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Proposed state budget could cut $110 million from already pothole-laden highways
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Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Proposed state budget could cut $110 million from already pothole-laden highways

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Colorado’s ability to build and fix the highways that are key to transporting goods and people could take a $110 million hit in the next fiscal year under budget-balancing proposals being offered by Gov. Jared Polis. The two-tiered reductions — a permanent cut of $65 million per year and a short-term cut of $49 million in other funds — are part of $638 million in expenditure cuts and revenue boosts Polis has suggested to deal with rising Medicaid costs and falling inflation. And while officials acknowledge that such spending rollbacks must happen somewhere in the budget, both legislators and Colorado Transportation Commission members warn these cuts could be particularly deleterious for transportation safety. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE SUM...
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Colorado bought a Denver railyard for $50 million. 3 years later, it could be sold
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Approved, Denverite, State

Colorado bought a Denver railyard for $50 million. 3 years later, it could be sold

By Nathaniel Minor | Denverite When the state of Colorado bought Burnham Yard in 2021, it had big plans for the old railyard south of downtown Denver. The state expected the roughly 60-acre site could accommodate the expansion of Interstate 25, new RTD light rail tracks, and even the planned Front Range passenger rail line. "This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities,” a high-ranking state transportation official said then. Fifty million dollars later, state transportation officials say they don’t actually need most of the land and are preparing it for sale. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVERITE
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API’s Lynn Granger named as new president and CEO of Colorado Oil and Gas Association
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Approved, gazette.com, State

API’s Lynn Granger named as new president and CEO of Colorado Oil and Gas Association

By Scott Weiser | Denver Gazette Lynn Granger, the Colorado regional director of the American Petroleum Institute, will become President and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Granger will officially start in January and replace departing President and CEO Dan Haley. Granger spent more than two decades working in energy policy and strategic communications leadership, including five years in the U.S. Army. Granger served as the press officer for the United States Army Europe commanding general and was the spokesperson for United States Army Europe. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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As many lawmakers are on break, Colorado teens participate in government leadership
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

As many lawmakers are on break, Colorado teens participate in government leadership

By Gabrielle Franklin | Fox 31 News While many government bodies are on break for the holiday week, one group of local teenagers is meeting downtown to go over their legislative proposals. For the 70th year, teenagers from across Colorado are gathering to work through the mock legislation that they drafted themselves via the YMCA of Metro Denver’s Youth in Government program. High-school-aged Coloradans are working through a mock version of every aspect of the legislative process. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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The irony of Colorado obtaining gray wolves from British Columbia
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

The irony of Colorado obtaining gray wolves from British Columbia

By Lindy Browning, Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice While Colorado wildlife managers have been trying to figure out where to get the next crop of 10 to 15 wolves to import into Colorado, British Columbia, Canada, has been trying to cull their population of wolves because of the predation of caribou that led to the endangerment of the herds. After the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington rescinded their offer to send gray wolves to Colorado in late 2024, state wildlife officials were left scrambling to figure out where to procure the voter-mandated wolves for the repopulation efforts in Colorado. As a result of the Colville Tribe withdrawal, Colorado has, ironically, reached out to secure a deal with British Columbia to take some of their unwanted ...
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Recount ordered in Colorado House District 16, expected soon in District 19
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Recount ordered in Colorado House District 16, expected soon in District 19

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The first of two election recounts critical to Republicans eliminating the Democratic supermajority in the Colorado House has been ordered by Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office. After the tabulation of 41,276 votes in El Paso County's state House District 16 race, Republican Rebecca Keltie was six votes ahead of Democrat Stephanie Vigil, by a margin of 2 one-hundredths of 1 percent of the vote, or 0.02%. State law requires a recount of an election with a margin of victory between two candidates of half of 1 percent or less, or a 0.5% margin. "Pursuant to Colorado law, the percentage of vote totals between the candidates requires the secretary of state to order a recount," the order from Griswold's office reads. The process calls for a ...
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Amid opposition to newly approved mountain lion plan, CPW commission urges respect for employees
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Amid opposition to newly approved mountain lion plan, CPW commission urges respect for employees

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees can’t catch a break when it comes to their work on wolf reintroduction or the management of mountain lions.  And that can’t be good for their health, members of the Parks and Wildlife Commission say, or their bandwidth to manage the other 950-plus wildlife species in Colorado.  “I feel sorry for the people in this agency that are working on some of this,” said Marie Haskett, who represents outfitters on the commission, referring to CPW’s rocky first year of wolf reintroduction. “We put a tremendous amount of hours and a tremendous amount of pressure on them for everything we do. You can see it in every one of their faces.”  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife releases five more bear cubs
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Approved, Out There Colorado, State

Colorado Parks and Wildlife releases five more bear cubs

By Piper Russell | Out There Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) recently released two sets of bear cubs (five total) after they spent the summer at the Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Del Norte. The bear cubs were orphaned in mid-July near Durango. They were sent to Frisco Creek, which was home to 25 bear cubs from across Colorado this summer. These three bears were released on forest service land outside Pagosa Springs. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO
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Air Quality Commission will hold hearings under new procedural rules
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Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Air Quality Commission will hold hearings under new procedural rules

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance In an effort to create more public participation in rulemaking and to improve transparency in the process, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted Friday to overhaul its procedural rules for the first time since 1998. The new rules will extend from three months to four months the average time around most rulemakings, will restructure the way that parties to such hearings file motions and will attempt to define the scope of rulemakings more clearly from the start. They will become applicable in August, meaning that business and environmental groups that interact frequently with the AQCC will see the first changes by February or March in preparation for hearings later in the year. While technical in nature, the changes are significa...
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Lawmakers grill Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold about possible security breach
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Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Lawmakers grill Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold about possible security breach

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Colorado lawmakers grilled Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Friday at the state capitol about her handling of a possible security breach. Hundreds of passwords to election equipment were leaked days before Election Day and could have severely impacted half of Colorado's counties.   The passwords were for voting equipment across the state, and they were posted on the Colorado Secretary of State's website. There are still a lot of questions about what happened, which is why Griswold says she has hired an outside firm to investigate. The Denver District Attorney's Office is also looking into the leak to determine if a crime was committed. Griswold, a Democrat, went before the Joint Budget Committee Friday to talk about funding, but m...
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