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The Colorado Sun

Evans: ‘America must prioritize deporting gangsters, not grandmas’
Approved, Commentary, The Colorado Sun

Evans: ‘America must prioritize deporting gangsters, not grandmas’

By Gabe Evans | Commentary, The Colorado Sun In a recent viral moment, the mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston, threatened to deploy local cops and thousands of Coloradans for a “Tiananmen Square moment” to stop the next administration’s strong immigration policies.  As a Coloradan, former Denver-area cop, grandson of an immigrant family and the next congressman for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, I strongly support a secure border and strong immigration policies, including immediate deportation for criminals or freeloaders.  For those who are contributing to our society, not causing problems, and want to legally join the American dream, I do not support immediate deportation or family separation. As the grandson of an immigrant from Chihuahua, I know that Am...
Hunting groups suing CPW commissioners over op-ed ahead of Prop. 127 election
State, The Colorado Sun

Hunting groups suing CPW commissioners over op-ed ahead of Prop. 127 election

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Two influential hunting organizations are suing members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission saying they violated Colorado Open Meetings Law and spread false information about mountain lion hunting prior to last month’s vote on Proposition 127, which would have banned the hunting and trapping of mountain lions, lynx and bobcats.   When the proposition failed by a margin of less than 5 percentage points, it marked the first time since 1992 that Colorado voters rejected a wildlife ballot proposal and stirred hope among some of a bridging of Colorado’s urban-rural divide.  But Safari Club International and The Sportsmens Alliance Foundation sued commissioners Jessica Beaulieu and Jack Murphy as well as former com...
Supermarket super merger that would have impacted 105 grocery stores in Colorado collapses
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Supermarket super merger that would have impacted 105 grocery stores in Colorado collapses

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun A day after two judges in two lawsuits ruled against the proposed $24.6 billion supermarket merger, Albertsons Companies said Wednesday it would end its merger agreement with Kroger. “Given the recent federal and state court decisions to block our proposed merger with Kroger, we have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement. We are deeply disappointed in the courts’ decisions,” Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said. At the same time, the Idaho grocery chain, which owns 105 Safeway and Albertsons grocery stores in Colorado, said it filed a lawsuit against Kroger for breach of merger agreement accusing the larger supermarket chain “repeatedly refusing to divest assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignoring regulators’ feedbac...
Colorado experts predict what the state’s economy will look like in 2025
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado experts predict what the state’s economy will look like in 2025

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun The Herculean effort of predicting how the current year has gone and what will happen to Colorado’s economy in next year took 140 local experts from every major industry sector, meetings since September and dozens of staffers at University of Colorado’s business school putting in roughly 1,000 hours of work.  On Monday, it was summed up with a sentence: “The economy is on stable footing.” The full 171-page report is also available online for those who prefer to dive deeper, but on Monday, senior economist Richard L. Wobbekind, the faculty director of the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business, shared highlights during the annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook & Forum event. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO ...
Colorado Parks & Wildlife vows to do better job at Rd. 2 of wolf reintroduction starting in January
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Parks & Wildlife vows to do better job at Rd. 2 of wolf reintroduction starting in January

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife is vowing to do a better job at wolf reintroduction ahead of the planned release of 15 gray wolves from British Columbia starting in January.  That’s according to a joint news release by CPW and the Colorado Department of Agriculture in which CPW director Jeff Davis said “staff and partners have been working hard, learning and adapting through the first year of restoration in Colorado” and that they’re “coming back with a stronger conflict minimization program” for the well-being of ranchers, their livestock and wolves.  The assurance comes during a time of pushback on the Colorado wolf program and the agency in charge of managing not only wolves but hundreds of other wildlife species in the state.  READ THE...
‘You are here to serve’: As Colorado’s pension costs grow, some PERA members say its board isn’t listening
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

‘You are here to serve’: As Colorado’s pension costs grow, some PERA members say its board isn’t listening

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Months before five Colorado school districts took the drastic step of suing the state pension plan, their elected representative tried to bring their concerns to the Public Employees’ Retirement Association Board of Trustees. “We (the Board) rarely hear from people in the field about how PERA staff decisions affect their organizations,” Scott Smith — a PERA board trustee at the time — wrote in a November 2023 email to school administrators. “If you have issues or concerns with any recent PERA staff decisions, I would encourage you to sign up for public comment.” The exercise got the board’s attention — just not the way Smith intended. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Final price tag of race in Colorado’s highly competitive 8th Congressional District: $40 million
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Final price tag of race in Colorado’s highly competitive 8th Congressional District: $40 million

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The final price tag of the race in Colorado’s highly competitive 8th Congressional District this year was about $40 million, with three-quarters of that sum being spent by super PACs.  Most of the money — or about $24 million — was spent to benefit incumbent U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat. But it wasn’t enough, as she lost to Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans by about 2,500 votes, or about 1 percentage point. Caraveo’s campaign raised about $8.1 million for her reelection bid, spending all but about $90,000 of that through Election Day, according to her campaign finance report filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission. The report reflected fundraising and spending from Oct. 17 through Nov. 25.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE...
Colorado’s first biomass energy plant closed, set for auction as owner files for bankruptcy protection
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado’s first biomass energy plant closed, set for auction as owner files for bankruptcy protection

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun The pioneering biomass plant in Gypsum — the first in the state to begin converting shredded beetle-kill trees into electricity — has shut down and its owner has filed for bankruptcy protection citing more than $40 million in debt.  The closure has terminated wildfire mitigation efforts in Colorado’s forests and reveals the growing struggle of burning biomass for electricity as demand grows for more affordable renewable energy options like solar and wind. The highest bidder for the plant and the 94-acre property along the Eagle River in Gypsum — revealed last week in Colorado U.S. Bankruptcy Court — is an Illinois-based real estate firm that proposes paying $2.45 million. The trustee in charge of the sale said the Urban Investment Research Cor...
Gov. Polis proposes shielding funding for major water programs as state’s $1 billion deficit looms
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Gov. Polis proposes shielding funding for major water programs as state’s $1 billion deficit looms

By Jerd Smith | The Colorado Sun Colorado’s largest water agency may be shielded from significant funding cuts as the state addresses its financial woes, under the 2025-26  budget proposed by Gov. Jared Polis. The Colorado Water Conservation Board would see a $6.9 million increase in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, rising from $98.1 million in revenue this year to $105.1 million, according to the governor’s office. But in 2026, funding would drop to $97.6 million due to a decline in severance tax revenue, which is derived in part from oil and gas production and is a key part of the CWCB’s funding. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Colorado senator barred from having state-paid aides after repeated complaints from staffers
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado senator barred from having state-paid aides after repeated complaints from staffers

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Colorado Senate leaders Tuesday barred a Democratic state lawmaker from having state-paid aides after two of her most recent staffers filed a workplace misconduct complaint claiming she used one of them to do chores like yard work and bartend at a party at her home. The complaint marks the second time in the past year state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont has been accused of mistreating her legislative aides. “This is now clearly a recurring issue,” outgoing Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, said in a letter to Jaquez Lewis. “In good conscience we cannot support placing an aide in your office while this behavior and complaints continue.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN

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