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Bill to boost rural broadband, opposed by Polis administration, dies in committee
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Bill to boost rural broadband, opposed by Polis administration, dies in committee

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A panel of Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday rejected legislation that would have prohibited the Colorado Department of Transportation from charging annual fees for right-of-way access to deploy broadband networks in some of the most remote areas of rural Colorado.  The Polis administration, which is pushing for high-speed broadband access to 99% of Coloradans in three years, opposed the measure.   Introduced back in January, negotiations over Senate Bill 91 with the Colorado Department of Transportation — whose fees broadband providers claimed would make rural access unaffordable — delayed its first hearing until this week, just a few days before the end of the 2024 legislative session. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLIT...
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Three fallen officers added to the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Three fallen officers added to the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial

By Sage Kelley | Denver Gazette Bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace" swept over the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial on Friday, as three officers who fell in the line of duty last year took their place on the memorial. "This democracy was founded on the belief that people would be willing to sacrifice for others," Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said at the memorial — placed directly outside of the Colorado State Patrol Academy in Golden. "There is no more selfless act of service in this state, no more daunting act of heroism, than the decision of a law enforcement officer every morning to stand up and put on a uniform," Johnston said.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Colorado 14ers to see new trail construction, maintenance this summer
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Approved, gazette.com, State

Colorado 14ers to see new trail construction, maintenance this summer

By Seth Boster | Out There Colorado The nonprofit leader in building and maintaining trails on Colorado's highest peaks enters the field season with plans to progress on an unprecedented project. Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is celebrating 30 years this summer. Mount Shavano represents "the most massive project that CFI has ever undertaken," the organization's executive director, Lloyd Athearn, has said. Eight years ago, CFI bought 41 acres of old mining claims around the Chaffee County summit. That was ahead of work that began in 2021 to build new trail along the route deemed to be among the most environmentally damaging and unfriendly to hikers across the state's fourteeners. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO
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Colorado House approves bill to regulate funeral industry
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado House approves bill to regulate funeral industry

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The bill to put Colorado's funeral home operators under state regulation for the first time in 40 years won near unanimous approval from the House Wednesday. Senate Bill 173 requires licensing for funeral directors, mortuary science practitioners, embalmers, cremationists, and natural reductionists. The licensing requirements are steep. The bill says perspective funeral industry professionals must apply, pay an application fee, pass a criminal history check and not be subject to discipline in another state. Those regulations go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Colorado GOP leader angers candidates, county leaders with primary endorsements
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado GOP leader angers candidates, county leaders with primary endorsements

By Sandra Fish | The Colorado Sun Colorado Republican candidates and local party officials are objecting to a plan by statewide GOP leaders to endorse candidates in the June 25 primary, a break from the party’s decades-long tradition of staying neutral. The GOP on Tuesday sent a three-page questionnaire to Republican congressional and state legislative candidates nominated at assemblies quizzing them on a range of issues, including whether they support “President Trump’s populist, America-first agenda.” Three congressional candidates have denounced the plan to endorse candidates in the primary. And party leaders in two of the state’s eight congressional districts — the 3rd and 8th, both of which are competitive — told The Colorado Sun they won’t participate by refusing t...
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Colorado owes taxpayers $34M in refunds it never sent. That means trouble for the state budget. 
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado owes taxpayers $34M in refunds it never sent. That means trouble for the state budget. 

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The state government owes Colorado taxpayers an extra $34 million in refunds it should have sent out years ago, legislative budget staff told lawmakers Friday, blowing a hole in the state’s budget with just days left in the 2024 legislative session. The error was first uncovered by a state audit released in February. State officials had planned to come up with a solution by June, but after conferring with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, Joint Budget Committee staff members say the matter can’t wait until after the session. “We really don’t have any choice,” JBC Director Craig Harper told the budget writing committee Friday. “That’s an under-refund from prior years and will need to be refunded at the earliest available opportunity.” ...
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Despite Boeing delays, Southwest Airlines VP talks Colorado Springs Airport service expansions
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, State

Despite Boeing delays, Southwest Airlines VP talks Colorado Springs Airport service expansions

By Savannah Eller | Colorado Springs Gazette In a month that's seen Southwest Airlines dropping airports and limiting hiring in response to poor financial reports, a representative on Tuesday said business was good three years into service at the Colorado Springs Airport.  Vice President and Chief Sales Officer Dave Harvey said that the airline, which expanded to Colorado Springs in 2021, is seeing promising demand in the new market. He said in general new airports in the Southwest service network take three to five years to "mature" as customers become aware and start to take advantage of new flights.  In what Harvey said was a response to demand, Southwest recently announced the addition of a nonstop flight to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, st...
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Democrats make deal with governor to redirect TABOR refunds to low-income families
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Democrats make deal with governor to redirect TABOR refunds to low-income families

By Brian Eason and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Democrats in the Colorado legislature on Tuesday announced a deal with Gov. Jared Polis to make sweeping changes to the state tax code that reduce income taxes and redirect hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer refunds to low-income parents and the middle class. The tax package, spread across a handful of different bills in the final days of this year’s lawmaking term, represents an escalation of the legislature’s recent efforts to reimagine the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — a darling of the conservative movement — as a vehicle for progressive policy. Under the TABOR amendment, the government must refund money to taxpayers when revenue rises faster than the combined rate of inflation and population growth. This fiscal year, it’s...
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Caldara: Colorado’s majority Democrats assault free speech
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Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com, State

Caldara: Colorado’s majority Democrats assault free speech

By Jon Caldara | Complete Colorado (You can listen to this column, read by the author, here.) Among all protections throughout human existence for political minorities, none greater was ever created before the First Amendment. For the better part of my life, it was classic liberals and the political left who fought for the right of dissent, guaranteeing government shall not abridge speech. It was the cultural warriors of my childhood through school, media and Hollywood who drilled into us themes like: “innocent until proven guilty”; “the ends don’t justify the means”; “I disagree with what you say, but defend your right to say it”; and “dissent is patriotic.” Why? Because the political majority needs no protection for its self-expression. The political minority does. ...
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Sheena Kadi, a Democratic Party official, resigns from state treasurer’s office
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Sheena Kadi, a Democratic Party official, resigns from state treasurer’s office

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Sheena Kadi, who has served as public information officer and communications director for state Treasurer Dave Young, has resigned effective Tuesday. Kadi is under a protective order issued on behalf of Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, after Kadi accused Herod of being a "sexual predator," using the X account she also used for communications on behalf of the state treasurer. Kadi made more than a dozen accusations on X, many of which remained on her account. A post accusing Herod of sexual assault last December has since been deleted.  In a Feb. 12 ruling, Denver County Court Judge Clarissa Gonzales found Kadi’s accusations not credible and granted Herod a year-long protective order. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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