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Peters’ defense says Barrett used facts that were never in evidence
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Peters’ defense says Barrett used facts that were never in evidence

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The state said Judge Matthew Barrett's sentencing remarks about Tina Peters were harsh words from the bench, not evidence of bias. Peters' legal team answered with a different question: how did the judge know she appeared on podcasts? Where did he get the words "snake oil" and "junk"? The state's response did not touch that argument. The judge being asked to step aside will decide it. Three filings hit the Mesa County docket between late Thursday and Friday morning. District Attorney Dan Rubinstein's office opposed Peters' motion to disqualify Barrett. Her attorneys replied by introducing a theory the state never touched—that Barrett's sentencing comments relied on an "extrajudicial source," meaning information the judge obtained from out...
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Take back Colorado starts local: Brandon Wark on the fight ahead
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Take back Colorado starts local: Brandon Wark on the fight ahead

By RMV Staff As another contentious session winds toward its May 13 close, a familiar question is surfacing among voters: Can the state's direction actually be changed — and if so, how? In the latest episode of Unleashed, Heidi Ganahl sits down with Brandon Wark, founder of Free State Colorado and one of the most trusted voices covering the State Capitol, to unpack what just happened under the gold dome and what it means for 2026. https://youtu.be/YbE8jSDBl8k?si=_SR9H1mLqIpRljzI Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1va71RcfXCn6Tcq03hBRcg?si=N2g-kLW_S9u2AJs_jqSwIA  Watch on Rumble: https://rumble.com/v78s3vw-unleashed-with-heidi-ganahl-take-back-colorado-starts-local-brandon-wark-on.html A tough session and bigger concerns A third-ge...
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Colorado parents packed the hearing room. Democrats didn’t ask a single question.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado parents packed the hearing room. Democrats didn’t ask a single question.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Twenty Coloradans showed up. Zero came to oppose. The resolution died anyway. By the time the House State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee finished Monday night, HCR 26-1004 was postponed indefinitely after a vote of 8 to 3.  Parents waited hours for their three minutes at the microphone. When it was over, the majority moved on to the next bill. The resolution was constitutionally modest.  It proposed inserting explicit language into the Colorado Constitution recognizing parents' right to direct the upbringing, education and care of their children. Sponsors argued throughout the hearing that the amendment would leave existing child abuse and neglect protections intact — the state would s...
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Stomping out stage 4 brain cancer: A Colorado story of grapes, grace and glioblastoma
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Stomping out stage 4 brain cancer: A Colorado story of grapes, grace and glioblastoma

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Sometimes the greatest miracle isn’t healing—it’s a night off. For families walking the road of stage 4 glioblastoma brain cancer, even a few hours of rest can feel like a return to life. The weight is constant. The uncertainty is relentless. And caregiving, while sacred, can quietly drain every ounce of strength a person has. Recently, my wife Sherrie and I experienced something we hadn’t felt in a long time—margin. Breathing room. A moment to simply be human again. And it came through a story that could only be described as providential. Where the story began What makes this story remarkable is how it started—not through a formal organization or a well-funded campaign, but through a simple blog. When I began writ...
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Supreme Court To Weigh Religious Freedom In Colorado Preschool Funding Case
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CNN, Approved, State

Supreme Court To Weigh Religious Freedom In Colorado Preschool Funding Case

By John Fritze | CNN The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a Colorado law that requires preschools receiving taxpayer money to enroll children of same-sex couples — setting up an important First Amendment showdown at the high court that pits religious rights against LGBTQ families. At the same time, the court declined to hear another high-profile case involving a Massachusetts couple who said their school began treating their middle school child as genderqueer against their wishes. After years of allowing religious schools in some settings to receive state funding alongside secular schools, the 6-3 conservative court will now decide what to do when school leaders assert that anti-discrimination laws intended to protect gay and transgender people conflict with their...
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Court Reinforces Limits On State Cooperation With Federal Immigration Requests
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Court Reinforces Limits On State Cooperation With Federal Immigration Requests

By Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun It’s the latest legal loss for the governor in a case brought against him for attempting to share information with federal immigration officials. A Denver judge Tuesday again barred Gov. Jared Polis from ordering state employees to comply with a subpoena from federal immigration officials for Coloradans’ personal information. The ruling marks the latest loss for the governor in the lawsuit brought against him to stop the sharing of information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the past year. The case was first brought last June by Scott Moss, the former director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics at Colorado’s Department of Labor. Moss alleged Polis directed him to comply with an Apr...
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Colorado Democrats Push Plan To Redirect TABOR Refunds To State Spending
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push Plan To Redirect TABOR Refunds To State Spending

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A nonpartisan analysis of a proposed ballot measure that seeks to increase public education spending by tapping Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds shows that about 75% of what would otherwise go to Colorado residents wouldn’t actually go to K-12 schools. Instead, those dollars would go into the state’s general fund pot — to be used by lawmakers for whatever purposes they choose. The analysis said that arrangement could start as soon as the 2028-29 fiscal year. What that means, according to the analysis, is that every taxpayer would lose $7,381 in TABOR refunds between the 2026-27 and 2036-37 fiscal years. At its core, TABOR requires a public vote in order to raise taxes. It also limits revenue growth. Notably, it r...
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Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – An open letter expressing concern over the number of businesses leaving Colorado and the inability of the state to attract others was recently sent to numerous Colorado elected officials. The several hundred business, technology, and civic leaders who signed the letter are asking for consideration in easing the regulatory burden that they say is the driving factor behind Colorado’s “deteriorating” foundation. That same letter was both sent to and signed by Gov. Jared Polis, the irony of which is not lost on State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Brighton) who points out that Polis is the man behind the pen that has caused much of the trouble the letter outlines. “Basically, he’s a hypocrite,” Kirkmeyer told Complete Colorado. “Th...
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Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Mesa County judge has ordered the state’s attorneys to respond to a motion seeking his removal from the Tina Peters case, setting up a legal fight that will determine who presides over her resentencing—and who decides whether she remains in prison while that process unfolds. In an April 22 order, District Court Judge Matthew Barrett directed the state to file a response “as soon as practicable,” with a deadline of April 27. The order does not resolve the issue. It moves it forward. Now the court must decide whether Barrett can remain on the case—and nothing else in district court moves until that question is answered. 2026-0422 ACTION TAKEN_VERIFIED MOTION TO DISQUALIFY JUDGE MATTHEW BARRETT - People Respond by 4-27Download ...
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A missing email and a federal paper trail: Colorado weighs discipline in Guggenheim case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A missing email and a federal paper trail: Colorado weighs discipline in Guggenheim case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Rich Guggenheim says an email exists that would end his case. The Colorado Department of Agriculture says it does not. The dispute centers on a message Guggenheim says was sent to him in early December by Gabriel Leverance, a grant accountant at CDA, instructing him to approve a USDA-funded Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey report—the report he had previously kicked back and now at the center of the discipline the department is weighing against him. Guggenheim says he requested records twice under CORA that he believes should have included the email. At an April 15 disciplinary hearing, he told the department’s deputy commissioner: “I know it exists, because I’m the recipient of that email, and I’m not getting it in a CORA reques...
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