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Tag: Accountability

Caputo Steps Forward As First Test Of Anti Weaponization Fund
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Approved, Commentary, National, The Stone Zone

Caputo Steps Forward As First Test Of Anti Weaponization Fund

By Roger Stone | The Stone Zone Michael R. Caputo is not merely a veteran of political warfare. He is a patriot, a communicator of rare skill, a loyal friend, and a man who has paid an obscene personal price for the crime of supporting Donald J. Trump. Mike is also a good personal friend of mine. In fact, when he was a very young man he was at one point my driver. I have known him long enough to know the measure of the man. Beneath the armor of a tough political operative is a devoted husband, a loving father, a man of deep faith, and an American who has endured the machinery of a weaponized government with uncommon courage. Now Michael Caputo has become the first known American to publicly file a claim with the new Anti Weaponization Fund established by the Department of Justice. His cl...
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Cutting Social Studies Tests Means Less Accountability For Schools
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Cutting Social Studies Tests Means Less Accountability For Schools

By Ari Armstrong | Commentary, Complete Colorado If “public education is the bedrock of Colorado’s democracy,” as Democratic sponsors declare in the TABOR-busting Senate Bill 26-135, then why do lawmakers want to cut social-studies testing from two grades to one? Someone might conclude that not even the legislators believe the slop they’re slinging on behalf of the teachers’ unions. A look at social-studies testing Given how abysmally most Colorado students perform on the social studies portion of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, maybe it’s no wonder that some legislators want to sweep the evidence of underperforming public schools under the rug. If you look at CMAS results by year, you’ll find that the last publicly-released data f...
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How many lawmakers benefit from taxpayer-funded nonprofits in Colorado?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

How many lawmakers benefit from taxpayer-funded nonprofits in Colorado?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I saw a CPR article (see the first link below) about how much Colorado legislators are paid recently. It was one of their "Colorado Wonders" series. This is a series where CPR writes articles based on reader questions. If you want more on that series, see the second link below. I read the article on how much Colorado legislators are paid. If that's something you've wondered, give it a look. The answer is "not much", but if you look at the daily rate for what has always been and ought to continue to be a part-time job, it's respectable. Noting that it was completely missing from the CPR piece on legislator pay, I had a little Colorado Wonders of my own. I actually took the time to submit it to CPR last week immedi...
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Federal Heights Residents Demand Answers After Police And Fire Chiefs Ousted
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Federal Heights Residents Demand Answers After Police And Fire Chiefs Ousted

By Gabriela Vidal | CBS Colorado Four days after the Federal Heights police and fire chiefs were seemingly terminated from their positions, community members are speaking out against what they say has been a long history of retaliation against first responders in the community. "No one is sharing anything, and then with them both being terminated, by an email, without knowledge, is just not okay in any shape or form," said Renee Lund, a Federal Heights resident and volunteer victims advocate for the city. Multiple residents spoke before city council leaders Monday night, expressing their frustrations with what they felt has been a lack of transparency and accountability from the council and City Manager Jacqueline Halburnt, who they say was responsible for bo...
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Follow the money faster: New tool unlocks Colorado spending data in minutes
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Follow the money faster: New tool unlocks Colorado spending data in minutes

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I have mentioned (and used) the TOPS system, our state’s online checkbook register, multiple times. It’s a great way to see who our state is paying and for what. I noticed recently (within the last 6 months) that the people who run it made it significantly harder to use: I’m not sure why, but at some point they made it so you can only go month by month.** I had a reader kindly volunteer his time and skill at computer programming to come up with a way to automate TOPS searches so I, and now you since the program is public, don’t have to click and wait month by month to find what we need. The program this person came up with lives online and is linked first below. They titled it a TOPS scraper. It’s pretty i...
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Colorado Medicaid Chief Resigns Amid Bipartisan Outcry Over Costs And Mismanagement
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Medicaid Chief Resigns Amid Bipartisan Outcry Over Costs And Mismanagement

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s top Medicaid official stepped down on Monday, just as a bipartisan bloc of state senators prepared to formally urge Gov. Jared Polis to remove her over what they called years of mismanagement, waste and costly errors inside the state’s largest agency. One legislator seeking the resignation of Kim Bimestefer, executive direct or of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, called the leadership change a “necessary step toward accountability.” Bimestefer had been under fire from critics, who questioned how health officials have remained in their roles amid what they described as mismanagement at the state Medicaid program, which is beset by allegations of fraud, abuse and runaway spending. The program’...
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Former Jeffco Educator Claims District Made Her A Scapegoat After Ex-Boyfriend Scandal
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Former Jeffco Educator Claims District Made Her A Scapegoat After Ex-Boyfriend Scandal

By Sage Kelley | The Denver Gazette Courtney Capek claims her career was completely altered by the actions of another. The Lakewood native returned to the school she graduated from, Green Mountain High School, in 2023 to begin her career teaching and establishing a new era for the school’s theater program. Her dream job didn’t last long, though, with the district not renewing her contract just a few weeks after her ex-boyfriend, James Michael Chevrier, was arrested by the Lakewood Police Department on charges of sexual assault on a child. “What was done to me is not OK. I’m tired of being quiet about it,” she told The Denver Gazette. “The district essentially used me as their scapegoat to say, ‘Hey, we did something’.” ‘Pure disgust’ Capek and Chev...
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Why hatred for capitalism reveals more about you than the system
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Why hatred for capitalism reveals more about you than the system

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Some people claim to hate capitalism. What they often hate is not the system itself, but their perceived place within it. They see business leaders as exploiters. They see profit as theft. They see success as evidence of injustice. This mindset reveals more about the individual than it does about capitalism. Capitalism is not a personality. It is a mechanism. It rewards value creation. It allocates resources based on demand. It exposes weaknesses. It amplifies strengths. If you believe capitalism is oppressive, you are making a specific claim. You are saying that voluntary exchange between individuals produces unfair outcomes. That claim deserves scrutiny. Start with a basic premise. In a free market, no one is forced to buy what you ...
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Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado’s crime problem isn’t just due to our laws As I've written before, our troubles with crime involve more than just the laws on the books.There are a few steps in the criminal justice process where someone has discretion. Discretion means the ability to be too hard, or too soft.District Attorneys decide on whether to charge and what charges to bring. Judges decide on bail, and the trial judge passes sentence.Each step a chance to be too harsh or too easy.The Complete Colorado article at bottom details a new effort by some lawmakers and talk radio host Jeff Hunt. Their website is linked below the story for convenience.I'll leave it to you to read either, but in brief, their effort is intended to bring publ...
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External Audit Planned Following Superintendent Resignation in Cherry Creek
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

External Audit Planned Following Superintendent Resignation in Cherry Creek

By: Natalie Chuck | Denver7 The superintendent resigned and the chief of human resources was placed on administrative leave within days of one another following a series of Denver7 Investigates stories. DENVER — "Immediate action was necessary." Those are the words of Cherry Creek School Board President Anne Egan amid the announcement of an external audit following a series of Denver7 Investigates reports which put district leadership under the microscope. In a statement released ahead of a public meeting on Monday night, the board of education announced additional reforms and changes are being made after drastic administrative changes. Just over one week has passed since Christopher Smith, the district's now former superintendent, resigned. ...
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