Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Denver Gazette

A ‘Trail of Broken Lives’ Tells the Real Story of Colorado’s Legalized Marijuana
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

A ‘Trail of Broken Lives’ Tells the Real Story of Colorado’s Legalized Marijuana

By: Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette Society once vilified marijuana. Later generations of hipsters laughed off the stigma.  Now, mounting evidence has brought things full circle — vindicating the psychoactive drug’s original critics after all.  Today’s high-potency pot — legalized for recreational use in Colorado in 2012 and in over two dozen other states since then — is leaving a trail of destruction. Whether it’s marijuana’s devastating impact on the mental health of our youth, or on the safety of our highways, it’s drawing overdue scrutiny that is justified by hard data. Pot’s toll in traffic fatalities in particular is back in the news. A new study by Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, looked at driver autopsy results from car crashe...
Government shutdown strains DIA operations and staffing
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Government shutdown strains DIA operations and staffing

By  Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette The shutdown of the federal government has begun to palpably affect the country’s airports, including at Denver International Airport, which is seeing staffing shortages, according to officials. By Monday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration was reporting that staffing shortages were creating delays at DIA, as well as airports in California and New Jersey. Denver International Airport officials anticipate that more than 938,000 passengers will travel through airport checkpoints between Oct. 9 and Oct. 20, a 5.5% increase over the same time period in 2024. Lawmakers, meanwhile, continue to disagree on funding the federal government, forcing air traffic controllers and other essential federal employees to work without pay. More ...
Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The cost of housing has soared in our state in recent years, outpacing income growth and making it especially challenging for lower-wage earners and younger, entry-level workers to afford rent. Buying a place of their own is an even taller task for many. It all has led to much public debate and, inevitably, hyperventilation by politicians pledging to solve what they have dubbed an affordable-housing “crisis.” The panic also has led to a lot of misfires by policymakers.  Among those are proposals that would put the squeeze on providers of rental housing, presuming them to have bottomless pockets. Rent control is an example. There also have been various policy prescriptions making it harder to evict tenants. Some o...