Author

Lindsey Toomer

Lindsey Toomer

Lindsey Toomer covers politics, social justice and other stories for Newsline. She formerly reported on city government at the Denver Gazette and on Colorado mountain town government, education and environment at the Summit Daily News.

Adults with disabilities segregated in Colorado nursing homes, federal government says in lawsuit

By: - October 4, 2023

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Colorado, alleging that the state unnecessarily segregates adults with disabilities into nursing homes.  The civil lawsuit claims that Colorado failed to offer sufficient community services to help people with disabilities, including older adults, live in their own homes. This led to people being forced into nursing homes, which […]

Colorado’s Buck among 8 Republicans who vote to remove McCarthy as speaker

By: - October 3, 2023

One Colorado Republican voted in support of removing U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his role leading the chamber.  In a vote Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Windsor voted to oust McCarthy from his speakership, as did all five Democratic members of Colorado’s House delegation. Reps. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn, Colorado’s other two […]

How some Republicans came to view Ken Buck as the ‘Liz Cheney of Colorado’

By: - October 2, 2023

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Windsor Republican and member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, is facing criticism and potentially a primary challenge since he hasn’t shown support for impeaching President Joe Biden.  A group of far-right House Republicans opened an impeachment inquiry alleging Biden while he was vice president profited from his son’s international business […]

Woodland Park Board of Education elections

By: - October 1, 2023

Woodland Park School District will see six candidates face off for three seats on the district’s board of education, with its conservative slate of incumbents facing a group of challengers who are displeased with the direction the board has led the district. The board has a total of five seats. A small local school district […]

Douglas County Board of Education elections

By: - October 1, 2023

Douglas County School District has three of its seven school board seats up for election in November, with two members running for reelection.  Four conservative members elected as a slate in 2021 took over leadership of the board. They fired former superintendent Cory Wise, resulting in a $830,000 settlement as well as an open records […]

Denver Board of Education elections

By: - October 1, 2023

Denver Public Schools has three seats up for election on a tumultuous board of education facing consistent public criticism and leadership challenges amid growing school safety concerns.  The board is currently controlled by teachers union-backed members and recently decided to bring armed school resource officers back to the school district after multiple instances of gun […]

Strike deadline approaches as Colorado health care workers negotiate with Kaiser Permanente

By: - September 28, 2023

Colorado could see 3,000 health care workers go on strike next week if Kaiser Permanente leadership does not agree to union workers’ demands.  While negotiating with Kaiser for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Service Employees International Union Local 105 members and a coalition of other unions from around the country are asking […]

Supermax prison staff in Colorado get bigger retention bonus following high turnover

By: - September 26, 2023

All staff members at the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, the most secure federal prison in America, will receive a 25% retention bonus. The so-called “supermax” prison has been working through staffing difficulties for years, with high turnover amid difficult working conditions and forced overtime. The American Federation of Government Employees Local 1169, the union that […]

Colorado senators join call for New Jersey’s Menendez to step down

By: - September 26, 2023

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined the calls for fellow Democrat U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey to step down following his recent indictment. Federal authorities indicted Menendez for the second time Friday, charging him with conspiracy to commit bribery and related offenses over his alleged aid to a North Jersey businessman and […]

Thousands of Colorado Medicaid recipients improperly disenrolled under new federal guidance

By: - September 25, 2023

Colorado is one of several states whose Medicaid automatic renewal system wrongfully disenrolled thousands of eligible recipients under new federal guidance. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently changed its guidance regarding state systems that automatically determine whether a recipient is eligible for reenrollment. While the systems used to make assessments by household, […]

Basic income saved lives, say supporters, who rally in Denver for extension of cash assistance

By: - September 23, 2023

Advocates for the Denver Basic Income Project rallied at the Colorado Capitol on Friday to urge local leaders to support additional funding for the program, which provides direct cash assistance to people experiencing homelessness.  In honor of Basic Income National Day of Action, DBIP leadership and other supporters marched from the Colorado Capitol to the […]

Senate Democrats including Bennet introduce bill to ban congressional stock trading

By: - September 18, 2023

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and other Democrats in the Senate joined the push to ban members of Congress from trading stock.  A bill sponsored by Bennet would require members and their immediate family members to place stocks in a blind trust or divest, in an attempt to ensure elected officials are not profiting from insider […]