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The cheap politics of acknowledgment: Joondeph’s case against Denver’s plan
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, Local

The cheap politics of acknowledgment: Joondeph’s case against Denver’s plan

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Not long ago, I attended a Sunday service at a Methodist church in Denver. Before the service began, the pastor introduced herself, shared her preferred pronouns, and informed the congregation that we were worshipping on stolen Native American land. I remember wondering why, if the land had truly been stolen, the church still owned it. I wrote about it on these pages.  Now Denver’s City Council wants to add another public ritual to official meetings. Not a prayer. Not the Pledge of Allegiance. Not even a moment of silence. A labor acknowledgment recognizing slavery and its legacy. Image created by ChatGPT The proposal is curious for one obvious reason. Colorado ent...
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This metro district charges 115 mills and is still behind on its bonds. A state audit found it isn’t alone.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

This metro district charges 115 mills and is still behind on its bonds. A state audit found it isn’t alone.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Homeowners inside the Riverdale Peaks II Metropolitan District pay one of the highest tax rates of any special district in Colorado. Their metro district levied 115.019 mills in 2024, good for fifth place on a list of eleven districts statewide charging 100 mills or more. That levy pulled in $428,566 in property taxes for the year. Riverdale Peaks II is one of 19 districts that told the state, in their own financial filings, that they have been or will be unable to make principal or interest payments on their debt as those payments come due.  It taxes its residents at more than 100 mills and still reports to the state that it can't keep up with the full payments on its bonds. That combination is the core finding o...
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Why deportations are only part of the affordability answer
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TownHall.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Why deportations are only part of the affordability answer

By Dmitri Bolt | Commentary, Townhall AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued on Thursday that mass deportations are already improving Americans’ economic circumstances. He pointed to a tightening labor market, rising wages for working-class Americans following the departure of more than one million illegal immigrants from the workforce, and reduced pressure on rents as fewer illegal immigrants compete for jobs and housing. However, it is important to remember that these problems existed long before illegal immigration reached its current scale, and they will remain long after, if we do not strike at the root of the affordability issue. "Things are getting better. We're seeing construction jobs picking up. We're seeing manufactu...
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Human Error Delays 28,000 Milwaukee Ballots as Election Concerns Return
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The Federalist, Approved, National

Human Error Delays 28,000 Milwaukee Ballots as Election Concerns Return

By M.D. Kittle | The Federalist Milwaukee has a way of coming up with just enough votes the Democrat machine needs to win swing state Wisconsin. Call it a ‘lair for drama.’ Those of a certain age (old like me) will remember Dana Carvey’s recurring character, the sanctimonious Church Lady, on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s — when SNL was funny. After a celebrity guest would finish up some story of moral depravity, the Church Lady would raise her left brow and patronizingly declare, “Well, isn’t that special?” We need an election integrity Church Lady in the office of the Milwaukee Election Commission. Although, there was nothing particularly special about Tuesday’s late-night absentee ballot debacle in a blue city that has r...
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Why Millions of Men Are Checking Out of Work and Family Life
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New York Post, Approved, Commentary, National

Why Millions of Men Are Checking Out of Work and Family Life

By Post Editorial Board | Commentary,.New York Post For only the third time in US history, more women are working than men — and this profoundly abnormal state of affairs could become the new normal if we doesn’t face this slow-moving social disaster. Crucially, the other two times were both this century — after the 2008 financial meltdown and the 2020 lockdowns, and now it’s happening without any obvious crisis to explain it. By far the most likely explanation: We’ve all but lost most clear paths toward responsible manhood. The economy’s long shift from industrial to service-sector employment is one key reason men have increasingly dropped out of the workforce entirely starting in the mid-1960s. Meanwhile, we’ve let soc...
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Douglas County Cuts Red Tape to Speed Business Growth
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CBS Colorado, Approved

Douglas County Cuts Red Tape to Speed Business Growth

By Olivia Young | CBS Colorado Douglas County leaders have launched an initiative to reduce red tape and incentivize business development in the county. "It's all we ever wanted to do," Becky Stroh told CBS Colorado. "Finally, we got to the point in our lives where we're like, 'All right, we're ready to open up our own place.'" In 2012, Stroh and her husband opened their dream restaurant in Castle Rock, the Hideaway Bar & Grill. "Permits just take a while," Stroh said. "So getting approvals take a long time." Stroh says the permitting process for the initial opening, and subsequent remodels, was lengthy. "The LED sign outside, that I remember that permit took six weeks," Stroh said. "It would just be nice to know when are we going to get the pe...
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Cornyn and Tillis sank the Justice Fund. Murdock says the Judgment Fund remains
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The American Spectator, Approved, Commentary, National

Cornyn and Tillis sank the Justice Fund. Murdock says the Judgment Fund remains

By Deroy Murdock | Commentary, The American Spectator Few things nauseate conservatives more than watching wobbly Republicans do the Democrats’ dirty work.  GOP senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina lately have delivered for the Left. They repeatedly threatened to drop an anvil on Todd Blanche, President Donald J. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, unless Blanche killed what Democrats called Trump’s Revenge Fund. The Left instantly denounced Trump’s patriotically branded $1.776 billion allotment for victims of weaponized government. Predictably, Democrats deployed their rustiest cliches: Trump arranged bonuses for his “loyalists” and those involved in “January 6.”  Democrats predictably cough up the same exhausted lines. They are malicious, brain-d...
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Colorado’s Citizen Initiative Process Faces Growing Influence From Deep Pockets
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado’s Citizen Initiative Process Faces Growing Influence From Deep Pockets

By Colleen Slevin | The Colorado Sun High cost of getting a measure on the ballot has given wealthy interests more power to push their agendas. Colorado loves its ballot questions, ranking among the top states for the most on the ballot. But voters also like to say no — a lot. In the over 100 years that Colorado voters have been able to petition to put questions on the state’s ballot, only 36% of the 256 questions that made it on the ballot have passed, according to a tally by the state legislature. Questions referred to the ballot by state lawmakers have done better, passing nearly 60% of the time. Between 1960 and 2024, Colorado had the third highest number of voter-initiated ballot measures, behind California and Oregon, according to John Mat...
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Lake Mead And Lake Powell Hit Historic Lows As Colorado River Crisis Deepens
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Lake Mead And Lake Powell Hit Historic Lows As Colorado River Crisis Deepens

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette In the past 10 days, both Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border and Lake Powell roughly 300 miles northeast on the Utah-Arizona line have recorded their lowest water levels since the reservoirs were first filled. Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir and which supplies water to Nevada, Arizona and California, measured 1,040.4 feet above sea level on Aug. 7. The level has continued to drop since then. On Monday, the reservoir measured 1,039.83 feet above sea level, nearly 190 feet below full and down about 2 feet over the past 30 days. A year ago, Lake Mead stood at roughly 1,054 feet. Hoover Dam, which created Lake Mead, was built in 1935. The reservoir was last at full in 1983. If the reservoir loses an...
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One-party rule, one-way press access in Colorado
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

One-party rule, one-way press access in Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Complete Colorado Republicans in Colorado have, at best, a ”fraught” relationship with liberal local news media. Given this history, it’s probably not surprising that when Republicans refuse to talk to the progressive press, they enthusiastically spill ink over it. To wit, journalism professor Corey Hutchins, in a recent edition of his media newsletter, noted how Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx denied some media outlets access on the night of the GOP primary, saying that his campaign chose not to rely on legacy media to tell its story. Think what you will about the maturity of Republicans or the news media, their squabbles hide something more important, especially given Colorado is run almost entirely by Democrats. Many Dem...
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