Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Colorado

Colorado Schools Face New Reality as Student Enrollment Keeps Falling
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Schools Face New Reality as Student Enrollment Keeps Falling

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette Colorado public schools went from adding roughly 3,500 students a year before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to losing nearly 4,000 students a year afterward. As more than 870,000 Colorado students return to the classroom for another school year, they are part of a shrinking population since enrollment peaked in 2019. Colorado has 40,000 fewer students today than it did at its apex. The Denver Gazette compared districts’ average annual enrollment gains or losses in the five years before and after the pandemic to identify where enrollment trends changed the most. The forces that long fueled Colorado’s enrollment boom — births and migration — have lost momentum. Nationally, enrollment peaked in 2019 with 50.7 millio...
Read More
Colorado Road Funding Deal Could Pull Initiative 175 From November Ballot
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Road Funding Deal Could Pull Initiative 175 From November Ballot

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado A deal could keep Colorado voters from deciding on a major road funding measure this November. Backers of Initiative 175, known as the Restore Our Roads measure, have agreed to pull it from the ballot under a tentative agreement with state lawmakers, CBS Colorado's Your Political Reporter, Shaun Boyd, has learned. The deal would call for the state legislature to set aside more money for roads in the short and long term.  The ballot measure came about because the Restore Our Roads group and lawmakers failed to compromise. Colorado Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Weiser helped push the negotiations toward a deal, according to a source familiar with the talks. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
Read More
Initiative 362 Would Require Added Identity Check on Colorado Mail Ballots
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Initiative 362 Would Require Added Identity Check on Colorado Mail Ballots

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday that the supporters of Initiative 362 turned in a sufficient number of voter signatures to get the question on this year’s ballot, Colorado voters will be asked in November whether to amend the state constitution to require that people verify their identity when submitting mail ballots by including the last four digits of their Social Security number or their full driver’s license or state ID number.  The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday that the supporters of Initiative 362 turned in a sufficient number of voter signatures to get the question on this year’s ballot. Under the measure, local election judges would be forced to dismiss ballots wit...
Read More
Colorado Joins Lawsuit Challenging New Federal Mail Ballot Safeguards Ahead of Midterms
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Joins Lawsuit Challenging New Federal Mail Ballot Safeguards Ahead of Midterms

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado, along with 25 other states, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service to challenge a new rule that seeks to restrict the mailing of ballots to American citizens in an eligible voters list. Colorado relies heavily on the mail-in ballot system. As do several states. The U.S. Postal Service recently laid out how it would implement the order, but time is running short to impose major changes with some states beginning to send mail ballots to voters in just a few weeks. A few days ago, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court had cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s executive order, which mandates the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create those lists — to be give...
Read More
Colorado Gets $615 Million in Meta Child Safety Settlement, but Polis Says Parents Remain Essential
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Gets $615 Million in Meta Child Safety Settlement, but Polis Says Parents Remain Essential

By Thelma Grimes | The Denver Gazette The parent company of Facebook and Instagram will pay hundreds of millions of dollars to Colorado, part of an $18 billion multistate deal, in which the company also agreed to adopt extensive child-safety changes to its operations. The settlement ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state. It resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in allegedly undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention. If approved by the court, the deal will stop an avalanche of litigation by states against Meta, although the company still faces lawsuits from indivi...
Read More
Denver Commits $5.3 Million To Turn ‘Bridge To Nowhere’ Into Stadium Connection
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Commits $5.3 Million To Turn ‘Bridge To Nowhere’ Into Stadium Connection

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette The “bridge to nowhere” is closer to going somewhere. The Denver City Council on Monday accepted $4 million in a state grant and committing another $1.3 million toward a pedestrian bridge at Broadway Station. When completed, the bridge over the railroads and Regional Transportation District, or RTD, connecting the Broadway RTD station with the Summit FC Soccer Stadium and Santa Fe Yards development. City Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez expressed concerns about the project, which includes widening Santa Fe Drive, a vibrant and culturally rich commercial corridor that is home to more than 100 galleries, artist co-ops, studios and street murals. “More lanes do not create a safe, connected neighborhood,” Alvidrez said. ...
Read More
Judge Finds Key Provision Of Colorado Detention Law Conflicts With Federal Authority
No Comments
The Center Square, Approved, State

Judge Finds Key Provision Of Colorado Detention Law Conflicts With Federal Authority

By Joelle Webb | The Center Square (The Center Square) - A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled in favor of a private prison company in its legal battle against a new Colorado law requiring more health and safety inspections for immigration detention facilities.  The lawsuit, brought in June to the U.S. District Court in Denver, was initiated by the GEO Group. The private for-profit prison company alleged that a new Colorado law that went into effect this month conflicts with its contract with the federal government. The law is House Bill 26-1276, which requires an increase of inspections for federal immigration detention facilities in the state. Though there are plans to build more immigration detention facilities in the stat...
Read More
Loveland Sculptor Gifts Jefferson Statue to White House for America’s 250th Anniversary
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Loveland Sculptor Gifts Jefferson Statue to White House for America’s 250th Anniversary

By The Associated Press | The Colorado Sun Colorado sculptor George Lundeen gifts decades-old piece to White House as part of country’s 250th anniversary celebration. WASHINGTON — Instead of adding new roses, President Donald Trump’s White House Rose Garden is growing statues. And one of them comes courtesy of a well-known Loveland sculptor. Trump put statues of some of America’s founders in the garden just off the Oval Office after he replaced its plush lawn with a white stone patio, turning the historic outdoor space into a look-alike of the one at his Mar-a-Lago home and private club in Palm Beach, Florida. At least one statue was a gift. Others are on loan from people who wish to remain anonymous. The latest addition, a bronze de...
Read More
Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge heard arguments on Monday about the constitutionality of a 2023 Colorado law that generally imposes a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases after the initiation of a background check. The test that the U.S. Supreme Courtcreated in 2022 for assessing firearm regulations’ compliance with the Second Amendment occurs in two phases. First, judges must determine if the constitutional text applies to the regulation at issue, and then the government must show that the policy is consistent with similar regulations throughout the country’s history — in particular, around the time of the Second Amendment’s adoption. “The first ‘cooling off’-style waiting period did not come into existence until the ...
Read More
Inflationary Bracket Creep With Initiative 195 Could Push More Coloradans Into Higher Tax Brackets
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Inflationary Bracket Creep With Initiative 195 Could Push More Coloradans Into Higher Tax Brackets

By Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado Initiative 195, the proposed ‘progressive’ income tax ballot measure, promises long-term pain for Colorado taxpayers due to what economists call “bracket creep.”  But we do not need to speculate about the impact of bracket creep, as we can already see its effect in action since voters passed Proposition FF in 2022.  Proposition FF Through Proposition FF, voters decided to increase taxes on high-income Colorado earners to support a universal school lunch program.  The measure capped state deductions for tax filers with a federal adjusted gross income exceeding $300,000 and directed new revenue to the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program.   READ THE FUL...
Read More