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Colorado needs a smarter answer on data centers than yes or no
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ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado needs a smarter answer on data centers than yes or no

By Scott James | Commentary, Scott's Sheet Colorado can welcome data centers, but only with honest math on water, power, rates, and who pays when the press release meets the utility bill. Most normal people do not wake up worried about data centers. They wake up worried about the mortgage, the water bill, the power bill, the kids, the roads, and whether the internet will freeze right as the Broncos line up on fourth and short. Then somebody says “data center,” and the room divides almost immediately. One side acts like every giant project is economic manna from heaven. The other side acts like a server farm is Mordor with better landscaping. Somewhere between NIMBY and corporate shill, there is a principled yes. Colorado ought to find it. Big Pivots argues that...
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Colorado Mountain Town Revolts After AI Cameras and Robots Spark Privacy Concerns
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Colorado Mountain Town Revolts After AI Cameras and Robots Spark Privacy Concerns

By Nancy Lofholm | The Colorado Sun Controversy is being stirred by a Silicon Valley refugee who says Paonia is “on the cutting edge of violating citizens’ privacy.” Now he’s running for mayor. First, it was the robots. They were trundling along sidewalks in Paonia last summer gathering data on how accommodating those thoroughfares were for people with disabilities. The wandering robots took townspeople by complete surprise. Then came the surveillance cameras mounted on poles and walls last fall. They were capturing those doing business at the town hall, coming and going from the town’s water plant, and dancing in front of the town park’s bandstand. Even those with impressive Western swing moves weren’t happy to unknowingly be caught on camera.   ...
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Aurora Councilmember And Public Safety Chair Pleads Guilty To DUI
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Aurora Councilmember And Public Safety Chair Pleads Guilty To DUI

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 AURORA, Colo. — Aurora Councilmember Rob Andrews pleaded guilty Tuesday to DUI under a plea deal, avoiding jail time in his January arrest. After his plea, the newly elected councilmember was sentenced to 10 days of home detention, 12 months of probation and 48 hours of community service. Andrews was arrested on the evening of Jan. 18 on suspicion of DUI after an Aurora officer reported seeing his Ford F‑250 splitting lanes and making wide turns on S. Chambers Road, police said. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Lakewood taxpayers face 30-year shelter obligation after city grant deal
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

Lakewood taxpayers face 30-year shelter obligation after city grant deal

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project From a recent edition of the Lakewood Informer (copied here with links intact): “Lakewood purchased 8000 W Colfax Avenue to use as an emergency shelter and Navigation Center using a grant from the state to fund the property purchase and renovation. As a condition to getting the grant, Lakewood committed the property to shelter use for 30 years. No public discussion about this condition occurred when City Council authorized the purchase. At an annual operating cost of $3,000,000, that’s a $90,000,000 commitment that was not disclosed to the public. That makes the Center severely underfunded, with declining neighborhood support, and may be one reason for the proposed city sales tax hike.” This was startling to ...
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Sheriffs and Prosecutors Push Back Against Democrat Governors’ Leftist Agendas
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Just The News, Approved, National

Sheriffs and Prosecutors Push Back Against Democrat Governors’ Leftist Agendas

By Nicholas Ballasy | Just the News In Maryland and Virginia, disputes over immigration enforcement and firearms restrictions exposed widening tensions between Democratic state leaders and local law enforcement officials. wo Democrat governors trying to advance progressive policies on immigration and gun control are facing pushback from local law enforcement, with sheriffs and prosecutors in Maryland and Virginia openly resisting portions of the states’ new agendas. In Maryland, a majority of the state’s elected sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit challenging the newly enacted Community Trust Act, a law backed by Democrat Gov. Wes Moore that limited cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.  The sheriffs argued t...
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Zero Tolerance Policy Targets Rising Lawlessness In Pike National Forest
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Approved, Local, Pikes Peak Courier

Zero Tolerance Policy Targets Rising Lawlessness In Pike National Forest

By Pat Hill | Pikes Peak Courier A recent operation in Pike National Forest by Sheriff Jason Mikesell and his officers resulted in 100 contacts and issued 42 citations. At the same time, the officers put out campfires left unattended. “That was in one weekend,” Mikesell said. Speaking four days before holding a press conference, Mikesell offered a heads-up on the chaos on the forest. “We’ve seen over 300 side-by-sides; the people are from Denver, Aurora, Pueblo, Colorado Springs and out-of-state,” he said. “We’ve found that they are ruining wildlife areas, running off road and tearing up roads that are an access to wildlife.” The sheriff tells of an incident where drivers in a side-by side did multiple “360s” around a tent where a family was probably sleeping at 1:20 a.m. ...
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Homelessness Rises In El Paso And Teller Counties As Statewide Numbers Fall
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Approved, Axios, Local

Homelessness Rises In El Paso And Teller Counties As Statewide Numbers Fall

By Glenn Wallace | Axios Homelessness in El Paso and Teller counties rose in 2025, even as statewide numbers declined slightly, according to a statewide report released Monday. Why it matters: The increase is adding strain to local shelters and housing programs even as much of Colorado saw modest improvement. Driving the news: Colorado's State of Homelessness Report counted 7,078 people experiencing homelessness in the Pikes Peak region in 2025, up from 6,787 the year before. Local service providers saw demand jump nearly 19% year over year, helping 16,245 people in 2025. Meanwhile, homelessness declined slightly in Denver, northern Colorado and statewide overall. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT AXIOS
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Appeals Court Sides With Boulder On Homeless Camping Restrictions
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Hoodline, Approved, Local

Appeals Court Sides With Boulder On Homeless Camping Restrictions

By Leah Fraser | Hoodline Boulder can keep ticketing and jailing people for sleeping outside, at least for now. A Colorado Court of Appeals panel on Thursday upheld the city's ban on camping and sleeping on public property, turning aside a constitutional challenge that said the rules amount to cruel and unusual punishment under state law. The three-judge panel ruled that the ordinances target conduct - pitching a tent, sleeping with a blanket or otherwise sheltering outdoors - not the status of being unhoused, leaving the city's tent and blanket bans in place while advocates decide whether to take the fight to a higher court. The opinion, issued May 14, 2026, was written by Judge W. Eric Kuhn, who concluded that, "no matter how sympathetic their plight, these circumstances al...
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Douglas County Schools Reject Costly Metal Detector Expansion
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County Schools Reject Costly Metal Detector Expansion

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette The Douglas County School District board rejected a cost sharing program proposed by the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners that would have installed metal detectors at up to 10 district schools. Board members cited high and recurring costs, staffing concerns and a lack of conclusive research showing the systems reduce school violence at their April board meeting. “I appreciate the commissioners want to help us, but this is unsustainable for our district,” Director Kyrzia Parker said.  Deputy Superintendent Danelle Hiatt presented an overview of the county’s proposal, which included installing Evolv metal detection systems and backpack search stations and funding for two school resource officers at rural e...
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