Author: Tony Olivero
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Lindsay Datko on school safety, misconduct and transparency in Jeffco schools | The OpEdge Podcast
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Jeffco Kids First founder Lindsay Datko joins The OpEdge to explore concerns about school safety, staff misconduct and transparency in Jefferson County Schools. Datko tells host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger why she believes Colorado’s second-largest district has too often prioritized self-protection over accountability, citing a sweeping safety audit, a federal Title IX finding and…
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Dustin Zvonek pinpoints Colorado’s housing-first homelessness failures | The OpEdge Podcast
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As homelessness continues to persist across Colorado, former Aurora City Councilman Dustin Zvonek paints a compelling picture of how the primary policy prescription may be enabling the root cause more than providing a permanent solution. In this OpEdge Podcast conversation with Gazette and Colorado Politics Deputy Opinion Editor Antonio Olivero, Zvonek, now the homelessness fellow…
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Rachel Gabel diagnoses Colorado’s sharp rural-urban divide | The OpEdge Podcast
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Gazette columnist Rachel Gabel, editor of The Fence Post Magazine, says Gov. Jared Polis has ushered in an unprecedented era of tone-deafness to rural Colorado. In this sweeping interview with investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger, Gabel leaves no stone unturned over the issues facing rural Coloradans, warning everyday working people averse to politics, “If you’re not…
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Michael Fields reviews Colorado’s 2026 legislative session | The OpEdge Podcast
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Michael Fields, executive director of Advance Colorado, joins OpEdge host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger to assess the good, the bad and the ugly of the Colorado General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session. Reflecting on the 120 bills passed in 120 days, Fields not only spells out what the budget, transportation and crime ramifications mean for…
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DJ Summers dives into the costlier state of Colorado | The OpEdge Podcast
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Common Sense Institute’s Director of Communications & Research Operations DJ Summers dives deep with The OpEdge Podcast host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger regarding Colorado’s drop in the institute’s Free Enterprise Competitive Index. Summers shares shrewd insights regarding Colorado’s curious, one-of-a-kind case study of economics, demographics and culture of the past 15 years, when a…
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Superintendent Michael Gaal on why schools work better without union contracts | The OpEdge Podcast
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In the latest episode of The OpEdge — The Gazette’s new opinion podcast — Colorado Springs District 11 Superintendent Michael Gaal reveals why teachers’ union contracts hold schools back. Gaal tells OpEdge host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger how ending D-11’s labor contract unleashed flexibility on teacher pay, staffing and accountability, while arguing school choice and…
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Dick Wadhams charts Colorado’s rocky political shifts | The OpEdge Podcast
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In the latest episode of The OpEdge — The Gazette’s new opinion podcast — veteran campaign winner, political analyst and Gazette columnist Dick Wadhams dissects the electoral shifts of Colorado politics with OpEdge host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger. Wadhams charts the curious cases of Colorado’s Democratic and Republican Parties, the surge of unaffiliated voters and…
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Michael A. Hancock’s ‘Rules for Restoration’ to counter radicalism | The OpEdge Podcast
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In the latest episode of The OpEdge — The Gazette’s new opinion podcast —writer, Denver Gazette columnist and business executive Michael A. Hancock tells OpEdge host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger how his book, “Rules for Restoration,” offers concrete ways to counter Colorado’s “radicalism” and restore genuine hope in an age of grievance and outrage. Watch…
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George Brauchler on Colorado’s ‘Jailbreak’ | The OpEdge Podcast
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We are pleased to introduce the inaugural episode of The OpEdge — The Gazette’s new opinion podcast. District Attorney and law enforcement hawk George Brauchler tells host and investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger what lawbreakers can expect in the 23rd Judicial District. Brauchler recaps his recent commentary for The Gazette — “Jailbreak” — detailing legislative Democrats’ efforts to empty Colorado…
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Hypocritical air-quality-control standards put rural Colorado last | OPINION
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By John Justman and Don Coram As former rural lawmakers, we’re no strangers to the state trying to squeeze us into the same box as the Front Range. But Colorado’s latest regulations take things to a new level: not only are they completely unworkable for our communities, but the rules also reveal a hypocritical double-standard…

