ellen roberts

ELLEN ROBERTS | Resource stewardship, fiscal prudence and independent thinking

Jul 31, 2018

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Ellen Roberts

COMMENTARY: This is part of our series of contributed essays, “Imagine a Great Colorado.” See below for more. My great-grandparents homesteaded near Grover, as far in the northeast corner of the state as you can be and still be in Colorado, in the late 1800s. I eventually landed in Durango, in the southwest corner of…
Untie state foresters’ hands so they can help prevent devastating wildfires

May 9, 2018

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Bruce Ward

Recent spring snows won’t eliminate the serious wildfire season that Colorado faces this summer. Worse, state agencies can’t help property owners in the “red zones” (where forests and subdivisions intermingle) remove dense undergrowth or dead and diseased trees near their homes. So, either property owners give up and don’t attempt to mitigate against wildfires, or,…
Former Colorado Senate President Pro Tem Ellen Roberts leaves GOP

Dec 16, 2017

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Marianne Goodl

One of Colorado’s most prominent Republican women has left the Republican Party. Former Senate President Pro Tem Ellen Roberts of Durango recently decided to drop her membership in the Republican Party and become unaffiliated. But she’s adamant that her decision should not be taken as a statement on the way moderates are treated in the…
The time for overdue sex offender sentence and treatment reform is probably never

Mar 3, 2017

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John Tomasic

State Sen. Irene Aguilar, a Denver Democrat, sat at the hearing table alone Feb. 22 and told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was “very nervous” to present her bills. Rightly so. The direct beneficiaries of her proposals don’t have many defenders at the Capitol – or anywhere else for that matter. Aguilar…
YESTERYEAR: Abortion, smoking debates take center stage

Jan 26, 2017

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Rachael Wright

… Twenty Years Ago This Week in The Colorado Statesman … “Take that President Bill Clinton!” said Colorado legislative Republican leaders. With Chuck Berry presiding as Speaker of the Colorado House, the Republican majority House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee amended and then proceeded to methodically pass a contentious anti-abortion bill sponsored by state Rep.…
Coram chosen by vacancy committee to replace Senator Ellen Roberts

Jan 8, 2017

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Jared Wright

State Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, was chosen Saturday morning by a Republican vacancy committee to replace state Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, in Senate District 6. Roberts announced in October that she was resigning half way through her term effective Dec. 31, 2016, triggering the need for a vacancy committee appointment. “I am humbled that you…
It’s Sen. Don Coram now, as Montrose Republican ascends

Jan 8, 2017

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JOEY BUNCH

If you know Rep. Don Coram, then you should know he’s now Sen. Don Coram. The affable legislator from Montrose was elected by a vacancy committee from Senate District 6 Saturday in Dolores. He was elected 87-24 to Montrose County Commissioner David White. Coram will fill the final two years of the term vacated by Sen. Ellen…
Colorado senators optimistic for 2017 legislative session, but prepared for Washington-induced spiral

Jan 5, 2017

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John Tomasic

In Colorado’s upper legislative chamber everything is different and everything has stayed the same. For years, Democrats have held the reins of power at the Capitol, and Republicans have exerted what influence they could by acting as the loyal opposition – mainly by blocking bills and offering alternative policy narratives. Most observers expect that arrangement…
Nicolais: In 2017, Legislature’s judiciary committees are in good hands

Jan 4, 2017

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Mario Nicolais

For the Colorado Legislature, the new year means new bills and new issues to tackle under the gold dome. In one of the legislative chambers, the state Senate, this new season in state politics will also mean plenty of new faces as well. Even before the session convenes on Jan. 11, the judiciary committees will begin their work.…
Colorado Bar Assn. lobbyist Jeremy Schupbach: ‘In many cases, the law is my client’

Dec 16, 2016

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Ernest Luning

Although he tracks nearly every bill in front of the Legislature, lobbyist Jeremy Schupbach often won’t weigh in on contentious policy questions or what he describes as “thorny” issues at the state Capitol. But when it comes to commas, he’s often all over it. Schupbach has what he calls his favorite job in the whole…