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Wyoming Positions Itself As Energy Leader For The Mountain West Colorado Pushes Risky Bet
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Wyoming Positions Itself As Energy Leader For The Mountain West Colorado Pushes Risky Bet

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Years ago, I interviewed a Canadian health-care broker whose job was helping his countrymen escape their own failing system. When their “free” health care turned into “free to wait until you die,” he’d save his clients by routing them to doctors in the U.S. who’d accept cash and rescue their lives. I asked him what advice he had for Americans. His answer terrified me. “I hope the U.S. won’t do what we’ve done with health care,” he said. I thought his reasoning was that he didn’t want to see Americans suffer and die because of medical socialism. But that wasn’t it. He said, “Because if you do, we’ll have nowhere to escape to.” That stuck with me. We are Canada’s health care lifeboat. Every bad sy...
Nexstar Tegna Merger Could Reshape Denver Journalism And Cut Off Local Voices
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Nexstar Tegna Merger Could Reshape Denver Journalism And Cut Off Local Voices

By Nicole Vap | The Colorado Sun Combining newsleaders 9News and Fox31 already has triggered a lawsuit and concerned experts — and not just because of what might happen to Kyle Clark. 9News started its run as the top-rated TV station in the Denver television market back in the late-1970s, and for decades each newscast ended with video of regular people holding up their index fingers to remind viewers (and competitors) who was No. 1. The tradition fizzled out in the early 2000s, but current viewers might have noticed a new ending to the 9News newscast in the past few days, one that spells out a monumental change to the station and the Denver television market. A new copyright statement now flashes across the screen at the end of 9News broadcasts, marking the station’s...
Colorado Lawmakers Weigh $500 Million In Cuts As $1.5 Billion Deficit Looms
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Weigh $500 Million In Cuts As $1.5 Billion Deficit Looms

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The legislature’s Joint Budget Committee is working through a list Wednesday of about 150 suggestions to cut as much as $1.5 billion in general fund dollars out of next year’s budget. The largest on the list prepared by JBC staff is $198 million in cuts to the funding for the annual senior and disabled veterans homestead exemption. Funding for the homestead exemption has to come out of general fund dollars in the 2026-27 budget because the state does not have a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus that would normally cover that cost. The other side of the issue is Gov. Jared Polis’ support for a proposal to allow Pinnacol Assurance to privatize, with the hopes that half of the funds Pinnacol would pay the state as a result ...
Colorado’s Ideological Regime Doubles Down
FAIR Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Ideological Regime Doubles Down

By Laureen Boll | Commentary, FAIR Colorado HB26-1322 is a weaponized end-run around the Constitution The Supreme Court’s October 2025 oral arguments in Chiles v. Salazar exposed Colorado’s conversion-therapy ban for what it is: raw viewpoint discrimination dressed up as “child protection.” Conservative justices grilled the state on why a licensed counselor could affirm a minor’s gender identity or homosexuality but face professional ruin for exploring the opposite — neutral talk therapy aligned with a family’s faith or biology. The writing is on the wall, as the majority seems ready to apply strict scrutiny and likely strike down the ban as unconstitutional professional speech regulation. Colorado’s Democrat-majority legislature refuses to accept the likely verdict of ...
Going the wrong way: Colorado’s fentanyl deaths rise while the rest of the nation falls
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Going the wrong way: Colorado’s fentanyl deaths rise while the rest of the nation falls

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice While much of the country is finally beginning to turn the corner on fentanyl, Colorado is heading in the opposite direction. And the human cost is staggering. Colorado’s numbers are still moving up—synthetic opioid deaths have climbed 17 percent since December 2024. Elsewhere, the trend has started to turn. Across the country, overdose deaths have dropped 26.9 percent, according to the CDC, the steepest one-year decline of the crisis and the lowest levels since 2019. Colorado isn’t just behind. It stands apart. A March 2026 report from the Common Sense Institute puts that gap into focus: 1,620 excess deaths. In other words, that’s how many more Coloradans died from synthetic opioid overdoses between ...
Colorado Wildlife Agency Seeks $450K More For Wolves Despite $1.5B State Budget Shortfall
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Wildlife Agency Seeks $450K More For Wolves Despite $1.5B State Budget Shortfall

Byline: By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The panel of legislators charged with crafting the budget on Monday rejected a proposal that proponents said would increase transparency around how much Colorado Parks and Wildlife spends to bring additional wolves into the state. At the same time, the wildlife agency is seeking $450,000 in general funds for fiscal year 2026–27 — twice what it spent in 2025 — to acquire more wolves, even though the agency has not identified where the animals would come from. The request arrives as the state faces a projected $1.5 billion shortfall in the general fund budget in next year’s spending plan. Joint Budget Committee staff had recommended creating a separate budget line beginning in 2026–27 to clearly show the state’s spe...
El Paso Co. clerk resigns leadership role and pulls county from clerks association over transparency concerns
Ashe in America, Approved, Commentary, State

El Paso Co. clerk resigns leadership role and pulls county from clerks association over transparency concerns

By Ashe in America | Commentary, Ashe in America The CCCA is a Non-Governmental Organization that Generally Serves as the Authority on Colorado Elections El Paso County Clerk & Recorder Steve Schleiker has quietly resigned as Vice President of the Colorado County Clerks Association (CCCA), and he has withdrawn El Paso County from active membership in the non-governmental organization. Schleiker was candid about his decision in an email with a Colorado voter who reached out after noticing his name had been removed from the CCCA leadership list. “After careful consideration, I made the decision several weeks ago to resign as Vice President of the Colorado County Clerks Association and to withdraw El Paso County from active membership. This was not a decision I made li...
The Democrats who funded Colorado’s 611% Medicaid overrun are running for Congress
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The Democrats who funded Colorado’s 611% Medicaid overrun are running for Congress

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is staring down a $1 billion budget hole. Disabled kids are losing healthcare. Dental benefits are getting capped at $750 a year. Two Democrats who helped create and fund Cover All Coloradans are now asking voters to send them to Congress. Shannon Bird stepped away from the statehouse to run full-time. That sets up a primary between Bird and Rep. Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, with Republican incumbent Gabe Evans waiting in November. It started with HB22-1289 in 2022, opening Medicaid-style coverage to children and pregnant women who otherwise met eligibility but didn’t qualify because of their immigration status. Bird voted yes. The early estimate was $14.7 million for the fiscal year, tied to an expe...
Selective scrutiny: Are Colorado journalists choosing who gets held accountable?
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Selective scrutiny: Are Colorado journalists choosing who gets held accountable?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Complete Colorado In a recent LinkedIn post, local Colorado media mascot animal Kyle Clark proclaimed, “Journalists just repeating what the powerful say isn’t news. And it’s not Next [Clark’s news magazine Next on 9News]. Next holds power to account, offering context and clarity that cut through spin and misinformation. It’s time for truth.” Not too long after putting on his emphatic face and making his bold statement, Clark recorded a Next segment where I think it’s reasonable to say he didn’t quite hit his own mark.  In the segment, Clark amplified a piece written by Logan Davis of the Colorado Times Recorder (CTR) entitled  “EXCLUSIVE: Secret ICE Detention Facilities Exist Around Colorado, Data Shows.”  The N...
Colorado Lawmakers Move To Replace César Chávez Day Amid Abuse Allegations
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Move To Replace César Chávez Day Amid Abuse Allegations

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado The Colorado State House Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee gave unanimous approval Monday to a bill that would rename "César Chávez Day" as "Farm Workers Day" in Colorado. The measure comes after 95-year-old Dolores Huerta — who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Chávez — alleged he sexually assaulted her, appearing to corroborate the claims of many other women, many of whom were children at the time. Under the legislation, "Farm Workers Day" would be an optional state holiday. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and City Council President Amanda Sandoval temporarily re-named the upcoming holiday "Sí Se Puede Day" in Denver. The city's celebration for the late labor leader was...

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