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He reported election irregularities. Weeks later he was fired: Now a Colorado fire chief appeals in federal court
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

He reported election irregularities. Weeks later he was fired: Now a Colorado fire chief appeals in federal court

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Erik Holt says he didn’t expect reviewing surveillance footage from a polling location inside the Florissant fire station would cost him his career. Holt says the fallout came quickly. Within weeks of providing investigators the footage he believed showed election rule violations, he was out of a job. The dispute that began inside the Florissant fire station is now before the federal appeals court. Judges will review whether reporting suspected wrongdoing can cost a public employee his job. Holt is no longer fighting the appeal alone. Mountain States Legal Foundation has joined the case and is now representing him. “Public employees do not surrender their First Amendment rights when they take a government job,” said Grad...
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Colorado’s forgotten Noble Bill: The fight to keep road money on the road
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s forgotten Noble Bill: The fight to keep road money on the road

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com This Fall Colorado voters may see a ballot measure to change the way highway funding is spent, always a source of controversy and heated debate. For all but the most inner-city urban voters, though, the issue is a no-brainer if ever there was such a thing. Building, fixing, and maintaining the roads was the founding issue – 76 years ago – of Club 20, the voice of the Western Slope ever since. It remains a major reason that organization still holds together the diverse communities west of the Continental Divide, and it’s an issue that continues to unite people in all the rural parts of the state and most of the suburbs. Regional and state leaders have devoted their careers to making sure rural roads are not ignored by a sta...
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Follow the funding: Commentary examines Gary Community Ventures media grants and Colorado Sun coverage
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Follow the funding: Commentary examines Gary Community Ventures media grants and Colorado Sun coverage

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project An example of the coverage Gary Community Ventures (GCV) supported This post is a continuation of a series on the media grants issued by Gary Community Ventures. The first link below is to Monday’s newsletter, the previous installment. It will have a link to the first installment in it. In today’s post, I want to look at the coverage that GCV paid for, specifically the efforts by the progressive outlet Colorado Sun. In previous posts, I mentioned how the Colorado Sun raised their hand when GCV asked if anyone would like grant money to fund coverage on childcare in Colorado. I also mentioned how the Colorado Media Project (CMP, and some of its consultants like journalism professor Corey H...
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Democrat Backed Redistricting Plan Could Flip Three Colorado GOP House Seats
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Uncategorized, Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Democrat Backed Redistricting Plan Could Flip Three Colorado GOP House Seats

By Michael Braithwaite | Colorado Politics A Democrat-backed proposal to redraw Colorado’s congressional map for the 2028 election could flip three Republican districts. The proposal, introduced by a group called Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, is yet another development in a national redistricting debate after President Donald Trump called to redraw U.S. House districts. An analysis of the proposal in Colorado shows that the redrawn map could lead to flipping three Republican house seats to the Democrats’ column in the 2028 election, including in District 5, which has never voted for a Democratic representative in its long history, according to composite election data. Colorado’s 2021 congressional district map (left) compared to Coloradans for a Leve...
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Congress Investigates Colorado Medicaid After Reports Of Fraud And Improper Payments
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Congress Investigates Colorado Medicaid After Reports Of Fraud And Improper Payments

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A congressional committee is probing reports of waste, fraud and abuse in Colorado’s Medicaid program, citing recent stories outlining over-billing in transportation spending and alleged improper payments in autism services. The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has sent a letter to Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance, seeking, among other things, audits and processes in place to comply with federal laws The March 3 letter, signed by committee Chair Rep. Brett Guthrie, a Republican from Kentucky, and two subcommittee chairs, pointed to problems that they said surfaced in Minnesota, such as over-billing, falsified records, identity theft and phantom claims in Medicaid social s...
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Colorado’s ‘multiple personality disorder’: Critics say lawmakers send mixed signals on parental rights
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s ‘multiple personality disorder’: Critics say lawmakers send mixed signals on parental rights

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado Have you ever met someone who constantly took conflicting stances on issues? They can’t decide who or what they stand for? It’s like they have Multiple Personality Disorder. Well, I have met them and they are our leaders. The Colorado Assembly is having an identity crisis. They can’t decide who they are or what they stand for. On multiple issues during the 2026 legislative session, they contradict themselves.  Take for example the conflicting messages of passing SB26-018, Legal Protections for the Dignity of Minors, through the State Senate but killing HB26-1087, Safeguard Minors from Sex-Altering Interventions, in the House Health and Human Services Committee. The first bill was stripped of its p...
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Following the funding: A closer look at Gary Community Ventures’ role in Colorado advocacy
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Following the funding: A closer look at Gary Community Ventures’ role in Colorado advocacy

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Meet Gary Community Ventures Earlier, I wrote about an effort by Gary Community Ventures, GCV, to (from their perspective) start a conversation about childcare in this state. I showed you their “Request for Proposals” to pay media outlets to write about Colorado’s struggling childcare system. That newsletter is linked first below. As before, what I hope you take from this is to get an understanding of how grant-funded coverage like the Colorado Sun’s is generated, as well as a framework with which to assess the players. Rather than offering you a definitive take on some ulterior motive--something that I’d be lying if I told you I had--I will offer you information with which to come to your own ...
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Nine-year sentence questioned: Peters’ attorneys cite contrast with Lewis case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Nine-year sentence questioned: Peters’ attorneys cite contrast with Lewis case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters’ attorneys said Wednesday they appreciate Gov. Jared Polis taking a look at her clemency request, pointing to what they believe is a sentencing disparity. Peters’ attorneys shared the statement with RMV after Polis posted about the case of former state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis while talking about clemency. They said that contrast between Lewis’ and Peters’ case is central to their clemency request. “Tina Peters is grateful to Governor Polis for considering her request for clemency,” the statement said. The defense team also echoed a comment Polis made in a recent social media post about fairness in the justice system. “As the governor said, Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly,...
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Why did nearly 500,000 Colorado voter records change after elections were certified?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Why did nearly 500,000 Colorado voter records change after elections were certified?

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado voters are constantly told to trust the system. Trust the process. Trust the machines. Trust the results. That’s where a new complaint under the federal Help America Vote Act enters the picture. https://twitter.com/Unite4Freedom/status/2029353098318364887 It names Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and focuses on something most voters probably never think about—what happens to election records after certification. The complaint says voter participation records were modified nearly half a million times across those three election cycles. There’s one number in the complaint that’s hard to miss—487,887. Michael Cahoon filed the complaint. It’s now being circulated by electi...
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Colorado Lawmakers Move To Rein In Utility Eminent Domain After Xcel Land Dispute
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Move To Rein In Utility Eminent Domain After Xcel Land Dispute

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics After months of backlash over Xcel Energy’s use of eminent domain in eastern Colorado, lawmakers representing Elbert and El Paso counties are advancing legislation that would bar utilities from initiating property takings until they’ve secured state approval and all required local permits — a move supporters say will restore fairness and prevent landowners from being forced into legal limbo. House Bill 1278, sponsored by Rep. Chris Richardson, R-Elizabeth, and Sens. Marc Snyder, D-Colorado Springs, and Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, would require utilities to receive a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Public Utilities Commission, as well as all necessary local land use approvals and permits, before initiating em...
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