Rocky Mountain Voice

The Colorado Sun

Douglas Co. leaders weigh which three Highlands Ranch schools to close while prioritizing safety, continuity
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Douglas Co. leaders weigh which three Highlands Ranch schools to close while prioritizing safety, continuity

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun As Douglas County School District leaders and board members weigh closing three schools in Highlands Ranch, they’ll prioritize keeping together groups of students and staff from individual schools, ensuring student safety in traffic zones and analyzing current and future enrollment projections. Those are among the parameters the board approved Tuesday to guide them in determining which schools to close beginning in the 2026-27 school year from a list of 16 schools. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Colorado universities are now closer to paying athletes. But the public may never know how much
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado universities are now closer to paying athletes. But the public may never know how much

By Ben Markus | The Colorado Sun The University of Colorado Boulder would be able to pay football players and keep the individual dollar amounts secret under a bill that passed a key committee vote Thursday in the state House of Representatives. A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Education Committee advanced House Bill 1041 even as they continued to express concern about a provision of the measure exempting the contracts between players from public disclosure through the Colorado Open Records Act, known as CORA. “CORA is a really important tool, along with public procurement law, to help the public understand how money is being spent from its public institutions,” Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, said before casting a “no” vote on the bill, which passed 9-4 late ...
How Colorado’s first agriculture-focused charter school is giving students tools for life
Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

How Colorado’s first agriculture-focused charter school is giving students tools for life

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun The last thing the rancher from Arkansas wandering through the cattle barn at the National Western Stock Show thought he’d encounter was the group of kids surrounding him dressed in the un-ranchiest clothing. You could see it in his face.  So it took a minute for 10th grader Kailey Seymour, in a flannel, jeans and sneakers, to gather the courage to ask if he’d let them interview him while her classmate Gianni Montoya, in a fuzzy black-and-white Raiders poncho that grazed his knees, recorded the conversation on a phone.  Lucky for them — Philip Moon of Moon Herefords in Harrison, Arkansas — obliged. He listened to Seymour’s question — Do you sell your cattle at stock shows? — and gave a thoughtful answer. He said he raises cow-ca...
Colorado’s high egg prices are blamed on bird flu, but there’s more to the story
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado’s high egg prices are blamed on bird flu, but there’s more to the story

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun Walk into nearly any grocery store at the moment and the price for a dozen eggs may shock you — if any eggs are in stock at all. More than anything else, blame bird flu, say Colorado egg farmers, the grocery stores, the state agriculture department and nearly anyone involved in getting fresh eggs to consumers. The contagious virus can wipe out entire flocks of egg-laying chickens in days. Coloradans already went through this three years ago when egg prices spiked after 85% of the state’s egg-laying hens were destroyed. There was also high inflation, the state’s looming cage-free law and shortages at pretty much every grocery store.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
King Soopers hired line-crossers to keep stores open during strike
Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

King Soopers hired line-crossers to keep stores open during strike

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun As day one of a planned two-week walkout began, about a dozen King Soopers employees were up before dawn on Thursday, pacing in front of their store in Centennial. Some walked the perimeter on the sidewalks as cars passed by. All carried white signs with red lettering asking customers to not patronize their employer. Their union representative with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 forbade them to speak to a reporter, even as one employee questioned why not? Why aren’t they allowed to tell the people why they are outside the store instead of inside? Union officials said they would talk during a news conference later in the day. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Anti-gun Senate Bill 3 loses another Democrat as Sen. Marc Snyder says he will vote no
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Anti-gun Senate Bill 3 loses another Democrat as Sen. Marc Snyder says he will vote no

By Jesse Paul and Lucas Brady Woods | The Colorado Sun A Democratic state senator who signed on as a cosponsor of Senate Bill 3, which would ban the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns that can accept detachable ammunition magazines, says he will vote against the measure. Sen. Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs said he didn’t fully understand its effect when he agreed to attach his name to it. Snyder’s reversal doesn’t mean the legislation won’t pass. It still has enough supporters in the Senate to clear the chamber, barring more than one other defection. The bill is scheduled to get a preliminary vote in the Senate on Friday. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Why lawmakers are afraid 24k Coloradans may disappear in the next budget year, and with them $77M
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Why lawmakers are afraid 24k Coloradans may disappear in the next budget year, and with them $77M

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Nearly 24,000 Coloradans are set to disappear from the state’s population this year — at least as far as the state budget is concerned. It’s no mere illusion. The vanishing act will have real consequences for public services, to the tune of $77 million in required cuts, if lawmakers don’t take action to prevent it. The issue dates all the way back to when the legislature first implemented the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1993, the year after voters added it to the state constitution. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
House Bill 1133 aims to raise state’s minimum age to buy firearm ammunition to 21
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

House Bill 1133 aims to raise state’s minimum age to buy firearm ammunition to 21

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Colorado is poised to raise the minimum age to buy firearm ammunition to 21 and require that retailers keep bullets in an enclosed display or behind a counter where customers could not access them without assistance.  The changes would be made through House Bill 1133, which was introduced last week by Democrats in the Colorado legislature. The measure is promoted as a way to align the rules for ammunition sales in Colorado with the state’s new law prohibiting anyone younger than 21 from purchasing any gun. Right now, someone can purchase rifle and shotgun ammunition at 18 and handgun ammunition at 21. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
How the Colorado Labor Peace Act came to be and why unions want so desperately to get rid of it
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

How the Colorado Labor Peace Act came to be and why unions want so desperately to get rid of it

By Bente Birkeland and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun One of the headline bills of Colorado’s 2025 legislative session would rewrite the state’s 80-year-old rule on labor organizing, making it easier for unions to require that all employees at a company pay fees for collective bargaining representation, regardless of whether they are members of the union. Right now, it takes a simple majority vote for workers to form a union. But achieving so-called union security, where all employees at a company are required to pay for representation, is a much taller task.  The Colorado Labor Peace Act requires a 75% vote of approval before a union can even negotiate with an employer over imposing union security. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Nebraska threatens to condemn land in Colorado for a canal to carry away South Platte River water
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Nebraska threatens to condemn land in Colorado for a canal to carry away South Platte River water

By Parker Yamasaki | The Colorado Sun Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sent a letter to county commissioners in northeastern Colorado earlier this week pledging to defend their rights if Nebraska tries to condemn land for the proposed Perkins County Canal Project. Six landowners in Sedgwick County, where the South Platte River flows out of the state, received notices of condemnation from the state of Nebraska on Jan. 17, offering $1.4 million for about 650 acres of land, according to Nebraska Public Media.  The landowners were given 90 days to sell or face eminent domain. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN