Colorado State Senate

Sex and drugs at Colorado Senate today

Want evidence of just how colorful Colorado has become? Stop by the Colorado Senate this morning, where two big bills will be considered. One, calling for new sex education standards, shows how very blue the Colorado Legislature is these days, The second, HB 13-1061, which would set standards for "r ... More >>

Deviate sex at hotels (and adultery) about to become legal in Colorado: Party time!

Today, the Colorado State Senate gave its approval to a bill that would do away with Colorado sex laws that date back to the '50s. To be more specific: the 1850s. Yep, legislation now headed to the desk of Governor John Hickenlooper (who's expected to sign it) is designed to wipe from the books st ... More >>

TBD Colorado brings the discussion of this state's future home

As the Colorado Senate begins debating gun bills, the Capitol should be filled with enough opinions today to blow the dome right off. But you can shoot your mouth off on the future of this state without even leaving your couch or kitchen table: Starting today, TBD Colorado is bringing the discussion ... More >>

Civil unions bill passes Senate, heads to House

Last May, a civil-unions bill died an ugly death in the Colorado House of Representatives, alternately frustrating and pissing off backers. But this year appears to be a very different story. A short time ago, the state senate approved the Pat Steadman-sponsored measure -- and while that happened i ... More >>

After Aurora theater shooting, Ken Gordon takes aim at political contributions from gun lobby

Ken Gordon is a crusader. Term-limited out of the Colorado Senate, the one-time candidate for Secretary of State, a position that oversees elections, has now decided to fix the system from the outside. Last year, he founded CleanSlateNow.org, a non-partisan organization working to get money out of p ... More >>

Drug Policy Alliance 911 overdose bill: Will diluted version become law?

A Good Samaritan bill aimed at ending busts after 911 overdose calls cleared the Colorado Senate in February. But while the measure passed the House prior to the civil unions logjam that prompted a controversial special session and awaits John Hickenlooper's signature, it was diluted in ways that l ... More >>

THC driving bill killed in plot that snuffed out civil unions measure

Last night, as One Colorado's Jace Woodrum noted during a talk with supporters, GOP leaders in the House sacrificed dozens of other measures in order to kill a civil unions bill. Prominent among them was the controversial THC driving bill, a version of which died last year. The result was a stunning ... More >>

THC driving bill's passage prompts nationwide NORML action alert

Yesterday afternoon, the Colorado Senate approved Senator Steve King's THC driving bill by an 18-17 vote thanks to the support of Senator Nancy Spence, who'd recommended additional study for a similar measure that fell short of passage last year. Now, the proposal is headed to the Colorado House, an ... More >>

Reader: No surprise that law enforcement opposes Good Samaritan 911 overdose bill

​A Good Samaritan bill intended to prevent those who call 911 when a friend is overdosing from being arrested for doing so passed the Colorado Senate despite very opposition at the committee level from a slew of law-enforcement groups. The antipathy of such organizations to the proposal didn't ... More >>

Drug Policy Alliance's 911 overdose bill clears Senate

In November, Art Way, manager of the Drug Policy Alliance's Colorado branch, previewed a Good Samaritan bill intended to prevent those who call 911 when a friend is overdosing from being arrested for doing so. Despite law-enforcement opposition, the bill passed the Senate yesterday -- but big obstac ... More >>

Videos: Top five glitter bombings -- and how Peter Smith's attack on Mitt Romney stacks up

Mitt Romney​Cops and Secret Service agents who protect Republican presidential hopefuls are dealing with a new kind of threat -- one that sparkles. Last Tuesday, Denver got into the act when Peter Smith, a college student and politics intern, was arrested after he tried to throw blue glitter o ... More >>

"Cottage food bill" that would allow growers to sell directly to consumers passes Senate

The so-called "Local Foods, Local Jobs Act," a bill sponsored by state senator Gail Schwartz that would allow small growers and producers to sell their goods directly to consumers, has passed the full Colorado Senate. It now heads to the House, which recently passed a similar bill, sponsored by emba ... More >>

Attorney General John Suthers decries Senate's inability to pass THC driving limit bill

John Suthers.​When House Bill 1261, which would have set THC driving limits, was killed on Monday, many people -- including most of the bill's supporters, and just about all of its opponents -- were surprised. John Suthers, Colorado Attorney General and medical marijuana dispensary foe was out ... More >>

Senate Bill 241: Is Colorado ready to fix parole's revolving door?

​Over the years, we've written frequently about the breakdowns in Colorado's parole system -- how heaping mandatory parole on top of prison sentences and making ill-prepared felons jump through multiple hoops drives up prison costs. Now there finally seems to be some serious efforts among lawm ... More >>

James Mejia: Activist attacks Denver mayoral candidate for using phrase "illegal immigrants"

James Mejia.​James Mejia is now among the frontrunners in the race for Denver mayor, which makes him a target for attacks -- including an unexpected one from a group of Latino activists led by Lidia Ortiz. They've written an open letter blasting Mejia for using the phrase "illegal immigrants" ... More >>

Civil Union Act should pass in CO House if not blocked by extremists, says Sen. Pat Steadman

Pat Steadman.​Update below: Today, in all likelihood, SB 172, intended to legalize civil unions in Colorado, will be okayed by the state senate, following debate yesterday that warmed the heart of its sponsor, Senator Pat Steadman. Next, however, the bill must be approved by the Republican-con ... More >>

Tom Clements, new Colorado prison chief: Can he bust out of the state's revolving door?

Tom Clements.​This week, the Colorado Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment of Tom Clements as Department of Corrections executive director. It's not one of the most glamorous posts in Governor John Hickenlooper's cabinet, certainly, but it's one of the most crucial if the state is goin ... More >>

Mike Kopp, Colorado Republican Senate leader, hopes Obamacare ruling is a death sentence

Mike Kopp.​Yesterday's ruling by Virginia judge Henry Hudson voiding the health-care-bill requirement that citizens buy insurance may not mean much long-term according to this Washington Post piece, but it's certainly given opponents of what many conservatives call Obamacare an early Christmas ... More >>

Rob Corry doesn't think National Guard should have seized MMJ cards on 4/20, Scott Renfroe

Rob Corry's got another MMJ doubter in his sights.​It's been a busy day for the Corry family. Earlier today, attorney Jessica Corry spoke about a legal and industry coalition formed to potentially sue over portions of HB 1284, the medical marijuana regulatory bill nearing passage. Now, her hu ... More >>

Josh "Penal" Penry: Felons vote the Democratic ticket

"How can I woo the sex offender vote?"​Yes, it's the season for blustery rhetoric and high-pressure posturing down at the statehouse. But few stunts can match, for sheer unintended hilarity, this recent blast from Colorado Senate Republicans, denouncing a bill to restore voting rights to stat ... More >>

Avalanche catastrophe in Denver Blogs: Do losses get any more painful than last night's against Vancouver?

At least Matt Duchene put the biscuit in the basket.​Read some Denver blogs, why don't you? Mike at Mile High Hockey is in rare form commenting about the Avs agonizing collapse against Vancouver last night. "Why are they playing this way in big games?" he asks. "It's like my right hand on a S ... More >>

Medical marijuana bill coming this afternoon to move away from dispensaries to clinics, call for one year "time out"

Rep. Tom Massey will be in the spotlight.​The medical marijuana community has been filled with a mix of anticipation and dread in regard to the contents of a measure being assembled by Representative Tom Massey intended to regulate the industry. Many fear what's become known as the law-enforce ... More >>

Patient-physician relationship goes to pot

​"I don't think any of us who were here a year ago thought we would be here debating a new industry in our state, but the truth is, it's here," said state senator Chris Romer, after his much-pared down medical marijuana bill was passed by the full Colorado Senate yesterday. "It has been like t ... More >>

Medical marijuana bill about doctor-patient relationship: "There's really very little in it," says advocate Matt Brown

Matt Brown isn't hitting the panic button.​Update, 1:10 p.m., February 1: The Colorado Senate has approved Senator Chris Romer's medical marijuana bill regarding the doctor-patient relationship 34-1. Read Matt Brown's take on the measure below: Like many other prominent figures in the medical ... More >>

Remembering Elaine Calzolari

Wake-Up Call: The week's looking up -- way up

​The sky's the limit this week. Or is it? From a discussion of the view at Coors Field to consideration of a proposed DIA expansion to conventions including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the fortieth annual international UFO Symposium, things are looking up -- way ... More >>

Celebrate Colorado Day by revisiting the state's worst scandals

Governor James H. Peabody.​What's the best way to mark Colorado Day? Should we go outside and contemplate nature? Pet a cow instead of eating one? Or listen to John Denver albums until your brain begins to boil and your ears erupt in pustules? Not according to the citizens behind Colorado Ethi ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Ken Gordon starts the conversation

Ken Gordon was term-limited out of the Colorado Senate in 2008 -- but he's not going quietly. In fact, he's started a new blog, where he offers this thesis: "I believe that the American people fundamentally misunderstand their form of government and their place in it." As proof, he offers this st ... More >>

Carol Chambers, the death penalty and the 7-Eleven slaying

Dale Wayne Baylis. It's been a good news-bad news week for Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers. As one of the state's most zealous officials when it comes to pushing for the death penalty, as documented in "Arapahoe County DA Charges Death-Penalty Fees to the State," Alan Prendergast's ... More >>

Nails were bitten in yesterday's death-penalty vote

A Flickr photo Yesterday, I predicted that the Colorado Senate vote on a bill to eliminate the death penalty in the state wouldn't be a nail biter, Senator Morgan Carroll's suggestions to the contrary. But her command of math proved far superior to mine. In the end, the measure fell just one vote s ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Dream on

"In this country, we have to let every child -- it doesn't matter if they are documented or undocumented -- live the American dream and have a chance to go to college," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said yesterday on a tour of Bruce Randolph School with Michael Bennet, the former Denver Publi ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Snow job!

The pert young anchor turned to the avuncular weathercaster. "So," she said. "What happened to that eight big inches you promised me last night?" The inches have changed over the years -- to ten, to twelve -- as the story takes on all the trappings of an urban legend, but its origins are definit ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Whoa, suits, it is not cool to play with stoners' emotions like that

Mmmmm, tax revenue. Four shots of 100-proof bloggage, down the hatch. Send thy tips. Some lawmakers have joked about legalizing weed. Not funny, dudes, not funny. (Colorado Pols) It pays to be in charge of all the bus drivers. Like, a lot. (Face the State) The precariousness of Colorado's Senate ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Fasten your seatbelts

The total number of job losses across the country announced yesterday range from 65,000 (according to the New York Times) to over 71,000 (CNN). But no matter how you add things up, the outlook looks gloomy. Better polish your rose-colored glasses for Colorado's dual announcements coming today: Go ... More >>

Dianne Reeves to sing national anthem at Capitol on Wednesday morning

Just received word that Diane Reeves, a Denver native and four-time Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist, is slated to open the Colorado Senate's 67th general assembly. Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., Reeves, a George Washington High School and University of Colorado alumna, will join Senate president Pe ... More >>

Skin Deep

Best Behind-the-Scenes Political Power Brokers

Jared Polis, Tim Gill, Rutt Bridges and Pat Stryker

Panty Raid

From JonBenét to Kobe Bryant, Colorado gets hung out to dry.

High Noon

When it's springtime in the Rockies . . .

Tough Luck

Why are lawmakers putting up a fight against the Toughman contests?

Letters to the Editor

From the week of December 18, 2003

Off Limits

Write-off

Independence Day

The Independence Institute got a jolt from its Italian leaders.

Forfeit Me Not

The legislature redefines a public nuisance

Off Limits

Party poopers

Best-dressed legislator

Senator Ken Chlouber

Off Limits

Saying goodbye to one of Denver's more interesting journalists.

Off Limits

Off Limits

PEOPLE & PLACES