2020 ELECTION | Presidential hopeful Hickenlooper calls for carbon tax
A carbon tax is part of the climate plan that Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper is backing.
He’s the latest candidate to outline a plan to combat global warming.
Along with the carbon tax, the former Colorado governor would spend $350 billion on green infrastructure and efficient cars, rejoin the Paris climate accords and invest more in green technology research.
Hickenlooper is a former petroleum geologist who drew criticism from some environmentalists in Colorado for not being tougher on the state’s energy industry.
He wants to expand nationally the methane emission restrictions that he pioneered as governor. And he’d start a program to let young people pursue careers aimed at addressing climate change.
Appeals court shuts down path to challenge convictions if lawyer tells jury that defendant is guilty
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 6 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Wednesday that defendants cannot challenge whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain their convictions if their lawyer argues to the jury that it should find the defendant guilty. The U.S. Supreme Court has provided guidance...
Colorado legislature votes to make committee hearing livestreams permanent
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
The executive committee of the legislative council—the six top leaders of the House and Senate—voted 5-1 Wednesday to make permanent the video livestreaming of committee hearings, starting in the 2026 legislative session, which begins Jan. 14. And they managed to...
Here’s where House retirements stand as clock strikes midnight on 2025
Rachel Schilke, Washington Examiner
rachel.schilke.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 9 hours ago
The House will return on Jan. 6, and with it, some 10% of lawmakers will start their final year in the lower chamber, either retiring or seeking higher office in the 2026 midterm elections. The lower chamber will get its...
Colorado senator, local officials push for new Colorado Springs federal courthouse
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 8 hours ago
Local officials and one of Colorado’s U.S. senators urged the judiciary earlier this year to explore placing a new federal courthouse and judge’s chambers in Colorado Springs, while the district court is cautioning that Congress must establish new judgeships before...
SNAP recipients in five states will be banned from using assistance for candy and soda, beginning 2026
David Zimmermann Washington Examiner
davidzimmermannwashingtonexaminer@wpstage.coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
More than 1.4 million recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program across five states will be banned from using federal food assistance for candy and soda purchases, starting Thursday. Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia are the first group...
Trump’s first year back in office: Four successes and four failures
NAOMI LIM Washington Examiner
naomi-lim-washington-examiner@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
President Donald Trump is closing a seismic year as the country’s commander in chief. Since the first day of his second administration, when he issued 26 executive orders, 12 presidential memos, and four proclamations, the most first-day actions of any...
Gov. Polis appoints Lindstedt to Colorado Senate District 25 after vacancy committee misses deadline
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 hours ago
Despite a similar vote by a Senate District 25 vacancy committee last week, it was up to Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday to make sure the Senate seat was filled and ready for the 2026 session. That’s because the vacancy...
‘Rot in hell’: Trump post reignites feud with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis over Tina Peters
Thelma Grimes
thelma.grimes@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 6 hours ago
Heading into the New Year, President Donald Trump said he would like Gov. Jared Polis and others in Colorado to “rot in hell.” The object of the president’s ire is Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted of state...
US Rep. Lauren Boebert calls for override vote after Trump vetoes bipartisan Colorado water bill
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 6 hours ago
President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his second term Tuesday, blocking a long-awaited bipartisan effort to finish a southeastern Colorado water project that supporters say is critical to delivering clean drinking water to roughly 50,000 residents of the...
From Pope Francis to Charlie Kirk, many deaths in 2025 had a wide impact
Bernard Mcghee
bernard.mcghee@associatedpress.com
Updated 13 hours ago
The death of Pope Francis brought change to the Catholic Church, which counts 1.4 billion adherents and is now led — for the first time — by an American pope. The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he...
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Polis order seeks to boost Colorado child vaccination rates, respect exemptions (VIDEO)
Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order Thursday intended to tackle Colorado’s subpar vaccination rates for kindergarten students and other children. The announcement came the same day that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced vaccination rates for kindergartners had taken another hit. In some parts of the state, rates are “dangerously […]
López declared winner in Denver clerk and recorder race
The razor-thin race for Denver clerk and recorder ended Thursday with Paul López being declared the winner after final official results showed he had edged out Margaret “Peg” Perl with just enough votes to avoid an automatic recount. The Denver Election Division certified the results in which López, a term-limited Denver city councilman, outpolled Perl, […]