Morgan Carroll

Kevin Purfield arrested for harassing Aurora theater shooting victims' families

A Portland man has been arrested for harassing the families of victims of the Aurora theater shooting. Kevin Michael Purfield, 45, is accused of "e-mailing, calling and using social media to contact various family members of victims of the theater shooting," the Portland police say in a statement. ... More >>

Gun control: Senator Morgan Carroll on disruption at Aurora town hall

The debate over gun control continues to get ugly. The same week Franklin Sain was arrested for sending Representative Rhonda Fields allegedly harassing, racist e-mails vocal, pro-gun audience members at an Aurora Town Hall meeting antagonized Senator Morgan Carroll, who felt the need for a securit ... More >>

The Politics of LEGOs

Photos: Aurora, Columbine families hold emotional conference urging gun reforms

After a week of silence since the Sandy Hook massacre, the National Rifle Association today said that more guns need to be part of the strategy to stop this kind of violence. Meanwhile, families of the victims of the Aurora shooting and the Columbine tragedy came together for an emotional press conf ... More >>

THC driving bill back on the table for 2013 legislative session

For the third year in a row, the Colorado legislature will likely consider a THC driving bill . Late last week, Senator Steve King, a Mesa County Republican, announced that he would sponsor a proposal in the 2013 session to set a per-se limit for how much THC can be in a driver's system before he's ... More >>

Joe Coors, age seventy, is a "Young Gun"?

Denver blog posts are water-soluble. Colorado Pols points out that rep candidate Joe Coors, who was just added to the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Gun list, is seventy years old. Guess seventy is the new 27. WhoSaidYouSaid on Morgan Carroll's rules for radical citizens. Pur ... More >>

THC driving bill approved by Colorado Senate

In January, Senator Morgan Carroll told us she feared Senator Steve King's reboot of the THC driving bill would be difficult to kill due to a clever maneuver that avoided her committee -- and the tricks didn't stop there. The measure appeared to die on the Senate floor a short time ago, but it was c ... More >>

Patty Skolnik pushes medical transparency legislation toward the federal level

Editor's note: This is the latest profile in Kelsey Whipple's ongoing series highlighting local political activists. The worst day of Patty Skolnik's life lasted 32 months. It started the day her son Michael, a 22-year-old college student, passed out. Doctors found a small dot on his brain, an asym ... More >>

Child and Family Investigators clause in reform bill draws fire from legal lobby

Figuring some modest improvement is better than none, the Colorado House Judiciary Committee passed along a bill yesterday that's intended to make child and family investigators (CFI) and other professionals operating in family court more accountable -- after first amending and watering down its mos ... More >>

THC-limit bill could ban many seniors and veterans from driving, activist says

On Monday, a Senate committee passed a THC-driving limits bill that's broader than one that fell short last year. As Senator Morgan Carroll noted here yesterday, the proposal establishes zero tolerance for any Schedule I or Schedule II drugs, including many prescription medications. Cannabis activis ... More >>

THC driving bill: Schedule I and II drug additions broaden rejected measure

Last April, as we've reported, a bill to set THC driving limits was put on hold by a senate committee -- and a DUID-marijuana working group charged with reconsidering the issue deadlocked over the question of per se standards. Nonetheless, Senator Steve King is sponsoring a new version of the bill, ... More >>

THC driving bill: Marijuana lawyer Rob Corry suggests a compromise

​This afternoon, Senator Steve King's revival of a THC-driving-limits bill will be the focus of a hearing at the State Capitol. In advance of the debate, attorney Rob Corry has released a letter, on view below, in which he argues against the measure. However, he also floats a compromise idea t ... More >>

Marijuana advocates prepare to fight THC driving bill

Steve King.​Senator Steve King's proposed THC driving bill, which would set an intoxication standard of five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood for medical marijuana patients and a zero-tolerance level for non-patients, is up for discussion on Monday. And opponents are gearing up for a ... More >>

Morgan Carroll's new book teaches readers how to Take Back Your Government

Morgan Carroll.​Before she committed the lessons to the page, state senator Morgan Carroll had delivered hundreds of workshops and seminars on citizen advocacy. Since her career in politics began, the forty-year-old Democrat continues to be overwhelmed by the disconnect between paid lobbyists ... More >>

Civil unions bill approved by Senate committee in emotional session

Update: After more than six hours of grueling public testimony and three senators on the verge of tears, a Senate committee approved the Colorado Civil Unions Bill. The measure, a step toward granting same-sex couples parental and property rights similar to those enjoyed by married couples, passed ... More >>

THC driving bill may be hard to kill despite iffy science, senator says

Last April, a bill to set THC driving standards was put on hold by a senate committee -- and a DUID-marijuana working group charged with reconsidering the issue deadlocked over the question of per se standards. But now, Representative Steve King has spoken publicly about resurrecting the measure, an ... More >>

Reader: Joe Miklosi won a Best of Denver, but is he the best candidate to take on Mike Coffman?

Joe Miklosi.​Joe Miklosi came out early as a Democratic willing to take on incumbent Mike Coffman in the sixth congressional district -- whatever that might look like when redistricting is done. But party insiders are saying that Miklosi -- despite his Best New Legislator win in the Best of D ... More >>

THC driving impairment varies widely in upcoming HDNet World Report test

​Update below: HB 1261, a bill to set THC driving standards, was put on hold by the Senate judiciary committee last month only to be revived and fast-tracked late in the legislative session. But it died in a Senate vote due in part to the enormous variations in the way marijuana affects differ ... More >>

THC driving limits bill killed by Senate in "huge victory for patients nationwide"

​Senator Morgan Carroll saw the passage of HB 1261, a bill to set THC driving standards, as inevitable despite evidence like medical marijuana critic William Breathes's blood test showing he was nearly triple the proposed 5 nanogram per milliliter of blood standard even when sober. Nonetheless ... More >>

THC driving limits bill is back, may have votes to pass despite William Breathes's blood test

Morgan Carroll.​Update: HB 1261, a bill to set THC driving standards, was put on hold by the Senate judiciary committee last month -- and committee chairwoman Senate Morgan Carroll says Westword medical marijuana critic William Breathes's blood test was a factor in the decision. Now, though, ... More >>

Bed bugs: Will repealing law requiring sanitization of used mattresses encourage bugs?

Flickr​Update below: Last month, our feature story "Bug Bedlam!" detailed Denver's bed bug infestation, supposedly one of the worst in the nation. Tomorrow, the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hear a bill to repeal Colorado's so-called Bedding Act, which requires that use ... 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 >>

Mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement: New bill seeks to stop the madness

​Roughly four out of every ten prisoners in solitary confinement in Colorado is either developmentally disabled or mentally ill, a figure that's been rising steadily over the past decade. Senate Bill 176, headed for a statehouse committee review later this week, seeks to drastically reduce tha ... More >>

Face the State creator Brad Jones discontinuing Best of Denver-winning political website

Brad Jones.​Face the State, a conservative-skewing news outlet that Westword named 2009's Best Political Blog, is no more. While the site's still online, founder Brad Jones confirms FTS has reached "the end of the road, and I will be moving on to other opportunities." What sealed its fate? Fi ... More >>

Midwifery: Bill to revise midwifery law passes out of committee with additions intact

​ A bill to broaden the scope of what Colorado's home-birth midwives can do passed another hurdle yesterday: The Senate Health & Human Services Committee approved it in an 8-1 vote. Testimony stretched for three hours and included impassioned pleas from both sides, including from Indra Lusero, ... More >>

Indra Lusero's pitch to help Colorado midwives is catching heat in the legislature

Carmelo Anthony trade: Here's why the New York Knicks shouldn't make a deal for Melo

Carmelo.​Welcome to this week's initial array of Denver blog posts. 5280's A.J. Vicens recaps last night's nearly Carmelo Anthony-free Nuggets win over the Suns and links to a New York mag piece arguing against the Knicks trading for Melo. Colorado Independent: Senator Morgan Carroll wants p ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Romanoff on the range

​"What's he doing in the Senate?" "Why, it's an honorary appointment. He's an honorary stooge." Frank Capra's classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was on TCM yesterday afternoon -- just the thing to warm up the set (and the sofa) before Jake Cutler returned to Mile High, particularly given a ... More >>

Senator Morgan Carroll tries to explain Pinnacol

Senator Morgan Carroll.​Senator Morgan Carroll, an Aurora Democrat who heads the interim committee looking into the 800-pound gorilla known as Pinnacol Assurance, knows plenty about the enterprise, which the Denver Business Journal describes as a "state political subdivision that operates as a ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: All aboard for a wonky week

I'm looking over the Platte Valley at the sliver of the "Travel by Train" sign I can still on Union Station through pricy lofts and office buildings constructed over the last few years. And some day there will be a lot more of them, if current plans for the revelopment of Union Station play out -- ... 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 >>

Prediction: No nails to be bitten in impending death-penalty vote

Senator Morgan Carroll. Despite Monday's move to strip a death-penalty ban out of legislation designed to divert funds to investigating cold cases, Morgan Carroll, a state Senator sponsoring the bill, isn't giving up. As the current session ticks toward its conclusion, she plans to reintroduce the ... More >>

Death-penalty bill: Politicos willing to raise taxes to keep the killing option open

A Flickr photo You've got to admit it was a legislative masterstroke. As a House-passed bill to end capital punishment in Colorado and use the approximately $900,000 in savings to investigate so-called "cold cases" neared a Senate vote, opponents led by Democratic senator John Morse and Republican ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Ladies and gentlemen, your Denver Broncos... get arrested a lot

Why am I so surprised Broncos have been arrested twice as many times as Raiders since 2000? (Mile High Report) Funding education starts... in prison? Yes, according to smokin' State Senator Morgan Carroll. (SenMorganCarroll.com, via Colorado Pols) When it comes to making laws, you, dear reader, ... More >>

After vegan requests LVTOFU license plate, the DMV reveals its dirty mind

The Westword.com blog shortcut, April 7 edition

Wipe that Homer Simpson drool off your face... Eat healthy, live healthy. Today in Cafe Society: • Beer AND donuts at Watson's? Oh, why do you toy with my emotions! • Sip and slip into spring at Tamayo. • Coffee Spot: Aviano Coffee. • V.G. Burgers currently homeless as well as meatless. †... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, March 26 edition

Hosea Rosenberg. Let it snow? Let it snow? Let it snow? Today in Cafe Society: • Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg spreads the wealth. • Updated: Other stirring events, now that "Soup for the Soul" is cancelled. • Desperately seeking volunteers for the IACP conference in Denver. • Co-op grocery lo ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: The week ahead, February 16-21

The big news: Barack Obama is coming back to Denver, the town where he accepted the Democratic nomination on August 28, and where now, as president, he will now sign the $787 billion stimulus bill on Tuesday, February 17 at the Museum of Nature & Science (conveniently vetted by the Secret Service ... More >>

Denver Blogs: The pharmaceutical industry is overmedicated

Denver Blogs brings you blogs from Denver. If you'd like to bring more of them to us, send linkage here. Sen. Morgan Carroll faces off against pharmaceutical lobbyists. Someone needs to take a pill. (SquareState.net) A Broncos blogger still thinks Pat Bowlen is a great owner -- but like Rachel M ... More >>