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Tag: State government

Regulators Keep Pueblo Comanche Coal Unit Running While Xcel Repairs Newer Plant
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Regulators Keep Pueblo Comanche Coal Unit Running While Xcel Repairs Newer Plant

By Alexander Edwards | The Denver Gazette The Comanche Power Plant in Pueblo will continue to operate a coal-powered electrical generating unit that was slated for retirement this month for one more year. The move comes after Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility company, petitioned in November to keep one generator operating after an outage at the coal-fired power plant. Gov. Jared Polis backed the petition. On Wednesday, the Public Utilities Commission approved a variance submitted by the utility. This allows Comanche 2, which was slated to be retired on Dec. 31, to continue operating as Xcel fixes the Comanche 3. “The Commission found that the outage at Comanche 3 was the sole justification for the extension of Comanche 2,” a fact sheet released by th...
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Trump Administration Presses Democrat States to Share SNAP Data or Face Withholding of Aid
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, National

Trump Administration Presses Democrat States to Share SNAP Data or Face Withholding of Aid

By Darlene Superville and Geoff Mulvihill | The Denver Gazette WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration said Tuesday that it will move to withhold SNAP food aid from recipients in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless those states provide information about those receiving the assistance. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the action is in the works because those states are refusing to provide data the department requested such as the names and immigration status of aid recipients. She said the cooperation is necessary in order to root out fraud in the program. Democratic states have sued to block the requirement. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia previously sued&...
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“The DOJ can take a hike”: Jena Griswold rejects federal demand for voter data
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“The DOJ can take a hike”: Jena Griswold rejects federal demand for voter data

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold escalated her standoff with the Trump administration this week, rejecting a request for the state’s full, unredacted voter file. “We will not comply with the Trump Department of Justice’s request for Coloradans’ sensitive voting information. The DOJ can take a hike; it does not have a legal right to the information. Colorado will not help Donald Trump undermine our elections and hurt the American people.” On December 1, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked the state to enter an agreement to share complete voter data, including names, dates of birth, residential addresses and full driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Griswold said she provided only the publ...
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Clerks vs. the Constitution: Why the CCCA’s Letter to Polis Gets It Wrong
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Clerks vs. the Constitution: Why the CCCA’s Letter to Polis Gets It Wrong

By A.L. Goodwin | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado County Clerks Association (CCCA) sent a letter urging Governor Polis to block the potential transfer of Tina Peters to federal custody. That request rests on unconstitutional assumptions and a series of demonstrably false claims—many of which CCCA Director Matt Crane repeated in his November 24, 2025 interview on 710 KNUS, spread across two morning segments — Let My Tina Go! and Should Tina Peters Be Pardoned? 1. Matt Crane falsely asserted that Tina was a flight risk and should not be out on bond pending appeal. “Tina certainly demonstrated before that she's a flight risk, right? So after the cyber symposium, in 2021 where she went and, you know, hid out … she was gone for at least a month after tha...
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Study Warns Colorado’s High Theft Threshold Fueling Retail Crime Growth
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Study Warns Colorado’s High Theft Threshold Fueling Retail Crime Growth

By Mark Samuelson | Colorado Politics Shoplifting and other forms of retail crime are seeing a sharp rise as Colorado heads into the holidays, according to a study. After falling from a recent-record 24,975 thefts reported in 2015 to around 18,000 in 2021, Colorado Bureau of Investigation data show a jump to more than 27,000 shoplifting crimes in 2024, according to former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, who co-authored the study. The study was released in the past week by the Greenwood Village-based Common Sense Institute. It reported that shoplifting hotspots include Adams County, with 52,333 incidents over the span from 2014 to 2024; followed by Jefferson County, with 34,241 incidents; and El Paso County, 33,339 over the span. Other counties posting high numbers ...
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Court Won’t Toss Suit Claiming Polis Violated Colorado’s Limits on ICE Cooperation
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Court Won’t Toss Suit Claiming Polis Violated Colorado’s Limits on ICE Cooperation

By: Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun A state judge dismissed Gov. Jared Polis’ request to throw out the case. A judge has denied Gov. Jared Polis’ request to dismiss the case against him in state court alleging his attempt to comply with a subpoena from Immigration and Customs Enforcement breaks state law. Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones on Wednesday rejected Polis’ motion to dismiss the case originally brought by former state labor department employee Scott Moss. Moss sued Polis in June after the governor ordered Moss to comply with a subpoena from ICE for personal information of Coloradans acting as sponsors for unaccompanied immigrant children. Just weeks after Moss filed the lawsuit, Jones blocked Polis from ordering certain state workers to hand ...
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Over 480 DHS Staff Claim Minnesota Leaders Involved in $1 Billion Cover-Up of Fraud
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The Gateway Pundit, Approved, National

Over 480 DHS Staff Claim Minnesota Leaders Involved in $1 Billion Cover-Up of Fraud

By: Jim Hoft | The Gateway Pundit Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is under fire after employees from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) issued a bombshell statement accusing the far-left governor of orchestrating a sweeping cover-up to shield a sprawling Somali immigrant fraud ring that stole more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds and punishing whistleblowers who tried to stop it. According to DHS insiders, Walz not only ignored early warnings but actively retaliated against agency employees who sounded the alarm. They now accuse his administration of using political intimidation, monitoring, threats, and agency manipulation to suppress evidence and silence witnesses. As The Gateway Pundit reported, 70 members of the Somali community in Minnesota were i...
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Colorado Mourns Sen. Faith Winter After Fatal I-25 Crash
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Mourns Sen. Faith Winter After Fatal I-25 Crash

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics State Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, was killed in a car accident Wednesday evening on Interstate 25. The accident took place near the intersection of I-25 and Dry Creek Avenue in Centennial, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. Officers were dispatched to the accident around 8 p.m. Three people were injured and one died. While Arapahoe County would not confirm the identity of the fatality, Senate President James Coleman of Denver told Colorado Politics it was Winter. In a statement, Coleman and Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, D-Denver, said they are devastated to learn of Winter’s passing. “Today, our caucus grieves the loss of a dedicated public servant whose commitment to the people of Colorado never waver...
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Colorado’s Political Culture Is Driving Out Its Best Leaders
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Political Culture Is Driving Out Its Best Leaders

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is experiencing a political decline that follows the core patterns described in political ponerology. The system rewards the wrong traits, punishes integrity, and produces outcomes that push capable people away from public service - fast and hard. You can see this in the culture that governs candidate recruitment, party operations, legislative priorities, and internal accountability.  The signals are not abstract. They are practical warning signs that explain why Colorado has a shrinking supply of competent, serious, and ethical leaders. Political ponerology teaches that a system becomes unhealthy when individuals with destructive traits gain influence. Once inside, they shape expectations, incentives, and norms...
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Colorado needs an all‑of‑the‑above energy strategy
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado needs an all‑of‑the‑above energy strategy

By Rep. Ryan Gonzalez | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As we all know, energy is vital in policy making. If we have no secure energy sector, uncertainty will ensue. While there are different views on energy policy, we must not rule out any single source of energy (like fossil fuels) for a clean environment that also secures our demand to provide for our consumers.  Energy affects virtually everything from the cost of raw materials to the finished goods or services you see in the market. More rigorous energy policy that isn’t cost effective, only raises prices and may create scarcity of resources available. In the Colorado legislature, as a first term state Representative, I have seen these concerns unfold in real time as they push a very ambitious 2040 zero emissions ...
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