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Douglas County Weighs Data Center Incentive as Front Range Restrictions Grow
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County Weighs Data Center Incentive as Front Range Restrictions Grow

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette At a time when Denver and Front Range governments are restricting or banning data center development, Douglas County commissioners are poised to approve a $19.3 million tax rebate agreement Tuesday for a new data center under construction in Parker. The contrasting approaches are occurring as the debate over data centers has taken center stage in Colorado and elsewhere in the country. Critics seek moratoriums or even a complete ban, citing worries about water and energy consumption, while proponents argue they bring in jobs and new revenue, not to mention their national security implications — America, they say, should not cede the battle for AI infrastructure dominance to global competitors. The proposed agreement would...
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Tech Leaders Say Misinformation Is Driving Resistance to Data Centers
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Just The News, Approved, National

Tech Leaders Say Misinformation Is Driving Resistance to Data Centers

By Christina Park | Just the News Facing NIMBY: Industry experts and lawmakers are pushing back against "disinformation" about data centers, arguing that they are vital for American jobs and technological leadership. State lawmakers and big tech are pushing back against misinformation surrounding data centers. Once welcomed for their local economic benefits, they say these facilities now face resistance due to fear and disinformation over water and electricity consumption, complicated by a global AI race against China. “What I want to do, and what President Trump wants to do is make sure we dominate the next revolution in technology, which is of course, AI and data centers,” economist Stephen Moore told the Just the News, No Noise show at the American ...
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Avon Opens Public Debate After Vandals Target Police Camera Network
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Avon Opens Public Debate After Vandals Target Police Camera Network

By Spencer Wilson | CBS Colorado A discussion over privacy, policing and public safety technology is taking center stage in Avon after three police cameras were vandalized earlier this month. That includes two speed enforcement cameras and one Flock license plate reader. The acts of vandalism happened during the early morning hours of July 18, when someone cut down or damaged camera poles and stole two of the devices. It resulted in more than $76,000 in damage and replacement costs, according to documents prepared for Tuesday night's Avon Town Council meeting. Police said they are actively investigating the felony vandalism and theft. The vandalism also ignited a much larger conversation online after the Avon Police Department's Facebook post about the damage...
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Report Says Billions Lost to Fraud as Federal Programs Flow Through States
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Just The News, Approved, National

Report Says Billions Lost to Fraud as Federal Programs Flow Through States

By Brett Rowland | Just the News Programs in question include Medicaid, food stamps and disaster relief. Twenty federal programs that route nearly $1.1 trillion through state governments – including Medicaid, SNAP and disaster relief – are vulnerable to fraud because of how the money is distributed, the Government Accountability Office reports. The money rarely goes straight from Washington to a recipient. It passes through states, then often to subrecipients, contractors and subcontractors. Every layer, GAO found, adds another entry point for fraud while making oversight harder to enforce. The report is the first in a planned GAO series examining fraud in state-administered programs. It reaffirms the agency's estimate that the government loses between $233 bi...
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Colorado Springs Planning Commission Keeps Data Center Project Moving Forward With Four New Conditions
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Colorado Springs Planning Commission Keeps Data Center Project Moving Forward With Four New Conditions

By Alex Edwards | Colorado Politics The Colorado Springs Planning Commission rejected appeals Thursday night against a proposed artificial-intelligence data center off Garden of the Gods Road. The vote of the commission was 6-2, but residents who filed the appeals will have 10 days to challenge that decision. While allowing Project Taurus to proceed, the commissioners set four conditions on the company, Raeden. These include: Requiring Raeden to report utility use data for the first 10 years of operation. Limiting utility use to a specified level of 50 megawatts, with the condition that if Raeden wants to exceed that, it must return to the commission for further approval. Raeden must furnish a corrected “single sheet” to the existing building plan. The...
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AI Camera Expansion Sparks Debate Over Privacy Freedom and Government Authority
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Washington Examiner, Approved, Commentary, National

AI Camera Expansion Sparks Debate Over Privacy Freedom and Government Authority

By Connor Boyack | Commentary, Washington Examiner On the morning of July 4, someone in Houston, Texas, cut two surveillance cameras in half and draped an American flag over the wreckage. In New Bern, North Carolina, police asked the public to help identify two men filmed destroying a camera — the public responded with hundreds of tips identifying the suspects as Batman and Robin. Since April 2025, Americans in at least five states have dismantled these devices from Flock Safety, a $8.4 billion company whose over 100,000 AI-enabled cameras now photograph passing vehicles in more than 6,000 communities. Yes, the vandals are committing crimes, and laws apply even when cameras annoy. But a nation’s lawbreaking, like its laws, contains information....
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Who watches the watchers? Why surveillance technology needs stronger oversight, not less
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Who watches the watchers? Why surveillance technology needs stronger oversight, not less

By Brian Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Trust is important. Verification is essential. More than 2,000 years ago, the Roman poet Juvenal posed a timeless question: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? — “Who will guard the guards themselves?” or “Who watches the watchers?” The Romans could never have imagined artificial intelligence, facial recognition, or nationwide networks of automated license-plate readers. Yet their question may be even more relevant today than it was three millennia ago. Recent debate over Flock Safety cameras illustrates why. The cameras have become an invaluable law enforcement tool. A stolen vehicle that crosses several jurisdictions can now be identified in minutes rather than days. An abducted child can sometimes be located be...
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The case for Flock cameras: A proven tool Colorado shouldn’t abandon
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The case for Flock cameras: A proven tool Colorado shouldn’t abandon

By Booker Lightman | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Police departments across Colorado have installed AI-powered Flock cameras to help them catch criminals. Not everyone is grateful. The fiercest opposition has come from the political Left, often driven by fears the cameras will aid ICE. These concerns led Denver to drop its contract with Flock, while a bill in the state legislature that would have required warrants for most searches of license plate data died in April after pushback from law enforcement.  Some on the Right have joined the anti-Flock crusade, concerned about the cameras’ supposed threat to privacy. Flock critics often claim the cameras are unnecessary and that the proper solution to crime is to hire more police officers. The people best placed to ...
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright makes the case for data centers, and admits they’re not for everyone
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Rocky Mountain Voice, National, Top Stories

Energy Secretary Chris Wright makes the case for data centers, and admits they’re not for everyone

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright sat down on stage at Douglas County Fairgrounds and told a Colorado crowd that the data centers many of their neighbors are fighting will help cure cancer. Wright, the former Liberty Energy CEO turned 17th U.S. Secretary of Energy, joined Heidi Ganahl for an onstage interview at RMV Freedom Fest on June 27.  Most of the conversation covered familiar Wright territory: oil prices, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Iran.  But when Ganahl turned the conversation to data centers, Wright gave a more layered answer than the typical political pitch, one that conceded real tradeoffs while still landing firmly on the side of building. The comments come as Colorado works throug...
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Colorado Springs Bucks State Trend on Data Centers With Project Taurus Approval
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Springs Bucks State Trend on Data Centers With Project Taurus Approval

By Alexander Edwards | The Denver Gazette Data centers have been thrust into the limelight in the past 12-18 months as more companies seek to build them while concerns grow about their use of natural resources. That’s led some Colorado communities to reject data centers, while others welcome them in hopes of economic gains. As Colorado Springs forges ahead with Project Taurus, a planned AI data center being built in an old computer chip manufacturing facility at 1615 W. Garden of the Gods Road, other locations in Colorado have imposed temporary moratoriums on data centers. Larimer County imposed a moratorium on data centers that expires on Aug. 25. On May 18, the Denver City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new dat...
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