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Tag: Government transparency

Denver’s $950 million bond: Taxpayers deserve full accountability before another blank check
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Westword, Approved, Commentary, Local

Denver’s $950 million bond: Taxpayers deserve full accountability before another blank check

By Erik Clarke | Commentary, Westword "Denver residents want to support good projects that improve our daily life and solve real problems. Taxpayers also want to know that their money is being managed responsibly." In 2017, Denver voters approved the $937 million Elevate Denver Bond Program to improve civic infrastructure across the city. Eight years later, while some projects have made meaningful progress, many remain delayed, over budget or not yet started. Now, the city is preparing to ask voters to approve another nearly billion dollars through the proposed Vibrant Denver package. Before we’re asked to vote this November, we deserve more than summaries and categories. We deserve transparency. We deserve details. As of today, there is no public cost breakdown ...
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Budget Gaps Lead to Layoff Notices for Denver Employees
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Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Budget Gaps Lead to Layoff Notices for Denver Employees

By Kim Posey | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — After weeks of uncertainty, Denver employees are now finding out if they will be laid off. Mayor Mike Johnston’s office said impacted employees would be notified Monday and Tuesday. The mayor’s office announced Monday that the city is eliminating 928 positions out of about 11,000, in an effort to deal with a $200 million budget shortfall. But only 171 of those are layoffs, as another 645 are vacant positions that won’t be filled, and 92 are positions that will be transferred to alternate funding sources. Alvin Tafoya, the former deputy director of the Financial Empowerment Division, says he was one of the workers laid off. Tafoya said his department was told to work from home today, and he was let go during a virtual meeting at 9 a.m. ...
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Aurora ICE visit leaves Colorado Democrats with more questions than answers
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Fox31, Approved, Local

Aurora ICE visit leaves Colorado Democrats with more questions than answers

By Gabrielle Franklin | KDVR.com DENVER (KDVR) — A handful of Democrats in Colorado’s congressional delegation went inside the GEO ICE facility in Aurora on Monday. The visit comes as they try to gain clarity and access from the Trump administration about what is going on there. They spoke with members of the press after the visit to share what they say they saw. Democratic U.S. House members from Colorado visited the ICE facility, saying they left the building with more questions than answers. “When I walked through the facility, it felt like a prison,” Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen said at a press conference following the visit. The Colorado Democratic congressional members said the GEO ICE facility in Aurora has changed since the last time they went inside it. “Afte...
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President Trump says he wants to release everything tied to Jeffrey Epstein
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Just The News, Approved, National

President Trump says he wants to release everything tied to Jeffrey Epstein

By Misty Severi | Just the News President Donald Trump on Friday night said he would like the federal government to "release everything" that it has on the disgraced, late financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as long as innocents aren't hurt in the process. The Trump administration has faced heavy backlash over its handling of the Epstein investigation, including its promise to release Epstein's alleged "client list," which it has since said does not exist. But Trump has pushed the Justice Department to provide more transparency on the matter. Trump last month directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release relevant grand jury testimony related to Epstein, but a judge in Florida denied the request saying that legal precedent doesn't allow it.  Deputy ...
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Gaines: Subsidies save some—but in reality, they’re just wealth transfers
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Subsidies save some—but in reality, they’re just wealth transfers

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Let me start with a couple non-contiguous quotes from the article linked at bottom. “'By better using the heat beneath our feet to help us, we are leading the nation in innovative clean energy technologies that save Coloradans money, and protect our air quality. Investing in Geothermal heating technology increases energy reliability and serves as a low-cost energy source,' Polis said." “'Geothermal heating technology plays a huge role in helping Colorado reduce emissions from homes and buildings while saving Coloradans money on heating and cooling costs,' said CEO Executive Director Will Toor. 'It’s exciting to see so many innovative geothermal initiatives being made possible due to Colorado’s investment in this technolo...
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Secret call reveals top-down tampering in Colorado wolf probe
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The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Secret call reveals top-down tampering in Colorado wolf probe

By Miles Blumhardt | Coloradoan A secretly recorded cellphone conversation between ranchers and a Colorado Parks and Wildlife wolf depredation investigator exposed how agency investigations receive top-down influence to alter the number of confirmed wolf depredations. The Coloradoan on July 20 was provided a copy of the nearly 20-minute recording by Merrilee Ellis of Coberly Creek Ranch that included a conversation between her husband, Mike Neelis; son-in-law, Adam Edwards; and state wildlife damage specialist Rhea Ebel-Childs on April 23. Ellis believes the recorded conversation was pivotal in the ranch winning a wolf depredation compensation claim that Colorado Parks and Wildlife had initially denied. The conversation centered around a wolf kill investigation on the southern ...
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Governor Solicits Input After Millions Already Spent on Pedestrian Project
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Local, Approved, Colorado Politics

Governor Solicits Input After Millions Already Spent on Pedestrian Project

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis is asking Coloradans to weigh in on the $29 million pedestrian bridge he envisions as part of the state's 150th birthday celebration. However, the bridge project, which will primarily be funded by private donations, is facing challenges in its next step: securing approval from the legislature's Capital Development Committee. The bridge, according to its design, will connect the grounds of the state Capitol across Lincoln Street to Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park, and then across Broadway to Civic Center Park. The state has already allocated $8.5 million of taxpayer money to initiate the project, but the remaining funds will need to be raised through private donations. The initial cost is $18 million, but an additional $10...
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Push to Enshrine the Public’s Right to Know in Colorado Constitution Gains Steam
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State, Approved, Colorado Freedom of Information

Push to Enshrine the Public’s Right to Know in Colorado Constitution Gains Steam

By Jeffrey A. Roberts | Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition Colorado’s constitution guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press, broadly stating that “every person shall be free to speak, write or publish whatever he will on any subject.” Should it also guarantee freedom of information? An ad hoc group that includes the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition is exploring that idea this summer for a possible ballot initiative in 2026. The impetus is what seems to be a backsliding in the General Assembly on government transparency matters: The legislature exempted itself from major portions of the Colorado Open Meetings Law in 2024 and lawmakers next year will likely try for a third straight session to weaken the Colorado Open Records Act. Also involved in the ...
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July 1: New Colorado laws take effect on guns, courts—and mental health
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denvergazette.com, Approved, State

July 1: New Colorado laws take effect on guns, courts—and mental health

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette While most bills passed in Colorado become law the minute the governor puts pen to paper, many aren't officially in effect for months or over a year after passage. Here are the laws passed during the last two legislative sessions that will go into effect on July 1 of this year.  Laws passed in 2024 House Bill 1130: Sponsored by then-Rep. Lindsey Daughterty, D-Arvada, former Rep. Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Colorado Springs, and former Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, the measure requires biometric data such as fingerprints and facial features to be destroyed within two years of collection or once it is no longer needed, whichever comes first, and to be stored securely until destruction. Violation constitutes a deceptive...
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Turley: The critics overlook what Trump’s investigation into the cover-up of Biden’s mental deterioration
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U.S. News & World Report, National

Turley: The critics overlook what Trump’s investigation into the cover-up of Biden’s mental deterioration

By Jonathan Turley | Commentary, U.S. News & World Report We need accountability and greater transparency on matters of presidential health and competence. “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” When then-President Joe Biden asked in September 2022 if U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican who had died weeks earlier in a car accident, was in a meeting, observers were shocked. Biden had not only issued a statement of condolence, he had lowered the flags at the White House in her honor. As Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple noted last week, that moment should have been a wake-up call. In Washington parlance, it left no room for “plausible deniability” about whether Biden was still fit to hold the office of president. And it wasn’t jus...
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