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West Slope’s Conscience v. Denver’s Memory
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GregWalcher.com, Commentary, State, Top Stories

West Slope’s Conscience v. Denver’s Memory

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com Washington Evening Star humorist Philander Chase Johnson created a great character named Senator Sorghum. A 1902 piece called “A Delicate Distinction” had one character saying, “That friend of yours seems to have a clear conscience.” Senator Sorghum answered, “No, not a clear conscience; merely a bad memory.” A convenient memory is common in politics. And current negotiations regarding the Colorado River District’s attempt to purchase the Shoshone water rights from Excel Energy provide a perfect example. Water providers up and down the Front Range, and especially Denver Water, seem to be conveniently forgetting the agreement made more than a decade ago – to support the purchase, and even help finance it. No water rights question i...
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Voters face a $56 million question: Should “free lunch for all” come from your refund?
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Independence Institute, Approved, State

Voters face a $56 million question: Should “free lunch for all” come from your refund?

By Nash Herman and Jake Fogleman | Independence Institute Executive Summary In 2022, Proposition FF created Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program, offering free school lunches to all students regardless of family income, funded by capping state income tax deductions for households earning over $300,000.  The program’s costs far exceeded expectations in its first year, creating a $56 million shortfall despite earlier warnings that it was likely to be unsustainable.  Proposition LL would let the state permanently retain and spend excess revenue from Prop FF, exempting it from TABOR refund limits going forward.  Proposition MM would institute another income tax hike by further lowering deduction caps, while also diverting some new revenue to fun...
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A ‘Trail of Broken Lives’ Tells the Real Story of Colorado’s Legalized Marijuana
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

A ‘Trail of Broken Lives’ Tells the Real Story of Colorado’s Legalized Marijuana

By: Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette Society once vilified marijuana. Later generations of hipsters laughed off the stigma.  Now, mounting evidence has brought things full circle — vindicating the psychoactive drug’s original critics after all.  Today’s high-potency pot — legalized for recreational use in Colorado in 2012 and in over two dozen other states since then — is leaving a trail of destruction. Whether it’s marijuana’s devastating impact on the mental health of our youth, or on the safety of our highways, it’s drawing overdue scrutiny that is justified by hard data. Pot’s toll in traffic fatalities in particular is back in the news. A new study by Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, looked at driver autopsy results from car crashe...
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Colorado Justices Say Old Statute Didn’t Cover AI-Generated Child Pornography
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Justices Say Old Statute Didn’t Cover AI-Generated Child Pornography

By: Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette Colorado law prior to 2025 did not criminalize, as a means of sexually exploiting a child, the use of artificial intelligence to generate nude images depicting real children, the state Supreme Court concluded on Monday. The legislature acted this year to clearly establish a crime for someone to have or share fake, yet “highly realistic,” images of children that are explicitly sexual. However, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a teenager’s 2023 creation of “deepfake” porn was also illegal at the time. No, it was not, the court concluded. “Unfortunately, it took our legislature time to catch up to the recent advances in generative-AI technology,” wrote Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. in the Oct. 13 opinion. Therefore...
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La Jara land deal raises questions about public access and state priorities
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

La Jara land deal raises questions about public access and state priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Selling La Jara to conservation groups and the Feds, including a swap with CPW? I had a reader send me a heads up on the State Land Board’s (SLB) La Jara land deal. The reader had heard about it in a CPW meeting because CPW could be involved in the land swap. I wanted to push this out quick so you have a chance to sign up and speak (or email) prior to the October 15th State Land Board meeting. As such, I can’t go into huge amounts of depth or summarize. I can give you the information that’s publicly out there so you can look and decide for yourself. As a quick overview, the SLB is charged with management and leasing of the state’s publicly-owned lands with the mission of getting as much revenue from them as the...
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A Seat at the Table, Not Just a Chair in the Room
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American Policy, Approved, Commentary, State

A Seat at the Table, Not Just a Chair in the Room

By Aimee Tooker | Commentary, American Policy Center Coordination is the key to harmonizing land management plans and the strategies of the communities that live and work on federal public lands From the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado the Dolores River flows through Montezuma, Dolores, San Miguel, Montrose and Mesa counties until the state line with Utah.  National and local environmental and rewilding advocates had pushed for almost 50 years for a Wild and Scenic designation on the Dolores River.  It never went through because over the course of the years it was decided by the generational locals, municipalities and tax districts that that was not the correct way to manage the river. The talk of Wild and Scenic designation (most restrictive designation for a river) cau...
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Western Water Crisis Deepens as Key Colorado River Decisions Loom
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The Fence Post, Approved, State

Western Water Crisis Deepens as Key Colorado River Decisions Loom

By Ali Longwell | The Fence Post Western Slope elected officials, water managers, engineers and conservationists met in Grand Junction on Friday, Oct. 3, all focused on one thing: the uncertain future of the Colorado River. “Water users, as a lot, tend to crave certainty, and that certainty seems more and more elusive these days,” said Peter Fleming, general counsel for the Colorado River District, at this year’s annual seminar hosted by the River District. Andy Mueller, the River District’s general manager, said the Colorado River Basin was “at a crossroads.” While the seminar broached many of the challenges and opportunities facing those who rely on the Colorado River, most discussions came back to two looming decisions that will dictate how the future looks for the 40 millio...
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Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors

By Taylor Dolven and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Opportunity Caucus, considered among the more moderate Democrats in the legislature, organized the event. The caucus was formed as a nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors. At least 17 Democratic state lawmakers gathered with lobbyists during a weekend retreat at a Vail hotel organized by the nonprofit Colorado Opportunity Caucus. The two-day gathering included “educational panels” and discussions, according to state Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat who is chair of the caucus formed in January as a nonprofit. She said the purpose of the event was to “get a group of pragmatic, diverse legislators together to really talk about our goals for our caucus based on what we think the Colorado people really want ...
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Colorado’s HB25‑1250 shifts gun conversation into schools—what could go wrong with teachers filing ERPOs?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s HB25‑1250 shifts gun conversation into schools—what could go wrong with teachers filing ERPOs?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project HB25-1250’s required materials for schools are now online A bill passed into law in the regular legislative session this year required, quoting the bill’s fiscal note from the first link below “The bill requires the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to post or link to certain materials on its website for local education providers, including school districts, boards of cooperative services, district charter schools, institute charter schools, approved facility schools, and the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind.”It also requires that, again quoting the fiscal note, “local education providers must distribute these materials to caregivers of elementary and ...
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Colorado Could See Thousands Furloughed if D.C. Gridlock Persists
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado Could See Thousands Furloughed if D.C. Gridlock Persists

By Spencer Kristensen | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — The United States government has been shut down since Oct. 1, with Congress unable to agree on funding for 2026. On day eight of the shutdown, many federal agencies have deferred to contingency plans for funding, which means that many employees have been furloughed. Those employees will not receive a paycheck until a deal is struck, and might not receive backpay if a budget is approved. A study by SmartAsset, a financial advisory agency, estimated how many jobs will be affected in each state. SmartAsset described its methodology as follows: “SmartAsset ranked 50 states based on the estimated per-capita furloughs due to the October 2025 federal government shutdown. Data for federal employment comes from the FedScope Employmen...
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