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Colorado News Miner 143
Peters and Polis, school safety, primaries, trans care, Soule Hill, and more.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
Polis's Other Clemency Decision: Douglas County Sheriff's Office: "The recent decision by Governor Polis to grant clemency to Brandin Kreuzer, a violent convicted felon, has brought a profound wave of emotion to our agency. The timing of this announcement, on National Peace Officer Memorial Day, has felt like a direct disregard for the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers every day." Kreuzer shot and seriously injured a police officer. Polis cited Kreuzer's work with the Redemption Road CrossFit Program.
Reflections on Peters: Jacob Sullum finds Polis's "reasons for approving Peters' early release . . . compelling." Surprisingly, the Denver Post, citing free speech, agrees, as does Jeremy Schulman of Mother Jones. Logan Davis, who provided evidence for the investigation of Peters, says, "I don’t know that Peters deserved nine years—our fetish for over-incarceration has warped our view of these things, I think—but she deserved more than 20 months." Democrats were not happy with Polis's decision. As for Peters, she claimed that the Democratic censure of Polis shows "that they have something to hide." Dan Rubinstein, who prosecuted Peters, thinks Polis overplayed the free-speech issue (although I think Rubinstein, while he has a point, is downplaying it). If Peters gets a federal pay-out, as J. D. Vance has suggested, that would be absolutely shameful.
JeffCo School Safety: CPR quoting Gaggle, which reviewed JeffCo schools' safety: "In our review, we found multiple references to suicidal ideation, which included indications of future plans, past attempts, and other ongoing self-harm. We also identified instances of abuse at home and potential acts of violence towards others."
Who Pays Taxes? Cory Gaines: "By comparing the number of returns filed in a given income bracket with the amount of tax revenue from that same bracket, I found quite a disparity. People earning an adjusted gross income of between $20,000 and $100,000 a year account for about 50% of tax returns, but only about 20% of all tax revenues. On the upper end, those earning $400,000 per year and up account for about 3% of all tax returns, but contribute a startling 34% of tax revenue."
Thiry on Primaries: Kent Thiry is right that the party caucus system is absurd, especially in a state where most voters are unaffiliated. But he's not nearly radical enough in his proposed solution, which is more-open primaries without caucuses. What we instead need is the separation of party and state, ballot-access rules the same for all comers, and zero direct party influence on the ballot. If parties want to declare their candidates and restrict party members from running, great (although enforceable only through party action, not government). Beyond that, get parties out!
Trans Care for Children: John Ingold: "Colorado Supreme Court sides with transgender youth in fight against Children’s Hospital Colorado: The ruling comes after families of transgender youth sued the hospital alleging that Children's violated state antidiscrimination law by suspending gender-affirming care." I don't think the federal government should be involved in this (and federal action is why the hospital stopped trans care), but I also don't think the state should require the hospital to provide trans care on antidiscrimination grounds.
Data Centers: Denver 7: Following Denver, "Jefferson County imposes temporary moratorium on development of new data centers." So stupid. "Data centers are good." That doesn't mean they should be built anywhere without regard for surrounding property owners and environmental impacts.
Child Care: CPR: "The average cost of childcare for one infant in Colorado is $21,000 a year. Nearly 14,000 children across the state are on waitlists for care. One in five parents reported being fired due to child care disruptions. The system in place is not working for many parents and providers." One push is for government-run child-care centers. That's a huge mistake. What we instead need is regulatory relief for child-care providers and tax relief for parents especially on the lower income scales. What is a bad idea is giving poor people subsidies specifically for childcare, as that increases quantity demanded without doing anything on the supply side. Far better would be to just give that money directly to the poor people.
Silas Soule: There's still no statue, but I appreciated this, from Will Costello: "The No Pingree Task Force, a small group devoted to renaming landmarks that honored George Pingree, a participant in the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, announced Sunday that it had succeeded in its work, and that the Board on Geographic Names in March approved a request to change the names of Pingree Park and Pingree Hill near Fort Collins. The two landmarks will be renamed Soule Park and Soule Hill, respectively, after Capt. Silas Soule."
Brown on Marx: Michael Brown has questions.
Schimke on Homeschool Enrichment: Ann Schimke has written a first, second, third, and fourth article for Chalkbeat on homeschool enrichment. Her articles are long on Democratic talking points and short on interviews with homeschooling families.
Weld GOP Chair: Erik Maulbetsch: "GOP Officials Say There Were Previous 'Concerns,' Including Sexual Harassment, About County Chair Arrested for Solicitation of a Child."
Midwives: KSUT: Some are "suing state regulators."
Pro-Life Poem: Fox: "A 13-year-old middle school student in Colorado (Drake Middle, JeffCo) was allegedly banned from reading a pro-life slam poem for an assignment because it was 'too political.'" I'd like to see if additional reporting confirms this.