Current News

It was kind of like old home week, at least for some of the politicos who helped former Congressman David Skaggs celebrate his new position at the McKenna Long & Aldridge law firm in lower downtown Denver last week. The ex-lawmaker is now a senior strategic advisor to the international law firm, which boasts 475 attorneys and public policy advisors.

By Anthony Bowe
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Jubilant Tea Party supporters in Denver and Grand Junction praised conservative values and trashed Democrats last week as their colorful signs swayed to blaring Tea Party anthems.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Gazing across the bustling convention floor last Saturday afternoon, Matt Brown pointed out the variety of businesses that occupied exhibit booths: security systems, psychedelic artists, attorneys, glass-pipe blowers, publications, clothing purveyors, grow-light manufacturers, a company that helps produce compost using worms — and, yes, medical marijuana dispensaries galore.

Residents in cities and towns across the state voted on candidates and local ballot measures on Tuesday. Following is an overview of ballot results as accumulated by the Colorado Municipal League, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1923 representing the interests of 264 cities and towns.

By Anthony Bowe
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Colorado stumbled in its first attempt to secure a $377 million grant in the federal government’s Race to The Top competition, losing out to the states of Delaware and Tennessee for a share of the money allotted for massive school reforms.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Add Colorado to the list of states challenging the federal health care law signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama. Charging the law steps on states’ rights and tramples individual freedom, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced Monday he planned to join a dozen other states suing the federal government to overturn the legislation on constitutional grounds.

By Marianne Goodland
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Lawmakers took a collective sigh of relief on March 19, when the quarterly revenue forecasts came out showing the state doesn’t have to make any more cuts to the 2009-10 budget.

By Anthony Bowe
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

A Colorado Supreme Court opinion delivered last Monday provides clarity to the state’s campaign finance laws and has spurred legislation to amend disclosure rules.

Following a debate last week at the DU Sturm School of Law over whether District Attorneys should retain the power to file adult charges against children, StopDirectFile.org has filed an initiative that would put juvenile filing decisions back in the hands of a juvenile court judge. A hearing date for the initiative is scheduled for April 6.

Gov. Bill Ritter announced this week that $5.1 million in funding for the Local Government Limited Gaming Impact Program has been reinstated. The funding, initially targeted to help address recession-caused budget shortfalls, will be made available to communities impacted by gaming activity.