Politics & Government

Denver City Council president Albus Brooks, who had surgery for cancer in 2016, has revealed the recurrence of the disease. Surgery to remove a newly discovered tumor has been scheduled for the first week of May.

In the wake of #MeToo and Time’s Up, statehouses around the country are grappling with how to hold legislators accountable for sexual harassment in an environment where there isn’t a traditional boss. The most severe form of punishment is expulsion, the equivalent of being fired, but that is rarely ever wielded. This year, Colorado expelled a House Democrat, the first time a state legislator was expelled in more than 100 years. Other statehouses have also been aggressive in the fight to eradicate sexual harassment. But in true Colorado fashion, the Centennial State is leading the country in creating a safe, harassment-free environment at the Capitol. That’s if legislators can agree on the fix.

Seven Colorado cities currently prohibit pit bulls, with such regulations resulting in thousands of dogs being euthanized in Denver alone. But the number of bans could be reduced by one within weeks. Tonight, Castle Rock’s town council will hear the first reading of a new animal ordinance that repeals breed-specific legislation, and if it moves to the next stage, as expected, it could become law as soon as next month. Advocate Jen Dudley hopes the new rules serve as a template for repealing and replacing the bans in Denver and beyond.

Effective April 30, the Department of Justice is suspending funding for know-your-rights trainings at immigration detention centers, including at Colorado’s sole detention center in Aurora

No one was surprised when former state treasurer Cary Kennedy and Representative Jared Polis landed spots on the ballot as gubernatorial candidates via April 14’s Colorado Democratic Party state assembly, the complete results of which are on view below. But the Colorado Republican Party state assembly, held on the same day, contained a stunner. Former Parker mayor Greg Lopez, who few political observers took seriously, knocked state attorney general Cynthia Coffman out of the guv sweepstakes based largely on the power of a single speech.

Colorado is one of seven states participating in “Cyber Storm,” a network security exercise led by the Department of Homeland Security.

Second-term state treasurer Walker Stapleton says one of the main reasons he’s running for governor of Colorado in 2018 is because he believes the state is at a crossroads, and if the wrong policies are put in place, the current economic boom may prove short-lived. He explains why and offers what he sees as solutions in the following in-depth interview.

The most prominent challenger so far to Mayor Hancock’s re-election has raised over $100,000 in campaign contributions, campaign finance reports show.

Cynthia Coffman is Colorado Attorney General, but she’d like to be the state’s next governor. In the following in-depth interview, she lays out the case for why voters should throw their support behind her candidacy.

There are many scenarios for Saturday’s Republican Party state assembly, ranging from several centrists being shut out of the June primary to a potential boost for them as well. It could simply come down to who gives the best speech.

Denver Police Chief Robert White has received the equivalent of a warning from Mayor Michael Hancock regarding two internal affairs investigations into events that took place in 2016 and 2017. Nick Rogers, the president of the Denver Police Protective Association, the city’s most powerful police union, calls the decision “absurd.”

Jason Crow posted big numbers for his Q1 fundraising, and Mike Coffman lost his lone primary challenger as eyes increasingly turn toward the November general election.

We spoke with every major candidate running in Colorado’s gubernatorial election ahead of the state assemblies.

Attorney Anne Sulton says she’s calling for a review of all lawyers involved in Denver’s $75,000 settlement with Detective Leslie Branch-Wise because of concern that the cash may have been intended to pay for the latter’s services as a witness in a trial over a lawsuit filed by fired city employee (and Sulton client) Wayne McDonald that never actually took place.

Launched by Colorado students, Vote for Our Lives will hold voter-registration rallies and build upon recent student organizing in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting and the March 24 March for Our Lives calling for sensible gun laws and increased safety in schools.

Never Again-Colorado is hosting a town hall meeting on April 7, with or without Representative Mike Coffman.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission was sued almost four years ago by a group of teenagers to force the organization to put health and safety first. That case made it all the way to the state’s highest court. Now, the state is arguing that it does not have to put public health and safety before the interests of the oil and gas industry, rather it should just “balance” the interests of the public and the industry.

Denver’s longtime congresswoman, Diana DeGette, could be in for a primary fight this summer. Challenger Saira Rao raised more than $250,000 in the first quarter of 2018 — without any self-funding or PAC money.

A report outlines how to reboot the culture under the Golden Dome and, to use a line from Donald Trump himself, “drain the swamp” of sexual harassment and professional misconduct. Although legislators pushing for change had hoped to see new policies implemented before the end of this legislative session, that may not be feasible. Party leaders are pushing for more time to dig deep and craft thoughtful policies through the summer after the legislative session comes to an end.

Colorado is one of only fourteen states in the country that has earned top marks for LGBT equality, according to the Transgender Law Center, based on its robust non-discrimination laws and lack of religious exemptions. That’s a far cry from where it was 26 years ago, when it gained national notoriety as the “Hate State” after voters passed Amendment 2 in 1992.

Barry Farah, a successful entrepreneur, author and speaker, is a late entrant into the 2018 Republican race for governor of Colorado. In the following in-depth interview, Farah says the exit from the contest of former Congressman Tom Tancredo and 18th Judicial District DA George Brauchler (who’s now focusing on a bid for Colorado Attorney General) left voters without a heartfelt conservative to support, and he’s eager to fill that role.