rural
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Colorado lawmakers start crafting strategy to manage $200 million in federal rural health funds
Colorado officials have begun to strategize as the state is set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars from a federal program meant to boost rural health. Cristen Bates, deputy Medicaid director at the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, told members of the legislature’s new Commission on Medicaid that Colorado is poised to…
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Resolution calling for increased road funding clears Colorado Senate committee
A Republican legislator said he was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday when the state Senate’s transportation panel advanced a resolution brought to him by county commissioners urging the Colorado Department of Transportation to invest more money to fix roads. Road maintenance is “probably the No. 1 issue” in his seven-county district, said Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling.…
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12 Colorado cities, towns lose urban status with new Census criteria
Despite Colorado’s population exploding over the last decade, a dozen cities and towns lost their status as urban areas due to revised criteria from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau released a list of places considered urban based on their new criteria Thursday, showing almost 1,000 cities, towns and villages in the U.S. being changed…
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Q&A with Rep. Richard Holtorf | As long as they aren’t shooting at him, he’s fine
Richard Alonso Holtorf never sought political office. It sought him. The Akron-based representative for House District 64 was content to work on his Buffalo Springs ranch, until Rep. Kimmi Lewis, R-Kim, passed away in December 2019 from breast cancer. Even though he had no elected experience and wasn’t particularly active in the Republican Party, several people…
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Help wanted: Rural judges pitch county court openings to lawyers, non-lawyers alike
With a trio of upcoming judicial vacancies in southwestern Colorado, the state’s Judicial Department hosted a discussion for potential applicants shining a light on what to expect should they be appointed to the bench in some of the least-populous counties in the state. “Part of being a judge is that you are always a judge.…
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BEST OF COPO 2018 | What worries rural Colorado?
Colorado Politics is taking a look back at some of our most significant and compelling stories of 2018. This story originally was published Sept. 28. It’s a Tuesday morning at the La Jara Trading Post, in the San Luis Valley a few miles north of the Colorado-New Mexico state line. The employees and a steady…
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COVER STORY | What worries rural Colorado as the election approaches?
It’s a Tuesday morning at the La Jara Trading Post, in the San Luis Valley a few miles north of the Colorado-New Mexico state line. The employees and a steady stream of customers are talking about the Denver Broncos’ season. But it’s not the only topic they’re musing about on this warm September morning. A…
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Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper tells ag community future is in outdoor recreation
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in remarks at this week’s 27th annual Governor’s Forum on Agriculture, pointed to the outdoor recreation industry as one area that can help rural communities rebound economically. In January, the Colorado Convention Center hosted the first of five years of shows from the Outdoor Industry Association, which for years had been…
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Letter: Gardner behind closed doors on ACA repeal
Editor: Republicans in the U.S. Senate are secretly crafting a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. What has Sen. Cory Gardner told the citizens of Colorado about this bill? Nothing! Why the secrecy? Why no open hearings? The ACA had 100 open hearings. Currently in Colorado, 175,964 citizens enrolled in ACA health insurance plans for…
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Fields: Bridging the political divide
Coming off a contentious election, and with the next legislative session just around the corner, it’s easy to get caught in the negative side of politics. It’s easy to build up political divides and play into an “us versus them” mentality – which then only breeds more anger, disconnection and gridlock. These barriers aren’t just in…