Domestic Policy

Sagebrush Bill: The Guv's a Rebel at Heart

Immigrant-rights activists kick off campaign

There's a painfully obvious division within the Denver population that's attributable to a broken immigration system, says Julie Gonzales, political coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "A lot of people within the immigrant community feel like they have to separate themselves ... More >>

Ken Salazar wants windmills in the ocean, but first he'll have to save the Interior Department

There's a painfully obvious division within the Denver population that's attributable to a broken immigration system, says Julie Gonzales, political coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "A lot of people within the immigrant community feel like they have to separate themselves ... More >>

Fire Away

Ask John Bray if Denver's gun laws are too strict.

Letters to the editor

From the week of June 15.

Off Limits

Poo corner

Cesar Chavez Says

Yes, he was against illegal immigration -- but he was also pro-Aztlan.

Trial by Wire

There's lots of cash and carrying on over First Data's south-of-the-border business.

Fire Sale

The cost of cigarettes could go up in smoke this November.

Bull's Eyeful

The sordid legal saga of Katica Crippen, Second Amendment pinup girl.

Living in Exile

Federal prisons are filling up with people whose only crime is the possession of a gun.

Farmer on the Dole

Urban cowboys cash a surprising number of federal farm-subsidy checks.

Crosstown Traffic

Community-radio advocates and the Colorado Department of Transportation wind up in gridlock.

Let Freedom -- and Gunshots -- Ring

In the wake of last week's terrorist attack, local big-gun lovers were deadly serious about staging their Fun Shoot.

Abortion rights a hill Diana DeGette's willing to die on in healthcare debate

Will Nancy Pelosi get so mad at Diana DeGette that she actually blinks?​Just because the House of Representatives passed a healthcare bill this weekend doesn't mean it'll stay passed. Denver congresswoman Diana DeGette is leading a group of reproductive-rights supporters who are mad as hell th ... More >>

Scott McInnis: Is he more politically skillful than we thought?

"Can't we all just get along?"​Political observers have spent a lot of time har-dee-har-ing at Scott McInnis over the years -- and indeed, he's made plenty of errors and gaffes during his time in the public eye. Note his prediction that fellow Republican Bob Schaffer would lose the 2008 Senat ... More >>

Throw the bums off the Colorado Supreme Court, says Clear the Bench Colorado -- and John Suthers seems to agree

ClearTheBenchColorado.org's Facebook profile picture gives you a pretty good idea where Matt Arnold's coming from.​It took the better part of a week, but Matt Arnold, the man behind ClearTheBenchColorado.org, has finally gotten the Denver Post to blink. On Tuesday, the paper published, "AG Su ... More >>

Jared Polis, health-care hero? Democracy For America thinks so

"Me a hero? Ah, shucks."​As President Barack Obama prepares to make his first State of the Union address tonight, the promise of a health-care bill actually earning passage looks pretty sick thanks to the election of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown -- a man who Colorado candidates Scott McIn ... More >>

Scott McInnis "sincere" in offer to John Hickenlooper about denouncing tax legislation

"Don't you miss my mustache?"​At this hour, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis is in Pueblo to make a speech about what he considers to be job-killing tax increases on candy and other items that were passed by the Colorado senate on Wednesday. And according to McInnis spokesman S ... More >>

Betsy Markey targeted by Gun Owners of America -- because of her health-care vote?

"Who isn't mad at me these days?"​In the immediate aftermath of yesterday's health-care vote in the U.S. House, Republican Party types have deemed a number of representatives nationwide as being ultra-vulnerable, with Betsy Markey's name coming up as often as anyone's. One reason: Markey voted ... More >>

Guns on campus: CSU faces lawsuit in wake of court tossing CU's concealed-carry ban

​As promised, the Rocky Mountain Gun Owner's Club has filed suit against Colorado State University for its board's recent ban of concealed weapons on campus. With the suit filed on the same day as a Colorado Court of Appeals decision to throw out CU-Boulder's similar ban, it might have more am ... More >>

Arizona immigration bill: Colorado students plan afternoon protest walkout

An image from ColoradoImmigrant.org featuring participants from a previous event.​Yesterday, Denver Public Schools announced on a ban on all work-related travel to Arizona due to the recent passage of a controversial immigration bill that Republican gubernatorial hopeful Scott McInnis digs and ... More >>

CSU gun ban: Another school weapons prohibition bites the dust

Is Cam the Ram about to become Cambo?​Colorado State University System officials voted unanimously Wednesday to rescind the school's hotly contested campus gun ban in response to a court ruling last month that wiped out a similar prohibition at CU-Boulder. The CSU ban, which was passed earlie ... More >>

Immigration reform must happen now, says Denver City Council proclamation

Chris Nevitt has something to proclaim.​The controversial Arizona immigration bill hasn't stopped any folks from coming into this country illegally yet. After all, it won't take effect until July. But it's certainly led to a bumper crop of proclamations, including denunciations by Denver Publi ... More >>

Ken Gorman's diaries of a mad pot man: A look at the marijuana activist's writings

www.kengorman.orgPot dealer and prominent activist Ken Gorman was killed in his home in 2007. He was 60.​Ken Gorman, the subject of "High Times," this week's feature, was famous for his pro-pot diatribes and anger-fueled sermons against the establishment. When he wasn't spouting off at the ste ... More >>

CU gun fight shouldn't cost much-- but losing could mean more than a flesh wound for regents

​The top spokesman for the University of Colorado governing board says he wishes he "had a gun so I could blow off a few rounds." That's how many media calls Ken McConnellogue, spokesman for university system Board of Regents, has received as CU aims to keep a gun ban that a state court effec ... More >>

Tom Tancredo's advice to President Obama about how to solve illegal immigration

Tom Tancredo.​Strange but true: Former congressman Tom Tancredo agrees with something in President Barack Obama said in his immigration-reform speech at American University yesterday -- specifically, his assertion that "our borders are just too vast for us to be able to solve the problem only ... More >>

John Hickenlooper and Dennis Gallagher proud of letting us know how feds have stimulated state

​In February 2009, Barack Obama showed up at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to sign the $787 billion federal stimulus package. Since then, anyone who has been stuck behind an army of trucks on I-25, delayed by spates of lane closures on I-70 or winced at the infestation of orange cons ... More >>

Cannabinomics: The Marijuana Policy Tipping Point: Where does Colorado land?

​According to Christopher Fichtner, a psychiatrist and former Illinois mental health director, the country's on the verge of radical marijuana policy change (i.e., legalization) -- something Fichtner writes about in his new book, Cannabinomics: The Marijuana Policy Tipping Point. And it looks ... More >>

Immigration rally in favor of DREAM Act tries to prove people power stronger than politics

​At 4 p.m. today, a rally will be held in support of the DREAM Act, a proposal that would allow select undocumented students who've lived in America for at least five years and graduate from a U.S. high school the chance to earn legal residency status. The measure faces steep obstacles -- but ... More >>

DREAM Act rejection will come back to haunt Republicans, warns CO immigrant advocate

At the rally.​On Monday, advocates rallied at North High School in favor of the DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented graduates from U.S. high schools. (See a recap and photos here.) But yesterday, Senate Republicans stalled the measure, likely killing it ... More >>

Immigration busts: In fiscal 2010, ICE took 6,617 people from Denver area, 4,447 criminals

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is focusing on busting criminal aliens -- like the 78 people recently rounded up statewide. And there's more where they came from. ICE has just released statistics for fiscal 2010, which ended September 30. The arrestee total for the Denver area of re ... More >>

Road to nowhere: The men who are caught transporting illegal immigrants rarely pay the price

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is focusing on busting criminal aliens -- like the 78 people recently rounded up statewide. And there's more where they came from. ICE has just released statistics for fiscal 2010, which ended September 30. The arrestee total for the Denver area of re ... More >>

Kevin Lundberg on CO Republican immigration summit: Current policies have no teeth

Kevin Lundberg.​Speaking moments before the start of today's immigration summit at the State Capitol, Senator Kevin Lundberg, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, portrays the session as an attempt to tackle an important issue in a post-election environment that will give him and his fe ... More >>

Immigration summit gathering of extremists eager for personal gain, says Dem Rep. Sal Pace

Sal Pace.​In yesterday's preview of an immigration summit organized by the Republican Study Committee, Senator Kevin Lundberg, the committee's chairman, insisted that he was more interested in finding solutions to a big problem than playing partisan games. But Representative Sal Pace, leader ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Sal Pace.​In yesterday's preview of an immigration summit organized by the Republican Study Committee, Senator Kevin Lundberg, the committee's chairman, insisted that he was more interested in finding solutions to a big problem than playing partisan games. But Representative Sal Pace, leader ... More >>

Return to Sender

What would comprehensive immigration reform look like if the Feds got off their duffs?

Colorado immigration partnership with feds wrongly focusing on non-criminals, study says

​ A program that delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to local officers is not netting as many serious criminals in Colorado as in other states, says a study released today by the Migration Policy Institute.

Tom Mauser and the Fix Gun Checks Tour: Disarming lunatics isn't such a crazy idea

Tom Mauser ​Grief alters people. It can devastate and give a new sense of purpose. The murder of his son Daniel in the Columbine shootings has set Tom Mauser on a crusade against gun violence that, over twelve years, has yielded small victories and gradual change -- and plenty of blowback from ... More >>

Marijuana legalization: Read eight initiatives filed for 2012 Colorado ballot consideration

Brian Vicente.​Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente has been talking about a 2012 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult use here since at least this November 2009 post. But his effort to accomplish this feat is one step closer to reality now that he's submitted eight variations on a ... More >>

Marijuana legalization debate preview: Meet the advocates who'll be hashing it out

Free me.​It's fitting that Wednesday night's debate between Colorado cannabis activists has been dubbed "Round One." The event is being advertised as a "lively and friendly" debate -- but if it's as impassioned and fiery as the comments on our marijuana blogs have been, it might be closer to ... More >>

Proponents of marijuana legalization know that where there's smoke, there's ire

Free me.​It's fitting that Wednesday night's debate between Colorado cannabis activists has been dubbed "Round One." The event is being advertised as a "lively and friendly" debate -- but if it's as impassioned and fiery as the comments on our marijuana blogs have been, it might be closer to ... More >>

Marijuana legalization: Legalize 2012 objects to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act name

Tvert & Vicente.​The firestorm of invective at the Great Legalization Debate suggested that parties behind competing marijuana-reform measures for the 2012 ballot might not be exactly rooting for each other. More evidence: Legalize2012.com has created a guideline for reporters that objects to ... More >>

Lesbian couple fights deportation: Will judge allow undocumented partner to stay in U.S.?

​ In May, we told the stories of two GLBT immigrants living in Colorado and seeking asylum to stay in the United States forever. Their stories of discrimination and abuse in their home countries tested the limits of asylum law. On Friday, another local GLBT immigrant, a lesbian woman named Mrs ... More >>

Dan Baum's book in the making, Guns Gone Wild, already has gun guys up in arms

​Boulder author Dan Baum is a gun owner, and his most recent work, a companion piece to his upcoming book Guns Gone Wild that was released as a Kindle Single, makes an argument that most gun owners would seemingly support: that the AR-15 rifle is fun, a beacon of hope in a sinking gun market t ... More >>

Marijuana activists ask John Suthers to take ethics pledge after Dan Hartman criticism

John Suthers.​At noon today, Mason Tvert and other Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act backers will stage an event at Attorney General John Suthers's office. Why? Suthers feels a letter by (outgoing?) Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division head Dan Hartman published in places mulling MMJ retai ... More >>

Thanks Obamacare! website aims to turn partisan slur into positive term (VIDEO)

Obama caring.​The term "Obamacare" was originally conceived by opponents of President Barack Obama's health-care reforms as a way of hanging what they saw as a political albatross around his neck. But now, a group of Colorado activists have embraced the word with ThanksObamacare.org, a website ... More >>

Drug Policy Alliance backs Good Samaritan bill aimed at ending busts after 911 overdose calls

Art Way.​Art Way, who manages Colorado's branch of the Drug Policy Alliance, is currently hard at work on an intriguing piece of legislation set for introduction in the next session: a Good Samaritan bill intended to prevent those who call 911 when a friend is overdosing from being arrested fo ... More >>

Marijuana at the Crossroads: Event asks if MMJ lawyers are breaking oath

​According to keynote speaker and DU prof Sam Kamin, "Marijuana at the Crossroads," a Sturm College of Law symposium that starts tomorrow (see the schedule below), aims to get beyond the usual pot palaver. Sample subject: Are attorneys breaking their professional oath simply by specializing i ... More >>