Author: Lars Gesing
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Day II: A policy debate carousel — drugs, energy, terrorism and health care
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The Colorado Statesman will be covering the 67th Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado Boulder all week with web-exclusive updated overviews of the action. For live coverage throughout the day, follow our reporter Lars Gesing on Twitter @LarsGesing. *** If you assemble an “Our Tangled Drug Policy” panel in the state of…
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An alternative look at race – and the ‘same but different’ immigration debate
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The Colorado Statesman will be covering the 67th Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado Boulder all week with web-exclusive updated overviews of the action each day. For live coverage throughout the day, follow our reporter Lars Gesing on Twitter @LarsGesing. The 67th Conference on World Affairs opened Monday on the University of…
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Trans-Pacific trade agreement supporters, opponents spar
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Deeply divided supporters and opponents of a deal that would allow the United States to enter into a trade agreement with 12 mostly Asian/Pacific countries are not giving up any ground. The stark disagreement was on display Monday night when U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, hosted a lively discussion on the University of Colorado Boulder…
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P-Tech high school bill aims to address industry need for middle-skilled jobs
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Two Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday presented a bill in the House Education Committee that would lay the groundwork for an enhanced high school degree program serving as a pipeline from the classroom to mid-level jobs. HB15-1270, sponsored by House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, and Rep. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, creates the framework for partnerships between…
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Growing marijuana industry embraces regulations
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“We want to regulate our industry.” Have you ever heard a businessperson utter those words? Stephanie Hopper says them — a lot. Hopper is the COO of Ballpark Holistic Dispensary, a pot shop two blocks down the road from Coors Field in downtown Denver. Her business booms every time Colorado’s baseball fans pilgrim to see…
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After midterm autopsy, Colorado and national Democrats scramble to realign message
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When Sen. Cory Gardner unseated Democratic incumbent Mark Udall in the 2014 midterm elections, he was the first challenger to boot a sitting Colorado U.S. senator out of office since 1978. The highly competitive race topped priority lists on both sides of the aisle. But on election night, only the Republican camp celebrated. Not only…
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Starboard Group: An inside look at the Colorado GOP fundraiser-in-chief
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When everything was said and done, all Katie Behnke and Kristin Strohm could do was wait. Wait and see what a string of caffeine-fueled, sleep-deprived months of endless phone calls, conversations and a flurry of hastily written checks would translate to in percentage points. Would Cory Gardner clear the 50 percent hurdle? What about Mike…
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Bennet’s Keystone approval farsighted, not noxious
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U.S. House Republicans are poised to push their legislative pet issue, the Keystone XL pipeline bill, down Pennsylvania Avenue and onto the President’s desk this week after a 62-36 Senate majority okayed the amended measure on Jan. 29. The White House has consistently hurled veto threats at lawmakers. But the GOP-led Congress has rolled up…
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Fracking, property rights re-emerge
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The Erie board of trustees’ 4-3 decision last week to not put a one-year hold on any new oil and gas drilling permits may very well have saved the city from some looming financial backlash. Two bills currently floating through the ranks of the Colorado legislature propose that if a local community wants to put…
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Five years past Citizens United ruling, critics accept new campaign finance realities
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Five years after a slim majority of Supreme Court justices handed down its game-changing Citizens United ruling — opening the floodgates for virtually unlimited corporate campaign contributions — even the decision’s most ardent opponents now admit that money in elections is here to stay. “It’s not about getting money out of politics, it is about…
