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New wolf pack arrival in Western Colorado is just in time for calving season
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New wolf pack arrival in Western Colorado is just in time for calving season

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice On Saturday, Jan. 11, Colorado Parks and Wildlife put out a press release that they were going to begin trapping and transporting operations to bring up to 15 Canadian Grey Wolves from British Columbia, Canada, to Western Colorado. One day later, wolves were on the ground in Garfield County.  A plane, operated by Lighthawk Conservation Flying, is the same plane that CPW leased in December 2023 to bring wolves from Oregon to the state. The aircraft left Prince St. George, British Columbia, early in the morning of Jan. 12, and landed at Eagle County Airport at about 4 p.m., where witnesses on the ground saw CPW vehicles equipped with a trailer and animal crates leave the airport and head west on Interstate 70. Eagle Ai...
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Lawmakers have introduced 10 education-focused bills thus far in 75th session
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Lawmakers have introduced 10 education-focused bills thus far in 75th session

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers hit the ground running as the 75th General Assembly opened last week, introducing more than 130 bills on the first day. Ten of those bills were education-related. The bills cover diverse topics, from workforce development in natural resources to food waste reduction in schools.  Below is an overview of the education bills, their prime sponsors and some pros and cons to be considered. 1. HB25-1078: Forestry & Firefighter Workforce & Education Prime Sponsors: House: Rep. Andrew Boesenecker (D, District 53)  and Rep. Elizabeth Velasco (D, District 57)  Senate: Sen. Janice Marchman (D, District 15)  and Sen. Lisa Cutter (D, District 20)  Summary: Aims to enhance workforce developmen...
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‘You can’t win them all,’ but poll by Rep. Barron finds legislators (mostly) believe in Broncos
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‘You can’t win them all,’ but poll by Rep. Barron finds legislators (mostly) believe in Broncos

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice If ever there was a vote that should have earned 100% unity between the majority and minority in the Colorado House, this was it. Rep. Carlos Barron, a Republican from District 48 in Weld and Adams Counties, got the first full week of the 75th legislative session started by reflecting on a Denver Broncos wild card playoff loss and the team's future Monday, as he called for approval of the Colorado House journal. "As we all know, our Denver Broncos were eliminated yesterday," Barron began, with a disapproving gasp from House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Democrat. Barron continued, "It is a bittersweet day, but as famous Mexican wrestlers say, 'You can't win them all.' " In the spirit of the Broncos having their best season in a decade behi...
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As 75th session gets started, GOP opens caucus meetings, Democrats behind closed doors
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Approved, completecolorado.com, State

As 75th session gets started, GOP opens caucus meetings, Democrats behind closed doors

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado As the 2025 legislative session gets underway it appears majority Democrats will continue practicing closed door governance, while Republicans have pledged to be more transparent, saying Colorado voters have right to know what is going on under the gold dome of the state capitol. Both Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie (D-Dillon) and Senate President Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder) have made it clear that Democrat caucus meetings will no longer be open to the public or the media. The two started closing meetings last August after a new bill they both supported went into law that exempted the legislature from portions of Colorado’s open meeting laws. Senate Bill 24-157 was passed after another bill sponsored by Democrats allowing legislators to block...
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House Republicans respond to Gov. Polis on his ‘State of the State’
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House Republicans respond to Gov. Polis on his ‘State of the State’

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It will remain to be seen how closely Democrat Gov. Jared Polis aligns in the 75th legislative session with Colorado House Republicans on a variety of priority issues to the minority caucus. During a long address in which he noted Lord of the Rings, referenced Star Trek and Star Wars, and imitated Taylor Swift, Polis found a bit of time to borrow some of the key issues of the day from the minority party's playbook, including affordability, public safety, education and brief mentions of agriculture. “Colorado families are facing significant challenges, and I appreciate the governor’s recognition that affordability remains one of the greatest concerns for Coloradans," House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese said following Polis' address to the join...
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Coloradans are clamoring for ‘unity, action and hope’ Minority Leader Lundeen tells Senate
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Coloradans are clamoring for ‘unity, action and hope’ Minority Leader Lundeen tells Senate

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It's a tough time to be a Coloradan, Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen summarized for the Colorado Senate as the 75th General Assembly opened this week. "In recent years, our state has been burdened with policies that are at best heavy-handed, at worst suffocating," he said. Such as, Lundeen said, regulations, fees and the hated 10-cent per-bag fee each time a Coloradan goes to the mini-mart or the grocery store. They are policies that "weigh heavily on the families we are here to serve," Lundeen said. Some have estimated the 10-cent bag fee is a $500 annual tax for the average family. The Republican warned that economic anxieties of Coloradans are real, tangible and growing. "We have passed policies that overreach," he said. "Laws th...
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‘This is unacceptable’: Review of former CBI DNA scientist’s 10,786 cases causes rape evidence logjam
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

‘This is unacceptable’: Review of former CBI DNA scientist’s 10,786 cases causes rape evidence logjam

By Jenny Deam | Colorado Politics, via The Gazette The time to process a rape kit in Colorado has now nearly doubled, leaving victims in limbo due to the continuing scandal at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the director of the embattled agency told lawmakers Wednesday. While in November 2023 it took an average of 275 days to analyze the DNA evidence in a sexual assault case at the forensic lab, it now takes on average 517 days, admitted CBI Director Chris Schaefer in testimony before the legislature's joint judiciary committee. "This is unacceptable," Schaefer acknowledged. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Colorado firefighters head west to help battle devastating California wildfires
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado firefighters head west to help battle devastating California wildfires

By O'Dell Isaac | Colorado Politics, via The Gazette A group of Colorado firefighters has deployed to California to join an interagency effort to battle several wildfires currently ravaging the southern part of the state. At least five fires, covering more than 45 square miles in the greater Los Angeles area, have killed at least five people, destroyed at least 10,000 structures, and forced nearly 180,000 people from their homes, according to multiple reports. As California crews work to get these blazes under control, the state’s emergency management agencies have requested aid from several other states, including Colorado. According to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, engines and crews from Castle Rock, Four Mile, Stratmoor Hills, Hartsel, and Southern Arkan...
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SB3 would ban manufacture, sale of semiauto guns that accept detachable magazines
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

SB3 would ban manufacture, sale of semiauto guns that accept detachable magazines

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The purchase, sale and manufacture of semiautomatic guns that accept detachable ammunition magazines would be banned in Colorado under a bill introduced Wednesday by Democrats on the first day of the state legislature’s 2025 lawmaking term.  Senate Bill 3 would affect many pistols and rifles, whose manufacturers don’t appear to make versions of the weapons without removable magazines. The legislation also would outlaw rapid-fire trigger activators and bump stocks, which can make a semiautomatic firearm fire at a rate similar to that of an automatic weapon. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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CPW Commission denies petition to pause wolf introduction on 10-1 vote
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CPW Commission denies petition to pause wolf introduction on 10-1 vote

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In a highly-emotional hearing that lasted more than six hours, Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners took testimony from nearly 100 people concerning whether or not the Commission should vote to approve or deny a petition to pause the wolf introduction program, until all of the mitigation tools were in place and funded. The petition was submitted by groups in 63 of the 64 Colorado counties, and included organizations such as the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Farm Bureau, Club 20 and Colorado Wool Growers Association, as well as several local livestock and stockgrowers' associations. Although Commission Chairman Dallas May, from Southeastern Colorado, warned the atte...
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