Politics & Government

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Originally founded in the early 1880s by Italian vegetable farmers on open land just north of the Highland neighborhood, Sunnyside is still a growing by leaps and bounds. The mix of historic homes on tree-lined streets accented with pockets of light industry is attractive to residents with a unique form…

Mark Udall, the Colorado senior senator who has recommended a mixed-party seating arrangement to symbolize unity during President Obama’s January 25 State of the Union speech, has an extended game plan for continued political cooperation…..

On a comfortably brisk morning in City Park, thousands of people gathered to march in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We asked a few marchers of how to keep King’s spirit and message alive in 2011, 43 years after his death…

Plagued by massive turnover in recent years, the Adams County Coroner’s Office is starting the new year with a clean slate — really clean. Newly elected coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan, a former employee who’s suing the county over wrongful termination, has begun her term by firing just about everybody left in…

Get up to date now with this super Kimber .45 caliber concealed carry “Civilitator” handgun with a seven-round School Board special magazine. It’s exactly the same model of handgun that Pirate Radio DJ and Greeley School Board member Brett Reese owns and is prohibited from carrying by the Weld County…

On Wednesday, President Obama called for a new era of civility in light of the tragic Jared Loughner-Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tucson, while Colorado Senator Mark Udall suggested that the members of Congress sit together for the State of the Union address rather than separate by political party…

The most-asked question that new Denver mayor Bill Vidal has heard since it became clear he was going to be the 44th leader of the city has been this: What is he going to do about the cop problem? Allegations of police brutality among the ranks of the Denver Police…

John Hickenlooper officially became Colorado’s governor at today’s inauguration. As the drawing above illustrates, I crowned King John nearly a decade ago in a comic prediction. Look below to see the full comic, as well as the ten-year evolution of Hick as a political cartoon character…..

The inauguration ceremony was cold, but Governor John Hickenlooper is off to a blazing start. Hickenlooper issued three executive orders in the first few minutes of officially holding office, taking aim at economic development and improving the efficiency of state government…

John Hickenlooper’s inauguration as governor, slated to start shortly, stirs thoughts of those Hick defeated — not just Tom Tancredo, but also Republican nominee Dan Maes, whose campaign imploded so spectacularly. Since then, Maes has released occasional musings on issues, including one in which he (sorta) accuses Tancredo supporters of…

Hot on the heels of Jared Loughner’s homicidal attack on Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords comes word of a threat against the staff of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet. John Troy Davis has reportedly been arrested in the incident. Below, see the official statement from Bennet’s office and the complete Davis arrest…

“School of Thought: 11 Education Activists for 2011,” just published by Time magazine, contains some predictable names (Michelle Rhee) and some surprising ones (Jeb Bush?). But the highest ranking elected official cited is Senator Michael Bennet, who’s been getting a gusher of positive press thanks to his status as one…

The open matchbook that is pictured above is my contribution to twelve-year-old Augusta Dexheimer’s Wedding Pillow Project. Gus and I go way back: Her parents are former Westword staff writers Eric Dexheimer and Robin Chotzinoff. So when Gus called and told me that she was celebrating her bat mitzvah year…

Colorado is the latest state to join Secure Communities, a federal program that checks fingerprints of people booked into local jails against a national database of illegal immigrants…

All he had to do was not say something stupid and it’s possible that we would now be getting ready to inaugurate Scott McInnis Colorado’s next governor. After all, the Republican surge — led by the anti-Obama Tea Party segment — turned the elections into a near-bloodbath for Democratic candidates…

Is Denver’s new Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse all wet? The five-story, 310,000-square-foot building, the third and final structure in the Downtown Denver Justice Center campus that was authorized by Denverites in a 2005 ballot measure, was finished on time and on budget last July — but seems to have sprung a leak…

Note: This story has been updated with comments from Steve Saunders. Former 7News correspondent Steve Saunders announced on Facebook on Saturday that he plans to run for the Denver City Council seat being vacated by Marcia Johnson. Saunders, whose father is longtime entertainment writer and broadcasting critic Dusty Saunders, was…

The gin-soaked novelist who declared that there are no second acts in American lives never caught the many acts of Tom Tancredo — former U.S. Representative, presidential hopeful, gubernatorial spoiler…and now late-night talk show host. Starting Monday at 10 p.m., the Tom Tancredo Show will offer a nightly serving of…

An administrative law judge has slapped an $11,300 fine on a charity set up by anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce–the latest chapter in the murky maneuvering behind three tax-slashing amendments that opponents spent millions to defeat this fall. Bruce, of course, didn’t bother to attend the hearing on the matter two…

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar clearly wanted to make a splash when he unveiled his new “wild lands” policy last week–two days before Christmas (slow news week), at a press conference outside the REI flagship store, just a few steps from his old Denver office when he was a…

Governor Bill Ritter today issued full pardons to twenty people around Colorado, including the Reverend Leon Kelly, who has been a well-known public figure and anti-gang crusader since 1986 when he founded the Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives. Kelly, whose late father was also a minister, was a drug dealer…