staging.rockymountainvoice.com

Menu

Rocky Mountain Voice

‘We need our roads fixed’: ‘Peltonia’ Sen. Byron Pelton opens 75th session with reminder for Gov. Polis
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘We need our roads fixed’: ‘Peltonia’ Sen. Byron Pelton opens 75th session with reminder for Gov. Polis

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, claims to have already been at work for his constituency as the 75th General Assembly opened Wednesday. Luckily, for Pelton, he ran into Gov. Jared Polis, and offered a gentle nudge, as Pelton — who claims to be from a place called "Peltonia" — is apt to do. "The governor was talking to his transportation team and I reminded him that, in rural Colorado, where most of the money is generated in this state — $47 billion of agriculture money — that we need our roads fixed, especially in Senate District 1," Pelton said. It should not be a foreign subject to the governor. Pelton's predecessor in District 1, Jerry Sonnenberg, once famously said: "We have potholes so big you better be wearing your spurs to hang on." ...
Read More
Minority Leader Pugliese pledges Republicans will find solutions for all Coloradans in 75th session
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Minority Leader Pugliese pledges Republicans will find solutions for all Coloradans in 75th session

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice When Rose Pugliese left behind her children to begin the 75th General Assembly in Denver, as children will do she was asked why she did the job of Colorado House minority leader. "Because the people trusted me to be there, to be their voice," she answered. "They didn't just do that for me, but for everyone there." The 75th legislative session officially opened at 10:09 a.m. Wednesday in the Colorado House. Pugliese addressed the House as the minority leader following the Speaker's election. "This session, the House Republicans remain steadfast in addressing the issues of importance to Coloradans," she said. "Affordability remains at the forefront of our discussions. You will see that in our legislation." Among the areas where the Republ...
Read More
One early moment in 75th Legislature demonstrates unity of House Republican caucus
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

One early moment in 75th Legislature demonstrates unity of House Republican caucus

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice What's the difference between the Republican caucus in the Colorado House of Representatives and the U.S. House? Unity. On Wednesday, as the Colorado House opened the 75th General Assembly, Republicans displayed unity by unanimously supporting Minority Leader Rose Pugliese to become the Colorado House Speaker. Although her nomination might simply be viewed as symbolic, with Republicans in the minority and Democrat Julie McCluskie later elected on a party-line vote, it showed the caucus to have unified under Pugliese. "It is important to have people on both sides of the aisle for [members] to vote on," said Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-El Paso County, in his nomination of Pugliese. "When we take back the House in a few years, I expect Democrats to...
Read More
House opens 75th session with Rep. DeGraaf questioning, if passwords were leaked can election be certified?
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

House opens 75th session with Rep. DeGraaf questioning, if passwords were leaked can election be certified?

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It did not take long for the opening of the 75th General Assembly to reach a hiccup Wednesday. Republican Rep. Ken DeGraaf objected to the Colorado House credentials committee report, typically a first order of business when opening the legislature, based upon concerns related to Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office leaking election system passwords. The credentials report is presented to the whole of the House and voted on to start the process of seating representatives. DeGraaf was critical of a system Griswold has self-described as the "gold standard". He rose to state the objection to the credentials report. "This [the password leak publicly] lasted a full four months," DeGraaf said. "This is the keys to the kingdom." His fu...
Read More
Republicans in minority, but with House seat gains, as 75th General Assembly opens on Wednesday
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Republicans in minority, but with House seat gains, as 75th General Assembly opens on Wednesday

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The 75th session of the Colorado General Assembly opens Wednesday, Jan. 8, with sine die — adjournment on the final day of the session — slated for May 7. Between, Republicans will be faced with minorities in both chambers and the Democratic trifecta, with Gov. Jared Polis heading up the executive branch. Voters, though, did hand Republicans one advantage. House Republicans are no longer in a super minority and, like Senate Republicans, face a simple minority. That is not to say it will be any easier to pass Republican bills or defeat Democratic bills. Republicans face a 23-12 minority in the Senate and a 43-22 minority in the House. Heading up the Republican House will again be Minority Leader Rose Pugliese of El Paso County. She has gain...
Read More
Browning: Colorado egg law and bird flu has people ‘scrambling’ to find eggs
No Comments
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Browning: Colorado egg law and bird flu has people ‘scrambling’ to find eggs

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice During the last few weeks, there have been a couple of notable changes you may have noticed at your local grocer. The old saying that warns us not to keep all of our “eggs in one basket”, has now become, “I can’t find or afford eggs in my basket.” People are divided as to what has caused this “poaching” of their wallets, if they can find eggs on the shelf. No matter the cause, it has many people "fried.” Some people believe that the new Colorado law, which mandates that only cage-free eggs will be sold in Colorado, is to blame for the nearly-empty egg shelves and high cost of eggs, if you can find them.  The “egg-ception” to the law is that egg-producing operations with 3.000 or fewer hens are not required to ...
Read More
District 11 ends decades-old contract with teacher union in effort to deliver for students, families
No Comments
Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

District 11 ends decades-old contract with teacher union in effort to deliver for students, families

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The District 11 School Board has decided against renewing its master agreement with the local teacher union — the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA). The CSEA is a branch of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), an affiliate of the largest teacher union – the National Education Association (NEA).  District 11 President Dr. Parth Melpakam described it as a move to empower nimble governance and improve student outcomes: “Without the master agreement, it just gives us a lot more flexibility to address some of our persistent challenges and change the narrative of a district that was becoming irrelevant in the landscape of Colorado Springs.”  “The agreement was a layer of complexity that limited our ability t...
Read More
In four days, wintry weather has canceled 250 flights, delayed 2,820 more at DIA
No Comments
Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

In four days, wintry weather has canceled 250 flights, delayed 2,820 more at DIA

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice A four-day snow event in Denver and areas east of the Continental Divide has done more than dump some badly-needed moisture on half the state. It has greatly affected air travel. As of Tuesday mid-morning, there have been 2,820 flights delayed and 250 flights canceled since the beginning of the snow event on Saturday, according to Flight Aware. There has been some amount of snow accumulation each day. The heaviest cancelation day was Sunday, with 106; the heaviest day for delays was Saturday, with 1,119. Flight Aware breaks delays and cancelations related to an airport into outbound (departure) and inbound (arrival). There have been 113 outbound cancelations and 1,634 delayed outbound flights since Saturday. The most affected carier was...
Read More
Brita Horn announces she will seek chair of Colorado Republican Party
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Brita Horn announces she will seek chair of Colorado Republican Party

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Brita Horn, a former Routt County treasurer, a fire chief and grassroots and civic leader, has announced her candidacy for chair of the Colorado Republican Party. “This is about the future,” Horn said in a campaign press release. She noted a desire to lead the party with “three key priorities: relationships, resources and responsibility." She will focus on victories at the ballot box in 2026, the release reads. "Colorado Republicans have a bright future, but only if we unite, collaborate and focus on winning elections,” Horn said. As chair, she would build relationships with future candidates, donors, volunteers, activists and the public at large, ensuring the party has the resources necessary to support these candidates and responsi...
Read More
Gaines: You, too, can file a campaign finance complaint against someone
No Comments
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Gaines: You, too, can file a campaign finance complaint against someone

By Cory Gaines | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice You may not have known this before, but you have the ability to accuse someone in this state of a campaign finance law violation.  You don’t have to be a witness at a trial.  In fact, once you make the accusation, you are essentially out of the process.  You will get notifications from the secretary of state’s office about the progress of the complaint, but you don’t do anything other than swear out a complaint.   You also don’t have to have an intimate knowledge of campaign finance law.  I’m not urging you to make wild, uneducated accusations here, but you don’t need to be a lawyer or an expert.  Many of the rules around campaign finance are pretty straightforward, thus finding violations d...
Read More