Author: Denver Gazette Editorial Board

While rank-and-file Coloradans have been weathering a crime wave, their oblivious elected lawmakers have been preoccupied with the well-being of the culprits. It has been a familiar theme in Colorado’s crime-coddling Legislature over the past several years, and the 2024 session promises more of the same. That’s not to presume all pending bills that would…

Once again, next November’s face-off over Colorado’s newest congressional district promises to be a close call. And once again, control of the entire U.S. House of Representatives hangs in the balance. Created after the 2020 Census, the 8th Congressional District appeared on the ballot for the first time in 2022. It was a close call.…

Denverites are becoming second-class citizens in their own city. To varying degrees, that could be said of Coloradans in other communities, as well. They have been elbowed aside by a new wave of immigrants – many from Venezuela – who have entered the U.S. illegally over the past year and have been deluging Denver and…

Lawmakers at the Capitol are preparing to add another $2 billion to the state budget, bringing total state spending next year to $40.6 billion. That’s a tentative figure at this point because the budget is still a work in progress. It faces a final vote by the House before heading to the Senate for its…

One of Denver Mayor Michael Johnston’s homeless hotels is turning into a hotel of horrors. The mounting death toll and recurring violence at the former DoubleTree by Hilton, at 4040 Quebec St., as reported by The Denver Gazette, are tragic. The implications are troubling for the Johnston administration’s approach to getting the chronically homeless off…

Every legislative session in recent years has sought to flog landlords in the name of protecting tenants. The 2024 session is no exception. After all, rent hikes and evictions make great fodder for grandstanding politicians amid Colorado’s affordable-housing crunch. Yet, attempts to “fix” the problem through more laws nearly always backfire on the tenants who…

Like the self-serving kid who cozies up to the schoolyard bully, Colorado’s attorney general is siding with the federal government as it treads on yet another state power in regulating air quality. As The Gazette reported last week, Colorado AG Phil Weiser has signed onto a motion in federal court to intervene in defense of…

No wildlife biologists or credentialed experts in related fields serve on The Gazette’s editorial board. And they are few and far between among the general public in Colorado, as well. That’s the top reason we opposed Proposition 114, introducing gray wolves into Colorado’s wilds. It’s also why we have continued to take a dim view…

What’s the downside of lofty ideals like decriminalization, “justice reform” and “harm reduction”? How about the rampant drug abuse and epidemic of overdoses that have engulfed parts of Denver? Just ask the merchants on trendy south Broadway, where curbside chaos and passed-out drug addicts compete for sidewalk space with hipsters trying to visit the area’s…

Nineteenth-century American lawyer, journalist and politician Gideon J. Tucker had a warning: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” President Ronald Reagan spoke of the nine most terrifying words in the English language: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” A quote attributed to President George…