Author: Paula Noonan

Santa left some lumps of coal for Weld County during this holiday season. To be exact, he left concentrates of benzene, arsenic, barium, selenium and other organic and inorganic compounds that derive from fossil fuel production that can contaminate soil and groundwater. These compounds were supposedly cleaned up, but some individuals, as yet unnamed, created…

Paula Noonan Charter school promoters in Colorado never fail to spin the public relations story charters are better in every way than public schools built to serve neighborhoods and communities. Recent claims by Kevin Hesla of the Colorado League of Charter Schools assert Colorado’s charters are contributing to the integration of our public schools, a…

Paula Noonan Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of duplicity among leaders of both political parties. Hunter Biden received a fantastic holiday pardon present from his father, President Joe Biden, and United States citizens received a simultaneous stick in the eye. It’s not exactly late-night news justice is unevenly distributed in the U.S., but father pardoning son…

Paula Noonan Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday. No presents, just family and friends for turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie, rolls, cranberry sauce and vegetables. It’s a day when we’re on the same page, giving thanks for America and its many gifts. Thanksgiving is the least elite holiday as everyone eats pretty much the same meal.…

Paula Noonan Wow! Whoever thought President-elect Donald Trump’s category-5 hurricane bluster was really a month-long Phoenix heatwave of hot air got that wrong. When he said he would blow “woke” down, it wasn’t braggadocio. He meant it. “Woke” is a big descriptor. It is derision aimed at how some people foolishly work at politeness. It…

Paula Noonan The Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education will vote soon to close schools for next year. Five elementary schools are on the chopping block with about 1,100 students total getting the boot out of their neighborhood buildings. At a recent board meeting, the district stated its values and guidelines for closing schools.…

Paula Noonan Only one national race counts in Colorado with Tuesday’s election, and that is Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris for president. Vice President Harris won here but lost in Pennsylvania. Women here who yearned to have the first woman president shouldn’t feel too bad. President-elect Trump says he will protect us whether we…

Paula Noonan This election is Halloween scary from every direction, with polls moving up and down on the faintest spooky breeze. Finally, Colorado’s ballot returns offer actual voting data to provide some insight. Comparing this data to Pennsylvania ballot returns adds evidence for our educated election guesses. So far Colorado’s Democratic women 45-plus in age…

Paula Noonan Each election season brings on disingenuous activity. Some action crosses the line into unscrupulous, possibly illegal activity. An example of unscrupulous behavior is sending out text messages to thousands of voters suggesting the president of the Colorado Education Association supports Amendment 80 on school choice when he vehemently does not. This particular electioneering…

Paula Noonan Colorado’s ballot initiatives make us all like elected legislators. We get to decide important policy for the decades. Here’s some background. If you’re wondering why some ballot issues get letters and others get numbers, it’s because letter initiatives originate by a two-thirds vote of the legislature while numbered initiatives originate from citizen signature…