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First Lady Jill Biden to visit Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora on Saturday
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

First Lady Jill Biden to visit Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora on Saturday

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice First Lady Jill Biden will promote the White House's Initiative on Women’s Health Research during a stop Saturday in Aurora, according to reports from multiple news outlets. She is scheduled to arrive at Denver International Airport sometime Friday evening and by noon Saturday, arrive to speak at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, where she will also participate in a rountable discussion. While sometimes called Dr. Jill Biden, she does not hold a medical degree and is a community college English teacher. The Initiative on Women’s Health Research is led by Mrs. Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council. Mr. Biden has called for a $12 billion investment in the project. Before reaching Colorado, Mrs. Bi...
Colorado wolves kill 4 more cows in Grand County, increasing livestock losses
coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado wolves kill 4 more cows in Grand County, increasing livestock losses

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Four more cows have been killed this week by wolves in Grand County. Colorado Parks and Wildlife have not yet confirmed the latest attacks. With the recent attacks, a total of six animals have been killed in April during what is considered to be the heart of calving season. The other two livestock, both calves, were killed in Grand and Jackson counties. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the producer would be eligible for fair market value compensation if a claim is submitted. More specifically, the calf’s owner can be compensated by the state for the animal’s market value, up to $15,000. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Impact fee programs like one in Pitkin County unconstitutional, attorney says
State, The Center Square

Impact fee programs like one in Pitkin County unconstitutional, attorney says

By Derek Draplin | The Center Square An attorney who worked on a recent U.S. Supreme Court case striking down a local government’s use of “substantial” impact fees in California says similar fees in Pitkin County, Colorado, also are unconstitutional. The court’s ruling in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado centered on a resident who wished to build a prefabricated house on his property, but the county charged a $23,420 traffic impact fee for a building permit.  The court, using a two-part test “modeled on the unconstitutional conditions doctrine,” said permit conditions must have “essential nexus” to a local government’s land-use interests and must have “rough proportionality” to a development’s impact. READ FULL STORY AT THE CENTER SQUARE
Plan to quadruple property taxes on short-term rentals fails in late-night Capitol committee vote
State, The Colorado Sun

Plan to quadruple property taxes on short-term rentals fails in late-night Capitol committee vote

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun A bill that would have quadrupled the property taxes on many homes offered as short-term rentals in Colorado was rejected late Tuesday in a Colorado Senate committee, marking at least the third time in recent years that such a proposal has failed at the Capitol.  Senate Bill 33 was voted down 6-1 by the Senate Finance Committee during the bill’s first hearing, an outcome that came after months of loud opposition from vacation rental owners and companies like Airbnb and Vrbo.  The only “yes” vote on the measure came from its main sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Andrews, Webb qualify for ballot in crowded 3rd District primary field for Boebert’s seat in Congress
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Andrews, Webb qualify for ballot in crowded 3rd District primary field for Boebert’s seat in Congress

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice The dance card is filling up in the 3rd District's primary election to select the Western Slope's Republican nominee to potentially become the next representative in Congress. Russ Andrews and Lew Webb were added to the list of hopefuls to receive the party's nomination to the general election on Wednesday, when the Secretary of State's office announced their qualifications to the ballot. The seat is presently held by Rep. Lauren Boebert, who relocated to Windsor in the 4th District and is vying for the Republican nomination in that primary. It is the only Republican field larger than the 3rd District. Boebert had an opportunity to run for the Republican nomination in the 4th District's special election to replace ex-Rep. Ken Buck, but sa...
Colorado congressional candidates report contributions, cash in bank ahead of crowded primaries
coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado congressional candidates report contributions, cash in bank ahead of crowded primaries

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics As he has every quarter this election cycle, Democrat Adam Frisch bowled over Colorado's other congressional candidates in the campaign finance department in reports filed this week covering the first three months of the year. And that's even after losing U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert as an opponent — and lightning rod for donations — when the two-term Republican moved across the state to run in a safer district. Frisch, who nearly unseated Boebert in 2022 in the Republican-leaning 3rd Congressional District, hauled in $1.4 million in contributions for the quarter ending March 31, becoming the state's only federal candidate to break seven figures — for the fifth reporting period in a row. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Caldara: Colorado legislature is the real threat to democracy
Commentary, completecolorado.com, State

Caldara: Colorado legislature is the real threat to democracy

By Jon Caldara | Complete Colorado Every conversation about the Colorado state legislature should begin with this preface: “And these are the people who say Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. …” The legislature is moving forward with a bill to rip away direct elections of the Regional Transportation District Board (RTD), which encompasses the largest population of any local government in the state. Yes, they are willing to allow a couple of “window dressing” elected seats to “represent” the 3 million suckers in the Denver metro area, while minion political appointees seize control of the state’s largest local government. But the goal is clear: end taxation with representation. And these are the people who say Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. READ THE FULL...
Do only four frontrunners remain in 4th District race? It appeared that way in Kit Carson County.
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Do only four frontrunners remain in 4th District race? It appeared that way in Kit Carson County.

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice BURLINGTON -- A handful of candidates vying to become Eastern Colorado's next representative to Congress didn't make one of the state's bright, bright red counties a destination here Friday for the Kit Carson County Republican Party's Lincoln Dinner. The county situated on the Kansas border has delivered decisive, state-leading vote-count margins for Republican candidates for President, most recently giving Donald Trump 80% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020, supporting Mitt Romney with 75% support and John McCain with 66% respectively in 2012 and 2008, and George W. Bush with 72% support in his first run and 77% in his bid for re-election. In his final election, Rep. Ken Buck earned 85% of all votes from the county. In Burlington on Frida...
Martinez: Court sends a reminder; tax hikes require voter consent
Commentary, completecolorado.com, State

Martinez: Court sends a reminder; tax hikes require voter consent

By Tyler Martinez | Complete Colorado In a major victory for taxpayers, a unanimous panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals agreed with the National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s Taxpayer Defense Center (NTUF) that an overnight doubling of the property taxes in a few Northern Colorado counties violated the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). We represented James Aranci and his neighbors, who were shocked to learn in 2020 that their property taxes to the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District doubled from 2019 to 2020 (and the years thereafter). TABOR mandates a ratification vote of any proposed tax increase or new debt taken on by government entities–including water districts. But there was no vote from Aranci or anyone else. So we came...
Colorado locked up middle-aged women for “lunacy,” old jail ledger reveals 
State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado locked up middle-aged women for “lunacy,” old jail ledger reveals 

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The leather-bound ledger smells of tobacco and dust, each page listing the names of people booked into the Jefferson County Jail more than 100 years ago.  The men in the ledger, identified in old-timey cursive as immigrants, Native Americans and miners, were mostly booked for crimes typical in Golden’s mining heyday — drunkenness, bootlegging, fighting and murder.  The most common charge for women, however, was lunacy. Of the 280 charges against women listed in the book, 74 are for “lunacy” or “insanity.” And of those women, at least 31 were sent from jail via train to what was then called the Insane Asylum at Pueblo. That’s 26% of all charges against women. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN