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Gabe Evans on his record, his opponent and a race inside the margin
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Gabe Evans on his record, his opponent and a race inside the margin

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Gabe Evans still tells the story of his first annual review as a cop. His sergeant sat him down and said he'd had a great year. Forty-one arrests, putting him in the top half of the shift. More than 1,800 calls for service. "If you do the math, that means less than 2% of the time I'm there to actually criminally charge someone as a cop," Evans told RMV. "98% of the time, I'm involving non-criminal issues in the community. I'm de-escalating a problem or connecting someone to resources." Evans said that job shaped how he works in Washington, along with growing up around cattle and 12 years in the military. He said service runs in the family. His mother's father, he said, "was born in Mexico, came to the United States,...
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DSA wants to abolish police and prisons. Its plan for violent offenders goes unstated
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Rocky Mountain Voice, National, Top Stories

DSA wants to abolish police and prisons. Its plan for violent offenders goes unstated

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A television anchor in Los Angeles asked a national leader of the Democratic Socialists of America a direct question this summer, and got no direct answer. Frances Gill, a member of DSA's National Political Committee, sat for an interview with NBC 4 Los Angeles anchor Conan Nolan.  Asked whether the group's goal was to defund police and to get rid of prisons and jails, Gill said yes, according to Fox News, which reported on the exchange. What DSA wants, she said, is "a horizon where folks are not reliant on armed enforcement to meet our public safety needs." Nolan then asked whether, if his daughter were assaulted and raped, any agency would find the man who did it. "Of course," Gill began. Nolan asked what it ...
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Colorado budget improves 9.5 percent while spending, not revenue, drives the shortfall
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State, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Colorado budget improves 9.5 percent while spending, not revenue, drives the shortfall

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice State economists brought the Joint Budget Committee a number that sounds like relief. General Fund revenue is projected to grow 9.5 percent this fiscal year. Then came the rest of the September forecast.  The same document that promises 9.5 percent growth also shows Colorado's labor force shrinking at a pace the state's own analysts say normally shows up only in a recession.  It shows the state keeping money it used to send back to taxpayers.  And it shows spending that Legislative Council Staff, the legislature's nonpartisan forecasters, say is the real reason the budget keeps breaking. Read past the headline and the improvement is less about a growing economy than about the state holding onto ...
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A three-vote district, a 30-year teacher, and the case Jill Haffley is making to HD16
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A three-vote district, a 30-year teacher, and the case Jill Haffley is making to HD16

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Jill Haffley knocks on thousands of doors, and she has noticed that almost nobody wants to argue about politics on their own porch. "Most people aren't interested in having a partisan argument on their front porch," she said. "They want to know whether they can afford groceries, utilities, insurance, and housing. They want safe neighborhoods and good schools. They want government to make sense with minimal interference in their daily lives." That is the pitch Haffley, a Republican and a retired 30-year classroom teacher, is carrying into one of the most closely divided legislative districts in Colorado. House District 16, which includes part of Colorado Springs, was decided by three votes in 2024, when Republican Rebec...
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Prop NN supporters say the money is guaranteed and K-12 only. The law says otherwise.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Prop NN supporters say the money is guaranteed and K-12 only. The law says otherwise.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The official campaign for Proposition NN tells Colorado voters the measure "requires a minimum 2% annual funding increase" for local school districts. The Yes on NN campaign tells voters the measure "requires a minimum 2% annual funding increase directly to local school districts." Source: Yes for Colorado Kids The state's largest teachers union goes further. On its campaign page, the Colorado Education Association says the money "is limited to K-12 only and cannot be used for anything else." The Colorado Education Association's Prop NN campaign page, captured Sept. 20, 2026. Source: Colorado Education Association Neither statement matches the law voters will be asked to approve. Prop...
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Anthony: No border, no law, and no nation to protest in
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Top Stories

Anthony: No border, no law, and no nation to protest in

By Tom Anthony | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I see students did a "walk out" protest at 180 public schools in commencement of the new school year. I myself had perfect attendance in high school up until Senior Ditch Day, but I was paying tuition. The fact it happened at 180 public schools on the same day suggests a slightly better organizational format than when I studied geometry, which indicates either a supremely dedicated student leadership or adult involvement. The walkout was "protesting ICE," or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the arm of government charged with enforcing immigration law inside the country, from those who slipped past Customs and Border Protection to those who overstayed a visa. During my high school years a number of protests of the Viet...
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The Alertness Weapon: Lamb of the Free  
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Alertness Weapon: Lamb of the Free  

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow; And everywhere that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go. Most of us know those opening lines. What many of us may not know is why the little lamb followed Mary everywhere. The complete nursery rhyme gives us the answer. When the children ask, “What makes the lamb love Mary so?” their teacher explains, “Mary loves the lamb, you know.” Mary’s kindness created confidence, confidence produced trust, and trust made the little lamb want to remain near her. Apparently, Mary understood something many modern leaders have forgotten: harshness may make people move, but kindness makes them want to follow. That raises a question: what “kind” of Christian have you become or ar...
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Sex and gender data limits clear Denver committee 5-0, heads to full council
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Sex and gender data limits clear Denver committee 5-0, heads to full council

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Kevin Flynn asked the question two different ways on two different days. What data does Denver collect or share now that it wouldn't under this ordinance? By the time the committee voted, he had one narrow answer about collection and none about sharing. "What are we doing today that under this ordinance we will no longer be doing?" the Southwest Denver councilman asked Monday, when the Sex and Gender Identity Protection Ordinance came before the Budget and Policy Committee for a briefing. "I'm having trouble understanding or visualizing it." He tried again Wednesday, when the same bill reached the Health and Safety Committee for a vote. He said he was "surprised to learn that we're sharing this information with anybody...
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Phil Weiser should account for the custody evaluations no one reviewed
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Phil Weiser should account for the custody evaluations no one reviewed

By Judi Atwood | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Phil Weiser's ability to take a powerful company to court should not settle the question of his ability to govern Colorado. Families also deserve to know whether he will confront failures within the institutions his office advises and defends. The controversy involving psychologist Dr. Mark Kilmer makes that question especially urgent. Weiser deserves credit for helping secure the multistate settlement with Meta announced Aug. 26, which included financial relief and commitments to strengthen protections for children. The announcement described the agreement as subject to court approval. Holding technology companies accountable matters. So does protecting parents' ability to guide and support their children. Familie...
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Trump’s election orders aren’t a constitutional crisis yet — 5 things that would trigger one
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Trump’s election orders aren’t a constitutional crisis yet — 5 things that would trigger one

By Bob Cooper, COIFFE Director | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice President Donald Trump has issued two sweeping executive orders on federal elections — covering citizenship verification, voter-registration records, and mail-in ballots. Dozens of states have pushed back. Federal courts have blocked some parts and allowed others. So the question everyone is asking: Is this a constitutional crisis? The honest answer — the one that will hold up when the left tries to knock it down — is this: Not yet. But we are one or two bad decisions away from one. Here's what's really happening, and the five scenarios that would push us over the edge. What Trump actually ordered Two executive orders reshaped the fight: Executive Order 14248 (March 25, 2025) — "Preserving and Protec...
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