Colorado Politics

 Ground squirrels are taking over a North Dakota city, and officials are not amused | OUT WEST ROUNDUP

NORTH DAKOTA Ground squirrels taking over city MINOT — The Richardson’s ground squirrel weighs less than a pound, is about a foot long and is native to the northern Plains. The little creature also is a ferocious tunneler, and it’s...

 Adams county senate challenger calls out incumbent’s absences | A LOOK BACK

Thirty-Five Years Ago This Week: A state senate campaign in Adams County devolved into a ham-fisted fight when Republican candidate Joan Johnson accused Sen. Brian McCauley, D-Westminster, of neglecting his duties by being absent for multiple key votes in 1987...

 Rural Reckoning – A special series dissecting Colorado’s urban-rural divide

The four-week Rural Reckoning series examines the critical and often overlooked issues facing rural Colorado, where challenges to healthcare access, affordable housing, agricultural sustainability, and population growth are compounded by a growing disconnect with the state’s political and economic power base...

 Denver’s ‘Eat Less Meat’ campaign sparks backlash from ag community, praise from activists

A climate campaign by the Johnston administration in Denver, which notably encourages people to “eat less meat,” drew criticism from Colorado’s agricultural producers, who called the marketing blitz “tone deaf,” “elitist” and yet another “demonization” of cattle production. Activists, meanwhile,...

 Polis mobilizes National Guard as Rio Blanco County fires threaten Meeker

Gov. Jared Polis mobilized the National Guard Wednesday night as two wildfires in Rio Blanco County continued to grow in size. The National Guard will be used to support emergency response to the Lee fire, southwest of Meeker, and the...

 Colorado’s coal plant closures not affected by EPA proposal

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to disapprove parts of Colorado’s air pollution implementation plan regarding the state’s compliance with the federal Regional Haze Rule. The rule requires that facilities that emit potential haze-producing substances show continuing reasonable progress every...

 Colorado wildlife officers hunt for wolf in Northwest county; another wolf dies — in Wyoming

Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Wednesday that another wolf from the original 10 that came from Oregon has died in Wyoming. Wyoming law prevents divulging more details on the wolf’s death, although the tracking collar is being returned to Colorado....

 Gov. Jared Polis imposes hiring freeze, as Colorado lawmakers prepare to cut $1B from budget

Gov. Jared Polis will convene the legislature on Aug. 21 to enact cuts to the state budget amid a $1 billion deficit, even as he is instituting a hiring freeze. The governor said the hiring freeze in state agencies will...

 More than 220 laws take effect Wednesday: Voting, housing, and nuclear energy among key changes

More than 220 new laws passed during Colorado’s 2025 legislative session will take effect Wednesday, ranging from clean energy policy changes and housing reforms to new consumer protections and cultural designations. The effective date is tied to a 90-day waiting...

 Legislators urge action as Colorado faces $955 million deficit, unresolved AI regulation

Will there be a special session this month? Multiple sources have told Colorado Politics that on Wednesday the governor will call the General Assembly back to Denver on Aug. 21. Members of the Joint Budget Committee showed signs Tuesday that...

 Colorado declares disaster emergency, mobilizes resource to fight LeRoux fire

Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday declared a disaster emergency to fight a wildfire that has burned about 700 acres in Delta County. The declaration means the deployment of state resources to help fight the LeRoux fire after the sheriff requested...

 It’s Colorado’s ‘most expensive’ property insurance. Yet, demand is ‘significantly less’ than expected.

Only 51 homeowners have signed up so far for the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, Colorado’s newly created insurance of last resort for property owners with repeated denials from traditional insurers.  The low numbers are in some ways...

 Colorado Rep. Steven Woodrow announces he won’t run for re-election

Rep. Steven Woodrow, a stalwart of the House Democrats’ progressive wing, announced Monday he won’t seek a fourth and final term in the House in next year’s election. Woodrow posted the announcement on Facebook on Monday. Woodrow was chosen by...

 Kaiser ends gender transition services for minors

Citing pressure from the Trump administration, Kaiser Permanente is the latest health system to acquiesce to demands that it cease providing gender transition services to minors that includes chemical or surgical procedures. Kaiser CEO Greg A. Adams announced the change...

 Another round of flash flooding prompts rescues in New Mexico mountain village | OUT WEST ROUNDUP

NEW MEXICO Flash flooding prompts rescues RUIDOSO — Another afternoon of heavy rainfall on July 25 prompted flash flooding in the mountain village of Ruidoso, forcing the closure of roads and the rescue of at least five people who were...

 Candidates for Colorado office squabble over codes of conduct, campaign pledges | A LOOK BACK

Thirty-Five Years Ago This Week: “Natalie Meyer’s code is too weak,” Democratic candidate for secretary of state Aaron Harber proclaimed in a press release. Harber was clearly making a political play to draw a distinction between himself and the incumbent...

 Colorado landfill methane detection technologies take center stage ahead of regulatory meeting

Colorado air pollution regulators are advancing what’s been called one of the most stringent landfill methane rules in the country. Dubbed Regulation 31, the proposed new regulation would establish earlier and lower triggers for mandatory methane gas collection systems at...

 Colorado task force tackles aggressive and violent student behavior toward teachers

It was Halloween, and school social worker Tricia Van Horssen was dressed as Anger, the cartoon character from “Inside Out,” when she was assaulted by one of her students. The costume, she said, was ironic because she loves her job...

 Rural Reckoning | From support to disapproval, rural sentiment shifts against Gov. Jared Polis

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS • Once upon a time, Marsha Daughenbaugh supported Gov. Jared Polis from her working cattle and hay ranch some 8 miles outside of Steamboat. “Let me preface this,” Daughenbaugh said, while making day-before preparations for a Fourth of July gathering...

 Colorado Public Utilities Commission schedules August public comment sessions

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is soliciting public comments on four items under consideration in the month of August. Xcel Distribution System Plan Public comments will be heard from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26 on Xcel Energy’s $4.9...

 6 wolf pups counted from One Ear Pack in northern Colorado, caught on camera playing

Four wolf pups belonging to the One Ear Pack in Jackson County sit in a meadow in Jackson County, Colorado Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Courtesy, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, X Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) confirmed on Tuesday a minimum...

 Food insecurity concerns deepen as Colorado DHS, nonprofits brace for SNAP changes

Federal funding reductions and changes in qualifications to the nation’s food stamp program could have what officials are calling profound impacts on Coloradans. “This is huge. Our counties are very concerned about food insecurity in their communities, as are food...

 How deep is Colorado’s rural-urban divide? 10 takeaways from the Rural Reckoning series | Vince Bzdek

How bad is the rural/urban divide in Colorado? That’s what a team of reporters at Colorado Politics and The Colorado Network, our statewide collective of freelancers, set out to measure and understand. Through extensive interviews, data analysis and community voices,...

 Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to euthanize second wolf after livestock killings

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has announced plans to euthanize at least one wolf from the Copper Creek pack following the killing of several livestock in the Pitkin County area. According to a letter obtained by 9News, the state is looking...

 Colorado legislators get bleak news on state’s budget situation

Colorado’s budget situation is “brutal,” a legislator acknowledged, as policymakers began to grapple with the reality that they also have little time to act, given the enormity of the budget cuts that they will need to consider in the coming...

 Colorado budget faces $1 billion shortfall due to federal tax overhaul

State economists warned that Colorado faces a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the budget for 2025-26 after a federal tax overhaul signed into law by President Donald Trump cut corporate tax revenues and shifted other significant costs to the state....

 Colorado joins lawsuit against Trump administration over Planned Parenthood funding

Colorado has joined a coalition of 22 states suing the Trump administration for blocking Planned Parenthood from receiving federal Medicaid funds. Earlier this month, Congress passed its federal spending bill, which includes a “Defund Provision.” The provision requires the federal...

 Colorado’s wildlife bridge on I-25 will be ‘world’s largest,’ officials say

The wildlife overpass under construction on Interstate 25 between Larkspur and Monument will be the “world’s largest bridge structure built for wildlife,” officials said in a release Friday as they marked the project’s halfway point.  Measuring 200 feet wide and...

 Trump administration weighs new coal sales from public lands in Montana, Wyoming | OUT WEST ROUNDUP

New coal sales on public lands weighed DENVER — Federal officials on July 7 took a first step toward reopening vast areas of public lands in two Western states to new coal sales as part of President Donald Trump’s push...

 Colorado congress members distance themselves from S&L crisis with cash | A LOOK BACK

Thirty-Five Years Ago This Week: Several Colorado members of the U.S. Congress announced they were sending checks to the Colorado treasury in an effort to alleviate some of the burden on taxpayers and the state from the fallout from the...