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Too close to call: Automatic recount likely in House District 58 GOP primary
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Too close to call: Automatic recount likely in House District 58 GOP primary

By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette With just a handful of votes now separating Colorado House District 58 Republican Primary candidates Larry Don Suckla and J. Mark Roeber, the Colorado Secretary of State will most likely order an automatic recount of the 12,971 votes. “As it stands, the vote differential is three votes or 0.046%,” Colorado Secretary of State Communications Director Jack Todd confirmed by email.  This puts the two conservative GOP candidates within the 0.5% margin that would trigger an automatic recount.  “We are within that threshold,” Todd said. “The deadline for Secretary (Jena) Griswold to order a mandatory recount is July 19.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Judge dismisses lawsuit by multiple school districts over Colorado’s universal pre-K rollout
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Judge dismisses lawsuit by multiple school districts over Colorado’s universal pre-K rollout

By Eric Young | Denver Gazette A Denver District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging damages stemming from last year's universal preschool rollout in Colorado.  District Judge Jon. J. Olafson ruled that the six public school districts and two advocacy groups who filed the lawsuit lacked the legal grounds for their case to continue.  The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit last August against Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and the Colorado Department of Education, alleging that the state disproportionately harmed low-income families and students with disabilities through its application process. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Group submits petition to ban hunting of bobcats, mountain lions, lynx
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Group submits petition to ban hunting of bobcats, mountain lions, lynx

By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics A volunteer group seeking to ban the hunting of Colorado wildcats has submitted signatures to election officials to get the measure on the November ballot. The group called "Cats Aren’t Trophies," which is behind Initiative 91, delivered 188,000 signatures to the Secretary of State on Wednesday. The state requires valid signatures from 124,238 registered voters to secure the measure's placement on the November ballot. Supporters described the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats "inhumane" and called it "commercial killing." Opponents, meanwhile, countered that it's a threat not just to Colorado's hunting tradition but also to wildlife management itself.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Following special election victory, Greg Lopez to be sworn in Monday to finish out ex-Rep. Buck’s term
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Following special election victory, Greg Lopez to be sworn in Monday to finish out ex-Rep. Buck’s term

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Greg Lopez is scheduled to be sworn into office on Monday, July 8, after winning last month's vacancy election in Colorado's 4th Congressional District, a Lopez spokeswoman and House Speaker Mike Johnson's office told Colorado Politics on Friday. The 60-year-old Lopez is expected to serve the roughly six months remaining in former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck's term, following the five-term Republican's resignation from Congress in March. Once Lopez is sworn in, Republicans will expand their slim majority in the House of Representatives to 220 members, compared to 213 Democrats, with two vacant seats remaining.  Lopez easily defeated Democratic nominee Trisha Calvarese for the solid GOP seat, which covers Douglas County...
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Wood: Gov. Polis’ ‘Roadmap 2.0’ is not economically sustainable, equitable, environmentally balanced or fact-based
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Wood: Gov. Polis’ ‘Roadmap 2.0’ is not economically sustainable, equitable, environmentally balanced or fact-based

By PETE WOOD | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice This past February, Gov. Jared Polis introduced his “Roadmap 2.0” that aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions in Colorado by 2050. The governor said, “Colorado has been a national model in bold climate action that improves air quality and protects our precious resources and open spaces. This updated, comprehensive Roadmap continues pushing our state forward in ways that will save Coloradans money, protect our air, and water, and ensure a more sustainable future for Colorado." Gov. Polis has doubled down on this policy that drives many local climate action plans that subsequently drive bureaucracies and mandates that make housing, transportation and the general cost of living more exp...
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Boebert announces mobile office hours, locations in July
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Boebert announces mobile office hours, locations in July

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Residents in the 3rd District will have seven opportunities in July to take advantage of mobile office hours being offered by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert. The program has been one of the more successful in Congress, with Boebert's office citing assistance for 3,098 residents and the return of $6.36 million to constituents. “If you are a citizen in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District having issues with a federal agency, or you want your voice to be heard, please come to one of our mobile office hours, and a member of my team will be happy to assist you," Boebert said. Staff is available to help constituents with a variety of concerns, a press release reads. The concerns staff is prepared to assist constituents with include for those who aren...
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Residents celebrate with trip to Wyoming for fireworks illegal to possess in Colorado
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Residents celebrate with trip to Wyoming for fireworks illegal to possess in Colorado

By Nicole Fierro | Fox 31 News Many Coloradans are kicking off their Fourth of July with a road trip to Wyoming. It’s legal to buy and own fireworks there, but not in Colorado. In Colorado, the average person can’t possess, launch or transport most fireworks — and yes, this includes legally buying them in another state and bringing them to Colorado. It’s illegal to launch — or even have — fireworks, except for “permissible fireworks,” according to Colorado Revised Statute 24-33.5-2002. According to Colorado Revised Statute 24-33.5-2005, the law makes it a petty offense to bring fireworks from a different state. FOX31 caught up with several Coloradans taking the liberty to drive across state lines, despite the laws and rules. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS...
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Rural communities face critical firefighter shortage, in some cases, outlook is ‘bleak’
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Rural communities face critical firefighter shortage, in some cases, outlook is ‘bleak’

By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics When Elizabeth Fire Chief T.J. Steck first entered the fire service more than 30 years ago, he was one of more than 2,000 applicants for just six full-time positions with Denver Fire. Competition was intense. That’s not the case now, Steck told members of the Colorado Wildfire Matters Review Committee on Tuesday.  “Now, fire departments across the Front Range are actually fighting each other for applicants and trying to poach from each other — because we don't have the number of applicants anymore,” he said. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Analysis: Those candidates who raised the most won their state legislative races
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Analysis: Those candidates who raised the most won their state legislative races

By Luige Del Puerto  | Colorado Politics With a few exceptions, Colorado's candidates for the state legislature who raised the most money won their races. Longtime political observers also noted something unique from this year's primary elections — a concerted effort, they said, to pull politics back to the "center."     An analysis of the fundraising of dozens candidates largely confirmed an axiomatic presumption in campaigns — the person with the most money wins. That was true for both state Senate and House candidates, the results of last Tuesday's primary elections showed. “Money will always be the mother’s milk of politics. The more you raise and spend, the better chance of winning," Michael Dino, a political expert who served as campaign manager for fo...
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Independence Day: Some cite Reagan, Trump, but Gardner goes way back to Adams in Twitter greetings
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Independence Day: Some cite Reagan, Trump, but Gardner goes way back to Adams in Twitter greetings

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice While Coloradans were enjoying parades, rodeos and cookouts in celebration Thursday of Independence Day, elected Republican officials past, present and possibly future turned to Twitter. For those not binge-watching Yellowstone re-runs, Twitter was filled with their personal thoughts and quotations, as could be expected, by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, and unexpectedly by novelist William Faulkner. The occasion drew former U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner to get more creative, citing the country's co-drafter of the Declaration of Independence, the first vice president, first occupant of the White House and the country's only Federalist president: John Adams. Gardner encouraged Coloradans and Americans to, as Adams had said in 1776, "Ce...
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