Rocky Mountain Voice

State

November ballot tax hike seeks to cover collapsing ‘free’ lunch program and SNAP
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

November ballot tax hike seeks to cover collapsing ‘free’ lunch program and SNAP

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters are set to decide further hiking taxes on high-income earners to prop up the state’s dwindling “free” school lunch program as part of the November statewide ballot.  But under a recently amended version of the measure, any excess revenues would be used to also subsidize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps. Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All program began shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, when the legislature fully funded “free” school meals for every kid in the public school system for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. With funding set to end after the 2022, lawmakers asked Coloradans to approve Proposition FF, which raised taxes on Coloradan...
CPW takes lethal action after wolf linked to livestock kills in rural Colorado
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

CPW takes lethal action after wolf linked to livestock kills in rural Colorado

By Piper Russell | The Denver Gazette Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced on Friday that it shot a wolf that had been chronically depredating livestock in Rio Blanco County. However, the carcass has not been found. CPW also said that after conducting DNA analysis on samples gathered from the uncollared gray wolf in Rio Blanco County it was confirmed that the uncollared wolf was the fifth Copper Creek yearling that was not captured with the rest of the pack in fall 2024. The wolf is suspected to have killed six animals from livestock producers in Rio Blanco County. The depredations started on July 20 when the Division and Wildlife Services was notified of a dead lamb on a livestock producers’ allotment northeast of Meeker Colorado. That attack was followed by others reported o...
CDOT’s speed cameras flip justice on its head in Democrat-run Colorado
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

CDOT’s speed cameras flip justice on its head in Democrat-run Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project CDOT warned you, now they're going to start taking your money. Per the CPR article linked first below, CDOT (granted the authority by a 2023 bill which you'll find a link for embedded in the article) is going to start issuing citations instead of warnings for their automated speeding cams. This is for a section of HWY 119 between Longmont and Boulder. As part of reading the article, I went back on some of the links to CDOT's websites, and found the one where CDOT lists the areas where they are using their automated cameras. That site is linked second below. If you're on the highways often and want to avoid getting a ticket, keep that one handy. In looking over the CDOT sites on this speeding enforcement, what y...
Federal Investigation Finds Vehicle Likely Killed Colorado Wolf
State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Federal Investigation Finds Vehicle Likely Killed Colorado Wolf

By: Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun The male wolf was found dead in northwestern Colorado after Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it received a mortality signal from the wolf’s collar May 31 A Colorado gray wolf that died in May was likely struck by a vehicle, wildlife officials said Tuesday. Following a necropsy, investigators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the wolf died from blunt force trauma. The wolf, wearing tracking collar 2507, was one of the 15 animals captured in British Columbia and released in Pitkin and Eagle counties in January. The wolf was found in northwestern Colorado after Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it received a mortality signal from the wolf’s collar May 31.  Because gray wolves are listed as endangered ...
Safeway Shutters Multiple Colorado Locations Citing Poor Performance
State, Approved, kdvr.com

Safeway Shutters Multiple Colorado Locations Citing Poor Performance

By Parker Gordon | KDVR FOX 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Safeway has just announced the closure of 10 stores within Colorado, including some Denver Metro area locations. On Tuesday, a Safeway spokesperson told FOX31 that the 10 stores are expected to cease operations before or on Nov. 7, which comes after a “strategic consolidation” through merging the Intermountain and Denver division into a Mountain West Division. “We continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and occasionally, after long and careful deliberation, it becomes necessary to make the difficult decision to close certain locations. We are working to place affected associates in nearby stores wherever possible,” said the Safeway spokesperson. The spokesperson also listed the 10 Colorado locations, which are as foll...
GOP Lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer Enters Colorado Governor’s Race
State, Approved, kdvr.com

GOP Lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer Enters Colorado Governor’s Race

By Gabrielle Franklin | KDVR FOX 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado state Sen. Barbara “Barb” Kirkmeyer is officially launching her gubernatorial bid, hoping to get a seat that Republicans have not secured in almost 20 years. The 2026 race for Colorado’s governor is starting to take shape. Republican Barb Kirkmeyer is joining the list of serious contenders, like Democrats Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. “It’s time that we have a governor who knows how to govern and lead this state and understand that our best days are ahead of us. I think I am that person. All you have to do is go back and look at my accomplishments and my record as a county commissioner, as a state senator. I’ve been able to reduce property taxes. I led my county to zero debt. And as a stat...
Public safety or politics? Mesa County sues Polis over sanctuary crackdown
The Daily Caller, Approved, State

Public safety or politics? Mesa County sues Polis over sanctuary crackdown

By Jason Hopkins | Daily Caller One of Colorado’s biggest counties is taking on the state’s “unconstitutional” sanctuary law after it was used to crack down on a sheriff’s deputy who helped federal immigration authorities. The Board of Mesa County Commissioners is moving forward with its lawsuit against a Democrat-led sanctuary law that prohibits local law enforcement in Colorado from sharing personal information about a foreign national with federal immigration authorities, the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed. The lawsuit was filed after state officials sued a Mesa County sheriff’s deputy for helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and effectively forced him out of the job. “The Constitution makes clear that immigration is a federal responsibility, not something ...
Colorado Supreme Court Reins In Local Authority Over Noise Permits
The Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Supreme Court Reins In Local Authority Over Noise Permits

By Michael Karlik | The Gazette The Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday that the state’s noise pollution law does not allow local governments to categorically permit any entity to host events on private property that exceed the statewide decibel limits. The question had divided the state’s Court of Appeals, with one appellate panel deciding localities possess broad permitting power for private property, and another deciding months later that they do not. Breaking the tie, the Supreme Court acknowledged the language of the law is ambiguous. But taking account of lawmakers’ stated goals, the justices concluded the legislature intended to allow local governments, on property they use, to permit others to exceed statewide noise limits for cultural or entertainment events. “N...
Wildlife activists urge CPW to ban lead tackle and bullets, hunters push back
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Wildlife activists urge CPW to ban lead tackle and bullets, hunters push back

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Advocates push CPW to ban lead ammo and fishing tackle. According to the KUNC article linked first below, advocacy groups composed of current and former Federal employees are imploring CPW, as part of updates to its Wildlife Action Plan, to start phasing out the use of lead ammo and fishing tackle on state-owned land.Quoting from the letter sent to CPW (linked in the KUNC story, but put as a separate link second below for convenience):"We strongly urge CPW to incorporate a clear, measurable commitment to phasing out the use of toxic lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle on lands and waters under the state’s jurisdiction."Note: this text is bolded in the letter, but I did not keep that original formatting.The letter g...
350 Colorado Markets Local “Grassroots”, But Operates As National Lobby Arm
Green Leap Forward, Approved, Commentary, State

350 Colorado Markets Local “Grassroots”, But Operates As National Lobby Arm

By: Green Leap Forward Staff | Commentary, Green Leap Forward via Substack In Colorado politics, one pattern is impossible to miss: whenever a bill, ordinance, or rule touches energy - whether at the city council, county commission, or statehouse -someone from the organization 350 Colorado is likely there. Their members sometimes testify in groves, often with the same prepared talking points. And whenever lobbying records are published, their name almost always appears. The group bills itself as “the largest Colorado-based grassroots network” fighting the “climate crisis.” But its constant presence in policymaking reveals something deeper: 350Colorado is less a spontaneous scrappy community uprising and far more a professional advocacy machine. Its ve...