Friday afternoon, Gov. Jared Polis stopped it before it could happen. In an executive order issued May 15, Polis commuted Peters’ sentence to 4 years and 4.5 months and ordered her released on parole effective June 1. The Colorado Parole Board will determine the terms of her release. Peters had served 591 days of the nearly nine-year sentence imposed in October 2024 after a Mesa County jury convicted her on seven election-related counts. The Colorado Court of Appeals vacated that sentence April 2, ruling the trial court improperly considered Peters’ protected speech regarding election fraud claims during sentencing while still upholding ...
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Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind
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Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Sal Pace knew the project before he ran it. In October 2025, the Front Range Passenger Rail District named Pace its first General Manager.  The district is a nominally independent, special taxing district created by the Colorado legislature in 2021 to plan, fund, and build passenger rail along the Front Range. Governor Jared Polis issued a personal statement praising the hire. According to FRPRD's hiring announcement, Pace had co-chaired the Governor's own Transition Committee to advance rail initiatives.  The board chair responsible for evaluating Pace's performance is John Putnam — a Polis appointee. That is one loop. There are several more. CoCo's governance structure runs from the district level ...
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He flagged the DEI language. He filed the report anyway. Colorado fired him for both.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

He flagged the DEI language. He filed the report anyway. Colorado fired him for both.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice "I don't think I'm surprised by their decision at all," Rich Guggenheim said three days after the Colorado Department of Agriculture fired him. "I expected this decision." On May 8, CDA Deputy Commissioner Jordan Beezley signed the termination letter, effective immediately. Guggenheim had been the plant health programs manager since 2021. https://twitter.com/5280BasedHomo/status/2052861817740017907 Guggenheim posted the termination letter on X the same day it was delivered, tagging Vice President JD Vance, Associate Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and the DOJ Civil Rights Division. As RMV first reported in December, the dispute started with a single chat comment during a November managers meeting and the whistleblower com...
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“Stay on our necks”: DPS board adopts immigration policy proposed by activist coalition
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“Stay on our necks”: DPS board adopts immigration policy proposed by activist coalition

By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice With her clenched fist raised high in the air and a call of, “Si se puede,” Denver Public School Board of Education President Xóchitl Gaytán smiled as she requested the DPS board’s vote to adopt a policy amendment to limit the district’s interaction with federal immigration agencies. Screenshot of Denver Public Schools Board of Education President Xóchitl Gaytán during April 23 board meeting. The policy change came at the request of a nationwide coalition of over 40 nonprofit activist organizations, many of which are connected with anti-Israel protests, Colorado’s anti-ICE protests, and the broader Marxist-Leninist global communist movement. Coalition members are financed byOpen Society Foundation,...
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Weiser’s record: The special prosecution paradox
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Weiser’s record: The special prosecution paradox

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When a serial killer was working his way through the San Luis Valley, Anne Kelly's eight-lawyer office needed help. She didn't call the Attorney General. "That case was certainly a prime case for which the attorney general's office could have assisted," said Kelly, the 12th Judicial District DA whose office covers six rural counties in southern Colorado. "Instead, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office sent a crew of people upon the request of the district attorney and handled that case from start to finish. And that was really the only reason why that case was as successful as it was." The case was against Adre Baroz, known as "Psycho," sentenced in May 2024 for five murders in the San Luis Valley. He is servin...
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Dillon Vakoff died protecting a family. His mother and his fellow officer won’t let Colorado forget why.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Dillon Vakoff died protecting a family. His mother and his fellow officer won’t let Colorado forget why.

By Gabe Evans and Lisa Vakoff | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In 2025, 115 police officers in the United States paid the ultimate price. Officers who survive their careers carry lifelong scars and health complications. The average American experiences their first heart attack at the average age of 65. Police officers get their first heart attack at age 46. Stress, lack of sleep, and violent criminals are just a few of the hazards that cops face every day.  To honor their service, in 1962, Congress and President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week during which it occurs as Police Week. It is a time to honor the brave men and women in law enforcement who put on the badge and willingly step into danger to protect our c...
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