Colorado begins rewriting oil-gas rules with focus on safety
Colorado oil and gas regulators are taking the first steps to implement a new law that makes public health and the environment their top priority.
The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission released interim guidelines Friday for companies to comply with the law.
The commission also outlined proposed steps for handling drilling applications until all the new rules are in place.
That could take months or years. The commission’s first hearing under the new law starts on May 20.
Under the old law, the primary job of regulators was to encourage production.
The new law also gives local governments new powers to regulate the location of wells and changes the makeup of the commission to add expertise on safety and the environment.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed the law Wednesday.
Colorado House Democrats focus on rising prison costs amid declining crime rates during budget discussion
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 17 hours ago
Colorado’s House Democrats pressed budget writers Tuesday over a nearly $70 million increase for the Department of Corrections, questioning why the state plans to add 941 prison beds and explore new prison capacity at a time when crime rates are...
Federal judge warns of increasingly inadequate immigration bond hearings
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
A federal judge ordered the immediate release of a man in immigration custody last week and, seemingly for the first time in Colorado, warned that the government is increasingly conducting inadequate bond hearings for detainees. Colorado’s federal trial court is facing...
Inside the GOP caucus: Colorado legislator explains why a bigger budget still means cuts
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 15 hours ago
Tasked with explaining a budget driven by rising caseloads, shifting federal dollars and a $1.5 billion shortfall, Joint Budget Committee member Rep. Rick Taggart spent Tuesday’s Republican caucus meeting detailing why the 2026–27 spending plan appears larger on paper, even...
10th Circuit upholds dismissal of Barry Morphew’s civil lawsuit against prosecutors, investigators
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court agreed on Monday that Barry Morphew, who now stands accused for a second time of murdering his wife, failed to state viable claims against the government officials involved in his first, unsuccessful prosecution. Morphew was...
Johnson won’t reopen DHS until Thune makes good on megabill promise
Lauren Green, Washington Examiner
lauren.green.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 19 hours ago
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is unlikely to move legislation ending a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security until Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) kickstarts the party-line budget reconciliation process to pass another megabill. A source familiar told...
Trump’s mail-in ballot executive order reveals why DOJ is pushing for state voter data
Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner
kaelan.deese.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 19 hours ago
President Donald Trump’s new executive order on mail-in voting is offering the clearest explanation yet for why the Justice Department has spent months aggressively seeking access to state voter rolls, while also triggering a sweeping legal challenge from Democrat-led states....
Trump quietly drops steel and aluminum tariffs for bikes, e-bikes, and frames
Christian Datoc, Washington Examiner
christian.datoc.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 19 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE — The Trump administration has quietly backed off from President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 50% steel and aluminum tariffs on imported bicycles, e-bikes, and bicycle frames. In August 2025, the administration added e-bikes to the list of products covered...
Trump warns Iran’s ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ unless deal is struck with US
Hailey Bullis, Washington Examiner
hailey.bullis.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 20 hours ago
President Donald Trump issued a bleak warning ahead of his Tuesday night deadline for Iran to reach a peace deal with the United States, saying “a whole civilization will die” unless Iranian leadership yields. “A whole civilization will die tonight,...
Senate-passed farmworkers overtime bill easily clears Colorado House committee
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 16 hours ago
A proposal to ease Colorado’s overtime requirements for agricultural employers cleared a key House committee Monday, setting up a broader fight over whether the state should scale back a labor policy adopted just five years ago. The House Agriculture, Water...
Federal judge blocks evidence from Aurora police’s unconstitutional search
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
A federal judge ruled last month that prosecutors cannot use firearm evidence against a defendant because Aurora police searched him without having any reasonable basis to believe he was armed and dangerous. In evaluating the constitutionality of the search, U.S....
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Hancock proposes new Denver department for housing and homelessness
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Once-counterculture 420 marijuana holiday goes mainstream in Denver, elsewhere
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