staging.rockymountainvoice.com

Rocky Mountain Voice

Only 3 state legislators get ‘A’ grade on ’24 Liberty Scorecard, 87% of legislators fail the test
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Only 3 state legislators get ‘A’ grade on ’24 Liberty Scorecard, 87% of legislators fail the test

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Three percent of all state legislators graded an A and 87% of legislators had a failing grade in the Liberty Scorecard Colorado ratings released Friday following the close of the 74th General Assembly. The annual study found the three lawmakers most strongly adhering to the principles of the U.S. Constitution through their legislation and votes are the same from last session, with a different order. Rep. Ken DeGraff, an El Paso County Republican ranked second last session, earned an A-grade and topped the list with a score of 95 this session. Rep. Stephanie Luck, a Freemont County Republican who was rated first last year, was rated third this session with an A grade and 92-point score. Ranking second was Rep. Scott Bottoms, an El Paso County ...
Barnhart: Learning to live with the uncertainty of parenting
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Barnhart: Learning to live with the uncertainty of parenting

By Faye Barnhart | Contributing Columnist The primary educators and caregivers of children are their parents. It actually does not take a village to raise a child, it only takes parents. Parents can get some help with that responsibility by including other teachers in a school, childcare or Sunday school, but those institutions should only compliment what the parent is already teaching at home, as those institutions are employed or contracted by the parents and may be fired by the parents at any time. The state may want to socialize children to be dutiful robots to a government-run social order, but parents have the responsibility to their children to stand in the way of that. It is normal for parents to doubt their own abilities and think others may be better at it. The insecu...
Devotional: What the Old and New Testament have to say on immigration
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Devotional: What the Old and New Testament have to say on immigration

By Drake Hunter | Special Contributor The contributions of immigrants have enriched our country's strength and diversity, a fact that we should all appreciate. The treatment of immigrants, whether they are legal or illegal, has been a topic of discussion throughout history, including in modern times. Even the Bible has references to this topic. In the Old Testament, Moses instructs the Israelites on how to treat immigrants, emphasizing the importance of protecting and treating them fairly and compassionately. His words provide a blueprint for treating strangers justly, mentioning their concerns over 35 times and offering specific instructions about citizenship rights, land ownership and immigrant guidelines. The Old Testament favors the justice side of the discussion. Neverthel...
Sloan: The greater threat to the planet
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Sloan: The greater threat to the planet

By Kelly Sloan | Special Contributor George Will recently wrote a rather chilling column, pointing out something so obvious that it has escaped much attention. That is this: while much of the world is obsessed over climate change, to the point of spending trillions of dollars annually, virtually no attention is being paid to another hypothetical scenario, one that is at least as real in potential (if not more so) as climate change and which bears far more immediate and devastating consequences – that is the threat of nuclear war. Will refers to a book by reporter and historian Annie Jacobsen titled “Nuclear War: A Scenario” in which the author details how a modern-day nuclear exchange could play out – and how quickly – along with the aftermath. The consequences described are every bi...
Ganahl: On Mother’s Day, we pause to honor women who make a difference every day
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Ganahl: On Mother’s Day, we pause to honor women who make a difference every day

By Heidi Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice Today, kids across the country made handmade cards, cooked up a breakfast in bed and tried to tiptoe around the house to let their precious mommas get a bit more sleep. It’s the day of the year we celebrate the hard-working, loving, ever-giving matriarch of the family: Mother’s Day! Moms have been in the eye of the storm the last few years, navigating the upheaval in our lives from the aftermath of Covid, managing slim budgets because of inflation and helping our children facing mental health issues at record rates. Moms have also been a force to be reckoned with politically, fiercely advocating for our kids around education, healthcare, woke craziness and a society that doesn't want us parents in control. The women of Colorado are recognizin...
Rep. Holtorf details the ‘good, bad and ugly’ of state legislative session
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Holtorf details the ‘good, bad and ugly’ of state legislative session

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff State Rep. Richard Holtorf, the whip of the Colorado House's Republican Conference, offered review of the recently closed Colorado legislative session in a press statement this week. “My last year in the state legislature had ‘some good, some bad, and some ugly'," he said. "I am immensely proud of the work I’ve done serving on the Colorado House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources, and Health & Human Services committees. I would like to thank my family, ranch hands, legislative aids, colleagues, and most of all voters, who helped me serve 16 of the 21 counties in [Colorado's 4th District] over the past five years.” He was first appointed to serve out the completion of Kimmy Lewis' term in central and southeast Colorado, and then was elected...
Rep. Bradley announces town hall meetings to review legislative session, focus on future
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Rep. Bradley announces town hall meetings to review legislative session, focus on future

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice State Rep. Brandi Bradley has announced a pair of town hall meetings she will host in District 39 to discuss legislative victories, losses and what lies ahead. Bradley will join with Sen. Mark Bailey and Sen. Kevin Van Winkle at 6:30 p.m. May 13 at the Larkspur Fire Station, 941 S. Spruce Mountain Road. She will again be joined by Van Winkle and this time by Sen. Jim Smallwood at 7 p.m. May 16 at Freedom Fellowship in Centennial. A time of fellowship, food and fun will precede the May 16 event at 5:30 p.m. "It has been an honor to represent House District 39 for the last two years," Bradley wrote in her district newsletter. "I never, in a million years, thought that I would run for office. It has been one of the most gratifying and most diffi...
‘Devastated’ details the deadly fentanyl epidemic and calls Coloradans to action
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘Devastated’ details the deadly fentanyl epidemic and calls Coloradans to action

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Overdoses believed to be driven largely by fentanyl-laced prescription drugs are setting records annually. The death count once was similar to the capacity of a high school classroom each week, marking the third largest cause of pediatric deaths behind firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle collisions, a report by UCLA Health reads. It has now grown beyond that analogy. The drug often kills those experimenting with it for the first time, with the Centers for Disease Control finding 86 percent of those adolescents dying of a fentanyl overdose had not previously experienced a drug overdose, according to a report in The Free Press. Introduction of Fentanyl has been especially devastating in Colorado, where the Department of Public Health ...
Copeland: How to stop wrecking our country
Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Copeland: How to stop wrecking our country

By Dr. Tom Copeland | Guest Columnist President George Washington, wearing a keffiyeh with a Palestinian flag across his shoulders? That’s what anti-Israel agitators recently did to the statue of our founding President, at the university named after him.  Protests at universities across the country are being organized and funded by anti-Israel groups. Many administrators have shown no backbone in dealing with them. But let’s add the boards of trustees, faculty, staff and parents of the agitators. Where are they? They are either completely absent, or in the case of faculty at places like Columbia, actively encouraging and supporting the protests. Yet we cannot absolve the students themselves of responsibility. They are adults, although they have often been coddled. They believ...
Secretary of State announces $894K in grants directed to six county governments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Secretary of State announces $894K in grants directed to six county governments

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff Six counties have been awarded $894,411 in grant funding by the Colorado Secretary of State's Electronic Recording Technology Board, a release received by Rocky Mountain Voice reads. The counties being funded are Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Clear Creek, Dolores, Pueblo and Yuma for indexing and digitizing of county records and to improve public accessibility to historical documents. “The grant money we’ve awarded to Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Clear Creek, Dolores, Pueblo and Yuma Counties represents an investment in Colorado’s future," the release announcing the awards reads. "It’s a privilege to be able to support these counties in their commitment to preserving historical records and making documents more accessible for their constituents.” Government grants ge...