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Families Struggle as Colorado Climbs to Third Most Expensive State
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Families Struggle as Colorado Climbs to Third Most Expensive State

By Breeanna Jent | The Denver Gazette Think of Colorado and what comes to mind? Majestic mountain views; skiing, sledding, rafting, hiking and more in the Great Outdoors; alpine forests and golden plains; ample sunshine, craft beer and breathtaking sunsets. Just to scratch the surface. But the cost of living and housing affordability in Colorado has drastically increased in recent years, gradually diminishing or even pushing these simple joys out of reach for the average person. At the end of 2025 the Colorado Scorecard, a report released by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, found that while the state is improving or leading in key sectors such as business friendliness, health and wellness and gross domestic product, Colorado continues struggling with housi...
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Colorado’s $500,000 Medicaid commission has no mandate to investigate fraud
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s $500,000 Medicaid commission has no mandate to investigate fraud

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers spent weeks debating a new commission to study Medicaid sustainability. The bill they sent to Gov. Jared Polis on May 9 names three major failures inside the state’s Medicaid system in its legislative declaration—the post-COVID eligibility purge, the rideshare scandal and the autism therapy audit. But the bill never directs the commission to investigate fraud, waste or abuse. Instead, SB26-187 creates a 10-member Medicaid Cost Containment and Sustainability Commission tasked with “establishing shared understanding,” exploring policy options and producing recommendations. The bill includes a $500,000 appropriation, including $415,000 for a contractor to facilitate meetings and roughly seven months to produce a report—due...
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Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Two weeks ago, the judge who first sent Tina Peters to prison called her resentencing “inevitable.” Friday afternoon, Gov. Jared Polis stopped it before it could happen. In an executive order issued May 15, Polis commuted Peters’ sentence to 4 years and 4.5 months and ordered her released on parole effective June 1. The Colorado Parole Board will determine the terms of her release. Peters had served 591 days of the nearly nine-year sentence imposed in October 2024 after a Mesa County jury convicted her on seven election-related counts. The Colorado Court of Appeals vacated that sentence April 2, ruling the trial court improperly considered Peters’ protected speech regarding election fraud claims during sentencing while still upholding ...
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Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Sal Pace knew the project before he ran it. In October 2025, the Front Range Passenger Rail District named Pace its first General Manager.  The district is a nominally independent, special taxing district created by the Colorado legislature in 2021 to plan, fund, and build passenger rail along the Front Range. Governor Jared Polis issued a personal statement praising the hire. According to FRPRD's hiring announcement, Pace had co-chaired the Governor's own Transition Committee to advance rail initiatives.  The board chair responsible for evaluating Pace's performance is John Putnam — a Polis appointee. That is one loop. There are several more. CoCo's governance structure runs from the district level ...
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When everything is a crisis, nothing is
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

When everything is a crisis, nothing is

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project How many crises does Colorado have? I don’t know that I can count them all for you, but to give you a sense, I did a Google site search for four major Colorado media outlets: The Denver Gazette, Colorado Politics, CPR, and Colorado Sun. If you’re curious to tool around in there, you’ll find the searches linked below in that same order. We apparently are beset by crises. A quick survey through the first four links below shows a climate crisis, a budget crisis, a Colorado River crisis, a mental health crisis, a healthcare crisis, a childcare crisis — the list goes on. I am not surprised by advocates and politicians using the word crisis. The fifth link below is to Senator Hickenlooper’s Twitter feed and, sure e...
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Colorado Regulators Privately Warn Illegal Hemp Flooding Marijuana Market
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Regulators Privately Warn Illegal Hemp Flooding Marijuana Market

By Chris Osher | The Denver Gazette One regulator said the extent of the suspicious transactions would ‘explode your minds.’ This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. A top regulator for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division acknowledged in a private meeting with industry representatives that the amount of chemically converted hemp being illegally sold as marijuana is far greater than the agency has publicly disclosed. The remarks confirmed testing by The Denver Gazette and ProPublica, which found signs of hemp in marijuana vapes sold at dispensaries, as well as reporting that regulators have discovered that some hemp-derived vapes were contaminated with a toxic chemical. The virtual meet...
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Colorado Voters May Decide Constitutional Right To Hunt And Fish
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Voters May Decide Constitutional Right To Hunt And Fish

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters may well get the chance to weigh in this November on creating a constitutional right to hunt and fish, which proponents say is necessary to protect outdoor sporting activities from an ongoing onslaught of anti-hunting efforts. The T. Roosevelt Conservation Alliance, a newly formed issue committee, launched  Initiative 302, ‘Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish’ in early April. The ballot measure would amend the state Constitution, establishing hunting, fishing, and harvesting of fish and wildlife as a constitutional right to every Coloradan. It would apply to all species managed by the state except for endangered, federally prohibited, and non-game species. “Coloradans value the state’s long-st...
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Sharp Divides Emerge in Colorado Republican Governor Debate
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Sharp Divides Emerge in Colorado Republican Governor Debate

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 Watch key moments and the full debate between State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and State Rep. Scott Bottoms. DENVER — Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidates State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and State Rep. Scott Bottoms took the stage Thursday evening in their first televised debate ahead of the June 30 primaries. Victor Marx, a third contender in the GOP gubernatorial race, was invited to participate in the debate but declined Denver7's invitation. Both candidates fielded questions before a live studio audience of a few dozen people as they tried to make the case as to why it was time for Coloradans to hand power back to Republicans this November after nearly 20 years of Democratic control in the state. It was the first major televised deba...
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He flagged the DEI language. He filed the report anyway. Colorado fired him for both.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

He flagged the DEI language. He filed the report anyway. Colorado fired him for both.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice "I don't think I'm surprised by their decision at all," Rich Guggenheim said three days after the Colorado Department of Agriculture fired him. "I expected this decision." On May 8, CDA Deputy Commissioner Jordan Beezley signed the termination letter, effective immediately. Guggenheim had been the plant health programs manager since 2021. https://twitter.com/5280BasedHomo/status/2052861817740017907 Guggenheim posted the termination letter on X the same day it was delivered, tagging Vice President JD Vance, Associate Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and the DOJ Civil Rights Division. As RMV first reported in December, the dispute started with a single chat comment during a November managers meeting and the whistleblower com...
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Weiser’s record: The special prosecution paradox
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Weiser’s record: The special prosecution paradox

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When a serial killer was working his way through the San Luis Valley, Anne Kelly's eight-lawyer office needed help. She didn't call the Attorney General. "That case was certainly a prime case for which the attorney general's office could have assisted," said Kelly, the 12th Judicial District DA whose office covers six rural counties in southern Colorado. "Instead, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office sent a crew of people upon the request of the district attorney and handled that case from start to finish. And that was really the only reason why that case was as successful as it was." The case was against Adre Baroz, known as "Psycho," sentenced in May 2024 for five murders in the San Luis Valley. He is servin...
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