Tessa Cheek Posts

Congresswoman Diana DeGette stood in the workout room Monday at Denver Indian Health and Family Services to announce legislation aimed at curbing the devastating rates of diabetes in communities of color.
“According to Centers for Disease Control nearly half – nearly half – of all minority children born in 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in their lifetime,” said DeGette. “These disparities need to be addressed immediately.”

Twin Peaks Charter Academy blocked senior and valedictorian Evan Young from giving his graduation speech because he refused to remove his gay identity from the script. The decision has triggered a debate about the role that schools – particularly charter schools – can play in limiting students’ freedom of expression.

The Colowyo mine outside Meeker may be closed after a successful lawsuit from the environmental group WildEarth Guardians forced the federal government to reissue permits for the mine because the Office of Surface Mining initially failed to take into account the environmental impact of the operations and public comment on the project.

The 948 one-person cells of Colorado State Penitentiary II have been empty for nearly three years. The abandoned facility costs taxpayers $20 million per year. Now, lawmakers say they’re working on a plan to put the facility back to use.

Their proposals include a law that would allow Coloradans to carry concealed weapons in schools and one that would ratchet up permitting codes on women's health clinics in an effort to close facilities and limit access to abortion services.

Taking Republican control of the State Senate for the first time in a decade, newly elected Senate President Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, lit candles in memory of three people, setting the tone for a session he hopes will benefit from stronger relationships among members.

Colorado's Cory Gardner is already a spooky fellow, which makes him an ideal candidate for a Halloween-themed interactive website launched by Senator Mark Udall's campaign.

Just over a year ago, state Senate President John Morse was recalled from his Colorado Springs seat for playing a leading role in passing gun-control measures in the state legislature that now require universal background checks for all public and private gun sales as well as banning magazines holding more than 15 rounds. This year, he’s helping gun-control advocacy group Colorado Moms Demand Action establish an independent expenditure committee to support candidates running for the state legislature.

Lefty political nonprofit ProgressNow Colorado has taken the campaign-finance war into its own wheelhouse, producing a spoof trailer for “Rocky Mountain Heist,” which urges Coloradans to not “be fooled” and to make their voice heard at the ballot box.

Hundreds gathered here Wednesday night to celebrate and harness the political power rising from the legalization of same-sex marriage in Colorado. People of all ages crammed before the columns of the 10th Circuit federal courthouse, where judges effectively struck the ban Tuesday.

One of the main goals of the Affordable Care Act is to stabilize the individual insurance market, where high and volatile rates for decades have put basic coverage out of the reach of even middle-class Americans who don’t receive insurance through employers.

The conservative organization credited — or blamed — for bringing a flood of money into politics argued in federal court Tuesday that it should be allowed to produce and advertise an anti-John Hickenlooper film without disclosing who paid for it. Attorneys for Citizens United argued that its political film, “Rocky Mountain Heist,” is a news product and that the organization itself should be considered a media outlet with the same protections as members of the press.

Denver is playing host Tuesday and Wednesday of this week as the EPA opens its LEED-certified doors, inviting testimony from all over the region and nation on the agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, which would cut overall carbon pollution from existing power plants to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The proposal is billed as part of the President’s Climate Action Plan and carried out through the EPA’s rulemaking authority under the Clean Air Act.

The Denver County Clerk can keep issuing same-sex marriage licenses, a judge ruled Tuesday, despite a request from Attorney General John Suthers for an emergency injunction.

Governor John Hickenlooper is drawing backlash for vetoing a bill that conservationists say would have prompted farmers to update their irrigation systems and kept more water in Colorado’s Western Slope streams without asking anyone to forfeit water rights. Hickenlooper said that the final version of the bill, SB 23, lacked sufficient support from agricultural and water groups. Conservationists say Hickenlooper’s veto amounts to a “failure to lead.”

Citizens United, the group whose name became synonymous with unlimited campaign funds, may be forced to disclose their donor list under Colorado Law. Contesting it in court, Citizens United is claiming that it's ad-movies aren't electioneering per se, but (laughably) documentaries.

A legislative year-end recap of Colorado's congressional session. The year ended with surprising bipartisan accord, though much was left on the table, including a fracking bill that would've put the health of citizens first over the oil industry's rampant abuse of the state's natural resources.

After hours of debate on Wednesday night, the Colorado House gave final passage to Fort Collins Rep. Joann Ginal’s HB 1297 on a near party-line vote Thursday. The controversial bill calls for a study of the impacts of Front Range oil-and-gas development on human health in six counties most impacted by fracking.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, citing the Constitution's 'religious freedom' clause, joined 20 other state prosecutors opposing the birth-control mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Religious zealotry trumps good policy, it seems.

Environmentalists and solar power energy supporters gathered at Colorado's Public Utilities Commission to voice their support for net metering, a way for independent, home-based solar power to be siphoned onto the grid. Xcel, the state's main energy supplier, claims that net metering doesn't make it enough money.