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CPW Responds to Claims It Violated Federal Guidelines in Wolf Transfer From Canada
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

CPW Responds to Claims It Violated Federal Guidelines in Wolf Transfer From Canada

By: Karen Morfitt | CBS Colorado Updated on: November 13, 2025 / 9:24 PM MST / CBS Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife is moving forward with their wolf reintroduction plan even as they face additional challenges around where the wolves will come from. This comes after a former U.S. representative for Colorado who, along with other stakeholders, raised concerns that CPW may have violated state law by importing wolves from Canada. "I would say that no one has the authority to violate the Endangered Species Act. Section 9 clearly states that it is a violation of the Act to import wolves into the United States," said Lopez in a statement to CBS Colorado. "Section 10 requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue an exemption to Section 9 by publishing that exempti...
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Colorado Moves to Enforce Major Utility Emissions Cuts Despite Cost Concerns
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Moves to Enforce Major Utility Emissions Cuts Despite Cost Concerns

By: Shannon Ogden | Denver7 The PUC will require utilities like Xcel Energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41% by 2035. DENVER — Environmental groups are celebrating a win in Colorado after the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) agreed to tougher standards on greenhouse gas emissions from Colorado utilities like Xcel Energy. At a meeting Wednesday, commissioners decided to require utilities to reduce these pollutants by 41% by 2035. Sierra Club Colorado was one of the groups arguing for these higher reductions. "I think we should feel proud that we pushed them on this. I think we're really happy with the 41% because it keeps us moving," said Sarah Tresseder, energy organizer of Sierra Club Colorado.  In 2021, Colorado passed the first-in-the-nation "Clean Heat Law" r...
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Child-care costs surge under Biden-era rule and state law, forcing counties to freeze CCCAP
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Child-care costs surge under Biden-era rule and state law, forcing counties to freeze CCCAP

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s child-care system is staring down a financial hit driven by new federal mandates from the Biden administration. The rules were pitched as a way to make child care more affordable nationwide, but they shift the cost burden onto states—leaving Colorado to absorb millions in unfunded requirements at a time when access is already tight. A new analysis from the Common Sense Institute shows what this means for families: fewer available slots, county-level enrollment freezes, and real consequences for Colorado’s workforce. The change came from the Federal 2024 CCDF Final Rule that rewrites how states run child-care assistance programs. Under the new rule, families can’t be asked to pay more than 7 percent of their income,...
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Caven’s report exposes how failed policies fueled Colorado crime and created a safety crisis
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Caven’s report exposes how failed policies fueled Colorado crime and created a safety crisis

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Elizabeth Caven's Crisis of Safety report merits serious attention. It is grounded in empirical data and addresses one of the most urgent public policy failures facing Colorado: the collapse of public‑safety outcomes amid rising crime, diminished law‑enforcement presence, and liberal reform policies that weaken accountability. According to Advance Colorado’s public‑safety section, the state is “in the midst of a crime tsunami,” with property theft and violent crime at 25‑year highs. 1. Data‑Driven Approach The report builds on strong factual foundations: credible crime‑rate increases (for both property and violent crime), sharp rises in auto theft, and clear indicators of diminished police per capita. For example, the Common ...
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Polis Budget Plan Sparks Bipartisan Pushback Over Medicaid Costs and Pinnacol Gamble
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Budget Plan Sparks Bipartisan Pushback Over Medicaid Costs and Pinnacol Gamble

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis’ proposed state budget for 2026-27 drew sharp criticism Wednesday from the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, as lawmakers from both parties criticized plans to slow Medicaid spending growth and to rely on a deal to privatize Pinnacol Assurance. This quasi-state agency is the state’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance. Polis has already cut $79 million in the 2025-26 budget, primarily for rates paid to Medicaid providers in dental, behavioral health and services to children with disabilities. The governor’s 2026-27 budget proposes an additional $197.7 million in general fund dollars, or about 5.6%, in the Medicaid program. But the projected growth is at 11.9%, or $631.4 million. He has also brought in...
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Colorado Safe2Tell Reports Hit Record High as Student Concerns Surge
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Colorado Safe2Tell Reports Hit Record High as Student Concerns Surge

By Jacob Factor | KDVR Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado students made a record number of reports last school year to Safe2Tell, which the Colorado Attorney General’s Office said revealed “progress and pain” as students trust the program more but continue to face challenges. The 2024-2025 school year saw students make 31,177 reports to Safe2Tell, an 11% increase from the previous year and the highest number of reports since the organization launched in 2004. “This report tells two stories at once,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a press release. “It shows incredible courage and compassion. Students are stepping up to protect one another in record numbers. But it’s also a reminder that our kids are not okay. These reports reflect real distress, and our collective respo...
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Suspect Arrested After Alleged Threat Forces Closure Of Two Colorado Schools
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

Suspect Arrested After Alleged Threat Forces Closure Of Two Colorado Schools

By Jacob Factor | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Costilla County Sheriff’s Office said a suspect is in custody for allegedly making a threat that closed two school districts in the county, one of which has closed for the whole week. The Sierra Grande School District in Blanca and the Centennial School District in San Luis Monday night both reported a “potential threat” that closed their schools Tuesday. Sierra Grande has about 300 students, and Centennial has about 180 students, according to the Colorado Department of Education, and Costilla County in southern Colorado along the New Mexico border has about 3,500 residents. Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez on Wednesday told FOX31 that the threat came from a man, later identified as suspect David Lee Land...
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Seven States Fail to Agree on Colorado River Plan Before Key Deadline
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Seven States Fail to Agree on Colorado River Plan Before Key Deadline

By: Dillon Thomas | CBS Colorado The future of the Colorado River, and its use by seven states that rely on it, is still up in the air after negotiators failed to meet a deadline set by the federal government. The Upper Basin and Lower Basin states were asked to have a plan set for the future of the river by Tuesday night, as the current plans are set to expire by the end of 2026. The river is heavily utilized by the Lower Basin states, which make up Arizona, California and Nevada. Otherwise largely deserts, the Colorado River allows for both communities and agriculture to thrive in those states. The Upper Basin, consisting of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, comparatively rely less heavily on the Colorado River even as populations continue to rise in those states. "We made an ag...
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A mother, a signature and a shutdown: The Waltmans’ five-year battle for answers
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A mother, a signature and a shutdown: The Waltmans’ five-year battle for answers

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice In the photo Vira Waltman is 91, holding her great-granddaughter Everly. “She was joyful and funny,” said her granddaughter Lauren Tacheny. “She was teasing Everly about touching her Shirley Temple doll—that was her personality: protective, spunky and sharp-witted.” Vira Jean Waltman with her great-granddaughter Everly, weeks before Colorado’s COVID-19 lockdown. Up until the year before she died, Vira was still playing piano and organ at the All Saints Lutheran Church chapel in Brush every Christmas Eve service. “Music was everything to her,” said her grandson Ian Waltman. A law that disappeared behind glass For years, her son John Waltman carried his mother’s notarized Medical Durable Power of Attorney. “It was supp...
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Weiser’s Anti-Trump Agenda Comes at Taxpayer Expense
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Weiser’s Anti-Trump Agenda Comes at Taxpayer Expense

By: Rob Natelson | Complete Colorado Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says he favors trashing Colorado’s legislative reapportionment system to get more Democrat members of Congress elected. His statement offers some useful instruction in how, when conservatives make political deals with the left, it usually comes back to bite them. The current reapportionment system resulted from such a deal. It was made only seven years ago and ratified overwhelmingly by the voters. Now Weiser wants to renege. The Colorado background In 2018, Coloradans voted for Amendments Y and Z. Amendment Y transferred the job of drawing congressional districts from the state legislature to an independent commission. Amendment Z did the same for state legislative districts. I ...
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