Free Republic

The unrelenting rise in healthcare costs has left state lawmakers facing a $1.6 billion deficit in the 2027-28 budget year ... The best-case scenario forecast that Colorado budget writers received in June turned out to be too good to be true. Three months later, the budget picture has crumbled again, economists told the Joint Budget Committee at the state’s quarterly revenue forecasts Friday. Analysts now expect the state to face a $1.6 billion deficit next fiscal year, setting the stage for another round of grueling spending cuts for the state legislature and Colorado’s next governor. The driving force behind the...

State officials said the incidents caused no harm to water quality or public safety.. Foreign actors gained access to computer systems at two small private water utilities in Colorado in late August, changing equipment controls before operators restored normal operations, according to the governor’s office. Ally Sullivan, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis, said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment followed up with the providers to confirm the issues had been resolved. The governor’s office said it was unable to confirm which foreign actors and did not identify the utilities. “The two water utilities impacted are small, private...

Rep. Lauren Boebert gave a simple response to a viral claim that she had affairs with three staff members — including two women: she’s straight. Boebert (R-Col.), who famously pondered in April, “why is everybody so horny” in Congress after a slew of sex scandals, faces a sworn ethics complaint from a political action committee that has targeted her for years and is led by a political activist who has peddled dubious claims about her in the past.

United cancels 9/11 Denver flyover with plane, fighter jets citing public concerns by: Parker Gordon Posted: Sep 9, 2026 DENVER (KDVR) — A United Airlines 9/11 commemoration flyover has been canceled due to “concerns in the community.” The commemorative flyover, which was set to feature a United Boeing 777 followed by four fighter jets, was initially scheduled for the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday at Denver International Airport. Friday’s flyover was strategically planned for 9:03 a.m., the exact moment terrorists crashed United Flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. However, the company said in a...

Aurora police are investigating after a large group of people rushed into a grocery store and restaurant, then stole items and vandalized property. This happened after hundreds of teens gathered to see social media influencers in a parking lot, according to a worker at a nearby business and social media posts. Police said there were as many as 500 people, from 14 years old to 17 years old, in the parking lot and declared it an unlawful assembly. The Aurora Police Department told FOX31 that officers were called to the area of East 6th Avenue and Peoria Street around 1:30...

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said that confidential voter registration information was inadvertently made public during an update to a tool on the Secretary’s website. More than 130,000 confidential voter registrations became accessible to the public. Secretary of State Jena Griswold said the issue occurred when the office updated its “Find My Voter Registration Tool” link on its website on August 14. That update made confidential voter profiles inadvertently available to the public. The mistake was discovered on Tuesday. In a press release, the Secretary of State’s Office said confidential voter details displayed included full name, birth year, party...

The Democratic nominee for Colorado's Third Congressional District, Dwayne Romero, has made housing affordability a tent-pole issue for his campaign, accusing "Wall Street behemoths" of "buying up homes and driving up rents." Yet, for years, his real estate firm has made big money selling multimillion-dollar luxury homes in Aspen, where residential property is so expensive that even the city's doctors and lawyers can't afford to live. Romero also holds stakes in BlackRock, Blackstone, and Airbnb, his personal financial disclosure shows. Romero told a Grand Junction news outlet that his top priority is "affordability" and that "prices and housing costs" is...

Victor Marx, the Republican nominee for governor, took the spotlight Wednesday during the opening day of the Colorado Water Congress, laying out how he says the state should approach its water future. Marx told the standing-room-only audience in Steamboat Springs that he holds water rights himself, giving him a personal stake in Colorado’s water challenges. His proposed fix? More storage. “We can’t make it snow, we can’t make it rain, but we can decide whether we’re prepared for when the water comes,” he said. “So, I believe we should store water in good years. Wet years. Lord, please send it.”...

Restaurants and other businesses have lost their challenge to Denver ordinances that forbid them from using natural-gas appliances, as a judge has found they are not preempted by federal law. The Restaurant Law Center and the National Association of Home Builders were among the trade associations that sued Denver in July 2024, arguing rules passed in Denver this decade were preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Judge Philip Brimmer disagreed in an Aug. 7 ruling granting the city’s motion to dismiss. Preemption only applies to energy use requirements on manufacturers before the appliances reach consumers, Brimmer wrote....

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Idaho — What started with a lightning strike ended with the Tartar Fire burning more than 158,000 acres across Washington County. But some ranchers say the wildfire wasn't the only source of their losses. Kirk Chandler, who has lived on his family's ranch his entire life, says ranchers spent days working to protect their property as the Tartar Fire moved through the area. "If you're the third one to call or the second one to call for help, they're not available, and so you just have to take care of yourself," Chandler said. That meant protecting cattle, sheep...

Uber and Lyft drivers across California gathered in Los Angeles on Tuesday, where they claimed what they call one of the "largest new organizing victories in modern labor history." Members of the California Gig Workers Union said they expect to be certified as the collective bargaining representative for California Uber and Lyft drivers after a 30-day waiting period. They say they were informed that they'd reached the threshold required to represent California drivers by the Public Employment Relations Board on Friday. ... In statements, Uber and Lyft vowed to work closely with the newly formed union. "This certification is the...

A Denver District Court judge has given Secretary of State Jena Griswold until Thursday to comply with an open records request, or she could be held in contempt. The records involve consulting work, paid for with public funds. Griswold's office says it doesn't have the documents and it refuses to ask the consultant for them, claiming that would impose an undue "burden." Instead, the Secretary of State's office sent four employees and the Attorney General's Office sent three attorneys to court. The consultant was brought in two years after Griswold became Secretary of State. The office had become a revolving...

Ward Churchill, the former University of Colorado professor whose writings and outspoken political views ignited a national debate over academic freedom and free speech, has died. His former lawyer says Churchill died of a stroke. ... Churchill was a longtime professor of ethnic studies at CU Boulder. He became a nationally controversial figure in higher education after an essay he wrote that referred to some of the victims of the 9/11 attacks as "little Eichmanns," a characterization that prompted widespread condemnation and made Churchill a national figure. The controversy soon expanded beyond his writings about the 9/11 attacks. In 2005,...

The allegations are linked to a video Tyler Boebert, then 18, is accused of recording in 2024 with a 17-year-old.The son of Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., was arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, authorities said Monday. Tyler Boebert, 21, was taken into custody Sunday and later released on $10,000 bond, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Tyler Boebert did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “I love my son,” Lauren Boebert said in a statement Monday. “We take allegations very seriously and pray for everyone affected during this challenging time.” It...

Democratic socialist candidate Melat Kiros shocked Colorado’s Democratic establishment when she defeated 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in the state's June primary. The double-digit win exposed a growing rift over the party's values that has left some Democrats stunned and questioning the future of the party. "If you had told me this woman would have won by 13 points, I would have bet my house against that," Doug Friednash, a veteran political strategist in Colorado, told Fox News Digital. "I never would have thought we would have seen a victory of that magnitude here in Denver." Friednash has tracked Colorado's...

AURORA | An Aurora police officer faces a murder charge for the fatal shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop last year. On Monday, an Arapahoe County grand jury indicted Aurora Police officer Matthew Neely, 54, on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter related to the 2025 fatal shooting of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield. Neely is on unpaid administrative leave, according to the Aurora Police Department. Neely is not being held in jail, having posted a $200,000 bond. His next court date is Aug. 17. Neely was previously called out by an Arapahoe County judge for mishandling a burglary case...

A house for sale in the small town of Nunn, Colorado has people online scratching their heads, and honestly, we get it. The listing tells potential buyers they cannot see inside the home, cannot inspect it, and cannot expect the current resident to be gone when they move in. If that sounds like something out of a horror movie trailer, you are not alone in thinking so. The home belongs to Tori McMachin, who has lived there for years and says it was the last thing her late husband bought for her before he died in a car crash. She...

If Democrats want to save their party and themselves from the radical socialist takeover, they'd better start taking the threat seriously. As Speaker Mike Johnson said the other day, the barbarians are inside the gates. And it will be ugly for all of us, but the first to go down will be the Democrats and the party the socialists used to gain power. How do we know this? We've read a history book. The socialists and their communist brethren always, invariably, imprison or murder the people who helped elevate them to power, because they know those people pose a threat...

New Gallup data show that people are growing increasingly distrustful of major technology companies such as Meta, Apple, and Google, as well as a newer player in the surveillance industry, Flock Safety. Some people are even taking matters into their own hands by destroying the AI-powered surveillance cameras appearing in communities across the country. Flock Safety, a private surveillance technology company founded in 2017, has been earning a reputation as a herald of the much-feared Orwellian “surveillance state.” Although a private company, Flock’s business model operates by selling AI-powered camera and audio detection systems to local and state governments for...

Socalist Colorado congressional candidate Melat Kiros blamed Israel’s activity in the Middle East for inspiring attacks on Jewish people in other countries during an interview on Wednesday. Kiros is part of a wave of anti-Israel, far-left candidates gaining popularity in the Democratic Party. She won her primary in her Denver-area district this week, ousting longtime incumbent Diana Degette on the heels of far-left candidates winning their primaries in New York last month.