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The irony of Colorado obtaining gray wolves from British Columbia
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

The irony of Colorado obtaining gray wolves from British Columbia

By Lindy Browning, Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice While Colorado wildlife managers have been trying to figure out where to get the next crop of 10 to 15 wolves to import into Colorado, British Columbia, Canada, has been trying to cull their population of wolves because of the predation of caribou that led to the endangerment of the herds. After the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington rescinded their offer to send gray wolves to Colorado in late 2024, state wildlife officials were left scrambling to figure out where to procure the voter-mandated wolves for the repopulation efforts in Colorado. As a result of the Colville Tribe withdrawal, Colorado has, ironically, reached out to secure a deal with British Columbia to take some of their unwanted ...
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Recount ordered in Colorado House District 16, expected soon in District 19
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Recount ordered in Colorado House District 16, expected soon in District 19

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The first of two election recounts critical to Republicans eliminating the Democratic supermajority in the Colorado House has been ordered by Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office. After the tabulation of 41,276 votes in El Paso County's state House District 16 race, Republican Rebecca Keltie was six votes ahead of Democrat Stephanie Vigil, by a margin of 2 one-hundredths of 1 percent of the vote, or 0.02%. State law requires a recount of an election with a margin of victory between two candidates of half of 1 percent or less, or a 0.5% margin. "Pursuant to Colorado law, the percentage of vote totals between the candidates requires the secretary of state to order a recount," the order from Griswold's office reads. The process calls for a ...
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Amid opposition to newly approved mountain lion plan, CPW commission urges respect for employees
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Amid opposition to newly approved mountain lion plan, CPW commission urges respect for employees

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees can’t catch a break when it comes to their work on wolf reintroduction or the management of mountain lions.  And that can’t be good for their health, members of the Parks and Wildlife Commission say, or their bandwidth to manage the other 950-plus wildlife species in Colorado.  “I feel sorry for the people in this agency that are working on some of this,” said Marie Haskett, who represents outfitters on the commission, referring to CPW’s rocky first year of wolf reintroduction. “We put a tremendous amount of hours and a tremendous amount of pressure on them for everything we do. You can see it in every one of their faces.”  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife releases five more bear cubs
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Approved, Out There Colorado, State

Colorado Parks and Wildlife releases five more bear cubs

By Piper Russell | Out There Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) recently released two sets of bear cubs (five total) after they spent the summer at the Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Del Norte. The bear cubs were orphaned in mid-July near Durango. They were sent to Frisco Creek, which was home to 25 bear cubs from across Colorado this summer. These three bears were released on forest service land outside Pagosa Springs. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO
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Air Quality Commission will hold hearings under new procedural rules
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Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Air Quality Commission will hold hearings under new procedural rules

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance In an effort to create more public participation in rulemaking and to improve transparency in the process, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted Friday to overhaul its procedural rules for the first time since 1998. The new rules will extend from three months to four months the average time around most rulemakings, will restructure the way that parties to such hearings file motions and will attempt to define the scope of rulemakings more clearly from the start. They will become applicable in August, meaning that business and environmental groups that interact frequently with the AQCC will see the first changes by February or March in preparation for hearings later in the year. While technical in nature, the changes are significa...
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Lawmakers grill Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold about possible security breach
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Lawmakers grill Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold about possible security breach

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Colorado lawmakers grilled Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Friday at the state capitol about her handling of a possible security breach. Hundreds of passwords to election equipment were leaked days before Election Day and could have severely impacted half of Colorado's counties.   The passwords were for voting equipment across the state, and they were posted on the Colorado Secretary of State's website. There are still a lot of questions about what happened, which is why Griswold says she has hired an outside firm to investigate. The Denver District Attorney's Office is also looking into the leak to determine if a crime was committed. Griswold, a Democrat, went before the Joint Budget Committee Friday to talk about funding, but m...
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Yes, Colorado State Patrol really does give tickets based on aircraft speed monitoring
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Approved, State, Westword

Yes, Colorado State Patrol really does give tickets based on aircraft speed monitoring

By Catie Cheshire | Westword Though most people have seen “speed monitored by aircraft” signs dotting highways across Colorado, few know that the Colorado State Patrol actually issues hundreds of tickets each year based on aircraft speed monitoring. The Colorado State Patrol Aircraft Unit uses four state-owned aircraft to monitor speeds from above, then works with officers on the ground to dole out tickets based on measurements from the sky. Any Colorado government agency can call upon the CSP aircraft at any time for “transportation for state business and traffic enforcement operations,” according to the CSP website. Services include transporting people and cargo and helping observe or take photos and video during law enforcement missions. READ THE FULL STORY AT WEST...
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Colorado River management proposals receive mixed reactions, with hints of possible legal battle
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado River management proposals receive mixed reactions, with hints of possible legal battle

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The U.S. Department of the Interior's alternative proposals to guide the management of the Colorado River received mixed reactions from key negotiators and officials whose support is crucial in the river's successful operation in the years to come. Several reiterated they don't want litigation, which would tie up any plans in the court systems for years, but they also acknowledged — or at least hinted — that a legal battle is a plausible outcome. "We don't want a legal fight," said Tom Buschatzke, the Arizona Department of Water Resources director. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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CDOT to close stretch of recently completed Northern Colorado express lanes until 2028
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

CDOT to close stretch of recently completed Northern Colorado express lanes until 2028

By Dillon Thomas | CBS Colorado A portion of recently opened express lanes in Northern Colorado will be closed until 2028. The Colorado Department of Transportation says the closure is necessary in order to safely continue their construction project linking Northern Colorado and the Denver metro area. Starting Friday night, CDOT will close the southbound express lane from CO 60 to CO 56 near Berthoud. That stretch was opened earlier this year to commuters after years of construction. Though more than 18 miles of express lanes in both directions will remain open between Johnstown and Fort Collins, around two miles will be closed until the project is completed around 2028. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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Colorado county clerk spent $4,000 on get-out-the-vote billboard with her name, face on it
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado county clerk spent $4,000 on get-out-the-vote billboard with her name, face on it

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez’s office spent $7,200 on a get-out-the-vote campaign in the lead-up to the November election that included a billboard with an advertisement that prominently featured her picture and name. Gonzalez’s office said the campaign, launched in mid-October, also included social media posts, community events and flyer distribution. The billboard alone cost $4,000. The office said it found before launching the campaign that ads featuring Gonzalez, a Democrat, were high performing, citing a June report from the consulting firm Recap Communications. Gonzalez’s spokeswoman said those findings reinforced national guidance and research showing that local officials are the most trusted messengers for election information and...
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