Author: Paula Noonan

Paula Noonan Steve Durham, vice president of the Colorado State Board of Education, believes he should determine how history is taught in Colorado. Citizens beware. His version of history for social studies standards is more than wrong-headed. It’s flat out wrong and dangerous. It’s disturbing that Republicans on the State Board as well as two…

Paula Noonan Coloradans! We’ve had lots of arguments regarding charter schools vs. public schools. Charters have done well. They represent about 15% of public school students these days. But now we’re at a difficult tipping point and it’s past time to think about where we’re headed. According to the Colorado League of Charter Schools, there…

Paula Noonan Democrat Chris Kennedy has put his name in for speaker of the House for the 2023 General Assembly. This is not the time for another man to get that job. Our state has enough men running things, including the governor, state Senate president and all statewide offices except secretary of state. Move over,…

Paula Noonan It takes someone smarter than a Nobel Prize scientist in physics to figure out the political science of campaign finance for Colorado’s elections. There must be some natural law of physics that describes the opacity of how many candidates are backed by various nondescriptly titled entities such as Unite for Colorado Action, All…

Paula Noonan A GOP theme for its candidates in Colorado is crime. Check Republican aspirants’ websites and crime is one of their three issues, along with the economy and education. So what have Republicans done up to now to attack crime, especially violent crime? Police statistics in Colorado show that violent crime has increased by…

Paula Noonan Colorado’s new Congressional District 8 is a marvel of even division where the redistricting committee stuck Democratic-leaning Adams County to GOP-leaning Weld County with a dab of Larimer County mixed in. Looking at active voter registrations from August, Adams County has about 130,000 more voters in the district than Weld County. Adams has…

Paula Noonan Some Colorado State House races are more interesting than Democrats would probably like, and some that should be competitive are undercut by lack of money – mostly on the Republican side. To set the stage, Republicans are universally running on three issues: economic growth, public safety and crime, and choice and/or vouchers for…

Paula Noonan Steve Schuck, wealthy real estate developer and philanthropist in Colorado Springs, recently called out the Denver Public School Board related to disagreements among board members. He labeled the board as “disgraceful” and “disgusting.” He excoriated board members as “union-saluting toadies.” Thanks, Steve, for your enlightened, unbiased commentary. It’s not uncommon for some charter…

Paula Noonan There’s an order to calculating which state House and Senate races are competitive. The first scan is voter registration. The second scan is money. Political principles and voter turnout come in at the next levels if registration and money are competitive. Based on voter registration, six state Senate races and 21 House races…

Paula Noonan Suncor Refinery is seeking to renew EPA permits to pollute from Colorado’s Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) for its three plants in Commerce City. Suncor purchased the entire facility in two chunks in 2003 and 2005. The three plants are now under Suncor’s single ownership. This is important. The APCD has allowed Suncor…