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Before he was a congressional candidate, Manny Rutinel was calling animal agriculture “horrific”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Before he was a congressional candidate, Manny Rutinel was calling animal agriculture “horrific”

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Manny Rutinel spent the better part of six years calling animal agriculture a "horrific, exploitive industry." Rutinel entered the legislature through an appointment in 2023 when Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet resigned from the District 32 seat. Less than two years later, he was filing paperwork for Congress. He's the money leader in a Democratic primary that national strategists are watching closely. Federal Election Commission filings put him at $2.5 million raised—almost as much as Republican incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans. Cook Political Report has it as a toss-up. The seat flipped once already—it could flip again, and the House majority may well come down to it. Evans runs cattle on the side. Has for years. Back at the...
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Colorado Democrats defeat bills on girls’ sports fairness and malpractice timelines for gender treatments
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Democrats defeat bills on girls’ sports fairness and malpractice timelines for gender treatments

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers earlier this week heard testimony that moved between two questions tied to the state’s ongoing debate over transgender policies. One centered on medical treatments performed years earlier and whether patients should have more time to file malpractice claims. The other focused on school athletics and whether girls’ sports programs should be limited to biological females. Physicians spoke about long-term medical outcomes. Detransitioners described treatments they received as minors and the consequences they say followed years later. Athletes and parents weighed in on fairness in girls’ sports. Both questions came before the House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. ...
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Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks

By: Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Wolf advocates want to make it harder to legally kill reintroduced wolves and ensure ranchers first exhaust a detailed list of nonlethal hazing methods. It’s the latest in a debate between animal protection groups and hunters that is coming to a head this spring in various venues.  The Center for Biological Diversity says Colorado Parks and Wildlife regulations don’t do enough to protect animals. Hunting groups want the status quo. The fight has already played out at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting last week when the center introduced a petition to ban the sale of commercial fur in Colorado. They’re also backing a bill to ban the killing of beavers on Colorado public lands.   The center said no...
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U.S. Energy Secretary Warns Colorado Energy Policies Could Raise Prices Drive Jobs Away
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

U.S. Energy Secretary Warns Colorado Energy Policies Could Raise Prices Drive Jobs Away

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday warned that Colorado’s energy policies could lead to higher electricity prices and deter businesses, such as data centers, from locating in the state. Wright, a former executive of a Colorado-based energy company tapped by the Trump White House to lead the energy department, urged state policymakers to focus on natural gas and nuclear power during a news conference with U.S. Rep. Gab Evans at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain Generating Station on Monday. State policymakers have maintained that Colorado’s energy policy is balanced, taking into accounts the needs of consumers in their push for “net zero” carbon in just a few decades. Democrats have also argued that Colorado should take advantag...
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Critics Warn Democrat Plan Would Eliminate TABOR Refunds For A Decade
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Critics Warn Democrat Plan Would Eliminate TABOR Refunds For A Decade

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado voters could decide this fall whether billions of dollars that would otherwise be returned as refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights should instead go to public schools under a ballot measure unveiled Thursday by Democrats. Supporters say the proposal would address chronic underfunding in K-12 education, while critics argue it takes money away from taxpayers and amounts to sidestepping the state’s constitutional spending limits. Supporters have insisted that schools are underfunded to the tune of billions of dollars, while one study says revenue and spending by schools have significantly grown in the last few years, with a noticeable shift toward non-instructional spending. Under the proposed ballot measure, the am...
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Colorado agriculture manager faces discipline after dispute over federal grant report and DEI training
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado agriculture manager faces discipline after dispute over federal grant report and DEI training

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Colorado Department of Agriculture manager who challenged training language in a federally tied pest survey report now faces possible discipline after an internal investigation concluded he “more likely than not” misrepresented the document. The dispute follows earlier RMV reporting that raised questions about DEI-related training references appearing in a report tied to a USDA cooperative agreement. The issue grew out of a 2025 CAPS Infrastructure Accomplishment Report tied to a USDA cooperative agreement. In one section, the document lists training entries including “Equity and Diversity” and “Inclusive Leadership.” CDA says Rich Guggenheim shared a screenshot of what it describes as a draft report and wrongly portrayed...
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Colorado Sees Strong Concealed Carry Permit Numbers Despite New Restrictions
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Sees Strong Concealed Carry Permit Numbers Despite New Restrictions

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado DENVER– Despite a Democrat-led state legislature hostile to the lawful carrying of concealed handguns, new data show at least 27,901 Coloradans still subjected themselves to the government scrutiny and costs required to become concealed handgun permit (CHP) holders in 2025, while another 21,871 renewed existing permits.  That’s according to a recently published County Sheriffs of Colorado annual report. Notably, the report lacks data from Adams, Garfield, Pueblo and San Juan counties, which combined accounted for over 5,000 new permits in the prior year, meaning the numbers for 2025 may well be under-reported. Regardless, while the number of new permits trails the 29,495 issued in 2024, it outpaces the 25,218...
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Griswold Joins Other States Asking DHS To Confirm ICE Will Stay Away From Polling Locations
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Griswold Joins Other States Asking DHS To Confirm ICE Will Stay Away From Polling Locations

By: Jacob Mauk | The Denver Gazette Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday that the state has formally requested written confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security that ICE agents will not be stationed at polling locations during the 2026 election cycle, according to a news release. The letter comes a week after Kristi Noem, the former Secretary of Homeland Security, said, “There are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations.’ Noem has since been fired by President Donald Trump, who nominated Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her. Noem was fired not long after testifying before Congress regarding tactics used over the last year to crack down on immigrants living in the United States illegally. READ THE FULL ART...
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Xcel Warns Grid May Need Coal Plants Longer Amid Delays In New Energy Projects
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Warns Grid May Need Coal Plants Longer Amid Delays In New Energy Projects

By: Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The plants in Pueblo and Hayden were slated to phase out between 2025 and 2030. Now the company has proposed running all their units for four more years. Xcel Energy, facing what it says is a shortfall in electricity generating capacity for the next two years, is proposing to run its four coal-fired units until 2030. Comanche Unit 2, in Pueblo, was supposed to close at the end of 2025. One unit at the Hayden Station is to close in 2027 and the second unit is slated to shut in 2028. Comanche Unit 3 is set to close in 2030. Comanche 3 suffered turbine damage in August taking the unit offline. Xcel Energy initially said repairs would be completed in June, but in a March 2 report to state regulators the company said it h...
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Colorado Democrat Shelves Prostitution Decriminalization Effort Amid Growing Criticism
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The Daily Signal, Approved, State

Colorado Democrat Shelves Prostitution Decriminalization Effort Amid Growing Criticism

By: Tyler O'Neil | The Daily Signal Colorado’s Republican House leader is calling foul after a Colorado state senator says he is effectively killing his own bill to decriminalize prostitution—in order to protect “sex workers” from the trauma of having to testify. State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, the main sponsor of SB26-097, told the Colorado Sun that his bill lacks the necessary support to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he will ask to delay the measure until after the 2026 legislative session, effectively killing the bill. He said the “sex workers” who persuaded him to bring the bill also persuaded him to effectively kill it. “Ultimately, we all decided that having a very tense, long committee hearing, where they’d have to be in a room with a ...
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