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Former Colorado Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis Convicted of Forging Documents
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Former Colorado Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis Convicted of Forging Documents

By Jacob Factor | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — A former Colorado state senator who was at the center of an ethics investigation over treatment of her staff has been convicted of forging documents in the investigation. A Denver jury on Wednesday convicted Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who represented parts of Boulder County as a Democrat until she resigned in February last year, of one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery. “The public expects that governments operate honestly and transparently and that elected officials be held to a high standard,” Denver District Attorney John Walsh said in a statement posted on Facebook after the conviction. “Sonya Jaquez Lewis has now been convicted by a Denver jury of fabricating documents during a l...
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2 Colorado School Districts Close as Nationwide Shutdown Tied to Immigration Protests Disrupts Staffing
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

2 Colorado School Districts Close as Nationwide Shutdown Tied to Immigration Protests Disrupts Staffing

By Parker Gordon | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Aurora Public Schools and Adams County School District 14 will not have classes on Friday due to a high number of staff absences, the same day as a planned nationwide shutdown. A planned national shutdown is also scheduled for Friday to show solidarity with Minnesota, and against actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shutdown calls for supporters to stay home from work and school, and not to shop to “stop funding ICE.” In addition to APS and ACSD 14, some Denver Public Schools will be on a two-hour delay Friday while MI and AN Center programs and Early Childhood Education programs will not have school. Aurora Public Schools A spokesperson for Aurora Public Schools and Pickens Technical Colleg...
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How Medicaid growth is crowding Colorado’s budget priorities
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Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, State, Top Stories

How Medicaid growth is crowding Colorado’s budget priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Medicaid and Colorado’s Spending on Same I wanted to share Nash Herman’s op ed from Complete Colorado with you. I will leave it to you to read it in full, but there are a couple of pertinent things to share. The op ed does a good job of providing an overview of what will likely be a big issue this legislative session: Colorado’s Medicaid spending, a largely self-caused injury. In typical government fashion, the relevant state department, the Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing, engaged a third party and paid them $600K to study the issue. The contractor came back and recommended that, quoting the op ed, “... the state should prioritize reductions in behavioral health, long-term...
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Colorado Homeowners Face Property Tax Shock After Temporary Relief Expires
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Homeowners Face Property Tax Shock After Temporary Relief Expires

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Mike Fitz, 76, who lives in Centennial in a single-family home he has owned since 2001, paid $3,876.98 in property taxes to Arapahoe County two years ago. Fitz just learned after checking the website of the Arapahoe County Assessor’s Office that his 2026 tax bill has shot up to $5,435.47, and that already factors in a discount of $750 for the senior homestead exemption. That translates to an increase of nearly 30% or more than $1,500 over two years for the Colorado resident on a fixed income from a combination of Social Security payments and a pension from Gates Rubber. Indeed, the new year is bringing sticker shock to many Colorado homeowners like Fitz — property taxes are rising and some will see increases ranging from ...
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Clean Energy Mandates in HB 1030 Could Undermine Colorado’s Critical Infrastructure
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Clean Energy Mandates in HB 1030 Could Undermine Colorado’s Critical Infrastructure

By Sarah Montalbano | Commentary, Complete Colorado Legislators in Denver are off to the races this session with a heavy-handed bill that will chase data center investment out of Colorado. House Bill 26-1030 creates a new bureaucracy, imposes burdensome labor and workforce requirements, and requires data centers to use 100% clean energy. If lawmakers believe data centers are “essential critical infrastructure,” as the bill claims, then the legislature must allow them to use whatever electricity sources they need. If the goal is to drive data center developers to Wyoming, then lawmakers should continue down this path. Mandating unreliable energy The worst part of HB 1030 is its requirement that data centers must be powered with 100% renewabl...
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Sheriffs and prosecutors rally behind Michael Allen for attorney general, cite courtroom experience
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Sheriffs and prosecutors rally behind Michael Allen for attorney general, cite courtroom experience

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A handful of sheriffs and district attorneys from different parts of the state have come out in support of Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen, today, as he campaigns for Colorado attorney general. The endorsements focus on his years spent in actual courtrooms prosecuting cases and the way he’s managed to cut back on some crimes in his district. The endorsements share his ideals of real trial experience, cracking down on offenders and keeping partisan battles out of the attorney general’s office. “I’m honored to earn the support of these respected law enforcement leaders and prosecutors who have dedicated their careers to public safety. They know what it takes to hold criminals accountable and keep ...
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How PSPS coverage steers public blame
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

How PSPS coverage steers public blame

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project How the media will drive coverage of PSPS I wrote a bit back about how the media polarize coverage of ICE and efforts to enforce immigration law. As part of that I pointed to being aware of media narratives, of the paradigms they have which guide their coverage and, in a feedback loop, how their readers see their reality. That newsletter is linked first below if you're wanting the context.I thought of that dynamic when I read a recent CPR article on businesses impacted by Xcel's Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). That article is second below, but the pertinent bit for me is the following quote (copied here with links intact):"Xcel’s “Public Safety Power Shutoffs” may become more common, as Colorado co...
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Colorado Lawmakers Lean on Fees to Sidestep TABOR Tax Limits
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Lean on Fees to Sidestep TABOR Tax Limits

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics More than 30 years after Colorado voters approved the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a growing share of state spending now falls outside the voter-approved limits intended to restrain government growth. A new report shows that fee-funded “enterprises” — state-owned businesses exempt from TABOR’s revenue cap — have expanded dramatically, raising worries that lawmakers are increasingly relying on fees, rather than taxes, to fund government programs. At its core, TABOR limits the government’s ability to raise revenue. Political subdivisions must obtain voter approval for any tax increase, and it requires dollars above the TABOR limit to be refunded to residents. Numerous efforts have been made to repeal TABOR since its enactment. As r...
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Red Flag Law Expansion Clears First Senate Committee On Party-Line Vote
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Red Flag Law Expansion Clears First Senate Committee On Party-Line Vote

By: Colette Bordelon | Denver7 Lawmakers voted along party lines after roughly four hours of passionate testimony from supporters and opponents. DENVER — On Tuesday evening, with a 3-2 vote along party lines, Colorado lawmakers advanced the first bill of the session that wrestles with the debate over gun violence prevention and the right to bear arms. The Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee heard roughly four hours of emotional — and at times, furious — testimony regarding Senate Bill 26-004 (SB26-004), which was introduced by State Senator Tom Sullivan, D — District 27. "My son, Alex, and 11 others were murdered in the Aurora theater massacre on July 20, 2012," Sullivan said. Sullivan's goal has been to ensure gun vi...
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A closet, a camera and a setup: Tina Peters assaulted in prison then thrown into solitary
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

A closet, a camera and a setup: Tina Peters assaulted in prison then thrown into solitary

By A.L. Goodwin | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On the evening of January 18, just after 9:00 p.m., Tina Peters was assaulted inside the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo, Colorado—not in a yard or a common area, but in a narrow janitor’s closet, out of view of surveillance cameras. Peters had been filling a portable swamp cooler, a task other inmates routinely refuse to do, even as the prison overheats in the dead of winter due to a failing HVAC system. To access the water tank, she pulled the unit into the cramped closet, positioning her head and upper body between the door and the cooler—leaving her physically pinned in a space barely wider than the machine itself. As Peters maneuvered the unit, another inmate approached in an agitated state. The wom...
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