Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Local Government

Denver Mayor Rolls Out $100 Million Strategy to Boost Business and Revive Downtown
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Denver Mayor Rolls Out $100 Million Strategy to Boost Business and Revive Downtown

By Chierstin Roth | CBS Colorado Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has unveiled a $100 million, four-part plan to address everything from workforce development to low interest loans, and incentives for companies to move to the city. Thursday's press conference was held outside the original Snooze, a popular breakfast and brunch restaurant serving pancakes and mimosas. Snooze, which launched at its Ballpark Neighborhood location 20 years ago, is now a nationwide success. Its co-founder says it's opportunities like these that got his business off the ground. "We've got 70 restaurants now, 10 states, we have over 3,000 Snoozers working for us," said co-founder Adam Schlegal. They grew despite the odds. "Running a restaurant in Denver is actually harder than most...
Otero County’s Wild & Scenic River fight offers a warning for Colorado
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Otero County’s Wild & Scenic River fight offers a warning for Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Federal land designations, with Otero County as an example I had a reader share the first link below with me recently. It’s an editorial appearing on the Colorado News Your Way site about a proposed federal land designation, specifically about a Wild & Scenic River designation proposed for the Purgatoire River and Pickett Wire Canyon by the Forest Service as a part of the Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands revised management plan. Let’s back up a step and quickly talk about federal land designations. The second link below is to a Congress.gov explainer on the topic. You’re welcome to poke around in there for more detail, but for our purposes, it’s enough to know that federal land designations aff...
Principles over popularity: Lessons from the Declaration of Independence for Douglas County Schools
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Principles over popularity: Lessons from the Declaration of Independence for Douglas County Schools

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Douglas County School District (DCSD) board members will be deciding later this year whether to resume formal collective bargaining with the Douglas County Federation (a local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers), and a primary deciding factor will be the results of a survey of teachers and staff.  This follows union pressure earlier in 2026 and comes after years of the federation advocating for a return to a contract model. The political composition of the DCSD school board has shifted back and forth over the decades, reflecting the community’s own evolving priorities. In 2012, a reform-minded board allowed the long-standing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to expire, moving the district to operat...
Boulder prepares for Sundance as housing rules face a real-world test
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, Local

Boulder prepares for Sundance as housing rules face a real-world test

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado There are few things more satisfying to watch than socialists getting mugged by reality. The Sundance Film Festival is invading my hometown of Boulder early next year. Sundance drew 85,000 attendees last year in Park City, Utah. Boulder’s hotel room inventory is about 2,900. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when Hollywood’s anti-capitalist elite collide with basic supply and demand, we’re about to find out. When things don’t go as planned, the planner-class doubles down on its religion: more planning. When restrictions, rules, permits and fees don’t produce the desired outcome, more restrictions, rules, permits and fees are needed. Sundance is an event for and by well-heeled, artsy, socialist elites. So, Boulder is perfe...
Citizen Movements Across Colorado Gain Ground at City Hall
Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

Citizen Movements Across Colorado Gain Ground at City Hall

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of  Independence Institute’s public affairs tv show, Devil’s Advocate, host Jon Caldara sits down with Brandon Wark, creator of Free State Colorado, to look a the the rise of citizen activism, and how ordinary Coloradans can influence local government. The two dive deep into the idea idea that meaningful political change often begins not under Colorado’s gold dome, but at city councils, school boards, and local ballot boxes. You can see the entire episode on YouTube. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COMPLETE COLORADO
New Analysis Examines Why Homelessness Is Concentrated in Mesa County
The Business Times, Approved, Local

New Analysis Examines Why Homelessness Is Concentrated in Mesa County

By Brandon Leuallen | The Business Times Why does Mesa County account for such a large share of Western Slope homelessness? As the Grand Junction City Council debated whether to amend city code to strengthen enforcement of the camping ordinance, questions about shelter capacity and the size of the local homeless population took on new importance. The shelter-capacity discussion is further complicated by the fact the shelter system serves more than just Mesa County residents. Many neighboring communities have either no shelter at all, only seasonal shelter options, or significantly fewer homeless services. The question of whether Mesa County is carrying a regional burden has also surfaced during Grand Junction City Council discussions. During a Nov. 19, 2025, m...
Arapahoe County brings gun locks and overdose messaging into child welfare visits
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

Arapahoe County brings gun locks and overdose messaging into child welfare visits

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Arapahoe County Child and Family Services, guns, and drugs I wanted to update something I wrote about earlier. The first link below is from January this year and gives you all the detail I could find about a program (funded by the Anschutz Family Foundation) called Safe Starts at Home. I’ll leave it to you to read the newsletter for more, but the upshot is that the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI) at CU Medical and Public Health Schools got grant money to develop firearm-safety and drug overdose materials (and training) to follow social workers into homes. The idea being that the material can be handed out and discussed with families when the social worker visits. At the time no one behind this ...
Colorado Springs Bucks State Trend on Data Centers With Project Taurus Approval
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...
Skid Row Residents Claim Cash Was Offered for Votes in LA Mayor Election
The Daily Signal, Approved, National

Skid Row Residents Claim Cash Was Offered for Votes in LA Mayor Election

By: Angelina Delfin | The Daily Signal As questions continue to swirl around Los Angeles’ mayoral election, newly surfaced videos show homeless individuals on Skid Row claiming they were paid cash to vote for Mayor Karen Bass. The allegations emerged just days after Republican Spencer Pratt lost a runoff spot as thousands of late-counted mail-in ballots shifted the race. In an interview on Skid Row posted to X on June 9, one homeless woman claimed she was paid $2 to vote for Bass. “They come out here all the time [to get votes],” she said. https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2064492962323874068 In a separate interview posted this week, another woman on Skid Row claimed she was paid $5 and instructed to vote for Bass. READ THE FULL ARTICLE A...
Longmont Approves Data Center Restrictions to Safeguard Power and Water
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Longmont Approves Data Center Restrictions to Safeguard Power and Water

By: Maggie Bryan | Denver7 Longmont City Council voted 6–1 Tuesday night to ban hyperscale data centers, capping facilities at 5% of regional grid capacity or 100 megawatts, whichever is lower. LONGMONT, Colo. — Longmont is drawing a line against hyperscale data centers, passing an ordinance Tuesday night that sets limits on facility energy consumption to protect the city's power grid, water supply, and neighborhoods from impacts seen elsewhere across the country. In a 6-1 vote, Longmont City Council passed a city ordinance capping data center energy usage at either 5% of the region's grid capacity or 100 megawatts, whichever is lower. City staff said 100 megawatts is enough to power between 10,000 to 30,000 homes on a hot summer day. Longmont joins a growing ...