Rocky Mountain Voice

Rocky Mountain Voice

Colorado families hit from every angle as taxes and fees outpace income growth
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado families hit from every angle as taxes and fees outpace income growth

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The latest analysis from the Common Sense Institute shows Denver-area households feeling a real financial squeeze, and it’s not just higher prices driving it. The report finds that since 2016, the typical household’s tax and fee load has jumped 48 percent while pre-tax income has grown only 27 percent. Inflation Has Hit Essentials Hardest CSI’s findings line up with what national inflation data has shown over the past few years. Prices climbed fastest from 2021 through 2023. According to the Consumer Price Index, the cumulative increase during that stretch was around 15.7 percent - compared with about 7.8 percent from 2016 to 2020. Families noticed it most in the basics.  Grocery prices jumped as well. In 20...
Tina Peters Requests Presidential Pardon as New Evidence Bolsters Her Claims
Rocky Mountain Voice, National, Top Stories

Tina Peters Requests Presidential Pardon as New Evidence Bolsters Her Claims

By A.L. Goodwin | Guest Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice On December 6, 2025, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters formally submitted an application for a Presidential Pardon to President Donald J. Trump. Her legal team describes the request as both a matter of justice and national security, pointing to newly released evidence and expanding federal investigations that directly corroborate Peters’ original claims. Attorney John Case, who represents Peters, summarized the urgency: “The President has authority under the U.S. Constitution to pardon Tina Peters. Colorado officials continue to persecute Tina in state prison, where her health has deteriorated. The courts refuse to allow Tina release on bond while the Colorado Court of Appeals considers her appeal. So, Tina h...
Victory in Christ — The Calling of a Child of God
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

Victory in Christ — The Calling of a Child of God

By Pastor Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  ~ 1 Corinthians 15:57 ~ Let’s explore the Reason, Grace, Truth, and Revelation behind the Calling of God’s Children. Reason – Understanding the Call Every follower of Jesus has two callings—a Primary Calling and a Secondary Calling. Your Primary Calling is not about what you do, but who you become. It’s the call to be a child of God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). That’s not a task—it’s an identity. This is where victory begins: when we turn our hearts over to Jesus, remove the beam from our own eye, and allow Him to create a new life within u...
A fee by any other name? Colorado’s climate charge faces a constitutional reckoning
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A fee by any other name? Colorado’s climate charge faces a constitutional reckoning

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s climate fee law, SB24-230, is now at the center of a constitutional fight, but the lawmakers and advocacy groups that once championed its goals have offered no explanation as the legal questions mount. SB24-230 took effect in July and is expected to pull in more than $175 million next year from oil and gas producers. Lawmakers insist those charges are "remediation fees," meant to cover environmental damage they say comes from drilling. Advance Colorado views the structure differently. Executive Vice President Kristi Burton Brown stated, “That’s not the standard. A real ‘fee’ has to fund a service being received by the person paying. ‘Fees’ are not designed to be penalties for industries the state doesn’t favor, and no ...
Liberty Vote’s Big Buy: What It Means for Colorado Voters and Why Questions Remain
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Liberty Vote’s Big Buy: What It Means for Colorado Voters and Why Questions Remain

By Colorado Institute for Fair Elections | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Imagine this: You're heading to your local polling place in Colorado, ready to cast your vote on a crisp November morning. You scan your ID at a digital check-in station, mark your paper ballot, and feed it into a machine that tallies it up. Sounds straightforward, right? But behind the scenes, the company running much of that tech—Dominion Voting Systems—just got bought out and rebranded as Liberty Vote. For everyday folks like you and me, this could affect how secure and trustworthy our elections feel.  Announced on October 9, 2025, the deal promises a fresh, all-American start. But as we unpack it, some red flags pop up that make you wonder: Is this real change, or just a shiny ne...
Colorado schools win landmark settlement protecting female athletes
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Colorado schools win landmark settlement protecting female athletes

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice In a move that reshapes how school athletics operate across the state, School District 49 and seven partner districts have secured a landmark settlement with the Colorado High School Activities Association. The agreement formally protects biological sex policies for sports, locker rooms and overnight travel, and it removes CHSAA from the center of Colorado’s most charged debate over fairness, privacy and Title IX. The December 4 settlement also allows the districts to continue full participation in sanctioned activities without penalty. District 49 described the outcome as a decisive step in restoring equal opportunity for girls and strengthening the role of local school boards in setting policy. “CHSAA deserves credit for doing t...
Good News or Fake News: Hope — Waiting for the Real News
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Good News or Fake News: Hope — Waiting for the Real News

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice When you look for hope, peace, joy, and love in your relationships and reality during this Advent Season, what source is shaping who you are—the Good News or the fake news? Across Colorado, the nation, and around the world, people start their day scrolling through headlines, alerts, predictions, and debates. The news cycle never stops. It rarely offers hope. But here’s a question at the start of this Advent season: How much of what influences you every day is genuine good news, and how much is cleverly disguised fake news? And here’s a more personal take: When you seek direction, identity, and meaning… are you following the real Jesus—or a version filtered and edited by the loudest voices of our time? Advent isn’t just...
The quiet takeover: What early oaths and a Friday ultimatum meant for Douglas County Schools
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

The quiet takeover: What early oaths and a Friday ultimatum meant for Douglas County Schools

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Douglas County’s newly elected school board majority took office days early and outside public view after a week of private oaths, a Friday deadline, and a dispute over whether a policy on the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) should be added to the December 2 meeting agenda. Emails, texts, and public comments released since then show conflicting explanations from the incoming directors and intensifying concerns about transparency. A Sudden Shift in Board Composition Outgoing Board President Christy Williams said she first learned something was wrong on November 26. “I was notified by the superintendent that Tony Ryan had gone to get sworn in the day prior to that, and I said, ‘so what does that mean for Beck...
“The DOJ can take a hike”: Jena Griswold rejects federal demand for voter data
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“The DOJ can take a hike”: Jena Griswold rejects federal demand for voter data

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold escalated her standoff with the Trump administration this week, rejecting a request for the state’s full, unredacted voter file. “We will not comply with the Trump Department of Justice’s request for Coloradans’ sensitive voting information. The DOJ can take a hike; it does not have a legal right to the information. Colorado will not help Donald Trump undermine our elections and hurt the American people.” On December 1, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked the state to enter an agreement to share complete voter data, including names, dates of birth, residential addresses and full driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Griswold said she provided only the publ...

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