Rocky Mountain Voice

Rocky Mountain Voice

Parker mayor, City Council forum featuring up to nine candidates is Thursday at Deep Space Lounge
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Parker mayor, City Council forum featuring up to nine candidates is Thursday at Deep Space Lounge

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Candidates for mayor and City Council seats in Parker will appear in a forum hosted by the Downtown Business Alliance at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Deep Space Lounge, an email received by the Rocky Mountain Voice indicates. The forum begins with the at-large election for city council, followed by the mayor's race. The forum is open to the public, with guests invited to begin arriving at 6 p.m. There is no cost for admission, but guests must cover their food and drink expense. Jeff Toborg and Joshua Rivero are vying for mayor. Toborg presently serves as mayor, and Rivero is a present member of City Council. Seven candidates are vying for three places on City Council in an at-large election. The field includes three present members o...
Overbeck: Ranked-choice (Prop. 131) is the scam that can erase your vote 
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Overbeck: Ranked-choice (Prop. 131) is the scam that can erase your vote 

By Joy Overbeck  | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Ranked-choice voting (RCV), Proposition 131 on Colorado’s November ballot, is such a drastic perversion of our nation’s 247-year election standard of one person/one vote that voting for it risks actually losing your vote. Rather than an improvement in election bi-partisanship and choice -- its boosters are spending more than $8 million to convince voters, in practice, the candidates that get the most votes can lose, and those with the fewest votes may come out the winners. And your vote can even be trashed, thrown out, if you don’t follow the complicated directions.  This initiative would replace party primary ballots with "jungle" primaries for governor, treasurer, attorney general, secretary of state, state board of e...
Support Amendment I: Constitutional bail exception [of] first-degree murder
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Support Amendment I: Constitutional bail exception [of] first-degree murder

By Editorial Board | Editorial, Rocky Mountain Voice Ballot language: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning creating an exception to the right to bail for cases of murder in the first-degree when proof is evident or presumption is great? How it reached the ballot: House Continuing Resolution 24-1002, supported by a 59-5 vote of the House and 35-0 vote of the Senate. Not only did the bipartisan measure carry unanimous support in the Senate, but it also was sponsored by almost every member. The measure was opposed in the House by the most extreme, far-left Democrats. Background: The authors of the measure seek to prevent those charged with first-degree murder from being eligible for bail "if proof is evident or presumption is great." When bail is grante...
Support Amendment H: Judicial discipline procedures and confidentiality
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Support Amendment H: Judicial discipline procedures and confidentiality

By Editorial Board | Editorial, Rocky Mountain Voice Ballot language: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning judicial discipline, and, in connection therewith, establishing an independent judicial discipline adjudicative board, setting standards for judicial review of a discipline case, and clarifying when discipline proceedings become public? How it reached the ballot: House Continuing Resolution 23-1001, supported by a 60-3 vote of the House and 35-0 vote of the Senate. An overwhelming bipartisan majority of both legislative chambers sponsored the measure. Three Republicans in the House opposed the measure. Background: The measure amends Section 23 of the Colorado Constitution, pertaining to judicial discipline. Under existing law, proceedings of the...
Support Amendment G: Modification to property tax exemption for disabled veterans
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Support Amendment G: Modification to property tax exemption for disabled veterans

By Editorial Board | Editorial, Rocky Mountain Voice Ballot language: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning the expansion of eligibility for the property tax exemption for veterans with a disability to include a veteran who does not have a service-connected disability rated as a one hundred percent permanent disability but does have individual unemployability status? How it reached the ballot: House Continuing Resolution 23-1002, supported by a 62-0 vote of the House and 34-0 vote of the Senate. An overwhelming bipartisan majority of the House and Senate additionally sponsored the measure, in a General Assembly that couldn't agree on eating a ham sandwich for lunch. Background: The Colorado Constitution grants a property tax exemption to veterans with...
Adam Frisch, Jeff Hurd meet for likely their final 3rd District debate in Pueblo
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Adam Frisch, Jeff Hurd meet for likely their final 3rd District debate in Pueblo

By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice The last meeting between Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District candidates, Democrat Adam Frisch and Republican candidate Jeff Hurd, took place Monday, Sept. 30, at the Hoag Theater in Pueblo. From the beginning of the debate it was clear that moderator Earnest Luning was going to ask the candidates some difficult questions and he wanted specific answers. At some points during the debate, he asked follow up questions to get more specific answers for the public. Luning, representing Colorado Politics, set the tone of the debate by asking both candidates how they were going to work with U.S. Rep. Lauren Bobert, who has represented the 3rd District and is now running in the 4th District in Northern Colorado and on the Eastern Plain...
Rep. Armagost stresses voting in November: ‘There’s too much at stake and too much to lose’
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Armagost stresses voting in November: ‘There’s too much at stake and too much to lose’

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Registration, education and turnout are all of equal importance for down-ballot candidates in the Nov. 5 general election, state Rep. Ryan Armagost told grassroots supporters Monday in a call led by former state Sen. Kevin Lundberg. He's among many Republicans who are encouraging efforts to continue to register new voters and educate them on the ballot. "We need to at least triple our voter turnout," Armagost said. "There's too much at stake and too much to lose." Armagost is completing his first term in Colorado House District 64, representing portions of Larimer and Weld counties. He was preceded in the office by Richard Holtorf of Akron, who was redistricted into House District 63. Previously a volunteer firefighter in Evans and a 10...
Sherri Wright’s journey from cultivating fields to children lends to candidacy for state board of education
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Sherri Wright’s journey from cultivating fields to children lends to candidacy for state board of education

By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice Sherri Wright is as rooted in Colorado soil as the hay she grows on her 300-acre farm. Instead of her fields, she's been cultivating her 3rd District campaign for a seat on Colorado's State Board of Education. She's spent the last six weeks crisscrossing the district, racking up more than 5,000 miles on her truck. From the Four Corners to the Wyoming state line, Wright is dedicated to meeting with voters and sharing her vision for the future of Colorado’s schools. "Today, I’m up here instead of working my fields,” Wright said during a recent candidate forum in Delta County. "But the situation in our schools requires our attention. So, all I need from you is a heads up and I will show up for our families." With more than 40 ...
Student-led election forum at Liberty Common H.S. will feature three state House, Senate races
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Student-led election forum at Liberty Common H.S. will feature three state House, Senate races

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It is a rarity in general election races of about any variety -- this week a student-led debate will feature seven candidates for three seats in the Fort Collins area. Liberty Common High School will host a forum featuring candidates in House District 52 and 53, and Senate District 14. The forum will take place at the high school, 2745 Minnesota Dr., from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3. House District 52 is a race which may have slipped under most radars. The candidates include Steve Yurash, with the Colorado Center Party, and Democrat Yara Zokaie. House District 53 features Democrat Andrew Boesnecker and Republican Donna Walter. In Senate District 14, three candidates are slated to appear. They include Libertarian Jeff Brosius, Democrat ...
Is Prop. 129 the answer to the veterinary shortage in rural Colorado?
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Is Prop. 129 the answer to the veterinary shortage in rural Colorado?

By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice It’s a rare occasion indeed when we see Gov. Jared Polis and Heidi Ganahl, former rivals in the 2022 governor’s race, agree on much of anything.  Proposition 129, on your general election ballot, is just the thing that they could speak about in one voice. Prop. 129 asks voters to approve a new mid-level veterinary practitioner, equating the mid-level practitioner to a physician’s assistant for humans. The duties of this newly proposed veterinarian professional associate (VPA) would overlap between those of the veterinarian (DVM) and those of a traditional vet tech. The proposed VPA would be able to diagnose, recommend treatment and perform some surgeries under the supervision of a DVM. If Prop. 129 passes, it would not go into ...