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Colorado Gets $615 Million in Meta Child Safety Settlement, but Polis Says Parents Remain Essential
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Gets $615 Million in Meta Child Safety Settlement, but Polis Says Parents Remain Essential

By Thelma Grimes | The Denver Gazette The parent company of Facebook and Instagram will pay hundreds of millions of dollars to Colorado, part of an $18 billion multistate deal, in which the company also agreed to adopt extensive child-safety changes to its operations. The settlement ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state. It resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in allegedly undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention. If approved by the court, the deal will stop an avalanche of litigation by states against Meta, although the company still faces lawsuits from indivi...
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Antisemitism Concerns Follow Kiros Into Colorado Congressional Race
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Axios Denver, Approved, State

Antisemitism Concerns Follow Kiros Into Colorado Congressional Race

By Esteban L. Hernandez | Axios Denver Some Jewish leaders in Colorado are calling for more engagement from congressional candidate Melat Kiros as she goes from political newcomer to frontrunner in the 1st District race. Why it matters: The tensions arrive amid heightened concern over antisemitic hate crimes locally and nationwide, as well as broader debate over where criticism of Israel ends and antisemitism begins. State of play: Brandon Rattiner, senior director at the Jewish Community Relations Council, says he wants Kiros to "have the political courage" to address concerns among Jewish constituents. Rattiner says Kiros should more directly acknowledge Jewish Coloradans who say they feel targeted by antisemitism and should make...
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Judge Finds Key Provision Of Colorado Detention Law Conflicts With Federal Authority
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The Center Square, Approved, State

Judge Finds Key Provision Of Colorado Detention Law Conflicts With Federal Authority

By Joelle Webb | The Center Square (The Center Square) - A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled in favor of a private prison company in its legal battle against a new Colorado law requiring more health and safety inspections for immigration detention facilities.  The lawsuit, brought in June to the U.S. District Court in Denver, was initiated by the GEO Group. The private for-profit prison company alleged that a new Colorado law that went into effect this month conflicts with its contract with the federal government. The law is House Bill 26-1276, which requires an increase of inspections for federal immigration detention facilities in the state. Though there are plans to build more immigration detention facilities in the stat...
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Loveland Sculptor Gifts Jefferson Statue to White House for America’s 250th Anniversary
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Loveland Sculptor Gifts Jefferson Statue to White House for America’s 250th Anniversary

By The Associated Press | The Colorado Sun Colorado sculptor George Lundeen gifts decades-old piece to White House as part of country’s 250th anniversary celebration. WASHINGTON — Instead of adding new roses, President Donald Trump’s White House Rose Garden is growing statues. And one of them comes courtesy of a well-known Loveland sculptor. Trump put statues of some of America’s founders in the garden just off the Oval Office after he replaced its plush lawn with a white stone patio, turning the historic outdoor space into a look-alike of the one at his Mar-a-Lago home and private club in Palm Beach, Florida. At least one statue was a gift. Others are on loan from people who wish to remain anonymous. The latest addition, a bronze de...
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Enos: As a new school year opens, Colorado tests the limits of parental rights
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Enos: As a new school year opens, Colorado tests the limits of parental rights

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” This recognizable quote by the character Joe Fox from the famous rom-com You’ve Got Mail reminds us that it is back-to-school season. Your family may have already begun the 2026-27 school year, or you could be holding out for another week or so. If you are brave homeschoolers, your family’s school year will begin after Labor Day.   Numerous families homeschool so that they can infuse their teaching with a Christian worldview. We rightly want our children to understand the world through the lens of our Creator. Our rights as...
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Three federal cases test whether Colorado treats gun rights as policy or as a limit on government
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Three federal cases test whether Colorado treats gun rights as policy or as a limit on government

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado has spent more than a generation treating the Second Amendment as a public-policy question. That is the first mistake. The Bill of Rights does not identify subjects upon which government may act whenever legislators believe their intentions are sufficiently benevolent. It identifies areas in which governmental power is constrained. The distinction is fundamental. A constitutional right does not exist at the pleasure of a legislative majority, nor does its force rise and fall with polling, tragedy, political fashion, or the confidence of public officials in their own judgment. This is particularly important when discussing firearms because the Second Amendment was never merely an eighteenth-century hunting prov...
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Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge heard arguments on Monday about the constitutionality of a 2023 Colorado law that generally imposes a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases after the initiation of a background check. The test that the U.S. Supreme Courtcreated in 2022 for assessing firearm regulations’ compliance with the Second Amendment occurs in two phases. First, judges must determine if the constitutional text applies to the regulation at issue, and then the government must show that the policy is consistent with similar regulations throughout the country’s history — in particular, around the time of the Second Amendment’s adoption. “The first ‘cooling off’-style waiting period did not come into existence until the ...
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Inflationary Bracket Creep With Initiative 195 Could Push More Coloradans Into Higher Tax Brackets
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Inflationary Bracket Creep With Initiative 195 Could Push More Coloradans Into Higher Tax Brackets

By Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado Initiative 195, the proposed ‘progressive’ income tax ballot measure, promises long-term pain for Colorado taxpayers due to what economists call “bracket creep.”  But we do not need to speculate about the impact of bracket creep, as we can already see its effect in action since voters passed Proposition FF in 2022.  Proposition FF Through Proposition FF, voters decided to increase taxes on high-income Colorado earners to support a universal school lunch program.  The measure capped state deductions for tax filers with a federal adjusted gross income exceeding $300,000 and directed new revenue to the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program.   READ THE FUL...
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A fire chief lost his free speech case. The day after, he published a book.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A fire chief lost his free speech case. The day after, he published a book.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Erik Holt read the opinion the morning it came down on July 7 at 9 a.m. Three federal judges had decided that when the former Florissant fire chief handed election surveillance footage to a criminal investigator examining alleged misconduct in the board's election, he was doing his job, not speaking as a citizen.  That single finding ended his case. It meant the federal courts would never reach whether the board fired him in retaliation. He wrote the last chapter of his book that day. He submitted it for publishing the next. "I used the very First Amendment that the court said I didn't have to publish a book and tell my story," Holt said. RMV has followed Holt's case since November 2025, in reports on the su...
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Colorado Voters To Decide Whether To Cap State Income Tax At 4.4%
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Voters To Decide Whether To Cap State Income Tax At 4.4%

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Election officials on Thursday confirmed that the proposal to cap the state’s income tax at the current rate submitted signatures and voters will consequently decide its fate this November. The fight over tax rates is part of the tug and pull in Colorado between opposing political forces feuding over state revenue. One side of that fight argues that Colorado isn’t generating enough revenue to spend on state priorities, such as education. The competing side counters that the state already collects enough — but policymakers’ spending priorities are misplaced. The Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday cleared Initiative No. 232 after Advance Colorado, the group behind it, submitted more than 184,000 signatures to get it on the b...
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