Free Republic

Restaurant patrons might want to take a closer look at their next bill as some are adding a charge they’ve probably never seen before. Double D’s Sourdough Pizza is a family owned business, serving hot New York style slices to customers. But these days there’s something other than pizza on their menu. “I looked at the bottom and it was like ticket shock,” a customer said. “It’s interesting, I’ve never heard about it before,” another customer said. It’s not an ingredient they’re talking about, but rather a 5 percent surcharge added to customers’ bills to help cover the cost employees’...

A Broomfield [Colorado]man who was rescued from his submerged car during the September floods has filed papers indicating he might sue his rescuers and first responders. Roy Ortiz was rescued by North Metro Fire Rescue District and others who responded to the scene after his car was washed off the road on Sept. 12. He says crews took too long to respond to the accident after he became trapped in his upside-down car near the intersection of U.S. 287 and Dillon Road in Lafayette. He also claims the road should have been closed, thus the accident that left him trapped...

The recent entrance of Bob Beauprez makes for a total of seven Republicans now vying for the nomination for Governor of Colorado. “Out of that group no one has emerged as a clear favorite,” said veteran Republican strategist Katy Atkinson. Atkinson thinks had Beauprez jumped in earlier he might have cleared the field like Cory Gardner has essential done in the United States Senate race. “His entry doesn’t have the same impact as Cory Gardner’s does,” said Atkinson. Former Congressman Tom Tancrado, the most controversial candidate, is the front-runner right now. As a tea partyer he doesn’t have to worry...

GREELEY, Colo. -- If you mention the word "secession" most people think of the South during the Civil War. But today, a new movement is gaining steam because of frustration over a growing, out-of-control federal government. A number of conservative, rural Americans are taking about seceding and creating their own states, meaning a new map of the United States of America could include the following: A 51st state called Jefferson, made up of Northern California and Southern Oregon A new state called Western Maryland A new state called North Colorado These are real movements gaining traction with voters across the...

The familiar Washington narrative on the scrum for the U.S. Senate has been rinsed, recycled and delivered once again: Republicans are primed to pick up the six seats necessary to capture control of the upper chamber. The midterm atmosphere sure looks ripe, the polling appears favorable but, as it did in 2010 and 2012, the most competitive batch of races will likely come down to candidate quality. It’s the key component that stifled GOP chances before, and could very well again. .... .... A closer look at the most competitive contests demonstrates why a Senate majority in 2014 is again...

DENVER — Republican Rep. Cory Gardner formally kicked off his Senate campaign on Saturday by tying his challenge to Democratic Sen. Mark Udall to the GOP’s efforts to reverse its decade-long slide in this key political bellwether state. “In 2008, Colorado led the nation in change,” Gardner said, alluding to the election of Udall and the nomination of Barack Obama for president during the Democratic National Convention in Denver. “In 2014, we can change it again.” Gardner, 39, represents his party’s best shot at breaking a 10-year drought in topline races here. Republicans have not won a single presidential, U.S....

My ordination in you is divine there is nothing fractured about it as man's ordination for truly you have been set apart for such a time as this and I am moving you into positions of authority though others believe they are in control and as my spirit guides you to them Then I will speak through you disassembling their hierarchy of pride and vanity before their submissers and redeem what is truly mine for my wisdom is greater and they do not walk in the knowledge of my kingdom but their own. So watch as pride takes a fall...

The GOP’s probability of taking over the United States Senate increased dramatically Wednesday with the entry of Rep. Cory Gardner into the race against incumbent Obamacare enthusiast Senator Mark Udall in Colorado. 1. West Virginia: Rep. Shelley Moore Capito v. no one. Jay Rockefeller quit after Capito got into the race. She will win, going away. 2. South Dakota: Former Governor Mike Rounds in South Dakota v. no one in South Dakota This is a mortal lock for the popular Rounds. 3. Arkansas: Rep. Tom Cotton v. the hapless legacy senator Mark Pryor in Ark Pryor won his seat because...

While Drug Enforcement Administration agents in California are cracking down on the popular new drug known as “wax,” people in Colorado are rushing to embrace it. Wax, the ultimate distillation of marijuana, is so potent that it is said a single hit will keep a person high for more than a day. “There is no weed out there that possesses the punching power that the wax does,” an undercover DEA informant who asked to remain anonymous told ABC News’ “Nightline.” “And it’s like smoking 20 joints of the best grade of weed that you have into one hit of the...

News broke this afternoon of a rumor that Rep. Cory Gardner of Colorado’s 4th Congressional District would not seek reelection for his House seat and would instead enter the U.S. Senate race to challenge Mark Udall in November. We won’t bury the lede on this, this isn’t just a rumor. It’s a fact. Additionally, Ken Buck will exit the Senate race, endorse Gardner, and then run for the 4th Congressional District himself. This is good news all around for a state party that has been woefully incapable of finding a path to victory in big federal races for the last...

A legal Rocky Mountain high Marijuana, still illegal under federal law, is now at the center of a thriving industry that’s attracting a new breed of entrepreneurs, as Colorado becomes the first state to allow the sale of pot for recreational use. Colorado made history as the first state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana for recreational use. NBC News correspondent Harry Smith tells the story behind this stunning development, which has been called one of the great social experiments of the next century. Premieres Wednesday, February 26th at 10p on CNBC TV

DENVER (AP) – A southern Colorado county with two recreational marijuana stores has become the first in the state to announce tax totals from the new industry. Pueblo County finance authorities announced Monday that its two shops had about $1 million in total sales in January, producing about $56,000 in local sales taxes. ... snip ...

Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner plans to enter the Republican Senate primary to take on freshman Sen. Mark Udall, three sources told POLITICO Wednesday. Gardner had rebuffed multiple overtures from national Republicans over the past year, but recruitment efforts continued into this week as the GOP strained to find a viable challenger to Udall, who polls have shown is vulnerable. News of Gardner’s move was first reported by The Denver Post. Continue Reading Text Size -+resetAdvertisementLatest on POLITICO Hagel turns up heat about U.S. POW Perry: 'We will continue to fight' Hagel sells tighter defense budget Cynthia Brown joins Blank Rome...

I don’t think pot is covered by food stamp cards, but by the time the left gets done with Colorado, it probably will be. During the first month of Colorado’s experiment with legal marijuana, welfare beneficiaries withdrew thousands of dollars in public-assistance cash from ATMs at weed shops, according to records obtained by National Review Online.At least 64 times, public-assistance benefits were accessed at businesses selling marijuana. A total of $5,475 in public benefits was withdrawn at ATMs in establishments that sell pot.The amounts withdrawn ranged from $20 to $400, averaging $85.55, according to the transaction records. In Colorado, the...

DENVER — Colorado lawmakers gave initial approval to legislation that would make cyberbullying a crime. Cyberbullying has increasingly become a part of modern childhood where young children have access to social media sites and near constant Internet access on smart phones. The House Education Committee approved the legislation, HB 1131,on a unanimous bipartisan vote of 12-0. The bill, which now moves to the House Appropriations Committee, would make it illegal for someone to harass a minor online if the victim feels the threat puts them in serious emotional distress or fear for their life. “Bullying will never stop if we...

**SNIP** Midterm elections are often a reflection of the approval rating of the incumbent president and now President Obama stands at 42.8%. And elections in the 6th year of a PresidentÂ’s term are usually not good for the incumbentÂ’s party. To make things even worse for Democrats, the issues of a weak economy and Obamacare make November look bleak for Harry Reid and his Senate Democratic cohorts. â—¾Alaska, Mark Begich â—¾Arkansas, Mark Pryor â—¾Louisiana, Mary Landrieu â—¾Michigan, Open Seat (liberal Democrat Carl Levin retiring) â—¾Montana, John Walsh â—¾North Carolina, Kay Hagan â—¾South Dakota, being vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson...

All the buzz at the National Governors Association meeting over legalizing pot, some say, is just smoke. Nearly three months after Colorado began selling recreational marijuana, the nation’s governors are taking a cautious approach to loosening their drug laws despite growing support for legalization. Republican and Democratic state chief executives meeting in Washington this weekend expressed broad concern for children and public safety should recreational marijuana use spread. At the same time, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is warning other governors against rushing to follow his lead. …

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)DENVER — Colorado welfare recipients are using ATMs located inside marijuana retail shops to withdraw cash. The money was given to them by taxpayers to help their families survive, but an exclusive Fox31 Denver investigation found some cash benefits most likely going toward marijuana purchases. FOX31 Denver asked the Colorado Department of Human Services for its “Quest card” database of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cash transactions for the month of January, 2014. That is the first month in which Colorado marijuana dispensaries were regulated and open for recreational sales. The FOX31 Denver investigative team matched the addresses of EBT cash...

Not all Coloradans were impressed by Sen. Mark Udall’s invitation to liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s exclusive Democratic Party fund-raiser. Mr. Udall’s critics turned up the heat after it came to light that the Democrat was among those invited to hobnob Wednesday with the billionaire at his home in San Francisco for a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) fundraiser. A former hedge-fund manager, Mr. Steyer made a political splash earlier this week by announcing plans to spend $100 million on promoting candidates in the upcoming 2014 midterm elections who will promise to combat climate change. ... “It just reaffirms that the...

(Boulder, CO) The son of U.S. Sen. Mark Udall has been charged with breaking into a home and four cars after allegedly using heroin. Twenty-six-year-old Jedediah Lee Fox-Udall was advised of the charges during a brief court hearing in Boulder Thursday. He faces charges of trespassing, burglary, theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. Deputies say after they arrested Fox-Udall on Jan. 30, he told them he had recently used heroin, but prosecutors say no heroin was found and he wasn't charged with drug possession. His lawyer, Alex Garlin, says Fox-Udall is in an addiction treatment program and "is dedicated to...