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Otero County’s Wild & Scenic River fight offers a warning for Colorado
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Otero County’s Wild & Scenic River fight offers a warning for Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Federal land designations, with Otero County as an example I had a reader share the first link below with me recently. It’s an editorial appearing on the Colorado News Your Way site about a proposed federal land designation, specifically about a Wild & Scenic River designation proposed for the Purgatoire River and Pickett Wire Canyon by the Forest Service as a part of the Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands revised management plan. Let’s back up a step and quickly talk about federal land designations. The second link below is to a Congress.gov explainer on the topic. You’re welcome to poke around in there for more detail, but for our purposes, it’s enough to know that federal land designations aff...
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FIFA Reverses Balogun Suspension After Trump Pushes Review
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TownHall.com, Approved, National

FIFA Reverses Balogun Suspension After Trump Pushes Review

By: Matt Vespa | Townhall On Wednesday, Folarin Balogun received a red card during the US Men’s National Team’s game against Bosnia. We won 2-0. We’re facing Belgium tonight, but Balogun was supposed to be suspended. In an Independence Day miracle, FIFA reversed the suspension. Reportedly, President Trump assembled a team of lawyers to challenge it. Belgium is stunned (via CNBC): President Donald Trump reportedly asked FIFA to review a one-game World Cup suspension of U.S Men’s National Team striker Folarin Balogun before the international soccer regulatory body surprisingly reversed the ban on Sunday. Trump cheered FIFA’s decision, which allows the 25-year-old Balogun to play against Belgium in Monday’s match in Seattle. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what w...
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Colorado Third Grade Reading Scores Continue to Lag Despite Millions in Spending
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Third Grade Reading Scores Continue to Lag Despite Millions in Spending

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s Learning Curve education podcast, Erin Brantley and Ross Izard look at Mississippi’s dramatic improvement in public school reading achievement and whether Colorado can apply similar strategies to boost literacy outcomes through the state’s READ Act. Mississippi shot from 49th nationally in fourth-grade reading proficiency in 2013 to ninth in 2024. The hosts credit much of that success to the state’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act, combining science-based reading instruction, early identification of struggling readers, targeted interventions, and, when necessary, requiring students who fall short of  reading benchmarks to repeat third grade before advancing. READ THE FULL AR...
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Grand Junction Pays Tribute to Three Firefighters Lost in Snyder Fire
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Grand Junction Pays Tribute to Three Firefighters Lost in Snyder Fire

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The three firefighters killed in the Snyder Fire west of Grand Junction last month were remembered and honored during a memorial service Sunday. Federal firefighters Emily Barker, 38, Nick Hutcherson, 27, and Sydney Watson, 27, were killed June 27 fighting the more than 30,000-acre wildfire on the Colorado-Utah state line. Authorities said they were trying to shield themselves from flames by deploying tent-like shelters when they were overcome. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Colorado Crime Still Among Nation’s Worst Despite Drop in Auto Theft
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Crime Still Among Nation’s Worst Despite Drop in Auto Theft

By: The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The Polis administration’s announcement the other day touting a drop in Colorado’s nationally notorious rate of auto theft was welcome news — as long as it lasted. As The Gazette reported, the state Department of Public Safety released data late last month showing auto thefts were down this year by 36%, from January through May, compared with the same time frame last year. Then came the bad newS. Not one, but two people were shot to death in apparently separate incidents in Denver — both while trying to stop the theft of their cars — within days of the announcement. Yes, motor vehicle theft still poses a very serious threat in our state. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Accordin...
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FEMA Approves Additional Fire Aid as Colorado Wildfires Burn Across State
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

FEMA Approves Additional Fire Aid as Colorado Wildfires Burn Across State

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis announced Sunday that FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Willow fire as firefighting efforts continue across the state. The Willow fire has placed more than 1,500 people under mandatory evacuation orders and another 2,100 residents under pre-evacuation notices, according to the governor’s office. The fire, reported June 28, has burned almost 4,000 acres and is 1% contained. “This Federal Fire Management Assistance Grant will help our state take all necessary actions to protect Coloradans and communities,” Polis said in a statement. “Protecting lives, property, and businesses is our top priority.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Federal Reserve Study Connects Illegal Immigration to Housing Affordability Crisis
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Just The News, Approved, National

Federal Reserve Study Connects Illegal Immigration to Housing Affordability Crisis

By: John Solomon | Just the News Paper creates first ever calculation of how a wave of 7 million illegal immigrants from 2021 to 2024 affected local labor and housing markets. Anew Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas working paper estimates the record surge in illegal immigration during the Biden administration boosted employment while causing 30% of home price increases and 20% of rent increases. The paper combined immigration court records with government administrative data to create the first ever calculation of how a wave of 7 million illegal immigrants from 2021 through 2024 affected local labor and housing markets. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT JUST THE NEWS
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The bonds that cannot be dissolved
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Rocky Mountain Voice, National, Top Stories

The bonds that cannot be dissolved

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board The Declaration of Independence opens by taking something apart. Before it reaches life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it lays out why one people must "dissolve the political bands" that tie them to another. The founding act is a break. The signers put a tie of their own in its place. The last line is a pledge they made to each other, "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Two hundred fifty years later, that pledge still holds. We asked readers on the Fourth to show us how they were marking America's 250th birthday and Colorado's 150th. The answers came from Washington, the California coast, a Delta County parade, festivities in Thornton, family fun in a backyard, a Castle Rock-to-Westminster flag drive and a smoke-dimme...
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The creativity weapon: Loving the crooked man
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, National, Top Stories

The creativity weapon: Loving the crooked man

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice When I was little, one of my favorite people ever was Grandma Ivy, still is. She wasn't famous. She never stood behind a pulpit or wrote a book. But she was a superhero. During many of my toddler and elementary years, she was my guardian, my safe place, and my greatest teacher. Like so many grandmothers, she had a way of turning ordinary moments into lasting memories. One of those memories was a simple nursery rhyme she taught me: "There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, and they all lived together in a little crooked house." Back then, I thought it was just a funny rhyme. I smiled because everything in...
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Getting off isn’t so easy
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Getting off isn’t so easy

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Getting onto Colorado's voter rolls is only half the story. In Part 2, Mike O'Donnell examines how names come off the rolls—and why he argues the current process often leaves outdated registrations behind. Centenarian Registrants in Colorado The 2026 World Population Review estimates that there are 890 centenarians (people aged 100 or older) currently living in Colorado.  According to the public Colorado voter roll, the state is home to 1,569 centenarians. Different local news sources identify that three 109 year old individuals potentially and currently share the title of the oldest Coloradan alive today. But according to the public Colorado voter roll, there are thirty-four registrants who are older, t...
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