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Tag: Government Accountability

Federal Climate Authority Faces Reckoning in EPA Overhaul
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National, Approved, The Epoch Times

Federal Climate Authority Faces Reckoning in EPA Overhaul

By T.J. Muscaro and Jackson Richman | The Epoch Times According to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, repealing these findings would be ’the largest deregulatory action in the history of America.’ The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 29 proposed a repeal of its long-standing “endangerment findings” of a connection between individual motor vehicle emissions and changes in the climate, according to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. It would repeal $1 trillion in regulations, saving $54 billion per year, according to the EPA. The repeal would “end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,” Zeldin said at an auto dealership in Indiana. “In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent...
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42 Percent of Colorado Roads in Poor Condition as CDOT Spending Soars
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State, Approved, DENVER7

42 Percent of Colorado Roads in Poor Condition as CDOT Spending Soars

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 DENVER — Across the state, there has been no significant improvement in infrastructure over the last five years, according to the latest "report card" from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Colorado received a cumulative grade of "C-," the same as the last study the ASCE conducted in 2020. The report looks at more than a dozen different types of infrastructure. The majority of the categories remained the same compared to the last report card. Roads were one of two categories that went down. Colorado roads were graded as a "D+." The overall grade for Colorado from ASCE has remained unchanged since 2020 Across the state, there has been no significant improvement in infrastructure over the last five years, according to the ...
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Grand Junction Zip Line Project Fizzles Despite Lavish Public Subsidies
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Local, Approved, The Business Times

Grand Junction Zip Line Project Fizzles Despite Lavish Public Subsidies

By Brandon Leuallen | The Business Times The Las Colonias Riverfront Zip Adventures zip line, which was launched after initial delays in August 2023, then shut down partway through 2024, remains inactive in 2025. As an anchor business for the $30 million Riverfront development, Bonsai Design, a company that designs aerial-adventure courses and owns the zip line, secured $1.69 million in taxpayer-funded incentives, including payment of development fees, impact fees, land-lease discounts, property-tax breaks and grant support. Bonsai also was entrusted with operating the zip line, adding jobs and recruiting other outdoor businesses to fill the park. The online bookings page for the zip line states: “We are closed for the remainder of 2024. Thanks for a great season and we hope to se...
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NIH halting taxpayer-funded dog and cat testing after outcry from Republican lawmakers
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

NIH halting taxpayer-funded dog and cat testing after outcry from Republican lawmakers

By Ross O'Keefe | Washington Examiner Hours after Republican lawmakers sent a letter to National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya asking him to end dog and cat testing, two top officials at the agency said they are “phasing out” testing on the animals. Bhattacharya and NIH Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer spoke with each other on an NIH video, in which the former asked the latter what they should do about dog and cat testing. “I don’t think we should do research on dogs or cats,” she said. “Absolutely not.” “To phase them out, we are working tirelessly behind the scenes,” she added. “We are doing a very critical assessment of the entire extramural grant portfolio to understand where different types of animals are being used and for what purp...
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One year after Butler: GAO confirms intel on Trump threat was withheld from security team
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The Washington Times, Approved, National

One year after Butler: GAO confirms intel on Trump threat was withheld from security team

By Lindsey McPherson | The Washington Times The Secret Service obtained classified intelligence information about a threat to President Trump 10 days before an attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, but failed to share it with its agents and law enforcement partners in charge of securing the event.  Although the threat was unrelated to the gunman who shot at Mr. Trump in Butler last year, had the intelligence been shared with officials in charge of securing the rally, it would have changed the security posture for the event, the Government Accountability Office found.  Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, requested the GAO, a nonpartisan government auditor, conduct a review of the Secret Service’s f...
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CBI audit report exposes culture of retaliation and compromised cases
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denvergazette.com, Approved, State

CBI audit report exposes culture of retaliation and compromised cases

By Jenny Deam and Luige Del Puerto | Denver Gazette CBI commissioned the assessment in the wake of the DBA scandal that rocked the forensics lab An independent report on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's forensics lab released Tuesday offered a sobering assessment of the beleaguered department, where past leaders ignored internal allegations of misconduct in handling DNA evidence and new leadership was plunged into a crisis that has rocked the public's trust. The new report by Forward Resolutions, a small Wisconsin consulting firm commissioned in January to review procedures in the wake of the scandal at the state crime lab, concluded past CBI leaders were "ill-equipped to handle crises and critical incidents." The report further stated that, even when told of serious irre...
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$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement
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CBS Colorado, State

$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado An audit of the Colorado Department of Corrections has uncovered "erroneous information and incorrect calculations" over four years of budget requests reviewed. An independent third party conducted the audit that resulted in nearly three dozen recommended changes. CDOC Executive Director Moses "Andre" Stancil told the state's Joint Budget Committee he agrees with the recommendations in the 101-page report that found CDOC's approach to budgeting is unlike any other prison system in the country, and not in a good way. "Everything has been such a fluid mess over the years," said budget writer and Republican state Rep. Rick Taggert of Grand Junction. The audit found CDOC's budget requests have had "inaccurate, incomplete, and inco...
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Summit County Sheriff sues over denied funding, says commission broke staffing deal
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Summit County Sheriff sues over denied funding, says commission broke staffing deal

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons is suing the Summit County Board of County Commissioners after it filed a resolution that the sheriff says retroactively denies funding for staffing expenses. The sheriff said that the board had denied a supplemental budget and appropriation of $1.26 million for the sheriff’s office’s 2024 staffing expenses. The wages had been earned by staff, approved by the county manager and finance director, and paid through standard payroll, according to FitzSimons. “This legal action is necessary to protect my ability to fulfill the statutory responsibilities entrusted to me by the people of Summit County,” said Sheriff FitzSimons. “I remain hopeful these issues can be resolved amicably. As a three-te...
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Chamber report flags 200K Colorado regulations as “excessive or duplicative”
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Chamber report flags 200K Colorado regulations as “excessive or duplicative”

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Colorado's regulatory framework took the center stage during this year's legislative session, where lawmakers clashed over proposed measures that — depending on who is asked — either benefit workers or create new burdens on businesses. Behind these two competing frameworks are the Colorado Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Fiscal Institute. On the one hand, the chamber and its allies argue that regulations have increased significantly over the past decade, putting up unnecessary barriers for businesses. On the other hand, the Colorado Fiscal Institute and its supporters maintain that the rules are essential to protect workers and consumers from harmful practices. One of the most frequently cited statistics during the session...
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“Failure to Warn”: Senate report uncovers vaccine risk cover-up under Biden
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Approved, National, The National News Desk

“Failure to Warn”: Senate report uncovers vaccine risk cover-up under Biden

By Julia Varnier | The National News Desk (TNND) — A new report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee accuses federal health agencies of failing to adequately warn the public about potential side effects of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, particularly the risk of myocarditis in young men. The report suggests that the Biden administration downplayed these risks to avoid increasing vaccine hesitancy. Dr. Jordan Vaughn, President of the Microvascular Research Foundation, testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday, during the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations' first hearing about the negative side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, criticizing the decision by public health officials in 2021 not to issue a Health Alert Network message when increased risks from the COVID-19 vaccine be...
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