Colorado’s three-day special legislative session finished Wednesday with lawmakers watering down one of the most contentious parts of their $200 million-plus package aimed at providing economic relief during the coronavirus crisis. The Democratic-led General Assembly initially excluded businesses from being eligible for direct government aid if they were located in counties that refused to comply […]
Owen Hill
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 inPolitics and Government
Colorado officials look to close 30 campaign committees in “never-ending spiral”
Every day, former Democratic Sen. Angela Giron’s campaign committee racks up hundreds of dollars in fines. And until recently, so did Sen. Owen Hill’s, even though the Republican is entering his final year before hitting term limits. On Friday, that piling up of fines owed could end as the secretary of state considers shutting down […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
If Congress doesn’t raise the tobacco-purchasing age to 21, Colorado lawmakers next year will try to
Congress could soon pass bipartisan legislation raising the age to purchase tobacco products across the U.S. to 21 from 18. But if the proposal grinds to a halt in the slow-moving gears of Washington, a pair of Democratic state lawmakers are poised to ensure the change happens in Colorado. State Sen. Jeff Bridges of Greenwood […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Could Hickenlooper clear the field as Cory Gardner did in 2014? Not likely.
Just under six years ago, then U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner entered the 2014 U.S. Senate race and cleared the GOP field. Now Colorado politicos wait expectantly to see if former Gov. John Hickenlooper will attempt the same feat on the Democratic side in the race to meet Gardner in 2020’s general election. Unfortunately for Hickenlooper, […]
Posted inOutdoors
Colorado Springs’ downtown creek has long been viewed as a blight. Then one man started catching trout in it.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Past the homeless camps, plastic bottles filled with urine, funky smells and a coal-fired power plant, Alan Peak stepped into Fountain Creek and cast his fishing line into water so murky it gives transients on the nearby bank cause for concern. After a few wiggles in and out of the fast-moving stream […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
As rural Colorado fears being overlooked in 2020 census, some question spending money on outreach
Just 33% of the households in San Miguel County that received a 2010 census questionnaire mailed it back to the federal government. And many others never were mailed one in the first place. In the vast majority of the county, which stretches from mountainous ski resort towns like Telluride to sparsely populated rural areas along […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Split among Democrats on two major issues comes as Colorado’s legislative session heads into final sprint
Democrat-on-Democrat pushback on two of the party’s major pieces of legislation at the Colorado Capitol this year has delayed the measures ahead of the sprint toward the finish of the 2019 session. A priority bill that would create a state-run parental and family leave program impacting every Colorado employer and employee was temporarily shelved Tuesday […]