Author name: External Outlet

SB276 would fine deputies $50K for helping ICE—Sheriff Mikesell says enough is enough

Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell is so concerned about the effects of Colorado Senate Bill #276 he appealed in a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week.

The bill, if signed by Gov. Jared Polis, prohibits law enforcement from sharing information with the federal government about illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.

At issue is the bill’s interference with Mikesell’s 287(g) agreement with ICE.

SB276 would fine deputies $50K for helping ICE—Sheriff Mikesell says enough is enough Read More »

DOGE flags $370B in waste: Social Security purges 12.3M phantom accounts aged 120+

The discrepancies in the Social Security figures and the alarming ages of some of the individuals listed have garnered national attention over the last several months.

As a result, in March DOGE began to update the American people on the massive cleanup begun by Social Security. In a March 18 update, DOGE said Social Security had marked 3.2 million social security number holders aged 120 or older as deceased, warning that there was still more work to be done.

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Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners

Colorado’s governor and Legislature may claim they want more affordable housing — but they aren’t about to let it stand in the way of their headlong rush toward green energy. Their zero-emissions-at-any-cost dogma seems to trump all other policy priorities.

Which helps explain why the state’s Energy Code Board is poised to impose extreme energy standards — even more stringent than those already in effect — on new home construction. The pending rules would turn the screws on wide-ranging aspects of the building code — and are projected to add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home in Colorado.

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Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand

Something is happening in Colorado. You can feel it.

Not on the surface, but beneath it. Beneath the silence. Beneath the carefully packaged language of equity, sustainability, and progress. We are being conditioned. Slowly, quietly, and deliberately.

Conditioned to comply. Conditioned to accept change without question. Conditioned to believe that liberty is negotiable, that tradition is outdated, and that resistance is somehow wrong.

But here’s the truth they don’t want you to hear.

The Constitution doesn’t need to evolve. It needs to be defended.

Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand Read More »

Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump

When the Trump administration urged states to use a little-known provision in federal education law to boost school choice, the congressman who helped author the language 24 years ago had an immediate reaction.

“It’s about time,” said former Congressman Bob Schaffer.

In a May 7 letter, Acting Assistant Education Secretary Hayley B. Sanon urged states to ease their criteria for labeling schools as “persistently dangerous”—a designation that legally comes with an obligation to offer families an option to transfer to another public school.

Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump Read More »

Denver’s not just going to the dogs—it’s leaving children behind

Denver is no longer a cowtown. It’s a dog city.

Long known as a hub for livestock, Denver has corraled several more amenities over the years. Outdoor sports, craft beer, legal weed, live music and a wave of tech jobs have attracted travelers and transplants alike. But those who stay in this city must acknowledge its four-legged rulers, whether you own one or not.

Denver’s not just going to the dogs—it’s leaving children behind Read More »

O’Donnell: Behind the headlines, Colorado’s job growth tells a different story

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released April 2025 job creation numbers by state.

The national numbers were released earlier in the month and for the nation as a whole 177,000 new jobs were created in April, and this was considered a “solid” number by those who consider themselves experts. Colorado’s share of that total was 8,400 and those same experts consider that an “exceptionally solid” month for Colorado. Somewhere, champagne corks were likely popped.

Nonetheless, behind every number is a story and that story for Colorado is quite revealing.

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Illegal immigrant stole $400,000 in benefits and voted in U.S. elections, DOJ reports

A Colombian woman who masqueraded as an American citizen for more than 20 years has been indicted for identity theft.

The woman received rental assistance, Social Security and SNAP benefits under a phony name, according to a Department of Justice news release, and also was able to vote. Through use of the fake identity, she obtained a REAL ID in Massachusetts as well as eight other state IDs.

Illegal immigrant stole $400,000 in benefits and voted in U.S. elections, DOJ reports Read More »

Retired military leaders to Congress: Chinese Communist Party threat against Taiwan ‘shrinking our options’

Protecting Taiwan against a Chinese invasion is an urgent mission that requires the United States to up its game in the Pacific, experts recently told Congress.

“America’s ability to defeat a coercive attack conducted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Taiwan continues to shrink,” retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery said in his testimony recently during a hearing of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

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Colorado native charged in attempted firebomb attack on American Embassy in Israel

NEW YORK (AP) — A dual U.S. and German citizen originally from Colorado has been arrested on charges that he traveled to Israel and attempted to firebomb the branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, officials said Sunday.

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