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Polis Push for Legacy Bridge Meets Overwhelming Public Backlash
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State, Approved, kdvr.com

Polis Push for Legacy Bridge Meets Overwhelming Public Backlash

By Heather Willard | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — A proposed pedestrian bridge that would have connected Civic Center Park to the base of the Colorado Capitol building in celebration of Colorado’s 150th anniversary will not be built after the governor’s office received overwhelming results in a survey. According to the Colorado Governor’s Office, almost 94% of respondents (over 82,000 votes) were against the initiative. The results showed that over 3,000 voters (3.8%) were in favor of the project, while another 2,043 people (2.3%) voted “maybe” on the bridge. The survey was open through midnight Monday. The project has drawn criticism from numerous groups, including veterans who said their monuments and memorials where the bridge would be located would be “desecrated” by the projec...
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Ganahl: Big wins, bigger fights—Colorado conservatives are gaining ground
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Ganahl: Big wins, bigger fights—Colorado conservatives are gaining ground

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Grassroots momentum is building—but the Left isn’t backing down We’ve been in the trenches for a long time here in Colorado. For years, it’s felt like one loss after another—on parental rights, on fiscal responsibility, on election integrity. But something has shifted. In this week’s episode of Unleashed, I talk about the wins we’re finally starting to see—and why they matter more than ever. 🎙️ Listen here, and watch on YouTube or Rumble. The Tide Is Turning Across the state, local conservatives are stepping up and taking ground: We’re electing bold, principled leaders to county parties. Grassroots voices are winning school board and city council seats. Citizen journalists are breaking stories the mainstream med...
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Colorado’s $1 Billion Road Gap Pushes Funding Fight to the Ballot
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State, Approved, gazette.com

Colorado’s $1 Billion Road Gap Pushes Funding Fight to the Ballot

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette A pair of measures proposing a new way to provide additional funding for Colorado's roads, bridges and highways could be headed to the ballot next November. The initiatives, backed by retired contractor Donald Hanneman and retired tech executive Michael Hancock, would require all state revenue from sales and use taxes, excise taxes, tolls, and fees related to vehicles, fuel, rideshares and retail deliveries, along with a percentage of sales tax, dedicated exclusively toward the maintenance, operation and expansion of the state's roads. Currently, a portion of the state's transportation-related revenue is allocated to the legislature's general fund. Enterprise fees, such as those from vehicle rentals and the congestion impact fee, are earmarked...
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Wolf Program Hits $8 Million as Critics Ask Who Really Benefits
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State, Approved, Colorado Politics

Wolf Program Hits $8 Million as Critics Ask Who Really Benefits

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado has now spent more than $8 million over five years on the wolf restoration program, according to a presentation made at Thursday's Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting in Grand Junction. Justin Rutter, the assistant director for financial and capital services at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, also addressed the apparent discrepancy between the General Assembly's Blue Book estimate of the annual program cost, which is around $800,000. He noted a caveat in the Blue Book language around the program's cost, one that said, "actual state spending will depend on the details of the plan," developed by the commission, and the cost to compensate for livestock losses caused by wolves. Those additional costs since the ballot measure...
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Colorado Falls to Bottom Ten in School Safety Despite High Spending
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State, Approved, kdvr.com

Colorado Falls to Bottom Ten in School Safety Despite High Spending

By Brooke Williams | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — While Colorado has some of the best quality of education opportunities in public schools of any state in the U.S., the Centennial State ranks among the worst when it comes to safety in education, according to a new report. Researchers from the personal finance website WalletHub analyzed public education in each state and the District of Columbia, looking at things like graduation rates and test scores as well as accessibility and safety, to determine which states are the best for public education. Overall, East Coast states like Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey were found to be the best places for public education, according to the study. Colorado ranked just below the top half at No. 28 overall. However, the report also...
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Gaines: Colorado’s unelected boards hold the real power—and it’s hurting rural counties
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State, Substack

Gaines: Colorado’s unelected boards hold the real power—and it’s hurting rural counties

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Regulatory Capture and Colorado's Unelected Boards I wrote a bit back (see the first link below) about how our state is increasingly turfing what ought to be legislative control to a series of unelected boards, how legislative laziness has effectively handed over control of our state to them.Rulemaking and regulation might make things more efficient, it might enable higher policy output with less time, but it is not without cost. It's one of those costs I want to cover today: policy by unelected board opens us up to control, not by the people, but by industry and (increasingly in Colorado) advocates.This is due to cronyism in board appointments and also what might loosely be termed a form of "regulatory capture" (if you wil...
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Colorado Supreme Court opinions shrink in volume but stir policy debate
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denvergazette.com, Approved, State

Colorado Supreme Court opinions shrink in volume but stir policy debate

By Michael Karlik | Denver Gazette Justice Richard Gabriel outpaced his peers by far in the volume of written opinions and his frequency in dissent The Colorado Supreme Court's most visible decision of its recently concluded term may actually be the one it made five years ago. In 2020, with the retirement of then-Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats, the court's other members decided to switch to a rotational method of filling the seat, with the judicial branch's top job term-limited to approximately three years. Last summer, the first rotation occurred, with Justice Brian D. Boatright stepping down and Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez stepping in. Since then, the "Márquez court" has made big moves in key areas. It decided a bundle of five appeals about crim...
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The COvid Chronicles June 24-30, 2020: Statues fall, restrictions return–and kids get left behind
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles June 24-30, 2020: Statues fall, restrictions return–and kids get left behind

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board As June gave way to July, Colorado stood suspended in confusion. Were cases going down—or climbing again? Should the public still be afraid? Was it time to reopen bars—or shut them again? Those were surface-level questions. But the deeper question was this: who was actually being prioritized? While pediatricians urged Gov. Polis and health officials to consider the toll on kids, homeless camps spread into schoolyards and parks—and protesters shut down public meetings. Rioters tore down statues. And millionaire athletes declared that a revolution was not just coming—it was necessary. What could have been a cautious corner-turn instead gave way to something more combustible. The moment hardened into something worse: the foreshadowing of near-e...
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Colorado insurance division warns of 28% hike—Democrats blame Congress, not policy
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado insurance division warns of 28% hike—Democrats blame Congress, not policy

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Health insurance for the individual market in Colorado could increase by 28% for 2026, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance. And the rate for the Western Slope could be even higher, averaging as much as 38%, the division said on Wednesday. Rate filings will become public on Friday. The division attributed the above-average increases to President Donald Trump’s federal tax bill, recently passed by Congress. "These circumstances are not unique to Colorado, and other states will likely have similar increases," the division said in a statement Wednesday. The driver for those increases is the loss of financial assistance that helps people afford health insurance, and which also puts downward pressure on premium rates. That assis...
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GOP vacancy committee to fill House District 64 seat at September 13 meeting after Armagost resignation
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

GOP vacancy committee to fill House District 64 seat at September 13 meeting after Armagost resignation

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A GOP House District 64 vacancy committee will meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13 to choose a replacement for Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud. Armagost recently resigned to take a new job in Arizona. Armagost's resignation is effective Sept. 1. He was first elected in 2022, and in the 2025 session served as minority whip. The vacancy committee will meet at the New Life Church in Berthoud. The meeting will be held in person only and will not be livestreamed. HD64 chair and Weld County Commissioner Scott James said two people have formally announced their intent to seek the seat, and a third is interested. Scott Slaugh of Johnstown is an Army veteran and owner of Fall River Homes. He has filed for the seat for the 2026 election. Col...
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