EDITORIAL: The problem with ‘price gouging’ laws
Despite a Texas law against “price gouging,” prices soared for people trying to endure or escape Hurricane Harvey.
“One station sold gas for a whopping $20 a gallon,” The Washington Post reported Wednesday. “A hotel reportedly charged guests more than twice the normal rate. One business sold bottles of water for a staggering $99 per case – more than 10 times some of the prices seen online.”
In a perfect world, victims escaping or enduring disasters would pay nothing for food, fuel, water, medications and other basic necessities. We are mortified at the thought of someone getting stranded in a flood for lack of funds to buy fuel.
Our imperfect world cannot supply all things to all people at all times.
New jaguar spotted in Arizona points to progress in endangered species’ recovery | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
The Associated Press
the-associated-press@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 days ago
ARIZONA New jaguar spotted in wild The spots gave it away. Just like a human fingerprint, the rosette pattern on each jaguar is unique so researchers knew they had a new animal on their hands after reviewing images captured by...
8 exemplars to guide us into the new year | SONDERMANN
Eric Sondermann
eric-sondermann@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 days ago
It started as a one-off in my first year of writing this regular column. To ring in the new year back in the eventful year of 2020, I offered a shoutout to eight Coloradans who served as models of how...
Raids, pushback and TdA indictments defined Denver’s immigration story in 2025
Nico Brambila
nico.brambila@denvergazette.com
Updated 21 hours ago
The Trump administration’s push for a large-scale, deportation effort — built around campaign warnings about Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan prison gang that established a foothold in Colorado — collided with the realities on the ground in Denver, where raids...
Denver’s budget deficit shaped 2025 news coverage
Deborah Grigsby
deborah.smith@denvergazette.com
Updated 20 hours ago
It was a year of big goals on a tight budget for the Mile High City, where Mayor Mike Johnston’s announcement of a $200 million city budget deficit dominated the news coverage. Facing a $50 million gap in its 2025...
Colorado podcaster who has called for political foes to be executed joins GOP primary for governor
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 22 hours ago
Joe Oltmann, the conservative Colorado podcaster who has repeatedly called for Colorado’s top elected officials to be executed and whose uncorroborated claims that the 2020 election was rigged spawned multiple defamation lawsuits, declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for...
‘The canary in the democracy mine is local journalism’ | Vince Bzdek
Vince Bzdek
vince.bzdek@gazette.com
Updated 1 day ago
Colorado could do a lot more to save newspapers – and democracy – in rural areas By Vince Bzdek As another new year and another legislative session dawn for Colorado, it’s a good time to ask what the absolute most...
Colorado’s national correspondent recounts violent KKK march in D.C. | A LOOK BACK
Rachael Wright
rachael.wright@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 days ago
by Rachael Wright Thirty-Five Years Ago This Week: “I had forgotten about the Ku Klux Klan,” said Ann Downing Schmidt, The Colorado Statesman’s Washington, D.C., correspondent. In a commentary piece published in The Statesman, Schmidt described trying to make the ten-minute drive from...
2025 Unfiltered: Ethics investigations, scandals plague Colorado Capitol
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
Over the course of the year, a series of investigations, allegations and controversies emerged at the state Capitol, drawing scrutiny to the behavior of elected officials and, in some cases, overshadowing policy debates. Here are some of the notable investigations,...
2025 Unfiltered: Top stories of the Colorado General Assembly
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
In 2025, the Colorado legislature faced a budget deficit, sought to tackle a lingering housing crisis and saw a wave of lawmakers leaving for other opportunities, prompting multiple vacancy committees to act. Here are a look at the year’s top...
2025 Unfiltered: Colorado Supreme Court vacancy, surge in federal filings and more
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
This year was awash in legal news nationally, with federal courts taking an outsize role in responding to executive branch actions. In Colorado, that effect was evident, but it was not the only factor at play. Here are the top...