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Prop. KK is a 6.5% tax on gun owners, firearm retailers that with local tax is ‘more like 30%’
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Prop. KK is a 6.5% tax on gun owners, firearm retailers that with local tax is ‘more like 30%’

By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice Proposition KK has turned Colorado's gun stores like Jerry’s Outdoor Sports into the front line of a battle over 2nd Amendment rights. Tim Holt, owner of Jerry’s Outdoor Sports, is speaking out. He argues Proposition KK targets the wallets of responsible gun owners and threatens small businesses. If Prop. KK passes, a 6.5% excise tax will be added to firearm and ammo sales. It would tax manufacturers, dealers, retailers and ammo vendors. The stated goal appearing in Colorado's Blue Book is to raise $39 million a year for victim services, mental health and school safety. Proponents say the tax is vital for public services. Critics say it's adding more unfair burdens on lawful gun owners. For Holt, Prop. KK is another restric...
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Colorado Republicans call for Griswold’s resignation amid security breach
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Colorado Republicans call for Griswold’s resignation amid security breach

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice In response to the recent leak of election system passwords by Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office, Colorado House Republicans issued a call for her resignation. The statement came shortly after Griswold acknowledged the incident, which she described as a “partial” leak involving passwords for some voting components, adding that her office is actively investigating. Minority Leader Pugliese questioned the extent of Griswold’s oversight, stating, “Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s reckless disregard for professional standards and consistent lack of transparency has threatened trust in our democratic system by causing doubt in the security of our election process.” Pugliese called for Griswold’s resignation, emphasizing, “The people of Colo...
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Tooker: How environmental groups are putting land and its inhabitants at risk
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Commentary, National, Rocky Mountain Voice

Tooker: How environmental groups are putting land and its inhabitants at risk

By Aimee Tooker | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Community leaders and residents in Southwestern Colorado and New Mexico oppose proposed national monument designations that would affect hundreds of thousands of acres. They oppose increased federal oversight and its limits on land use. Locals say that current land management practices have preserved nature and resources. They see no need for further federal intervention. This is about more than limiting local land use. Opponents see a systemic problem with the monument designation process. Local frustration has grown. The federal-driven proposals may limit public input and ultimately property rights. They lack community collaboration. In southwestern communities, management of federal lands is vital. It affects the well-being,...
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It’s time to hold Griswold accountable
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Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

It’s time to hold Griswold accountable

By Heidi Ganahl, Commentary | Rocky Mountain Voice In a troubling development, Colorado’s Secretary of State recently confirmed that critical election system passwords were inadvertently published online, leaving sensitive data exposed for months. This exposure, according to conservative leaders, highlights severe security concerns and a failure of transparency from the Secretary’s office, prompting calls for accountability and an independent investigation. The released passwords, typically reserved for only a small circle of trusted state employees, were accessible to a much broader audience, including county clerks, certain county employees, and third-party vendors. These passwords, particularly for the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), provide access to fundamental system settings...
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Devotional: Demons, dragons and disease, it all can be found in the Bible
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Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Devotional: Demons, dragons and disease, it all can be found in the Bible

By DRAKE HUNTER | Devotional, Rocky Mountain Voice As the veil between worlds thins and shadows creep into our lives, we are reminded that the Bible is a treasure trove of thrilling tales that ignite fear and faith. From the fearsome beasts of the land to the monstrous leviathans of the sea (Psalms 74:14), Scripture invites us into a realm of unimaginable horrors and divine truths. Terror lurks on every page, with demons, dragons and disease prowling in cemeteries and the darkness. Yet amidst this chaos, we are beckoned to "Just Believe" in the One true God, who offers refuge and strength against life’s most chilling trials. Many struggle to comprehend the nature of terror as depicted in the Bible. Some envision God as an evil puppeteer, crafting nightmares like a mad scientist or...
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Sloan: Biden’s latest foreign policy blunder in the Indian Ocean
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Commentary, National, Rocky Mountain Voice

Sloan: Biden’s latest foreign policy blunder in the Indian Ocean

By Kelly Sloan | Contributing Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I know no one is supposed to like former National Security Advisor John Bolton anymore –- on the left, because he was mean to countries that don’t like us in the UN, and on the right because… well, because Donald Trump said so. However, he was the guy, after all, who was prescient enough to once quip that if you were to lop off the top 10 stories of the U.N. building, not much would be missed. This was shortly before President George W. Bush made the decision (one of his best) to assign Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., where he served with a singularity shared by the likes of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick; and later went on to write a book, “Surrender is not an Option”, which comes as close to anythi...
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Griswold’s office response to GOP concern lacks detail requested by Williams
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Griswold’s office response to GOP concern lacks detail requested by Williams

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice In response to an inquiry made by the Colorado Republican Party, the office of secretary of state Jena Griswold claims only partial passwords to certain components of the Colorado voting systems were improperly made available in a public area of the website she manages. "This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted," a statement from her office reads. The statement received by the Rocky Mountain Voice did not include comment from Griswold in a long explanation of election security measures, which never addressed how the passwords were placed in a public area of the website and by whom. In fact, the statement failed to address much of the concern from Colorado Republican...
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Kalam: From the river to the statehouse, Rep. Iman Jodeh’s divided loyalties
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Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Kalam: From the river to the statehouse, Rep. Iman Jodeh’s divided loyalties

By Ahnaf Kalam | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice There are few things in politics more damning than silence in the face of evil. Rep. Iman Jodeh’s absence from a key legislative meeting in February 2024, where Colorado lawmakers met with families of victims of Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre, is one such silence. Coupled with her prior actions and rhetoric, it reveals a troubling pattern: Jodeh’s activism for Palestine does not simply overshadow her responsibilities to her constituents, but appears to align — intentionally or not — with justifications for terror. When Jodeh first ran for office, I expressed concerns in The American Spectator that she would place her activism for Palestine above her duty to serve Colorado’s House District 41. Unfortunately, recent events have proven th...
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Was Mesa County election fraud case a result of Sec. Griswold’s reduction to one signature verification judge?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Was Mesa County election fraud case a result of Sec. Griswold’s reduction to one signature verification judge?

By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice On Aug. 26, 2021, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold made a number of emergency election rules permanent. One rule mandated that only one election judge oversee the first step of signature verification. This rule removed the option for county clerks to use bipartisan teams of election judges at a critical first step. It is where signatures are analyzed, often with machines, before separating ballots from envelopes. In Mesa County, a recent fraudulent ballot scheme may have been preventable. It might have been, if Griswold had left more control to county election clerks. A rule to use just one election judge in the first step of signature verification has led to a costly, time-consuming reexamination of thousands of b...
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Colorado GOP: Hundreds of voting system passwords were publicly shared by secretary of state’s office
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Colorado GOP: Hundreds of voting system passwords were publicly shared by secretary of state’s office

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice More than 600 BIOS passwords for voting system components in 63 of the state's 64 counties were publicly shared in a file on Secretary of State Jena Griswold's website, a news release email from the Colorado Republican Party reads. An unnamed state official "discretely removed" the passwords on Thursday, Oct. 24, the release states. "The passwords were not encrypted or otherwise protected – this means they were available for public consumption," the Colorado Republican Party's email reads. The file may have been posted publicly since August, with the amended file posted Oct. 24. BIOS passwords allow access for "knowledgeable users to fundamentally manipulate systems and data" and to remove trace evidence of doing so, the Colorado Republ...
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