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Colorado owes taxpayers $34M in refunds it never sent. That means trouble for the state budget. 
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado owes taxpayers $34M in refunds it never sent. That means trouble for the state budget. 

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The state government owes Colorado taxpayers an extra $34 million in refunds it should have sent out years ago, legislative budget staff told lawmakers Friday, blowing a hole in the state’s budget with just days left in the 2024 legislative session. The error was first uncovered by a state audit released in February. State officials had planned to come up with a solution by June, but after conferring with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, Joint Budget Committee staff members say the matter can’t wait until after the session. “We really don’t have any choice,” JBC Director Craig Harper told the budget writing committee Friday. “That’s an under-refund from prior years and will need to be refunded at the earliest available opportunity.” ...
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Despite Boeing delays, Southwest Airlines VP talks Colorado Springs Airport service expansions
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, State

Despite Boeing delays, Southwest Airlines VP talks Colorado Springs Airport service expansions

By Savannah Eller | Colorado Springs Gazette In a month that's seen Southwest Airlines dropping airports and limiting hiring in response to poor financial reports, a representative on Tuesday said business was good three years into service at the Colorado Springs Airport.  Vice President and Chief Sales Officer Dave Harvey said that the airline, which expanded to Colorado Springs in 2021, is seeing promising demand in the new market. He said in general new airports in the Southwest service network take three to five years to "mature" as customers become aware and start to take advantage of new flights.  In what Harvey said was a response to demand, Southwest recently announced the addition of a nonstop flight to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, st...
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Defiant Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to move on Johnson ouster next week, against RNC advice
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Approved, National, New York Post

Defiant Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to move on Johnson ouster next week, against RNC advice

By Josh Christenson and Diana Glebova | New York Post Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Wednesday she will force a vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson “next week,” one day after House Democrats vowed to block her motion to vacate. In a morning Capitol Hill press conference, Greene (R-Ga.) stood alongside Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to declare that they would seek to remove the Republican leader for his “three betrayals” on conservative priorities. “I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote, and let the chips fall where they may,” the Georgia congresswoman said. “Next week, I am going to be calling a motion to vacate — absolutely calling it. I can’t wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker and have to go home to their primary and h...
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Kentucky Derby at 150: American sports tradition predates the automobile and the airplane, radio and television
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Approved, National, Sports Illustrated

Kentucky Derby at 150: American sports tradition predates the automobile and the airplane, radio and television

By PAT FORDE | Sports Illustrated The dominant news of the day in Kentucky on May 17, 1875, was the death of John C. Breckinridge, a U.S. Congressman turned Confederate Civil War general. Breckinridge died at the age of 54 at his home in Lexington, Ky., a divisive historical figure. His obituary filled several columns in the next day’s The Courier-Journal  newspaper. On page 4 of that Courier-Journal, a relatively modest headline read, “Derby Day.” The accompanying story chronicled the Kentucky Derby victory by the colt Aristides, in what the paper termed “a brilliant inauguration of the Louisville Jockey Club Association.” The founder of the association was Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., grandson of William Clark, one of the principals in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  The origina...
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RFK Jr. proposes ‘no-spoiler’ pledge with Biden, with loser dropping out
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Approved, National, The Washington Times

RFK Jr. proposes ‘no-spoiler’ pledge with Biden, with loser dropping out

By Mallory Wilson | The Washington Times Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called on President Biden to take a “no-spoiler” pledge with him that, if accepted, would lead to one of the two men dropping out of the presidential race in mid-October. Mr. Kennedy‘s pledge would include a 50-state poll co-funded by Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Biden in mid-October with more than 30,000 likely voters. The survey would test the results of head-to-head matchups between Mr. Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and between Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Trump. Both parties would pledge that whoever performs weaker head-to-head against Mr. Trump would then drop out...
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Rep. Boebert’s bill delisting gray wolf from endangered list advances out of U.S. House
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Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice

Rep. Boebert’s bill delisting gray wolf from endangered list advances out of U.S. House

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has delivered on one of the first promises she made to her potential new U.S. House district. In various debates in the 4th District, Boebert has noted the depredation by the gray wolf in Colorado, and had pledged to pursue a bill in Congress which would remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. There are an estimated 13,000 gray wolves in the United States and another 30,000 in Canada. She authored House Resolution 764, titled the "Trust the Science Act", to remove protections the gray wolf enjoys while depredating livestock and other animals in Colorado. The act passed the U.S. House by a 209-205 vote Tuesday, oddly earning Democrat Rep. Yadira Caraveo's support among the four Democrat votes received. T...
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Democrats make deal with governor to redirect TABOR refunds to low-income families
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Democrats make deal with governor to redirect TABOR refunds to low-income families

By Brian Eason and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Democrats in the Colorado legislature on Tuesday announced a deal with Gov. Jared Polis to make sweeping changes to the state tax code that reduce income taxes and redirect hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer refunds to low-income parents and the middle class. The tax package, spread across a handful of different bills in the final days of this year’s lawmaking term, represents an escalation of the legislature’s recent efforts to reimagine the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — a darling of the conservative movement — as a vehicle for progressive policy. Under the TABOR amendment, the government must refund money to taxpayers when revenue rises faster than the combined rate of inflation and population growth. This fiscal year, it’s...
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Caldara: Colorado’s majority Democrats assault free speech
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Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com, State

Caldara: Colorado’s majority Democrats assault free speech

By Jon Caldara | Complete Colorado (You can listen to this column, read by the author, here.) Among all protections throughout human existence for political minorities, none greater was ever created before the First Amendment. For the better part of my life, it was classic liberals and the political left who fought for the right of dissent, guaranteeing government shall not abridge speech. It was the cultural warriors of my childhood through school, media and Hollywood who drilled into us themes like: “innocent until proven guilty”; “the ends don’t justify the means”; “I disagree with what you say, but defend your right to say it”; and “dissent is patriotic.” Why? Because the political majority needs no protection for its self-expression. The political minority does. ...
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Sheena Kadi, a Democratic Party official, resigns from state treasurer’s office
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Sheena Kadi, a Democratic Party official, resigns from state treasurer’s office

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Sheena Kadi, who has served as public information officer and communications director for state Treasurer Dave Young, has resigned effective Tuesday. Kadi is under a protective order issued on behalf of Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, after Kadi accused Herod of being a "sexual predator," using the X account she also used for communications on behalf of the state treasurer. Kadi made more than a dozen accusations on X, many of which remained on her account. A post accusing Herod of sexual assault last December has since been deleted.  In a Feb. 12 ruling, Denver County Court Judge Clarissa Gonzales found Kadi’s accusations not credible and granted Herod a year-long protective order. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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AG Weiser files legal complaint against Durango District 9-R for alleged ‘electoral favoritism’
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Approved, Press for Transparency, Western Slope

AG Weiser files legal complaint against Durango District 9-R for alleged ‘electoral favoritism’

By Adam Howell | Press for Transparency An illegal election campaign contribution from Durango School District 9-R towards one of its school board members is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser on behalf of the Elections Division of the Secretary of State. The problem of electoral advocacy arose after Katie Stewart – a member of the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education – had announced her candidacy for the General Assembly in House District 59. Earlier this year, questions arose about whether Stewart was capable of serving on both the General Assembly and the school district at the same time. Also in question is the legality of serving both positions at the same time. However, it was in January 2024 when the Durango School Distric...
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