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Colorado News Miner 151
Violent student protest, Marx and Satan, homeschool enrichment, DNA processing, and more.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
Students Assault Pro-Ice Protester: Erica Breunlin: "A crowd of students bolted after him, throwing water bottles at him. One student struck him in the back of the head with a metal water bottle." Committing violent crimes is wrong as well as a bad way to win hearts and minds. For video and additional commentary see Wayne Laugesen and Corey Gaines.
Could It Be . . . Satan? Hunter Walker: "Colorado GOP Gov. Nominee Tells Wild Exorcism Story About Fighting 'Satan In Person.'"
Campaign Violations: 9News: "State seeks $50k fine against Victor Marx for 'unprecedented' campaign finance violations." In related news, Marx called top 9News reporter Kyle Clark a "psycho trans person," because Marx is an idiot and an asshole.
Enrichment Debacle: In a last-minute floor amendment with no public input, the legislature made big changes to homeschool enrichment programs. Then the Department of Education helped push ERBOCES, one of the multi-district entities, out of existence. I agree that ERBOCES was straining the limits of the law and of good sense. However, the hasty, poorly-planned changes were needlessly disruptive to many homeschooling families. How many families? Here is Ann Schimke: "The dissolution affects 44 state-funded homeschool enrichment programs. . . . If all 44 programs retained an authorizer and received approval, they could have served more than 6,000 Colorado homeschoolers this year at a cost of more than $35 million in state dollars." (State dollars to which, by the way, homeschool families also contribute.) See also the discussion by Ross Izard and Erin Brantley. Erboces Watch posts documents listing expenditures that it regards as dubious. But, I respond, a) yes, indeed, public schools frequently organize trips to museums and such, b) homeschool families pay taxes too, and c) spending could have been reined in without blowing up the entire network. Ann Schimke has a follow-up about the demise of Colorado Homeschool Enrichment.
Big Sandy Education Successes: Erica Breunlin: Schools here are doing relatively well (with the term "relatively" doing a lot of work). Possible factors include teachers striving to connect personally with kids and breaking "students into small groups, sometimes dividing them up by skill level."
Anti-Business: Ryan Warner: "Colorado is getting in its own way, and Democratic Socialists will only exacerbate the problem, according to the head of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. J.J. Ament believes one-party rule in Colorado means business owners are bombarded with regulation."
Child Care: CPR: "Colorado families searching for childcare face exploding waitlists and years-long freezes." It's so weird how spurring supply while artificially restricting demand leads to shortages.
Griswold Trips Again: CPR: "Griswold's GOP opponent among the victims of secretary of state data breach."
Missy Woods DNA Case: Allison Sherry: Woods "was sentenced to 10 years in state prison after altering more than 1,000 samples in labs that prosecutors say could have disproportionately affected sexual assault victims over many years." What was the motive here? Sherry reports that Woods's attorney "told the judge that the vast majority of her data altering was done to move the cases along faster at the behest of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation."
Medicaid: CSI has the stats.
JeffCo Schools on Trans Issues: The New York Times reviews how the district has sued the Trump administration over its threats to revoke funding over transgender-related policies.
Wommack Is a Liar: The religious figure Andrew Wommack claims he has raised people from the dead.
Worker Shortage: Sarah Mulholland: "Fed economists say lack of workers is holding Colorado, nearby states back." If only there were some way to instantly increase the labor pool.
Westminster Tax Relief: Denver7: "Westminster exempts diapers, formula, and feminine products from city sales tax."
Anti-Socialist Resolution: CPR: "Rep. Jeff Crank's resolution condemning socialism passes House."
Medicaid Trans Suit: John Daley: "Colorado's attorney general [among others] sued the Trump administration over health care for transgender youth. . . . The [Trump] decision bars states from using federal Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care for low-income minors and some young adults." It's so weird how politically-run medicine becomes so politicized.
NCAR: Michael Booth: "New evidence shows Boulder climate lab was dismantled in act of political reprisal, lawsuit alleges."
Anschutz Donation to CSI: Salzman and Maulbetsch: "Phil Anschutz & Son Give $735,000 to the Common Sense Institute." Those authors are worried the Gazette, which Anschutz owns, did't disclose that.
Dem Suit: Marianne Goodland: "A former legislative aide has filed a lawsuit alleging she was mistreated, illegally directed to perform campaign work and harmed by a House leadership structure she charged was fragmented, politicized and ineffective at protecting employees."
Trans Panic: Jamie O'Rourke: Unsurprisingly, the Western Conservative Summit featured some dubious claims about trans people in sports.
Get the Flock Out: Marc Sallinger: " At least 10 Colorado cities, counties and police departments have dropped Flock Safety's license plate reader surveillance cameras in recent months." I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, obviously the technology can be and has been abused. On the other hand, it can be used to solve crimes and bring criminals to justice.
A Lot of Shit: Sun: "A failed pipe spewed 4.25 million gallons of sewage into the [Arkansas] river."
Quantum: Olivia Doak: "National Science Foundation grants $37.5 quantum award to CU Boulder."
Dog Stars: Westword: The author of the book on which the new film is based is Peter Heller of Denver.