Government
Secretary Haaland meets with Colorado delegation in Grand Junction
During her first official visit to Grand Junction, the nation’s first Native American secretary of the interior, Deb Haaland, wouldn’t say whether the Bureau of Land Management headquarters will remain in the city or return to Washington, D.C. “It’s an open question, but needs to be known soon,” she said. Haaland was joined on Friday […]
Beware leftist bashing of redistricting commissions
As Colorado’s new redistricting commissions were forming this year a hostile view of them could be detected among Colorado progressives. It started quietly and started to grow, and now it’s emerging into full view. It demands a response. The commissions were adopted after Colorado voters in 2018 approved amendments Y and Z. States redraw political […]
Colorado’s housing crisis touches every inch of the state. Lawmakers hope $400 million will help.
Colorado’s affordable housing crisis touches every inch of the state, whether it’s rising rents coupled with stagnant wages, limited available affordable units, or unattainable building costs. State lawmakers this session set aside $400 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to try to alleviate the growing housing pressure seen across the state. The challenge now will […]
Feds: Florida, Missouri, Texas account for 40% of all COVID-19 cases this week
WASHINGTON — Amid a rise in infections and hospitalizations from the surging delta variant of COVID-19, the Biden administration is boosting money and other assistance to the hardest-hit areas of the country. This week, just three states with lower vaccination rates — Florida, Texas and Missouri — accounted for 40% of all cases nationwide. One […]
Water ‘crisis’ discussed by Interior’s Haaland, Colorado officials at Denver roundtable
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s visit to Colorado began on Thursday at the headquarters of Denver Water, where she met with state and local leaders to discuss federal efforts to deal with the worsening drought conditions that have spread across much of the American West. “Being from New Mexico, I know how much climate change impacts […]
Stone-Manning nomination set to advance to U.S. Senate after emotions run high at committee vote
In a contentious meeting that distilled a weeks-long fight, the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee deadlocked 10-10 along party lines Thursday on approving Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination as head of the Bureau of Land Management. That means an extra procedural vote will be forced before the full U.S. Senate takes up the nomination of […]
Black Coloradans arrested at twice the rate of white people nearly a decade after pot legalization
Though the total number of arrests for adults and juveniles for pot-related crimes has gone down overall since Colorado legalized marijuana in 2012, wide racial disparities persist, a new report finds. The widest disparity is among Black Coloradans, who are arrested at twice the rate of white people for pot-related charges, according to a 180-page […]
U.S. Senate Republicans block advance of bipartisan infrastructure plan, but talks continue
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats’ attempt to start debate on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan was blocked by Republicans on a party-line vote Wednesday, as lawmakers hustle to wrap up negotiations over drafting that legislation. In the 49-51 test vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) switched his vote to “no,” a procedural move that allows […]
Immediate removal of tents, propane tanks in public spaces approved by Boulder council
Boulder City Council members on Tuesday night approved an emergency rule that allows law enforcement to remove tents from public spaces without prior notice — part of the city’s months-long push to more aggressively enforce the city’s camping ban. The new ordinance is effective immediately. “Often in the process of removing an encampment, campers will […]
Neguse among Democrats uniting around ‘climate corps’ that could employ youth, prevent fires
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged on Tuesday to include a Civilian Climate Corps in a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill later this year, as a broad swath of Democrats rallied around a framework of employing thousands of young people to do conservation work. Schumer (D-N.Y.) appeared with a handful of congressional Democrats, led by […]
Colorado backs off plan to require large employers to encourage reduced car travel
Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced on Tuesday that they would dramatically scale down a proposed rule to require large employers in the Denver metro area to incentivize their employees to reduce car travel, dealing a major blow to efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. “The […]
Broomfield City Council refers ranked-choice voting to November ballot
Within a few years, voters in several Colorado cities could be filling in bubbles next to the names of multiple candidates running for the same office in a local election. A new state law makes it easier for cities and towns to implement ranked-choice voting, which is sometimes called instant runoff voting. The process allows […]