Douglas County

1/26/2015 By Ben Leave a Comment

Supreme Court Ruling Could Make Colorado a School Choice Destination

Anticipation is building among school choice supporters for a Colorado court ruling that could create wide and deep ripples in the fabric of American K-12 education. On Dec. 10, 2014, the Colorado Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Taxpayers v. Douglas County Board of Education. The case’s third and decisive round of legal hearings will test whether an unprecedented local school choice program not only will survive, but also could multiply. The ruling could embolden other local Colorado boards of education to offer parents educational options outside the public system, and inspire policymakers hoping to expand choice in other states. …Read the rest of my article at Watchdog Arena…. … [Read more...]

5/7/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

U.S. Senate Candidate Ken Buck Responds to Campaign Rumors

This morning a post appeared on Rocky Mountain Right about the first announced Republican candidate in Colorado's U.S. Senate race:Reports are trickling out that [Ken] Buck has split with Phase Line Strategies, a Republican consulting firm made up of GOP veterans who would have probably been fulfilling most of Buck's fundraising and communications needs, and that his campaign manager may have departed as well. Details are sketchy at this point, but the reports are coming from enough directions that it appears very likely to be true. Earlier this afternoon I called Ken Buck and recorded our conversation, to get a clearer picture of the story directly from the source. … [Read more...]

3/30/2009 By Ben 4 Comments

Ryan Frazier Dominates Competition in DougCo U.S. Senate Straw Poll

El Presidente has some potentially earth-shaking news (for active lovers of liberty and the handful of Colorado political insiders who are paying attention at this point, that is): Despite the weak and transparent efforts of the liberal Dead Governors to marginalize his campaign with ridicule, Aurora city councilman Ryan Frazier not only won but dominated the competition in a U.S. Senate straw poll among the conservative Douglas County GOP faithful (complete with video of Frazier's Saturday speech at the Douglas County Lincoln Day dinner). Other names in the straw poll included former Congressman Bob Beauprez, popular radio talk show host Dan Caplis, Weld County district attorney Ken Buck, and businessman Cleve Tidwell. This result … [Read more...]

2/9/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

The Case at Cherokee Trail, and Cracking Down on “Zero-Tolerance”

Over at Ed News Colorado, I authored a post today titled "The Absurdity of Zero-Tolerance Zealots" - about the incident at Cherokee Trail High School. (Just in case you wanted to see my thoughts on the matter.) Mr. Bob wonders if the crackdown is coming on the Color Guard next. Meanwhile, the state senate minority office reports proposed legislation may be coming to address the overreach of "zero-tolerance" policies on students in military-oriented youth groups: … [Read more...]

1/31/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

He Wasn’t Their First Choice, But Wadhams and Hillman Both Pleased with Michael Steele as RNC Chair

Not exactly breaking news: former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. Polipundit has a blow-by-blow account of the six rounds (and five hours) of yesterday's balloting to achieve a majority of support from the 168 delegates. Five candidates started the day. At the end it came down to Steele and South Carolina's Katon Dawson. Steele prevailed by a count of 91-77. I followed up with two of Colorado's three voting RNC members afterward to get their thoughts, and received very similar reactions to the results. "Michael Steele will be a great spokesperson for our party," said state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. "Michael Steele is one of the Republican Party's most articulate … [Read more...]

10/30/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Front Range County Sheriffs Refute Campaign Lies against Amendment 49

Readers of this blog are now well familiar with the orchestrated deception by a group called Protect Colorado's Future (PCF) against Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative. In addition to numerous Colorado newspaper editorial boards, respected public figures like former U.S. Senator Hank Brown and former state treasurer Mark Hillman have refuted the lies. Many of PCF's false claims center around purported negative effects on the ability of law enforcement and public safety workers to do their jobs. Who better to refute the lies than respected law enforcement officials whose jurisdictions already have an Ethical Standards policy in place? In today's Denver Post, three Colorado county sheriffs took their turn at batting down the … [Read more...]

9/18/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mountain News Supports Amendment 49 for Basic “Fairness”

The editors of the Rocky Mountain News slam the deception of Protect Colorado's Future (previously covered here and here), and give a major thumbs up to Amendment 49 on Colorado's ballot:As you may have guessed, we support Amendment 49 - just as we previously supported various versions of this policy at the local level. It would block state and local government agencies from deducting dues or fees from employee paychecks for unions or other membership groups.... The free deduction and collection of dues is a special benefit denied to most other worthy civic organizations. Should Amendment 49 pass, unions and other organizations benefiting from free collections would simply share the same fundraising challenges that other groups … [Read more...]