Kansas governor’s race is referendum on notorious tax cuts
TOPEKA, Kan. – The dead-heat Kansas governor’s race has become a referendum on how a Republican experiment in slashing income taxes went awry.
Democrat Laura Kelly and Republican Kris Kobach are arguing over what lessons came from the budget misery that followed tax cuts in 2012 and 2013 and whether the state needs a do-over.
Kelly is a veteran state senator who supported a successful effort last year to repeal most of the tax cuts championed by former GOP Gov. Sam Brownback. She argues that Kobach wants to bring back Brownback’s fiscal experiment and even top it.
Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, wants to return to cutting taxes but bristles at being described as another Brownback. He says he would avoid Brownback’s mistakes by being more aggressive about controlling spending.
Poll: Most Colorado voters fear ICE may unlawfully detain people in expanded deportation campaign
Nico Brambila
nico.brambila@denvergazette.com
Updated 4 hours ago
Roughly two-thirds of Colorado voters said they are worried federal immigration agents may unlawfully detain people who should not be caught up in the Trump administration’s expanded deportation effort, a new survey has found. The worry among Latino voters is...
Colorado justices receptive to allowing lawyers to ‘borrow’ allegations from elsewhere
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed open on Tuesday to the idea that plaintiffs’ lawyers can use allegations made elsewhere to bolster their own clients’ claims, so long as the attorney first performs some degree of investigation into the...
DEA squashes cartel-tied drug dealing, seizes over 1,000 pounds of meth
Michael Braithwaite
michael.braithwaite@gazette.com
Updated 4 hours ago
Federal agents announced Wednesday that they had seized more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine in a string of drug busts spanning over 11 months, including a record 733 pounds in one operation in April. The sting targeted a criminal organization...
Cases jump to 31 in the botulism outbreak tied to baby formula. Here’s what to know
Bob Smith
bob.smith@gazette.com
Updated 6 hours ago
More than 30 babies in 15 states have been sickened in a growing outbreak of infant botulism linked to recalled ByHeart infant formula, federal health officials said Wednesday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 31 cases of...
Colorado justices skeptical that Colorado Springs is immune for crash caused by faulty signal
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed doubtful on Wednesday that the city of Colorado Springs cannot be sued over a collision that occurred as a result of traffic lights that were functioning normally in one direction, but were inoperative...
Lawmakers, Gov. Jared Polis clash on Medicaid provider rates
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 hours ago
Colorado legislators on Tuesday heard from an advisory committee, which proposed making several adjustments to the state’s reimbursement rates for health care facilities that provide services to Medicaid patients. The proposal from the Medicaid Provider Rate Review Advisory Committee diverged...
Colorado rolls out plan to supercharge clean-energy jobs boom
Scott Weiser
scott.weiser@gazette.com
Updated 4 hours ago
A new state analysis released Tuesday warns that Colorado will face significant shortages of skilled trades workers, threatening the state’s ability to meet Gov. Jared Polis’ greenhouse gas reduction goals unless it dramatically ramps up training. The report shows gaps...
Colorado House GOP announces committee assignments for 2026 session
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
The Colorado House’s Republican leadership has announced its members’ committee assignments for the 2026 legislative session, which begins Jan. 14. “These committee assignments showcase our readiness to bring accountability and common sense back into the legislative process,” said Minority Leader...
Colorado justices address conflict between anti-SLAPP law, state constitution
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
Colorado lawmakers in 2019 created a mechanism to quickly dispose of lawsuits over conduct that implicates a person’s First Amendment rights, specifically the rights to free speech and to petition the government. Known as the “anti-SLAPP” law, which stands for “strategic...
Aurora homeless navigation campus welcomes 176 people on first day
Kyla Pearce
kyla.pearce@gazette.com
Updated 6 hours ago
Aurora’s homeless navigation campus opened its doors to 176 homeless people Monday two weeks after its official ribbon cutting. The navigation campus — formerly a Crowne Plaza hotel — at 15500 E. 40th Ave., has been in the works for...
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New Mexico Dem outraises GOP hopeful in key US House race
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Democrat Xochitl Torres Small raised more than three times as much money from July through September as Republican Yvette Herrell in a closely watched U.S. House race in southern New Mexico, according to newly released federal numbers. Federal Election Commission filings released this week show attorney Torres Small pulled in around $1.9 […]
New campaign seeks support for expanded Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – A couple of liberal Harvard law professors are lending their name to a new campaign to build support for expanding the Supreme Court by four justices in 2021. The campaign, calling itself the 1.20.21 Project and being launched Wednesday, also wants to increase the size of the lower federal courts to counteract what […]