Author: Denver Gazette Editorial Board

A Gazette headline on Wednesday was welcome if inevitable: “Last pro-Palestinian encampment in Colorado dismantled at DU.” In recent months, protesters had stormed Colorado’s higher-ed campuses, shouted slogans, marched and chanted with indignation and waved placards. Some also set up illegal camps on campuses and dug in their heels, issuing demands to school authorities. Demands…

Whatever the merits of a nearly $1 billion bond proposal for Denver Public Schools that could appear on next fall’s ballot — as reported Wednesday by The Denver Gazette — the school district’s battered image very likely has eroded trust among voters. If so, it’s warranted. Since the outset of Superintendent Alex Marrero’s tenure, the…

Coloradans are reeling from skyrocketing property taxes as never before. Homeowners, among others, were stunned by property-tax bills that leaped 25% or more this past spring. Our Legislature has the power to rein in the property-tax spiral. But it doesn’t have the backbone. Ruling Democrats jealously guard the government programs they have grown, and the…

A routine press release from Denver City Hall on Thursday spoke volumes about how deeply Denver’s freshman Mayor Mike Johnston seems to be in over his head. The press statement’s headline read, “Denver Mayor Mike Johnston Announces Nomination for Denver Department of Public Health & Environment Leader.” The appointment of Karin McGowan to the post,…

One movement wants peace. Another wants hatred, violence and death. Colorado should stand with the former. In Colorado and across the country, ill-informed students, paid protesters, privileged faculty and others are mounting protests. The activists support a government that enforces full criminalization of abortion, even if conducted to save the life of a mother. The…

Our state government is required under Colorado’s constitution to refund excess tax revenue. Any year-to-year increases in collections above the rates of inflation and population growth combined must be returned to the public. Hence, taxpayers’ “TABOR refunds.” When it comes to the actual process for returning the money, however, there’s a lot of wiggle room.…

As international conflicts make headlines worldwide, Colorado is waging a war of its own on its home turf. It’s a war with a lower profile and fewer casualties, but it is still a fight for survival, and it is unending. It is of course the war on crime — callous violence, pervasive theft and deadly…

Evidence continues to mount on the failure of Denver’s open-door policy toward the homeless — while Colorado’s No. 2 and No. 3 cities appear to be getting it right in reaching out to people on their streets. Colorado Springs and Aurora are using innovative thinking and political pluck to turn the tide. Denver, by contrast…

Gov. Jared Polis loves the environment. He talks climate change and pollution, visualizing zero emissions by 2040. He wants more electric cars. One might assume our green governor cherishes the federal government’s Environmental Protection Agency. Wrong. “Oh, they’re (the EPA) awful. Just awful. Awful, awful, awful,” Polis told The Gazette’s editorial board on Thursday. (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:11095963150525286,size:[0,…

The bottom line on the Legislature’s latest attempt at property tax relief is it doesn’t do much. Cobbled together in desperation and rolled out this week amid the frenzied final days of the 2024 session, it’s more or less as underwhelming as prior versions. Then again, lawmakers probably wouldn’t have bothered to come up with…