Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: State News

Denver Among America’s Riskiest Vacation Cities
KYGO, Approved, Local

Denver Among America’s Riskiest Vacation Cities

By Shawn Patrick | 98.5 KYGO If you’ve ever parked your car on a Denver street and returned to find the window smashed and your backpack gone, congratulations: You are a data point. Denver has been named the fourth-riskiest vacation destination in the United States for property crime, according to a new analysis by home security company Vivint using FBI data from summer 2024. The Mile High City logged 401 property crimes per 100,000 residents during peak summer travel season, putting it behind only Honolulu (442), Seattle (415) and Philadelphia (408) among 25 popular U.S. vacation cities studied. That rate is nearly three times higher than Park City, Utah, which topped the safest list at just 136 per 100,000. The ranking is driven by three categories: burglary, la...
Children’s Hospital Denies Violating Court Order In Colorado Gender Care Lawsuit
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Children’s Hospital Denies Violating Court Order In Colorado Gender Care Lawsuit

By: John Ingold | The Colorado Sun The hospital is accused of violating an order stemming from the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that it resume prescriptions for transgender youth. Children’s Hospital Colorado on Monday pleaded not guilty to allegations it has violated a court order to resume gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The plea came during a brief hearing in Denver District Court, during which Judge Ericka F. H. Englert scheduled a multiday trial in mid-September to determine whether Children’s should be held in contempt. Children’s is being sued by four transgender youth and their families who say the hospital discriminated against them when it stopped writing prescriptions to patients under the age of 18 for the purposes of gender-affirmi...
Montezuma County Judge Agrees to 90 Day Suspension After Misconduct Admissions
Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Montezuma County Judge Agrees to 90 Day Suspension After Misconduct Admissions

By: Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A Montezuma County judge and the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline both agreed this month that a suspension and public censure are the appropriate consequences for his multiple instances of misconduct, including invoking his title when facing a citation from state officials and exhibiting bias against a criminal defendant. Under constitutional Amendment H, which voters adopted in November 2024, a three-member panel will formally administer discipline to County Court Judge Ian J. MacLaren. The commission originally sought MacLaren’s removal from the bench for actions that allegedly included lying to disciplinary officials. However, on July 11, the parties told the panel that a combination of a public censure, unpaid...
Colorado Gun Owners Could Become Decisive Voting Bloc
The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Gun Owners Could Become Decisive Voting Bloc

By: Chris Dorsey | Commentary, The Gazette That oversight has shaped elections before, and it may do so again.  Donald Trump’s election demonstrated what happens when millions of Americans who view the Second Amendment as a fundamental constitutional liberty conclude that the future of that right is on the ballot. Many constituencies contributed to Trump’s victories, but few matched the discipline, organization, and intensity of gun owners.   The National Rifle Association, despite its well-publicized internal challenges in recent years, remains one of the most influential grassroots political organizations in the country. For decades, it built a political machine that educated members, graded candidates, mobilized volunteers, and reminded voters that el...
New History Exhibit Explores the Triumphs Trials and Transformation of Colorado
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

New History Exhibit Explores the Triumphs Trials and Transformation of Colorado

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette After three and a half years in Colorado, I knew the state had mountains and sunshine. What I didn’t know was how often Colorado has reinvented itself. Or why Colorado is the way it is. After a 90-minute tour with Katherine Mercier — a historian who developed the “38th Star” exhibition at the History Colorado Center — I began to understand the why. Colorado celebrates its 150th anniversary as a state on Aug. 1. I’ve always thought of Colorado as a blue state. But that wasn’t the case in the years before statehood. Politicians viewed Colorado through a very different lens — as a place more likely to send Republicans to Congress and the White House. This political reality shaped Colorado’s long ...
Federal Appeals Court Rejects Anonymous Lawsuit Against Colorado Judicial Branch
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Anonymous Lawsuit Against Colorado Judicial Branch

By: Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics The Denver-based federal appeals court concluded last month that a former attorney cannot mask her identity while suing the Colorado Judicial Department for alleged improprieties in her disability and disbarment proceedings. “Jane Roe,” representing herself, sued the Judicial Department and attorney regulators in 2024. She accused the defendants of discrimination, defamation, and violations of her constitutional rights in the proceedings that culminated in her disbarment. Because Roe did not have an attorney, Colorado’s federal trial court routed her complaint through its screening process for self-represented litigants. U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard T. Gurley advised Roe that there need to be “exceptional” circumstances for plain...
Colorado Crime Still Among Nation’s Worst Despite Drop in Auto Theft
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Crime Still Among Nation’s Worst Despite Drop in Auto Theft

By: The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The Polis administration’s announcement the other day touting a drop in Colorado’s nationally notorious rate of auto theft was welcome news — as long as it lasted. As The Gazette reported, the state Department of Public Safety released data late last month showing auto thefts were down this year by 36%, from January through May, compared with the same time frame last year. Then came the bad newS. Not one, but two people were shot to death in apparently separate incidents in Denver — both while trying to stop the theft of their cars — within days of the announcement. Yes, motor vehicle theft still poses a very serious threat in our state. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Accordin...
Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk

By: Colleen Slevin and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Kiros has tapped into the national discontent for incumbents among Democratic voters and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that has DeGette’s supporters incredibly nervous. 29-year-old democratic socialist is giving U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette her biggest challenge in the 30 years since she was first elected to represent Denver, appearing on the verge of pushing Colorado’s longest serving member of Congress out of Washington. Melat Kiros, who was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders last week, has tapped into the national discontent among Democratic voters toward incumbents and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that at the very least has DeGette’s supporters incre...
Colorado Democrats Clash Over Identity and Electability in High Stakes CD8 Primary
Washington Examiner, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Clash Over Identity and Electability in High Stakes CD8 Primary

By: James A. Downs | Washington Examiner Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) will find out his opponent on Tuesday from a contentious Colorado primary that has reopened some of the Democratic Party’s old political wounds.  State Rep. Manny Rutinel, a Hispanic progressive, takes on former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a white moderate, in a race that has been shaped by who is best fit to succeed in a battleground, Latino-plurality district.  Latino members of Congress in recent weeks chastised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for its involvement in primaries after Randy Villegas prevailed in California’s 22nd District, a Central Valley battleground held by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA). The DCCC endorsed Jasmeet Bains, a moderate assemblywoman, but Vil...