Local, Regional & State News

Both sides of the aisle want to add another safeguard for elections in the state of Colorado. House Bill 26-1080 is scheduled to be heard on a second reading Friday, February 27th at 9am in the Colorado House of Representatives. The bill would add a team of bi-partisan judges to verify signatures on ballots. Right now, the statue only requires one election clerk to verify the signatures. The bill requires the secretary of state to adopt rules concerning the procedure for usin

~Anne Boswell Remember when you heard about a bill that became a law in Colorado that didn't really affect Denver but greatly affected our small towns in rural Southeast Colorado? Yeah, well, sometimes a bill sounds like a good idea in theory but the impact on small local governments and communities is overlooked and sometimes ignored. State Senator Rod Pelton and Representative Ty Winter are presenting a bill that would require impact hearings on potential effects of a bill

~Anne Boswell A Colorado Senator has sponsored a bill that would limit how police and deputies use surveillance. Senator Linda Zamora Wilson's bill, Senate Bill 26-071 establishes the "Surveillance Accountability and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act" (SAFE Act). If passed and signed into law, after July 1st of next year, 2027, it would require an agency to use technology like cameras and drones only for public safety and on-going investigations. Should law enforcement use surveil

(Bent County, CO) -- Anne Boswell has announced her candidacy for Bent County Clerk and Recorder, seeking the office as a Republican and pledging a strong focus on customer communication, customer service, transparency, and community engagement. Boswell brings more than 25 years of professional experience in media, public relations and engagement, education, and customer service. Her background includes three and a half years working as a news anchor, reporter, and talk show

~Anne Boswell (Denver, CO)  --  Colorado legislators are talking about a bill that would expand how ranchers can be paid out when losing livestock.  Right now, the money in the diseased livestock indemnity fund can only be used because the animals were exposed or found to have infectious or contagious diseases. This bill would change that to include using the money for emerging threats to livestock health. Southeast Colorado Representative Ty Winter is a co-sponsor on this bi

By Anne Boswell There is no surprise that you have likely heard that housing is hard to find in Colorado. With rising costs to include inflation, taxes, fees and low wages in the Centennial State, many people are struggling to find something they can afford. Democrat State lawmakers believe they have found a solution under a new bill introduced this year. House Bill 26-1001 would require local governments to allow residential development on qualifying properties owned by c

By Norman L. Kincaide, Ph.D. Through the auspices of Margaret Byfield of American Stewards of Liberty, Barb, Zane and Andee Leininger were able to meet with Chief of the Forest Service, Tom Schultz in Washington D.C., November 19, 2025. During this meeting the Leiningers and Byfield were able to express the concerns of Comanche National Grassland Allotment Owners regarding the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Draft Assessment for a revised management plan. These conc

By Anne Boswell You've been scrolling and have seen it before. Someone has a cute kiddo who happens to go viral doing something cute or funny on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. Now, a bill brought by both Republican and Democrat lawmakers would protect minors in these situations. House Bill 26-1058 states the following: The bill creates new requirements and civil remedies beginning June 1, 2027, related to minors who are featured in compensated co

By Norman Kincaide Lower Arkansas Water Conservancy District came to order a little past 10:30 A.M. for its first board meeting of the year, January 21, 2026. A quorum was established. The first order of business was to have a new director, Nick Rusler, as well as Lyden Gill, sworn in with the oath of office. Upon swearing in, the board of directors elected officers: LeRoy Mauch, President, Lyden Gill, Vice President, Melissa Esquibel, Secretary, and Jared Gardner, Treasurer.

An effort to improve rural healthcare was celebrated Friday as President Donald Trump detailed the plan in a news conference. According to the White House in a news release at whitehouse.gov : The Rural Health Transformation Program will provide an additional $10 billion each year from 2026 through 2030, representing a substantial increase in overall funding for rural hospitals and communities. This program would strive to meet the specialized needs of rural communities which

Colorado legislators were just back in session one day when a bill was introduced to add another surcharge to your internet bill. Senate Bill 26-008 would fund mental health in the state by creating an enterprise that would collect fees from Internet Service Providers to pay for services. The Internet Service Provider would be required to get that money from you, the customer. They would have to send this money to the state monthly. An enterprise would be created to hold the

By Anne Boswell (This is an editorial, an opinion piece, not a news story) This will be real and raw. I hope you take the time to read it. There are many ways to serve your community and you must figure out what works for you and your family. Some serve meals at Feed The Homeless and Elderly type events, others round up donated clothes to find people in the community who need them. A few might check in on elderly community members to make sure they're not lonely. There co

Today the United States Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in what is called a landmark case to change the rules for transgender athletes competing in women's sports. If you want to listen along, live, you can do it here. https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/38209262/transgender-athlete-laws-state-legislation-science As of right now, Colorado allows transgender athletes to compete in girls sports but many states have already decided to not allow it. The United States Sup

Even though the vote needed to override President Donald Trump's veto of the Arkansas Valley Conduit fell flat this week, Southeast Colorado could be seeing some water improvement projects launch. CBS is reporting that fourth district Congresswoman Lauren Boebert voted on an appropriations bill that would fund projects for Lamar and Walsh. According to the report, there would be one million dollars set aside to build a new facility in Lamar to provide water treatment. The p

~ Anne Boswell Otero County Clerk and Recorder Lyn Scott reported at Monday's County Commissioner meeting that the state is upgrading their motor vehicle system. They will be transitioning to a new platform, the DRIVES Core 21. Because of the need to complete a required end of day balancing before the upgrade, the office will close early on Friday, February 13th at 2PM. Scott shared some other changes you should be aware of if you planned to do business with her office in Fe

By Anne Boswell Sheriff Jake Six told Colorado News Your Way that 40 year old Grant Dorman was taken into custody. He will be charged with possession of an incendiary device . This is his arrest photo, taken from the Bent County Sheriff's Jail Inmate website. The official news release from the Bent County Sheriff's Office. Our earlier coverage of this news story: Bent County Deputies, along with Colorado State Patrol closed a portion of Highway 50 near Grand Avenue Sunday

By Anne Boswell When the General Assembly reconvenes in Denver next week, January 14th, it's expected to be more of the same according to two lawmakers. State Senator Rod Pelton feels that with Governor Jarrad Polis term limited, the Democrat majority might feel emboldened to bring legislation that could be far worse for Southeast Colorado than recent past sessions. Representative Ty Winter of district 47 agrees but promises a fight no matter what. "We'll continue to fight fo

By Anne Boswell Colorado is one of five states getting a special review and federal funding will be temporarily halted during that time. Otero County Health and Human Services Director Donna Rohde commented that her office received notice of it this week. "We did get letters from the federal government. Well, we got one um, a couple of months ago regarding snap, and then we got one on the 6th regarding, childcare, and SSBG, which is social services block grant. So childcare

News release from the La Junta Fire Department The La Junta Fire Department is announcing a planned transition from its current volunteer firefighter program to a Reserve Firefighter Program , effective 1/1/2026. This change reflects the Department’s ongoing commitment to providing reliable, professional, and high-quality emergency services to the residents of the City of La Junta and the La Junta Rural Fire Protection District. Under the new Reserve Firefighter Program, part

By Norman Kincaide During an interview at the Rocky Ford Library Conference Room on December 18, 2025, District 2 Otero County Commissioner Tim Knabenshue declared his intention to seek a second term. Knabenshue believes in term limits and considered one more term to be enough. He emphasized water and private property rights issues along with public safety and traffic problems and economic development. Knabenshue was gratified to see the completion of the traffic light projec