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Tag: Transparency

Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors

By Taylor Dolven and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Opportunity Caucus, considered among the more moderate Democrats in the legislature, organized the event. The caucus was formed as a nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors. At least 17 Democratic state lawmakers gathered with lobbyists during a weekend retreat at a Vail hotel organized by the nonprofit Colorado Opportunity Caucus. The two-day gathering included “educational panels” and discussions, according to state Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat who is chair of the caucus formed in January as a nonprofit. She said the purpose of the event was to “get a group of pragmatic, diverse legislators together to really talk about our goals for our caucus based on what we think the Colorado people really want ...
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Liberty Vote Acquires Dominion, Promising a New Era of Election Integrity
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National Pulse, Approved, National

Liberty Vote Acquires Dominion, Promising a New Era of Election Integrity

By The National Pulse Staff | The National Pulse With details revealed exclusively to The National Pulse, Liberty Vote, under the leadership of Missouri-based Scott Leiendecker, has taken full ownership of the controversial, foreign-owned Dominion Voting Systems company. This acquisition marks a historic transformation in the realm of election technology in America, with Dominion effectively being shut down and subsumed into Liberty Vote. Leiendecker, a prominent figure in election reform, is committed to rebuilding trust in the electoral process through transparent and secure voting systems. His approach includes the use of hand-marked paper ballots, emphasizing simplicity and accuracy. The National Pulse spoke with Leiendecker and his team exclusively over the past few days...
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NIH-funded study buried findings of elevated COVID vaccine risks on children
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Just The News, Approved, National

NIH-funded study buried findings of elevated COVID vaccine risks on children

By Greg Piper | Just the News NIH-funded study of "long COVID" and reinfection hides findings on risks stratified by vaccination status deep in a supplement, contradicting researchers' conclusions and media narrative that vaccines are the answer. The Trump administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the nail in the coffin of one-size-fits-all COVID-19 vaccine recommendations Monday, updating its children and adult vaccination schedules to encourage physicians, nurses and pharmacists to discuss harms and benefits from vaccination specific to each patient before they get jabbed. Parents may get an incomplete picture from healthcare providers who don't look too closely at federally funded research that promotes indiscriminate COVID jabs for kids, though....
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School Board Hopefuls Promise Accountability After Turbulent DPS Years
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

School Board Hopefuls Promise Accountability After Turbulent DPS Years

By Nico Brambila | The Denver Gazette While candidates will say every election is consequential, the four seats on the ballot next month could reshape the Denver Public Schools Board of Education and chart a new course for Colorado’s largest school district. On Tuesday, EDUCATE Denver held a candidate forum along with ChalkBeat Colorado and CBS News at Regis University. “We think leadership at the board level impacts the education of our students,” said Nan Baumbusch, EDUCATE Denver staff director. Formed in 2022, EDUCATE Denver is a diverse coalition of civic leaders and community organizations whose mission is to advocate for a “high-quality DPS education,” according to the group’s website. “For this reason, voting in a board election is important whether you have a studen...
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Is Rep. Marshall’s narrow 2024 win now at risk in Douglas County?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Is Rep. Marshall’s narrow 2024 win now at risk in Douglas County?

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Rep. Bob Marshall (D-HD43) represents one of Colorado’s most politically mixed suburban districts, covering parts of Highlands Ranch and Littleton. The area is built around families, good schools, and a long-standing belief in local control and fiscal restraint. Marshall often calls himself a centrist Democrat and a retired Marine who puts people before politics. But his voting record at the Capitol tells a different story.  Marshall once appealed to a wide mix of voters. Whether that still holds is an open question, especially given how much the mood in Douglas County has changed. Prices have climbed. Crime feels closer. And faith in state leaders is wearing thin. Out of Douglas County’s 323,000 regist...
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“They don’t care”: Unleashed podcast spotlights Durango parents’ loss of trust
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“They don’t care”: Unleashed podcast spotlights Durango parents’ loss of trust

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Hunter Opilla didn’t expect to speak at a school board meeting when his family moved to Durango two years ago. But after learning about the district’s gender bathroom policy—and the board’s decision to reverse a superintendent directive—he says he felt he had no choice. “Just blank stares,” Opilla recalled on a recent episode of Heidi Ganahl’s Unleashed podcast. “The board never responded to my emails.” Ganahl’s latest podcast brings together a concerned father and a charter school founder to unpack what they call a pattern of political overreach and parental exclusion in Durango Schools. The conversation echoes issues previously covered by Rocky Mountain Voice in its Dirty Dozen series and recent reporting on board transparency and trust. Th...
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Durango 9-R’s Monday update comes as parents dispute the “misinformation” label
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Durango 9-R’s Monday update comes as parents dispute the “misinformation” label

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R holds its State of the District tonight at the Impact Career Innovation Center. The district’s event page bills it as a community update with test-score dashboards and a Q&A. The Durango Herald said leaders plan to confront “misinformation.” Parent Jason Mietchen hears it differently: “We’ve had to counteract the misinformation for years. The school puts out a ton of it.” Why attention spiked this month The Herald also referenced Heidi Ganahl’s twelve-part ‘Durango’s 9-R Dirty Dozen,’ a wide-ranging critique of district policy, practice and the outcomes families are talking about. Topics span CMAS proficiency, gender-support steps, the ACA name-change policy, flag resolutions and the government-speech argument,...
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DPS Announced Convicted Felon as Interim Principal Before Quickly Reversing Decision
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

DPS Announced Convicted Felon as Interim Principal Before Quickly Reversing Decision

By Nico Brambila | Denver Gazette Denver Public Schools central office administrators informed parents in May that Peter Castillo would be the new interim principal at Denver School of the Arts — but they either didn’t know, or failed to disclose, that the retired educator was a convicted felon, The Denver Gazette has learned. Officials with DPS said Castillo, 59, was never hired. The incident, though, has ignited fresh doubts — at a time when parents have raised transparency concerns — about how DPS screens its leaders and communicates with families. Parents say they trusted the central office to do its due diligence, only to learn Castillo was a convicted felon whose principal license was suspended after a DUI seriously injured another driver. The omission has amplified conce...
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Colorado Supreme Court to decide if state wrongly denied child abuse hotline data to media orgs
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Supreme Court to decide if state wrongly denied child abuse hotline data to media orgs

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The news agencies wanted to know the number of times child residential treatment centers had called the child abuse hotline but were denied by state human services officials A legal battle over child abuse hotline data requested four years ago by The Colorado Sun and 9News has reached the Colorado Supreme Court.  The case centers on the news organizations’ joint request under the Colorado Open Records Act for the number of calls made to the state child abuse hotline from three child residential treatment centers in the Denver area from 2018 to 2021. Journalists sought the information while investigating the safety of children in residential centers, including the death of a 12-year-old boy who ran away from Tennyson Center and...
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Colorado’s new law shields renters from fees, businesses say protections should be next
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado’s new law shields renters from fees, businesses say protections should be next

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The Colorado legislature banned CAM fees — charges for common area maintenance — in residential leases starting Jan. 1. Without warning, Le’Toya Garland’s landlord tripled the common area maintenance fees she owed on her hip-hop dance studio in Aurora. In June 2024, the $300 to $500 a month she had paid throughout her lease jumped to $1,693. And while she managed to scrape together the funds to cover her new monthly tab — including the $2,900 she already owed in monthly rent — she couldn’t afford what came next: a $9,000 bill for back-charges she’d never been told she had to pay. “It just showed up in our account,” said Garland, who co-owns the School of Breaking. “It was the first time ever that we’ve gotten a bill like that, and it wa...
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