Free Republic

Controversial appointee accuses ranchers of ‘scam’ in recent wolf kills.. For a day and a half, county officials, policy experts and politicians discussed the challenges unique to rural Colorado, but the most satisfying moment for most attendees came at the very end. The annual Voices of Rural Colorado Conference returned after a one-year COVID-19 hiatus, hosted by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. The conference is a joint effort by Action 22, Pro 15 and Club 20, organizations that represent the interests of 59 of Colorado’s 64 counties. The 2022 conference covered such things as affordable housing, higher education, energy...

It was only three months ago that we lowly voters passed Prop 117 to stop the state legislature from raising taxes without our consent by calling them new “fees.” Thanks to our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, we get to vote on tax increases. Well, at least we did until our TABOR-loathing state Supreme Court ruled that taxes labeled a “fee” need no consent. We just want consensual taxation. Now, the legislature is already entertaining a colossal tax increase, again, without our consent, this time for transportation. The dodge they plan to get around 117 is to immensely increase an existing...

A study prepared by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for state lawmakers suggests more fees to defray infrastructure costs and reduce emissions from emerging transportation methods ... Those fees, if implemented, could result in $14 million to $80 million more in annual revenue... Critics of the study’s fee recommendations argue they could harm consumers. ... Emerging transportation includes car rentals, ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft, and food delivery apps like Uber Eats, and e-commerce deliveries, such as Amazon Flex, which delivers packages to consumers’ doorsteps. ... CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew wrote in a letter to lawmakers accompanying...

Fight! Soldier To Dr. Phil: Quit The "Psychobabble" & Deal With The Islamic Factor at Ft. Hood

(CNN) -- In March 2003, when her battalion was ambushed in Iraq, Spc. Shoshana Johnson became America's first black female prisoner of war. Today, Johnson is out of the military, but she shares her story in lectures across the country. Americans were first introduced to Johnson -- a U.S. Army cook with the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas -- early in the war when videotape of her interrogation with her Iraqi captors was broadcast worldwide on television. During the gruff interview, Johnson looked tense, her eyes darting quickly left, then right. Barely an hour before, she'd been...