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State official testifies against Polis in data-sharing dispute with ICE
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DENVER7, Approved, State

State official testifies against Polis in data-sharing dispute with ICE

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 DENVER — A whistleblower who accused Governor Jared Polis of ordering state employees to hand over personal information to federal immigration officials testified in court on Tuesday. Scott Moss is a licensed attorney and the director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Earlier this month, he filed a lawsuit in Denver County Court, alleging that he was ordered by the governor to turn over information about people providing homes to unaccompanied minors to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in compliance with a subpoena. Moss believed giving ICE the information would violate state laws that ban state and local government agencies from sharing personal information with f...
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Trump administration investigating Colorado’s Medicaid spending on illegal immigrants
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Trump administration investigating Colorado’s Medicaid spending on illegal immigrants

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid requested detailed information from the state Medicaid program as it investigates “fiscal integrity” The Trump administration is launching an investigation into Colorado Medicaid spending on undocumented immigrants, an extensive data request from federal officials reveals.  The 11 pages of requested information, which The Colorado Sun obtained through the state open records act, asks about Colorado spending and policies, and seeks personal information about Medicaid claims during the past three months, including patients’ immigration status.  In an email accompanying the data request, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it intends to review claims that Colorado submitted ...
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Garbo: The optics of ‘reason’ are working—and Republicans keep helping
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Garbo: The optics of ‘reason’ are working—and Republicans keep helping

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Outside of the state legislature in the world of the average voter, Colorado Democrats have deftly positioned themselves as the calm, steady voice in a chaotic political environment. Their latest press release condemning the Douglas County Home Rule initiative - from CDP Chair Shad Murib and County Democrat Chair Meg Furlow - follows a long, deliberate pattern: contrast Republicans’ chaos with Democrats’ reason.  It’s politics distilled for those unversed or fatigued by ideology. A Seasoned Pause Amid Schoolyard Chaos Remember the rancor surrounding the school board meetings in Douglas County? Heated rhetoric. Personal attacks. Ostracism of dissenters. In that frenzied atmosphere, Democrats stepped in as the adults in...
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The COvid Chronicles June 1–7, 2020: Struggle sessions and Stockholm syndrome rewrite the rules
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles June 1–7, 2020: Struggle sessions and Stockholm syndrome rewrite the rules

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board In this seventh chapter of COvid Chronicles, Contradictions defined the week. Rioters roamed, elites applauded and Denver’s institutions bent the knee. Officials called for systemic change—just not to their own hypocrisy. No, it’s not short. Neither was the damage—to downtown, to public trust or to the truth. As a dark pall fell over what little of downtown Denver hadn’t been destroyed or defaced by the George Floyd riots, the reckoning intensified at the foot of the Rockies. If the first week of June taught Coloradans anything, it was that COVID had become an afterthought. In its place came the fallout from the Floyd frenzy, which demanded real victims of harassment and havoc abandon the truth of their Orwellian ordeal, bow to the altar of ...
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Camp Wins Battle Against Colorado Department of Early Childhood Gender Identity Mandates
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State, Approved, CBS News

Camp Wins Battle Against Colorado Department of Early Childhood Gender Identity Mandates

By Austen Erblat | CBS News A Christian camp in Bailey is dismissing a lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Early Childhood as part of a settlement, in which the agency says religious organizations are exempt from a rule dealing with gender identity. Camp IdRaHaJe filed the lawsuit in federal court against Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, and Carin Rosa, director of the department's Division of Early Learning Licensing and Administration, in May. The camp said that a requirement from the department that camps allow children to use facilities that align with their gender identity violates the camp's longstanding practices and their religious freedom. The policy at the time asked the camp, "to choose between upholding its Biblical bel...
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$440/month? Colorado homeowners crushed by soaring insurance bills
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

$440/month? Colorado homeowners crushed by soaring insurance bills

By Sarah Horbacewicz | CBS Colorado Homeowners insurance is getting more expensive, and in a high-risk state for hail and wildfires, some Coloradans are feeling the financial pinch. Rocky Mountain Insurance Association says Colorado ranks second in the nation for hail insurance claims and ranks second for the number of homes in high-risk wildfire areas. Colorado also has the sixth-highest homeowners insurance premiums.  In the 25 years she's lived in Broomfield, Melinda Endres says she's never seen a bill like this June's mortgage. "I thought it was a mistake. I thought, are you kidding?" Endres said, "We get this letter saying that it's going to increase to over $2,000 now, and that's more than $300 a month." So Melinda said she called her broker, and they told her tha...
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DMV Digs Deeper: Colorado Drivers Slammed With New Fees
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State, Approved, DENVER7

DMV Digs Deeper: Colorado Drivers Slammed With New Fees

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 DENVER — You should expect to pay more on your next trip to the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, as the agency said inflation is forcing costs to go up. The agency announced on Monday that it will be raising several fees, including those for driver's licenses, ID cards, license plates, record searches, and some vehicle license plates and registrations, starting on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The DMV stated that the fee increases are necessary due to inflation. The following charts break down the planned fee increases: Frequently used DMV Services and Fee Adjustments Effective June 30, 2025: License Plate Fee Adjustments effective July 1, 2025 READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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California Gas Prices Could Hit $8 as Green Mandates Shut Refineries
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State, Approved, YAHOO

California Gas Prices Could Hit $8 as Green Mandates Shut Refineries

By Emma Caplan-Fisher | Yahoo Two large California oil refineries are shutting down, triggering mounting concerns from state legislators, industry groups and many others. Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson of the Gardena district bluntly described his concern during a recent Sacramento hearing. “This is a tremendous loss,” Gipson told NBC Los Angeles, referring to the looming closure of the Phillips 66 plant near L.A. "The jobs that it holds, the individuals… working each and every day, those individuals live in my district, they shop in my district, they add to the economy in my district." Shutting down refinery powerhousesThe Phillips 66 and Valero’s Benicia sites are set to close in 2026. Together, the shutdowns will eliminate nearly 300,000 barrels-per‑day of refining capacity —...
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Bureaucratic Green Energy Mandates to Cost Colorado Ratepayers $45 Billion
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State, Approved, denvergazette.com

Bureaucratic Green Energy Mandates to Cost Colorado Ratepayers $45 Billion

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette An energy office report shows six less-costly options, including nuclear power. Colorado Energy Office Executive Director Will Toor joined a group of "renewable" energy advocates on a press call recently, arguing that Congress should retain Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for wind, solar, and grid-scale batteries, rather than reallocating the funds to other technologies, including nuclear power, which President Trump has set as a priority. Underpinning that argument is that wind, solar and batteries are the "fastest and most affordable way for utilities to meet this demand.” That's not what a April 2025 report, commissioned by the energy office itself, has found. On the contrary, the report from Ascend Analytics, “Pathways to Deep Dec...
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DHS Warns Polis, Governors of Terror Threat After U.S. Hits Iran
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State, Approved, kdvr.com

DHS Warns Polis, Governors of Terror Threat After U.S. Hits Iran

By: Heather Willard | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Sunday warning of possible cyber attacks and violence, including antisemitic hate crimes, following U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said that he, alongside other governors, was briefed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about the bulletin on Sunday. Colorado officials react to U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites “The State of Colorado is not aware of any Colorado-specific threats at this time. I have directed our state to coordinate closely with local and federal partners to protect our safety by monitoring and tracking any potential threats to Coloradans and our state’s infrastructure and military assets,” Polis wrote on Fa...
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