On Wednesday, Statehouse leaders set the tone for the upcoming legislative session. Crisanta Duran, the new Democratic speaker of the House, said Democrats will be on high alert for the kind of divisive rhetoric that Donald Trump rode to the White House and Republican leaders unveiled an agenda that includes religious freedom and guns – topics certain to trigger a partisan clash.

Yet, they quickly came together to announce a compromise on a building-defects law that both sides say will ease an affordable housing crisis, proving it’s easier to find common ground on issues that don’t involve taxes, spending or ideological extremes.

On Thursday it was Gov. John Hickenlooper’s turn to weigh in on the direction of the 2017 session. The governor’s State of the State address – part pep talk, part policy overview and part self-assessment – painted a picture of a vibrant state economy quickly outstripping the government’s capacity to sustain it.

Read more at The Grant Junction Daily Sentinel.