STATE BILL COLORADO
Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien’s former deputy chief of staff, Tyler Lyons has joined Denver’s Dovetail Solutions as manager of client services.
Lyons also formerly served as O’Brien’s operations director and as a communications intern with Gov. Bill Ritter’s press office.
Dovetail is a “public relations and positioning” firm.
Video: KKTV, Associated Press
At a debate Saturday, Colorado gubernatorial candidates Tom Tancredo and Dan Maes clashed over November ballot measures to reduce taxes and fees, accusing each other of vacillating, the Associated Press reports.
Maes, the GOP candidate, accused Tancredo of changing his position four times. Tancredo told Maes he can’t count, and Maes asked Tancredo, “What are you today: a fraud, a liar or a statesman?”
In other coverage
The Durango Herald: After a bruising month on the campaign trail, Dan Maes finally got a friendly room Saturday in a three-way debate for governor. The Republican candidate had the largest cheering section in the crowd of about 150. Most leading Republicans have abandoned Maes, and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo has focused most of his attacks on Maes.
The Colorado Statesman: Early bird politicos at Action 22’s meeting in Colorado Springs on Saturday were treated to 15-minute lightening round debates between candidates running for statewide offices. They included Republican Attorney General John Suthers and Democratic candidate Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett; Democratic Treasurer Cary Kennedy and Republican contender Walker Stapleton; and Democratic Secretary of State Bernie Buescher and Republican challenger Scott Gessler.
Colorado Springs Gazette: Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper came to Colorado Springs Saturday to grapple with his two gubernatorial opponents over Colorado’s top issues. The Democrat was disappointed. “I felt like a third wheel,” said Hickenlooper.
The Colorado Independent: Tom Tancredo today called for the legalization of marijuana. “Legalize it. Regulate it. Tax it,” said the American Constitution Party candidate for governor. He said despite all the time and money dedicated to the war on drugs, it has been a complete failure. “If you can show me where we can get people off drugs by continuing down this same path, then show me,” he said.
By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Republicans are pushing Democrats to pledge not to raise income taxes on the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck on Friday called on his opponent, incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., to “pledge to vote against tax hikes.” Buck is referring to a proposal by President Obama that would raise income taxes on the wealthiest 3 percent of U.S. households.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday said the House would vote this year on extending middle-class tax breaks, but she would not commit to a vote before the Nov. 2 congressional elections.
The U.S. Senate on Thursday put off its vote on extending the tax cuts until after the elections.
Of contention is whether to allow tax cuts from former Republican President George W. Bush’s era expire that affect America’s wealthiest taxpayers. The Democrats’ proposal calls for letting the tax cuts expire at the end of the year, while extending lower tax rates for individuals earning less than $200,000 and families earning less than $250,000.
Buck said Democrats are putting off the vote until after the November elections because they expect to lose big to Republicans this election cycle. He urged Democrats not to vote for a “tax hike” in a “lame-duck session.”
“Kicking the decision to a lame-duck session of Congress signals that (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid’s proposed action Ń letting some of the tax cuts expire Ń is too politically risky for endangered Democrats like Bennet,” read a news release from the Buck campaign. “The thinking goes that after the election, Democrats will feel less pressure from voters to extend all of the tax cuts.”
Boosted by voter disappointment at Obama’s handling of high unemployment and the soaring budget deficit, Republicans look set to pick up dozens of seats in the House. Democrats may likely lose the Democratic majority in the House and polls shows that they may hold a weaker majority in the Senate after the elections.
A spokesman for Bennet on Friday declined to comment on Buck’s news release suggesting that Democrats were “punting” until after the election on the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts.
Michael Amodeo, Bennet’s campaign spokesman, said Bennet is in favor of extending tax cuts for average Americans, but not in favor of extending tax cuts for the rich.
“Michael’s first priority is to make sure that we extend tax cuts for the middle class and working families. For the last decade, Coloradans have been working harder, making less, and paying more for everything from health care to higher education. They have done everything they can to get through this savage economy, and we should do everything we can to help them,” said Amodeo. “He cannot support a permanent extension of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires because there is absolutely no plan to pay for them. And cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans, borrowing money from the Chinese to pay for them, and sticking our kids with the bill is not what most Coloradans consider to be sound, fiscally-responsible policy.”
By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
A new study states that raising the excise taxes on alcohol would reduce the rates of problems associated with drinking.
In Colorado, such a tax increase would need to be approved by Colorado voters, and no such plan is in the works. But the study, which was published in Friday’s online edition of the American Journal of Public Health, states that public policies that increase the price of alcoholic beverages would not only reduce drinking, but also significantly reduce most of the negative and costly outcomes associated with alcohol.
“Simply adjusting decades-old tax rates to account for inflation could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in law enforcement and health care costs,” said Professor Alexander C. Wagennar, a professor of health outcomes and policy at the University of Florida College of Medicine and lead author of the study.
Alcohol taxes have considerably larger effects than prevention programs on a state’s burden of alcohol-related problems, according to the study.
Doubling the average state tax on alcohol would be associated, on average, with a 35 percent reduction in alcohol-related mortality, an 11 percent reduction in traffic crash deaths, a 6 percent reduction in STDs, a 2 percent reduction in violence, and a 1.4 percent reduction in crime, according to researchers.
But Pete Meersman, president and chief executive of the Colorado Restaurant Association, does not buy into such studies. Unless you drastically raise the price of commodities, consumers keep purchasing popular items, he said.
“Obviously, if you could quadruple them, or you’re going to add $10 to a six-pack of beer, that might have an effect,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s what they have in mind.”
Doubling the current state taxes on alcohol would add about 50 cents to the price of the average six-pack or bottle of wine, according to the study.
Meersman also points out that as commodities rose during the recession, many business owners absorbed the cost by taking in less profit. So, while the price of some commodities went up for businesses, it didn’t for consumers because the businesses were absorbing the price increase.
“Most of our members are trying to keep their prices the same,” said Meersman. “The commodity price increases are being taken out of profit because they’re worried that with the economy the way it is, that raising prices will cost them customers.”
By Matt Masich, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — The Colorado Judicial Building, the former home of the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, was demolished this summer, just 33 years after it opened. Its successor, the under-construction Ralph L. Carr Justice Center, should be around much longer.
A host of dignitaries will be on hand for a construction kickoff ceremony on Monday at the future site of the Carr center, which is scheduled to open in early 2013 and, if all goes to plan, could still be in service a century from now.
“There’s been a concerted effort to sit down, to study the courts and their needs, and to think about that in terms of the next big block of time,” said Curt Fentress, the architect designing the Carr center. “We’re designing the building as a 100-year building. We’re looking at how we put it together for the long term, whereas the previous building had a lot of shortcuts, which led to a lot of issues with the building.”
Too cold, too small
The old Colorado courts building, which opened in 1977, was notoriously less-than-waterproof and was reportedly cold no matter the season. Not only was it uncomfortable, it was too small. The Court of Appeals more than doubled in size during its tenure in the building, with some staff having to work elsewhere. There was no room at all for the State Court Administrator’s office.
The Carr center will have room for more tenants while giving them plenty of room to grow, said Bill Mosher of Trammel Crow Co., project manager for the construction.
“The last building was strictly for the Supreme Court and appeals court,” Mosher said. The Carr center will also house the offices of the State Court Administrator, Attorney General, Public Defender and other state legal agencies.
The appearance of the new buildings is intended to convey the strength of the judicial branch as the equal of the legislative and executive branches, as represented by the Capitol, while also appearing open and accessible, Fentress said.
The four-story stone columns at the entrance show the time-tested strength of our legal system, while the glass atrium and dome show the transparency toward which the system strives.
Fentress Architects has designed a number of iconic structures around town, including Denver International Airport, Invesco Field at Mile High, and the Jefferson County Government Center (colloquially known as “the Taj Mahal”).
‘Celebrated entry’
The Carr center is divided into two. A four-story building for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, law library and clerks’ office will be built facing 14th Ave. on the site of the former Supreme Court building. An interactive learning center designed to teach visitors about the U.S. legal system will be on the first floor of the building.
The Supreme Court courtroom will be on the fourth floor, with one Court of Appeals courtroom on each floor below. All courtrooms open onto a large atrium, with a glass wall facing the state Capitol Building.
The old courts building had such a nondescript entrance that left first-time visitors were often unsure where the entrance was. Once inside, visitors were faced with a bank of elevators. That won’t be the case with the new building, Fentress said.
“It has a celebrated entry, so you know where the entrance to the building is,” he said. “It’s also very transparent, it’s very clear. You go into the atrium space and you can see the entire building. It feels open and accessible.”
A 12-story office tower will stand next door, on the site of the recently demolished state museum, with its entrance on the corner of 13th Ave. and Broadway, across the street from the entrance of the Denver Public Library. The top two floors of the office building will be almost entirely occupied by the State Court Administrator’s office, with some room left for the Presiding Disciplinary Judge and extra space for a future tenant. Taking up of the sixth through 10th stories will be the Attorney General’s office, with some extra room on the sixth floor.
The AG’s office was originally going to be at the top of the office tower, but an extra floor was added to the top to make room for the courts administrator’s office, which was originally going to be in the same building as the Supreme Court.
The two primary buildings of the Carr center will be connected by a smaller, three-story linking building, which will have some offices.
Several tenants
Other confirmed tenants on the office side are: The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, Attorney Registration, Commissioner of Judicial Discipline, Board of Law Examiners/CLE, Judicial Performance Evaluation, the administrative and appellate divisions of the Office of the State Public Defender, Office of the Child’s Representative and Alternate Defense Counsel.
As of estimates in May, there were also 55,000 square feet of additional space that could be leased to other state offices when the building first opens, but available if one of the legal agencies needs to expand.
The appellate courts and administrator’s office are now renting temporary quarters in the Denver Post building.
Editor’s Note: The Denver Post’s Jessica Fender is now reporting that this event raised $40,000 for the Tancredo campaign.
By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Third-party candidate Tom Tancredo brought out the big dogs yesterday to help him raise money for his gubernatorial campaign. Duane Chapman, aka reality star/bounty hunter Dog the Bounty Hunter, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial Arizona figure known for making his convicts wear pink underwear and sleep in tents, topped the bill for Tancredo’s fundraiser at the Western saloon and dancehall the Grizzly Rose. Both public figures praised Tancredo for being an honorable man who isn’t afraid to take on the establishment.
“You want a typical politician who reads a speech and tells you who want you hear?”, asked Arpaio, “Or do you want a guy who is going to tell it like it is and gets it done?”
Tancredo is the first political candidate Chapman has ever endorsed. In 2006, Tancredo led the effort to prevent Chapman from being extradited to Mexico for allegedly capturing Andrew Luster, convicted rapist and Max Factor heir, and bringing him across the border from Mexico to the United States in 2003. Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico.
Tancredo got nearly 30 other members of Congress to write a letter to then President George W. Bush’s administration asking them to deny Chapman’s extradition. The charges ended up later being dropped due to the statute of limitations.
Beth Chapman, Duane’s wife who also stars in the bounty hunting reality show, said Tancredo was one of the first people who called her to see if he could help after her husband was threatened with extradition.
“What he did for us in Congress is what he will do for every Colorado citizen here,” Beth said. “He will help you, he will stand up for you and he will heed the call when you call him.”
For his part, Arpaio said he was similar to Tancredo in many ways. Arpaio spoke in detail about his effort to combat illegal immigration in Arizona, and trumped Tancredo as the like-minded fighter that Colorado needs.
“He’ll shake everybody up in Washington,” he said.
But like most issues involving Tancredo, yesterday’s fundraiser was not without controversy. The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition held a protest outside of the Grizzly Rose to protest Tancredo’s and Arpaio’s “failed immigration policy.” Political organizer Julie Gonzales said immigration reform should be handled on the federal level, not through local initiatives like Senate Bill 170 Ń the Arizona law backed by Tancredo and Arpaio that significantly cracks down on illegal immigration.
“To see these failed state and local level politicians try to run campaigns based on fear and hate mongering, it’s a shame,” she said.
The latest Rasmussen poll found that Democrat John Hickenlooper still holds a commanding lead over Tancredo, who is running as an American Constitution Party candidate, and Republican candidate Dan Maes. But the poll found that Tancredo is now picking up more votes than Maes. Tancredo said that his grassroots support, such as the supporters who paid $35 to get into yesterday’s fundraiser, makes it possible for him to win the election.
“We have a tough road ahead of us, there are no two ways about that,” he said. “But I’ll tell you this; I believe with all my heart that it is the right thing we are doing for the state of Colorado.”
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By David Harrison, STATELINE
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In most of America, the issue of who should own pharmacies is not a burning political question. But North Dakota has been talking about it for the past 47 years.Alone among the states, North Dakota requires that pharmacies must be majority-owned by licensed pharmacists. Advocates say the 1963 law has allowed mom-and-pop pharmacies to survive in small towns instead of being swallowed up by big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart or Walgreens. Critics counter that the law places too much of a burden on potential drugstore owners and hurts consumers. This year, advocates of changing the law spent the summer gathering petitions for a referendum. They almost succeeded. By August, they had collected enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. But the measure ultimately failed to make the ballot on a technicality. Even so, the episode has returned the drugstore question to a prominent place in North Dakota political debate: Who should own a pharmacy, anyway? “Most of the pharmacists I talk to, they think the law is great,” says Mike Schwab of the North Dakota Pharmacists Association, an advocacy group. In other states, he says, “they’re seeing the profession getting monetized, they’re seeing more and more having to operate under a corporate structure that’s about volume and profit and not about the care of the patient.” But Jerry Jurena, president of the North Dakota Hospital Association, counters that the state law makes it almost impossible for new pharmacies to open when a longtime pharmacist serving a small town decides to retire. “When kids are coming out of pharmacy school now, there is more money to be made as an employee than as an employer,” he says. “You don’t have to buy a store, you don’t have to buy the merchandise, you don’t have an inventory to worry about.” Instead of moving to a small town to launch a fledgling business, he says, new graduates find they can earn “$80,000 to $100,000 right off the bat” by going to work for one of the big pharmacy chains. Legal challenges North Dakota was the not the first state to enact this kind of pharmacy law. Others, concerned about the spread of corporate drugstores, put similar legislation on the books during the early part of the 20th century. But a 1928 U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned Pennsylvania’s pharmacy ownership law, leading other states to scrap theirs when challenged in court. Legal challenges to North Dakota’s pharmacy law reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. The court, in a 9-to-0 decision, reversed its 1928 opinion and allowed the North Dakota law to stand. Since then, no other state has put pharmacy ownership laws back in place, making North Dakota the only state with such a requirement still in effect. It’s not quite a universal prohibition. National retailer CVS and regional drug chain Thrifty White were grandfathered in and continue to operate drugstores in North Dakota, even though they are not majority-owned by pharmacists. But other chains are locked out of the state. After the court’s 1973 ruling, those who wanted the law repealed turned their attention to the state Legislature, hoping to convince lawmakers to overturn it. But legislators so far have voted consistently to keep the law in place, most recently last year when repeal efforts failed in both houses. That has left a ballot initiative as the last resort. This summer, a group called North Dakotans for Affordable Healthcare, partially funded by Wal-Mart and Walgreens, circulated petitions. The secretary of state and the state supreme court ruled that the petitions were invalid because the sponsors of the measure were not prominently listed. So the issue likely won’t be voted on until 2012. Jurena says the state’s hospital association supports changing the law to make it easier for hospitals to open outpatient pharmacies. Right now, hospitals can’t operate such pharmacies although they can dispense prescriptions to overnight patients. Hospital administrators are having an increasingly difficult time finding pharmacies to whom outpatients can be referred. Jurena, who for 15 years ran a hospital in Rugby, a town of about 3,000, recalled how the town’s three pharmacies dwindled to one, operated by the Thrifty White chain. Census figures show that the number of North Dakota pharmacies has dropped by almost 10 percent between 1997 and 2007. North Dakotans also spent more on prescription drugs than their counterparts in neighboring states, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study in 2004. Per capita spending on prescriptions was higher in North Dakota than the U.S. average, although lower than in several East Coast and southern states. Jurena says the law has led some people to buy their drugs in neighboring states or in Canada. “It’s become tougher and tougher to provide services in the rural areas, he says, “and then to throw up a roadblock and a barrier and a law that is prohibitive, it just adds to the decay of rural America.” —Contact David Harrison at dharrison@pewtrusts.org See related stories: Health care reform’s costs rankle states (Jan. 19, 2010) |
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By Daniel C. Vock, STATELINE
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CHICAGO — Illinois voters fed up with the string of scandals that landed their previous two governors in jail will get a chance this November to approve changes that would let the public oust governors before their terms are up. Interestingly, one of the proposal’s chief proponents is the state’s current incumbent, Democrat Pat Quinn.“The very best way to ensure the governor does the right thing all the time is to have in our constitution the power of recall with respect to the office of governor,” Quinn said last fall, as the General Assembly voted to put the measure on the 2010 ballot. Quinn, who came to office following the removal of predecessor Rod Blagojevich, said recall is “the ultimate ethics measure.” But even though the measure is widely expected to pass — and probably by overwhelming majorities — skeptics question whether the new recall power will really improve the job performance of Illinois governors. “This law could make gutless politicians even more gutless,” argues state Senator Mike Jacobs, a Democrat who once nearly came to blows with Blagojevich. With all of Illinois’ recent troubles, voters will support any idea that gets rid of politicians, Jacobs says. “Voters want to take everyone out except themselves. They don’t want to be culpable, even though they elected (Blagojevich) twice. But we’re all culpable.” Illinois would become the 19th state to give its voters the power to recall a governor. The idea took off during the Progressive Era early in the 20th century, with Oregon leading the way in 1908, followed shortly by California and other, mostly Western states. Minnesota was the most recent, approving the measure in 1996 following a string of unrelated but embarrassing scandals involving state legislators. But the power is rarely used. In fact, only two governors have ever been recalled: North Dakota’s Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California’s Gray Davis in 2003. Jack Franks, a Democratic state representative in Illinois and a frequent Blagojevich critic, sponsored the recall measure that voters will decide upon in November. To him, the fact that recall has been used so rarely shows that it is “an extraordinary remedy for extraordinary circumstances.” Of course, Blagojevich’s arrest, impeachment and removal is the biggest reason voters will get to decide whether to institute recall in Illinois. Last month, Blagojevich was convicted of a felony for lying to the FBI, and a retrial on 23 other corruption-related offenses is expected to start in January. Blagojevich himself swept into the governor’s mansion in 2002 on a platform of “reform and renewal,” vowing to clean up the culture of corruption that eventually landed his own predecessor, Republican George Ryan, in a federal prison for steering state business to friends who provided him with gifts and political favors. Quinn, a longtime agitator for populist causes, says he’s supported recall power for Illinoisans for more than 30 years. He raised the issue as lieutenant governor in 2008, while Blagojevich was still governor, but the proposal stalled in the state Senate, which then was controlled by a Blagojevich ally. The landscape changed a year later, after the Senate, under new leadership, unanimously removed Blagojevich from office. A scramble to pass ethics-related legislation ensued, and one of Quinn’s biggest victories in the negotiation was approval of the ballot question to allow for the recall of the governor. The recall provision is narrowly tailored and complicated. A recall movement can start only with the support of 10 senators and 20 representatives in the 177-member legislature, with a proportion coming from each party. Then comes the statewide petition drive. The number of signatures needed depends on the turnout in the last governor’s election, but based on the turnout from 2006, some 750,000 names would be required. The governor would be the only elected official who could be recalled. Legislators, other statewide officers and local officials could not be deposed at the ballot box. That limitation has angered some of the original recall proponents. “Lawmakers tried to look reformist by proposing a pathetic little amendment… to allow only the recall of governors,” the Chicago Tribune editorial board complained. “They granted themselves and other politicians a pass.” Veteran lawmaker Bill Black, a Republican in the House of Representatives, blames Democrats for writing “the most convoluted recall provision that any state has ever put before the voters.” He supports the high threshold for signatures, because he says it ensures that officials are removed only for a pattern of misconduct, not just an unpopular decision on one issue. But he questions why, in a state infamous for political corruption, recall should be limited to the governor. And he criticizes the provision that gives lawmakers a measure of initial control over recall drives. “The public demanded a horse,” Black says. “What the Democrats finally let us vote on is a strangely shaped camel.” A quiet debate The recall question will be at the top of Illinois ballots in November, but the fight to get it there generated far more headlines than has the subsequent debate over whether it should pass. There has been no organized opposition to speak of. Franks, the sponsor, says he hasn’t raised a dollar to press for its passage. Good government groups are focusing on other issues. Even Quinn, the most visible champion of recall, has scarcely mentioned it during his reelection campaign, in which he’s trying to fend off a challenge from Republican state Senator Bill Brady. What discussion is occurring centers on whether recall would make governors more accountable to the public or less likely to make tough decisions. Franks says the state’s experience with Blagojevich shows why recall is needed. The former governor fought with the General Assembly incessantly, even though it was controlled by fellow Democrats. State government nearly ground to a halt, lurching from crisis to crisis. Insults and lawsuits flew, deficits piled up and the state’s top leaders stopped talking to each other. Meanwhile, many of the governor’s closest allies were being subpoenaed, arrested, indicted and convicted. Even so, Franks says, lawmakers shied away from impeaching Blagojevich until his arrest in December 2008. Prosecutors ordered the arrest to prevent Blagojevich from selling an appointment to the U.S. Senate. “But for the U.S. attorney,” Franks says, “the former governor would still be the governor today.” That doesn’t necessarily mean recall would have sped up the process, argues state Senator Kwame Raoul, a Democrat who says he “held his nose” while voting for the amendment. “Part of the reason we have a term of four years is that chief executives are expected to take bold action when necessary, even when it may not be popular in the moment,” Raoul says. He worries that monied interests would finance a recall drive based on unpopular decisions rather than corruption. When Californians ousted Davis in 2003, the effort to remove him was spearheaded by wealthy U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa. “It wasn’t the people rising up,” Raoul says. But Illinois’ troubled gubernatorial history — four of the eight governors before Quinn were convicted of felonies — makes it likely that this year’s recall amendment will pass. “No state,” Franks says, “needs this more than Illinois.” See related stories: |
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STATE BILL COLORADO
Here are the headlines from this week’s Colorado Statesman, the leading Capitol political newspaper.
Hickenlooper’s bipartisan supporters convene under one big tent
John Hickenlooper has always had his share of GOP supporters, but rarely have they so publicly deified the Denver mayor as they did Wednesday at a bipartisan fundraising luncheon where the Democratic candidate for governor raised a cool $100,000 at a local hot spot.
Suthers, Dem challenger clash on role of AG
The two lawyers vying to be Colorado next’s attorney general clashed Tuesday over the role of the office at a debate before a business group in Centennial. John Suthers, the Republican incumbent seeking his second full term, and Democrat Stan Garnett, the Boulder County district attorney challenging him, each accused the other of wanting to expand the scope of the state position in ways they said should concern voters
Revenue forecasts spell more budget cuts
Gov. Bill Ritter is back to the drawing board this week to find more ways to cut the 2010-11 budget after new revenue forecasts show this year’s books are once again out of balance.
A political pulse on CD 1 race
The 1st Congressional District candidates, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette and Republican challenger Dr. Mike Fallon, might agree on their diagnoses of economic and health care ailments — but they each recommend very different cures.
Move under way to change how votes are tabulated
A diverse group of election advocates want to change the way Fort Collins elects city officials.
Proponents of Personhood Amendment feeling blue about current ‘Blue Book’
Supporters of Amendment 62, the “Personhood” amendment that voters will decide in November, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Denver District Court asking for a temporary injunction to stop the state from printing and mailing out the statewide voter’s guides, known as the Blue Books.
One legal hurdle down, about a dozen more to go
Last week’s ruling that Tom Tancredo could stay on the ballot as a gubernatorial candidate meant Secretary of State Bernie Buescher had one less legal case on his plate. That only leaves about another dozen left.
Hillman: Cory Gardner Should Have Gotten NRA Nod
To anyone who still believes the National Rifle Association cares more about protecting your Second Amendment rights than it does about kissing up to powerful politicians, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.
Kogovsek: Good Work, Frank. Thank You
In the current era of divisive and downright nasty politics, it’s a pleasure and a delightful reminiscence to think of Frank E. Evans, Third Congressional District representative for 14 years.
Senate debate divisive — from the candidates to the cheering sections
Divisive sums up the second U.S. Senate debate between Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican candidate Ken Buck that drew several hundred folks to the Centennial Hall auditorium on Friday evening in El Paso County. The exchange between Buck and Bennet was cordial compared to the cheering — and booing — fans mostly seated in separate sections in the Pikes Peak Center.
Supporters of a measure that would limit pretrial release for people arrested for serious crimes have filed a lawsuit against Attorney General John Suthers, district attorneys and county sheriffs saying they failed to file campaign finance reports, the Associated Press reports.
