The Denver Post: Denver should give the social pot-use experiment room to work
The history of Colorado’s long experiment with cannabis legalization has been fueled by great energy among ganjapreneurs looking to try new marketplaces. Think back to the launch of legal pot sales on New Year’s Day, 2014. Stores all over Denver and across the state were poised to open and plenty of others were already in the pipeline.
So it’s truly odd that Denver’s voter-approved pilot program freeing businesses to allow recreational cannabis use in their establishments is off to such a slow start as to be almost nonexistent.
We fear the city has overplayed its regulatory authority and deprived the four-year experiment a reasonable chance to succeed.
Passed in November 2016, the pilot was meant to allow permit applications to begin this summer. The city assembled a task force to help craft its regulations for the program and started considering applications at the end of August.
Read more at denverpost.com
Democratic ballots outpace Republicans’ as Colorado’s primary vote starts to trickle in
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 hours ago
With less than two weeks left before ballots are due in Colorado’s primary election, election officials have logged in ballots from just under 6% of the state’s 4 million active, registered voters, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Thursday....
Colorado court upholds murder conviction despite jury disobeying instructions
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court upheld an Arapahoe County defendant’s murder conviction last month, even though jurors found he was not the one who shot the victim and the evidence suggested he was not present for the shooting. A three-judge Court of...
July 1 brings new Colorado rules on ammunition purchases, wildfire‑risk scoring and wildlife enforcement
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
Colorado will usher in a new set of laws on July 1 that touch everything from ammunition sales to insurance transparency and wildlife trafficking enforcement Here is a look at some of the state’s new laws: Ammunition sales Sponsored by...
Divided appeals court reverses conviction after judge declined to define ‘bludgeon’
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 11 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a Jefferson County defendant’s felony menacing conviction on Thursday, concluding that the trial judge’s failure to define “bludgeon” for jurors may have affected the outcome. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel divided in unusual ways in...
Poll finds majority believe US military action against Iran was a mistake
Brady Knox, Washington Examiner
brady.knox.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 11 hours ago
A poll found a wide majority of U.S. voters believed the decision to launch military action against Iran was a mistake. The Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research poll for Fox News was conducted from June 12-15, meaning many...
For Vance, Iran deal presents opportunity and risk
W. James Antle III Washington Examiner
wjamesantleiiiwashingtonexaminer@wpstage.coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
Vice President JD Vance has a lot riding on the deal to end the war in Iran. The memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran came together at the outset of Vance’s book tour, but that’s not the...
10th Circuit dismisses Tina Peters’ challenge to confinement as moot
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court granted the state’s unopposed request on Wednesday to dismiss former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters’ challenge to her confinement as moot. Although Peters received a commutation of her prison sentence last month from Gov. Jared...
Federal judge declines to recuse from death penalty case after Supermax visit
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 hours ago
A federal judge declined to recuse herself last month from a death penalty case arising out of Colorado’s “Supermax” prison, finding that her tour of the facility earlier this year did not bias her decision-making. U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte...
Amid public pressure, Colorado candidates tackle social media regulations for minors
Bethany Johnson
bethany.johnson@denvergazette.com
Updated 12 hours ago
Following the accidental overdose of her daughter in 2020, Patti Lujan pursued a lawsuit against Snapchat, the social media platform that, she claimed, connected her daughter with a drug dealer. In a news release announcing the lawsuit, Lujan alleged that...
Denver gets more time to answer FAA questions in probe regarding Key Lime lease denial
Deborah Grigsby
deborah.smith@denvergazette.com
Updated 12 hours ago
The City of Denver has asked the Federal Aviation Administration for additional time to gather information and prepare its response to the federal agency’s investigation of the city’s 2025 denial of a Denver International Airport ground lease expansion for Key...
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Air Force Academy boss unveils plan to rebuild scandal-ridden sexual assault office
The Air Force Academy is rebuilding its scandal-rocked Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office with a special emphasis on preventing future attacks, the school’s top general told The Gazette. The office, which was all but disbanded last summer ahead of an investigation that found its director “derelict” in caring for victims, will have more workers […]
Aurora Sentinel: The time for interstate toll roads across Colorado is now
Like it or not, we’re stuck, Colorado. Every reliable study shows that the state has mounting transportation needs and woes, and more people will continue to pour into the state. At the same time, state legislators are deadlocked over finding serious money to fix the state’s serious problems. The time for more toll roads in […]