Author: HUGH JOHNSON

Depending on which Founding Father or long-ago Supreme Court justice you cite, the president of the United States has pardon power to provide mercy in case of an overly harsh criminal code; to provide justice to the wrongfully convicted; and to help the country heal after particularly brutal periods of unrest. Nowhere will you find…

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper this past week unveiled much-anticipated recommendations on oil and gas policy changes after an explosion caused by an abandoned flowline in Firestone killed two people and injured another this past April. Though only time can ultimately tell how the governor fared with his seven recommendations, we like what we see so…

Marijuana advocates can no longer claim legalization is devoid of catastrophic results. The Denver Post, which has embraced legalization, analyzed federal and state data and found results so alarming they published a story last week under the headline “Traffic fatalities linked to marijuana are up sharply in Colorado. Is legalization to blame?” Of course legalization…

A teacher shortage. It’s the new Colorado policy crisis. Just like our crumbling roads, it provides a glaring sign of Colorado’s feckless leadership in state government. As teachers flee to Wyoming and other nearby states for higher salaries and lower living costs, experts insist we have no simple solution. A Gazette story by education writer…

Some of the images from the current flooding in Houston and surrounding areas look just a little too familiar. Streets that have turned into creeks. Creeks that have turned into raging rivers. And, of course, highways and neighborhoods that give the appearance of interconnected lakes. For residents of Northern Colorado, the images bring back memories…

The behind-bars death of the founder and leader of Colorado’s 211 Crew, a white supremacist prison gang, renews painful memories in Colorado of the fact that the 2013 assassination of prison chief Tom Clements remains unsolved. Benjamin Davis was essentially serving a life sentence in part for his activity with the 211 Crew. He was found…