Historically, state fairs are exhibits of a region’s agricultural prowess. The best and biggest livestock and produce, deep-fried wonder foods, and the carnival atmosphere provide a festive bookend to the growing season. The Colorado State Fair is no different, and part of its annual spectacle was Friday’s Legislative BBQ, drawing a bipartisan cast of elected officials to Pueblo for networking and fellowship.
The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) has deemed a complaint filed against Monument Mayor Mitch LaKind nonfrivolous, and, according to the IEC’s Rules of Procedure, will begin an investigation. The complaint was filed by former GOP Majority Leader Amy Stephens and former Monument Town Trustees Kelly Elliot and Darcy Schoening, who is currently co-chair of the El Paso County chapter of Moms for Liberty.
Colorado’s universal pre-k program is the subject of two lawsuits by Christian schools. Both argue that the state’s nondiscrimination requirements, particularly in regards to LGBTQ individuals, to receive universal pre-k funds are a form of religious discrimination. In June, Darren Patterson Christian Academy (DPCA), a private Christian school in Buena Vista, filed a lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program. Last week, the Archdiocese of Denver and St. Mary and St. Bernadette Catholic Parishes filed a similar lawsuit.
Governor Jared Polis (D) appeared on CNN’s State of the Union alongside Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) on July 23 to discuss the political divide in the country. Cox, who omitted any mention of LGBTQ people in his 2023 Pride month declaration and in March signed a bill into law banning abortion clinics in Utah, ostensibly stood in contrast to Polis, who is the chief executive of a state with robust LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections and legal protections for abortions. The interview was focused on how to foster bipartisanship and find common ground between America’s disparate political identities.
Telemedicine provider Hey Jane has announced their launch of patient-centered reproductive and sexual health care services in Colorado. Hey Jane offers medication abortion, vaginal infection treatment for UTIs, yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis and herpes — both oral (HSV1) and genital (HSV2) — birth control, and emergency contraception.
During this Saturday’s Log Cabin Republicans “Summer BBQ” event, former gubernatorial candidate turned podcaster Heidi Ganahl was asked how Republicans can get more young people into the party.
The ACLU of Colorado has filed a lawsuit against the City of Colorado Springs over the arrest and search of activist Jacqueline Armendariz Unzueta during a July 31, 2021 protest. The Chinook Center, a nonprofit organization in Southeast Colorado Springs, is also a plaintiff. The lawsuit alleges the City of Colorado Springs and its officers obtained unjustified search warrants for the private Facebook messages of the Chinook Center and all of Ms. Armendariz Unzueta’s personal devices, including her cell phone, laptop, and external hard drives. According to the ACLU, the warrants failed to comply with foundational constitutional requirements intended to safeguard privacy.
This Friday, the Colorado Medical Board, Board of Nursing, and Board of Pharmacy is meeting again to get stakeholder feedback on their draft rule in response to SB23-190, the legislation which addresses deceptive trade practices of anti-abortion centers, particularly their use of “abortion pill reversal.”
MAGA pastors Mario Murillo, who gained media attention for calling Big Bird “demonic,” and Lance Wallnau, one of the most vocal proponents of the “Seven Mountain Mandate,” which posits that the Christian church should control the seven spheres of influence in society, came to Colorado Springs this month to host the “Fire and Glory” tent revival. Murillo’s “Living Proof” tour came through Colorado Springs last year, but this year it included Wallnau and Christian authors Bill Federer and Floyd Brown, who claimed that meeting Ronald Reagan in a Masonic Temple in 1976 got him into politics and went on to introduce the infamously racist “Willie Horton” campaign ad in 1988. There was also a surprise guest — Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade.
In May, the Colorado Sun reported on the Colorado Republican Party’s financial woes — they failed to pay any employees in April and only had about $1,500 in cash at the end of March. During an appearance on the Chuck and Julie Show on Monday, Ashe Epp, a former host of Joe Oltmann’s Conservative Daily podcast and a current columnist with the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle, claimed that the GOP’s financial problems stemmed from bonuses taken by former members of party leadership.
