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Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients
DENVER7, Approved, State

Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 Gov. Jared Polis says the cuts helped rebalance the state budget after Congress passed President Trump's tax bill DENVER — Coloradans may be forced to pay more and wait longer for health care treatment due to some of the budget cuts Gov. Jared Polis announced this week. Polis said the cuts were necessary to help rebalance the state budget after a Republican federal tax and spending bill, H.R.1. (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), reduced the state’s revenue and created a $783 million budget gap. "Unlike the federal government, we have to balance our budget,” Polis said. The governor made more than $250 million in cuts and redirected spending across departments. "What H.R.1 does in a way is it makes these cuts, and then it makes states be the bad guy...
Uncompensated care meets 340B: Colorado’s numbers force a reckoning
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

Uncompensated care meets 340B: Colorado’s numbers force a reckoning

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado now requires hospitals to open their books, but the reports still don’t show how 340B savings are used or how much uncompensated care is migrant-related. That gap has turned Colorado into a proving ground for reforms that define the patient, disclose the spread and require hospitals to prove the savings reach care. Colorado’s uncompensated care surge UCHealth says it is drowning under the weight of migrant care, reporting $17 million in uncompensated costs in just three months last year. Denver Health added another $10 million in the same surge, and a Common Sense Institute analysis put the metro total for emergency care at $48 million by late 2024, averaging $2,931 per encounter.  Colorado’s own ledger underscores the scale....
Nuclear Energy Presents a Security Solution Colorado Can’t Afford to Overlook
State, Approved, Commentary, Complete Colorado

Nuclear Energy Presents a Security Solution Colorado Can’t Afford to Overlook

By Kevin McManimon | Commentary, Complete Colorado While a real-life ‘Red Dawn’ scenario playing out is unlikely, with Soviets falling from the skies and taking over Colorado, the threats to national security posed by Colorado’s current decarbonization agenda are very real. Colorado is home to some of the United States’ most important national security assets, including the U.S. Space Command, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and many aerospace and defense contractors. The installations run by these assets require a dependable energy source in order to monitor threats, operate satellites, and carry out functions to protect the nation. But as the state continues towards an unrealistic climate goal of 100% decarbonization by 2040, an important iss...
Labor Day Protest At Capitol Draws Small Crowd Targeting Trump and Billionaires
DENVER7, Approved, State

Labor Day Protest At Capitol Draws Small Crowd Targeting Trump and Billionaires

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 The event was organized by the group 50501, which also organized the No Kings Day protest back in June. DENVER — Hundreds of demonstrators spent their Labor Day rallying for workers' rights at the Colorado Capitol. The event was organized by the group 50501, which also organized the No Kings Day protest back in June. The group held two marches: one through downtown Denver, where people held signs criticizing the Trump administration's affiliations with billionaires and other policies, and another to the Governor's Mansion, where people dropped off letters of various personal concerns. The focus of the event was to support labor rights, but 50501 also collaborated with several community groups — some political, some not. Booths were set up to co...
Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights

-By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A major gun licensing law enacted by the Colorado legislature during the 2025 session is leaving some Colorado sheriffs with a bit of heartburn. Although Senate Bill 25-003 won’t take effect until Aug. 1, 2026, the sweeping changes to how Colorado residents can purchase certain firearms puts the onus on local sheriffs to enforce, but no help with funding of the new state mandates. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said all this bill has done is put him in a situation where his constituents think he is helping Democrats enforce a violation of their Second Amendment rights. “They ask me all the time why I just don’t refuse to enforce it,” said Reams, who has previously refused to enforce gun laws enacted during his time as she...
Show up and earn: First jobs, buying power and Colorado’s July numbers
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

Show up and earn: First jobs, buying power and Colorado’s July numbers

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Labor Day isn’t just policy and parades. It’s first alarms, first shifts and the pride of a small raise. The numbers say buying power ticked up this year and Colorado stays competitive. The stories say the first rung is where grit takes shape. The first paycheck isn’t just money. It’s alarms, bus schedules and showing up when friends don’t. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Labor, tells it plainly. “My parents insisted that I get a job… I wanted to be a cheerleader in high school and I couldn’t afford the uniform… I was working 12-hour days… I raised the money that I needed to buy that uniform.”  Doug Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, remembers a mop and waxed aisles. “I went to a local grocery store called Big Star… I got to clean...
Law enforcement cracks down on expired tags with 300 stops across Colorado
Fox31, Approved, State

Law enforcement cracks down on expired tags with 300 stops across Colorado

by Nate Belt | Fox 31 ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Now is a good time to make sure your vehicle registration is up to date. A coordinated effort this week from multiple law enforcement agencies saw hundreds of tickets issued and a handful of arrests while cracking down on expired tags. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office led that operation, joined by Colorado State Patrol, Westminster, Brighton and Thornton Police Departments. For 12 hours on Wednesday, officers in those jurisdictions were out in full force.Armed carjacking suspect shot by police, arrested after firing at officers during pursuit “We just flooded the area, the whole county,” Nicole Narverud with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said. Looking for expired plates, some of which they found were multiple years old. N...
Colorado man sentenced to 7 years for trafficking women across state lines
Fox31, Approved, State

Colorado man sentenced to 7 years for trafficking women across state lines

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — A 41-year-old man will spend seven years in federal prison after he recruited two victims to work for him as prostitutes and transported them between states. Walter Conwell, 41, was sentenced on Aug. 21 to seven years in federal prison, followed by eight years of supervised release, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of interstate transportation of an individual for prostitution. Neighbors shocked after man says he was stabbed while fishing at McKay Lake “Federal prison is the appropriate place for a man who somehow convinced himself it was okay to take everything from these young women and sell them for sex,” said United States Attorney Peter McNeilly in his office’s press release. “This case demonstrates our unwavering commitment to...
Don’t buy The Sun’s spin: TABOR isn’t the reason Colorado’s roads are failing, it’s lawmakers’ misplaced priorities
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Don’t buy The Sun’s spin: TABOR isn’t the reason Colorado’s roads are failing, it’s lawmakers’ misplaced priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The Sun's Gigafact check tries, but fails spectacularly. The Sun has been doing yeoman's work lately to get the progressive talking points on our state's budget and TABOR out there. Their Gigafact check linked first below is a great example.In answer to the question, "Has the condition of Colorado’s roads worsened under TABOR?", their response is a resounding YES.Let me pull some non-contiguous quotes. As a quick aside, the amount of text below is about 50% of the entire text in the fact check, a point I will return to shortly."The percentage of state roads in Colorado rated “poor” by the Federal Highway Administration has risen from 8% to 24% since the agency began collecting data in 1994, two years after the Taxpayer’...
Swift, Rocky, and Oz: What Stories Teach Us About Being Human
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Swift, Rocky, and Oz: What Stories Teach Us About Being Human

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, RMV NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice Yesterday morning’s Today show lineup truly felt like it was straight out of a movie, with the charming romance between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift (Sincerely, CONGRATULATIONS!), a heartfelt nod to Rocky's classic resilience (my go-to movie), and a stunning reimagining of The Wizard of Oz at The Sphere in Las Vegas (the four characters I highlight when teaching temperament). But then, suddenly, came a jarring headline about shots fired at Annunciation Catholic Church, a place of worship and community (an understanding of “Annunciation” follows this piece).  The incident, which resulted in [2 deaths & 17 injuries as of this writing], shook us to our core and reminded us of the fragility of life. From ...

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