Author: Lisa Walton
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The Durango Herald: Lawmakers abdicating responsibility, harm families, communities, economies
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The issue of immigration – past and future – is at the top, or near of the top, of every political party poll in this country. If the strength of the economy and resulting employment is not the most often checked, it is immigration. Going forward, the question is whether potential immigrants should be favorably…
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Aurora Sentinel: State GOP must tell the truth about Colorado civil rights and gay wedding cakes
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To borrow from another meme and movement tripping up Colorado Republicans in the Legislature: Time’s up. For weeks, state GOP elected lawmakers in the state House and Senate have been trying to fool everybody by saying they mean no harm or trouble to the Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission by holding its funding hostage. At best,…
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Sentinel: Endless disasters at the VA come from the top down, so fire the guy at the top
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From the time the Trump White House began to take over the troubled Veterans Administration last year, a series of missteps made by new leaders bodes ill on finally fixing years of mismanagement. It’s only gotten worse. There’s no doubt that current VA Secretary David Shulkin has to go, and now. A 150-page independent report…
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Aurora Sentinel: Valiant Parkland mass-shooting survivors are capitalizing on NRA’s one weakness: money
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Maybe an eloquent and emotional plea from survivors of the nation’s most recent mass shooting will turn the political tide by capitalizing on the one thing that could finally bring America reasonable gun control: money. After a whirlwind national catharsis over the country’s horrific plague of gun violence and mass shootings, a handful of high-school…
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Gubernatorial candidates to sound off at next month’s State of the Outdoors
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A second-of-its-kind celebration of the region’s outdoors will have a first-of-its-kind flair. On March 15, in Colorado Springs’ downtown City Auditorium, six gubernatorial candidates will sound off on issues related to the Front Range’s natural escapes, including access and impact amid rising demand. Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, Noel Ginsburg and Erik Underwood are the Democratic…
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Colorado’s Claire Davis Act waives governmental immunity in school violence
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Credible as well as unfounded threats at schools have increased nationwide since the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. Awareness is particularly heightened in Colorado, one of a few states that waives governmental immunity on acts of school violence and allows civil lawsuits to be filed. State lawmakers in 2015 passed…
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Economist: No quick fix for affordable housing crisis plaguing Colorado, rest of nation
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Colorado Springs’ affordable housing crisis wasn’t created overnight, and it won’t be solved quickly, an economist said Friday morning in a speech on the topic. There are things the city can do, though, in conjunction with El Paso County, local nonprofits, regulatory agencies and private businesses, said Elliot Eisenberg, a former senior economist with the…
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Prosecutors move to dismiss charges against ex-El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa
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After two mistrials ended in near convictions, special prosecutors on Friday moved to dismiss felony corruption charges against former El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa. Lead prosecutor Mark Hurlbert said Maketa’s back-to-back mistrials damaged the chances for conviction because both juries threw out some charges – limiting the scope of their evidence and making it…
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Coloradoan: Improve education by making it a state budget priority
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By any measure, $6.635 billion is a lot of money. That’s how much funding the state of Colorado appropriated this fiscal year for K-12 public education. But it’s fair to ask whether it is enough given the explosive population growth our state is experiencing and the pressures faced by our school districts to provide an…
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Durango Herald: More information needed on Secretary Zinke’s goals
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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is redesigning his department to move hundreds of public employees from Washington out West. In theory, putting decision-makers in closer touch with the landscapes and people they will affect is a good idea. We are, however, skeptical about intent, because, as with the Bureau of Land Management most of them are…
