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$640M Xcel settlement brings closure—and uncertainty for Marshall Fire survivors
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

$640M Xcel settlement brings closure—and uncertainty for Marshall Fire survivors

By Sarah Horbacewicz | CBS Colorado Survivors of the Marshall Fire are waiting to see their offer of the $640 million settlement from Xcel Energy announced on Wednesday. Jenn Hart in Louisville is one of the more than 4,000 plaintiffs in the suit. She says her home was torn down to the studs after smoke damaged her home. Now, family photos are some of the few remaining pieces of Hart's former home. Reflecting on those that were saved when they evacuated, and those that were left behind, she described an engagement photo, "It was sitting in this corner on a cabinet, and it wasn't blue before the fire," she said. Now, more than three years after the fire, she's settling back into her home and seeing a payout from Xcel.  "It's bittersweet, right? So it's not what we were h...
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State budget director warns Colorado could face 50–50 chance of recession in 2026
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

State budget director warns Colorado could face 50–50 chance of recession in 2026

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Mark Ferrandino, the executive director of the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting, says the state has a 50-50 chance of going into a recession in 2026. Ferrandino says changes in tariffs, immigration policy and federal spending have created uncertainty for businesses and consumers. Colorado's effective tariff rate, he says, has increased from 3% in 2024 to 21%. Greg Sobetski, Colorado's chief economist, told lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) the full impact of higher tariffs has yet to hit.  "A lot of these impacts are being born at this point by firms because they can't pass that kind of price shock onto consumers," Sobetski said during the JBC meeting.  Sobetski says the state's economy is growing, but there are ...
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Joint Budget Committee approves $2.8M in supplemental funding to address prison overcrowding
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Joint Budget Committee approves $2.8M in supplemental funding to address prison overcrowding

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee has approved nearly $3 million in supplemental funding for the Colorado Department of Corrections to cover the cost of additional prison beds amid an ongoing crisis of prison overcrowding. Last month, DOC facilities reached a vacancy level of 3% for 30 consecutive days, prompting the governor to implement the Prison Population Management Measures established by a 2018 law. The measures include requiring the state’s parole board to compile a list of inmates with low-level offenses who are eligible for parole and can be released from DOC facilities to bring population numbers back down to more manageable levels. The issue of overcrowding in state prisons has been a growing concern f...
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Colorado experts share warning signs and steps to prevent school shootings
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CBS News, Approved, State

Colorado experts share warning signs and steps to prevent school shootings

By Alan Gionet | CBS Colorado Two weeks after the shooting at Evergreen High School, students are heading back to classes. It comes as parents and students continue to wonder about the possibility that there may have been ways to stop the shooter who injured two fellow students before taking his own life. "You don't ever want to be that individual that an active shooting happens... and you find out who it is, and you go, 'I knew that was going to happen. I knew it, right?' You gotta' live with that," said AJ DeAndrea, a former deputy police chief with the Arvada Police Department who now runs a safety consulting and training company and has reviewed such shootings to assess threats. His message is for parents, students, and community members who may have fears that someone may be ...
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Governor’s mansion doubles as free soapbox for First Gentleman’s animal agenda
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Governor’s mansion doubles as free soapbox for First Gentleman’s animal agenda

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The First Gentleman's lecture series -- who's footing the bill? A couple weeks back, I noticed an article about a talk at the governor's mansion about wolf reintroduction involving the First Gentleman and his guests for the evening. The article is linked first below if you'd like to give it a read.If you know anything about the First Gentleman, you know he is a dedicated animal rights activist. Has been for a while. It should therefore not shock anyone that the guests at this talk were also animal rights/wildlife advocates.I won't go into the details of the talk. I'll leave it to you to read up if you'd like.The First Gentleman has the same First Amendment rights as anyone else. He's welcome to have an opinion and expre...
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Colorado e-bike tax credits will be reduced by 50 percent in 2026
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado e-bike tax credits will be reduced by 50 percent in 2026

By: Gabrielle Franklin | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Challenging economic times have hit many this year, including the state of Colorado. A popular program that helped more Coloradans get outside will have you paying more out of pocket next year. Tax credits for Colorado e-bikes are set to be reduced next year. That action, combined with other economic pressures, has small business owners concerned. Dan “DJ” Johnson of Cycle Erie said his business has been doing well this year.“It’s been a strong year for us. Not quite as strong as we hoped but it’s been good,” Johnson said about the year his business has had in 2025. He worries that uncertainty handed down from both the state and federal government could get in the way of the shop’s success next year. A $450 tax credit for ...
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Douglas County outrage grows after judge hands out probation in violent crime case
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Douglas County outrage grows after judge hands out probation in violent crime case

By: Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 District Attorney for the 23rd Judicial District and stalking victim "outraged" over judge's decision to only sentence stalker to probation CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A Douglas County judge is under fire for two separate probation decisions she’s made in just one week. District Attorney for the 23rd Judicial District George Brauchler told Denver7 he’s “outraged” by the ruling, but he never specifically said who the judge was. “I don’t think judges exist in this jurisdiction to do what the DA says. That doesn’t make sense. I don’t think that [ruling] protects defendants appropriately either,” Brauchler said. “My respect for the bench doesn’t mean that I like all of their decisions, and in this particular case, I think this one is too risky for the p...
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Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The cost of housing has soared in our state in recent years, outpacing income growth and making it especially challenging for lower-wage earners and younger, entry-level workers to afford rent. Buying a place of their own is an even taller task for many. It all has led to much public debate and, inevitably, hyperventilation by politicians pledging to solve what they have dubbed an affordable-housing “crisis.” The panic also has led to a lot of misfires by policymakers.  Among those are proposals that would put the squeeze on providers of rental housing, presuming them to have bottomless pockets. Rent control is an example. There also have been various policy prescriptions making it harder to evict tenants. Some o...
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Colorado Turns Sports Betting Into Major Water-Project Funding
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Turns Sports Betting Into Major Water-Project Funding

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Funding for the state’s 2015 water plan started as a trickle. But sports gaming revenue has now turned that trickle into a steady stream. The Colorado Division of Gaming announced this week that nearly $33.8 million from 2024-25 will be allocated to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to support the state’s water plan, with distribution to water projects set to begin in July 2026. Estimates of the following year’s revenues are even better: a forecast of nearly $39 million that could help fund hundreds of projects throughout the state. It’s a far cry from when the water plan got underway in 2015. Back then, the expectation was that the state would need to invest approximately $100 million per year for 30 years between 2020 and 2050, ...
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Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The two biggest ongoing threats to democracy in Colorado are the less-than-competent Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, and Colorado’s Supreme Court. You will recall that last year both blocked the inclusion of Donald Trump’s name on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado only to have the nation’s Supreme Court definitively overrule both. I didn’t notice anyone getting into trouble or apologizing for those blatant attacks on democracy but it managed to get me thinking (no mean feat) about the legal profession in general and whether it was changing in Colorado in the face of artificial intelligence (AI). Admittedly, I’m personally not a big fan of AI because, just like history, it is crafted by the victors / the ...
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