Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

State

Is the Colorado Economy More of a Train Wreck than it Currently Appears?
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Is the Colorado Economy More of a Train Wreck than it Currently Appears?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Given all the sad news last week, a September 9 press release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announcing a major downward revision in job numbers for March 2024 to March 2025 was understandably overlooked. The serious implications the announcement had for the national and especially the Colorado economies still, nonetheless, remain today. Revisions to BLS jobs numbers are normal and happen annually because the monthly estimates of how many new jobs are being created or lost in the economy come from surveys of around 121,000 businesses representing about 631,000 individual worksites. Because companies come and go, the BLS combines their survey data with estimates of how many net new jobs are being created at ...
Read More
Lawsuit and liberty on the line as Shots for Freedom launches in Colorado Springs
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Lawsuit and liberty on the line as Shots for Freedom launches in Colorado Springs

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice With just days to go, Colorado gun owners are gearing up for Shots for Freedom — a two-day range weekend and banquet in Colorado Springs that organizers say is about more than rifles, raffles or fellowship. Hosted by the Colorado State Shooting Association, the September 20–21 event is tied directly to the fight against Governor Jared Polis’ new gun law. Tickets are still available through the event signup page, with proceeds funding the group’s lawsuit against Governor Jared Polis’ recently signed permit-to-purchase law, Senate Bill 25-003. Linking a celebration to a lawsuit Organizers say the strategy is to combine culture and community with legal action. “Every round fired and every seat filled helps fund the lawsuit that will decid...
Read More
Colorado Democrats push ‘progressive tax’ while low-income families already carry heavier burden
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Democrats push ‘progressive tax’ while low-income families already carry heavier burden

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Progressive tax myths vs. reality. There's been a lot of noise about a bunch of progressive groups pushing a ballot measure to change our income tax structure from a flat tax (where all income brackets pay the same percentage) to a progressive one (where you pay more income tax as a percent and in absolute terms if you earn more).If you want an example article and some context, see the Sun article linked first below.I wanted to offer you a couple resources from a fiscally conservative (and frankly reality-based) perspective to counter what will likely be a blitz on the topic in the media and elsewhere. A couple resources to help you better advocate against this wrongheaded policy.There are two Complete Colorado op eds l...
Read More
Colorado River faces new threat as zebra mussels take hold
No Comments
Fox31, Approved, State

Colorado River faces new threat as zebra mussels take hold

By: Spencer Kristensen | FOX31 KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officially declared a portion of the Colorado River as “infested” with invasive zebra mussels after sampling detected adult zebra mussels in the river and another nearby lake in Grand Junction, CPW announced in a press release on Monday afternoon. “While this is news we never wanted to hear, we knew this was a possibility since we began finding veligers in the river,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis in the press release. “I can’t reiterate this enough. It was because we have a group of individuals dedicated to protecting Colorado’s water resources that these detections were made.” On Aug. 28, the Aquatic Animal Health Lab suspected veligers, the microscopic larval stage of zebra mussels, were collected fr...
Read More
Appeals Court Finds Denver Judge Improperly Terminated Father’s Custody Rights
No Comments
State, Approved, The Denver Gazette

Appeals Court Finds Denver Judge Improperly Terminated Father’s Custody Rights

By Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday determined the evidence did not support a Denver judge’s ruling terminating the legal relationship between a father and his child. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel identified numerous instances where the facts contradicted the trial judge’s findings that the father lacked stable housing and was unable to be “a full-time parent.” “The uncontested evidence showed that father could provide appropriate care for the child during all of the parenting time allotted to him. The juvenile court, though, appeared to expect father to prove his ability to care for the child full-time, rather than requiring the (government) to prove that, notwithstanding his success at family time, father was unable or unwill...
Read More
“God’s timing, not mine”: Rose Pugliese on closing one chapter and trusting what comes next
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“God’s timing, not mine”: Rose Pugliese on closing one chapter and trusting what comes next

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice  Rose Pugliese describes her resignation from the Colorado House as one of the hardest decisions of her life, shaped by prayer, sacrifice —  and the voices of her children. “I truly want to follow God’s path and I think part of God’s path for me now is making sure I prioritize my children,” she explained. For the House minority leader and single mom, that path now means stepping back from the Capitol and returning to Mesa County. Her choice, effective Sept. 15, came during a week she described as overwhelming — from the Evergreen school shooting to the assassination of Charlie Kirk to the grief of 9/11 remembrances.  What finally cut through the politics was a child’s honesty. “Mommy, we feel like you’re not OK, and we want you t...
Read More
State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas
No Comments
GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas

By Greg Walcher | GregWalcher.com A land ownership checkerboard exists in nearly every state because of an oddity called “state school trust lands.” The federal government granted those lands at the time of statehood, under the Land Ordinance of 1785. Thomas Jefferson’s system divides and records land into townships, each with 36 one-square-mile sections. New states entering the union were each given 2 sections per township, to be held in trust to fund public schools. State Land Boards were created to manage those lands – in my state of Colorado it’s 4 million acres. The Board was charged with administering the lands “in such a manner as will secure the maximum possible amount” for the school fund. The Lincoln Institute of Public Lands explains, “That singularity of purpose continues...
Read More
BLM opens 130,000 acres in Colorado to boost oil and gas production
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

BLM opens 130,000 acres in Colorado to boost oil and gas production

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun Planned lease auctions started Tuesday, with one of the largest offerings in more than 20 years that set a revenue record as the Trump administration reverses Biden-area slowdown The BLM on Tuesday leased 14 oil and gas parcels spanning 7,895 acres in Colorado for more than $6.7 million, setting a revenue record in one of one of the largest state lease sales in at least 20 years.  And more are coming as the BLM plans the largest sale in more than two decades in March 2026 and the second largest in December, with a total of 174 parcels spanning nearly 124,000 acres offered in both auctions. The pending auctions reveal the Trump administration’s stark shift from President Joe Biden, who offered fewer acres of public land for oil and g...
Read More