Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Weld County

Colorado Teen’s Fatal Overdose Leads to Prison Time for Dealers and Boyfriend
CBS News, Approved, State

Colorado Teen’s Fatal Overdose Leads to Prison Time for Dealers and Boyfriend

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Three Colorado residents are currently serving prison sentences following a 16-year-old girl's drug overdose.  Kaleb Hale bought six pills from a man and woman in Greeley on July 24, 2021, according to court documents. He brought the pills to a friend's home where he and his girlfriend, identified in the court documents only as "J.H.," crushed one pill and snorted a portion of it.  "Once at that residence," federal prosecutors stated in another court document, "J.H. decided to try what would be her first, and last, dose of fentanyl." Hale, then 20 years old, awoke around noon the next day. He had defecated himself and "J.H." had vomited on him, according to the document. She was unconscious and not breathing. He tried to r...
Greeley Voters to Decide Fate of Sports Arena and Private Housing Development in Feb 24 Election
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Greeley Voters to Decide Fate of Sports Arena and Private Housing Development in Feb 24 Election

By Claire Lavezzorio | Denver7 Ballot question 1A would repeal zoning changes already approved by city council for entertainment district featuring sports arena, water park & hotel. GREELEY, Colo. — Greeley residents will soon cast their votes in a special election over the future of the Catalyst & Cascadia projects. Catalyst, a city-owned project planned for the city's west side off Highway 34, would include a sports arena for the Colorado Eagles, an indoor water park and hotel. A second component, Cascadia, involves private residential development. The Feb. 24 special election will ask voters to decide whether to repeal zoning changes already approved by the city council through Ballot Question 1A. Bill Rigler, spokesperson for the&n...
When policy hits home: The people paying the price for Colorado planning
ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

When policy hits home: The people paying the price for Colorado planning

By Scott K. James | Commentary, ScottKJames.com What all these laws, rules, “roadmaps,” and captured processes are doing to the people who actually live here. We’ve spent four chapters documenting the system: Part 1: How Colorado got quietly rewired. Part 2: The rule that choked our roads. Part 3: The advocacy-industrial complex behind it. Part 4: How “public comment” became a choreographed performance. Today, we end where this story always should have begun. Not in the Capitol.Not in a CDOT Zoom room.Not in Boulder conference halls.Not in 200-page policy PDFs. But in the real lives of the people who live with the consequences. Because none of this – none of it – is theoretical. These aren’t abstract “policy disagreements.”These are i...
Inside the structure of Colorado’s Democrat-advocacy complex
ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Inside the structure of Colorado’s Democrat-advocacy complex

By Scott K. James | Commentary, Scott’s Sheet How a Small Circle of Nonprofits, Appointees & Climate Advocates Took the Reins Friday, we broke down the rule that choked our highways. Today, we lift the curtain on the people and organizations pulling the levers. This isn’t conspiracy theory. It’s process. It’s not “secret cabal.” It’s perfectly public what they do — just rarely examined. 1. Meet the Architects Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) – Executive Director Elise S. Jones. Based in Boulder. Works in six-state region promoting decarbonization, clean transportation, smart land use. (SWEEP) Colorado Energy Office (CEO) – Executive Director Will Toor. Oversees state’s energy & transportation-electrification ag...
How climate policy became the steering wheel of Colorado government
ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

How climate policy became the steering wheel of Colorado government

By Scott James | Commentary, Scott K. James In part 1 of my five-part series, I reveal how climate mandates quietly reshaped Colorado’s laws, roads, and local control – without a vote from the people. Yesterday, I told you the truth about where I am – not as an elected official, not as a partisan, not as a policy wonk, but as a human being who loves this state enough to lose sleep over it. If you missed it, you can read that emotional prologue here. That was the heart.Today begins the head. Today marks the first installment of the five-part series I promised – not ranting, not rumor, not political theater, but the receipts. The real sequence of events, the policies, the bills, the rules, the decisions, and the machinery that fundamentally reshap...
Colorado’s quiet transformation leaves working communities behind
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s quiet transformation leaves working communities behind

By Scott James | Commentary, Scott K. James I am sounding the alarm on the quiet erosion of Colorado’s values, warning of a top-down agenda that’s silencing everyday citizens. Not the Colorado of glossy tourism ads and climate conferences. The real Colorado. The one where: Kids worked ranches and feedlots, not “sustainability internships.” You and I went to Northeastern Junior College, Aims, CSU, UNC, CU – not Cornell, Yale, or Harvard – and that was good, solid, honest. We measured a person by whether they showed up and worked, not by what panel they spoke on. A neighbor expanding his cow–calf operation was a reason to crack a beer, not a reason to clutch pearls about “emissions.” Colorado used to be: Free. Pragmatic. Op...
Ranchers Warn of Coordinated Cattle Thefts in Weld County
kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Ranchers Warn of Coordinated Cattle Thefts in Weld County

By Alliyah Sims | KDVR FOX31 WELD COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Something strange is happening in Weld County: 14 Black Angus cattle have vanished from multiple ranches, and now deputies believe the animals were stolen, not lost. Since the beginning of October, ranchers in Weld County have been discovering missing cattle, but there’s no broken fences, no tracks, nothing left behind. Deputies say the pattern points to deliberate theft, not wandering animals. Chad Sanger, owner of Turnkey Cattle Company, says he checked every fence and gate, even the automated ranch entrance. The Weld County Sheriff’s Office confirms 14 missing Black Angus cattle across multiple herds. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT KDVR FOX31
A Town on Edge: Inside the Erie Mail Threats That Resulted in No Charges
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

A Town on Edge: Inside the Erie Mail Threats That Resulted in No Charges

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In early October, residents across Erie and in Virginia, began opening their mailboxes to find sympathy cards inside plain envelopes. The message referenced the assassination of Charlie Kirk, accompanied by an empty packet of Gushers candy taped to the card, glitter and a loose powdery substance that spilled when handled. Twenty residents in total received the cards. Many were former candidates, business owners, volunteers, and known conservatives within the community. One envelope opened in Virginia triggered a full hazmat activation. Loudoun County Fire & Rescue’s official report shows responders in Tychem suits isolating the scene, testing the substance, and alerting federal authorities. Their lab equip...
Rep. Gabe Evans is a Colorado Energy Champion
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Rep. Gabe Evans is a Colorado Energy Champion

By Hunter Rivera | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As the seventh-largest energy-producing state in the nation, Colorado has established itself as a leader in not only traditional energy, but renewable and next-generation sources as well. That’s why new, all-of-the-above energy legislation moving through Congress is so important for the Centennial State. Just last week, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced the SPEED Act, a bipartisan perm​​itting reform bill that would remove barriers to energy development and deployment. Before it comes to the House floor for a vote, the Energy & Commerce Committee will offer its own contributions to the legislative package. As a member of that important committee and the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus, our represent...
Colorado needs an all‑of‑the‑above energy strategy
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 ...