Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Rocky Mountain Voice

The COvid Chronicles May 1–7, 2020: Seven days that set the stage for open rebellion
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles May 1–7, 2020: Seven days that set the stage for open rebellion

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board This third installment of RMV’s COvid Chronicles is divided into two parts — for good reason. The first week of May set the stage for something bigger: the breaking point. As pressure mounted and defiance spread, Colorado crossed from quiet frustration into open resistance. Part one captures the fuse. Part two will show the wildfire. May began just like April ended – edicts from above, fear from the press and politicians telling Coloradans to stay home, shut up and stay six feet apart. But by the first week of the month, cracks were showing.  From Castle Rock to Colorado Springs, citizens, sheriffs and small-business owners weren’t waiting for permission. They had bills to pay, kids to raise and a Constitution they weren’t willing to qu...
Read More
Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools

By Robert Sencenbaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you are on the left or the right, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the average classroom does not look like one tends to believe. Both are far more subtle. Thus, any debate on these issues devolves into both sides yelling at one another with neither actually listening. During a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) declared, “We can stop with the nonsense because K-12 was not teaching critical race theory…in our country K-12 is not learning critical race theory. Just for those who are unfamiliar.”  Having taught in both Texas and Colorado, I can tell you that she is not being completely honest. While she is correct ...
Read More
Denver approves executive pay hikes while facing budget shortfall and reserve drop
No Comments
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Denver approves executive pay hikes while facing budget shortfall and reserve drop

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A set of salary increases for top Denver officials is drawing criticism, as the city faces continued financial strain and modest pay growth for most employees. The raises are included in the 2025 budget—totaling $1.76 billion—which the Denver City Council approved on November 12, 2024.  On May 6, the City Council’s Finance & Governance Committee approved nearly $500,000 in pay increases for 12 charter-appointed department heads. These changes are expected to add over $216,000 to general fund expenditures this year, with individual increases ranging from 4% up to an eye-catching 43%. The new salaries are scheduled to take effect on July 1. The move has sparked frustration among some observers, who point to small...
Read More
McWilliams: Social-emotional learning teaches empathy—but through whose lens?
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

McWilliams: Social-emotional learning teaches empathy—but through whose lens?

By Jennifer McWilliams | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Social-emotional learning (SEL) is championed as a way to instill empathy, emotional strength, and relationship building skills in students. Sounds perfect for K-12, doesn’t it? Think again. SEL is designed to push a leftist agenda on students and transform their attitudes, values, beliefs and worldview towards “leftist radical ideology.” It promotes specific emotional behaviors that force kids into lockstep conformity, crushing their individuality and critical thinking, all while hiding behind the facade of “mental health.” An ongoing challenge to stopping this is that parents are deceived into thinking SEL is teaching their children life skills in a way they approve. They hear “Social Emotional Learning’s flowery la...
Read More
Hancock: The future of Colorado hangs between boom and blackout
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Substack, Top Stories

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 ...
Read More
Wolves roam, pups are born, riders deployed—but land-use plans still stuck in 2023
No Comments
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

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 ...
Read More
LPEA special election: Mail ballots due by May 20 as member frustrations grow
No Comments
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

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...
Read More
Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

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...
Read More
The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

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 ...
Read More
Devotional: The Breastplate of Righteousness – Character that Covers the Heart
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

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...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds