Rocky Mountain Voice

Blog

Colorado Churches Growing Again Driven By Younger Generations
Approved, Local, The Denver Gazette

Colorado Churches Growing Again Driven By Younger Generations

By Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette If churchgoing ever hit a low point in American history, it would have been exactly six years ago, just as the year 2020 arrived. Late the previous year, a widely publicized Pew Research study had documented an ongoing erosion of Christianity and of general religious identity in the U.S. The tally of Americans who identified as Christian, the research said, had fallen to 65% — down 12 points over a single decade. Moreover, those identifying as atheist, agnostic or as “nones” had climbed to 26%. The unconformity widened further by age groups, older to younger. Then COVID-19 arrived, with public health orders by governments effectively closing down places of worship, along with schools, businesses and other public buildings. In Colorado, ...
Homelessness Rises In El Paso And Teller Counties As Statewide Numbers Fall
Approved, Axios, Local

Homelessness Rises In El Paso And Teller Counties As Statewide Numbers Fall

By Glenn Wallace | Axios Homelessness in El Paso and Teller counties rose in 2025, even as statewide numbers declined slightly, according to a statewide report released Monday. Why it matters: The increase is adding strain to local shelters and housing programs even as much of Colorado saw modest improvement. Driving the news: Colorado's State of Homelessness Report counted 7,078 people experiencing homelessness in the Pikes Peak region in 2025, up from 6,787 the year before. Local service providers saw demand jump nearly 19% year over year, helping 16,245 people in 2025. Meanwhile, homelessness declined slightly in Denver, northern Colorado and statewide overall. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT AXIOS
Federal Lawmakers Question Colorado Sanctuary Policies In New Investigation
Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Federal Lawmakers Question Colorado Sanctuary Policies In New Investigation

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A congressional panel is reviewing Denver and Boulder’s policies, alleging that these cities, along with other “sanctuary” jurisdictions, are declining to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the body announced Wednesday. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, issued letters to the district attorneys, sheriffs and police chiefs of Denver and Boulder, accusing the local officials of prioritizing “illegal and criminal aliens over American citizens,” undermining public safety and hindering “the efficient enforcement of federal law.” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California, chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Environment, also signed the letters. Rep. Gabe Evans, the Republic...
Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters
Approved, DENVER7, State

Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters

By April Schildmeyer | Denver7 DENVER — A judge rejected three Republican primary candidates' request to block unaffiliated voters from participating in the upcoming party primary election. Former State House Rep. Ron Hanks, State Rep. Scott Bottoms and David Willson, a candidate for attorney general, filed the suit, claiming that allowing non-party voters to participate dilutes the votes of registered Republicans and violated the party's First Amendment rights. In 2016, Colorado voters approved Proposition 108, which opened primaries to unaffiliated voters. Judge Jon J. Olafson found the plaintiffs waited too long to file their lawsuit, noting that ballots had already been mailed to overseas military voters. County clerks must mail ballots to military and overseas voters by...
Colorado Democrats Punish Polis Over Decision In Tina Peters Case
Approved, DENVER7, State

Colorado Democrats Punish Polis Over Decision In Tina Peters Case

By Kaylee Harter | Denver7 The 90% vote bars Polis from participating as an honored guest, featured speaker or official rep of the Colorado Democratic Party at events. The Colorado Democratic Party State Central Committee voted overwThelmingly to censure Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday, formally rebuking him for commuting the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. The censure bars the governor from participating as an honored guest, featured speaker or official representative of the Colorado Democratic Party at party-sponsored events, including the Obama Gala and DemFest. The motion, read by DNC member Stephanie Beal, said the committee found that Polis' decision to grant clemency to Peters "materially harmed the Colorado Democratic Party's institutional credibility and ef...
Colorado killed its only data center water bills. Cities are filling the gap themselves.
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado killed its only data center water bills. Cities are filling the gap themselves.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado spent a year trying to answer a basic question: should companies building massive AI data centers be required to disclose how much water they use? The answer, as of May 11, was no. Senate Bill 26-102 would have required operators of new large data centers to report annual water use to state health officials. A companion measure, House Bill 26-1030, sought to attract data centers through voluntary tax incentives tied to water efficiency standards. HB26-1030 died in committee on May 7. SB26-102 followed four days later. 238 lobbyists registered positions on one or both bills on behalf of 221 clients, according to Secretary of State records. Five days after the legislature adjourned, Denver City Council unanim...
A boy swept three girls’ events. Where were the adults?
New York Post, Approved, Commentary, National

A boy swept three girls’ events. Where were the adults?

By Jennifer Sey | Commentary, New York Post Federal law is supposed to forbid it, and even California Gov. Gavin Newsom calls it unfair. Yet on Saturday, AB Hernandez, a boy, swept the girls’ high jump, triple jump and long jump at the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Sectionals competition. Hernandez’s dominating distances will most likely advance him to the state championships at the end of the month.  CIF allowed the first-place girl in each event to share the podium with Hernandez — tacitly admitting two plain facts: that Hernandez is male, and that young women have unfairly had to compete against him for years. The list of displaced girls is so long at this point that we’ve stopped flinching. High jumper Reese...
What’s Likely to Change at Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

What’s Likely to Change at Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Likely changes to the Public Utilities Commission As I write this, the ultimate fate of the Public Utilities Commission sunset bill, HB26-1326 (the first link below), is unknown. I think that its becoming law is solid enough that we can wrap up what changes to this important unelected body we will see. Toward that end, I present you a couple of references which make a decent attempt at hitting endpoints on the ideological spectrum. Link 2 is a wrap up report by the Independence Institute’s energy policy writer Sarah Montalbano. Link 3 is to a contemporaneous article by the Colorado Sun’s Mark Jaffe. I’ll leave it to you to read through either or, what’s better, both. There are some things that stuck out t...
Coastal desalination could save Colorado’s water. The pushback? Cost
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Coastal desalination could save Colorado’s water. The pushback? Cost

By Michael J Badagliacco, “MJB” | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s water rights must never become a bargaining chip.  The 1922 Colorado River Compact apportioned 7.5 million acre-feet annually to the Upper Basin, including Colorado, and the same amount to the Lower Basin states. The 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act fixed specific Lower Basin shares: California 4.4 million acre-feet, Arizona 2.8 million acre-feet, and Nevada 0.3 million acre-feet. The 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact later assigned Colorado roughly 51.75% of the Upper Basin’s share, or about 3.86 million acre-feet. The 1964 Arizona v. California Supreme Court decree confirmed federal oversight of these mainstream allocations while highlighting the need for supply solutions beyond repeate...
Polis Pushes Back As Employers Cite Rising Challenges In Colorado Economy
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Pushes Back As Employers Cite Rising Challenges In Colorado Economy

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics How does Colorado get back to the climate in the early 2000s, when there was collaboration between state government, companies and colleges and universities? That was the question posed to Gov. Jared Polis and a panel convened Tuesday by the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce as part of its annual state of the state luncheon that follows the end of the legislative session. Mowa Haile, the CEO of Sky Blue Builders who chairs the chamber board, noted that, in the last year, the state has gained more than $2 billion in capital investment, along with 1,000 jobs. Colorado is still an amazing state, he said. “But we see cracks,” Haile said. Several issues today make Colorado less competitive for businesses, he said,...