Author: The Gazette Editorial Board
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EDITORIAL: Don’t backtrack on Aurora’s progress
A Denver Gazette report last weekend reminded readers of the anticipated tilt to the left by the Aurora City Council following a changing of the guard in last November’s election. Council members Danielle Jurinsky, Steve Sundberg and Amsalu Kassaw were replaced by Rob Andrews, Amy Wiles and Alli Jackson. Electing Gianina Horton and reelecting Ruben…
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EDITORIAL: Colorado is synonymous with sanctuary
It doesn’t take a Colorado native to recall when the Centennial State was better known for things besides harboring illegal immigrants. Just a few years ago, it seems, our mountain splendor and outdoor rec still were among the first images that came to mind for out-of-staters. Of late, however, even skiing has been nudged out…
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EDITORIAL: Another Colorado city rejects the density dogma
A new wave of urban visionaries wants all Coloradans to live closer together — and is willing to trample long-standing local laws to get us there. They’ve been making inroads. But last week, the citizens of Colorado’s fifth-largest city said, “No thanks.” Lakewood voters overwhelmingly turned back a controversial policy adopted by their city council…
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EDITORIAL: Southern Colorado speaks up for the state’s economy
For years, taxpaying citizens and particularly the business community outside the Denver metro area have felt disregarded at the State Capitol. The interests of the Denver metro area long have enjoyed outsized priority even as lawmakers from across the state have done their best to represent the interests of their wide-ranging regions. More recently, that…
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EDITORIAL: Business HQs decamp from Colorado
Grim news last week: For the first time since the pandemic, Colorado’s job market lost 11,700 jobs — contracting at an annual rate of -0.4%. The Centennial State is among 27 states with year-over-year job losses, but a new report from the Colorado Chamber Foundation indicates Colorado-specific trends are at play. And they’re making things…
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EDITORIAL: How to win Colorado’s war on auto theft
The latest year-over-year numbers show Colorado has done an admirable job beating back auto theft — a crime for which our state was ranked worst in the nation as recently as 2022 and 2023. Annual data released last week by the Colorado State Patrol business unit’s Auto Theft Intelligence Coordination Center detailed how Colorado is…
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EDITORIAL: Innovation paves way for Colorado data centers
As lawmakers consider legislation regulating data centers, it seems advancing technology is changing the terms of the debate — and perhaps rendering some key concerns moot. If contrarian politicos have their way, Colorado risks leaving itself behind in building out AI and quantum computing — which heavily depends on scaling data centers to meet demand.…
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EDITORIAL: ‘CoCo’ can’t repair Colorado’s crumbling roads
Woo-hoo! The ballyhooed Front Range passenger rail service now has a name — “Colorado Connector,” or “CoCo” for short — and its small circle of enthusiasts is superexcited. If only they could muster even a fraction as much interest in fixing and expanding our state’s crumbling roads and highways — which consistently rank among the…
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EDITORIAL: Let locals decide whether to split their lots
It’s a safe bet “lot splitting” — letting homeowners subdivide to build an additional dwelling with its own address and utilities — wouldn’t be acceptable to most neighbors in most neighborhoods in our state. It also would flout long-standing local zoning rules in most of the state’s residential areas. And its purported premise — making…
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EDITORIAL: Taking the fall for Colorado’s Medicaid mess
When news broke last week that Kim Bimestefer, executive director of Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, was stepping down, it became clear who was going to bear the official blame for a widespread failure of management and policy on Medicaid. But there’s blame to go around. The nonpartisan Common Sense Institute found…