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Colorado buys the socialist sandwich: Free lunches and fewer freedoms
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado buys the socialist sandwich: Free lunches and fewer freedoms

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Colorado Politics If you’re a fan of limited government, personal liberty, or educational choice, Tuesday night’s election results were a downer, just another one in a long line of depressing elections that has made Colorado more California than California. However, if you prefer a controlling elite deciding your fate, debt, class envy and teacher unions, it was just another victory in a decade’s long win streak. I’m curious how multi-billionaire nannyist Michael Bloomberg felt about his out-of-state investment. He put $5 million toward convincing Denver voters adults must stop buying Swisher Sweets cigars (which contains flavored tobacco, the new fentanyl). As adults drive by marijuana shops selling flavored edibles, liquor stores selling peach-inf...
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Six Colorado counties hike lodging taxes while two hold the line
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Six Colorado counties hike lodging taxes while two hold the line

By Rachael Wright | The Denver Gazette Six mountain communities across Colorado voted on Tuesday to raise their lodging taxes after the state legislature passed a bill allowing counties to triple such taxes and spend the money on a wider range of projects, including public infrastructure, childcare and housing for workers.  Lodging tax increases passed in Eagle, Gilpin, Hinsdale, Ouray, Routt and Park but failed in Chaffee and Custer counties. Rural mountain communities have struggled for years under the pressures of increased tourism. Supporters said the new state law would allow those communities to pass along some of their increased costs to visitors. Before the new law’s adoption, the tax revenue could be used only for tourism marketing and some worker housing. Some of...
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Federal Investigation into Colorado Wolf Death Underway, Questions Remain Over Legality of Importing Wolves
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Federal Investigation into Colorado Wolf Death Underway, Questions Remain Over Legality of Importing Wolves

By: Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife said an investigation is underway after a female gray wolf died in southwest Colorado last month. They received a mortality alert for wolf 2506 on Oct. 30. The wolf was part of a group of wolves from British Columbia that were brought to Colorado in January. Because gray wolves are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, it's illegal to harass, harm, or kill them without federal authorization. Officials said they will determine the wolf's cause of death following a necropsy and investigation. The reintroduction of gray wolves into Colorado has been a controversial one. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has spent about $3 million to relocate 30 wolves to the state since 2023, nearly four times...
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Colorado River reality check: The problem isn’t the compact, it’s overuse.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado River reality check: The problem isn’t the compact, it’s overuse.

By Steve Harris | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice This is my final article on the centennial of the Colorado River Compact (CRC) and the 75th anniversary of the Upper Colorado River Compact (UCRC), collectively referred to as the ‘Compacts.’” In water time, the Compacts are not that old. I have been in the water business in the Colorado River basin for 50 years – half of the CRC’s life – and watched how people viewed the implications of the Compacts over time. The Compacts have gone from background documents to front and center of water discussions. Lake Mead Fall 2022, Photo Credit: John Norton There has been a lot of hand-wringing in the media and some groups about the CRC being based on 15 million acre-feet (MAF), even though at the time there was an assumed aver...
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Polis Silent on Claims of RTD Using Public Tax Money for Political Gain
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

Polis Silent on Claims of RTD Using Public Tax Money for Political Gain

By Natalie Menten | Commentary, Colorado Politics A tax-hike campaign shouldn’t be funded with public tax dollars to hire political consultants — period. Yet Colorado law contains a loophole that allows public agencies to spend money campaigning under the guise of “education” or “engagement.” That’s exactly what the Front Range Passenger Rail District, an appointed board that includes 17 voting and seven non-voting members — many hand-picked by Gov. Jared Polis — intends to do. On Oct. 30, the district issued a public bid to hire a consultant team to create a “Friends of Front Range Rail” relational engagement platform. The bid spells out the goal: “build awareness, engagement, and grassroots momentum,” while giving supporters tools to “share campaign content,” “invite friends,” and ...
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Meet Senator Iman Jodeh: Zohran Mamdani’s Radical Colorado Counterpart
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Meet Senator Iman Jodeh: Zohran Mamdani’s Radical Colorado Counterpart

By Ahnaf Kalam | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice New York City has inflicted Zohran Mamdani on itself—the socialist assemblyman who parlayed his anti-Israel bile and Islamist sympathies into the mayoralty, all while whining about "racist attacks" from those who dare call out his jihadist flirtations. Colorado, not to be outdone in this parade of self-destruction, has Iman Jodeh: our own state senator, the so-called "trailblazer" whose Palestinian fixation and alliances with terror cheerleaders make her a mirror image of Mamdani's radicalism.  Both peddle the same poison—elevating Hamas's "narrative" over facts, hobnobbing with antisemites, and stoking divisions that rot the body politic. Now, with Mamdani's win and the progressive purge of Aurora's city council—race-baiti...
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Colorado Ethics Watch Alleges Misconduct by Democratic Legislators at Vail Retreat
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Ethics Watch Alleges Misconduct by Democratic Legislators at Vail Retreat

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado Common Cause filed complaints Wednesday with the state ethics commission against 12 Democratic state lawmakers, alleging they accepted funding from the “dark money” group One Main Street Colorado for a three-day retreat at a luxury hotel in Vail last October. The complaints said the lawmakers accepted illegal gifts from One Main Street that violate Amendment 41, the state’s ethics amendment, also known as Article 29 of the state Constitution. Under that amendment, lawmakers are not allowed to accept gifts exceeding $75 per person per year. But the cost of the rooms at the Sonnenalp Vail came in at about $25,000 for the lawmakers. The complaint claimed the hotel charges $316 to $500 per night. Common Cause also said th...
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Inside the 2025 Colorado elections: What voters rewarded, rejected—and why it matters
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Inside the 2025 Colorado elections: What voters rewarded, rejected—and why it matters

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board An analysis of what Colorado’s 2025 elections reveal about power, performance—and the path forward Colorado voters made their message plain this year, though not all spoke with one voice. In city halls and school races they favored those who stayed engaged, turned away those who coasted and reminded every leader that trust has an expiration date. Aurora: Jurinsky’s crime fight meets a political storm Aurora voters ended two decades of center-right control, electing progressives to every open seat and turning a 7–3 conservative majority into a 6–4 Democratic edge. In the at-large race, Rob Andrews and Alli Jackson won with 29,659 and 29,177 votes, while Danielle Jurinsky—a high-profile incumbent—finished third with 25,246. As ch...
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Grama’s Magnifying Glass: Refocusing the Voice of Colorado
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Grama’s Magnifying Glass: Refocusing the Voice of Colorado

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, RMV NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice While sitting in the waiting area at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, I heard the characteristic sounds of hospital life—beeping machines, nurses moving quietly, and families whispering prayers of hope. My wife, Sherrie, underwent brain surgery with advanced laser technology, prompting me to reflect on the importance of focus—its influence not just on medical results but on the core of our lives. As a boy, I often borrowed my grandmother’s magnifying glass — the one she used for reading mail, books, and sometimes the Bible and fine print. Outside in San Diego’s bright sun, where I lived during my teen years and until I joined the military, it became something different. I’d arrange dry leaves or pieces of pap...
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Colorado Counties Push Back on Polis Over Costly ‘Unfunded Mandates’
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Counties Push Back on Polis Over Costly ‘Unfunded Mandates’

By: Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 In Mesa County alone, Commissioner Bobbie Daniel tracked down almost $10 million a year in unfunded mandates. DENVER — More than 40 Colorado counties have voiced concerns to Governor Jared Polis about laws being passed without funding. They claim it's putting a burden on local governments, and in some cases, leave taxpayers to foot the bill. The concern started in Mesa County when Commissioner Bobbie Daniel started to notice "unfunded mandates" getting brought up constantly when discussing budget. "I asked, 'Anyone tracking this? Is this something that we're, collectively as an organization, tracking?' And no, and we weren't at the time," Daniel said. "And so I said, "Let's continue looking at this. Let's track it and see what we come up with.'"...
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