The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Wait for the net effect
When the Federal Communications Commission voted to regulate internet service in 2015 to make sure internet providers treat data equally, we supported the idea for its high-minded aim to preserve a level playing field.
However, “net neutrality” faces repeal. The five-member FCC is expected to approve Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to deregulate the internet in an open meeting on Dec. 14.
Whether this is a good idea remains to be seen. Amid competing theories about how neutrality affects the open marketplace, the impact on consumers and startups will ultimately determine whether our information economy needs government intervention.
Researchers to study universal health care, as Coloradans face $1 billion in medical debt
Mary Shinn
mary-shinn@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 8 hours ago
Colorado residents owe about $1 billion in medical debt. The sky-high number is a small portion of the nation’s medical debt estimated around $220 billion, according to a 2024 analysis by Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF, formerly the Kaiser...
GoFundMe donations for victim do not lessen defendant’s restitution obligation, appeals court rules
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
Donations made to a victim’s crowdfunding page do not necessarily reduce the defendant’s obligation to pay crime victim restitution, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday. Under state law, crime victim compensation boards reimburse victims for certain monetary losses, including funeral...
Colorado senators initially push for — then drop ‘identity’ factor in parenting time decisions
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
The sponsors of a proposal that would require suppression of records in name-change petitions for minors removed a provision that would have mandated the courts to factor in the issue of “identity” when allocating parenting time. In its original form,...
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet: ‘It’s right to suspend’ wolf program in Colorado
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 10 hours ago
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is running for governor, told a newspaper this month that he favors suspending Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program, though he sounded less certain in another interview a few days later. “I think it’s right to suspend...
Colorado legislators challenge lottery rules allowing credit card purchases
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 11 hours ago
Back in November, legislators told the Colorado Lottery Commission to hold off on rules that would allow, for the first time, purchases of lottery products with credit cards. The commission went ahead anyway and approved those changes. And now lawmakers...
Hickenlooper endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action, environmental group in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
A pair of progressive national groups that advocate for abortion rights and fighting climate change have endorsed U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s bid for reelection, with both calling the Colorado Democrat a proven fighter for their causes. Planned Parenthood Action Fund...
Rep. Ron Weinberg denies allegations in response to House ethics complaint
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
A legislator from Loveland has denied allegations made against him by a fellow Republican in his response to an ethics committee looking into the claims. In his Feb. 6 response, Rep. Ron Weinberg said the complaint “appears (to be) politically...
Colorado Medicaid spending doubled over the past decade, study finds
Nico Brambila
nico.brambila@denvergazette.com
Updated 14 hours ago
Spending by Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing reached $16 billion in 2025 — a 101% increase from 2015 — while Medicaid enrollment has returned to nearly its 2015 level, according to an analysis by the Common Sense...
One Chance to Grow Up director reflects on marijuana legalization 14 years later
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
Fourteen years after Colorado became one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, the executive director of an organization focused on educating parents about the drug’s effects on developing brains is reflecting on how much has changed in nearly...
Appeals court divided over effect of retroactive sentence on parole calculation
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 15 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court grappled last week with the framework for calculating a defendant’s earliest possible parole date in light of two intersecting legal principles — a judge’s ability to make an order retroactive, and the requirement that separate, simultaneous sentences...