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Show up and earn: First jobs, buying power and Colorado’s July numbers
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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...
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Law enforcement cracks down on expired tags with 300 stops across Colorado
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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...
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Colorado man sentenced to 7 years for trafficking women across state lines
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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...
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Don’t buy The Sun’s spin: TABOR isn’t the reason Colorado’s roads are failing, it’s lawmakers’ misplaced priorities
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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’...
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Swift, Rocky, and Oz: What Stories Teach Us About Being Human
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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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Peters Claims First Amendment Rights Violated in Bond Denial
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State, Approved, The Daily Sentinel

Peters Claims First Amendment Rights Violated in Bond Denial

By Sam Klomhaus | The Daily Sentinel Attorneys for former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters argued in a briefing filed Tuesday that Peters’ has been prosecuted in violation of her First Amendment right, and that a federal court is allowed to grant her request for bail pending appeal. The filing asks for Peters to be released from custody. She is serving a nine-year sentence at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo. Peters was convicted of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of official misconduct and one count of failure to comply with the secretary of state, and sentenced to nine years of incarceration in October 2024 after she was accused of allowing an unauthorized person to enter a sec...
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Effort to Repeal Wolf Reintroduction Stalls Before 2026 Ballot
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Effort to Repeal Wolf Reintroduction Stalls Before 2026 Ballot

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Coloradans for Smart Wolf Policy needed 125,000 signatures, but called the 25,000-plus it collected a “running start” if it decides to try again next year. A group seeking to end wolf reintroduction in Colorado says it’s going back to the drawing board after failing to collect the voter signatures needed to get a measure on the November 2026 ballot. Patrick Davis, lead organizer for Coloradans for Smart Wolf Policy, the group backing Proposition 13, said Wednesday evening the group had collected 25,000 signatures and was still counting. That was well short of the 125,000 signatures needed to get the initiative before voters next year. The group’s deadline to turn in its signatures was Wednesday. Coloradans for Smart Wolf Policy said it wouldn...
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Polis Orders $252 Million in Cuts After Years of Overspending Strain State Finances
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Polis Orders $252 Million in Cuts After Years of Overspending Strain State Finances

By Marianne Goodland | The Gazette Lawmakers balk at some cuts, particularly reductions to health care provider rates. Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed an executive order, initiating the process to cut $252.5 million in cash and general funds from this year's budget, with the most significant impact on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers Medicaid. Polis also signed into law a measure from the recently concluded special session that requires him to meet with the Joint Budget Committee to review the spending reduction plan.  That meeting was often tense, with the legislators who craft the state budget indicating they aren't going along with some of his cuts, particularly for Medicaid providers. Policymakers said the actions taken durin...
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Colorado’s wolf experiment proves costly mistake for rural communities
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NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s wolf experiment proves costly mistake for rural communities

By Mark Chesnut | Commentary, NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum The dismal saga that has resulted from the introduction of gray wolves into the mountains of Colorado proves one thing: Wildlife management is best left to trained experts in the field. As some background, after voters narrowly approved the introduction of wolves on a ballot initiative in 2020, 10 wolves from Oregon were released in Grand and Summit counties in the northern area of the state. In January 2025, a second group of 15 wolves from British Columbia was released in Eagle and Pitkin counties. The National Rifle Association and other hunting and wildlife conservation organizations warned that there could be unintended consequences, but since voters approved the ballot initiative, state wildlife managers were forced to...
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Trump and Polis order flags to half-staff until Sunday following Minneapolis Catholic church shooting
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Fox31, Approved, State

Trump and Polis order flags to half-staff until Sunday following Minneapolis Catholic church shooting

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — President Donald Trump and Governor Jared Polis ordered flags to be flown at half-staff beginning Wednesday through sunset on Sunday. The act is meant as a mark of respect for the lives lost and injuries incurred after a shooter reportedly opened fire through the window of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, striking children celebrating Mass during the first week of class. A shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school kills 2 children, injures 17 people Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed and 17 people, including 14 children, were wounded in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible.” All Colorado and U.S. flags will fly at half-staff until sunset Sunday, August 31, 2025, to honor the victims ...
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