Sometimes, food and shelter just aren’t enough. A bill at Colorado’s Capitol says dogs and cats deserve more when they’re lost or abandoned — they need mental and emotional care, too. Lawmakers want to discourage shelters from killing animals because of lack of space and ensure that dogs and cats are adopted, returned to their […]
Moe K. Clark
Moe Clark is a former Colorado Sun writer. She left the publication in June 2020.
Email: moe@coloradosun.com Twitter: @moe_clark15
Posted inPolitics and Government
How Bernie Sanders became the favorite in Colorado: A look inside the campaign
The lights from a one-time thrift store on East Colfax Avenue glowed in the dark night, a lone beacon of activity amid a snowstorm that quieted Denver’s spirited thoroughfare. Inside, a dozen supporters of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, undeterred by the weather, called voters, one after another, as they worked to reenergize and bolster the […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s tribal youth haven’t been included in the state’s teen lawmaking council — until now
The youth advisory council helping Colorado lawmakers draft bills at the state Capitol will soon include tribal representation — a dozen years after the group was first formed. That’s thanks to House Bill 1021, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law Wednesday. It was the first bill he signed from the 2020 Colorado legislative session, […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics and Government
There’s a push to increase fines for Colorado polluters and directly help impacted communities
The Western Sugar Cooperative sugar beet processing plant in Fort Morgan was ordered to pay a $2 million fine to Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment in May 2018 for egregious water and air quality violations. Like most penalties collected from CDPHE, the money was funneled primarily into the state’s general fund, which pays […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
One in eight people struggle with infertility. Colorado lawmakers want insurance to cover treatment
When Tyler Wilson came home after his deployment in Afghanistan in 2005, he was paralyzed from the waist down. He had been shot four times and still had a bullet lodged in his spinal cord. Ten years later, when he and his wife, Crystal, decided to start a family, they needed medical assistance. But insurance […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics and Government
Will 2020 be the year Colorado bans plastic bags, Styrofoam and other single-use plastics?
The Town of Avon did something daring in January: It banned expanded polystyrene food containers, a.k.a. Styrofoam. The move made the town the first community in Colorado to forbid such take-out food containers, which don’t do well in microwaves — or with trash recyclers. But it also put them at odds with an obscure state […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Politics and Government, Water
Water is Colorado’s most critical resource. So why isn’t it central to every local land-use decision?
In the early 1980s, the small city of Woodland Park started strategically planning how to protect its water supply for the future. “Because we have all junior water rights and a limited water supply, we knew we must be very careful about how we grow,” said Sally Riley, planning director for Woodland Park, which is […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Colorado vowed to end the waitlist for an adult disability program by 2020. Nearly 3,000 people are still waiting.
Like most people in their 20s, Brennan Froehlke wants to move out of his parents’ house and share a place with friends. His parents, Margaret and Bob Froehlke, have been meticulously planning for the day for more than 12 years. That’s how long ago they signed up for a developmental and intellectual disabilities program –– […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers move closer to repealing death penalty after emotional debate
The deep and emotional tension surrounding a bill to repeal the death penalty in Colorado came alive on the Senate floor in a six-hour debate Thursday. “By having the death penalty in Colorado, we are saying to the people that murdering is wrong –– unless the state does it,” said Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado renters may have eviction records even though they’ve never been evicted. Lawmakers want to change that.
Every time an eviction case is filed by a landlord in Colorado, it produces a court record, even if the tenant wins and gets the case dismissed. Those eviction filing records are swiftly scraped up by third-party tenant screening companies that use them to produce rental reports for landlords that aren’t always accurate. “And so […]