Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Media contact: coreartspace.pr@gmail.com

“Red, White & Blue”

Core Art Space is proud to present “Red, White & Blue”, a juried exhibition of artists from the Front Range and across the country. This summer marks the 250th Anniversary of the United States. To honor this moment, Core Art Space is presenting a juried exhibition on the theme of “Red, White and Blue.” The theme was interpreted broadly as artists submitted works that simply feature the colors of red, white and/or blue; or treated the theme as inherently political. Some of the pieces expressed the concepts associated with “red, white and blue,” whether or not those colors are actually employed in the works. All in all, this is a spirited exhibition held during this time of celebration and reflection. Juror: Michael Paglia is an art historian and professional art writer whose weekly columns appeared in Westword for 25 years. In addition, Paglia’s art reviews have been published in national periodicals, and he has authored more than twenty books on modern and contemporary art in the American West. Paglia has juried and curated many exhibitions.

Participating artists in “Red, White & Blue”

John Affolter, Vashon, WA

Emma Alcazar, Powhatan, VA

Fred Becker, Denver, CO

Sara Behling, Lakewood, CO

Carol Bivins, Denver, CO

Richard Chamberlain, Westminster, CO

Roj Cooper, Englewood, CO

John Decker, Boulder, CO

Carolyn Doran, Lakewood, CO

Tom Edwards, Evergreen, CO

Jennifer Evans, Denver, CO

Alix Evendorff, Lakewood, CO

Kent Flora, Denver, CO

Patrice Gelband, Los Altos, CA

David Griffin, Broomfield, CO

Scott Hays, Fort Collins, CO

Deidre Holmberg, Richland, WA Mary Hood, Mesa, AZ

Wade Johnston, Fairway, KS

Mirka Knaster, The Sea Ranch, CA

Kimberly MacArthur Graham, Denver, CO

Brian Maly, Helena, MT

Jennifer Marks, RALEIGH, NC

Donna M Meeks, Beaumont, TX

Melanie Mills, Savannah, GA

Antoinette Peshek, Denver, CO

Joshua H Phelps, Edmonds, WA

Marlene Polmear, Greenwood Village, CO

James Rabiolo, Lakewood, CO

Camie Rigirozzi, Broomfield, CO

Beans Ryan, Denver, CO

Sydney Solis, Denver, CO

Marla Sullivan, Centennial, CO

Clifford Traverse, Frisco, TX

Harry Utter, Denver, CO

Chris Warot, Aurora, CO

David Wollmann, Denver, CO

Vlad Zadneprianski, Staten Island, NY

Joseph Ziegler, Colorado Springs, CO

Core Art Space has memberships available, and the Core Annex is available to rent for non-member shows. Please contact coreartspacecontact@gmail.com for more information about membership or renting the annex.

Where:

Core Art Space 6501 W. Colfax Ave. Lakewood, CO 80214

303-297-8428

When: Show Runs: July 10 – 26, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, July 10, 5:00 – 9:00 PM

Gallery Hours: Friday 5:00 – 9:00 PM

Saturday and Sunday 12:00 – 5:00 PM

The post Core Art Space announces opening of “Red, White & Blue” appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Learning of the Mayor’s intentions to fire Town Manager, Malcolm Fleming, citizens of the City of Erie rallied together, sending their district representatives’ emails and offering public comment. It is clear that Mayor Moore’s intention of doing this quietly, and in secret, would not materialize. 

However – despite the resistance from community and council members alike – in a four to three majority, the council voted to terminate Malcolm Fleming at the end of the evening. 

The council session began with presentations on public art projects and a proposal to increase the town’s airport fees. For hours, careful consideration and thoughtful questions were circulated between town leaders on an issue of obvious importance to locals. As many had come to discuss this issue during public comment as did the town manager.

As the aeronautic talk concluded, Mayor Moore introduced the motion to bring the body to executive session, Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell reading the agenda item to be discussed: personnel.

Councilman Dan Hoback called a point of order, “this executive session matter was started in public session, I believe it should continue in public session.”

Mayor Moore listens to public comment while the Town of Erie Council discusses his future with the city. The body would vote 4-3 at the end of the meeting on February 17, 2026, to terminate their contract with Mr. Fleming. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

The mayor curved toward Mayor Pro Tem Bell, and urged they take the vote, and if there were not enough votes, they would proceed in public session. Though the majority votes were for executive session – four to three – Mayor Moore needed five. This meeting would remain open to the public.

Council members Baer, Hoback, and Pesamarelli all asserted their case that Malcolm not lose his position. 

Council member Baer endeavoring to persuade her colleagues, affirmed, “[The mayor] did not have consensus or a majority, originally, to bring this forward, and I’m very hopeful to my fellow council members that that remains the case; that you hold your ground, that you’re brave right now, and not strong armed to do the mayor’s bidding.”

Council member Pesamarelli appeared to resign himself to the fact that he would not be able to change the council’s mind; their decision was stated to be already made. From the three council members who fought in Malcolm’s corner, attention shifted to the four who didn’t.

Malcolm Fleming listens while the Town of Erie Council discusses his future with the city. The body would vote 4-3 at the end of the meeting on February 17, 2026, to terminate their contract with Mr. Fleming. “I wish everyone well and encourage them to honor the pledge enshrined in the Erie Town Charter to, “uphold the principles of democracy, equity, and justice, and to foster a community that is inclusive, diverse, and welcoming to all,” he told Yellow Scene Magazine. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Council member Mortellaro was quiet, but Council member O’Connor and Mayor Pro Tem Bell scolded Pesamarelli, Baer, and Hoback for wanting this conversation privy to the public. 

Councilman O’Connor called it “inappropriate” to have this discussion in the open.

“I wish we could have had that discussion in exec, because what I wanted to see was that we could have a mutual agreement to part ways…  I think Malcolm wanted to have that conversation. I sincerely regret that we can’t have that conversation right now, because I feel that would have been better,” Councilman Bell said, addressing his colleagues,“And that’s due to three people up here wanting to make this a public show.” 

Mayor Moore set the vote in motion by expressing, “[Malcolm] told me, ‘If there’s four votes, then I would rather just be able to negotiate the separation agreement.’ And I said, ‘I don’t know if I have the four votes, but I do know I want to find out if I have the four votes.”

Yellow Scene received this statement from Mr. Fleming the following day: 

“Erie has a fantastic team, including great Town staff throughout the organization. I loved working with them, as well as with current and past members of the Town Council and advisory boards and Planning Commission. I will miss them all and I am proud of the long list of accomplishments we achieved together.

Erie is a great place. Our teamwork over the past 7 years made it even better and positioned the Town to prosper in the future. I wish everyone well and encourage them to honor the pledge enshrined in the Erie Town Charter to, “uphold the principles of democracy, equity, and justice, and to foster a community that is inclusive, diverse, and welcoming to all.”

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The post Town of Erie Fires Town Manager Malcolm Fleming appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

In a mostly empty town hall chamber, after a lone person offered public comment calling on the town to pledge protection for constituents from ICE and CBP followed by a hearing on sign regulations, Erie Mayor Andrew Moore looked calm and cool as he began the proceedings to move the meeting to executive session.

“Point of order,” a calm voice interrupted. Addressing the Mayor, Councilwoman Emily Baer continued. “I would like to discuss the town manager’s review in the public meeting rather than in executive session.”

Flustered, Mayor Moore shifted in his seat, turned toward Malcolm asking if this was alright. Malcolm, without batting an eye, responded, “Yes, I’m comfortable with that happening in a public meeting.”

Forty-five minutes later, the gavel restarted the public meeting for a conversation intended to happen in executive privacy. For the second time in the first year of his term, Mayor Andrew Moore would make the case for firing town manager Malcom Fleming. 

Previously catching the rest of the town council off guard during an earlier meeting, the decision was made to table the conversation until another time, when the members could be more prepared to make an informed decision.

Erie Town Manager Malcolm Fleming is described in his HR evaluation as one who “often pushes staff to challenge their status quo, which drives innovation, and he’s always open to and excited by new ideas.” (Town of Erie Headshot)

This time, with less than a day’s notice, the council received communication via email from Mayor Moore that they would again be bringing the matter to executive session the following evening. A performance evaluation – referred to as Fleming’s 360 – had been conducted. 

Mayor Moore and Mr. Fleming had access to the 360, some members of the council did not until only a few hours before the conversation began, others wouldn’t see the document until the following day. 

“He provided us an email about 24 hours before the meeting, and that is not adequate time,” Erie Town Councilman Dan Hoback told Yellow Scene. “The manager’s evaluation did not come from him; it came from the town manager himself. And [the Mayor] kept that in his hip pocket, and he didn’t send it until the next day. The day after the council meeting… I thought that was very underhanded on the part of the mayor.”

Opening the now public conversation, Mayor Moore cited his reasons for why Fleming should be terminated, reading from a statement he’d prepared for his colleagues. 

“Leadership by omission – whether intentional or not – creates a situation in which I cannot effectively preside over our meetings. Getting caught off guard on the County Line to Airport Drive visibility scope, the $19M parks and open space facility, the Redtail Ranch information for the public not being disseminated, misinformation about the use of ARPID funds, and council volunteers being excluded from the holiday party are just some of the more recent challenges.” 

Erie’s Mayor read for several minutes, first from his email requesting the conversation and then from what would have been his opening address to Council in executive session, concluding that he believed there had been an ongoing  lack of communication on Fleming’s part and little else. 

“The thing is, see, everything looks so childish now,” Councilman Pesaramelli told Yellow Scene. “He doesn’t have any points because we brought it on the record and not between the four walls [executive session]. In the four walls, when this topic came up,[the Mayor] didn’t have a consensus that Malcolm should be fired… And what would have happened in that four walls is unimaginable.”

“The mayor has wanted to get rid of him now since day one,” Councilman Hoback told Yellow Scene Magazine. “He came into office wanting to get rid of him, and I think it is probably because he is ideologically out of alignment.”

Before joining the city staff, Fleming spent over ten years as city manager for Louisville and as interim city manager for Manitou before that. He was appointed to the role in Erie in January 2019

Yellow Scene Magazine obtained a copy of Mr. Fleming’s 360 evaluation, which he said from the dais he was comfortable seeing published. In it we see a portrait of an absolutely adequate employee, referred to as a consummate professional, constantly calm presence, and consistently informed manager.

A screenshot of the first page of the human resources 360 report for colleague feedback for Mr. Fleming.

The anonymous reflections assert that he is knowledgeable, experienced, and committed to exploring every avenue even if it means trying something new. Always room for improvement, it is noted that he sometimes lapses in communication, though regularly producing a cumulative and comprehensive – if delayed – response. 

A five out of five star rated employee in “contributing to a positive and inclusive work culture,” he manages a complex system of public and private bureaucracies facilitating connections and the sharing of resources. 

“The amount of information that flows from the community, businesses, regional partners and Council is significant and overwhelming at times,” one 360 reflection of Fleming reads. It continues the he should seek improvement in maintaining the flow of information because “this Council is more impatient than others.”

Despite the metaphorical firehose from which he drinks, the HR report speaks of a competent employee with an above average performance and below average need for improvement. One with whom so many in the city find ease in maintaining a professional relationship, Mayor Moore not counted amongst them.

“If things are done for the betterment of the town, I’m all for it,” Councilman Pesaramelli told Yellow Scene. “But when you come with things like erasing DEI or the scare tactics, we can be a model and let other towns know Erie did this. We stood up against national bullying.”

Councilman Pesaramelli, Councilman Hoback, and Councilwoman Baer were upset that Moore came to this conclusion by himself, when council is meant to decide something this important together. When informed there would be a decision made despite protest, the three council members all voiced opposition to terminating Fleming’s position.

“Why is this going into a rush?” Councilman Pesaramelli mused during a followup conversation. “We already talked about it, and there was no consensus from the council for him to move to the next step or do another executive session.”

Some would discuss Mayor Moore’s insistence on adherence only on background, others commented openly on the parallels as they perceived them.

“He keeps saying he’s not MAGA, but he runs Council like he is,” Councilman Dan Hoback said to Yellow Scene Magazine. 

A screenshot of Erie Town Manager Malcolm Fleming’s Council Feedback Form, indicating the average of all five members of Erie’s Town Council’s ratings for various professional metrics.

Authoritarian overreach continues to grow as a standard in civics conversations. Federally, the Trump Administration demonstrates the ability for unscrupulous leaders to demand their directors change reports – and disavows those which won’t – to match policy positions. The same tactics some allege are used by Mayor Moore. 

“Staff can hear the mayor yelling at Malcolm through the walls even when the door is closed,” reads the 360. “Malcolm stays focused and professional and speaks clearly and directly.” 

In line with the strong man caricature some politicians project, complaints continue that Mayor Moore will bully employees, becoming increasingly frustrated when facts don’t fit his narrative, and asserting aggression to accomplish his ends. 

“People are hurting. People are afraid of losing their jobs,” Councilman Hoback told Yellow Scene. “People are afraid and they don’t want to engage with him.”

When negotiating his most recent contract, Fleming was faced with the difficult decision of forgoing protected severance in exchange for a standard raise. With the possibility that a newly-elected leader with a well-known intention of focusing on raising homeowners’ property value may replace him, Fleming was forced to concede his safety net. 

“One of his first courses of action was to basically force Malcolm to renegotiate his contract and lower his severance package, essentially,” Councilman Hoback told Yellow Scene. “The mayor said, ‘You will either reduce your severance package from twelve months to six months, or you won’t get a salary increase this year at all.’ Malcolm’s already severely underpaid for our region.”

Under the new contract, Fleming would receive 6-months of his salary, about $91,344, a direct cost to the taxpayers for the town manager’s replacement. Compensated well below the mean for this position, his replacement could start at a salary closer to Longmont’s $242,902 or Lafayette’s $190,800.

Some members of Town Council and Mayor Moore did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

The agenda for Erie’s February 17, 2026 Town Meeting includes an item in the evening’s executive session concerning personnel “pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-6-402(4)(e), concerning the Town Manager’s evaluation and contract.”

Like journalism like this? Consider becoming a sustaining supporter — and get our print edition delivered to your home each month.

Democracy needs journalism more than ever. For 25 years, we’ve told the truth — your support helps us keep doing it for the next four and beyond. Administrations come and go. Our team stays, ready to lead no matter who’s in charge.

The post Erie Mayor’s Attempts to Fire Town Manager Made Public appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

For years, I traveled the country as a financial planner. I sat across kitchen tables, conference rooms, and union halls, helping people chart their paths toward retirement. I met with teachers in Kentucky, counting their pension years; postal workers in Michigan, trying to understand their 401(k) statements; and members of the EPA in Boston who, while appreciating my financial guidance, had alternative thoughts about my love of big trucks.. Each conversation was unique, but they all revolved around the same fundamental question: Will I have enough?

In the fall of 2018, I met Donna, a postal worker going on 33 years of service, who was contemplating retirement at 58. Like many federal employees, she had spent decades contributing to one of America’s most reliable retirement systems, yet she still felt uncertain about taking the leap. That uncertainty, it turns out, was entirely justified, though perhaps not for the reasons she initially thought.

As I reconnect with former clients, like Donna, it’s clear that retirement security is under strain. Rising living and housing costs, combined with uncertainty around Social Security and Medicare, have made retirement feel far less predictable for many.

A Retirement That Almost Didn’t Happen

Retirement is a huge step, and no matter how many corny jokes I would tell to break the ice, it’s still awkward strategizing your finances for the rest of your life with someone who’s ultimately still a stranger. 

But Donna and I got past the small talk and formalities and got a plan in order. At 58, with 33 years at the post office under her belt, Donna was eligible to retire. But she was terrified of making the wrong choice. “I never thought about it until about a year before I actually retired,” she recalls. “People kept telling me I was too young.”

That skepticism wasn’t unfounded. Conventional wisdom says Americans should work until at least 65, ideally longer, to maximize Social Security and let savings grow. But Donna had something many workers do not: a federal pension system. With proper understanding and management, it could support an earlier exit from the workforce.

“I had no idea what a great retirement I had until I talked to someone,” Donna says. She only realized she had such good benefits after consulting an advisor. “I would totally recommend getting an advisor,” she emphasized. She notes that a friend, also from the federal government, retired before her, but did not do what she did, and was very unhappy.

In May 2019, Donna took the leap and retired. She had caught what she now recognizes as a crucial window of opportunity. “I got out at the right time,” she says. Less than a year later, COVID-19 would upend the world and transform retirement decisions for millions of Americans.

The pandemic became an unexpected inflection point for retirement in America. For Donna, watching friends continue working through lockdowns, sanitizing mail trucks, and navigating constant exposure risks confirmed her timing had been fortunate. Tragically, some colleagues didn’t make it to retirement at all. Their deaths were stark reminders that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, and working ‘just a few more years’ isn’t always possible.

Even with her strong federal pension, Donna has not been immune to the financial pressures reshaping retirement. The stability she thought secure has been eroded by forces beyond her control, reshaping what retirement means for an entire generation.

When the Safety Net Frays

Retirement in 2026 looks drastically different from what previous generations experienced. The traditional three-legged stool of retirement: Social Security, pensions, and personal savings, has grown wobbly. One leg is nearly gone, and the remaining two show troubling signs of instability.

Consider the numbers that retirees are facing this year. Social Security benefits received a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, translating into an average monthly increase of approximately $56 for retirees. For reference, the average monthly Social Security benefit in 2025 was about $2,012.30. While that is a modest increase, it only tells half the story. 

In 2026, Medicare Part B premiums jumped by nearly $18 per month. This 9.7% increase consumed roughly one-third of the COLA, marking the largest erosion of the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment by Medicare premiums since 2017. As a result, what appeared to be a 2.8% raise turned out to be just 2.1% in actual purchasing power.

For retirees living on a fixed income in Denver, these numbers are the difference between comfort and anxiety. When I asked Donna about the cost of living and her expenses, she said she considered downsizing to cut expenses, but Denver’s housing market stopped her cold, “If I sold my house, I wouldn’t be able to replace it.”

Denver’s median home price now hovers around $575,000. In recent years, it has appreciated at a modest 1%-3% annual clip—a “cooling” from the breakneck double-digit gains during the pandemic era. However, this figure remains substantially higher than when Donna retired in 2019. According to Zillow, average rents in Denver hover around $2,200 per month, effectively pricing even modest rentals beyond the reach of many on fixed incomes.

The housing trap of being unable to sell and relocate without sacrificing quality of life is a major challenge facing retirees. Retirees like Donna have their equity effectively locked; converting it into more flexible or affordable housing comes with a steep penalty. Millions of American retirees face this dilemma: home-rich, cash-poor, and unable to access the wealth built over decades because replacement housing costs far exceed their means.

The irony is that downsizing was once a reliable strategy for retirees: sell their home, move to something smaller, pocket the difference, and enjoy a more comfortable retirement. But when the “something smaller” costs as much or more, the strategy collapses. Donna’s story reflects a larger problem: assumptions about retirement that held for Boomers are failing for their successors.

The Looming Cliff

As challenging as the current landscape is for retirees, the future looks even more precarious. The specter hanging over every retirement conversation today is the projected insolvency of Social Security’s trust funds.

According to the most recent Social Security Trustees Report, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which pays benefits to retirees, is projected to be depleted by 2033. Recent legislation, including the Social Security Fairness Act and provisions in other budget bills, has accelerated this timeline. Some analysts now project the retirement fund could be exhausted as early as late 2032.

What happens when the fund runs dry? Payroll taxes will keep coming in, but Social Security will be forced to cut benefits, paying only what it collects. For millions relying on these payments, that means a painful reduction of about 77% of scheduled benefits from 2033 onward, dropping to 72% by 2099 if Congress doesn’t act.

For a dual-income couple with medium earnings, retiring just after insolvency would mean an annual benefit reduction of roughly $18,400. That’s not a policy proposal or a worst-case scenario, but what current law requires if the trust fund is depleted and no legislative fixes are implemented.

The political paralysis around Social Security reform comes from the painful solutions. Closing the funding gap means raising the payroll tax rate by about 3.65 percentage points, reducing benefits, raising the retirement age, or means-testing benefits to cut payments to wealthier retirees. Each option is politically toxic, so Congress has spent decades studying the issue without acting.

The real toll of inaction is measured in sleepless nights, not just benefit cuts. When what once felt solid becomes fragile, every plan feels shaky. How much more must someone save if Social Security falters? For those who cannot work longer or save more, the questions keep piling up, each one heavier than the last.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Donna admits when asked about retiring now versus in 2019. The question reveals an uncomfortable truth. Those who retired before the current convergence of crises – pandemic disruption, accelerating inflation, and the approaching Social Security cliff – occupy a slightly more secure position than today’s retirees. While Donna made it across the finish line before the course changed, for those still running, the destination keeps moving farther away.

The Planning Gap

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of America’s retirement crisis is that it increasingly can’t be solved through individual effort alone. The question of whether planning alone is enough for people to retire, or whether systemic issues are at play, has become the central dividing line among retirement experts.

The statistics paint a sobering picture. Nearly 45% of Americans are projected to face retirement funding shortfalls if they retire at 65, according to a 2024 Morningstar study. About 46% of Americans have no retirement savings. The median retirement account balance for Americans aged 55 to 64, those on the cusp of retirement, was just $71,000 as of 2022, according to Vanguard data. That’s enough to generate perhaps $3,000 to $4,000 in annual income using conservative withdrawal rates, nowhere near sufficient to maintain most pre-retirement living standards.

The challenge becomes even clearer when you examine what adequate retirement planning actually requires. Financial advisors typically recommend that retirees have saved enough to replace 70% to 80% of their pre-retirement income. For someone earning $60,000 a year, that means needing an annual retirement income of $42,000 to $48,000. Social Security might provide around $24,000 of that for an average earner, leaving a gap of $18,000 to $24,000 that must be covered by savings. Using the common 4% withdrawal rule, which requires a nest egg of $450,000 to $600,000. The highest median retirement account balance is $200,000 for those aged 65-74, which doesn’t even come close.

For those who cannot afford professional financial planning, fees typically run around 1% of assets under management, or several thousand dollars for comprehensive planning. Resources do exist, though they require initiative to find and navigate. Organizations like the Foundation for Financial Planning offer free services to financially vulnerable populations, including wounded veterans, domestic violence survivors, and cancer patients. The Financial Planning Association and local non-profit credit counseling agencies sometimes provide low-cost or free retirement planning workshops.

Government resources include the Social Security Administration’s retirement estimator tools, available at ssa.gov, which allow individuals to model different claiming strategies and estimate their benefits. The Labor Department and IRS websites offer free calculators and educational materials about retirement accounts and required minimum distributions. Many libraries now offer free access to financial planning software and databases through their digital collections. AARP provides free retirement planning resources and calculators for those 50 and older, along with workshops and counseling services through its foundation.

Yet the existence of these resources highlights, rather than solves, the underlying problem: our retirement system has become so complex that it requires professional expertise to navigate, expertise most Americans can’t access. The very people who need help the most, those with limited savings and complex financial situations, are the least likely to be able to afford the guidance that could help them maximize what little they have.

Donna’s experience stresses this reality. Her federal pension was always there, a valuable benefit earned through decades of service. But in her own words, she had no idea what a great retirement she had until she talked to someone who could explain it to her. How many Americans are sitting on benefits or opportunities they don’t understand? How many are making costly mistakes simply because they don’t know what questions to ask?

Living With Uncertainty

For those who worry that retirement is slipping out of reach entirely, the reality is even more complex than simple affordability. Over half of American workers, 59%, now plan to work in some capacity during retirement, although this isn’t necessarily by choice. It’s often a financial necessity driven by inadequate savings, rising healthcare costs, and the reality that Social Security alone typically replaces only about 40% of pre-retirement income for average earners.

The average retirement age has crept upward, from 57 in 1991 to 64 for men and 62 for women today. Expected retirement age has similarly increased, from 63 in 2002 to 66 in 2022. The data suggests that Americans aren’t retiring later because they want to, but because they must.

This extended working life comes with its own risks. Health often deteriorates faster than financial circumstances improve. The physically demanding jobs that many older workers hold become increasingly difficult to perform. Ageism in the workplace can make finding new employment challenging for those who lose their jobs in their late 50s or early 60s. 

A growing part of the retirement problem isn’t just how much people earn or save, but how little clarity they’re given along the way. Too often, people reach their final working years without a clear understanding of what their employer provides, what it doesn’t, and what gaps they’re expected to fill on their own. 

Working with an advisor can help, but guidance only goes so far if people don’t understand their own benefits. If you don’t know whether you have a pension, how your employer plan works, or whether any other income streams exist, it’s difficult to make informed decisions. That uncertainty often leads to inaction, which compounds over decades.

The difference is clear when you look at workers who do have structured support. Donna’s retirement worked because federal employees are part of a system designed to prepare them. In addition to a pension and the Thrift Savings Plan, many receive the FERS Supplement, a monthly payment based on what they are expected to receive from Social Security at age 62, funded by the federal government. That bridge provides stability and the ability to plan.

Most retirees don’t have anything comparable. The earlier they realize this, the earlier they can adjust for it. Without clear guidance or built-in systems, people need to know that more responsibility falls on their own savings and investments.

A System Under Stress

Donna’s story represents both the promise and the limitations of the American retirement system. She had access to one of the country’s remaining robust pension programs. She sought professional guidance to maximize her benefits and made her decision at a fortuitous moment before a global pandemic reshaped the working world. But even with all these advantages, rising costs have constrained her retirement in ways she didn’t anticipate.

For the tens of millions of Americans without federal pensions, the vast majority of workers, the situation is more precarious still. The shift from defined benefit pensions to 401(k) style defined contribution plans has transferred risk from employers to individuals, requiring workers to become amateur investment managers, calculating how much to save, how to invest, and how much they can safely withdraw without outliving their money.

The 401(k) was originally designed as a supplement to pensions, not a replacement for them. But for decades now, employers have systematically eliminated traditional pensions, leaving 401(k)s as the primary retirement savings vehicle for most American workers. The problem is that 401(k)s only work well for people who can afford to contribute consistently over decades, understand investment principles well enough to allocate their assets appropriately, and who don’t need to tap the money early due to emergencies. While certainly not impossible, that’s a lot of conditions.

The confluence of factors straining retirement security, depleting Social Security trust funds, rising Medicare costs outpacing COLAs, housing prices that trap retirees in place, and the simple fact that Americans are living longer than ever while saving less than ever, suggests that individual planning, however careful, cannot fully address systemic failures in how we support older Americans.

When housing costs consume an ever-larger share of retirement income and healthcare expenses rise faster than Social Security benefits are adjusted, even the best individual planning can do only so much. You cannot budget your way out of a failing system.

When asked how she feels about her retirement now, more than six years after leaving the postal service, Donna’s perspective reflects both gratitude and realism. She has a pension that provides a foundation. But even she recognizes that the margin for error has narrowed, that unexpected expenses or further cost increases could upend even careful planning. She understands, perhaps more clearly than many who haven’t yet reached retirement age, how lucky she was in her timing and how different things might have been had she retired even a few years later.

A whopping 79% of Americans believe we have a retirement crisis, up from 67% in 2020. The question is no longer whether a crisis exists, but how severe it will become and how many Americans will be caught in its wake. For every Donna who makes it to a stable retirement, there are countless others who won’t. People who worked just as hard, who tried just as diligently to save, but who lacked access to a federal pension or who retired at the wrong moment, or who faced medical emergencies that wiped out their savings, or who simply earned too little to save meaningfully in the first place.

For future retirees, Donna recommends getting an advisor. Understanding your situation is imperative to successfully navigate retirement. Einstein once described compound interest as the “eighth wonder of the world,” but as anyone who doesn’t file their taxes in a timely manner will tell you, compounding interest works both ways, and its effects aren’t just exclusive to money. Coughing up money for an advisor or cutting down on expenses in your thirties, forties, and even early fifties may not be fun, but scrambling to fix decades of procrastination a few years before retirement is a far worse alternative. 

The promise of retirement, that after decades of work Americans could look forward to a period of rest and security, is changing. Not because of one single thing, but through a series of small changes that have reshaped what retirement looks like. Donna benefited from a system that worked when she needed it to. For many others still working toward that goal, the path is less certain, and understanding the reality of today’s retirement landscape matters more than ever.

By the Numbers – The State of Retirement in 2026

Social Security & Medicare:

• 2026 Social Security COLA: 2.8% ($56 average monthly increase)
• Medicare Part B premium increase: $17.90/month (9.7% increase)
• Net effective COLA after Medicare: 2.1%
• Social Security trust fund depletion: Projected 2033 (possibly as early as 2032)
• Benefit cut upon depletion: Approximately 23% to 24% across the board

Retirement Readiness:

• Americans with retirement funding shortfalls: 45%
• Americans with no retirement savings: 46% (2022 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances)
• Median retirement savings for ages 55 to 64: $71,000
• Highest median retirement account balance (ages 65 to 74): $200,000
• Workers planning to work during retirement: 59%
• Average retirement age: 64.7 (men), 62.1 (women)
• Americans who feel behind on retirement planning: 53%
• Americans who believe there’s a retirement crisis: 79% (up from 67% in 2020)

Denver Housing (2026):

• Median home price: $575,000
• Year over year price change: Down 2.0%
• Average monthly rent: $2,200
• Average days on market: 43
• Home price vs. national average: 29% higher

Income & Inequality:

• Median household income in Denver: $91,681
• Workers earning $150K+ contribute 13x more to retirement than those earning under $50K
• Bottom 25% wealth: $3,500 median net worth
• Top 10% wealth: $3.8 million median net worth

Sources: Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Zillow, Redfin, Morningstar, Vanguard, Survey of Consumer Finances, Center for Retirement Research, Kiplinger, National Institute on Retirement Security

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The post Silver Security: A Generation Nearing Retirement, Without Certainty appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Fists clenched in their pockets protecting from the cold – in the Capitol’s driveway before the building’s western steps and below an American flag flying half-staff – some standing with their feet shuffling as others squeezed between chairs and strangers, hundreds gathered. Greetings were exchanged, many had shared this space before. For protest or proclamation, for demonstration and celebration. Today, it was in grief and recognition. 

State lawmakers were remembering a colleague. For organizers, a coworker. Community members, an advocate. For many, most simply, a friend. 

Colorado State Senator Faith Winter died in a car accident on Interstate 25 in Arapahoe County on November 29. The Broomfield senator represented District 25 in the Colorado State Senate and was entering her twelfth and final year in the legislature, due to term limits. While the investigation remains ongoing in the series of multivehicle accidents which resulted in Winters’ death, it is immediately apparent how she will be remembered for the impact she had during life.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis speaks before hundreds of community members gathered on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on Friday, December 5 to celebrate the life of state Senator Faith Winter, who died at 45 in a car crash on the eve of Thanksgiving 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

The Chair of the Transportation and Energy Committee, and serving on Business, Labor, and Technology and the Legislative Council, she is remembered by friends and family as a fierce warrior for women, the disabled, and the underprivileged. Colorado Public Radio credits her for making culture change in the Capitol after the expulsion of Democratic Rep. Steve Lebsock after she publicly accused him of sexual harassment.

She was also a vocal proponent for more color, for being authentic in every space, and for making the space for people to safely be themselves. An example her friends recall she set to be followed. Her refusal to wear jeans, and commitment to hiking in flip-flops, were a regular anecdote through the carousel of speakers. 

One which drew a knowing, mournful, chuckle at each mention. 

“I hope you remember her for the life she lived, not just the roles she held, for the hikes, the kayaks, for the orange dresses, for the flowers she adored, for the animals at her foot,” Winter’s close friend Hazel Gibson told the crowd through choked-back tears. “She lived in full color and she loved in full color.”

The following day, her life would be celebrated in full color at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. As friends, neighbors, and fellow legislators gathered to honor the work Faith devoted her career to, a quiet truth threaded through every conversation: Faith Winters was, simply, a genuinely good person.

“Faith’s passion and dedication for building a brighter Colorado future and brighter future for the country, really shone,” Governor Jared Polis told the crowd at the Capitol. “Faith always made time to connect with people. To find ways to brighten every day.”

Through her legislation raising fees on fuel and certain car gig economy providers she was able to amass billions of dollars for state transportation projects. In the 2025 Session she sponsored a bill, now law, which will add a voting and a nonvoting youth member, between 14 and 21 years of age, to the DPHE Environmental Advisory Board and creates a grant program to finance environmental mitigation projects.

Sienne Snook remembers her mother, speaking before hundreds of community members gathered on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on Friday, December 5 to celebrate the life of state Senator Faith Winter, who died at 45 in a car crash on the eve of Thanksgiving 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Her political career started, apparently, in high school when she ensured through organizing that her friends would be elected to each and every dance court. She herself was voted prom princess.

“She wanted me to tell that story at an event, I just didn’t think it would be this one,” lifelong friend Jessica Walker admitted through tears. “The belief that she could make a difference and impact change has always been a part of who she was.” 

Her start in public office was from 2007 to 2014, when Winter served as a member in the Westminster city council. She was elected on a policy vision of racial and economic justice, helping to build progressive think tanks and organizations in community with her efforts from office. 

In spring 2024, she checked into a rehabilitation facility citing alcohol abuse after she appeared to be drunk while attending a Northglenn city council meeting in her role as Senator. Months earlier, in fall 2023, she had been hospitalized after a crash while riding her bike to the state Capitol.

“People say grief is love with nowhere to go and I believe this resonates deeply with who my mom was,” Senator Winter’s daughter Sienna Snook, told the audience. “My mom put so much love into the world which is why we feel her absence so strongly.”

In the cold chill, a warmth was palpable as many could reflect on their own moment that memory manifested. With a breath, and a respectful quiet, the final speaker took the microphone. Another friend who had been in the trenches of electoral politics with Senator Winter, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen greeted the crowd.

Once a mentee of the late Senator, Congresswoman Pettersen told a story about being convinced to follow her friend up the ladder and to fight for a new kind of representation from our elected representatives. The first woman to represent Colorado’s 7th District, who got national notoriety for casting votes with her infant, remembered it was Winter who first told her how important it was to be someone who didn’t look like who usually runs for office.   

“She believed in the mantra: we lift as we rise. And it is something that she lived every day,” Congresswoman Pettersen reflected.

Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen speaks before community members gathered on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on Friday, December 5 to celebrate the life of state Senator Faith Winter, who died at 45 in a car crash on the eve of Thanksgiving 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Vincent Chandler

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, Digital Content Strategist for the National Cannabis Industry Association and Colorado Rising, and Chief Content Officer of ƒ/4.20 Films. Vince’s political experience includes working for local and regional campaigns and lobbying on Capitol Hill. Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post, the publication that brought them to Denver in 2014 to serve as founding Multimedia Editor for Denver Post TV and weekly cannabis industry news show The Cannabist. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival. Vince holds degrees from Pennsylvania State University in Journalism and History, and they have lectured on journalism at Arkansas State and Penn State.

___

The ones who dared to fight City Hall.

 When Boulder denied public access to police body-cam footage, we took it to court. Our fight for transparency is now before the Colorado Supreme Court — because accountability doesn’t stop at the city line.

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The post Colorado State Senator Faith Winter Remembered As Fierce Advocate for Women appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[ Boulder County ]

• Longmont City Council voted to move forward with Ordinance 9C. This would authorize the city to charge aircraft operators for using the airport’s runways, with the intent of creating a more self-sustaining enterprise fund. 
• Boulder City Council unanimously voted last week to move forward with a temporary ban on graywater reuse systems, setting the ordinance to last two years, stating there are not enough policies in place to make use safe. This is despite the Colorado Bill that passed in 2024, allowing graywater for reuse starting in January of 2026
• For the third consecutive year, Niwot High School brought home the state 5A championship in both boys and girls cross country.
• In an attempt to support small entrepreneurs, Erie starts a 100+ business directory for small, home-run businesses.

[ State ]

• Colorado Ethics Commission advances complaints brought by Colorado Common Cause against Colorado Democrats who attended dark money-funded retreat. The retreat was held in Vail on the weekend of October 4 and was attended by sixteen local lawmakers.
• On Tuesday, November 17th, hundreds of parents, advocates, and mental/behavioral health professionals gathered at the state capitol to demonstrate against the Medicaid cuts to behavioral health therapy. This comes in the wake of a projected $1.2 billion shortfall in Colorado funding. These cuts will largely impact children with Autism.
• With a projected $100,000, Coloradans losing their health insurance in the next few months, Weld County has deployed a public health unit, which drives to lower-income areas to provide health care, testing, and vaccines.

[ National ]

• Construction began on the East Wing of the White House to build a new ballroom. This project is funded by three major lobbyist groups: Miller Strategies, Ballard Partners and Michael Best Strategies.
• Former Director of the FBI, James Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017, brought complaints against his release from his position against the Department of Justice, stating that it had been a vindictive and selective dismissal.
• After some back and forth, Trump expected to sign bill to release the Justice Department’s Epstein files. This comes after the House voted 427-1 for this release of information.

[ International ]

• Israeli military airstrikes in Lebanon create more tension between the countries. Israel stated that their initial strike was to destroy a weapon storage facility; however, the airstrikes hit a Palestinian refugee camp, killing dozens of people.
• Japan has warned its citizens in China to step up safety precautions and avoid crowded places, amid a deepening dispute between Asia’s two largest economies over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi‘s comments on Taiwan’s potential to be attacked by China.

Quotes

“The detainment of Mohammad Dadfar — an Afghan ally who risked his life alongside American troops to fight the Taliban — is a disgrace, and yet another example of this administration’s draconian immigration policies.”

-Rep. Joe Neguse, who is petitioning to have Dadfar released from ICE detainment in Aurora

“When we talk about my politics, I call myself a democratic socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago, who said, ‘Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country,”

–Zohran Mamdani, the  new Mayor Elect of New York City, who ran on a progressive platform.

“He was into the barely legal type, like, he liked 15-year-old girls. I’m not trying to make an excuse for this, I’m just giving you facts — that he wasn’t into, like, 8-year-olds. But he liked the very young teen types that could pass for even younger than they were, but would look legal to a passer-by.”

-Talk show host Megyn Kelly, explaining away pedophilia on behalf of the late Jeffrey Epstein.

“I don’t believe the White House is involved in that planning, or at least hasn’t-, hasn’t gotten to it yet. I know the president is aware of the former vice president’s passing.”

–Karoline Leavitt regarding Trump’s indifference towards former Vice President Cheney’s passing. Cheney was a critic of Trump and his policies.

“Nobody’s coming to a healing center to do an imperceptible dose of mushrooms. People are coming for big experiences, to have the doors of their mind kicked open.”

–Theresa Crossland, co-owner of Boulder’s first psilocybin healing center

By the Numbers

$22K

The amount of money given by the Louisville City Council to local nonprofits to provide emergency food assistance.

1,600+

The number of species and their habitats that are protected by the Endangered Species Act. Trump’s administration plans to roll back this act, putting the animals at greater risk of extinction.

97%

The percentage of immigrants detained in Chicago with no criminal record, according to the Department of Justice.

1.7 million

The number of counterfeit pills in Colorado’s largest Fentanyl seizure.

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The post Month In Review | November 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The sun set hours ago. Despite it being a Sunday night, the coffee shop crowd continues to sip their hot beverages, smoke cigarettes, and chat amongst themselves. Their energy ripples through the dark sidewalks where people walk to the bus stop, glancing at their phones as they head to their evening’s next destination. Just down the street, a small group of 20-somethings are gathered on a bar patio, their excitement palpable, chattering away below billowing Black Lives Matter, Trans Pride, and Progress Pride flags.

Only blocks from a quiet residential neighborhood, separated by an active railroad track, in the Rust Belt city of Cleveland, they were there for an evening of art, community, and political discourse. As the first sounds of the show start to drift past the security at the door, the group disappears inside the venue, No Class.

Cleveland’s second-best gay bar, the space’s dive-y aesthetic and all-black sticker-covered interior sets the expectation immediately that you’re there to see a punk or metal band on stage. Any other night, you probably could, venue owner Emma Jochum has a lifetime of experience booking and producing shows for bands who play what she calls “extreme music.”

Tonight, though, Cleveland’s queer scene is here for a drag show. Ostensibly set to celebrate the birthday of host Bram Stroke-Her, you’re asked at the door to make a contribution to TransOhio, an organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights of trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender nonconforming people in the Buckeye State.

Drag performer Homer E. Rodick points to the sky while show host Bram Stroke-Her faces the audience during a performance raising funds for TransOhio at No Class in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller re-established Cleveland as a prosperous city of wealth during the second Industrial Revolution, building the city in his image of splendor while creating distinct divides between the baron class owners and the workers who generated his fortune. Like other industrial cities in the region, it has felt the impact of the departure of manufacturing, slipping into disrepair bearing signs of dilapidation.

Clevelanders in this eastern gateway to the Heartland insist, however, that their city is worth fighting for. Cognizant that they’ve been left picking up the tab for political corruption, they see the wealth gap that fuels the profits of billionaire developers and energy conglomerates, while leaving themselves and their neighbors behind. Recently, there has been a push back at the continued exploitation of the lakefront midwest metropolis, as the people work to build community first campaigns and organizations to reinvigorate and revitalize their town from the grass roots.

To do that, it takes people. Those people need the place to gather safely. At No Class, they find solidarity in a space where art and conversation can thrive. Existing for years as Now That’s Class before Jochum took ownership, the space organically transformed from crust punk hovel to its current existence as No Class, what can only be described as a gay metal bar. Show attendees may not know it when they walk through the door, but they’ve entered a political space.

No Class owner Emma Jochum speaks with people at her bar during a drag performance benefitting TransOhio on Sunday, September 14 in Cleveland, Ohio. The metal and punk venue hosts queer performances and politican functions, as well as local and nationally touring music acts. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“It’s really hard to make people care, and I just care,” Jochum says, sitting on the venue’s back porch moments after finishing a board meeting with a local community development corporation. “Trying to get other people to give a shit about stuff has been a struggle, but we’re working on it.”

Tonight, the effort to combat ennui would be through drag. Stroke-Her produced their birthday show with the TransOhio fundraiser attached and invited queens and kings to take the stage – and microphone – advocating for their rights, to discuss political violence, and to keep the community organized. The sounds of bumping dance music pulsed through the doors to the quieting avenue outside, while inside cheers erupted and joy was shared.

No one can enter this space without feeling the impact of local politics. Naloxone hydrochloride is available at the bar, a brochure rack near the restrooms is laden with notices for upcoming mutual aid group meetings, protest and direct action flyers adorn the wall. The drag show will obviously bring its own messaging of liberation and resistance, and on nights when heavy metal or punk rock acts take the stage canvassing and campaigning will be entwined.

“A lot of metal dudes are not into politics at all, or if they are, they’re into the wrong politics,” Jochum continued. “I’ve definitely caught some heat for being public about my opinions but ultimately, I don’t care. We do a lot of extreme metal, black metal and stuff, and there have been a few times where I didn’t vet the bands properly and had to cancel a gig.”

Platforming voices she feels need to be heard isn’t the only direct action the bar and venue owner takes. Serving on the Northwest Neighborhood CDC, covering Cleveland’s Edgewater and Gordon Square neighborhoods, is where she sees her impact the most. Combatting gentrification while advocating for community-driven growth through affordable housing and locally-owned business anchoring their neighborhood, she makes the time between her day job and No Class duties on the evenings and weekends to lend her voice.

Knowing she can’t do it alone, she utilizes the platform she’s built in No Class to raise the voices of local leaders, political candidates, and issues organizers. In June, her bar hosted a Punk is Political meet-and-greet for city council candidate Tanmay Shah. An Indian immigrant, union organizer, lawyer, and truck driver, Shah is a democratic socialist with popular support who has spent his fifteen years in Cleveland defending tenants against unethical landlords in housing court and organized a union at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.

Hosting canvass launches and candidate meet-and-greets isn’t enough for Jochum, though, she wants every person who passes through her venue to remember that punk rock is most certainly rooted in politics. In the months to come, as city and state elections near, she intends to host candidates like Shah and local organizers like Justin Strekal on-stage during shows, between sets, to tell the moshing crowds where else they can direct that energy.

“When we have bigger shows, bigger punk shows or even bigger drag shows, where I know that people give a shit about politics and will sit and listen, I want to get people on stage in the middle of the show and hopefully introduce a wider audience to candidates, let them hear what they’re running for and why and hopefully mobilize some more voters,” Jochum says. “It’s dangerous, and it’s hard, and it sucks a lot, but it needs to be done and the work is important.”

In Vice President JD Vance’s home state, where President Trump won by twelve points, organizing for progressive issues and candidates can be an uphill journey. The community identifying and supporting a safe venue for that work is important, and whether it was set up with intention, or completely by accident as is the case with Emma’s No Class, they fill a vital role in red states. She stresses the importance of not waiting until you’re told to do something, or think you have all the resources, but working with what you have, mobilizing, and getting to work.

Tonight, on an otherwise innocuous Sunday evening, the crowd came together to cheer on drag performers, to laugh after a week fraught with national stories of targeted violence and fear, and raised more than $500 for an organization which will continue to carry that message. Tears were shared, proverbial cups filled, and through joy and celebration of life, their mission continued.

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Punk Rock is Political, Cleveland’s Gay Metal Bar Won’t Let You Forget appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The Missouri river creeps along, moving quietly but not silently as the sun starts to break across the Iowa-Nebraska line. An early morning boat cuts its way across the water as cyclists start to flow along the edge’s trails, funneling from connecting arteries into downtown Omaha.

Passing through Heartland of America Park on this cool morning, a relief after weeks of sweltering hot, they pass a small group of volunteers erecting tables and tents. Banners are strung between poles as a flag is stretched between two trees.

The energy is already high, day-of enthusiasm and months of preparation colliding as the dozen people prepare the infrastructure for the hundreds on their way. A wagon with speakers piled high is wheeled through the maze of extra water bottles, t-shirts, and art supplies being prepared and laid out on tables. Morning greetings are exchanged ahead of swapping shared expectations for the day.

In support of liberation, for peace and dignity, for the Palestinian people more than two hundred Nebraskans were gathering to raise funds for pediatric health care. While the Heartland continues to rally, raising their voices and marching silently to end the forced famine in Gaza, today’s event was rallying support through competition.

Organized in coordination with Ohio-founded HEAL Palestine, this midwest waterfront park was hosting a 5k and fun run named for Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl who the IDF publicly killed alongside the paramedics saving her life following a previous by Israeli forces. In the first attack, 335 bullets were fired from a tank at the car occupied by children, while Hind’s 15-year-old sister called for help on the phone. Hind was the only one to survive, only to be killed when help arrived.

To remember Hind, and to raise direct aid for children like her who are experiencing the occupation, today’s 5k offered an opportunity to educate and advocate without confrontation. Collaborators from local organizations offered their individual expertises to provide medical training and care, production equipment and entertainment.

Registrants sign in for the Hind’s 5k race in Heart of American Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The event, named for a 5-year-old girl killed by Israel was held to raise funds for pediatric medical care in Palestine. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

After registering and receiving your official race bib, you walked the path through the park past mutual aid organizers and representatives from HEAL Palestine. Nearing the starting line brings a wave of pregame jitters, that nervous anticipation athletes permeate as they prepare for their event. Families with newborns in their jogging strollers, teens taking selfies in their friend groups, millennials stretching and warming up (because they came to win).

A snack table laden with BDS approved goodies and water opened up to where the speakers stood, the first starting to tap the microphone. Kayla, the day’s emcee and event organizer, takes a moment to remind everyone of what brought everyone together today before a moment of silence in remembrance of Hind and the children of Palestine.

“To carry her memory, to honor her life, and to stand for the right of every Palestinian child to be safe and free.”

The evening before, a group gathered for a seder dinner to discuss. In the basement of a Lutheran church, a sign of interfaith cooperation in Omaha, Jewish Voices for Peace were preparing for shabbat blessings. Scout, a Gen Z leader in local organizing, looked out at the group gathered around the large table before he began reading from Deuteronomy.

In solidarity with those experiencing famine in Occupied Palestine, there would be no meal served at tonight’s supper. Nebraskans for Palestine successfully raised $10,000 for mutual aid kitchens in the West Bank and Gaza during a hunger strike in coordination with JVP members earlier this month.

Cat King, a Jewish organizer in Omaha, contributes to the discussion about helping your neighbor during a seder dinner hosted by Jewish Voices for Peace in August 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

As Scout concludes his reading, he repeats a line from 15:4 “there shall be no needy among you,” starting the evening’s discussion. Who is included in that needy amongst you, your immediate friends and family? Your clan? Everyone?

As day became night, ideas were traded in a thoughtful back and forth. Ping ponging in an overlapping across the table no voice went unheard. Children interrupted with questions which were addressed with intentional honesty, a forgotten clause was allowed space to return after the conversation had cycled past. More than one person produced a book to highlight their point or to resolve curiosity, this group knew they didn’t have every answer but worked together to progress toward one.

With the flow threatening hours more to talk about, a final time check accompanies a hurried end with eager asks for the next opportunity to gather. The next day’s 5k was mentioned, some needed the early bedtime knowing the sunrise start ahead. For those who belonged to the local temple, tips on continuing to stand by their principles while a community they love rejects them were exchanged.

“Zionism is antithetical to Judaism,” Scout told Yellow Scene while cleaning up the room. “There’s obviously the secular moral standpoint that what’s happening in Palestine is wrong, but from a religious and a Jewish standpoint it’s incredibly wrong. It’s antithetical to everything that we’re taught.”

Nurse Willy, who has worked with HEAL Palestine and served on medical missions to Gaza and the West Bank, walks amongst the crowd of 5k participants carrying his phone while video calling Wissam Hamada, Hind’s mother before the start of the 5k named for her departed daughter’s memory. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

At the next morning’s starting line, a roar rips through the gathered crowd. Nurse Willy, who has traveled for medical missions to Palestine, was walking through the runners holding a phone aloft. Wissam Hamada, Hind’s mother, was on a video call sharing the moment from across the world with those gathered to run in her daughter’s name.

With a countdown from the microphone, they were off. The soon-to-be-winners rocketed from the line toward the riverfront route, followed by not-taking-it-seriously students and families with fresh facepaint. Walkers, the elderly, some kids who refused to walk in anything but looping circles and their laughing adults sipping coffee made up the rear.

An hour later everyone was back in the park, their necks wearing medals for the finishers. Water and electrolytes flowed as they sweated in the still-sleepy city. For those who had energy to spare, Dabkeh lessons were offered and a circle of dancers swarmed the stage while others colored with chalk and played with bubbles. The line at the face paint station was always present, though no one waited long before walking away adorned.

The celebratory, relaxed mood set a tone of rest between the work to be done. While some headed out to their day’s social events, others scrolled social media looking for events to add to their calendars. Worry about the promise of National Guard troops coming and reflections on recent attacks on journalists punctuated plans for lunch. Labor Day is right around the corner and 50501 is planning a massive national day of action, plans were made to carry the day’s message with them into the new week.

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Fun Runs and Torah Study, Omaha Organizes for Palestine appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

In March 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education – a move that could severely limit the federal government’s ability to uphold educational standards and civil rights protections mandated by Congress.

Since its modern inception as a cabinet-level agency in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, the DOE has played a critical role in promoting equity, safeguarding civil rights, and expanding access to education for all students. It has been especially important for marginalized groups, including students with disabilities, students of color, and LGBTQ+ students. The department enforces federal laws that guarantee these students the right to learn in safe, inclusive, and supportive environments.

Though the federal agency traces its roots back to 1867 – originally formed to help states collect educational data -its existence has long been a point of contention. Some Republicans have opposed the department since its creation, arguing that education policy should be controlled entirely by states and local communities rather than the federal government.

In recent years, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust in U.S. public schools has eroded among some segments of the population, particularly conservatives. For these critics, the DOE has become a symbol of what they see as federal overreach and ideological bias in school systems. The decision to dismantle the department reflects this growing distrust and aligns with a long-standing conservative goal of decentralizing educational governance. 

What exactly does the Department of Education do?

Beyond civil rights enforcement, the DOE plays a major role in financing education across the country — particularly for students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and those pursuing higher education. 

One of the department’s main responsibilities is managing the federal student loan system. Of the department’s $229 billion budget, nearly half – over $114 billion – is allocated to the Federal Direct Student Loan Program. In addition to issuing loans, the department oversees loan forgiveness programs and income-driven repayment plans that millions of borrowers rely on.

It also administers major grant programs that support students from marginalized communities. Title I, for example, provides federal aid to K-12 schools with high numbers or percentages of low-income students. Pell Grants, which do not need to be repaid, are awarded to undergraduate students based on financial need and serve as a critical resource for those who might otherwise be unable to afford college.

These programs are designed to expand educational access, particularly for students living in concentrated poverty. Without the DOE, it remains unclear how – or whether – these programs would continue at scale.

Another vital area of federal support is special education. The department oversees the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law that guarantees students with disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education. In 2024, Congress allocated around $15 billion to support IDEA programs across states. That funding helps pay for additional staff, individualized instruction, and specialized services that many public schools wouldn’t otherwise be able to provide.

Taken together, these programs form a core part of the department’s mission: to ensure that all students, regardless of background, ability, or income, have a fair shot at receiving a quality education.

As the Trump administration moves to dismantle the agency, education experts warn that disrupting or decentralizing these programs could jeopardize critical support for millions of students across the country.

What would the end of the federal department mean for Colorado schools?

According to Kevin Welner, the director of the National Educational Policy Center and a professor in the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, the chaos that would ensue in Colorado public schools would be felt by people in state departments of education and the people in local schools. The majority of funding that flows to Colorado school districts comes from a combination of state and local resources. Districts receive a dollar amount from the state for every student they educate, otherwise known as per-pupil funding. According to a 2024 article by the Colorado Sun the districts net just under $8500 for each of its students. Districts get additional funding for specific groups of students who need extra support, such as students from low income families. 

Dismantling the DOE would be an additional blow to these schools, because many of them are already suffering due to declining student enrollments and reduced state funding. Schools in Colorado anticipated receiving around $70 million for the 2025-2026 academic year; this money was designated for essential programs like teacher training, English language learning, etc. Without this $70 million, these schools will face severe financial pressures that could result in many budget cuts. 

Last year, more than $870 million in federal funds flowed to Colorado, according to data provided by the state education department. This money, according to what the Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova told Colorado Sun, provides a “safety net” for all the kids; it meets the needs of some of their most vulnerable students, including kids with special needs and those living in low-income households. 

The Trump administration is intent on changing how the federal government distributes funding through IDEA, which ensures that students with disabilities can access public education and receive additional needed services. The policy dictates the states to convert that funding into block grants for states. 

According to what Welner told Colorado Sun, when similar changes for block grants have been made in the past, the money allocated for students with disabilities do not go to those who need it. Some of the funds will likely be diverted to a federal voucher program, which will primarily benefit students from more affluent families or private schools. 

Emily Harvey is the co-director of Disability Law Colorado. She explained that when we minimize federal oversight, the states would have to hold themselves accountable. “I think we are going to see dramatic differences across states,” she said, in an interview with Yellow Scene Magazine. “Without federal oversight, there is going to be less incentive to comply with the standards set by schools, which is hard enough to follow with less funding.” 

“The new policies would make it harder for disabled students and poorer students to have access to basic services. The federal government was who we looked to in order to enforce civil rights laws that people with disabilities fought very hard for. Now, the states do not need to enforce these laws; you would have to go to federal court to enforce it, which is very time consuming and costly,” Harvey mentioned.

“I am deeply concerned about the potential impact of the delay and ongoing uncertainty surrounding these critical funds on our students, educators, and schools,” Dr Susana Córdova told the Colorado Sun. She urged school districts to engage in “contingency planning” in case Colorado does not receive the required funding by the end of the federal fiscal year, which is September 30. Denver Public Schools, Colorado’s largest district, stands to lose around $10 million if the federal funds continue to be withheld, according to an article by Colorado Public Radio.  

Alex Marrero, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, issued a statement demanding the release of these funds. According to the statement, the decision to delay the distribution of congressionally appropriated funds is a “dangerous overreach of executive authority and a direct affront to public education, especially for communities that rely most heavily on these supports.” 

Without the DOE providing grants, individual districts must decide whether to continue or end programs powered by federal dollars. They can use the money they would have used on other programs to direct it towards the federal programs and hope that they can be reimbursed when their funding comes in.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser assured the public that Colorado authorities are taking action because their educational leaders need every tool possible to support kids who are struggling with disconnectedness, loneliness, or isolation. 

The administration’s broader plans as part of Project 2025

The Trump administration’s attack on the DOE represents one of the most visible threats to the U.S. public education system. It’s a key part of Project 2025 — a sweeping policy agenda developed by the Heritage Foundation and over 100 other conservative organizations to guide a future Republican administration. Among its proposals are efforts to phase out federal education funding entirely and convert programs like Title I into block grants. This would allow states to redistribute funds from historically marginalized students toward wealthier districts — deepening disparities tied to race, income, and disability. One of the most radical ideas in the plan is dismantling the DOE altogether, justified under the claim that public schools are “underperforming.” In reality, this shift would strip essential federal oversight and protections from the country’s most vulnerable students.

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Should the federal government be involved in regulating education?

The White House has defended its push to eliminate the DOE by claiming it would “return power to the states.” However, this reflects a common Republican misconception; the federal agency doesn’t dictate educational standards or curriculum — it primarily distributes funding and supports research. In reality, states and local school districts already control curriculum, teacher selection, and education policy. The federal government’s role is to help close opportunity gaps, not to set local education agendas. In fact, only about 10% of public education funding comes from the federal level, with the rest provided by state and local taxpayers.

Importantly, federal funding is targeted to support students who are most in need, including low-income students, children with disabilities, and English language learners. Eliminating the department wouldn’t increase state control — it would strip essential resources from marginalized communities. Critics also warn that dismantling the agency would allow the administration to cut positions held by civil servants who challenge its ideological agenda, further politicizing public education. 

According to an article by ACLU without the DOE, the federal government’s capacity to collect data is eviscerated, and this becomes a problem because it is an important resource for identifying and addressing disparities in education. Without this oversight, schools would not be held accountable for unjustified racial and disability disparity in academic performance or access to resources. Policies based on data, which have helped to reduce discriminatory practices, are now at risk. 

In addition, the DOE recently terminated all staff in seven of the Office for Civil Rights’ 12 regional offices, significantly weakening federal enforcement of student civil rights. The OCR, which received $140 million in congressional funding in 2024, is responsible for investigating discrimination complaints and ensuring schools comply with civil rights laws. Terminating its staff not only undermines protections for millions of students — particularly those facing discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, or LGBTQ+ status — but also limits their ability to seek justice when their rights are violated. With fewer investigators, discriminatory practices are more likely to go unchecked across the country. 

Harvey acknowledged the system’s flaws but emphasized its importance. “It wasn’t perfect,” she told YS, “but it was what we had — and what families depended on.” She noted that complaints could sometimes take over two years to receive a response from the OCR or the US Department of Justice, leaving students vulnerable in the meantime. Still, she believes that if the system is to be rebuilt, there’s an opportunity to make it stronger and more responsive than before, as opposed to simply laying off employees. 

All these policies, part of Project 2025, encourage taxpayer funds to flow to private K-12 schools with no guarantee that the money would not be used to discriminate or prioritize some students over others. These vouchers incentivize education to become more privatized, which would undermine the value of public education. 

A bigger plan to exert influence across the country

Supporters of Project 2025 policies argue that the functions performed by the DOE can be performed by other departments as well. But if efficiency were the goal, there are various ways to achieve it, as opposed to such dramatic layoffs. There are many scholars and officials who feel as though the administration aims to undermine public education and get more right-wing organizations to be in charge of the education system. This is a systematic move to instill its agenda in schools across the country and discriminate against those who disagree with its ideologies. 

The Trump administration appears to want to exert significant influence over education policy – not through direct legislation – but by controlling what students are taught in schools. A central part of this strategy may involve the appointment of Linda McMahon as secretary of education. McMahon, a former executive at World Wrestling Entertainment, and the wife of former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, has become a controversial figure due to serious allegations tied to her tenure at the company.

Although she is not charged with any abuse, a recent lawsuit has accused both Linda and Vince McMahon of enabling the sexual exploitation of minors — referred to as “ring boys” — by a WWE ring announcer decades ago. The suit alleges that Linda McMahon turned a blind eye to the abuse while in a leadership role at WWE. Her attorney has denied the claims. These accusations have raised widespread concerns about her ability to oversee the DOE, which is responsible for the well-being and education of more than 50 million students across approximately 98,000 public and 32,000 private schools nationwide. 

This is particularly significant to note because, as the leader of the DOE, McMahon would oversee its Office for Civil Rights, which enforces critical child protection policies such as Title IX, a federal law that prevents schools from practicing sex-based discrimination. 

The administration’s approach to education has also aligned closely with a network of right-wing groups, including Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist organization with growing national influence. According to an article by Mother Jones, it acknowledged working closely with members of the Trump team to “ensure that students’ needs are prioritized” in the public education system, though the group declined to confirm details. 

Founded in 2021 by former Florida school board members Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich, Moms for Liberty has led efforts to purge public school libraries of books dealing with race, gender, and LGBTQ+ issues. The group often frames its work as a defense against “woke indoctrination,” pushing unproven claims that schools are sexualizing children or promoting Marxist ideologies. 

“The policies highlighted in Project 2025 would give Trump unprecedented powers to undo many of the protections the LGBTQ+ community have spent decades fighting to gain,” Cathryn Oakley, Senior Director of Legal Policy at the Human Rights Campaign, told the National Education Association (NEA). It plans to scrap the policies implemented during the Biden administration and other Title IX regulations; the implications of this could have a devastating impact on these communities.  

According to a Truthout interview with Jon Valant, the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, where his research specializes in K-12 education policy, the administration seems to be twisting and redefining the department’s priorities with respect to civil rights. Until now, its focus was to protect vulnerable groups of students; now, the focus seems to be on weaponizing civil rights enforcement to threaten school districts and universities that do not align with its positions on culture-war issues like LGBTQ+ rights or disability rights. 

Harvey, during the YS interview, made it clear that she has not given up; she has been talking with other advocates to continue fighting for people with disabilities. “The Americans with Disabilities Act wasn’t handed down from above – it was fought for. It came only after activists left their wheelchairs and crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol, forcing the country to see just how inaccessible its government truly was.” Laws like the ADA and Title IX exist because people demanded better –  not just for themselves but for the generations that would follow. 

“We have to stay focused on what’s best for the kids,” Harvey said. “Here in Colorado, there are people who care — people deeply committed to ensuring every child has the chance to learn and grow. We’re going to keep moving in that direction. I truly believe we can come together to strengthen civil rights protections for our students, so we don’t lose the progress that so many people have fought for.”

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These American Crossroads: Stories of Resistance and Persistence from the United States’ Heartland

President Trump’s federal administration makes no secret of leaning into authoritarianism, from openly defying the courts’ Constitutional role to imposing illegal policies rooted in cruelty. Every average American will share in feeling the impact of policy choices defunding healthcare, eliminating education, xenophobic immigration rules, even challenging our understanding of the objective truth. While our nation’s most populous coastal cities get disproportionate media coverage, someone needs to keep an eye on the center of the country. Many of the electoral college votes for president in 2024 from these plains states went to President Trump, but many more chose to abstain or to vote otherwise. In the contemporary age of misinformation it has become more important than ever to share truthful stories from the ground, centering real American voices.

“These American Crossroads” is a collaboration between national award-winning multimedia journalist Vince Chandler, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s last independent newsroom. Community supported and in support of the community, Vince is embedding with activists and political organizers across the central U.S. to share stories about real people having real impact as they advocate and fight for their neighbors and our nation. Crisscrossing the country in a near-constant loop from Colorado to Ohio, you can follow along with Vince’s stories on your favorite social media platform and right here in Yellow Scene Magazine.

Help us raise the funds to support Vince’s work for “These American Crossroads.” Every dollar helps fuel the next leg of the journey — and gets us one step closer to building the only record of this moment that centers truth, dignity, and community, and we hope, influence policy changes that impact all Americans. We’re not stopping until Vince runs out of gas and they’re already on the road.

Click the headline to read more. This page will be updated as new stories are added to the series. 

8 Kansans Arrested, 3 Days of Protest in D.C.

Arriving in Arlington, Virginia the first task in getting to know one another was dinner. Heading to the grocery store they pulled the list of dietary restrictions and shopped cautiously, adhering to meet the group of fourteen’s needs with as broad a selection as possible. Plant-based dairy free cheese was found while ingredient labels read twice to be sure they were free from mushrooms.

The care taken in the early stages reflects the intentional, careful consideration that had united these organizers, activists and fueled the trip to D.C. Weeks earlier, an article discussing the initial decision by President Trump to deploy National Guard troops into Washington was shared into a statewide group chat. Shelby Hermosillo, from Salina seized her Jerry Maguire moment and asked who was going with her.

Shelby Hermosillo, of Salina, Kansas, is led out of the Dirksen Senate Building Cafeteria by Capitol Police after being arrested for participating in a nonviolent protest against proposed cuts to Housing and Urban Development in the 2026 Congressional Appropriations Bill. The Free State Advocates travelled to Washington D.C. to join Popular Democracy for an act of civil disobedience, eight Kansans, Miranda Bachman, Shelby Hermosillo, Olivia Phillips, Gary Phillips, Becky Norlin, Christie Peterson, Michelle Jones, Sara Gillum were arrested. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“It all just happened so fast, it was kind of like ‘are you kidding me?’” Hermosillo told Yellow Scene, reflecting on the quick build and immediate reception of her idea. “It was my last straw, because we’d been standing out there protesting every week, doing the things, making yard signs, doing all these little things and as much as it matters I didn’t feel like we were getting anywhere. I was ready to go to DC and face it. I messaged the group chat and just asked ‘anyone want to go to DC? Let’s rally together, let’s go.’”

Soon, the group had leadership from twelve statewide organizations equaling fourteen people were confirmed. Reigning the momentum, the group of experienced organizers transitioned from ideation to activation. Immediately, fundraising began and plans were made.

A rental home in their budget was found only miles from the Capitol, one they could all share. Virtual meetings were set to share personal experiences and plan for everyone’s role. For some, this would be their first time traveling to the east coast, their experiences building movements at home were extrapolated and applied. Representatives from Leading Kansas, Midwest Unrest, Sunflower Coalition, Noisy but Necessary, Kansas Impact Coalition, Central Kansas Activists, Arc of Justice, Franklin County Action Network, KC Women’s Action Collective, 50501 Kansas, Boots on the Ground, Indivisible, and “likely more,” coordinated and collaborated, concluding in an action plan.

“It was just inspiring, ” Malice, an organizer in Kansas City for KC Women’s Action Collective, told Yellow Scene. “We had so many people from different backgrounds, from different areas with different levels of experience and reasons for being involved. We had queer people, we had disabled people, we had young people, we had old people, seeing people that were so diverse coming together for the same purpose is what we want to see around the country. This was an example that it could happen.”

“I’m biracial, and looking back in history at the civil rights movement, we’re following the pathway that has created change, movement, for the rights we have now. I felt as though I was doing a very similar thing protesting in this way, causing civil unrest like my grandparents and great grandparents stood with in the 60’s.” says Olivia Philips, who was one of the eight arrestees on September 10. “ We come from the center of the country and we’re not getting heard. I feel like it’s monumental for us to travel all the way to D.C. and make a stand like this.”

The first question to be answered: what would they like to accomplish? They wanted to carry the voices of their neighbors, the messages from the signs which surround them in their separate corners of Kansas, to their elected leaders. They wanted to confront the National Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They wanted to speak directly with their representatives in Congress. Some were willing to risk arrest to take a stand.

Punk Rock is Political, Cleveland’s Gay Metal Bar Won’t Let You Forget

Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller re-established Cleveland as a prosperous city of wealth during the second Industrial Revolution, building the city in his image of splendor while creating distinct divides between the baron class owners and the workers who generated his fortune. Like other industrial cities in the region, it has felt the impact of the departure of manufacturing, slipping into disrepair bearing signs of dilapidation.

Drag performer Homer E. Rodick points to the sky while show host Bram Stroke-Her faces the audience during a performance raising funds for TransOhio at No Class in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Clevelanders in this eastern gateway to the Heartland insist, however, that their city is worth fighting for. Cognizant that they’ve been left picking up the tab for political corruption, they see the wealth gap that fuels the profits of billionaire developers and energy conglomerates, while leaving themselves and their neighbors behind. Recently, there has been a push back at the continued exploitation of the lakefront midwest metropolis, as the people work to build community first campaigns and organizations to reinvigorate and revitalize their town from the grass roots.

To do that, it takes people. Those people need the place to gather safely. At No Class, they find solidarity in a space where art and conversation can thrive. Existing for years as Now That’s Class before Jochum took ownership, the space organically transformed from crust punk hovel to its current existence as No Class, what can only be described as a gay metal bar. Show attendees may not know it when they walk through the door, but they’ve entered a political space.

“It’s really hard to make people care, and I just care,” Jochum says, sitting on the venue’s back porch moments after finishing a board meeting with a local community development corporation. “Trying to get other people to give a shit about stuff has been a struggle, but we’re working on it.”

Workers Over Billionaires on Labor Day in Greeley, Colorado

With protests planned in Denver, Golden, Loveland, Boulder, left-leaning towns across the Square State, what would this call to action look like in a worker-strong county where President Trump won by 21 points?

As the scheduled start time approached, more than one hundred people were walking along the tables set up by organizations and volunteers with further calls to action, more opportunities to raise their voices. Some carried signs, prepared for the march starting in an hour. With a tap on a microphone, a chant was encouraged by the amplified voice starting the programming.

Protestors rally during a march through downtown Greeley, Colorado, chanting and waving signs at passing traffic during the Workers Over Billionaires day of action on Labor Day, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, newly created in response to population change, stretches from the north Denver suburbs of Thornton and Arvada stretching to its farthest northeast population center in Greeley. Between lays a spectrum of exurban and rural communities, housing quite the range of philosophical and political ideologies.

Currently represented in the House of Representatives by Republican Gabe Evans, the seat was founded in 2024 by Democrat Yadira Caraveo. Now, it is widely considered one of the most competitive race in the fight for control of the Capitol. As the Governor rejects following California and Texas in redrawing districts (and Missouri joins that conversation), this Colorado race is one that could decide the balance of the U.S. legislature in 2026.

And to recognize Labor Day, the unions and political organizers did not miss the chance to make that clear. For an hour, the microphone was passed between candidates – vying for city council, mayor, and Representative Evans’ Congressional seat, including State Treasurer Dave Young – and union leaders.

Fun Runs and Torah Study, Omaha Organizes for Palestine

Organized in coordination with Ohio-founded HEAL Palestine, this midwest waterfront park was hosting a 5k and fun run named for Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl who the IDF publicly killed alongside the paramedics saving her life following a previous by Israeli forces. In the first attack, 335 bullets were fired from a tank at the car occupied by children, while Hind’s 15-year-old sister called for help on the phone. Hind was the only one to survive, only to be killed when help arrived.

To remember Hind, and to raise direct aid for children like her who are experiencing the occupation, today’s 5k offered an opportunity to educate and advocate without confrontation. Collaborators from local organizations offered their individual expertises to provide medical training and care, production equipment and entertainment.

Registrants sign in for the Hind’s 5k race in Heart of American Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The event, named for a 5-year-old girl killed by Israel was held to raise funds for pediatric medical care in Palestine. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

After registering and receiving your official race bib, you walked the path through the park past mutual aid organizers and representatives from HEAL Palestine. Nearing the starting line brings a wave of pregame jitters, that nervous anticipation athletes permeate as they prepare for their event. Families with newborns in their jogging strollers, teens taking selfies in their friend groups, millennials stretching and warming up (because they came to win).

A snack table laden with BDS approved goodies and water opened up to where the speakers stood, the first starting to tap the microphone. Kayla, the day’s emcee and event organizer, takes a moment to remind everyone of what brought everyone together today before a moment of silence in remembrance of Hind and the children of Palestine.

“To carry her memory, to honor her life, and to stand for the right of every Palestinian child to be safe and free.”

Kansas Organizers Call for Gen Z Participation

Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna Repass was on the stage with a message for the younger generation in the room, asking they take it with them to their friends and peers. The daughter of a civil rights activist, she reflected on a moment in her youth when her mom encouraged the family to continue the fight for equity. To build on her generation’s progress rather than accepting their strides as enough.

David Hogg, recently ousted as Vice Chair for the Democratic National Committee, speaks from stage at Pitt State University during an event hosted by the Kansas Young Democrats on Saturday, August 16, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

She reminded her children that they couldn’t coast on the accomplishments of an earlier time. The laws of physics even against them, if they don’t create their own momentum the smallest force can stop – even push back – a coasting object. Standing before the audience that day, Repass implored the crowd to not coast, to actively get involved and to listen to younger voices as they work to build a coalition in support of American liberties.

With a roar of applause, she concluded and introduced the morning’s headline speaker: David Hogg. The Gen Z organizer and gun regulation activist strolled on to the stage, cooly and calmly grasping the microphone. The recently ousted former Vice Chair for the Democratic National Committee recounted how hard it was to be a voice in a room of leaders where no one else is under thirty.

“The biggest obstacle to success for our party – and I believe the best is yet to come – is that we’ve become the part of ‘we can’t,’” he told the packed house. “It feels like we’ve become the party of incrementalism in the face of atrocities that are happening and blatant violations of the Constitution. I’m tired of being the party of strongly worded letters.”

Showing Up For Democracy and Demanding Peace in Missouri

Missouri, a +18 President Trump state, seems to be in-line with many of the MAGA authoritarian decisions when looking at electoral politics. When voting for candidates with a party identity, for a representative, the GOP consistently wins statewide.

When the people are asked about policy, though, there are breaks from party platform standards. With practically an inverse voter split on the same 2024 ballot which gave the state’s ten electoral college votes to President Trump, voters overwhelmingly chose to raise the state’s minimum wage – also mandating that workers’ wages will increase with inflation – as well as requiring paid sick leave.

By an even wider margin they chose not to divert court fees to fund law enforcement retirement benefits. Those same voters also narrowly called to create a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing access to abortion.

The state’s Republican-controlled State House and courts, mirroring the federal administration’s authoritarian behavior, immediately got to work undoing the will of the voters. In July, Governor Mike Kehoe signed into law the bill repealing the voter-chosen paid sick leave decision and the workers’ wage increases with inflation.

On August 12, the state’s Supreme Court declined to decide on Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s challenge on the voter approved abortion amendment, deferring to a lower court. That particular attack on the rationale of the electorate will continue while the power individual voters can have will be brought into question.

Following the Texas legislature’s lead, the MAGA state house will begin to explore options to fulfill President Trump’s direct request to intentionally gerrymander Republican-led states in an effort to add party members to the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislature is responding by carving a changed district around Kansas City, Missouri, to fulfill the President’s request for only party loyal members being added to Congress.

With the decision of whether the voices of Missourians will be reflected accurately at the polls being made by their representatives, the people are finding consistent and constant ways to be heard in the streets. On this particular morning, about one hundred of them are lining the sidewalks holding signs, flags, and cowbells with speakers playing patriotic protest anthems raising their volume in support of saving their republic.

Solidarity, Bipartisanship, and Satanic Protest in Kansas

Conservative Kansas is the contemporary reality in the state the Westboro Baptist Church calls home. While registered

Almost 500 Kansans gather on the south steps of their State House for a group photo in solidarity with the 50501 nationwide Rage Against the Regime protest organized in all fifty states on August 2, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

Republicans have decreased by more than seven thousand people this year already, a majority of the state’s voters are GOP members. Nearly a million. The only group of voters to grow in 2025, by about 3,000 people, is the second largest pool: the unaffiliated.

Kansas has a history of standing ten toes forward for their principles. Bleeding Kansas fought a small war against Missouri slavers to found their territory as a Free Soil state. Infamous abolitionist John Brown first made national headlines by violently fighting against the institution on the eastern plains, years before he’d be remembered forever for his failed attempt to start an enslaved persons revolt at Harpers Ferry. Touring the Capitol’s visitor center you’ll see that this radical history is still celebrated.

Bang the Pots, Colorado Protests Palestinian Starvation in Capital

Journalist Bisan Owda, in Palestine, has bravely shone a spotlight on these cruel tactics’ impacts on her people. Around the world, people scroll through their feeds of baking tips and hyperspecific interests with the occasional mention of the atrocities being committed on the coasts of the Mediterranean. Too many quickly scroll past, searching for the next placating escape.

Protestors for Palestinian liberation demonstrate on the west side of Colorado’s capitol building in Denver Colorado. Answering the call from Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, hundreds of Coloradans gathered across the capital city to clang empty cookware in protest of the forced famine in the occupied Palestinian Territories on July 24, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

To circumvent this social media ennui, Owda made a simple request: get loud. Their pots, their pans, their stomachs are empty and while the Freedom Flotilla carves their way toward their shores, little other help seems to be fighting through the occupier’s embargo. So, the globe was asked to take their own empty kitchenware and demand that the Palestinian’s be filled.

In Denver, Colorado, under a grey sky threatening storms, hundreds of sympathetic people heard the call. The first sharp clanks or metal ladle on sauce pan were soon joined by the dull thuds of wooden spoons on lobster pots. Metal lids became improvised cymbals, 5-gallon paint buckets became plastic drums. A hammer hitting a sign post made a metallic rattle which could be heard blocks away.

“We don’t have the usual programming, we’re not doing speeches today,” organizers at the Capitol announced through their megaphones. “I don’t know what’s left to be said! We went from ‘free Palestine,’ to ‘ceasefire,’ to ‘stop starving them.’ What’s next?”

Faith Drives Direct Action in Nebraska

The Urban Abbey is a gathering space, a safe place, for the marginalized and ostracized in Omaha, Nebraska. Deliberately established between the gentrifying luxury condos in the historic downtown and the spaces where the poor and unhoused gather and camp, the coffee shop and bookstore are set up to be a catch-all for anyone looking for a third place and community.

Reverend Dr.Jane Florence speaks from the lectern during the Faith in Action Sunday morning church services at The Urban Abbey, in Omaha, Nebraska. “I had my own, calling into ministry, and it was undeniable…my own spiritual journey led me and it’s been good,” she reflected later to Yellow Scene while remembering her path to this progressive pulpit. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene).

Walking through the door, you do see less-than-subtle hints of the house of prayer. Holy water sits in a baptismal font, there are bible verses hanging framed on the exposed red brick wall. On the neatly arranged bookshelves titles like A People’s History of the United States sit only feet away from Marsha P. Johnson’s biography, on a shelf next to the gospel according to Mary Magdalene.

Founded by ordained Methodist minister Rev. Debra McKnight, Urban Abbey’s mission is to be “a space of radical hospitality connecting people to God and one another in everyday life.” They set out on a mission to not only reach people who felt disenfranchised or unrepresented by their church but to hear their needs and help see them be met. Even if it meant taking an activist’s approach.

Denver Demonstrators Demand Personal Privacy at Palantir Headquarters

Headquartered in Denver, Palantir is a technology company founded by PayPal architect Peter Thiel and his Stanford roommate Alex Karp. They create software systems meant to capture consumer and customer data and to quickly synthesize the information collected to drive decisions. Ones made by humans and artificial intelligence.

Protestors briefly occupied the plaza of The Tabor Center, where Palantir Technologies is headquartered in Denver, before Denver Police pushed them off of the private property to the sidewalk to join picketers and demonstrators assembled there, during an action to raise awareness about Palantir’s involvement in government surveillance of private citizens on July 14, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

In the private sector, that consumer data is used to help sell cheeseburgers or seat upgrades. With their largest clients, though, it’s used to choose who lives and who dies.

Last year, the U.S. Army, under the Biden Administration, gave Palantir more than $400,000,000 to help streamline their military force’s management of recruitment, deployment, and “readiness.” President Trump’s Department of Defense has since swelled their investment to more than $1,000,000,000 – anticipating a near future of increased need for military “readiness.”

In Iowa, Where Critical Race Theory is Banned, Retired Justice Teaches Race, Law and Iowa History

In 2021, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law banning public schools from teaching the historic and cultural impact of systemic racism or sexism. In a nation founded under principles of systemic exclusion, where women were not afforded the right to vote, own property, or even open a bank account and where Black Americans were first legally recognized as only 3/5 of a human being.Teaching that important context was no longer allowed in the classroom.

Retired Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel works on his computer in his office in the faculty bay at Drake University’s Law School, researching the connections and threads impacting Black Iowans through their legal system, from the writing of the state constitution to how it contrasts with contemporary federal law on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

MAGA Republicans had recently focused their ire on the scholarly and legal framework of critical race theory. Though decades old in academia, the term had been catapulted into the zeitgeist by then-former President Trump and his allies as an attack on the comfort of white Americans who – they believed – would be better served by not knowing about the rippling legacies of subjugation in this country.

Schools districts in the state have already ended their Black History Month programming as more teachers say they see self-censoring for fear of losing funding in their schools.

At Drake University, a young Black law student found an opportunity to be sure his peers in the law – at least – would graduate and enter their careers with the important historical context of the law with his instructor, retired Iowa Supreme Court Justice Judge Brent Appel.

Community Art, Music & Joy for Aurora ICE Detainees

Darkness crept around and it was decided it was time to turn up the volume and for the final three bands of the evening to take the stage – performing over the crowd before them for those locked inside behind.

Flobots frontman Jonny 5 gestures to a sign reading ICE while singing a bilingual protest song during a community action at the A large crowd of people fill the tree lawn and sidewalk outside of a chain link cage and prison windows, spilling in to the street around parked cars, while hanging an art installation and singing for the detainees inside a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

“I don’t know if Tim Hernández is still here,” Flobots’ Jonny 5 said as the Denver hip hop group took the stage, “but I’m reminded tonight of something he once said. We cannot become the thing we hate.”

Referencing the Colorado educator and former State House Representative’s assertion that authoritarianism robs the community of creativity and joy, he reminded the crowd that we have to have energy to have power, and our power is rooted in collective good.

Closing the evening with a wildly high energy set which included their Billboard charting hit “Handlebars,” the crowd amplified their reminder of joy as resistance, allowing it to ripple through the concrete and steel separating families and communities from their loved ones inside.

Fourth of July in Trump Country, CO

As the Fourth of July approached and House Republicans worked through the night to garner the necessary votes to pass President Trump’s landmark One Big Beautiful Act by his Independence Day deadline, some in Colorado asked themselves what there could possibly be to celebrate this year.

Cylus smiles and watches the sparks from a handheld firework pour over his head as he awaited the night sky to get dark enough for the fire department to begin the large 4th of July firework show with his mom in Rocky Ford, Colorado. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The bill’s impact is projected to hit Colorado’s rural communities especially hard.

Estimates are that nearly 241,000 residents of the square state will lose their health care because of the bill’s $900 billion cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Disabled and chronically ill residents will have to leap through new loops to continue to receive life-saving care.

As protests were planned in the state’s urban centers, where the majority of the population lives and where s plurality gave Colorado to Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, the question remained: What were people celebrating in this moment?

And where to go, to find out?

On a clear day, the Rocky Mountains are just visible in your rear view mirror. They serve as a subtle reminder that you’re still in Colorado, though the plains rising to meet you begin to mirror neighboring Kansas.

Turning East from Pueblo, where voters flipped then flopped between Presidents Trump, Biden, and Trump again you enter the counties represented in Congress by Republicans like Congressman Jeff Hurd.

Here, you’re entering Trump Country, CO.

??

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post These American Crossroads appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The red sun still laying low over the far away horizon, rolling hills and glowing roads guide the way as you arrive in Topeka, Kansas. Navigating the sleepy avenues toward the state’s Capitol. The air is cool and humid and the limestone building reflects the warm light, an omen of the hot day to come.

A dozen volunteers are setting up canopies, pulling wagons loaded with water and speakers. A microphone was just plugged in at the foot of the stone south steps. Greetings are exchanged as tables erected for an art station, a volunteer check-in, first-aid. Hours before hundreds of people would join, a handful of smiling people handed out walkie talkies and shared sour sentiments about Sesame Street.

Spirits were high, despite the underlying sense of dire urgency which had called this group to spend their Saturday morning building the infrastructure to protest their own government. A jobs market in sharp decline, the forced famine in Palestine, President Trump and the Epstein List; conversations swirled between topics which elicited tones of real concern and uncertainty. Some topics contrasted in conversation, questioning a lack of youth particpation while criticizing the growing support for populism and socialism in younger voters.

Representatives from Indivisible Kansas discuss the day’s events with rally attendees while selling yard signs as a fundraiser for the ““Real Kansans. Real Voters. Real Fed Up,” billboard campaign in the Sunflower State. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

“I would ask people to talk to their neighbor, and not in a way that says ‘hey idiot..’ but more in the ‘are you aware’ way,” Kansas 50501 organizer Scott McFarland told Yellow Scene during the protest. “[We need a] connection to the younger generation to work with us and help in clearing the apathy. There’s a lot of dislike of capitalism, they’re being labeled as socialists, but it’s just that they’re tired of the corruption in capitalism.”

As support organizations and political parties continued to arrive, the crowd grew. A visible majority were people over 40, many old enough to recall their experiences seeing the unrest around the Vietnam War while discussing today’s events. There was a voiced sentiment of shock that they were seeing authoritarianism in their lifetimes and a concern for disinterest and acceptance by younger Americans.

Previous 50501 protests have attracted thousands to the streets of the Kansas capital. Each week in cities across the state, grassroots activists maintain consistent presences in the +16 Trump/Vance state. Organizers for today’s “Rage Against the Regime” event were cautiously conservative with their expectations for attendance, hoping to see a few hundred.

Ultimately, almost 500 Kansans were gathered as our day’s sole speaker approached the microphone and greeted the crowd. With a flowing, energetic speech matching her audience’s inertia, she spoke for a fiery thirty minutes, leading them in chants between reflecting on her personal experiences extrapolated to the national policy conversation. A sexual assault survivor, she outlined her rage that day being fed by seeing a credibly accused sexual predator sit at the Resolute Desk, using his power to pardon other assailants.

Kansans from across the political spectrum rally together on Veterans’ Walk in front of the state Capitol in Topeka ahead of a march through the downtown urban center. Organized as a “Rage Against the Regime” the 50501 protest are a “a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.” (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Wrapping up with a moment of silence for the children of Gaza, the energy returned like a shockwave carried on the wall of sound produced from hundreds of hand-made noise makers breaking the quiet calm. From the steps of the Capitol, where attendees had gathered for a group photo, they stepped off down the Veterans’ Walk toward the town’s major thoroughfare.

Keeping to the sidewalks, marshaled by volunteers who maintained adherence to street signals and crosswalks, the hundreds of unified Kansans marched through the city center. Along commercial roads on a path which brought them past the county’s Republican offices, they raised their voices declaring their dissent to authoritarianism, the loss of due process, and cuts to public services like health care and education.

The line of protestors carrying signs, clanging pots, blowing horns, and chanting loudly stretched for blocks. Passersby honked encouragingly, waving and cheering from their windows as they passed. Not without opposition, some shared crude hand signals with anger on their faces.

An inarguable Republican stronghold, a Democrat hasn’t won the presidential ticket since before 1980 and their U.S. House representation has been overwhelmingly red in the same period, one district never seeing a Dem victory. Statewide and locally, though, there is some partisan flexibility, the Governor’s seat has been blue since 2018.

In the same time period, the population of Kansas has not kept up with national growth trends, seeing a state increase of less than 3% in the previous census. Kansas lost a seat in congress in 1990, and in the presidential race lost some influence with ten electoral college votes falling to only six. The fastest-increasing portion of their population is 65+.

Civic engagement is split into two majority coalitions, registered Republicans making up the largest group and only a few thousand behind are non-participants. Of the two million registered voters in the state, nearly 800,000 chose to stay home in November 2024.

Young voters continue to connect more with social issues and movements over partisan idols and party politics. At the county Democrats’ annual fundraiser following the 50501 protest, politicos grappled with how to translate the evolution of local engagement for ballot initiatives specific to issues like abortion and the economy into capturing votes for candidates.

Current electeds, alongside candidates vying for their own seats, shook hands with constituents while volunteers prepared a buffet of picnic staples. Awards and recognition were distributed for service to the chapter and speeches were given highlighting the party’s want for coalition building and grassroots persuasion.

“A couple times during the presidential election, I went to bed thinking that change was really going to come for our country, and then I woke up disappointed,” Topeka Mayor Michael Padilla told the crowd assembled in the IBEW hall. “But that doesn’t mean that that disappointment makes me less determined to make that change happen with the help of fellow Democrats, independents, and – yes – Republicans.”

Topeka Mayor Mike Padilla, a Democrat and former police officer, speaks on the need to reach out to everyone with a tone of kindness and a resolve committed to Democratic values during the annual Shawnee County Democrats Picnic, telling the crowd “it’s necessary for us to speak up. I get pushback, and its because they want to silence my personal opinion simply because I’m in opposition to what they seek. When asked why they oppose these ideas of democracy, and freedom, and civil rights for everyone. They’re usually hard pressed for answers.” (Photos by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Reflecting the sentiment, a majority of the conversation was centered on moving those who cast their ballots regularly from the more conservative Republican ticket to the centrist-leaning Kansas Democrat platform. While the state’s place in the abortion rights movement was rightfully celebrated, and the need to expand access to affordable housing was constantly mentioned, the theme centered openly on the need for bipartisan cooperation and converting existing voters rather than finding the messaging which would create new ones.

The historic vote rejecting the ban on abortion in the  Sunflower State saw an measurable shift in partisan response, illuminating the importance of elevating issues’ impacts above partisan and candidate politics. The Republican state voted against the ban, with more people casting a vote in the decision for abortion than the decision for president.

The sometimes apathetic unaffiliated voter in Kansas was engaged in this vote, legally unable to cast a ballot in the parallel primary elections but able to make a decision in the referendum. Almost 200,000 voters not affiliated with the two major political parties participated. In the lead-up to the election, Kansas was also the third most engaged state for young voters aged 18-29, with registration leaping from 2018 numbers and the Gen Z / Zillenial vote increasing their influence to the highest levels in thirty years.

Nearly 40% of registered voters under forty in Kansas cast their ballot in 2022, during a traditionally low turnout midterm primary election, called to action by an issue more than a person. In 2024, during the presidential race when voter turnout is traditionally at its highest, fewer than 2% of the same group went to the polls.

“One of the things that Kansans are good at, especially in some of the rural districts where I knock doors, is that we all have different opinions and we give each other time to talk,” Shawnee County Democrats Vice-Chair JP Porter told Yellow Scene Magazine at the event. “Right now, it’s time to build those relationships, just talk to people. Hear them out, make sure people are comfortable.”

As the Shawnee Democrats wrapped up their fundraising raffle with a 50/50, back at the Capitol another protest was beginning to be set up. While the morning saw hundreds rallying against the authoritarian creep in policy and posture by the federal administration, a few dozen were gathering to protest their state government in support of personal liberty and religious freedom.

The Satanic Grotto, an offshoot of The Satanic Temple formed in pursuit of increased autonomy, were returning for the first time since a series of dramatic moments during a previous protest they organized in March resulted in scuffles, police intervention, and four arrests. That event drew thousands to the Capitol grounds, a majority counterprotestors. Tonight, fifty gathered, including the police and five antagonists carrying crosses and warnings of eternal damnation.

While counter protesters and some attendees exchanged loud sounds and short statements, most stayed close to the newly erected sound system, once again at the bottom of the building’s south steps. Speakers and musicians exchanged the stage, bringing a mix of concert and rally to the crowd. Activist Ms. B spoke on the need to not be complacent, to not be lazy, in a moment that required presence and action. She illustrates her call to action with reflection and accountability for moments in her own past when she wished she’d done more.

Author, activist, and former local elected Mike Trapp quoted from his book “The Practical Guide to Building a Better World” offering his eleven suggestions to coalescing in movement work. He outlined his decades of experience advocating for a better world, discussing bearing witness to the slide from what he calls “friendly fascism” into something even worse. He encouraged looking past contrasts in aesthetic or approach to build allies aligned with the civic work to be done at a local level, in City Halls and on school boards, where individuals can have the most impact.

After a full concert set from Girard, Kansas metal outfit Rage Is My Rival, Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart took the mic warning those still gathered as the sun sank below surrounding buildings that he was definitely going to cry. He thanked his peers, organizers, lawmakers, community members, and even the Capitol police who practiced their principles of supporting individual and religious liberty by fighting for the Grotto to secure the required permits for the protest to occur uninterrupted that evening.

The Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart leads attendees on an umbrella march around the Kansas Capitol, stopping on the four cardinal coordinates and leading those gathered in a synchronized chant meant to evoke and emanate personal power. The Not Quite Witching Hour protest organized by The Satanic Grotto marked the end of a months-long battle to return to the spot exercising their first amendment rights after a briefly-chaotic culmination to the group’s previous event, a Black Mass held in the same spot in March 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

He remembered aloud his assault and arrest at the Capitol earlier this year. He reflected on how people’s perceptions and preconceived assumptions often inhibited the message he was advocating for. He cited specific legislation being discussed inside the government chambers he stood before while gave encouragement to those in attendance to get involved. Offering testimony, contacting representatives, organizing neighbors, his plan for action mirrored that of the organizers earlier in the day: participation.

“We cannot be the only ones fighting,” Stewart told those gathered. “The intersectionality converges right here on this battlefield. Hiding from it will not make you safe, it will only make you an easier target. Everyone, everywhere, needs to pick their battle and drive it the [expletive] forward.”

From the jump, a group of political organizers identifying themselves as Satanic is going to cause controversy. Some will find it easy to discount their message because of the container in which it is distributed. Some write them off as unserious performative art, others take their cartoonish construct literally and refuse to listen for fear of devil worship being the core talking point. Their consistent pushback at over-encroaching authoritarian policy and intentional organizing messaging, in tandem with their undeniable regionally and nationally rippling impact – though – suggest that their efforts should be seen more seriously.

“From a marketing perspective, their ‘extreme’ branding definitely gets their group plenty of attention and free press, but then people just judge the book by its cover and don’t actually look into their really solid ethics and organizing tactics,” Nebraska political organizer JD Hanson told Yellow Scene while reflecting on how other Heartland movements see and feel their influence locally. “Some people just hear satanic and then completely tune out everything else.”

Conservative Kansas is the contemporary reality in the state the Westboro Baptist Church calls home. While registered Republicans have decreased by more than seven thousand people this year already, a majority of the state’s voters are GOP members. Nearly a million. The only group of voters to grow in 2025, by about 3,000 people, is the second largest pool: the unaffiliated.

Kansas has a history of standing ten toes forward for their principles. Bleeding Kansas fought a small war against Missouri slavers to found their territory as a Free Soil state. Infamous abolitionist John Brown first made national headlines by violently fighting against the institution on the eastern plains, years before he’d be remembered forever for his failed attempt to start an enslaved persons revolt at Harpers Ferry. Touring the Capitol’s visitor center you’ll see that this radical history is still celebrated.

Kansas resident turned activist Molly Tolly distributes hundreds of protest placards she handmade at her “Sign Library,” a pop-up table she erects at actions across the state. She has attended 38 protests so far in 2025, often bringing more than 100 signs, she allows attendees to borrow them for the day, seeing at least 80% returned after the event. Not sure what she could offer the movement as an individual working as a family caretaker, she identified this art as activism project as one small way she could have a large impact. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

Less than a mile from the heart of the state’s government stands the historic site for the Brown Versus Board Supreme Court Decision. A court case that could have only happened in Kansas, because segregation in the state which had rejected slavery in its constitution was considered at the time the “gold standard” for the immoral act. Kansans relegated legal segregation only to large population centers and only by local control. While some cities outlawed it outright, others segregated children while spelling out in the law equal distribution standards for resources, in contrast to some of the more cruel forms of legal racism in the deep south.

It was for these reasons that the NAACP chose Kansas schools as their battleground to elevate the fight against state-protected bigotry to the nation’s highest courts. If the organization could prove that the midwest standard for the Plessy Versus Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine – which many people found acceptable – still created disproportionate harm to non-white students, then in contrast more violent forms in places like Louisiana or Arkansas couldn’t possibly stand.

Wherever they align ideologically, personal liberty is at the front of progressive movements in this central prairie state. Individuals find their place by measuring capacity and staying in their lane after it has been identified. Collecting impact statements from their neighbors and creating conversations on shared values, hoping to move them away from MAGA authoritarianism. Creating a pathway to political participation for ostracized weirdos or creating hundreds of handmade signs to distribute on loan at protests. Inside political party infrastructure or through autonomous grassroots organizing. In a moment that calls for many approaches converging toward a shared end, each individual voice creates a choir singing in chorus, though may be still finding the harmony.

_______________________________________

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Solidarity, Bipartisanship, and Satanic Protest in Kansas appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The quiet evening air is suddenly pierced by a dampened thwack. As the grey clouds start to tease above the still dry air, suggesting rain which will never fully arrive, the soft static crackle of a megaphone is followed by a short chorus of more muted metallic drum beats. Flags are unfurled and the dozen or so people standing outside of the Colorado Capitol in Denver raise their voices in response to the amplified call now coming from the front.

“Free, free Palestine!” they chant in unison, accompanying their message by hitting kitchen utensils against the bottoms of their cookware.

Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda had taken to her digital platforms only a few days earlier, highlighting the inhuman conditions her neighbors and peers were being made to live in because of the forced famine in their occupied territories.

Answering the call from Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, hundreds of Coloradans gathered across the capital city to clang empty cookware in protest of the forced famine in the occupied Palestinian Territories on July 24, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

One third of those forced to live only inside the confines of the West Bank and Gaza are going days without eating. Because of Israeli blockades, food and aid have been long unable to reach their homes, some walk for hours in a desperate hope to secure the raw ingredients needed to feed their families. Too many are killed by soldiers as they search for something to eat, becoming targets at distribution centers.

The United Nations reports that one hundred thousand people in occupied Palestine are now suffering from “severe acute malnutrition,” and as empathetic Americans like the now-ostracized Ms. Rachel beg their audiences to recognize the humanitarian crisis, to see the starving children as they would their own, the world continues to choose to not intervene.

Human Rights Watch, an international organization which investigates abuses occurring globally, reported in 2024 that following the October attacks in Israel, the nation has intentionally deprived the Palestinian people of adequate clean water, necessary medical aid, and food.

With the intentional targeting of hospitals, schools, and religious institutions with their missiles, the United Nations has said that the concerted efforts of the Israeli Defense Forces have permanently put at risk the possibility of any future for Palestinians. 90% of educational facilities in Gaza – grade schools, universities, etc. – have been destroyed or converted for military staging, leaving nearly a quarter million children without access to learning nearly two years.

Now, more than one million Palestinian people suffer under the very real reality that they don’t know where, when, or even if, their next will come. 70% of the population is experiencing the most catastrophic levels of hunger, weakening their bodies past a point of no return. Forced famine, having your caloric intake dictated by a hostile government, is an internationally recognized war crime.

Journalist Bisan Owda, in Palestine, has bravely shone a spotlight on these cruel tactics’ impacts on her people. Around the world, people scroll through their feeds of baking tips and hyperspecific interests with the occasional mention of the atrocities being committed on the coasts of the Mediterranean. Too many quickly scroll past, searching for the next placating escape.

To circumvent this social media ennui, Owda made a simple request: get loud. Their pots, their pans, their stomachs are empty and while the Freedom Flotilla carves their way toward their shores, little other help seems to be fighting through the occupier’s embargo. So, the globe was asked to take their own empty kitchenware and demand that the Palestinian’s be filled.

In Denver, Colorado, under a grey sky threatening storms, hundreds of sympathetic people heard the call. The first sharp clanks or metal ladle on sauce pan were soon joined by the dull thuds of wooden spoons on lobster pots. Metal lids became improvised cymbals, 5-gallon paint buckets became plastic drums. A hammer hitting a sign post made a metallic rattle which could be heard blocks away.

“We don’t have the usual programming, we’re not doing speeches today,” organizers at the Capitol announced through their megaphones. “I don’t know what’s left to be said! We went from ‘free Palestine,’ to ‘ceasefire,’ to ‘stop starving them.’ What’s next?”

The discordant wind chime continued to percuss for another 90 minutes, the wall of sound surrounding attendees and drowning out the traffic sounds on the 5-lane wide boulevard before them. The air horns of passing trucks rose above the rumble as drivers pumped their arms and added their support. Cars honking and waving as they past certainly increased the decimals, though everything blended into an almost-melody as the hundreds banged their pots.

Protestors for Palestinian liberation demonstrate on the west side of Colorado’s capitol building in Denver Colorado. Answering the call from Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, hundreds of Coloradans gathered across the capital city to clang empty cookware in protest of the forced famine in the occupied Palestinian Territories on July 24, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

No speeches, just the deafening – determined – sounds of empty pots demanding they be filled. No marches, this wasn’t about disrupting the day-to-day but about being sure to be seen and heard. They’d chosen this spot on the Capitol lawn not because of proximity to lawmakers, but because a majority of those leaving the city for their evening elsewhere would have to pass by.

They would have to consider the children being starved in the West Bank, to think about the father in Gaza dodging American bullets at an aid distribution site, to weigh what they would do if they were the mother not sure she’d see her family grow old.

Across the city, another group of dedicated Denverites heeded the call from Owda. Hearing the request to bang their pots everywhere, they opted to host a separate event in solidarity, aligned with the gathering at the Capitol. This one was along the city’s busy urban highway corridor, Speer Avenue, outside of Colorado’s senior Senator Michael Bennet.

Senator Bennet has continually ducked Palestinian liberation activists, often mis-characterizing the end of Palestinian subjugation as antisemitic. In February he voted to send an additional $3.8B in unconditional military aid to continue the occupation, while also introducing a non-binding resolution requesting that aid be allowed in.

Outside of his office, which had a layer of plywood encircling its ground floor to greet his nonviolent constituents with their cookware, 50 people banged and clanged. Occasionally they walked through the traffic paused at the red light, waving signs with the Senator’s phone number and asking folks to call their representative.

In front of the César E. Chavez Memorial Building, in Denver, Colorado, protestors gathered at the home of Senator Michael Bennet’s office answering the call from Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, hundreds of Coloradans gathered across the capital city to clang empty cookware in protest of the forced famine in the occupied Palestinian Territories on July 24, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

On the plywood put up to protect the building from having empty pots bonked loudly out front, demonstrators affixed their signs, photos of dead children and journalists, and excerpts from internationally recognized reports on the forced famine.

Some passersby would roll their windows up, insulating themselves from the sound. An occasional sneer or thumbs-down toward protestors indicated definitely their disapproval of the advocates. One, enthusiastically needing their middle finger be seen, swerved their oversized truck into the next lane nearly colliding with a family sedan.

A majority of public feedback, however, was positive. Horns tooting in support were accompanied by flags, keffiyehs, smiles, and loving words put through their windows. One or two pulled over to join the fray.

Into the evening, as rush hour traffic slowed, the cacophony continued. No longer separated by multiple lanes of cars rushing past at more than 35 miles per hour, smiles were shared and streets were crossed to fill the sidewalks on each side. Banners were raised on the bridges over trickling Cherry Creek.

Like the famine they were protesting, there was no cataclysmic crescendo, no catastrophic point where it was easily identifiable as the end. Instead, simply the slow loss of sound as people quietly departed, the few who remain redoubling their efforts to remain as loud.

Until no one was left and there was silence.

Answering the call from Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, hundreds of Coloradans gathered across the capital city to clang empty cookware in protest of the forced famine in the occupied Palestinian Territories on July 24, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Bang the Pots, Colorado Protests Palestinian Starvation in Capital appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The clanking sounds of an espresso machine pulling its next shot swirls with the hissing steam, frothing oat milk for a latte ordered by the waiting stranger at the counter before you.

Stickers adorn the back of the machine – advocating for queer rights, stating that Black lives matter, calling for unity in their community. Nearby, murmuring voices get a little louder as those browsing the bookstand behind you find a title they’re excited about. In the cafe, teens relax on a couch while an older couple in the corner talks quietly over their small table. Walking in from the street, you may never know you’ve just stepped into a church.

A choice made deliberately by its founders.

Located just off of Old Market in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, The Urban Abbey is a Methodist Church, coffeeshop, book store, and gathering space for the city’s progressive community. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The Urban Abbey is a gathering space, a safe place, for the marginalized and ostracized in Omaha, Nebraska. Deliberately established between the gentrifying luxury condos in the historic downtown and the spaces where the poor and unhoused gather and camp, the coffee shop and bookstore are set up to be a catch-all for anyone looking for a third place and community.

Walking through the door, you do see less-than-subtle hints of the house of prayer. Holy water sits in a baptismal font, there are bible verses hanging framed on the exposed red brick wall. On the neatly arranged bookshelves titles like A People’s History of the United States sit only feet away from Marsha P. Johnson’s biography, on a shelf next to the gospel according to Mary Magdalene.

Finding the inclusive restrooms, you stroll past a corkboard laden with fliers and notes including locations for anarchist-organized free kitchens, emergency contraception services, an upcoming 5K race in support of medical care and liberation for the Palestinian people, and the weekly Faith in Action services right there in the coffee shop chapel.

Founded by ordained Methodist minister Rev. Debra McKnight, Urban Abbey’s mission is to be “a space of radical hospitality connecting people to God and one another in everyday life.” They set out on a mission to not only reach people who felt disenfranchised or unrepresented by their church but to hear their needs and help see them be met. Even if it meant taking an activist’s approach.

Driven by a diametric division between conservatism and contemporary principles of acceptance and community, most religious organizations have seen a steady decline in active attendance and congregation attendance over the past 20 years.

While there has been a growth in polled people stating that they simply don’t believe in a monotheist almighty ruler, the majority of those who responded to Pew Research assert their lack of attendance is rooted more simply in feeling a disconnect between the teachings in their texts, and how they seem them wielded by church leaders.

“To see something vibrant and alive and growing and attracting younger folks and families, it’s the like mindedness of the passion for social justice and the progressive theology that people are looking for,” Reverend Dr. Jane Florence, the Abbey’s Spirtual Formation Pastor, said while sitting at one of the cafe tables under the Abbey’s picture window front after the morning’s services.

Reverend Dr.Jane Florence speaks from the lectern during the Faith in Action Sunday morning church services at The Urban Abbey, in Omaha, Nebraska. “I had my own, calling into ministry, and it was undeniable…my own spiritual journey led me and it’s been good,” she reflected later to Yellow Scene while remembering her path to this progressive pulpit. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene).

“People who don’t align, there’s lots of other opportunities, but for folks who have been wounded by the church in the past, or it just doesn’t make sense anymore, they are typically very grateful to find us.”

A growing group of those like-minded civically engaged worshippers come to the Abbey’s dual Sunday morning services. The small cafe overflows, kids playing amongst the bookshelves on laid-out cushions while strangers share their tables with one-another, making space for the folks still coming in the door.

Some found the Abbey when they saw them marching in Omaha’s PRIDE parade or organizing groups of parishioners to offer comments and testimony at their City Council and the State House in the nearby capital city, Lincoln. Another had moved to downtown Omaha three years ago and simply searched for the nearest church to a new home, now she drives past many to return every week, watching the live stream when she travels.

“One is not a Christian just for oneself,” the Reverend said, reflecting on the church’s mission of allowing scripture to build community and to motivate direct action. “It’s not about personal salvation. It’s about the care and wholeness of all, to let go of the notion of separation. We are not separate. We are one.”

While the Abbey has found a mostly peaceful existence in the River City, when topics like drag queen storyhour became an outrage flashpoint in conservative media, they faced backlash for hosting the events. Threatened with violence, including bomb threats, the staff and attendants prefer to stand by their principles.

“I have been labeled unchristian and a witch and everything else,” said Reverend Florence while reflecting on those times, some still recent in the memory. “You know, everybody’s where they are.I would like to think that people are doing the best they can with the information that they have, and that it is not up to me to judge them.”

The church focused their sermons this summer on the small screen, combining allegories from the Gospel of Mary with popular culture. Today, Reverend Florence talked to her flock about The Golden Girls, highlighting the groundbreaking strides the show had platforming queer storylines during Prime Time.

By using their privileges – “how can you censor grandma” a producer once quipped – Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia could model for the average American tolerance and kind curiosity, to learn about and not fear the new or unknown. A jaunty sing-a-long of the familiar theme song “Thanks for Being a Friend” transitioned the congregation from contemplation through communion.

The Director of Ministry took the lectern and the weekly political and news update was given. Updates on the threats to Omaha’s cultural institutions with a move in the U.S. House to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a workshop series centered on the city budget, an upcoming youth tour of a local news station, and a book discussion on urban planning; there were going to be opportunities provided to be engaged.

The service ended and conversation continued. Friends shared stories from their recent travels while other groups went to look one more time through the book stacks. Fliers were distributed to those curious about events, a space was set up for those who needed an ear or a shoulder. The coffee bar re-opened and the sounds of steam again filled the air.

This Sunday morning in Omaha, community came together to not just discuss hope, but to harness it for collective action.

With concerns of outgrowing their space, each service is now averaging an attendance of 50 congregants in the small coffee shop space, the spiritual leadership at The Urban Abbey is adding more service options and discussing expanding in to a larger space in tandem with the Abbey’s bookstore outreach. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene).

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post Faith Drives Direct Action in Nebraska appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Walking through the King Soopers bakery, he approached the display where children were welcome to take a free cookie. Reaching in to select one, a hand suddenly closed on his wrist and the stranger asked what he thought he was doing, accusing him of stealing the complimentary sweet.

Ezekiel Quattlebaum was four years old, the intended consumer for the free treat. Something to munch on while his mom shopped for their family for the week. The white woman remained steadfast, insisting that the Black child she had touched without consent – and who had done nothing wrong – was guilty of a crime for something hundreds of kids across Colorado did every day. Something they were invited to do.

“I wasn’t putting the cookie into my mouth, I was grabbing it. In order to purchase the cookie, I still would have needed to grab it just like I did. This wasn’t just a misunderstanding,” Ezekiel reflected on the moment, twenty years later from his home in Denver.

A graduate of our nation’s first HBCU, Lincoln University, outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, he has returned to his home state to take the bar exam and begin his career.

“There’s more covert racism in Denver than overt racism in Denver,” he said while discussing his earliest memories of experiencing racially-motivated bias in Colorado.

In that Front Range grocery store so many years ago, his mother quickly rushed to his defense. He’d go on to experience more subtle clues of being unwelcome, considered suspicious, and having to navigate being Black in a place where white supremacy is one of the founding principles of his country. Being followed through stores, elementary school teachers teaching that slavery benefited Black Americans, the assumption of drug use or criminal activities.

Becoming a lawyer who could make the system more accessible, breaking the barriers of white-centered respectability and demystifying the processes for self-determination and advocacy, became his goal. He recognized that taking himself out of his comfort zone and learning how communities and cultures change with geography and history would be essential.

Ezekiel Quattlebaum (center) holds his just-received Juris Doctor from Drake University Law Degree aloft following the graduation ceremony with classmates Catherine (left) and Ouli (right). (Photo provided by Ezekiel Quattlebaum)

He studied for and received his undergraduate degree from a historically Black college and says that his eyes were really opened to the differences of opinion, experiences, and expectations within his own community. He learned to appreciate the sense of safety to grow in a space where he didn’t have to explain his own worth, it was anticipated without having to be demonstrated. He learned that integration in the United States didn’t have to mean assimilation, but it would mean that those who had never felt marginalized needed to step out of their comfort zones, too.

So, he headed to a state where teaching Black history through a Black lens had just been made illegal, for his law degree.

In 2021, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law banning public schools from teaching the historic and cultural impact of systemic racism or sexism. In a nation founded under principles of systemic exclusion, where women were not afforded the right to vote, own property, or even open a bank account and where Black Americans were first legally recognized as only 3/5 of a human being.Teaching that important context was no longer allowed in the classroom.

MAGA Republicans had recently focused their ire on the scholarly and legal framework of critical race theory. Though decades old in academia, the term had been catapulted into the zeitgeist by then-former President Trump and his allies as an attack on the comfort of white Americans who – they believed – would be better served by not knowing about the rippling legacies of subjugation in this country.

Schools districts in the state have already ended their Black History Month programming as more teachers say they see self-censoring for fear of losing funding in their schools.

At Drake University, a young Black law student found an opportunity to be sure his peers in the law – at least – would graduate and enter their careers with the important historical context of the law with his instructor, retired Iowa Supreme Court Justice Judge Brent Appel.

Judge Brent Appel pauses in his office at Drake University, carefully contemplating the timeline of events connecting Black soldiers’ experiences in the military between the American Civil War and the first World War. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Walking into his office in the faculty bay on the first floor of the University’s law building, there is a sense of a man busy at work. Notes, papers, research are piled on every horizontal surface, neatly arranged for ease of access. Nothing is gathering dust, it’s clear that this office is not one set up to create an intimidating sense of grandeur and accomplishment.

Retired from the bench only because of age limits in Iowa courts, the accomplished jurist could hang accolades on the wall and use his new academic position as an opportunity to reflect his professional success. To project institutional authority. Instead, it is a space inviting collaboration, indicating the amount of work there was still to be done.

Born in Dubuque, Iowa, on the eastern edge of the state just before the state boundary with Illinois, the proud lifelong Iowan could see the need to be sure new attorneys from his state understood legal subjugation in context of American and Iowan history. To be sure that he, a white man, taught it with intention and care, he recruited Quattlebaum to help build a class he called Race, Law, and Iowa History.

Knowing that growth comes quickest in moments of discomfort, the law professor and Iowa historian asked his class to be ready to prepare to be a bit uncomfortable. And to think critically.

“I spent considerable time putting together the material for this course,” Appel says, peering over the piles of notes, dog-eared booked, and the stained well-used coffee mug on his desk. “A lot of questions being asked. We do a survey from historical beginnings, to the present day of how the law resources interact.”

With Ezekiel’s help during weekly, meandering, hours-long conversations, he built the course prepared to introduce completely new information to would-be attorneys. History their schools had omitted or ignored.

“Oh, I never know for sure. One never knows for sure,” the humble professor said in his Des Moines office, when asked if he anticipated measurable impact from teaching this course. “Perhaps one student at a time.”

In Denver, Ezekiel reflected on seeing that impact from one student in his class, the very first time it was taught, through a conversation about football and the Johnny Bright incident while having her own perception of reconstruction and racism were being challenged. She confessed that as an undergrad in Ames, Iowa, she questioned the need of Black clubs or support groups on the campus.

“During this class, she had a revelation. She said ‘wow, with that history, it makes sense why people of color would feel better with a safe space, when an institution has a history of beating or berating them. The whole class saw someone’s eyes just open up, realizing that maybe integration wasn’t perfect, because it fell on Black students to fix white schools.”

Systemic racism and cultural bias didn’t end with integration, nor with sharing water fountains, not even with the election of a Black president. Having her history books recontextualized by the intentional conversation presented by her law professor, with care and kindness, allowed the space for her to reach a new conclusion. To see the work that needs to be done to continue to address the legacy of legal racism in her immediate world.

A Drake University student walks across the pedestrian bridges from The Quads, the housing for first-year students at the college. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Judge Appel uses historic moments to highlight moments Iowans led the conversation around legal discrimination, from creating their Constitution to ban the practices of slavery and involuntary servitude (except as a punishment for crime), alongside moments of slow growth or even reversal of thought. He contrasts the Civil War, when Black soldiers became commissioned officers through a military academy erected in Des Moines, and World War Two when Black military members returned from serving their country to separate, but equal, doctrines of segregation.

“I do think, as a general matter, we all need to engage in more direct conversations and communications about the issues across racial lines and generational lines, too,” Judge Appel mused, finishing the private hour-long survey in his office of his semester-long survey course.”I think we make a mistake if we rush off to the merits of a particular controversy too quickly. What is going on underneath here really?”

In Iowa, law students are asked to absorb the full history, step outside of their comfort zone thinking critically, and are welcome to challenge their biases and assumptions in their classroom before they see the court room.

Ezekiel Quattlebaums poses with a classmate, Alli, after first-ever court appearance, with the Drake Clinic, which provides legal aid and representation free of charge to Polk County residents, with attorneys assisted by law students. (Photo provided by Ezekiel Quattlebaum)

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post In Iowa, Where Critical Race Theory is Banned, Retired Justice Teaches Race, Law and Iowa History appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

DENVER — In response to the House of Representatives’ vote to pass President Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib issued the following statement:

“Today, Colorado House Republicans joined their colleagues in voting to screw over every working class American family by passing Trump’s Big Ugly Bill. Gabe Evans, Lauren Boebert, Jeff Hurd and Jeff Crank showed all of Colorado who they really are: grifters who would rather bail out billionaires than help working people who are struggling to get by because of their economic policies.

Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd had the chance to be on the right side of this disaster and stand up to their king and preserve these crucial social programs we all rely on. Instead, they bent the knee after flirting with standing up for Coloradans.

This billionaire-first budget bill is a robbery in broad daylight, and they’re shameless about it — every Republican, Democrat, and unaffiliated voter will be hurt by this legislation so that billionaires can enjoy yet another handout from the government.

After President Trump signs this bill, many Coloradans will soon see their health insurance and food assistance vanish. In their communities, rural hospitals will close and economic opportunity will continue to shrink.

We are thankful for all the members of our Democratic Congressional delegation who did everything they could to stop this trainwreck. Our fight to keep our country on the right track continues. We cannot and will not give up.”

This is what Gabe Evans, Lauren Boebert, Jeff Hurd and Jeff Crank voted for…

• Ripping health care away from more than 225,000 Coloradans and putting the coverage of more than 1 million Coloradans in total at risk

• Stripping food assistance from 243,000 Coloradans

• Take at least $1,200 out of the pockets of older Coloradans

• Putting six rural Colorado hospitals at risk of closure

• $1.3 billion more in increased energy bills in one decade, an average increase of $500

• 15,500 Colorado jobs lost by 2030, 10,100 more by 2035

• $15 billion wiped from Colorado GDP in one decade

• A $190 million battery plant, which would have been built in Gabe Evans’ district, cancelled its construction, taking the 332 jobs it would have given Brighton with it

The post Colorado Democratic Party’s Statement on the Vote to Pass President Trump’s Big Ugly Bill appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

DENVER, CO – The Senate Finance Committee today advanced bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senator Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, to attract film tourism to Colorado. 

HB25-1005, also sponsored by Senator Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park, would create two tax credits: one to encourage the Sundance Film Festival to move to Colorado beginning in 2027, and one to support existing or small film festivals in Colorado.

“The Sundance Film Festival is more than just an economic driver – it would cement Colorado’s place as a global hub for the arts, creating opportunities for filmmakers and audiences alike,” said Amabile. “Our communities would benefit year-round from Sundance’s investments in expanded access to the arts, support for aspiring storytellers, and a platform for powerful narratives that have the potential to move, inspire, and change all of us.”

Boulder was recently selected as a top-three finalist to host the iconic Sundance Film Festival starting in 2027 – which would boost economic growth, tourism, and Colorado’s reputation as a destination for the arts.

As outlined in the legislation, Colorado would create tax incentives of $34 million over the next ten years, or $3-5 million per year, for a film festival that sells more than 100,000 tickets and attracts tens of thousands out-of-state attendees. A recent economic impact report of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Utah revealed the festival created 1,730 jobs for residents, generated $69.7 million in wages, $132 million in gross domestic product and generated almost $14 million in state and local tax revenue.

The bill would also leverage $500,000 annually to support small or existing local film festivals entities that are part of Colorado’s growing film festival ecosystem. 

If Boulder is selected, the festival would take place starting in 2027 through 2036. Boulder is in the running to host the film festival starting in 2027 along with Cincinnati, Ohio and Park City, Utah. 

The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration. Track its progress HERE.

The post Senate Committee Advances Bill to Attract Sundance Film Festival appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

DENVER — March 24, 2025 — History Colorado is pleased to announce the hiring of Phillip Gover III (Pawnee/Choctaw), as senior director of Tribal and Indigenous engagement. Gover brings nearly two decades of experience in Native American advocacy and engagement work to this brand new position at History Colorado, including most recently serving as the Tribal Affairs Specialist for the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS).

“We are grateful to announce that Phil has joined History Colorado to lead the necessary effort to uncover and reckon with the histories and ongoing traumas related to American Indian Boarding Schools in our state,” said Dawn DiPrince, president/CEO of History Colorado and state historic preservation officer. “Phil embodies a rare combination of professional and academic experience, a commitment to  community and relationships, a gift for patience and good listening, plus his own deep connection to tradition and knowledge that make him the right leader for this work”

In addition to his service at CDHS  — where he engaged in government-to-government consultation with Colorado’s resident Ute Tribes and worked closely with the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs — Gover has a legal background and was the Native Youth Advocate for Adams 12 Five Star Schools from 2015 to 2023. He has a B.A. in American Studies from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor from Arizona State University’s College of Law.

Gover’s legal experience includes serving as an advocate for both the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of Arizona. He is currently a member of the Denver American Indian Commission and serves on the board of directors for the Denver Indian Health & Family Services.

“I am so happy to have joined History Colorado to assist with the important work they are doing in partnership with Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and the 49 other sovereign nations who have history tied to Colorado,” Gover said. “There are so many layers and levels of Colorado’s history to understand starting with the stories of the Tribal nations. Uncovering this multifaceted history is crucial to understanding how we got to where we are and informing our decisions for the future.”

As the senior director of Tribal and Indigenous engagement, Gover will help History Colorado as it strives to meet its broad obligations and goals to faithfully consult with — and present the histories of — Indigenous, Native and Tribal communities and histories. A central portion of Gover’s efforts over the next two years will be working closely with the American Indian Steering Committee created by House Bill 24-1444, and impacted Tribal nations and American Indian communities, to complete research into the physical abuse and deaths that occurred at federal Indian boarding schools in Colorado.

“I hope to help give voices to students who were voiceless while at these schools,” Gover said. “In the coming years, I will work with the communities impacted by Colorado boarding schools to preserve their stories and create avenues for understanding the lasting impacts of this history while being cautious of the trauma that was endured by the communities. This is important and long overdue work which has been needed ever since the first children were taken from Native families and forced to attend boarding schools.”

This ongoing effort is a continuation of the research conducted in 2022 and 2023 under House Bill 22-1327.

Gover will also serve History Colorado as a key team member in ongoing organizational compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act that was passed into law by Congress in 1990. Under Gover’s leadership, History Colorado will continue to partner with the Southern Ute and Ue Mountain Ute and the 49 other Tribal Nations with historic ties to Colorado as well as the urban Native communities and other members of the Native diaspora connected ancestrally or contemporaneously to the state.

About History Colorado’s American Indian Boarding School Research
Beginning in 1819 with the federal “Indian Civilization Act,” the United States government embarked on a systematic campaign of cultural genocide that included forcibly removing children from their families. Sent far away from their communities to boarding schools, these Native children were severed from their culture, language, traditions, and religion. Starting in May of 2022, History Colorado has been conducting research into the physical abuse and deaths that occurred at federal Indian boarding schools in Colorado.

To date, more than 523 Indian Boarding schools have been identified across the U.S. that were funded by the federal government, and often church-run, in the 19th and 20th centuries, including at least seven federal Indian boarding schools within Colorado.

In 2023, “Federal Indian Boarding Schools in Colorado: 1880-1920” was released in compliance with HB22-1327, which directed History Colorado, through the State Archaeology Office, to investigate the one-time federal Native American Boarding School in Hesperus, Colorado, also referred to as the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School; as well as to identify potential burial places of students who perished while attending the school. This report included recommendations for additional Tribal consultation, and engagement with members of the Native diaspora as well as continued research and the crafting of recommendations for policy and actions moving forward.

Additional information about History Colorado’s American Indian Boarding School Research can be found here.

The post History Colorado Hires Senior Director of Tribal and Indigenous Engagement appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

DENVER, CO – Representative Dr. English is proud to announce the introduction of House Bill 25-1178, a groundbreaking measure aimed at banning the use of student seclusion in Colorado schools. This bill marks a critical step toward fostering a safe, supportive, and trauma-informed educational environment.

“Secluding children is a cruel and outdated practice that has no place in our schools,” said Representative Dr. English. “Locking a student in isolation during moments of distress doesn’t teach self-regulation—it only deepens their trauma. Our schools should be spaces of learning and healing, not punishment and fear.”

HB25-1178 prohibits school districts, district charter schools, and institute charter schools from using seclusion on students both on school property and during off-campus, school-sponsored activities or events. The bill also requires the Colorado State Board of Education to amend existing rules to reflect the ban and strengthen reporting requirements to ensure transparency and accountability.

Research shows that seclusion disproportionately affects students with disabilities and students from marginalized communities, exacerbating inequities in the education system. It is also linked to the school-to-prison pipeline, with students subjected to harsh disciplinary practices being more likely to face future legal system involvement.

“As leaders, we have a moral obligation to protect our children from harmful and dehumanizing practices,” added Representative Dr. English. “Banning seclusion is not only about preventing trauma—it’s about shifting toward evidence-based, compassionate interventions that prioritize mental health and student well-being.”

The bill ensures that schools can still take lawful actions during emergencies to protect students and staff from imminent harm. However, even in such cases, schools must comply with strict documentation and reporting requirements, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Advocating for a Safer Educational Future
Supporters of HB25-1178 argue that ending seclusion is a necessary reform to protect the dignity and mental health of Colorado’s students. The bill also mitigates the legal risks schools face due to potential lawsuits stemming from the psychological and physical harm caused by seclusion.

“This bill sends a clear message: Colorado values the safety, dignity, and humanity of every child,” Representative Dr. English emphasized. “We will no longer tolerate practices that isolate and endanger our most vulnerable students. It’s time to invest in restorative, trauma-informed solutions that empower students to thrive.”

Next Steps

HB25-1178 will be heard by the House Education Committee on March 20, 2025. Representative Dr. English urges students, parents, educators, and advocates to voice their support for this critical measure.

The post Colorado Representative Dr. English Champions HB25-1178 to End Student Seclusion, Prioritizing Student Safety and Mental Health appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Youth who are homeless are often missed by official counts, but new methods may lead to improved counts.

By: Matthew Westfall, Medical Resident in Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Joshua Barocas, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and The Conversation (Via AP Storyshare)

Denver saw an increase in youth homelessness from 10% to 25% between 2017 and 2021, according to our study recently published in the peer-reviewed journal “Pediatrics.”

We are two physicians whose clinical work and research focuses on the social causes of health and disease. In particular, we’ve seen firsthand how housing instability influences health outcomes.

Homelessness takes many forms, including living on the street or in a car, motel or shelter, or staying temporarily with friends or family. This last scenario is known as “doubling up.”

Our findings suggest that 1 in 4 Denver youth age 14 to 17 experienced some form of homelessness in 2021, and that the number of youth experiencing homelessness in Denver is many times greater than what traditional methods find.

In our study, we used three data sources in what’s known as a multiple systems estimation approach. This approach has been used to count other difficult-to-measure groups of people, including those with substance use disorders or COVID-19. Rarely has it been applied to homelessness.

Our study relied on data from the public school system, Colorado child protective services and the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.

We combined these datasets to avoid overlap between individuals and counted unique youth present in the data. We then used statistical modeling techniques to estimate those who are “unknown” – meaning not identified in the data. Together, these combined known counts and “unknown” estimates can give a more complete size of the total population.

Among our findings, we noted that 75% to 83% of youth experiencing homelessness in Denver identified as Black/African American or Hispanic.

Why it matters

Homelessness is associated with myriad negative health outcomes. Among youth, the rate of death is 10 times higher for those experiencing homelessness compared with housed youth.

To count people experiencing homelessness, states and homelessness service providers most often rely on point-in-time counts. In a point-in-time count, local service providers interview and record people experiencing homelessness on one night in January of each year. Typically, only people who are living on the streets or in shelters are counted.

Point-in-time counts are crucial for policy decisions around homelessness because they help local, state and national organizations and governments allocate resources.

However, point-in-time counts may miss people living in motels, doubling up, those who experience homelessness at other times of the year beyond January, and others. Consequently, many experts and researchers recognize that these counts give incomplete data.

Young people are especially undercounted because they frequently experience homelessness as doubling up. For example, the national point-in-time count from 2019-2020 identified 106,364 school-age children experiencing homelessness in the United States. However, estimates from the public schools suggest the actual number was closer to 1.3 million.

Service providers and governments need new methods to count those experiencing homelessness. From Denver to Washington D.C., they cannot appropriately make decisions or adequately fund evidence-based interventions using incomplete numbers. We believe our methods can be an important piece of the toolbox to improve estimates and better inform policy.

What’s next

Even according to traditional point-in-time counts, homelessness continues to rise significantly across Colorado and nationally. Our results suggest many more youth, and likely persons from all walks of life, are experiencing homelessness than previously known.

Our team is working to use this methodology at the state level in Colorado. We plan to expand our counts to include adults in order to improve estimates among racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other at-risk communities.

At the same time, our results demonstrate that multiple systems estimation can be an important tool in Colorado and nationally. Our team is optimistic that other researchers, service providers and governments will begin to use this method in their localities.

We hope that with a better understanding of the scope of homelessness, legislators and service providers can implement more effective policies to address this hidden crisis.

Joshua Barocas receives funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He is affiliated with the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Matthew Westfall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.

Guidelines on use of articles from The Conversation can be found at http://bit.ly/TCUSinfo or contact us-republish@theconversation.com. Photos cleared for your use with this article are also available from The Conversation.

The post EXPERT ANALYSIS: Many more Denver teens have experienced homelessness than official counts show appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

MEDIA RELEASE
February 25, 2025
Contact: Adam Fox, afox@cohealthinitiative.org, 303-563-9108
Katie Reinisch, katie@progressive-promotions.com, 303-653-1009

DENVER – Republicans in Congress just pushed through a rushed budget resolution, one of the first major steps towards passing the Trump Administration’s fiscal agenda. It includes deep cuts to Medicaid — at last word, approximately $880 billion — from a program that serves more than 70 million people nationwide and 1.1 million in Colorado. Nearly 1 in 5 Coloradans receive their health care from Medicaid. Six of every 10 Coloradans in nursing facilities rely on Medicaid, and Medicaid is vital for providing in-home care to help people with disabilities and aging adults live independently. Over 34% of Colorado children are covered through Medicaid. The cuts would undermine Colorado’s hard work to expand coverage, essentially ending Medicaid expansion and ripping that expanded coverage from roughly 400,000 Coloradans.

Statement from Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative:
“You can’t cut hundreds of billions from Medicaid without taking healthcare away from millions of seniors living in long-term care, children, and people with disabilities. Rushing these cuts will hurt those who can least afford care – and won’t do anything to lower our healthcare costs for the average Colorado family. At a time when our state budget already faces a $1 billion gap, these cuts will devastate our state’s economy, threatening 300,000 healthcare provider jobs, while perhaps pushing teetering rural providers over the cliff. They are going to strip health coverage from countless Coloradans and tank our economy all in the name of creating tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.”

Statement from Stephanie Felix-Sowy, President of Service Employees International Union Local 105, uniting over 8,000 property services and healthcare workers across the Mountain West, and the largest healthcare union in Colorado:
“House Republicans’ budget proposal is a direct threat to over a million Coloradans who rely on Medicaid. Slashing healthcare to fund tax breaks for billionaires will devastate working families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities across our state. This is just another example in the long list of actions taken by Republicans to favor billionaires over the rest of us. These cuts won’t just take healthcare away—they’ll force clinics to close, overwhelm hospitals, and put frontline healthcare workers out of jobs. Instead of making life more affordable, this plan will create more hardship for Coloradans already struggling. Our communities deserve better.”

Statement from Hunter Nelson, Small Business Majority’s Colorado director:
“Any changes that make healthcare more expensive could have a potentially devastating impact on Colorado’s small businesses. After payroll, healthcare coverage is already the highest cost for small firms. If Congress and the Trump administration make drastic cuts to Medicaid and eliminate premium tax credits that help make healthcare coverage purchased on Affordable Care Act marketplaces more affordable for many small business owners and their employees, insurance that is now very costly but within budget would become unaffordable. This could mean many entrepreneurs are forced to go work for someone else just to have access to health insurance, or that employees of small businesses would seek jobs at larger companies mainly for stronger benefits. The result of that migration would be that much of our small businesses community would no longer exist.”

Statement from Phyllis Albritton, Colorado Safety Net Collaborative:
“While many of our members do not serve people with Medicaid, some do. Medicaid is an important safety net for so many people in low-wage jobs so that they can keep working and providing for their families. Let’s not take that away as the economy worsens. It will just increase healthcare costs for everyone else and keep people from working.”

Statement from Amanda Boone, Co-Founder of Cystic Fibrosis United:
“Many individuals living with Cystic Fibrosis and other Rare Diseases depend on the Colorado Medicaid program to access critical care. From children and families benefiting from the waiver program, to those enrolled in the Medicaid Buy-In and traditional Medicaid. Should the state lose any federal funding, patients would lose access to essential care, jeopardizing their ability to live healthy, fulfilling lives, potentially forcing them to seek emergency care. We urge our members of Congress to protect our community from these cuts and approach the budget with careful consideration to ensure that those who rely on these services are not left without the care they need.”

Statement from Heather Tritten, President/CEO of The Colorado Children’s Campaign:
“Hundreds of thousands of Colorado families have access to health care, food to eat, or support for their basic needs because of federal funding for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF. Cutting funding would have direct, often devastating impacts on children’s lives and futures. We call on our representatives in Washington to support children across Colorado and to create a responsible budget that invests in our communities.”

The post Republican Congress Chooses Cuts to Health Care for Seniors, Children, and the Disabled to Pay for Tax Breaks for the Ultra-Wealthy appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), vice chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, led 13 of their Democratic colleagues in demanding that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) end wrongful searches and interrogations of Tribal members and uphold the United States’ trust and treaty responsibility with Tribal Nations and their citizens.

In the letter, the lawmakers raised concern over reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stopping and harassing United States-born citizens on suspicion of being undocumented migrants since President Trump issued an Executive Order seeking to terminate birthright citizenship. While defending this order in court, Trump’s Department of Justice lawyers called into question Native Americans’ birthright citizenship. These incidents have stoked fear and panic for many Tribal citizens living on and off reservation lands.

“Whether it is simple ignorance or worse — outright disrespect for and harassment of Tribal citizens — ICE’s law enforcement tactics reflect an abdication of U.S. trust and treaty responsibility with Tribal nations and their citizens, and cannot stand,” the senators wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “We ask that the Department issue guidance and training to ICE agents on forms of Tribal identification that are acceptable as proof of United States citizenship (alone or in tandem with other documents). We also ask that your Department communicate and consult with Tribal governments to ensure they are given timely and accurate information to inform and protect their Tribal citizens from unnecessary searches, interrogation, and detention related to immigration enforcement efforts.” 

The senators pressed Secretary Noem to answer a series of questions on this issue in detail by March 4, 2025.

U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led the letter, which was also signed by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angus King (I-Maine.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

The text of the letter is here and below:

Dear Secretary Noem:

We write to express our growing concern over reports that, since President Trump issued the Executive Order on birthright citizenship, United States-born citizens of federally recognized Tribes have been stopped and questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on suspicion of being undocumented migrants. These incidents have stoked fear and panic for many Tribal citizens living on and off reservation, resulting in at least one Tribal government issuing its own guidance and standing up a citizen hotline to report incidents and receive assistance. Whether it is simple ignorance or worse — outright disrespect for and harassment of Tribal citizens – ICE’s law enforcement tactics reflect an abdication of U.S. trust and treaty responsibility with Tribal nations and their citizens, and cannot stand. 

Accordingly, we ask that the Department issue guidance and training to ICE agents on forms of Tribal identification that are acceptable as proof of United States citizenship (alone or in tandem with other documents). We also ask that your Department communicate and consult with Tribal governments to ensure they are given timely and accurate information to inform and protect their Tribal citizens from unnecessary searches, interrogation, and detention related to immigration enforcement efforts.

Both Congress, exercising its plenary authority over Indian Affairs, and the United States Supreme Court have established that Indians born in the United States are United States citizens. Indians may also be citizens of federally-recognized Tribes, making them dual citizens of both the United States and their Tribal nations. As such, Tribal citizens may possess multiple forms of identification, including Tribal government-issued identification, such as enrollment cards and Certificates of Indian Blood (CIB), and state-issued or federally-issued identification. However, it is not uncommon for Tribal citizens to only carry their Tribal government-issued identification, which is often accepted as valid proof of United States citizenship for purposes of federal benefits.

In addition to consulting with, and issuing guidance for, Tribes on what forms of identification ICE will accept as valid proof of United States citizenship, including Tribal identification, we also request that your Department issue internal guidance for ICE agents on how to lawfully engage with federally recognized Tribes and their citizens, including on Tribal lands. Lastly, we request that you reply, in detail, to the following questions:

• Does ICE policy accept of Certificates of Indian Blood (CIBs), Tribal enrollment, or other Tribal identification documents as valid proof of United States citizenship?
  • If yes, please provide a full description of these policies and how they are communicated within your Department, and with Tribal governments.
  • If no, please clarify what information needs to be present on Tribally-issued identification documents for those to be accepted as valid proof of United States citizenship.
• What training are ICE agents given about different forms of valid identification and documentation of United States citizenship for enrolled members of federally recognized Tribes, including CIBs, Tribal enrollment, or other Tribal identification?
• What training are ICE agents, and other law enforcement personnel in your Department, given about interactions with citizens of federally recognized Tribes?
• What specific corrective actions are you taking to ensure that the rights of United States-born Tribal citizens, as American citizens, are being upheld and respected by your Department?
• How does ICE justify the use of taxpayer dollars and its limited resources to conduct enforcement actions involving United States-born citizens of federally recognized Tribes?
• What has been the estimated cost of ICE enforcement actions within reservation boundaries thus far? Will ICE enforcement actions occur within community locations such as schools, hospitals, clinics, and religious institutions that are on Tribal lands, including trust land, restricted fee, and fee simple lands, or located off of Tribal lands? 
• What implications do ICE enforcement actions have for Tribal nations whose historic lands transcend the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders, including Tribes with members living in Mexico or Canada and/or having transborder migratory privileges using special identification documents, such as the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas? What will ICE do to ensure that tribal members residing in Mexico or Canada are not inappropriately detained as a result of these enforcement actions?  And how is ICE educating its agents about the access guaranteed in the Jay Treaty to the United States for Canadian First Nations members for cultural, trade, and other purposes?

The post Heinrich, Schatz lead colleagues in demanding Trump’s DHS uphole federal trust and treaty responsibilities to tribal nations and immediately end wrongful ICE searches and harassment of tribal members appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

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The post Women in Colorado are tired of politicians like Gabe Evans spreading their hateful anti-freedom rhetoric and then walking it back. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

“This is not who we are!” – President Joe Biden and several million others in response to the assassination attempt.

As is the case in mass shooting after mass shooting, all the attention is diverted from the real issue of gun violence in America.

Perhaps most absurd among the absurdities are the pleas to ratchet down the rhetoric. Not that ratcheting down is a bad thing, but the ease with which Democrats swallow the false equivalence is startling. The rhetoric to which MAGATs refer are comments about threats to democracy and the rise of authoritarianism. That’s accurate reporting, not inflammatory rhetoric.

By contrast, Trump implores his supporters to beat the hell out of protestors, his allies suggest executing political rivals, the violent insurrectionists are “patriots,” his Republican colleagues threaten opponents, MAGATs strut around with automatic weapons and fly “Don’t Tread on Me” flags (which derive from “real harm will come to any person or group who might plan to step or tread on colonial Americans”). You Proud Boys stand back and stand by!!

Here’s one Trump fanboy’s enthusiastic political speech:

“. . . and then we’re gonna fucking go through the FBI and just start throwing you fuckers into jail. Or, you can steal another election, and then the guns will come out, and we’ll hunt you fuckers down and slaughter you like the traitorous dogs you are in your own fucking homes. In your own fucking beds. The last thing you’ll ever hear are the horrified shrieks of your widow and orphans. And then you know what we’re going to do? … We’re going to slaughter your whole fucking family.”

By acceding to this narrative, Biden et al are aiding Trump’s ascension to martyrdom, emerging bloodied and triumphant from what lowlifes like Lauren Boebert call a Democratic conspiracy to kill him. God saved him, which perhaps explains why He is too busy to tell Biden to leave the race.

While I’m not a fan of internet memes, this one works:

I’m begging y’all to care like this when it’s a third grade classroom instead of an ear.

While the characters are more prominent, this incident is just one more chapter in the American story of unending gun violence. A crescendo of thoughts and prayers. Everyone wants to know more about the shooter and his motive. As though that will prove something.

Little is known about the gunman, but I suggest that any person who clambers onto a rooftop, or shoots his way into a school, or goes on a rampage in a gay bar or . . . is not just an overheated political partisan. Such a person has become twisted and desperate, often by complex family and/or social dynamics, and seeks some combination of perverse justice, insane catharsis or suicidal notoriety. Irrational acts evade rational analysis. But we keep trying, thinking that if we can figure it out, there won’t be a next one. There is always a next one . . . and a next one . . . and a next one.

What is certain is that this tortured soul managed to get his trigger finger on an AR-15 style rifle. In a never-fails-to-shock reprise, it seems his suburban Dad bought it. It doesn’t really matter, for any enterprising 20 year-old can acquire a semi-automatic weapon if he really wants it. If Dad helps, it’s just a little easier, but no more or less deadly.

I suppose there is some value in finding out what internal demons or external cruelties drove this particular shooter. But our society has no more appetite for softening the psychic blows we rain on boys than we have appetite for restricting access to deadly weapons. Neglecting the aggregate effect is lethal.

Addressing the root causes of male anger and violence would require decades of cultural reflection. Addressing the easy availability of military-style weaponry would only require a few hours of political courage. But that will not happen.

This time it was an ear and a spectator. It won’t take long before it’s a school again.

You see, the Second Amendment is just more important than the Third Grade.

No, Joe. This is precisely who we are.

The post This IS Who We Are appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

When theater-goers took their seats for a performance of Beetlejuice The Musical at the Temple Buell Theater on Sept. 10, the show they were treated to went wildly off-book. 

However, it wasn’t the action on the stage that turned the heads of the audience. It was the unhinged, embarrassing, lewd behavior of the duly elected Representative to the United States Congress for Colorado’s District 3, Lauren Boebert. 

By now, you’ve likely read about the disturbance she caused in the theater during the performance, but here’s a quick recap: according to the report filed by the security team at the Denver Performing Arts Complex — backed up by actual footage of security cameras from inside the building — Boebert was vaping and singing along with the show at volume. Multiple patrons reported her behavior, and security asked her and her companion to leave. After arguing for several moments with the security team and refusing to vacate her seat, she finally relented, but on her way out, she was sure to fire off a few “do you know who I am?” comments and threats at the staff doing their jobs like, “I’m on the board!” and “I will be contacting the Mayor!”

Later, more footage came to light showing the Congresswoman groping and being groped by her date while seated in the theater and taking flash photographs with her phone. Additionally, prior to the release of the footage, Boebert denied the allegations. 

In clips that have since been posted online, you can clearly see her date’s hands on her breasts with her hand in his crotch. This behavior from a woman who has been banging a steady drumbeat of manufactured concern about the so-called “grooming” of children by democrats for supporting LGTBQ+ causes. It’s worth noting further: the man she was on a date with owns a bar in Aspen that has hosted drag and burlesque shows. Her hypocrisy knows no bounds. 

In her statement, Boebert placed the blame of her antics on her split from her husband of 18 years, Jayson Boebert. You may also recall that he pleaded guilty to exposing his genitalia to a minor in a bowling alley in 2004. She said, “There’s no perfect blueprint for going through a public and difficult divorce, which over the past few months has made for a challenging personal time for me and my entire family. I’ve tried to handle it with strength and grace as best I can, but I simply fell short of my values on Sunday.” 

As an electorate, we’ve long held to the belief that the people we select to represent us in Congress should exhibit a higher standard of behavior than what one might expect from an intoxicated, boorish, entitled brat at a night out at the theater (while we don’t know if Boebert was intoxicated, it would be nice to think that a sober person wouldn’t have behaved the way she did). And yes, while the antics of our elected officials have frequently and consistently disappointed us, it doesn’t make this performance any less disgusting, and horribly embarrassing for the citizens of District 3, who don’t deserve to be cast in such a humiliating light. 

Boebert’s seat is up for grabs in 2024. If she’s reelected after this utterly abhorrent public display — and her long record of uneducated, ill-advised and remarkably ignorant rants — then District 3 will have proven to deserve the Representative they get.

The post Say her name three times and hopefully she’ll disappear. | Duly Noted appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Local elections are often the most important to your daily life but are not given nearly as much attention as large national events. YS strives to provide a comprehensive guide to the upcoming elections so you can have a voice in how your city, neighborhood, and community are run.

We ask all candidates running against each other the same questions. However, answers are condensed and summarized when needed to fit our size constraints. Each candidate we have an opinion on is then given status by our election board — Endorsed, Qualified, Unqualified — and every race has an endorsement.

Editors Note:

Nothing gets past our readers. They noticed a mistake that slipped into the YS Election Guide and alerted us immediately. 

For Broomfield, City Council Ward 1, YS endorses Kenny Nguyen.

YS does not endorse Chriss Hammerschmidt. We actually find her Unqualified due to her anti LGBTQ+, anti-abortion, and conspiracy theory views that she would bring to City Council. 

We apologize for any confusion for mislabeling this endorsement and want to thank our supporters for quickly pointing this out.

In our defense, we were up into the late hours of the night with a flurry of spreadsheets, documents and design layouts to be completed of over 84 candidates and 24 ballot issus — such is the life of a small, independent magazine that still believes in real, local journalism — but take full responsibility for our mistake.

Colorado Statewide Ballot Measures

Proposition II – Taxes and Tobacco: Asks voters to either (1) allow the state to retain and spend revenue the state received above the estimated revenue generated from increases taxes on cigarettes and tobacco and nicotine products in Proposition EE or (2) refund $23.65 million to distributors and wholesalers and reduce the tobacco tax rate by 11.53% | Vote: Yes

Proposition HH – Taxes and Property: Reduces the property tax rate; allows the state to retain and spend revenues (that it would otherwise be required to refund to residents under the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR)) to give local governments to make up lost tax revenues from the property tax rate reduction | Vote: Yes

Boulder County Ballot Initiatives

1A – Open Space extension: A proposal to extend for fifteen years the existing 0.05% countywide sales and use tax for the purpose of acquiring, improving, managing and maintaining open space lands and other open space property interests. | Vote: Yes

1B – Affordable Housing Extension: A proposal to extend for fifteen years the existing 0.185% countywide sales and use tax for the purposes of funding existing and additional affordable and attainable housing and related supportive services within Boulder County. | Vote: Yes

6A  – Nederland EcoPass Public Improvement District extension: A proposal for a ballot issue for the November 2023 election to extend for ten years the District’s existing ad valorem property tax mill levy imposed at a rate not to exceed 1.85 mills for the purposes of paying the costs of providing a Regional Transportation District EcoPass to all District residents; and to seek elector authorization for the District to administer an EcoPass program for non-resident employees of employers operating within the District. | Vote: Yes

Broomfield Elections

Broomfield Mayor – UNOPPOSED

Guyleen Castriotta – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: You don’t see a lot of folks camping in tents. People do live in their vehicles or are living several to a room. It looks different in Broomfield. We offer referrals for services for emergency and transitional housing, mental health if they need it and also in the colder months, we offer hotel vouchers.
• Infrastructure: Regional Transit Authority (RTD) is underfunded, under-resourced and overprescribed. Broomfield contributes about $17 million a year to RTD. If you’re transit dependent in Broomfield then then you’re out of luck and that is the bigger problem. There has to be systemic change in the state to truly create a public transit system that serves everyone.
• Development: We’re embracing growth, we’re building and improving as fast as we can. Voters approved an open space tax in perpetuity, and that helped fund a lot of land acquisitions that are going to be conserved and preserved as parks and recreation. But you can’t walk around – Broomfield is not a walkable community. It wasn’t built that way. It’s the burbs. You need a car here.
• Cost of living: We require all new developers to provide 20 percent of their new for rent units at 60 percent (Adjusted Median Income) or less, or 10% of their for sale units at 60%. We have focused on that as a priority as long as I’ve been on this council since 2017. We’ve already built 9,700 units in three years.
• Education: I doubt local governments can fill the gap. The schools are funded by a completely different taxing system in Colorado. It’s through property taxes. Cities and counties, and we’re both, are facing a lot of sticker shock as well. The cost of our capital improvements, pipes, labor, you name it, has tripled since before the pandemic.
• Crime & Mental Health: We have mental health co-responders that go on calls. We have red flag laws or risk protection orders that allow folks to report someone who may be trying to harm themselves or others with firearms and get those firearms removed. We are utilizing part of our cannabis sales tax revenue to fund behavioral health programs in our schools.
  

Broomfield City Council – Ward 1

Chriss Hammerschmidt

• Unhoused: They’ve done a good job with homelessness in Broomfield. They now have a voucher program so that people who need housing can get housing. The police department is really good at assessing the situation. I think they’re a vital part of that program.
• Infrastructure: I attended a transportation forum the other day and I think Broomfield has a pretty good handle on it. They work pretty closely with CDOT. I know there’s been some problems with Highway 7 and I-25 Corridor, but that’s just the lack of funds. The thing I see as a problem is just the funding, like the RTD light rail system that’s taken a long time, they’ve overcharged.
• Development: Broomfield was a small home community and it’s no longer that. The character changes as the population increases or decreases. We’ve had droughts forever here because we’re a semi-arid, arid part of the United States. We need to be really careful with our water supply and what I like to see is that we slow down a little bit. 
• Cost of living: People on fixed incomes are really feeling the pinch, we have to be really careful about how we subsidize housing. We don’t want to make it less affordable for some people just to make it more affordable for other people.
• Education: My kids went to five-star schools and I never saw problems, but I just have to look at that a little bit more.
• Crime & Mental Health: I think a lot of our problems go back to either drugs or childhood abuse or even elderly abuse. We need to focus on helping people find out what the problem is in their lives, that would go a long way to helping crime. You have to enforce laws, there has to be consequences. That’s how you have a civil society. It’s worked for a long time and we need to get back to the basics.

Kenny Nguyen – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We can help homelessness with affordable housing and better wages, because the reality is that people are just unable to afford homes. We need more housing units to help people make sure that they can afford a home and have options so they can purchase or even rent homes or apartments.
• Infrastructure: The reality is that we don’t have public transit that supports us. A lot of folks use RTD, I use RTD. Unfortunately, it’s not accessible for a lot of Broomfielders. We want to make sure Broomfield is on the Green Path of carbon emissions. I would also encourage more charging stations for electric vehicles.
• Development: My goal is more density in units. We need to focus on apartment complexes, duplexes, and townhomes that are maybe not as large but they are more attainable and affordable.
• Cost of living: Folks are seeing crippling effects of inflation and interest rates. We have to increase wages, make sure that people can afford those homes. There’s crippling inflation and interest rates, people buy a home and they’re unable to afford a mortgage.
• Education: Working with our local schools, teacher unions, and our educators to fund programs that are fair. We have to work together from local, state and federal and ideally, find the right partnerships. How do we get more pre-K teachers and educators?
• Crime & Mental Health: We have to find better ways to address gun violence. Having mental health providers, police officers on patrol, and de-escalation. We’ve had some successful gun control legislation like red flag laws and getting guns from people who are more dangerous. I would also invite experts, police officers, folks to brainstorm together.

Broomfield City Council – Ward 2

Paloma Delgadillo – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: I believe in funding our health and human services department and ensuring people who are unhoused, and those being on the brink of being unhoused, are able to access free services. I want to ensure that we are not making homelessness a crime, luckily this is the case. In Broomfield, if someone is camped out where they should not be camped out, it does not lead to criminal punishment.
• Infrastructure: I am on the record of supporting denser development. It’s necessary not only to have regulatory solutions, but also to have more people. There are people who cannot afford a car, much less two cars for a household and so I think expanding public transportation is extremely important for us.
• Development: Our goal is about 40% open space. Having access to the outdoors, open space, is beneficial for people and public health. We have plenty of single family options, I would argue that what we don’t have is townhouses and more of those denser developments.
• Cost of living: Safe and dignified housing is a human right. It’s unconscionable the inequality we have in America. Obviously, that is not something under my control as a city council member. However, I do support continuing to fund those public services and public utilities that help improve people’s quality of life.
• Education: I would defer a more robust answer for school board candidates and people who are much more informed about this. I would point to funding community services such as library programs, making sure that we have low cost and free preschool available to young families.
• Crime & Mental Health: I believe in the Second Amendment and I do believe that we need common sense regulations. I think it’s impossible to ignore the link that poverty and a scarcity of resources have a detrimental effect on mental health. Giving people access to safe housing is important to ensure they are taken care of. 

Broomfield City Council – Ward 3

Jean Lim – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: In Broomfield when a resident or someone is concerned about an unhoused person, they can report it to the city and a cross-sectional team goes out to see if they can assist that unhoused person. That team effort has been successful so far in trying to find the unhoused person the resources that that person needs to find housing somewhere and to otherwise be set on a better path to sustainability. 
• Infrastructure: Public transit is essential to meeting not only the needs of those who have to commute to work and in and out of Broomfield, it’s essential to meet our green greenhouse gas goals, which we set in 2020 in Broomfield. Our BRT service has not developed fully yet. We need BRT service on Colorado 7. 
• Development: We have a process of reviewing development in Broomfield which keeps the character while at the same time providing for housing needs. We have recently revamped a lot of the code which had not been reviewed for a long time, as far as zoning landscape code, where parking and biking requirements. 
• Cost of living: I’m very proud of the efforts that council has made with our inclusionary housing ordinance. We have secured funding from residential developers for either the on site units or for cash in lieu. For cash in lieu, we have established the Broomfield Housing Alliance which will use to look at developments in Broomfield that can address the needs of our demographics.
• Education: The Colorado preschool initiative as a statewide initiative, it was adopted on the premise that the state would be able to fund it and Broomfield has six school districts. Broomfield has never been in the service of providing education, so I don’t think that Broomfield has a role in this statewide initiative.
• Crime & Mental Health: We have enhanced our mental health services that are available to Broomfield residents, in particular in the past four years through the pandemic. We have made use of the funding grant and internal funding grants and now the opioid money that’s available to enhance mental health resources for Broomfield residents.

Peter Crouse

• Unhoused: I don’t have a plan for homelessness. The answer to homelessness is a multi-jurisdictional question that’s going to involve the resources of cities, counties, states and actually the federal government. It also has to do with health care in the country, which I don’t view as being as complete as it should be.
• Infrastructure: We have to build appropriate density. Density allows living near retail so people can shop and walk without having to travel great distances, density allows people to park their cars, to ride their bikes, and to walk. The word density is a boogeyman, it creates fear in people. When they hear density, they think poverty, crime, crowding and I don’t think those align.
• Development: There are those who would like to make Colorado so expensive that you build a financial fence around Colorado. I don’t think that that’s the right way to approach population growth. If you look at 96th Avenue in Broomfield, that is a model development of how we can move forward to provide adequate housing that’s affordable, as well as putting it around workplaces so that you have workforce housing and people don’t have to travel great distances to work. 
• Cost of living: We have to be very careful about what kind of municipal laws we pass regarding housing standards and electricity. We have got to ultimately move away from hydrocarbons, because the air pollution that comes with hydrocarbons has negative consequences. We want to reduce that air pollution. The move to electrify things has consequences in housing cost, you have to be careful.
• Education: I don’t think local governments should be expected to fill that gap. I think that unfunded state mandate is one of the things causing friction between the municipalities and the state level government right now. I’m not sure how to address that unfunded mandate.
• Crime & Mental Health: The responsibility for controlling guns is going to come down to voters in this country and voting in national politicians that align with their views on gun control. I really don’t think that the local communities are gonna have a lot to do with gun control. I don’t have a magic bullet answer on what to do about mental health issues. It’s so tied to families, poverty and poverty is so generational.

Broomfield City Council – Ward 4

Laurie Anderson – ENDORSED

• Unhoused:  Continue providing a more tailored approach to the unhoused, working with unhoused individuals on a case by case basis to figure out where they are from and what they need to get back on their feet. Broomfield’s unhoused population is low, so we should use this to our advantage by providing this more tailored, personalized approach.
• Infrastructure: Those before us have done good work to begin expanding public transit and walkability, we should continue this work. We have walkable developments, more bus stops and expanded RTD coverage in development, hopefully to be completed in the next couple of years. We need to work to keep these projects on track. 
• Development: We need to build developments with unique character, such as the upcoming town square.
• Cost of Living: Broomfield has already done work on figuring out what affordable housing is needed and how to provide more of it. We should follow the work that came before and stay on this course to provide affordable housing for Broomfield families. We have homes in the pipeline, we are building for density and plan to have RTD coverage by 2026.
• Education: Advocate with the state to ensure that the most needy families are prioritized, and seek more funding for early education.
• Crime & Mental Health: Identify when someone is having a mental health crisis as opposed to committing a crime, and expand programs and services to assist people undergoing mental health crises. Right now, our biggest issue with regards to mental health is lack of resources. Most of this is handled at the state level, so we must advocate for more state support and resources.

Broomfield City Council – Ward 5

Adam Gobetti – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: We need to help the unhoused population, not just tuck them into a corner and forget about them. The issue really comes down to mental health. We already have mental health resources, we need to do a better job of informing people and expanding access. We need to do targeted investments to improve these resources. Do what we can to make sure people don’t wind up unhoused in the first place.
• Infrastructure: We need to focus on what can be done at a municipal level, such as advocating for smarter design and working with RTD and county authorities to encourage more public transportation. 
• Development: We need to be careful with what we build and why, and focus on growing slowly. 
• Cost of Living: Affordability/Cost of Living: We need to spend less money on big projects and focus on saving money for Broomfield families. To do this, we need to reduce taxes for those in Broomfield. We need to make it less expensive to live and do business in Broomfield. Don’t add costs to housing and don’t make it more difficult for builders to create housing. 
• Education: Education is a matter for the school board, not the city council. This doesn’t mean that nothing can be done, but it means that city council is incredibly limited in this area.
• Crime & Mental Health: Mental health drives a lot of other issues, such as crime and suicide. Broomfield’s police department is fantastic and needs to be supported. We need to invest in solutions to mental health and crime problems that aren’t entirely police oriented.

Heidi Henkel – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: There are a number of compounding issues behind this problem that need to be addressed. We need to expand affordable housing, mortgage assistance, and other housing support services so that people who are struggling don’t slip into homelessness. We need to get the unhoused wrap-around support services they need, such as mental and physical health care.
• Infrastructure: Work on rezoning to improve walkability and public transportation, reduce parking spaces, increase walkability between commercial and residential areas. This is all about planning, we need to build with walkability and public transit in mind first and foremost. If you build density, transportation will come.
• Development: The key to this is public input. If we are people powered, we’ll be able to build smartly and preserve Broomfields unique character. People are moving to Broomfield because of affordability, open spaces, and the tech scene, among other factors. We need to keep all of these in mind while growing and developing.
• Cost of Living: We should build partnerships to develop more affordable housing, reduce cost of living and support Broomfield families. Broomfield should retain its land use authority because it can move quickly to build affordable housing. We need to work to make home ownership more attainable for people, and work regionally to raise the minimum wage across Boulder County and surrounding counties. 
• Education: We need to provide more preschool and childcare resources for Broomfield families. 
• Crime & Mental Health: Work at the state level to pass a bill requiring firearm education before any firearm purchase. This will significantly increase gun safety, and weed out people who are looking to purchase a firearm just to hurt others. Make sure people are keeping their firearms locked up, and work to reduce firearms being stolen from cars and homes. Expand red flag laws to ensure that people going through a mental health crisis have some sort of intervention before purchasing a firearm.

Broomfield Ward 5 (Recall) | Vote: No

Todd Cohen – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We have a robust Human Services Department that provides services. The city also has a hotel voucher program to temporarily get people out of public spaces and provide shelter especially in times of severe weather.
• Infrastructure: We can pressure RTD to live up to their promises, they have failed. We’re unfortunately a public transit desert in many ways. I would like to see more safe, dedicated bike lanes rather than relying on paint on a pavement.
• Development: Stick to our 40% open lands goal. It provides spaces for both mental health spaces and wildlife. We are emphasizing density, particularly in the Highway 7 corridor. The future is more townhomes, more dense housing developments around transit areas.
• Cost of Living: Beyond the basic problem of supply and demand, we need more housing. The market is not going to solve that. It’s partly the density that you require, we need to build our way out of this with more housing options.
• Education: The state doesn’t have enough resources for schools, roads, or sewers. It doesn’t have enough resources for preschool. Unfortunately, TABOR has starved schools, roads, and education to a Mississippi level.
• Crime & Mental Health: young people are not feeling hopeful at all, and if you don’t have hope you turn to other means. Lockdown drills, home prices out of reach, student loans making college unrealistic, why is it surprising that we have mental health challenges and anxiety?

Maria Boutrous – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: We need to take an individualized, tailored approach, by providing mental health and economic support services to the people that need it. Many with mental health issues, such as schizophrenics, are chronically unhoused, and we need to focus on giving them the support and resources they need.
• Infrastructure: Broomfield has been giving RTD money for years without a noticeable increase in service. We need to reevaluate where our money is going, and what will have the best impact on increasing public transit availability. Crime puts a big damper on public transit use, so by combating crime we would encourage more people to use public transit. 
• Development: We need to be smart about developing the last twenty percent of available land in Broomfield, as the city’s large amount of open space is one of the main things that draws people to the city.
• Cost of Living: We need to reduce the mill levy, and other taxes and regulations that make it difficult for builders to create housing in Broomfield. This will increase the amount of affordable housing, specifically middle housing like townhomes, and reduce cost of living for average families. Specifically, we need to target  high property taxes that make life more expensive for Broomfield families.
• Education: This is not something the city council can realistically address, this issue is best left to the school board. 
• Crime & Mental Health: Crime is a huge mental health burden on Broomfield families. We could do a lot to address the mental health crisis by reducing property crime, such as vehicle thefts, so families have less to worry about, and by fighting to lower the cost of living. In order to reduce crime, we need to work with Broomfield police and give them the resources and support they need.

Boulder Elections

Boulder Mayor

Aaron Brockett – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We need more permanent housing to get people off the street and provide wraparound substance abuse and mental health services. We should also create programs with transitional choices like tiny home villages which are proving to be successful in Denver. We can help pay for this with funding from proposition 123 which was passed last year and provides millions of dollars for homelessness supportive services.
• Infrastructure: We need to move in a sustainable direction by creating more “15 minute neighborhoods,” where people can walk, bike, and take the bus to most of their daily needs. We are working to accomplish that by rezoning some of our old strip malls and business parks, so they become vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods. We got a $25 million grant to increase transportation between Longmont and Boulder. I will seek out every opportunity to add transit options and bike infrastructure if I’m re-elected.
• Development: It’s about locating denser development in places that can support it, where there are services, bikeability, and transit. That goes to some of the rezoning I’ve been talking about, but some of that new development can really create beautiful communities. You can add new development in ways that actually enhance a community’s character.
• Cost of living: We have to create substantial affordable housing. Right now we are working on projects to clear out  regulatory obstacles to more affordable and attainable housing, and I am in full support of those. The rezoning that I was talking about will come with a 25% affordable housing requirement. We can expect substantial amounts of affordable housing from that. We also have to look at changing permit and fee structures so that affordable housing is easier to create.
• Education: I have been disappointed at the rolling back of universal preschool programs. We had a positive alternative in the potential creation of an early childhood education district, but I was disappointed that they didn’t move forward. One thing we can do at the municipal level is to provide support for early childcare expenses. Our Human Services department has a child care affordability fund that we use to support small family-owned childcare, as well as people who need help paying for childcare.
• Crime & Mental Health: Better mental health support is critical. Currently Colorado ranks 49th in terms of funding and it affects everybody in the community, people with houses, people without houses, youths, and seniors, everyone. We need to partner with our nonprofit and county governments to provide additional resources and funding. The largest cause of gun violence is suicides. We need to provide mental health resources to help keep that from happening.
• Policing: I was excited to support the Reimagine Policing program. It moves us away from primarily arresting people who commit crimes and more into a focus of how to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. So it puts police more in a partnership with the community and finding out the reasons why crime is happening and working toward changing the environment such that it won’t reoccur in the future.

Bob Yates 

• Unhoused: I put together an eight point plan that addresses some problems and consequences of homelessness in Boulder. We need to be compassionate and provide services that unhoused people need — mental health treatments, substance-abuse treatment, temporary and permanent housing. We need to be sensitive to community values because we have homeless people living in parks and other public spaces, which is illegal and unhealthy for them and for our housed community. 
• Infrastructure: Our public transportation is operated by the regional transit district, the RTD. The city does operate one bus line, the HOP, and we’ve had discussions over the last few years about possibly expanding the HOP bus lines, because RTD is simply not able to provide adequate transit service to our community.
• Development: Boulder’s growth within the last 20 years has been very slow and steady. We add about 200 to 300 housing units per year. About half of those incremental units that have been added in the last few years have been permanently affordable and are restricted for low income families. So we have been growing very slowly but steadily.
• Cost of living: There are a number of state and federal programs that help the city create permanent affordable housing for families with low income at or below 60% area median income. If a family makes 70%, there are no such programs. The city needs to be creative. One program I put together with the former mayor was a middle income down payment assistance program.
• Education: This is a state program, so I’m not sure it’s appropriate. The city is not involved with education. I think it’s great that the state has stepped in to provide some preschool education, but the city is not in a position to get into the education business to fund education services. This is something the city should not be involved in. We should leave that to the school district and to the state.
• Crime & Mental Health: Colorado ranks at or near the bottom of mental health funding compared to other states. The city doesn’t have a health department and so while the city can certainly be helpful in various ways, we need to look to the state and the county to provide treatment. For gun violence, I am proud of the fact during my years on council, we passed two sets of gun gun violence prevention measures.
• Policing: I am happy with the plan. It passed unanimously a couple weeks ago and that tells you a lot. There’s not a whole lot that nine members of the council can agree on, and I think that’s a tribute to the police chief, and I think it’s a tribute to the process. I was part of that process of community engagement understanding what it is that the community expects from the police department. It is my understanding that the understanding police plan that we approved a couple weeks ago is being held up nationally as a role model.

Nicole Speer – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: My plan is to focus on evidence based solutions to end homelessness. There are a few things we know that work, one of them is prevention focused, and it is providing cash emergency assistance to people who are on the verge of becoming homeless. You can, for relatively small amounts of money, actually prevent somebody from falling into homelessness.
• Infrastructure: I would advocate for moving towards universal design standards for our streets. Which go beyond ADA accessibility. Maybe neurological disorders, sensory processing disorder and mental illness. Make more spaces for them, like how we provide ample seating for people who can’t really walk very far before they take a break. How are we using trees and plants to dampen noise and provide shade for cooler spaces. Those are things I’d push for.
• Development: I’ve been here almost 20 years and you know, the character has changed quite a bit. We have gotten quite a bit wealthier, housing prices have gone up quite a bit. A lot of the homes are doubling in size. I think we need to think about how we want to change moving forward. Are we comfortable with that change? Is this what we really want to be?
• Cost of living: One thing is to increase the amount of affordable housing. We are beginning to look at — and I am fully in support — is putting housing fees on single family homes that are doing additions or large renovations. Homes that are getting bigger. These homes that I just complained about above are changing the character of our neighborhoods.
• Education: I was a little disappointed that our county commissioners did not choose to pursue the creation of a child care district. I think that is an interesting solution to some of the childcare issues we’re facing, and I would really like to see that revisited in the coming years.
• Crime & Mental Health: At a local level we’re doing what we can to restrict availability of guns. We really need some sensible gun safety legislation. As far as Mental health goes, I always think it’s important to remember most people with mental illnesses are not committing crime, and also people with mental illnesses are more likely to be victims of crimes. We are one of the lowest when it comes to mental health care. I would love to see the county and state invest more in mental health services, a lot of it comes down to prevention.
• Policing: Where the Reimagine Policing policy ought to be taking us is to where we’re partnering with the community to reduce crime and reduce the need for police intervention. That is where I see the role evolving to prevent crime. More investment in social services. If you have enough money to put food on the table, we know there is no reason to go try and steal food from the grocery store. We know that investments really make a difference.

Paul Tweedlie – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: You can make a distinction between the homeless, who are raised in Boulder, and have fallen on hard times, and they have been helped by the city’s housing department. I think it’s like six people. Transients, illegal camps, these guys don’t belong in Boulder, they need to leave.
• Infrastructure: I think there are some problems. I was excited to see a new route has been added and also I see encouraging signs like E-bikes around town and now E-scooters. We need to make sure we have safe bike and foot paths where people can get to where they need to be. 
• Development: There’s the super rich who come from out of state with millions, if not billions, and that puts pressure on the housing market. What we really need is low income housing so that the people who work in Boulder can live in Boulder. So I would try to encourage the development of  low income housing.
• Cost of living: There’s not much you can do about the rising cost of living. There’s a 600 acre area just north and east of the city which you know can be chopped up and then we can develop that area for more low income housing. The first thing would be to follow the plan that’s already in place.
• Education: It sounds like a failing for families. I don’t know what to do, the housing and school system are already under a lot of pressure. I’d encourage more home schools, I’d support these programs.
• Crime & Mental Health: Crime is a real problem and it’s highly associated with drugs. There is such an access to drugs. Fentanyl is killing our kids. Absolutely heartbreaking. To address the crime I think we first need to address illegal drugs.
• Policing: It was a great plan. They’re looking for more officers to hire, but they’re having trouble hiring more officers. I believe the city Council has a duty to set the tone, they need to set expectations in Boulder. If you break the law, you’re gonna get fined and ticketed if it’s a misdemeanor. If you don’t pay your fine, you’re going to jail.

Boulder City Council – At Large

Aaron Neyer

• Unhoused: We need transitional housing so homeless people have a place to go. Right now we’re saying ‘you can’t be here,’ but the truth is they don’t have a place to go. We need to recognize our society, and the inequity that’s built into our society, is creating this problem. 
• Infrastructure: We need to make it more appealing to not use a car, to do that people need to feel safe. Right now a lot of people don’t feel safe when not in a car. We do that by creating more protected bike lanes.
• Development: Duplexes and triplexes allow for more infill and housing. We start like really thinking how we can intelligently build out.
• Cost of Living:  We should create more affordable housing, and more middle income housing, to start creating a little more economic diversity. I know people who live in duplex and triplexes and they really enjoy the community feel.
• Education: I know there’s really great preschools here yet a lot of people struggle sending their kids to preschools. I would like to see Boulder play more of a role in how we are shaping the education system. But I’m not well researched enough to know what the solutions are.
• Crime & Mental Health: I learned about a program where they trained a number of mental health responders so if someone is caling 911, the operator that receives it can determine if this is a mental health crisis. I’m curious if we could do something like that in Boulder, that would be really cool.
• Policing: The struggle is when somebody is having a mental health break down, they get the police called on them. We should emphasize things like community mutual aid and trained mental health responders.

Jacques Decalo

• Unhoused: Expand facilities and programs that currently help the unhoused, such as turning night shelters into daytime or even 24 hour shelters. Give unhoused people the support they need to find both temporary and long term housing, particularly employment. Enforce the camping ban, but provide areas where the unhoused can stay, receive support, and access services. 
• Infrastructure: Work on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis to figure out which can accommodate more density. Make Boulder friendlier to bikers by building protected bike lanes and fixing potholes. Work to accommodate e-bikes and make public transit more reliable and frequent. 
• Development: Keep Boulder diverse, natural and beautiful. Make our neighborhoods more walkable and friendlier to public transit. Boulder shouldn’t sprawl. 
• Cost of Living: Make Boulder an affordable place to live for everyone. Focus on building inclusionary housing while also helping housed people stay that way. Make use of vacant and underused spaces, like empty offices, to build more housing.
• Education: Work with what we have, use universities already in Boulder to expand early education programs. Give lower income Boulder residents more opportunities for early childhood education. Philanthropy can help us bridge these gaps and provide for Boulder’s children.
• Crime & Mental Health: Take a holistic approach to policing, focus on preventative measures. Get input from the community on what they’re worried about and what needs fixing. Address what leads people to crime, provide support and expand opportunities for people.
• Policing: Continue to support Reimagine Policing. Invest in our police, make sure our bike paths and public spaces are safe, well-monitored, and held to a safety standard put forward by the chief of police. We also need to work with our local businesses to help them feel safe. 

Jennifer Robins

• Unhoused: We can’t group the unhoused into one group. We have families that are experiencing homelessness. We have individuals experiencing homelessness. I think Boulder does a good job working with a portion of the unhoused community who are actively working towards to exit homelessness. For those living in the encampments, we believe we need to continue outreach to get them involved with coordinated entry and the mini mini services that are offered through outdoor city.
• Infrastructure: Transportation accounts for 29% of the greenhouse gas emissions. There are many people in our community that have to drive to work, to shop, to go to school. It comes back to rezoning housing and areas that we have mass transit and walkable, mixed use neighborhoods. We need to increase the safety and usability of RTD, increase our bike share, and incentivize eBike purchases.
• Development: I would support strategic zoning reform to allow for slightly higher densities and gentle infill in certain areas. These areas can include our vacant or aging businesses and industrial districts, where we can rezone to create multi unit housing. I think it’s crucial work with our existing neighborhoods to accomplish all of this.
• Cost of living: The market is in the business of profit it’s not in the business of affordability so in Boulder we’re going to have to regulate in order to get the affordable housing that we need. We need to focus on continuing our inclusionary housing policy and leveraging that cash to let our Boulder housing partners with the county to create truly affordable housing.
• Education: I went back to work after six weeks with both of my kids and they had to go directly into private daycare so I am very aware of how families struggle. We need to continue looking at working with our community partners or existing nonprofits to help that situation, as well as potentially providing tax rebates for in-home daycare.
• Crime & Mental Health: We need to implement a caring yet efficient strategy for addressing crime. Mental health is a huge issue right now. Public safety is the job of the city and health is the job of the county. The county really needs to step up and provide supportive services.
• Policing: Police need to be staffed to be staffed to be successful. I went on a ride along about two weeks ago with the police and I was able to see how all of the different teams within the police department work together so efficiently. We had mental health calls. I was able to see how they worked with the downtown Ambassadors on Pearl Street.

Ryan Schuchard – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We need to focus on four key areas: people, prevention, places, programs and spaces. Increase the use of non-police responses when dealing with those suffering mental health issues. Prevent people from slipping into homelessness. Establish a more accessible network, such as day shelters. Make sure our public spaces have the things people need to get through their day, such as public toilets and drinking fountains
• Infrastructure: Consolidate the city’s resources and bureaucracies for the purpose of building more walkable, public transit friendly infrastructure and codify our goals in this area. We need to focus on making Boulder resource and space efficient. Lastly, we need to build a full grid of transportation modes that aren’t centered on cars, and build a public transportation network that is more robust, efficient and reliable.
• Development: Our problems with development come from our attachment to and reliance on cars. Decoupling from cars would give us space for more people and room for safer modes of transit. Reducing our dependence on cars would make our city more inclusive and solve a lot of our issues with development.
• Cost of Living: We need to increase the quantity of middle housing, such as duplexes, triplexes, townhomes. Reform zoning to make it easier to build middle income housing. We need to reduce and eliminate parking mandates in order to incentivize building more housing. We need to practice strategic development in the large tracts of land open to us, such as the airport.
• Education: We need to make the cost of living work better for those in the education system, namely teachers. We also need to expand resources for working parents. 
• Crime & Mental Health: We need to expand our network of mental health and substance addiction support services.
• Policing: Address the epidemic of drug addiction, mental illness, poverty, and desperation, which are fueling an increase in violent crime. We need to fix the congestion problem in our courts, in a way that protects civil liberties while reducing costs and breaking the cycle of people reoffending. Become more sophisticated about dealing with transportation related crime, such as bike theft.

Silas Atkins – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: A holistic approach to support the unhoused and help struggling people stay housed. Take both the short and long term into account, and expand our perspective to work with regional authorities. Take inspiration from successes in Denver to create safe public spaces and provide services to those who need them most. Expand temporary housing solutions such as hotel room stays and repurposing empty commercial space. 
• Infrastructure: Incentivize housing density and placing housing along transit corridors. In order to depend less on cars, we need people to live closer to where they work and give them greater access to more means of transportation. We can achieve this by changing our zoning laws and taking cues from infrastructure changes that are working in other parts of the state.
• Development: Boulder is not full, it only feels so because we have cars everywhere. Reduce conflict between different modes of travel by splitting them up. Increase public transit and dense housing to make Boulder a more pleasant, environmentally friendly place to live.
• Cost of Living: Make it easier for things to get built. Support working families by raising the minimum wage and providing direct cash assistance to those that need it. Work to create neighborhoods of mixed income levels, economic segregation benefits no one.
• Education: There is very little we can do to work with the education system on the local, city level, as this is largely handled on the state level. The best way to proceed is to reach out to experts on this matter and figure out what we can do, if anything, to help ease families burdens. It will take expert advice and out of the box thinking to tackle this problem on the local level.
• Crime & Mental Health: Take the existing police budget and reinvest it into proven, nonviolent solutions, such as the care team. The last thing the Boulder Police Department needs is more money and more officers, as it has been proven that approaches like this do nothing to make our citizens and public spaces safer.
• Policing: The reimagined policing plan was a bad idea for Boulder.

Tara Winer – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We have a day center that we’re working on. Right now, people have the option of staying in the Boulder Shelter for the homeless. But that is during the night, they need to go somewhere during the day where they can access services, use the bathroom and the showers, and have lockers for their possessions. We need more transitional housing with more services.
• Infrastructure: We have a car culture. To get people out of cars, transit has to be fast, reliable, and inexpensive. That, of course, falls under the purview of the RTD. However, we do have Via, they run the hop and they do a good job. I think the best options we might have even for the disabled are probably E-bikes. I want to put infrastructure with protected bike lanes into Boulder.
• Development: Colorado in general has a housing shortage but we also have a labor shortage. So, to me, they’re inter-twined. Having housing that the labor pool wants is going to be crucial for us to solve some of our labor shortage problems. I don’t have to tell you how expensive land is here, making housing that is affordable is pretty difficult.
• Cost of living: Two types of affordable housing in Boulder. Deed restricted permanently affordable housing, and there is housing that is affordable or attainable. We have a lot of the deed restricted permanently affordable housing units in the pipeline. I would say we’re really good at that. What we don’t have is a lot of affordable housing that’s outside that. We have very little middle income housing stock.
• Education: You know, in a world where we have unlimited funds, yes, they could. But, we have limited funds. Personally, I don’t know. I feel like the state should’ve done that. It’s not fair to keep asking local governments to keep paying for everything.
• Crime: I want to talk about mental health. We have Mental Health Partners. It’s the county that’s supposed to be in charge of mental health so a lot of my job is to beg the county commissioners and the state to do something to help us. Mental health is part of the county’s purview, and it affects our cities so much. I will say that Mental Health Partners did recently get a grant that was awarded to them to purchase a facility.
• Policing: I was part of the subcommittee for the Reimagine Policing plan and I thought the policing plan was great. I think we have some problems because we have a shortage of police officers. We are about 20 police officers down so we’re having trouble keeping up with all the things that police officers need to be involved with. So the reimagining plan called for 205 police officers and we can’t even find staff and retain them. We really need more police officers.

Taishya Adams – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: Resources, people, programs and initiatives we know what works, investing in what works, and being led by those who are most affected by this topic. Like Streetscape, for example, and their four point plan.
• Infrastructure: Funding for our transportation system is going to be the number one most important goal. We have new funding opportunities through both the inflation reduction act, and Boulder’s own climate tax. How do we leverage these historic investments to make sure we are reducing our own carbon footprint emissions, and increasing our biodiversity. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention people with disabilities. I believe in balancing people and the planet.
• Development: We can’t just have housing everywhere. It really needs to be balanced with the habitats of other species and of course the natural resources we manage. As a former commissioner for Colorado Parks, and Wildlife, I am aware of this fresh perspective and proven expertise in balancing the needs of outdoor recreation, which is one of the cornerstones of Boulder. That’s why I came here. The character also evolves as we evolve.
• Cost of living: Increasing the minimum wage. Honestly, I think it’s problematic when our government is only focused on one dimension of our lives. Affordability is not just in housing, We’re going to have a 25% increase in our water bill. Water affordability is going to be a conversation we’re going to be having Not to mention transportation affordability. I know we have some programs, but not to meet the demands. It is a holistic viewpoint that moves the bar.
• Education: One of the issues is staffing and retaining early childhood staff in challenging work conditions. Demand is high and inventory is low. This is one of the challenges of unfunded mandates. I’m going to bring expertise to this council, understanding the federal, state, and local level to work with various departments to put money in the hands of families.
• Crime: What we do have is to work with health and human services that we currently have and make sure they are resourced. Our Health and Human Services department just became at parity with our police budget. Two years prior to that I think it was 2/3 the budget. So you get what you pay for. You get what you invest in. We invested in policing, which unfortunately is a reactive strategy. Thankfully, Chief Herold is working to be more proactive.
• Policing: I’m an inaugural member of the police oversight panel, so I’ve looked under the hood in ways most in our city have not, and by that I mean audio tapes, video, tapes and documents opportunities to meet with the chief and staff and officers and community members. I’ll bring that experience in the expertise to this conversation around policing and Reimagine Policing, I think the current reimagining police program gets it right as it relates to transparency, and as it relates to an effort to be more proactive rather than be reactive.

Terri Brncic – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: Need to stop thinking of unhoused people as a uniform group with the same needs. Housing alone will not solve the problem, many are suffering from mental health disorders. We need to expand our mental health support services and transitional housing to help the chronically unhoused. However, Boulder can’t do this on its own, and we need to pressure the county and state to step up and help us.
• Infrastructure: Focus on our e-bike infrastructure and safety policies. Make sure that e-bikes are encouraged and safe to use for everyone. Increase bike security so people will be more likely to buy and use bikes. Target parking minimums to reclaim space and start building for the future. 
• Development: We need to expand density in moderation. Don’t want Boulder to be all high rise apartment buildings, but need to build targeted, intentionally walkable neighborhoods along transit corridors. 
• Cost of Living: Need to make the best use of our scarce land by building more affordable housing and expanding housing density. We have to make sure that, in the process of building out, we focus on housing that is affordable rather than high end housing like townhomes. 
• Education: We need to increase the minimum wage to make things easier both for educators and for families. This is the main thing we can do to address this issue at the local level. 
• Crime & Mental Health: Work on lobbying the county to expand mental health resources in Boulder. Our police force is progressive and doing well, we need to support them.
• Policing: I support Reimagine Policing, we have one of the most progressive police chiefs in the country and we should support her. The chief has expressed a desire for change and is currently on a good course, we should support her while also keeping an eye on her progress.

Tina Marquis

• Unhoused: Support current efforts, and expand with new projects such as a day center for the unhoused population. Work to connect people to the resources we have. Expand collaborations with municipal partners to increase affordable housing and provide support to those who are struggling. 
• Infrastructure: Reduce barriers to accessing public transportation in order to increase use, which will hopefully lead to increased frequency. Work with RTD to expand public transportation options. Create safe routes for people to walk and bike on. Expand density where it makes sense, in places where people can realistically walk and bike around. 
• Development: Don’t build just for the sake of it. Focus on providing opportunities for middle and low income families, such as providing more middle income housing. In general, focus on building housing that caters to a diverse range of socioeconomic groups. 
• Cost of Living: Help people stay in their homes. In general, focus on helping people who are struggling to afford basic necessities, both by providing services through the city government and by partnering with nonprofits. 
• Education: Focus on working with existing providers and services rather than creating new taxes or boards. Could consider a citywide early childhood care tax, but must look at the need for it in Boulder. Would prefer a city tax rather than county wide tax. Try to meet families needs without adding too much administrative complexity. 
• Crime & Mental Health: Reduce the usage of guns and support gun safety. Guns should not be in the hands of people who would not be responsible firearm owners. Work with the county to address mental health support services in Boulder. 
• Policing: The reimagined policing program provides a nice balance between the need for public safety and our city wide values of social justice and equity. Focus on preventative rather than reactive policing. 

Waylon Lewis – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We’ve been stuck in the status quo that is bad for all of us. Bad for the homeless, bad for the rest of the general public. It’s been expensive, we’ve tied the hands of the police, and expect them to solve everything. I am a rare candidate not allied with either of the major slates who work to form coalitions. (I’d work), to solve this based on what’s worked and what hasn’t in other cities.
• Infrastructure: I would add electric buses and smaller vans more frequently to all the major routes. RTD is not always a dependable partner. We need regular clean buses and protected bike lanes, as well as adequate access and parking for those who do need to drive. This will take cars off the road reducing traffic. We have to take both climate change and our ability to get around the city safely and quickly seriously.
• Development: We’ve lost affordability, our schools are emptying out. Police officers, teachers, healthcare workers can’t afford to live in Boulder. We need to redouble our efforts on affordable housing in beautiful fun ways that keep Boulder feeling like Boulder. I’d often say let’s make Boulder weird again.
• Cost of living: What Boulder has done with affordable housing is pretty impressive. Still, our goal is nearly double where we’re at now. The model that BHP and others are focusing on is working. We need to focus on missing middle income housing but that will take focus and support from the City Council.
• Education: If parents can’t afford to live in Boulder, let alone work in Boulder that doesn’t work for any of us. To keep our economy strong we need to fill the gap with nonprofit and city run daycare as well as pushing both regionally and state and federally to get the support we expected, and that our citizens need. Families are vital to Boulder and we’re losing them every single day.
• Crime: Boulder has shown leadership on addressing gun violence, especially since the tragic shooting at King Soopers. There’s only so much we can do without federal and state support. Mental health and addiction care are both vital for reducing crime.
• Policing: We are gifted with an ethical and progressive police chief. Our role in City Council will be to both support the police and get them clear direction, neither of which they’ve never really had over the last years. The Reimagine Policing document is one I support, and it includes encouraging community, policing and mental and addiction care, so that police aren’t saddled with responding to everything, including situations they may not be equipped for.

Boulder City Ballot Measures

2A – Sales Tax Allocation: Extension of the existing .15 % City Sales and Use Tax with 50% for General Fund Purposes and 50% to Support Arts, Culture and Heritage (Compromise Measure) | Vote: Yes

302 – Public Space: A citizen initiated Charter Amendment to prohibit items located on city property within a radius of five-hundred feet from any point on a school property line or within fifty feet on both sides of any multi-use path or sidewalk with prioritized removal | Vote: No

2B – Election Rules (Petitions): A Charter Amendment to sections 27, 37, 39, 46, and 57 to: Remove the requirement that people who wish to sign petitions in support of mayoral or City Council candidates do so in person before the city clerk. Allow the city clerk additional processing time to reduce the need for overtime or weekend work to process paper petitions.  Clarify language providing that state law governs amendments to the city’s Charter | Vote: Yes

Erie Elections

Erie Ballot Measures

3A – Home Rule: Shall the Town of Erie proposed home rule charter be adopted? | Vote: Yes

3B – Mayor and Council Compensation: The Mayor shall receive as monetary compensation the sum of twelve hundred dollars ($1,200) per month, and each Council Member shall receive as monetary compensation the sum of seven hundred dollars ($700) per month. Both amounts shall be adjusted annually according to the consumer price index (CPI) for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley area, or such successor index promulgated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. | Vote: Yes

Lafayette Elections

Lafayette City Council – At Large

Crystal Gallegos – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: Make sure the people who are unhoused know resources that are available, but we don’t want to strain those organizations as well. I’m thinking specifically of Sister Carmen as one that does great work. We need to make sure they are financially able to continue to assist people.
• Infrastructure: When RTD was free for everyone, as a mom who spends a lot of time driving to various schools, I did notice the program cut down on vehicular traffic immensely, especially near schools, which in turn helps with our problem with emissions and deteriorating roads.
• Development: My biggest concern with population growth is its impact on education. We seem to be building a lot of large density housing, but not really planning for children and schools.
• Cost of living: I just wanted to mention I’m not a homeowner, I am someone who rents. That does make me pro affordable housing. We need to think about education and infrastructure as well. If we continue to build large density housing, we need to make sure we’re considering those as well.
• Education: I’m the parent of a four year old who was promised four days a week of preschool and then they retracted that decision. We need to work with the district to see if there are ways we can implement those additional days that were promised.

David Fridland – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: It’s a lot about working directly with services and support networks that we have around us: Boulder County, our local PD,  Sister Carmen or our mental health services through the city and through the county. Getting them housing, if we can. It’s definitely inspiring to see what the new mayor of Denver is doing.
• Infrastructure: The basic infrastructure of our community needs to be top of mind: roads, safe sidewalks, multimodal transportation, making sure there’s bike lanes, making sure there’s bike and walking paths. All of it has to be addressed. Specifically for mass transit we need to work directly with RTD to make sure our community is getting served. I hear from a lot of people that RTD is a challenge in Lafayette.
• Development: People have been moving to the Front Range, and Colorado generally, since the mid-90s. I love that we have new neighbors, new ideas, new energy. We need to make sure we do it in a balanced way. We need to start thinking about how to build in a balanced and responsive way to the community that lives here already. More density, especially around transportation corridors, is really important. 
• Cost of living: Lafayette has done a pretty good job with affordable housing. We have Willoughby Corner being built. We have been leaders in terms of increasing the housing stock. A lot of it is larger than one community. We need housing stock across the income spectrum. We can do what we can do in Lafayette but it has to be more regional, state-wide support from the county, from the state. We all need to be rowing in the same direction.
• Education: Our role would be helping support local school districts to make sure folks that can’t afford preschool are getting support. We are more of a connector in helping understand the problem, and helping our community and our residents get what they need.

Eric Ryant

• Unhoused: It is a continuing problem and lots of citizens are concerned about it, so I do plan on addressing it.
• Infrastructure: I’m pro-business first of all. Any way to generate either income for the city or make it more affordable to live like the Willoughby Corner center that we’re putting up, I’m all for it. I think that affordable housing is an important issue that I am firmly for.
• Development: I’d have to get with CDOT. I want to see extensively what kind of plans they have with the roads. There’s several projects here in Lafayette that have been delayed or are taking forever, so I’d see what they’re planning to do to help us with the influx of people moving in.
• Cost of living: Inflation is a tough battle, for increasing the minimum wage, once something is in writing with Boulder County I’d probably sit down with all our local business leaders and get their thoughts because I think it is difficult to live in Lafayette. That’s why we’re putting up affordable housing, and we have to allow our local workers to be able to live locally.
• Education: I don’t represent myself. I represent the community, so if we feel that there’s any issues, I am there to approach it and try to find a good, long-term solution to the situation.

Gala Orba 

• Unhoused: The city of Lafayette is currently being sued because we have no homeless shelter. I’d like to open a homeless shelter, and I’m already looking at spaces. I’m going to pick four of them, and then I’m going to take them to the Council. I’d also like to create some permanent housing for the homeless. It’s been proven that the best way to solve homelessness is to give homeless people a place to live.
• Infrastructure: We’ve got space on Public Road and other areas where we could have more economic development and small business, however the rent is pretty high. It’s hard for people to get their foot in the door and start small businesses. I will always be a candidate for the little guy. I believe small business is the heart of our country.
• Development: We’re balancing urban growth in general. We just need a little help with the economy. I think those people who move here could potentially help us. I don’t look at it as a problem.
• Cost of living: There is affordable housing that is public housing but then there are landlords who are already helping with this phenomenon. For all the towns in the area and in this county I feel like Lafayette is the most hospitable to people who are lower income. That said I am focusing on the homeless more so than affordable housing.
• Education: Everybody deserves help with quality help with childcare. I’ve been impressed with the city of Lafayette’s commitment to after-school programs for middle and high school kids. It’s been beautiful to witness. The city has focused on middle and high school kids this past year, and done really well, so it’s time for us to build upon that success and focus on a younger population. There’s been lots of studies as far as how early childcare and head start programs are incredibly beneficial for successful students and successful lives.

JD Mangat – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We have always had folks experiencing homelessness in Lafayette, but lately it’s becoming more and more an emerging issue. Unfortunately we don’t have a housing and human services department currently within the city. My long-term goal is to create and develop that internally. The goal is to provide the unhoused population with the resources they need to survive and thrive.
• Infrastructure: During my time on counsel we’ve built a comprehensive plan for the entire city. We need to focus heavily on multi-modal transportation. I know that the state is working on the RTD across Baseline, but we can’t just rely on that. I’m a big fan of micro mobility, the electrification of smaller vehicles, scooters, and bicycles. We have a lot of areas that are missing bike lanes. The city is not as connected as it should be.
• Development: I think people make the mistake of thinking we are growing like crazy. We’re really not. Our intent is not to expand our borders, it is to meet further growth with infill. That’s going to be tough when it comes to traffic congestion, water, and city services. Any time your population grows I think problems grow with it.
• Cost of living: This is the number one issue I’m campaigning on. Lafayette made history this year by creating Willoughby Corner. There are a lot of different levers we can pull in partnership with the state that we can work with to increase affordable housing, like how we opted into Proposition 123. I’m hoping Willoughby Corner is just the tip of the iceberg.
• Education: I think there’s a need for free full-day childcare. I’d be willing to do what I can do in my capacity to advocate for it, whether it’s on a state level or a different level. That’s a huge need in our city, as all Coloradans would probably agree. 

John Watson – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: I would definitely want to address that issue and look at possibly having some type of affordable housing.
• Infrastructure: I’m a huge supporter of the infrastructure. I definitely want our businesses to continue. I do know that part of the problem that I see is that we are getting ready to lose our King Soopers. It looks like a gaping hole in the north side of town there. At the same time I don’t want another Dollar General or something like that. I’d like a grocery store, whether it be a mom or pop, or somebody else that would be paying taxes.
• Development: I think that it’s not as prevalent because we are kind of close to our maximum threshold as far as population-wise. We will need to look at different aspects and considerations, but I think diversity is a very fundamental part of who I am and what I represent, and I would like us to be welcoming and inviting, not become exclusive.
• Cost of living: I do believe that we should have a living wage. I’m completely on board with supporting people having living wages. I myself have lived here going on 18 years and I could not afford my house when we had it appraised and refinanced. I could not afford my house today.
• Education: I don’t have a lot to do with it as far as a city council member, but I would definitely support those types of endeavors.

Tim Barnes – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: Unhoused have different categories. Those who have immediate needs, say triage, you help them with medical emergency services. The other piece is to help people manage work their way through this system of services that exists, maybe with a mentoring program.
• Infrastructure: The whole metro area has been designed around cars. So we have a hard problem and infrastructure problem that impacts all of these other issues like affordable housing and whatnot. We need to separate car traffic. There has to be a physical barrier, there’s way too many accidents.
• Development: I sit on the sustainability resilience Advisory Committee. Resilience is key. That means taking stock of what you currently have, and what are the missing components. The problem is with development is that it has been low density.
• Cost of Living: The definition of affordable housing is too narrow. Accessory dwelling units, condos, apartments, they all play a role. But right now it’s cost prohibitive to build an adu and keep the rent reasonable.
• Education: I hear there is a direct economic correlation to early education and the economy. There’s a direct correlation. You pay for it, but your economy does better. Municipalities can can contribute but I don’t think they should be the lead.

Louisville Elections

Louisville – Mayor

Chris Leh – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We need to build more affordable housing. There are a variety of places where we can establish some permanently affordable housing. And, one such place is doing some transportation-oriented development near our bus rapid transit close to McCaslin Boulevard.
• Infrastructure: The idea of transportation-oriented development is critical here because it provides the kind of density that helps reduce carbon footprint and provides opportunities for people either not to need cars because they can use the bus or to use whatever transportation they have more sparingly, which helps to cut down greenhouse gasses. 
• Development: We’re going to be doing some changes to our land use planning code and processes. I think that that will certainly provide, we hope, expedited, clear, consistent, fair, predictable sorts of standards for folks to develop too. Those standards will be very much informed by our desire to maintain the small town feel of the city, which I believe we can do.
• Cost of living: We need housing stock that augments our single-family homes, because that’s a majority of housing in Louisville, and it’s not going to work for everybody. Part of being a small town is having diverse housing that includes workforce housing, that includes affordable housing. I don’t think you should have to have double income, no kids to be able to move in, and I don’t believe you should have to move out when you turn 65. 
• Education: We’ve seen a decline in the number of people who are in elementary and middle school. I think it is directly related to the cost of housing for young families. We can help with that, to the extent, we may be able to fill some of the gaps involving some of our local preschools, Montessori schools and others. We may be able to provide some incentives to assist those folks.
• Crime & Mental Health: We’re about to do a pilot program, which is a continuation from previous work that we have done to provide a mental health trained professional to accompany officers on certain calls to help de-escalate issues. Part of the goal is to keep folks who need treatment out of the criminal justice system.

Josh Cooperman 

• Unhoused: In Louisville, at the moment, homelessness is not a serious problem. As a first step, the city council should have a special study session where they have a discussion about homelessness in Louisville and try to really gather as much information about what the status of homelessness is. I think the city could consider repurposing one of the many empty office buildings in town as a homelessness services center, if that were really appropriate.
• Infrastructure: We do have pretty good infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists, but it could definitely be improved. There are a number of intersections which are just not good for people to cross. One of them is South Boulder Road and Main Street. I think the city should definitely prioritize making some of these crossings safer.The city is thinking about the possibility of underpasses, and I hope we can figure out how to fund those.
• Development: We have seen population growth over the last decade At the moment, the population in Louisville is leveling off. Some people think that Louisville shouldn’t grow very much, that’s key to maintaining the character of Louisville. I understand that to some extent, but I also feel like if Louisville doesn’t grow a little bit, we’re displacing that growth somewhere else where it’ll probably be less sustainable.
• Cost of living: As a resident I advocated for affordable housing before the city council because I think we all have an obligation to provide housing for people. If you go into neighborhoods they’re designed in that suburban way where people have to get in their car to access any services, that’s a really unsustainable model. 
• Education: In Louisville, the local government is not really involved with education. The Boulder Valley School district is the district we have here, and we certainly coordinate with them on certain things, but we’re not providing any funding or anything like that. Aside from the property taxes, of course, funding them.
• Crime & Mental Health: People are not particularly concerned about crime in Louisville, but that’s not to say that there aren’t any issues. The police department has been exploring mental health support as part of their work. There was discussion about a pilot program in the coming year, which I think the city council will fund, to provide for mental health providers or support through the police department. And I think that’s a great program.

Sherry Sommer – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: Sometimes I feel like it becomes a problem that gets out of hand because there’s no real way to address it on a smaller level. I think that housing is part of this equation. We can’t do everything, but we can do what’s within our means and the scale of our town to provide avenues where people can afford their housing.
• Infrastructure: We have a transportation master plan, which we’re working on. I think in order to expand walkability, we need to be focusing on the areas where there’s barriers, like the high traffic streets, like South Boulder Road, Centennial and Bella Vista. There’s a component of this that’s enforcement as well. I would love to be able to generate more sales tax revenue so that we can hire more traffic enforcement police officers.
• Development: We need to consider the scale and mass of our existing town and work in that guideline. So, for example, one way we can do that is with our existing neighborhoods, we can work on zoning overlays, which will set standards that are more in conformity with the pr-eexisting neighborhoods.
• Cost of living: The demand to live here is so huge. There’s no way that we can outbuild the demand. A lot of people that I talk to are concerned that they won’t be able to stay in their homes very long because the property taxes are getting so exorbitant. We really need to think about our existing residents too and how affordable our town is for them, that’s part of what a local government does.”
• Education: I’d like to learn more about the issue. I don’t know a way the city can do that.
• Crime & Mental Health: I am really happy that our police department has had people who assist with mental health crises, and it’s not treated in the same way as crime is. There are other interventions. I really support that because mental health has really suffered after the pandemic and then the Marshall fire.

Louisville City Council – Ward 1

Caleb Dickenson – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: Dealing with this issue is certainly incredibly important to the region and that we have a lot of partners in Boulder County and our neighbors that we need to be supporting in our joint efforts. To find a home for every human is really important to me.
• Infrastructure: Public transit is a very difficult topic because we don’t have our own transit system. We rely on RTD and they have their own metrics for how we get routes and how many buses we get and those kinds of things. But they measure our ridership. It’s important we’re using the transportation provided so that they can see that we want it. And if we’re not using it, they’re not going to be providing it. And that’s how that system works.
• Development: The unique feel of Louisville is in the people and the place and our small business owners and great little shops and restaurants. Continuing to develop our commercial areas and adding some more residents to our community is not going to negatively impact who we are. In the end, we’re a community of people. And, if development brings some more density and some more people, I welcome those new neighbors and jobs.
• Cost of living: People are finding it very difficult to live here when they’re not in their peak earning years. We have to continue to partner with developers who can bring true affordable housing to our community. We need a variety of housing stock for empty nesters and young people who want to live in the community. We need to add places for people to live so we can have more diversity in the type of people that can live here.
• Education: I think the increase in property values is creating a very big increase in property taxes, of which in the city of Louisville, half of it nearly goes to the schools. I would certainly hope that if there’s one benefit to this rising property value, that we are able to do a better job funding our schools. 
• Crime & Mental Health: We’re not talking about defunding the police, we’re talking about funding it differently. We need mental health experts on the police force. Currently, many of our calls to our law enforcement agents are around domestic abuse. They need the skills to communicate with someone and help them in a crisis moment and de-escalate. It’s having officers that are trained in mental health first and foremost.

Louisville City Council – Ward 2

Deborah Fahey – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: The city of Louisville doesn’t have a lot of programs available for actually directly assisting, but we do have plans to increase affordable housing, and we’re cooperating with Boulder County. We have an inter-governmental agreement with them to help with housing issues and homelessness throughout the county.
• Infrastructure: We’re making the streets more bike and pedestrian friendly, putting in right turn lights at major intersections. We’ve got a plan in place to put underpasses under Highway 42 on South Boulder Road, places where there’s a lot of transportation issues. We’re also providing issues or assistance for electric bike purchases. We’re planning on one of those e-scooter programs where you can ride them to the bus stops.
• Development: We’re in the process of a housing study, and that’s going to determine what we do, but the plan right now is to increase the amount of housing that’s available, requiring that some of it be low or middle-income housing and putting it close to transit stops. We have a historic preservation tax where if you are willing to preserve your home or business, either one that’s more than 50 years-old, we will give you up to $1 million dollars in assistance.
• Cost of living: We have an inter-governmental agreement with Boulder County on low and middle-income housing. They took over all of our structures that we own about, about 10 or 15 years ago now, and in exchange, they built a housing unit that’s over 200 units that are income-restricted in some way, and they’re also net zero buildings.
• Education: I’m not sure how we could, we’re all pretty financially restricted right now. We are in the process statewide, again, of changing funding for various things, but Louisville as a city is also trying to deal with recovery from the Marshall Fire. We lost over 600 homes in the Marshall Fire, and mine was one of them. We’re still dealing with the flood. Our funds for financially supporting anything are very limited.
• Crime & Mental Health: Through our Boulder County Health and Human Services division, we have health issues for the schools in all of the schools, for all of the Boulder Valley School District. We’ve also got charitable organizations that are funding mental health assistance, and some of that is even coming as a result of the fire.

George Colbert

• Unhoused: Nobody should have to sleep on the streets. I want to make sure that we have resources for those folks who may be on the verge of homelessness, and make sure that they have vocational training with school education. Whatever we can do to help make sure that they’re still part of the workforce, and that we’ve got affordable housing for everyone.
• Infrastructure: Our transit system currently is pretty great. Obviously, everything can get better. When I moved to Louisville, I was really impressed with the walkability that existed already. However, just recently, I was using one of our crosswalks at night and was almost hit by a car. I think we need to really focus on making sure that crosswalks have the right lighting, they have the right warning system, and that our citizens are actually using those in the right manner.
• Development: We need to make sure that the infrastructure that does come in is in line with our small-town charm, and absolutely imperative to the way of life that we have here. We want to keep that, but we also have to be open to reasonable sustainable growth.
• Cost of living: My vision for Louisville includes developing partnerships with the property developers, employers, and nonprofits to create permanently affordable housing by incentivizing affordable housing development and streamlining building codes. We can make Louisville accessible for all income brackets.
• Education: Every child should have access to early education. It is disappointing to see that the projected availability for the preschool program is not going to be met. Local governments indeed play a role. Community partnerships with businesses, local organizations, and charity groups is important and instrumental. Creating some of that public private partnership, we can pull resources to supplement the shortfall.
• Crime & Mental Health: When we discuss crime prevention and reducing gun violence, including suicides, mental health becomes paramount. Individuals who engage in violent behaviors, including self-harm, often suffer from mental health issues. By ensuring timely intervention and adequate support, we can reduce the risk of these tragic outcomes. It’s essential we enforce rigorous gun background checks that must include a comprehensive assessment of an individual’s mental health history. 

Louisville City Council – Ward 3

Barbara Hamlington – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: That collaboration with the county and the state is necessary to develop comprehensive solutions for the growing population of unhoused people in our community. I would advocate for solutions such as an affordable living wage and affordable housing in our community. In order to address challenges the unhoused population face, it requires multiple solutions.
• Infrastructure: Public transit would be best served by collaborating with the county and the state as well. I’m advocating for multimodal transportation for residents. I’m not only looking at it from a walkability standpoint, but I’m considering other options as well to encompass all abilities and ages, ensuring that our crosswalks are safe, that there’s good visibility for both the pedestrian and the vehicle.
• Development: Our economy relies on sales tax revenue to provide the residents with the services that they expect of the city. There are ways to go about strategic development within the city that support our sales tax revenue and also maintain the charm that residents appreciate. Proposition 123 that we recently discussed the city council, was a housing commitment that we all agreed to put forth in order to qualify applications or projects in Louisville, really for affordable housing.
• Cost of living: Some of the things that interest me are re-imagining land use and zoning, particularly in our areas where we have commercial vacancies that have not been filled for some time, for example, along the McCaslin corridor. I envision how it could be used for mixed residential and commercial use, close to public transportation. I also am advocating for accessory dwelling units.
• Education: The local government can help educate the community about that resource to ensure that all residents are aware that they can apply for it. There could be local programs that are supplemented by local government funds, through grant applications, to help families get access to preschool education and care.
• Crime: I’m going to focus my answer on our children. I think collaboration between the city departments, such as the police department, and the Boulder County School District to ensure that our children feel supported and have the resources they need to be successful. They will realize they have partners within the entire community who want to ensure that they have the resources they need to be healthy and successful.

Dietrich Hoefner

• Unhoused: Homelessness is an issue that we need to address in close coordination with our neighboring and adjacent communities along the front range. Louisville has a relatively small percentage of individuals experiencing homelessness. Solutions include addressing the overall shortage of housing and affordable housing units, ensuring access to social services, and engaging on this issue with compassion.
• Infrastructure: Louisville is certainly a suburban community and we do need to appreciate that many folks are going to continue to get around with cars. We need to have a transportation network that works well for folks and is safe for them. I’ve been concerned we’ve had a handful of pedestrian incidents with car collisions. We have room to improve street design and street safety to reduce the frequency of those types of incidents.
• Development: We do have opportunities to redevelop existing sites, and in some cases, we have opportunities to shift land uses potentially from underutilized commercial zone spaces to potentially allow mixed use residential and increase the number of units at a reasonable pace. Louisville’s small-town character and historic downtown are the feather in our caps, we need to be careful that whatever we do, it’s consistent with that character.
• Cost of Living: We’re in the process of developing a housing needs assessment and strategy framework that will help identify steps that can be taken in response to the housing needs. I see this as another region-wide issue. It’s across the Front Range that we have a shortage of housing, a shortage of affordable housing. And I think this is one where we’ll have to work with our neighbors, we’ll have to work with the state.
• Education: Respectfully, I would run that question to the Boulder Valley school district. As the city government, we don’t have a lot of direct oversight of local schools.
• Crime: I think we’ve been reasonably successful with community policing. That means not only having police visible around town, but also having police have good relationships with the community, and with city leadership, so they feel like trusted community members. Louisville has obviously taken steps on gun legislation within the city. I think that’s something we’ll continue, but until there are solutions at higher levels of government, it’s going to be a difficult problem for individual jurisdictions to tackle.

Louisville Ballot Measures

Louisville Open Space Tax: Additional %.125 sales tax (10 yr) to fund open space management and wildfire mitigation and an extension (10 yr) of the extant %.375 sales tax. | Vote: Yes

Longmont Elections

Longmont Mayor

Ethan Augreen – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: We need to get rid of government policies that create more homelessness. For example, the lockdowns that resulted from the poorly understood health scare. I oppose bringing the train up from Denver because Denver has an even larger homelessness crisis. I think it’s important for the city to have a dedicated team that performs outreach and helps homeless people. I also support creating an alternative-to-police model like Denver’s STAR program. 
• Infrastructure: I ride the bus all the time, and I want to make sure it reaches people in the more rural areas of town. But we need to bring RTD to the table and ask what we can do to expand transit. I would also support putting a referendum on the ballot to repeal the train tax we have been paying for a train that doesn’t exist, and try to claw back any taxes we’ve already paid. 
• Development: I would listen closely to what the community wants and make sure the city’s plans match it. There’s a need for affordable housing, but we also need to protect our open space. I don’t think anyone wants to continue the sprawl that we’ve seen. I would support building more apartments or condos in that area to densify housing, but I would also work to limit sprawl. 
• Cost of living: We have an opportunity to support the modular housing industry and I would work to attract a modular housing manufacturer to town. The cost of construction has increased significantly, that’s the number one factor that’s causing housing to be more unaffordable.
• Education: The idea of creating an Early Childhood Development Special District encompassing the St. Vrain and Boulder Valley school districts should be explored further. As mayor, I will be eager to support the District and help bring this promising idea to fruition. As a general libertarian principle, I don’t think it’s wise for a city government to be directly involved with preschool. Let’s leave early childhood education in the hands of qualified and trained education professionals. 
• Crime & Mental Health: We don’t need new gun laws. The state has already provided tools like red flag laws. I also don’t think that criminals should have guns. I believe the Second Amendment is an important right because it gives citizens the right to defend themselves. We should also look at creating a law enforcement advisory board so the public can give feedback. We should hire more social workers and case managers to create a better safety net for people who suffer from mental illnesses.

Joan Peck – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We have a project hopefully ready in 2024, for affordable housing with wrap-around services — addiction services, mental health — permanently there. We need to have everything in the same place so people don’t have to go all over the city.
• Infrastructure: We do have Ride Free Longmont but the challenge is RTD sets those routes. As we grow, the routes do not cover what we need. RTD did give us a grant to look into micro-transit. I am still working on the passenger rail district board hopefully we will get a Northwest corridor for passenger trains.
• Development: We do need to urbanize. I know that’s difficult for some people who have lived here for a long time. It is a challenge to keep our community feeling. We need to have a rental market for people. Longmont is doing a great job of building what we need to get people into housing.
• Cost of living: We used to have an inclusionary zoning ordinance years ago which gave us an affordable inventory. The city council, a few years back, got rid of that. All of our affordable units went to market rate, leaving a big gap. We need to keep people who shop and work in our community here.
• Education: Some of the conversations that I’m having with organizations are can businesses open up preschools in their facilities for their employees? Longmont Housing Authority is going to include a preschool within their housing project.
• Crime & Mental Health: A couple years ago I made a motion that half of the marijuana tax must go into an affordable housing bank. It also goes into mental health. We need universal healthcare, the cost to get mental healthcare for a family is overwhelming. 

Terri Goon – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: Get the government out of the housing business altogether. That would make homes more affordable, there would be less regulation and less requirements. Homelessness is a tragic situation with a lot of factors like mental health and drug abuse involved. Keeping the government out of it would give people more money to invest in the causes they care about. 
• Infrastructure: I do not support expanding public transportation. Government doesn’t need to be in the business of bussing, especially during times of potential pandemics. Sidewalks are another story, and I think we need some stronger regulations around scooters and micro-transit options on sidewalks to improve walkability. 
• Development: Longmont is a beautiful place. Colorado is as well, and people are going to want to continue moving here. And I don’t envision the government doing anything about that. Developers should be able to create homes for people who move here in a way that makes the homes sellable. 
• Cost of living: It’s sad when kids and their families can’t afford to live here, but addressing affordability is not within the scope of the government’s duties. The government needs to stay out of the housing market and allow the market to adjust. We need to do something about Colorado’s construction defect law so we can build more condos. 
• Education: There is no such thing as free preschool. All of our taxes went up and we’re supposed to be incentivizing parents to cart their children to preschool. We should be educating more of our children at home. Keep more of your tax dollars in your pocket and maybe we won’t have to have two parents working.
• Crime & Mental Health: Mental health is a big problem, and I could see the government working to implement mental health resources until private sources come along. We’ve filled our jails with people who need mental health treatment, and it’s all because we don’t have enough resources in this state. For guns, we should have data about who has been in a mental health facility and restrict their ability to purchase firearms based on their level of threat.  

Longmont City Council – At Large

Rebekah Venturella – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: We really have to get creative with our space, to be creative with multifunctional housing. We also need a space, something that’s open 24 hours versus Boulder’s shelter, which  is just for the evenings, and then you have homeless people on the streets in the day.
• Infrastructure: Having a car is expensive. Gas is expensive. Having more transit will be amazing, and the railway, I know they’re working hard on that. We need to be looking at that high density housing where we’re not just putting in houses and lawns, let’s make this a city. Let’s build this community in a tight, tight knit way and make it walkable.
• Development: I like the affordability option, where people are able to buy a home, and they’ll build credit, and then they can pay into it. And then they get that generational wealth, build that equity. That will give people more of a route here, versus just a fast in-and-out. Really looking at the whole picture, not just the immediate fix now.
• Cost of Living: Affordable housing is a necessity, it has to be, because it’s so expensive. Even if you wanted to buy a house, your interest rates are so high, it’s unreal. TABOR and HH are coming up. I built good relationships with state legislators, a lot of people lose sight of that city-to-state connection.
• Education: If we can get TABOR repealed and that money to help boost our education, that’s going to create a ripple effect so kids are getting better at education, they’re getting cared for, that’s going to help with people’s concern with homelessness, it will empower students and kids as they grow up. We’ve all got to buckle down and try to work this out together. It can’t just be our state legislators doing it all. We have to be pushing things here.
• Crime & Mental Health: I’ve got gun violence in the family and mental health struggles as well. I think we need a survivor in that chair. Suicide rate is a higher than that other shootings rate so we need to put more money into the budget for mental health services and we need an intensive outpatient program.

Sean McCoy – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We’re trying to figure out how to navigate the issues surrounding clearing encampments and providing people with adequate shelter. We’re exploring the use of pallet homes and trying other Housing First approaches. I think the biggest thing is to listen to the community and respond to their needs accordingly. 
• Infrastructure: Investing in public transit is one way to resolve the climate issues attached to car-centric development. I’m a big supporter of the rail station that we’re building. In the same notion, we also need to tackle the construction defects issue in Colorado so we can build more apartments and condos to provide more people with homeownership opportunities. 
• Development: We won’t build our way out of this problem. There’s not enough land; there’s not enough water, there’s simply not enough resources to do so. We also need to start thinking about what Longmont’s ideal size is. That way we can continue to provide the services that people depend on like fire and police, while also preserving the town’s unique character. 
• Affordable housing/Cost of living: We’ve been working on this in the city for a while. That’s one reason why we had to take over the Longmont Housing Authority. In my mind, they basically forced us into this situation because of their negligence. Right now, we’re exploring the use of ADUs, but we know they won’t work everywhere. I also plan to work with homeowners associations to reduce barriers to building more affordable housing where appropriate. 
• Education: If we shift money over to support the state’s preschool education program, then something else in Longmont will get underfunded. If you never want to be able to sell a bond again, this is a great way to do it. We don’t want to overtax anybody but stepping in to help fund the gap would force us to tax a certain part of the population over others, kind of like how metro districts work. 
• Crime & Mental Health: When we look at the evidence of the gun violence epidemic, it’s sad. It’s an expensive issue for cities. We can work with insurance companies so people have to take out a policy to buy a gun. Maybe AR-15s and other weapons of war will become so costly that it dissuades people from buying them. I’m not against somebody having a gun for hunting purposes or for safety purposes. I’m against people acting like their Second Amendment rights trump my right to life.

Steve Altschuler – UNQUALIFIED 

• Unhoused: If the homeless that we’re talking about are disabled or veterans, then we need to step in and help them. The same goes for someone who maybe lived in Longmont for an extended period of time and paid taxes. Otherwise, we’re going to attract people from all over the country if we just give out subsidies to anyone who asks.  
• Infrastructure: I’m not a big fan of building high-density housing to improve walkability. People want to live in Longmont because it’s more of a bedroom community and is more affordable than other places like Boulder or Denver. I would support building more walking and biking trails for people to get to King Soopers or other stores. 
• Development: Right now, city council seems focused on acquiring as much land as possible to build as much housing as it can. I don’t think this is a way to maintain the character of Longmont. I could see us building a few more townhome communities to give people a way to step into homeownership, but we also need to focus on connecting these communities to the rest of Longmont. 
• Cost of living: One way to make housing more affordable in Longmont is to get rid of the city’s affordable housing requirements. All they do is drive up the cost of construction for developers. I think a smarter way to make housing more affordable is to stop taxing people so much and allow the city’s residents to keep more of their income. 
• Education: There are things that people should be personally responsible for, and their children are one of them. I think our government should be primarily focused on providing fire and police services, not universal daycare. Hiring government employees to fix this mess will just increase taxes for the rest of us. 
• Crime & Mental Health: Criminals will always find a way to get guns, so the answer isn’t to take guns away from reasonable and law-abiding citizens. Places that have the toughest gun laws, like Chicago, also have some of the highest rates of gun violence. On mental health, we need to make it easier for people who need treatment to get treatment.

Longmont City Council – Ward 1

Diane Crist

• Unhoused: Property taxes push people out, creating more homeless. This is kind of a whole enchilada here. Historically, we’ve been through times like this before —  the 1970s, the 1930s — significant things need to happen. We need Reaganomics to bring down inflation, deregulate, lower our taxes, and balance our budgets.
• Infrastructure: On the Transportation Board we started talking about Vision Zero because we have a safety issue with the way transportation is right now. It’s very centralized. And that just doesn’t work. The big initiative that we picked was Vision Zero. We’re working on developing that within the city, which is zero traffic deaths.
• Development: High density housing is meant to be more affordable, but it’s from isolated services. The thing we need most is for transportation services, which could connect quite easily at a commercial center like the blighted Safeway. It’d be a nice five errand stop and you could catch a bus there, which makes things a lot more affordable.
• Cost of living: We’ve got to put a break on property taxes. The Gallagher Amendment was written back in the 1970s in a similar economic climate. It was repealed, and the idea was we would replace it, but what we did was we removed it without replacing it. In the meantimeI’m asking the city council to consider property tax rebates.
• Education: It’s a frustration to those who work in government funding. We need to not vote in the initiatives on the ballot this year. We need to give it three years and see where we are financially. Currently, we don’t have any childcare facilities on the north end of town, but there are empty storefronts that can be brought into condition. The real road forward is to trim down the expenses. We have to partner with the private sector.
• Crime & Mental Health: Often we try to come up with a micro solution to what’s a macro problem. There’s a homeless engagement professional, a liaison that keeps tabs on that community. That seems to be helping that community find the services they need. I’m not in favor of needle exchanges.

Harrison Earl – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: It’s important to remember that we’re talking about human beings when we talk about the unhoused. I would work to connect them with better services and resources. I would look to other communities to find ways we can work collaboratively to solve the problem.
• Infrastructure: One of my key objectives is to make sure we have a livable Longmont. Part of being in a livable community is having a public transit system that works for the community and isn’t only built to serve Main Street. I love the idea of microtransit as well. We should also work to improve our sidewalks and build more protected bike lanes to help the city meet its Vision Zero goals. 
• Development: Parks, greenspaces and open areas are what make Longmont a phenomenal place to live and I want them to be enjoyed by future generations. There are ways we can support more growth without sacrificing open land. We should look at certain areas close to downtown that can accommodate more multi-family housing.
• Affordable housing/Cost of living: We need more supply in the community, and that includes more subsidized properties and market-rate homes. Longmont has historically built either single-family homes or apartments and nothing in between. We need to diversify housing stock, one way to do that is speed-up the approval process for developments.
• Education: There’s a group in Longmont that has been pushing for an early childhood education program and a regional tax to support it. While I’m not in favor of new taxes, I like the idea of expanding public education and would support those ideas.
• Crime & Mental Health: The mental health challenges we’re facing are much bigger than the City of Longmont can handle by itself. We need federal and state officials to dramatically increase the funding we receive for supportive services, and should be sending trained professionals to help these individuals instead of police officers. I would support programs like gun buybacks to reduce the number of guns on the street.

Nia Wassink – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: I’ve spent a lot of my career working with the homeless community. First and foremost, housing is the solution. People can’t get into stable employment, substance use treatment, or mental health support services unless they have housing. Right now, we’re relying on the kindness of our faith community and that’s non sustainable.
• Infrastructure: Longmont has grown in a lot of fantastic ways. We were recently named by People For Bikes as the #10 city for our infrastructure. And a lot of folks are looking at multimodal solutions for themselves. I think we have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make our streets safer for pedestrians. That’s why I support our Vision Zero goals. 
• Development: One of the things that really appeals to the people of Longmont is the city’s diversity. We have amazing cultural art centers and we’ve created a city that allows people from different socioeconomic backgrounds to live here. If we don’t have a diverse housing stock, then become a city that only appeals to the elite. We need to balance our green spaces with housing that people can afford. 
• Cost of living: There isn’t a silver bullet for this problem. We need to do it all by addressing zoning issues, supporting accessory dwelling units, and supporting infill development so that folks aren’t pushed to the outskirts of our city. We need townhomes, apartments, condos, and single-family homes. We need to figure out where we can put them so they don’t disturb our community environment. 
• Education: I was part of the Early Childhood Alliance for Boulder County that was pushing for a special district to provide more education funding for kids. We are heading toward an early childhood education crisis in this country. Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act are about to run out. The local government must play a role in the solution.
• Crime & Mental Health: We have amazing programs in Longmont like the Restorative Justice Program, but we need to do a better job of addressing the underlying needs of young adults. Crime is a symptom of deeper issues. We need to improve our services for people who struggle with their mental health, and raise salaries for social workers and mental health clinicians.

Longmont City Council – Ward 3

Gary Hodges – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: The city published a pamphlet that has a half-dozen shelter options, food options, and resources for people who don’t have to be living on the streets. It’s really about vagrancy.
• Infrastructure: Public transit is fine, but we’re a relatively small town. I think RTD more broadly will almost always say “no” to expending resources here. We need to look at other options like expanding specialty lines to football games or to the airport, or at beautifying our existing public transit stops with public art to encourage more use. 
• Development: Longmont is going to continue to see growth and I am not opposed to the idea of adding more affordable housing, fundamentally. We need to identify an end game because the blind pursuit of affordable housing can have major consequences.
• Cost of living: It’s expensive because a lot of people want to live here. Something that the city council needs to address is the increasing local utility costs. Electricity prices have increased this year and could increase next year. The city has a plan to draw 100% of its power from renewable energy sources but we can’t shut down our coal-powered energy plants. It’s just fantasy.
• Education: Our role would be to lobby state lawmakers for a solution to the problem, and partner with surrounding communities to send letters of support for different pieces of legislation. I am not sure that we can do anything at the local level to address this issue. 
• Crime: This is not something that the city council can solve. It must come from the state. People don’t feel as safe as they used to. That’s been caused by the push for reduced sentencing at the state level by Attorney General Weiser. I’m not going to ask the police to crack skulls, but we need to get back to community-value policing, go after the criminals, and protect rights of law-abiding citizens. 

Ron Gallegos 

• Unhoused: I don’t think there need to be any more large shelters built because between half or three-quarters of the unhoused population are lacking the necessary mental health support they need. We can thank Ronald Regan for that. I would support building a temporary housing community with shipping containers that is managed by a third-party. 
• Infrastructure: We need to have more owner-occupied, mixed-use, and condo communities in Longmont so that people don’t have to drive to get their basic necessities. If you live near where you work, then people don’t have to use cars as much and that would make Longmont safer for pedestrians. 
• Development: We need to start talking about the sustainability of our community. Longmont is in “maintenance mode.” We should be looking at new infrastructure to accommodate growth. We could increase fees for park space and make other fees for water, stormwater, and sewage go away. I would also encourage mixed-use development in places that have been traditionally commercial or retail areas. 
• Cost of living: We need to streamline the building relationship between developers and the planning community to get them all marching in the same direction together. The last thing we should do is shove a top-down solution on the community. Instead, we should get a bottom-up solution with a lot of buy-in. 
• Education: Education isn’t the city’s area of expertise. That’s why we have a school board. We’ve got enough on our plate to fill it, and then some. We don’t need to be looking out for any other problems. 
• Crime: We don’t have any mental health professionals listed on Longmont’s staff. Nor should we. That doesn’t mean we can’t be supportive, but we need to stay in our lane. Gun violence is a similar issue. That’s a federal, not a state or city-level issue. Policies like extended waiting periods seem to be popular with the public, but I don’t think gun buybacks are something Longmont should consider.

Spencer Adams – NO REPLY

Susan Hidalgo-Fahring – ENDORSED

• Homelessness: I have been working on streamlining the way our Neighborhood Impact Teams work with other community organizations to connect people with services. We need to remember that many of our unhoused neighbors are living in flight-or-fight mode and don’t always have the ability to think about finding services when they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
• Infrastructure: We need to have more options for people who rely on public transportation. Our transportation department recently acquired a grant to support micro-transit. We can’t have people waiting at a bus stop for 30 minutes. We increase the frequency which our public transit operates. I’m also glad to support our Vision Zero goals of making our streets safer for pedestrians. 
• Development: The people who work in Longmont should be able to live here as well. But a lot of the jobs that we have are so-called working middle class jobs and those are the people who are struggling most to afford housing. I support building more affordable or attainable housing for these folks.
• Cost of living: One way to make housing more affordable for all is to raise the minimum wage. We have to make sure it aligns with our cost of living. This is something I’ve advocated. Providing housing is one part of the solution, and making sure people can pay for that housing is the other. 
• Education: One of Longmont’s priorities is early childhood education and that goal has been in place before the state’s push for universal early childhood education. We want to expand those services. We have to make sure these services are affordable for impoverished families.
• Crime: I work to educate the community about the mental health services that are available to them. We also want to make sure we’re sending the right responders to the scene. On gun safety, we need to tighten up our red flag law and start holding people accountable for gun crimes. 

Longmont Ballot Measures 

3C – New Library Funded by Mill Levy and Sales Tax Increases | Vote: Yes

3D – New Arts & Entertainment Center Funded by Mill Levy and Sales Tax Increases | Vote: Yes

3E New Recreation Facilities Funded by Mill Levy and Sales Tax Increases | Vote: Yes

Superior Elections

Superior Ballot Measures

301 – Home Rule Charter: Shall the Town of Superior form a home rule charter commission for the purpose of drafting a home rule charter? | Vote: Yes

Thornton Elections

Thornton Mayor

Jan Kulmann – UNQUALIFIED

Julia Marvin – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We need to expand services that we have to help people at the moment, we have our cold weather program where we provide vouchers when it gets really cold. I would like to see that program expanded to include the summer we’re starting to see more and more days of nearly 100 degrees or higher.
• Infrastructure: We need to be putting more resources into making sure that our roads and our sidewalks are all well maintained.We really need to start looking at some alternatives besides RTD. We need more Micro Mobility public transportation options.
• Development: Community feel is what people really love about Thorton. People do wish we had more small businesses, coffee shops, restaurants, it adds to the character. Do we really need a gas station on every corner? 
• Cost of Living: We should create a housing inventory for the city to figure out what we’re missing, where the gaps are, and then create a housing strategic plan. We could be doing inclusionary zoning policies that would require developers to allocate a certain percentage of affordable housing units. And that’s something that the current council has no interest in.
• Education: Making sure that we’re paying our early educators living wages is incredibly important. The City could invest in public after school programs that the city runs, we should be investing and expanding those more
• Crime & Mental Health: if someone’s in crisis usually the initial call is going to be 911. So to have some mental health professionals that can be sent out in those situations is crucial. There was a lot of success working with cities to provide mental health counselors that were embedded in the police departments.

Thornton City Council – Ward 2 

Angie Bedolla – DID NOT REPLY

Roberta Ayala – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: I’ve seen it in my neighborhood. I live by a pretty big park and there are folks camping there. We don’t really have much funding for our homeless outreach team. We have to fund mental health and human services. I worked in human services, we need those folks, we need to pay them so they stay.
• Infrastructure: I grew up in the original neighborhood of Thornton, it’s more walkable. Other places, you’re getting a little bit into the food desert area, where there’s a lot of housing but not any resources nearby. Roads are built for the car, not for the person. There’s tons of accidents. A lot of neighbors reach out to me as a community leader because they’re frustrated. We can build it so it’s safer for our community.
• Development: I think we haven’t been balancing, we’ve been concentrating more on developers. Our current Council is more interested in pandering to developers with corporate profit interests. Their campaigns have been bankrolled by developers. How do we fold our community into these conversations? I want to get Thorton back to a city that represents people, not corporate profit.
• Cost of Living: Housing that is built for people, affordable housing, isn’t going to be the developer’s top priority. Typically they push housing that is affordable, into the denser, older neighborhoods, and then the luxury apartments and single use McMansions north, and that’s not sustainable. Part of my platform is that we need housing everywhere.
• Education: I sent my son to the Thornton Rec Center, preschool program, and it was fairly affordable. I was pretty much a single mom at the time. We should keep those programs affordable, even though it was just a few days a week. I’m a fan of education as early as you can.
• Crime & Mental Health: We have a progressive and well funded police force but we’re asking our police department to do a lot of things that they are maybe not best trained to do. We started a responder program, but we have to look at adding more resources because a lot of the unhoused folks in Thornton are having mental health issues.

Thornton City Council – Ward 3

David Acunto – REFUSED INTERVIEW

Mark Gormley – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We have a capitalist system wrapped around what is supposed to be our democratic system and we should be taking care of everybody. We don’t have enough money for support programs. We want to give everybody what they’re asking for, because the need is out there, but where’s the money coming from? 
• Infrastructure: A number of people I’ve spoken to have voiced their desire for better eating establishments. Thornton does a really good job with green spaces, and trails, and we need to make sure that we maintain the ones that exist, and continue to develop those and make sure that the green spaces and trails are in the interest of the citizens and not the developers.
• Development: We don’t have enough affordable housing, specifically what I mean is the other three Wards all have a lot more apartments. So anybody starting out new is not going to be able to afford these single family homes that are cropping up endlessly.
• Cost of Living: In my case, KB Home was able to roll up all the infrastructure expenses into bonds, and when they walk away, they leave the bonds behind for the homeowners to pay, and then they call it property taxes when it’s really infrastructure expenses that are put into these bonds.
• Education:  It would be wonderful if we had the ability to do this, to accommodate people’s needs. I’m all for public education. We’re going back to the whole funding issue. I’m wondering if we have the facilities for such a thing.
• Crime & Mental Health: In the 1980s, Reagan started closing down a lot of mental facilities across the country. We’re not putting the resources into it, and then many wonder why we have so many homeless. A lot of this because they have no alternative. Mental health resources can help prevent crime because people aren’t putting in a situation where they need to perpetrate crime.

Thornton City Council – Ward 4

Christopher Russell – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: My solution is to increase funding for our HOT team, our homeless outreach team here in Thornton, which is understaffed. We need to get communities together, so that we’re not just moving the unhoused across city lines, but actually providing help.
• Infrastructure: Where I live, off Highway 7, there are few bus routes. I believe that the city should run a study and consider running our own mass transit bus system. Spend some money on additional bike lanes and connecting trails.
• Development: Simply by building townhomes, condos, those are higher dense, but they are housing that is innately more affordable.
• Cost of Living: If we are going to erect condos or townhomes we need to designate 20-30% of those as affordable units that have a certain limitation on the price.
• Education: My wife’s level of frustration was through the roof because we couldn’t get answers right away and right deadlines were coming and you had to commit. There needs to be dedicated personnel that can help review and take in information for the betterment of the program.
• Crime & Mental Health: I am a big advocate for having a universal health care system. I think that we start at the top with our federal government. I think the American population in general needs better access to medical treatment across the board, not just mental health. 

Nicole Matkowsky – DID NOT REPLY

Dacono Elections

City Council – At Large

Daniel J. Spagnuolo – DID NOT REPLY

David O’Day – DID NOT REPLY

Doris Crespo – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We don’t have a lot of unhoused people around our area, so I’d definitely look more into it and do a lot more research into it if it was something affecting Dacono.
• Infrastructure: I think we have a plan with a lot of development coming to Dacono, so I’m really excited about that, definitely more housing and more businesses. I’m really looking forward to growth in that way.
• Development: I think we all definitely have to work together. I think we are going to have a lot of growth in Colorado.
• Cost of living: Who’s not struggling to pay for housing right now? That is something we should all be concerned about. I believe working together with different people, different organizations, I think we could all help with that.
• Education: I agree there is that problem. I would have to do a lot more research on it to make a decision.

Mike Mathiesen – DID NOT REPLY

Rick Gerk – QUALIFIED

• Unhoused: Currently the issue is not afflicting Dacono to where it’s a high priority. I haven’t heard of it in my community or other communities within Dacono.
• Infrastructure: We’re not going to build another King Soopers on the south side of 52. We need to be reasonably thinking about the direction we want Dacono to go. What’s attainable, and set those sights in a realistic manner.
• Development: As a council member your responsibility is to think about the current residents. I have an appreciation for people who have been here for a number of years in the original, central part of the city, and then be mindful of where we want to be in the future. I think the balance for that seems to be a sticky point for our city.
• Cost of living: Home prices and living prices in Dacono are much lower compared to Erie, to Thornton, to Broomfield. Dacono is pretty well primed to support any kind of person who wants to move here, we have housing options for anybody who has any sort of respectable income to support and sustain themselves.
• Education: Childcare is very hard to get into, the affordability is beyond many, so I do think there is an issue. There is a big gap between availability of childcare providers and then a big gap between what people can actually afford to pay. I think it’s a multi-layered issue. I do feel for families.

Dacono Ballot Measures

City Manager Selection and Role – Shall the City of Dacono Home Rule Charter be amended to require the City Council to appoint and remove the City Manager and other appointed officers by resolution and require the City Manager to devote their work primarily to the City and not hold any elected or appointed office or otherwise engage in activities contrary to the interest of the City? | Vote: Yes

Open Government Training for Councilmembers – Shall the City of Dacono Home Rule Charter be amended to incorporate an Open Government Policy; require councilmembers and members of boards and commissions to attend periodic training regarding open government; include requirements for open meetings, notices, and agendas; provide that special meeting notices may be delivered to councilmembers by email; limit discussion and formal action at meetings to items included on meeting agendas except when an emergency requires immediate action; and require disclosures when relatives of councilmembers and members of boards and commissions appear before such bodies? | Vote: Yes

Pro-Term Mayoral Selection – Shall the City of Dacono Home Rule Charter be amended to provide that councilmembers take office at the first regular or special meeting following certification of the results of their election; a Mayor Pro-tem shall be appointed by the city council following certification of the results of each regular or special election; and the Mayor Pro-tem may be replaced at any time with another councilmember by at least four (4) affirmative votes of the council? | Vote: Yes

Tax Levy for Library Shall the City of Dacono, Colorado be included in the High Plains Library District, for which the current rate of property tax levied is 3.177 mills? | Vote: Yes

Westminster Elections

Westminster City Council – At Large

Amber Hott – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We have navigators who go into the unhoused community, build relationships, and offer assistance. The issue that we have right now is they only had two navigators, and one of them recently quit. One or two people cannot help the amount of unhoused people we have in our community. I would speak to the navigator that we currently have to find out what their needs are.
• Infrastructure: Any future development needs to be mixed use so amenities are within walking distance and building roads and sidewalks that are safe for people to walk. Also, there are areas where our sidewalks don’t continue. There are people who are pushing a stroller, maybe they’re in a wheelchair, what happens when the sidewalk just stops?
• Development: We need to continue to protect our open space. We need to look at the characteristics of the neighborhoods that are already there, and do what we can to make sure that whatever we’re building fits. Things, like duplexes and fourplexes, you can build them in a way that they look like single family homes.
• Cost of living: We have a development called the Uplands Development. We were supposed to have 600 affordable units, that has dropped down to 300. It took a long time to get through the processes with the city. If the developer comes in and their main concern is making the max amount of money, I’m gonna think twice about approving when we have developers that invest back in our community.
• Education: I’ve been building relationships with the people on the school board. When I’ve been talking to principals, educators, superintendents, really wanting to understand how we can partner to help our kids. One of the areas that they need help with is they don’t have enough space for their preschool. We don’t just have areas without grocery stores, we have areas where we don’t have enough childcare.

Bruce Baker – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: We need to remind the counties it is their responsibility. The path we chose more than a year ago hasn’t yielded the results we had hoped for. We need a different strategy.
• Infrastructure: One of the problems is that there’s nothing to walk to in this area. The Uplands is on Federal Boulevard, which has bus transit. The closest grocery store is on 104th. That’s two miles, one each way. Two miles doesn’t suit anybody’s definition of walkability.
• Development: Westminster is a completely car dependent community. If you want to have private green spaces, lawns, landscapes, you need space. You end up being car dependent. Mass transit does not work with low density housing. You need points of origin and points of destination on the lines. We don’t have that, we’re not built that way.
• Affordable housing/Cost of living: Affordable housing is more of a scam to get the city to relax our housing codes and requirements so corporations can make bigger profits. The Uplands is just a prime example of this.There’s not going to be any affordable housing there at all. Anyone who thinks so is really nurturing a fantasy. They’re gonna make as much money as they can.
• Education: The problem is way too big than even the state government and sometimes you have to scratch your head, and say ‘how carefully did they look at this before promising?’ Here’s where promises far exceeded capabilities.

Claire Carmelia – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: This is of extreme personal importance to me. I’m passionate about ensuring we do the most that we can in a compassionate, humane and holistic way. I believe that we need to partner with others for better solutions that work in a broader way for the Front Range. I have been having discussions with our neighbors in Arvada, Lakewood, and Thornton, trying to gather ideas of how they are tackling the issue.
• Infrastructure: I could not afford a car until I was 27, and that was very limiting. I believe that we need more mixed use zoning. We should make sure that it’s not just a subdivision out in the middle of nowhere, the only way to and from via car. Hopefully we’re having houses to the same places as restaurants and entertainment, and then folks can walk to where they’re going.
• Development: It comes down to planning smart. Where do we put housing and what kind of housing do we select to be built? Housing can be planned around transit, RTD stations, etc. We’re trying to avoid building on spaces that have not been built before.
• Cost of living: We all live in Westminster for a reason. It is a beautiful city with gorgeous views. We want to protect our parks and open spaces. That is a priority and always will be. I think that we need to build smart and plan ahead because growth is just a part of life, and trying to inhibit growth, inhibits our economy. It also pushes current residents out because if they ever want to downsize, there is no available property for them.
• Education: It’s prudent upon local government to find solutions, even when perhaps before there weren’t any. With that said, I don’t know exactly what we can do. But with the many schools that recently shut down, we now have available buildings and lands that I would like to see used for the community. I really hope that they end up being used in some way for the kids.

Jeff Jones – DID NOT REPLY

Karen Kalavity

• Unhoused: Luckily I’m not one of them, but I could have been. I had a foreclosure during the 2011 recession. We should have some housing available for people to live in for a year, not just the night when it gets cold. 
• Infrastructure: Focus on pedestrian oriented neighborhoods rather than just transit oriented neighborhoods. Focus on neighborhood design that accommodates walkability first. We need public transit throughout the city, not just to downtown Denver.
• Development: I’m fighting against the Uplands Development as a city council candidate. We need to protect our open space, and concentrate our density development in a place like the new downtown.
• Cost of Living: It shouldn’t be 300 units of all the same kind of housing, it should be intermixed with other housing. That reduces stigma and allows people to work within their community. Any new construction needs to incorporate least 15% truly affordable housing.
• Education: With declining enrollment they are closing lots of elementary schools. Maybe those buildings could be used partially as pre-K facilities.

Kristine Ireland – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: The city has gotten a hotel for these people, spending a million dollars a year, but the problem has not changed. I think you can give too much and people will become not self-reliant. It’s not good for people to be given everything. They need to get ways to help them learn how to do a resume, get a job, those kinds of things I would be willing to advocate for.
• Infrastructure: We’re really spread out, and people have to get to work. You can’t expect people not to work. I mean, my husband works outside of the city, he has no choice and sadly enough a lot of our city employees live outside the city. The number one problem we can address is to hire within so people can be closer to work.
• Development: I think we just need to stop it, and address how we are changing our suburb into Denver. We didn’t move here to be Denver. We moved here to get away from traffic and high density. I like Boulders’ approach to caring about people’s sunshine, they won’t build anything if it blocks your sunshine.
• Cost of living: The number one problem with housing being affordable is the taxes — property taxes, water rates, and sales tax. Corporations have been buying up single family homes and turning them into rentals. Westminster has the highest rent costs in the entire state of Colorado, but letting corporations buy up these houses, we’re gonna have a problem until 2030.
• Education: I haven’t ever thought about this one too much. I have children, my own. Some went to preschool, some didn’t go to preschool. I would have to look into that more, because no one’s brought that up to me at all in this city.

Richard Seymour – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: The answer is not more government assistance, that’s already been tried. As a city, unlike a county, we receive no human services dollars. We have to find a creative way to address homelessness in our city. It’s a continuum of compassionate care with mental health, co-responders in our police department, homeless navigators who do the follow up contacts, and we have a budget for temporary bed sites. Those who don’t want to take advantage of the services just move from one place to the other.
• Infrastructure: This is the western United States. It is not high density Eastern, or Western corridors. That creates an issue as far as moving people out of cars. We’re hoping that either Front Range Rail or RTD  will have a stop at the new downtown, which we have a spot carved out for. We also have a development at our train station at 71st. and Irving that is part of the end of the D line where we have two developments going in there.
• Development: Our current Council just updated our comprehensive plan, which took a very hard look at our number one resource: water. We asked staff to reduce the density on some parcels to make sure that what we did build, we had water for. No water, no building. We want to maintain unique neighborhoods, unique styles, a little bit of everything for everybody, to keep our suburban mix.
• Cost of living: Inventory over time will help with the cost. There’s no immediate short term fixes. Westminster has two remaining large parcels to build everything from single family homes, paired homes, townhomes. Entry level homes should be 30% of the healthy market. Because of our state legislature unwilling to fix this or address it, it’s less than 3% of our market.
• Education: Local governments absolutely cannot fill that gap. Governor Polis over-promised and under-delivered.

Timothy Pegg – ENDORSED

• Unhoused: We got to make progress on the high rent in the metro area. Westminster can do its part and will help with some of the homeless folks. Some of them have problems with drug use or mental health so I think there needs to be updating of our knowledge constantly about the best ways to get those folks the help they need.
• Infrastructure: I would make sure that we’re doing things with transit oriented developments so we aren’t incentivizing people to drive when places can be accessed on foot and by bus. I can think of a couple city policies that are, in effect, paying people to drive. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot and we need to stop.
• Development: I think accessory dwelling units are a great way to do that. They don’t really change the neighborhood character, but there’s an opportunity to develop more. Additionally, we have some city owned open space we shouldn’t sell off.
• Affordable housing: Accessory dwelling units: granny cottages, that type of construction gives homeowners an opportunity, and will soften price pressure on the housing market. It’s a win-win for young families, or an aging relative, they can live in your backyard. They’re not competing with someone else for housing, and they’re close to someone who can help take care of them.
• Education: Unfortunately, I’m not really familiar enough with the specifics on that.

William “Scott” Shilling – UNQUALIFIED

• Unhoused: Now for those that are truly homeless, I don’t know. I want to try and figure out how to help them without subsidizing them with taxpayer money. I’d like to hear what the proposals are. I’m okay to help them. But vagrants, I want to make it uncomfortable so that they move on someplace else.
• Infrastructure: This is a suburb. A suburb is traditionally single family housing, cars are just part of that. If you want to get into a discussion about cars hurting the environment, I can get into that. I’m not going to bring in more high density apartments and things of that nature. We want to keep this community more of a sober, classic suburb of single family units.
• Development: Westminster has a certain amount of open space. Simply gobbling up all of the open space and shoving in high density apartments is not where I want to take us. Westminster’s population is currently about 125,000. I want to keep it right in that range, and make sure we keep our open spaces open. And guess what? It’s full.
• Cost of living: You cannot have taxpayers subsidize other people’s lifestyles. Employers are going to need to raise their salaries to pay people a living wage. A lot of it depends on the administration who’s in charge, and what they’re doing to stop inflation, and stop illegal immigration. It starts at the federal government.
• Education: Schools in Westminster are more controlled by the county. The county is the one responsible for that, the state and county. I don’t want to get into schools. There’s so many people breathing down schools’ necks. I don’t need the City Council of Westminster also breathing down the necks of the schools. It’s a county and state issue and I don’t want to subsidize the county or the state with city money.

Westminster Ballot Measures

3L – Wards: Shall the Westminster City Council propose by 2026 a system of electing some or all City Council members from geographic wards rather than at-large? | Vote: Yes

3M – Budget Control: Shall the Westminster City Charter, Section 9.6 Budget Control, subsection (2), be amended to change the City Manager’s budgetary control from the departmental budget level to the fund level, in order to allow for more effective financial management? | Vote: Yes

3N – Budget Procedures (Timeline): Shall the Westminster City Charter, Section 9.2 Budget Procedures, be amended to provide current year expenditures as of July 31 rather than September 1st, in order to provide the community with a more consistent basis of comparison of City expenditures? | Vote: Yes

3O – Budget Procedures (Appropriation): Shall the Westminster City Charter, Section 13.3 Contracts, subsection (h), be amended to allow the City Manager to designate an individual to certify an appropriation has been made before a contract, agreement, or purchase order is executed, in order to provide more effective management of financial controls? | Vote: Yes

3P – Public Announcements: Shall the Westminster City Charter, Section 17.5 Definition of Publication, Mailing of Notices, be amended to change the requirements for the publication of notices and ordinances from newspaper publication only to allow for either newspaper publication or publication on the City’s official website, or both, in order to allow for notices to reach more people, more effectively, and more quickly? | Vote: Yes

School Board Elections

Boulder Valley School District

District A

Jason Unger – ENDORSED

• Book Bans: I’m concerned about not just banning books but anti-equity policies around the country. Parents in BVSD have a right to opt their kids out of lessons. Where I draw the line is when parents impact or censor what other kids are learning.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: Colorado passed a ballot initiative to have all kids have access to healthy breakfast and lunch. As a teacher in Compton, I could see the advantage that early education provides. The state program’s goal is the right goal.
• DEI & Education: Diversity of teaching staff is important as well so people can see themselves in teachers. Some schools have a DEI committee and I think that’s a model. I’m supportive of all efforts to promote diversity and ensure welcoming environments.
• Mental Health: With a ratio of 450 kids to each counselor we need to do everything we can as a district to lower that ratio to bring in more counselors, both on the career and guidance side but more so on the mental health side.
• Drills & Anxiety: We can’t ignore the fact that these are real threats that we have this real issue and so we have to prepare for these things and do so in a calm and measured way, not with alarmist language. I feel like the district has fairly good plans in place.

Neil Fishman – QUALIFIED

• Book Bans: I’m opposed to banning books. Kids need to see themselves in their educational materials. I was engaged very directly to make sure progressive standards were the ones ultimately accepted by the State Board of Education for the K-12 for the entire state of Colorado for social studies standards.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: I was not pleased to see we had these great plans but not the resources available to implement the plans fully like we had hoped. I think the voters need to pay attention to the crying need for it and pass Ballot Issue II, it would help us.
• DEI & Education: It’s integral. The absence of it leads to problems in terms of having safe and welcoming schools. A huge part of the learning process is feeling comfortable and safe in the environment you’re learning in.
• Mental Health: One shining spot right now in BVSD is the Wellness Center model. In its first year almost one out of every two kids in the school spent time in the Wellness Center. BVSD has expanded it to five additional schools.
• Drills & Anxiety: we really need to begin to be thinking outside the box. be aware, alert, and have kids be a part of our eyes and ears on the ground. They’re very connected to their surroundings, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t include them in the solutions that we try and come up with.

District C

Alex Medler – ENDORSED

• Book Bans: I believe strongly that we need to resist efforts to ban books or narrow our curriculum, especially ones that try to sanitize how our communities have dealt with difficult things like racism and injustices that have happened, materials are developmentally appropriate.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: We’re making progress on increasing access to early childhood care. The first year implementation has not gone as anyone would hope. I’m hoping we have more clarity and transparency and a smooth implementation going forward. 
• DEI & Education: I support curriculum and materials that are inclusive of all the kids we have. Every student should see themselves represented. 
• Mental Health: There’s no single program or policy adjustment that will solve the problem. We need to prioritize it at the district, school and individual staff level. We need to partner with families. Mental health screening is a big deal. LGBTQI+ kids have depression and suicidal tendencies at higher rates.
• Drills & Anxiety: Mental health and sense of belonging is a school safety issue. I support the district’s transition to Safety Resource Officers. BVSD needs to have strong working relationships with all emergency responders and train over the summer, it doesn’t need to be done with 5 year olds in the building.

Andrew Steffl

• Book Bans: For the best possible education, students need access to a wide variety of age-appropriate books. I recognize that some parents may object to certain books. The solution is not to ban these for all students, but rather to work with school librarians and staff to limit the student’s access to these materials on a case-by-case basis. 
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: It is important that all children have access to high quality, nutritious meals. BVSD provides free and reduced cost meals to eligible families who sign up for the program. It is important to make sure that all eligible families are aware of this benefit to de-stigmatize it, so kids don’t feel like they are different just because their families are receiving food assistance. 
• DEI & Education: I believe that students at all levels do best when they are able to see people like themselves represented in their schools. This applies to both teachers and staff as well as students’ curriculum. However, making our students feel seen and included  doesn’t just happen by accident, it takes a conscious effort. We should continue our district’s efforts at DEI.
• Mental Health: Between the Marshall Fire, the King Soopers shooting, COVID, distance learning, etc. kids in BVSD have been through a lot recently. Mental health issues like stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD are all present in our student population at levels much too high. If elected, it is my number one priority to increase the resources allocated to addressing students’ mental health needs. This includes providing funding for additional counselors and social workers and programs that have been proven to work. 
• Drills & Anxiety: This is a tricky situation in that it is important to prepare for emergencies, while not also further adding to kids’ anxiety levels. I believe the best way forward is through lots of openness and transparency so kids know in advance that an activity is a rehearsal and not the real thing. I also think it is important for individual students to be able to opt out of participating in preparedness activities if they feel that participating would cause them too much anxiety or stress. 

Cynthia Nevison – DID NOT REPLY

District D

Andrew Brandt – QUALIFIED

• Book Bans: I recognize the threat of groups like moms for Liberty who are trying to worm their way into school boards all over the country. I oppose reactionary book bans, I oppose the culture that has emerged in which small groups of parents decide they are the arbiters of what everyone in society is allowed to read.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: I’m grateful voters approved universal pre-K in Colorado. We have seen a doubling in one year of the number of students in BVSD, who’ve enrolled in pre-K. Free and reduced lunch means more than just a free lunch. It means additional access to services, and connection with community organizations.
• DEI & Education: DEI policies exist in the district, specifically to address disparities that have that have happened and educational outcomes that have been that have left gaps. We cannot solve problems if we deny problems exist or pretend that they never existed.
• Mental Health: Mental health affects every single kid whether or not they admit it in a survey. We need to increase funding for Wellness Centers, more counseling available. We also have unmet needs for neurodiverse kids, we could use empathy training and more resources.
• Drills & Anxiety: School Safety Advocates are engaged with the students at school at lunch, they spend five days a week working on plans and procedures to address a whole range of school safety issues. They arrange drills, and work with the students who feel anxiety and fear about those drills.

Lalenia Quinlan Aweida – ENDORSED

• Book Bans: Policy in BVSD should be informed by the American Library Association and Office of Intellectual Freedom. Book banning is a hard no for me. We should pass statewide legislation to make it illegal to ban books. 
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: BVSD staffed pre-K as if we had the expected amount of students, but the matching process from the State to preschool was not good. The number of kids did not come in because the matching process didn’t go right.
• DEI & Education: There is an intersection between power and oppression. You have to look at DEI through a lens of safety, and make sure students who have identities that put them at greater risk of having an unsafe experience are made to feel safe.
• Mental Health: I worked in BVSD classrooms as a sexual abuse prevention educator. We need to let our teachers teach. We need community partners to be sure we’re buttressing every place that we can on social-emotional issues, and have experts provide support.
• Drills & Anxiety: We’ve done the right thing by taking SROs out. That is making a difference. Our disproportionate discipline has decreased by about 4%. That’s, but we have to continue to think about safety and I fully support our SSA’s, so they can have good relationships with kids, knowing when there’s a problem on the horizon. We all need implicit bias training.

District G

Anil Pesaramelli

• Book Bans: I think books are a medium of expression and opinion. I don’t believe books should be banned. I do believe in age appropriate content, for example, we don’t introduce algebra or calculus to kindergarten students because it’s not age appropriate.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: Early childhood education should be provided. We don’t have enough money, we should push the authorities to get more funding.
• DEI & Education: Mentors in every area, not just the teaching profession, should reflect diversity because they become a big influence on children growing up.
• Mental Health: More counseling sessions, watch out for people who are showing signs that something is not right. The whole the whole system has to play a part with more with more training to identify those behaviors, more counseling and less punishment.
• Drills & Anxiety: More training, to say that this could happen but remove the panic part and help students stay alert, and follow instructions. Having more information ahead of time.

Jorge Chávez – QUALIFIED

• Book Bans: I am opposed to book bans. Censorship is problematic. Parents have a right to select for their own children what they have access to, but I think that the ability to access information to read is a fundamental right to be protected.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: It’s been difficult for parents to get access. I know. It’s a process. It’s a new program going through growing pains. Investment in early childhood education pays off dividends in terms of reducing crime and violence, in terms of academic success, and economic benefits.
• DEI & Education: It’s critical students are reflected on the curriculum, reflected in the faculty and staff. Kids learn well they feel they’re welcomed and safe. That’s at the core of what we do. If you’re not welcoming, if you’re not seeing yourself, if you’re not reflected, it has detrimental effects.
• Mental Health: We’re experiencing a mental health crisis. The movement towards social emotional learning and development in schools is critical. Giving students tools by which they self regulate their emotions and their behavior, and to have the language to speak up when there are problems.
• Drills & Anxiety: Safety measures we have — hardening schools, metal detectors, police in schools with guns, lockdown drills — are increasing the the mental health load on our kids. What we can do is have strong safety plans, and collaborate with local agencies, to be ready in times of crisis. 

Stuart Lord – ENDORSED

• Book Bans: One of the ways that people are introduced to a culture or different groups is through books. The district’s responsibility is to provide educational opportunities for all students to enrich their lives around difference, culture, race, ethnicity, etc.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: I support the initiatives, it was a rocky start, but we need to continue to educate parents on the opportunities, get people into these opportunities at a very early age. It starts with educating parents.
• DEI & Education: I think it’s highly important when a student walks across the stage when they graduate, we are able to say that that student has cross-cultural competency. People need to see themselves in the classroom, I think we have to diversify our staff.
• Mental Health: The first line of defense for mental health are the people that work in our buildings.Continue to engage with professionals around mental health wellness who can support our students. We don’t have enough mental health wellness counselors in our schools.
• Drills & Anxiety: We build trust with the safety advocates and students so they see them as a caring adult in their life. When a crisis happens, relationships are established with students. I think we need a safety summit to address best practices. 

St. Vrain Valley School District – ALL UNOPPOSED

Jacqueline Weiss – District A – REFUSED INTERVIEW

James Berthold – District C – ENDORSED

• Book Bans: Our goal is to make sure we engage the minority communities’ parents, because engagement in the schools results in higher scores by the students. We never had any problem with anybody complaining about books in our schools.
• Early Education & Healthy Meals: They did pass free lunch, everyone gets free lunch. We give free breakfast to Title 1 schools in need. 
• DEI & Education: Equity is in our mission statement. Every student in our school will be given the same opportunities as every other student. We’ve increased our minority graduation rates over the last six years from 54% to 89%.
• Mental Health: Our highschool program has tripled the number of counselors and psychiatrists we have in the schools. We have extremely high participation in our extracurriculars, that socio-emotional aspect is important.
• Drills & Anxiety: We have a lot of our security systems in our schools. Our hope is that if we have some kind of craziness, all the students know what to do. It’s not provided in a scare tactic way, its explained to them
• Parent & Student complaints: Administrative staff is critical. I would gather what parents have to say and invite the Superintendent, and he would look into it. In any administration, you’re never sure if everything is bubbling up. 

Michelle Sulek – District E – DID NOT REPLY

Geno Lechuga – District G – DID NOT REPLY

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The post Yellow Scene 2023 Election Guide appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[LOCAL]

• Local political satirist Dariush Namazi was arrested at a Thornton city council meeting prompting major questions about free speech and lack of public communication by certain Thornton council members.
• Council member Maxine Most is recalled in special election over the refusal to relax building codes in the wake of the Marshall Fire rebuilding.
• Truck attempted to run over multiple people at Boulder’s Central Park, damaging the park in the process. The driver was arrested.
• Mt. Evans has been renamed Mt. Blue Sky. Evans was the governor during the Sand Creek Massacre of numerous Cheyenne and Arapaho people and deserves the dishonor.
• King Sooper’s shooter has been determined competent enough to stand trial after two years of discussion.
• Erie Cheer coach is no longer with the school after parents attended in-person open-forum meetings and demanded answers from Superintendent Dr. Haddad.
• Boulder will have the city’s first ranked choice mayoral vote after approving the change in 2022.

[NATIONAL]

• The Government shutdown was averted for now, but expect Republicans to again bring it up as a stalling tactic in the future.
• The Republican Speaker race is a mess after voting to remove Speaker McCarthy, indicative of the Republican Party’s lack of leadership overall.
• Robert F. Kennedy announces run in 2024 Presidential Election, although likely not going to see the same success as others in his family have had.

[INTERNATIONAL]

• Humanitarian crisis grows in the Gaza Strip as Israel prepares to retaliate against Hamas for their surprise attack by launching their own invasion.
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for helping develop the mRNA COVID vaccine that saved so many lives.
• Solar eclipse dazzles millions across North America during the middle of the day on Saturday the 14th.

Small Talk

“The full archival report shows the grim truth that at least 31 students from eight tribal nations died while attending the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School from 1892 to 1909. The ages of those that passed range from five to 22 years old.” – KUNC on History Colorado report on Colorado boarding schools

“Our officers are Narcan-ing someone almost every day. Jail is low-staffed which has inmates waiting for treatment.” – Boulder Deputy Police Chief Stephen Redfearn

“The ordinance does not give the panel any authority or appeal powers in matters of officer discipline. POP recommendations will remain advisory in nature.” – Boulder Beat on new ordinance for the Police Oversight Panel

“Just as before and during the war, I said that they must free themselves from our lands, or we will expel them by force. And so it happened. The same will be the fate of the Zangezur corridor.” – Azerbaijani president on his nation’s invasion of Armenia

By the Numbers

$3.4 Million – Raised by Boebert challenger Adam Frisch
32% – Boulder area people work remotely, the highest percentage in the nation according to Axios
81 – Pedestrian deaths in Colorado this year so far, with each of the last ten years seeing an increase in fatalities
75+ – Local Election candidates interviewed by YS for our Election Guide
861 – Affordable apartments built in recent years in Boulder according to city data

The post Month in Review | October 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

National talking points are brought into local elections via online comments and attacks.

The Broomfield Ward 5 election that on the surface is about a homeless encampment, gun legislation, and a healthcare plan has delved into social media attacks including sexist remarks, body shaming, stances on Trans youth, and personal attacks.

Officially, Todd Cohen on Broomfield City Council faces a recall from his stance on a homeless shelter that never materialized, placement of above ground water tanks, failure to address suicide by firearms, and approving a new health care plan for Council members. Councilmember Heidi Henkel, who is up for re-election, is also being challenged on the same issues. Maria Boutrous is running to recall Cohen — whose term ends in 2025 —  and Adam Gobetti is seeking to replace Henkel.

The election posts online have broadened to include national politics, stances on LGBTQ+ communities, and body-shaming via harsh social media posts. Some feel that local elected officials should not be voted for on any basis besides local issues, but many find it relevant what their closest representative believes about things like vaccines and who won the presidential election.

Additionally, much of the spotlight has been on Nextdoor and Facebook posts where both female candidates have been sexualized and faced personal attacks by both residents and Boutrous herself.

Courtesy of Heidi Henkel

Recall challenges

Accusations of canvassers getting into verbal confrontations abound. Boutrous showed YS screenshosts of neighbors complaining about anti-recall canvassers. Cohen and Henkel both believe Boutrous and her canvassers lied to voters.

“They’re willing just to blatantly lie. And in this case, they’re very aggressive. We heard from people who just signed the petition to get them off the doorstep,” Cohen stated. Henkel agreed, “Maria Boutros is the one that collected all the signatures for the recall. A lot of my neighbors were upset because she was very argumentative at the doors, very pushy.”

Henkel and Cohen both believe the recall petitioners lied when going door-to-door to collect signatures. Voters were allegedly told that the recall was about lowering taxes or that a homeless encampment would be created when plans for one never existed in the first place.

“We’re not gonna respond to allegations because if they want to, if they truly believe that we’ve lied, then they can just file a lawsuit any time,” Karl Honegger, an organizer for the recall efforts, rebutted.

Boutrous and other recall supporters felt that the attempt to stop the recall, and the potential threat of legal challenges, was an attempt to harass and silence citizen voices.

Hearing officer Karen Goldman allowed the recall to move forward, but Cohen noted, and the transcript reflects, that the petition gatherers did not testify as to whether they lied when gathering signatures so as not to incriminate themselves.

Despite the election proceeding, questions of its merits still surround the race. “Most people think of recalls as a tool for voters to remove somebody who’s broken the law, violated their oath, or something,” Cohen shared.

Colorado in fact has the third highest rate of recall elections across the nation. There are legitimate fears that recalls are being used as a growing tool to remove elected officials from office over policy disagreements rather than rules violations.

“They’re willing just to blatantly lie. And in this case, they’re very aggressive.”

The homeless encampment that never was

The leading issue on the recall is a homeless encampment idea that was talked about at City Council meetings. Cohen and Henkel spoke about the unhoused problem, and after discussion, moved towards supporting already existing programs. Boutrous and other recall supporters think this shows intent to create a new homeless camp near a school.

“They used a fictitious story about a homeless camp to go to people and say, ‘hey, these guys want to put homeless people in your neighborhood,’” Todd explained.

“I think they’re taking a page from Donald Trump’s playbook in the sense they are trying to undo elections and in my case, leading with a big lie about a fictitious homeless camp to scare people into signing the signature, which was effective,” Cohen expanded.

“What I feel they should have done is [listen], instead of dismissing the concerns of their constituents that we don’t want our community to look like downtown Denver, and who would be blamed for that?”  Boutrous expanded on the topic. “I don’t feel that their answer to that issue of homelessness and mental illness is to put a camp 2,000 feet from a Catholic school” 

“Let’s dial back to what are the issues in our society that we can control at the local municipal level that are contributing to mental illness and homelessness,“ Boutrous shared.

When asked if the homeless shelter was still an issue, Honegger replied “They dropped it, but in July [2021] when they were discussing it as an option, they very much supported it.” Boutrous replied that this specific homeless shelter is not an issue anymore, but is concerned that Henkel and Cohen would support one in the future.

Todd Cohen and Heidi Henkel

Sexism and Social Media

YS reviewed multiple posts on Nextdoor and Facebook made by both pro-recall and anti-recall residents, and although not able to verify everything residents allege, a disturbing pattern of sexism emerged.

Separate photos of both Boutrous and Henkel in bathing suits have been posted on Nextdoor and Facebook that were inappropriately mocked and sexualized.

But it wasn’t just the photos. Rhetoric against Henkel reached a vitriolic level. Boutrous posted that Henkel was a “cow,” “narcissist,” “media whore,” as well as commenting multiple times on Henkel’s breasts.

“It was after she came after me. She has a horrible reputation using her publicly elected platform as a stage … People from other districts in Broomfield have come forward with horrible stories of what she has done to them,” Boutrous explained when asked about the above comments.

“At that point, the schoolyard bully got punched in the nose. Was it appropriate? Should either of us be engaged in that behavior? Was it something that, you know, adults should be doing? No, but in my opinion she shouldn’t have started it,” Boutrous elaborated.

“You don’t harass people with your boobs and then complain about people body shaming you,” Boutrous continued, referencing photos of Henkel in a bathing suit.

“I just invited her over to my house and she got offended by it.” Henkel replied regarding the social media exchange. Henkel also confronted Boutrous’ stance on gender affirming care for youth, with Henkel defending the right for youth to access care.

“I am a neighbor who lives 700 yards down the street from her and instead of crossing the street, knocking on my door, and having a civil conversation as a sitting public official, she engaged and attacked me and told me that I don’t know,” Boutrous expanded.

Boutrous claims the harassment is not a one-way street. “I have so many instances passed along to my attorney where I could have sued Heidi and Scott for defamation, and for sexual harassment.”

Indeed, Boutrous has been called horrible things online, but mostly by citizens, not by the candidates running. Boutrous has been mocked with made-up drag queen names and sexualized in comments and posts online as well.

Henkel has posted that she believes Boutrous to be an unsafe person for others to be around.

“It’s like, oh, let me show all of the examples of the mean and horrible things that Maria said about me and, and provide no context for the things that I have said and done,” Boutrous defended herself.

Boutrous is running to replace Cohen, but the social media interactions and interviews with YS show how vested the two recall candidates are in each other’s campaigns.

“You don’t harass people with your boobs and then complain about people body shaming you.”

Youths and LGBTQ+ Identity 

One social media back-and-forth spawned out of a Facebook post regarding transgender athletes. Henkel defended a transgender athlete whereas Boutrous found it inappropriate to be allowed to compete in the gender class they identify as.

“I responded well, two can play at this game. I identified two as bovine and that’s where that [cow] comment came in,” Boutrous said.

Although Boutrous stated that she has no problem with people identifying as other sexualities or genders, and that she has even helped care for such people in her care facilities, she sees it as a problem for youths

She elaborated. “We’ve had a massive increase in the last 10 years of children who are identifying as transgender or questioning and whatever, and statistically that has never happened in society before. To me that is indicative of a push in society to put ideas in children’s heads and to confuse them to a large degree. That is not saying that isn’t saying that kids do not have issues with body dysmorphic disorder or anxiety and depression.”

Another possibility is acceptance of LGBTQ+ lifestyles has grown, and awareness of gender affirming treatments has allowed more people to freely express who they identify as.

Boutrous referenced a group called “Gays Against Groomers” who take a hard stance against transgender youth care, and expressed concern that LGBTQ+ groups support “groomers” — adults who are sexually attracted to children. When asked to point out specific groups that support this behavior, none were brought up.

“If you look up [Gays Against Groomers] on Wikipedia, it’s a far right group basically denying trans rights. She doesn’t even know what she’s talking about,” Henkel responded.

“I basically just feel like I don’t care what you do in your private time. As long as you don’t want to hurt someone else, especially vulnerable children,” Boutrous concluded.

Maria Boutrous and supporters. Courtesy of Maria Boutrous

Firearms and Mental Health

Cohen and Henkel have both been proponents of gun control measures in Broomfield. Although the recall groups accuse them both of doing nothing about the suicide rate, Cohen and Henkel both told YS that reducing access to firearms is part of the mental health solution.

However, these actions earned the ire of some constituents. “A lot of people were saying they were making unconstitutional moves to try to restrict gun access,” said Boutrous, who also voiced concerns over lawsuits that can stem from such legislation. “The gun issue is a very emotional hot topic. And my whole my whole thing is that regardless of how you or I feel about guns, it isn’t something to be addressed at the municipal level,” Boutrous argued.

Cohen disagrees, as does Henkel. “Actually, we can do things locally, the governor gave us permission,” Henkel rebutted.

Boutrous isn’t even Henkel’s opponent 

YS asked Boutrous why she focuses so much on Henkel when her opponent is Cohen. She expanded that Henkel and her are neighbors and have a history of online confrontations stemming back to a time when Boutrous hosted right-wing political personality Scott McKay. Animosity has only grown from there.

Gobetti is the one running to unseat Henkel, but his social media presence takes the form of YouTube videos rather than attacks on Facebook or Nextdoor. Gobetti proposes ways to reduce spending in Broomfield but has commented on other topics like the social media “soap opera” that has surrounded the races.

“I feel like people need to get out more to be honest. I mean, my opponent all he does is get on YouTube and make pre scripted videos,” Henkel shared. “He hasn’t voted in a municipal election before.” Involvement in local politics is typically seen as beneficial for political newcomers.

Gobetti and Boutrous both campaign on lowering taxes and reducing spending.

Gobetti, in his campaign introduction video, stated that he intends to “Ensure our financial security… [and] in fact I would like to put money back in your pocket.” Boutrous also spoke against raising taxes, especially during post-Covid recovery.

“I think anyone can research, right? You know, how are you going to build policy? How are you going to build camaraderie with others?” Henkel expanded on issues that council members also face.

“I feel like people need to get out more to be honest. I mean, my opponent all he does is get on YouTube and make pre scripted videos.”

National politics trickles down

“I feel like the national politics, making somebody ‘the other,’ and dehumanizing them has just taken on a whole new realm of hate and people are buying into it,” Henkel expanded on hateful rhetoric and the effort to overturn elections via recall.

“I think the scary thing is the willingness such on the national level, for the right wing, to just lie to people blatantly just with Fox News and they have a huge megaphone to just make up things and scare people and just lead with fear,” Cohen reiterated. Both Cohen and Henkel believe the nasty rhetoric, lies about political positions, and anti-transgender positions have emerged in part due to Trump’s popularization of the tactics and hate.

“She’s promoting conspiracy theories along the lines of 2,000 Mules, and she’s telling people to take zinc pills and not the COVID vaccine. Calling the pope a globalist, which is an age-old, anti semitic and anti Catholic trope,” Cohen expanded on how Boutrous has brought national politics into the conversation. YS can confirm Boutrous did indeed post sentiments along these lines.

“I was suddenly labeled a Q-Anon conspiracy theorist. So that’s what I mean about the media going off and characters assassinating people. It’s asinine when we have such politicized, loaded language, it just creates more division in our society, and it hurts,” Boutrous defended herself. 

When asked to clarify whether she believes Trump or Biden won the 2022 election, she defended with: “Well, but why am I being asked? That’s such a loaded question. There’s so much information that it could be dissected. There were completely relevant questions surrounding ballot harvesting. I don’t deserve to be bullied over questioning the integrity of elections. I am so tired of Trump, and Biden and Trumpism, and all this crap.”

She then steered the conversation back to local issues. “You, Heidi Henkel, haven’t put more than 1% [of the budget] towards the Public Works Department. We have had one pothole truck in this town for the last 20 years and you want to call me an election questioner? Does that make anybody feel better? What’s really important is that I don’t believe we have election interference going on in Broomfield.”

“I was suddenly labeled a Q-Anon conspiracy theorist. […] It’s asinine when we have such politicized, loaded language, it just creates more division in our society, and it hurts.”

Bringing it all Back Home

“It’s just the constant ‘let’s get into this whole Donald Trump, MAGA, hate everybody thing.’ It’s so dumb. It’s just a sad state of affairs. Let’s see if Heidi can apologize, quit all this, and just run a campaign about what she feels are meritorious, and the legitimate reasons why she believes she should be reelected. I mean, that’s what she should be focusing on. Not trashing other people and making shit up as part of her campaign platform,” Boutrous concluded.

“The lack of local journalism is definitely playing a role. The challenge here in Broomfield is the local paper doesn’t cover counsel like it used to, and to be very fair, very few people are actually reading the local paper anymore. People are relying unfortunately on platforms that cannot be relied on for being honest. Nextdoor is not a reliable source,” Cohen expanded on the lack of coverage and social media drama plaguing the campaign.

“We have a guy only voting in national politics, and who it sounds like only follows national politics, it’s concerning. We’ll have a person in office who has been absent most of the time traveling all the time, never voting. And then I don’t know if they’re actually going to be able to get a tree fixed,” Henkel expanded on her opponent, Gobetti.

“If you have a council that is spouting conspiracy theories and isn’t able to think constructively or critically about issues, it has a huge potential to embarrass the community,” Cohen expanded on why it is important to know Boutrous’ views on such topics.

“It’s pretty indicative of just how people react out of scarcity and fear versus abundance and joy,” Heidi said.

“Some of us embrace change and find it exciting and others find it unsettling. Unfortunately they’re easily stoked for someone to tell them that we can make things back the way you nostalgically think they were.” Cohen concluded.

The post Broomfield Ward 5 Recall Devolves Into Sexist and Transphobic Trash Talk appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The rhetoric being employed by the GOP today — as we’ve witnessed in an overabundance at the first Republican Presidential Candidates debate on Aug. 23, but has been a steady, worsening drumbeat for the last decade — has become all but indistinguishable from the rhetoric levied by the worst authoritarians, demagogues, despots and dictators in human history. Need proof? Take the quiz below and see how you do.

Who said it?

1. “Do you want a patriot who speaks the truth? Do you want incremental reform, which is what you’re hearing about, or do you want revolution?” 
2. “A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery.”
3. “We’re not going to give up on destroying the healthcare system for the American people.”
4. “As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice.”
5. “That’s God testing me. He said, ‘You know, you did it once.’ And I said, ‘Did I do a great job, God? I’m the only one who could do it.'”
6. “If there’s a chance that someone may be inclined to be an enemy of the country, then I think you have to err on the side of caution.”
7. “Better to kill an innocent by mistake than spare an enemy by mistake.”
8. “The whole point of their immigration policy is to … replace the population.”
9. “Jews will not replace us!”
10. “The sick are victims of their own imagination.”
11. “Fake News”
12. “Lying press!”
13. “I don’t care how sick you are. I don’t care if you just came back from the doctor, and he gave you the worst possible prognosis, meaning it’s over. You won’t be around in two weeks… Get out and vote. And then all we’re going to say is, ‘We love you and we will remember you always.” 
14. “It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence… and the economic independence of the nation.”
15. “The press is… Truly the enemy of the people.”
    

Answers:

1. Vivek Ramaswamy, Aug. 23, 2023
2. Mao Zedong, 1927
3. Rep. Paul Ryan, March 12, 2013
4. Adolf Hitler, April 12, 1921
5. Donald J. Trump, Aug. 17, 2020
6. Ron DeSantis, November 26, 2015
7. Pol Pot, slogan of the Khmer Rouge
8. Tucker Carlson, May 15, 2022
9. White supremacists’ chant from the Unite The Right rally, Aug. 11–12, 2017
10. Pol Pot, Aug. 1976
11. Donald J. Trump, countless times
12. Weimar Republic and then Nazi Germany propagandists
13. Donald J. Trump, Nov. 6, 2016
14. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
15. Donald J. Trump, April 5, 2019

The post Who Said It? | Duly Noted appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Despite acceptance at the state level, federal tax code 280E is holding the industry back.

Boom and bust?

“We are coming off of some record-breaking years,” Buck Dutton of Native Roots told YS. Despite many businesses struggling during the past few years, the cannabis industry actually saw a boom in sales. “The pandemic was so good for the cannabis industry, [but] there were so many industries that were really hard hit.”

The sudden influx of people staying at home during the pandemic led to a huge increase in the sale of cannabis across the state. Whether it was to help calm the anxiety that world-changing events brought about or simply to occupy the wide-open window of free time many of us faced, people increasingly turned to marijuana.

“People stayed at home, and anytime you’ve looked at the Great Depression, wars, when the country has been through different things, the reliance on drugs, alcohol becomes huge,” Wanda James from Simply Pure explained.

Times of stress generally see an increase in substance use. Covid was no different. The National Library of Medicine generally agrees although the exact correlation may be more complicated. A 2018 study found that “Most of the participants of the survey (58.3%) reported an increase in drug use during the crisis, compared with only 25.6% of the sample who reported a decrease in drug use.” Fortunately for citizens in Colorado, legal alternatives to harder drugs and alcohol were available during COVID-19.

“What I am thrilled about this time was we went through a pandemic, and we had choices for something better than alcohol, right? Better than heroin,” James expanded.

Like any booming industry, the marijuana game saw an influx of interested parties looking to make money. New dispensaries opened up, grow operations expanded, and the misleading appeal of high profits had people who have never smoked a joint in their lives suddenly looking at cannabis as a potential investment.

However, what follows a boom cycle is usually a bust period. Currently, the cannabis industry is facing its most difficult challenge since legalization. Businesses that reported millions in sales just months earlier are now facing a harsh new reality.

As employees have returned to work and free time shrunk back, marijuana sales slipped. Profit margins, already significantly hampered by federal tax code 280E, became razor thin.

I’m a business, man

For many the cannabis business is just that, a business. With sales at all-time highs, more and more people jumped into the cannabis game hoping to turn a fast profit on a booming market. New dispensaries and grow operations sprang up to satisfy the seemingly insatiable demand. Now the market is quite literally oversaturated. The price per ounce of marijuana has dropped significantly. You may have noticed groceries, rent, and gas prices are all affected by inflation, or at least corporate greed, but not marijuana.

Interestingly enough, consumer prices of cannabis have not been noticeably impacted by inflation. Businesses that YS spoke to mostly said that they are eating the costs of higher transportation, packaging, and labor instead of raising the price of marijuana.

In fact, the opposite is happening, prices are dropping, especially in large markets like Denver and Boulder. “It is a race to the bottom that has to bottom out. You can’t just be giving it away. Profit margins are getting really tight, and I think that the smaller operators are really struggling with that,” Dutton explained.

Capitalism pressures businesses to expand. The allure of more profit, new markets, and illusions of grandeur too often lure small businesses into overexpansion. Expenses can grow and are not always in line with new revenues. Expanding at the wrong time is worse than not expanding at all. Sadly, many small cannabis business owners are currently staring at this looming problem head on.

When asked how smaller operations can survive this shifting environment, James replied resoundingly, “They don’t. They don’t.”

These days even high-end flower is not that difficult to grow. Legalization removed many of the risk factors that growing cannabis used to come with. Growers in legal states do not face the same threat of police raids, black markets, and lengthy jail sentences that all contributed to driving the price up.

“So all of these growers went out there, expanded their grows, or people came in and they added all these growers, so we flooded the market with way too much cannabis. They can’t sell it now. And so that’s also just driving the prices lower,” James shared.

Additionally, compared to years ago when cannabis was still illegal in Colorado, prices have naturally fallen as risks of legal jeopardy fell. “The reason why cannabis was expensive, you know, was because if you got caught growing it or making it or selling it, you went to jail. You were taking your life in your own hands,” James shared.

The systemic effects of these harmful policies still reverberate loudly today, but much of the legal risk factor for growing marijuana — at least at the state level — has been removed. That translates into a lower price per ounce and much more flower being grown overall, further lowering its value.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

The feds

The limbo in between full legalization at the state level and the Schedule I Classification of marijuana at the federal level has led to crippling tax penalties.

U.S. Code 280E states: “No deduction or credit shall be allowed for any amount paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business if such trade or business (or the activities which comprise such trade or business) consists of trafficking in controlled substances (within the meaning of Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act) which is prohibited by Federal law or the law of any State in which such trade or business is conducted.”

This means there are limited federal tax deductions for any business expenses in the marijuana industry.

“No other businesses are like that. If I own a restaurant, if I make $100 a day, and I pay my staff $50, I’m taxed on the remaining $50. Not true in cannabis. We’re taxed on money that we don’t even have,” said James, sharing the frustrations businesses have with the current tax code.

Different operations face different challenges in the business world, but nearly everyone agrees that 280E is the most crippling law for the industry. “The tax regulation 280E has been a massive handicap on the cannabis industry from the beginning. Cannabis is a legal industry in Colorado, but we’re not treated as such. The cannabis industry functions with an effective tax rate of roughly 70%,” Dutton wrote.

280E was originally intended to strip illicit drug dealers of potential revenue. It is a punitive tax meant to drive illegal drug dealers out of business — and it’s working.Rescheduling cannabis on the national level would provide numerous benefits. “If 280E is removed, licensed cannabis companies can invest that capital back into the business and community. This would strengthen our efforts in community engagement, research, expansion, product development, staff compensation, and marketing. Those efforts would increase sales and in turn, drive the state tax revenue that has decreased in recent years,” Dutton expanded.

The IRS provides information on how to navigate these challenges, and they do allow one specific tax benefit. “Marijuana business owners can deduct their cost of goods sold, which is basically the cost of their inventory. What isn’t deductible are the normal overhead expenses, such as advertising expenses, wages and salaries, and travel expenses, to name a few,” wrote De Lon Harris, commissioner of the IRS Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE) Examination.

Not being legal on the federal level also impacts what payment methods are available. MasterCard recently announced it will not be allowing purchases of marijuana, even on debit cards. This limits ways customers can pay and adds more hurdles for already struggling businesses to overcome.

James is leading the fight against these harmful penalties that no longer reflect the reality of the cannabis industry. “I am the only elected official that owns a dispensary in Colorado. So that’s the other reason why I really want to fight the government right now because I am the government,” she said.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Cannabis tourism

Colorado once shone as the lone beacon of marijuana freedom in the United States. For years the legal cannabis industry in the state attracted tourists. Even if the factor that brought them here is weed, tourists, directly and indirectly, contribute to the local economy.

“Even if you came here for cannabis tourism, you still went to a restaurant, you brought a Rockies t-shirt,” James, also a former member of the Colorado Tourism Board, explained.

Fortunately for the consumers, but unfortunately for Colorado tourism, other states followed the light and legalized marijuana. From Alaska to Washington, people now have a choice of places to take a vacation if they want to participate in marijuana tourism.

“What we saw last year and after COVID is we have lost cannabis tourism to about 70%. Now that people can go to Las Vegas, they can go to New York, they can go to California, they can go to Oregon, and people still come here to Colorado because it’s a wonderful place to come, but it’s not the singular place to come,” James expanded.

To the benefit of everyone except Colorado’s tourism, access to marijuana continues to expand nationwide. The political climate is one of acceptance or at least tolerance. This is all to say that marijuana sales have also declined because of fewer people traveling to Colorado to obtain it.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

The path forward

Rescheduling marijuana on the federal level would immediately bring relief to small businesses across the nation. Once 280E no longer applies, cannabis business owners can start operating much more like any other business — with tax deductions and write-offs — to help improve their bottom line and reinvest in their company and community.

However, the tax code is not the only challenge facing would-be dispensary owners. “My question to most dispensary owners right now is how many liquor stores in your neighborhood can you actually name? Yeah, there’s a liquor store on the corner. What’s the name of it?” James elaborated on the importance of branding.

James’ advice to would-be newcomers is that “if you’re getting into the cannabis game, and this is really important for people to know, what’s your niche? Why do people know you? Why do you go to Starbucks and not Dunkin’ Donuts? Or why do you use Nescafé at home and don’t go to any of them?” 

Fortunately, Simply Pure’s brand is a strong one. “We’re well known because we’re Black-owned women-owned, and we’re the very first dispensary owned by African Americans in the United States. And we do so much for social justice and for politics, and we call ourselves the most political dispensary in America,” James proudly shared.

James sees the wine industry as a potential model for the future of the cannabis industry. There could be tours of the fields, examining the flower as it grows, tastings, and food pairings as a way to elevate the experience. However, overly harsh regulations stifle this creativity.

“I can’t even take a bud out of my grow facility. So if I go in there and see a great bud, I’m not allowed to walk out of my facility with it. So the ridiculousness of regulation prevents, I guess, what I would call ‘fun marketing,’ you know, things that consumers would love to do,” James shared.

There is a bill currently working its way through the California legislature that would allow public marijuana consumption at places like cafés that would also serve food and drinks. This could usher in an entirely new smoking experience involving more socialization and de-stigmatization centered around a “coffee house” culture. As many know from Amsterdam’s reputation, this model can draw tourists by the millions and could be a way to make certain states stand out again in the tourism realm.

Boutique experiences, tastings and pairings, and coffee house-style settings would all still run afoul of the many laws surrounding this still relatively new industry. Legalization at the national level would not mean every state follows suit — cannabis would likely remain illegal in some areas, but it would remove much of the burden on business owners in states that have legalized it.

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The post Colorado’s cannabis industry faces its biggest challenge since legalization appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[LOCAL]

• Lauren Boebert was kicked out of a theater during ”Beetlejuice” performance, her embarrassing antics caught on video.
• Boulder will not increase the city’s minimum wage in 2024 after a 5-4 vote, affirming 2025 as the year wages will increase.
• Colorado GOP proposes banning gender-affirming care in another performative act that has no chance of passing.
• Local 17-year-old USA cyclist Magnus White was struck and killed by an SUV on Colorado Highway 119. The DA is looking into potential charges for the driver.
• CU Buffs are off to a hot start under coach Sanders, upsetting TCU and defeating longtime rival Nebraska to start the season.

[NATIONAL]

• Five police officers that beat Tyre Nichols to death have been indicted on federal charges.
• Mitt Romney is not running for reelection for his Senate seat, opening a chance for a more extreme conservative to fill the seat.
• However, Nancy Pelosi will be running again despite her decreasing relevance to national politics.
• Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges and not a single Democrat is up in arms protesting the justice system, because why would they be?
• United Auto Workers strike in efforts for more job security as the auto industry shifts towards more electric vehicles, echoing the Hollywood writer’s strike over AI generated scripts.

[INTERNATIONAL]

• Earthquake ravages Morocco, with hundreds of deaths and major structural damage in multiple cities including Meerakeesh
• Massive rains in Libya flood and overflow dams, destroying a coastal city with tens of thousands feared dead
• Elon Musk disabled his Starlink satellites to thwart communication during an Ukrainian naval offensive in the Black Sea further raising ethical questions of how much power one individual should wield.

Small Talk

“Providing convenient travel choices to our community is one of our priorities and it is through collaborative funding partnerships like this that we’ll be able to continue to expand options throughout our community. This award provides the funds to make this new and improved service to Gunbarrel possible.” – Natalie Stiffler, City of Boulder Transportation and Mobility Director 

“There have been no substantial allegations that the government violated the 4th, 5th, or 6th Amendments in prosecuting January 6 defendants. It is irresponsible to allege, without evidence, as your letter does, that Americans are being systematically denied their most basic Constitutional rights based on their political beliefs.” – Republican Representative Ken Buck, CO

“The Center of the American West is currently fading, and while it may yet be resuscitated, there will be lasting loss and damage to CU Boulder and the fields of Western history, applied history, and countless others.” – Letter from academics across the West regarding CU Boulder’s sudden firing of Patty Limerick

“It is a step toward housing accessibility in our city, without building anything, without tearing anything down.” – Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett on raising housing occupancy limits

By the Numbers

$826 million – Proposed to expand Colorado broadband access across the state
$52 million – Denver mayor Mike Johnson lays out new initiatives to address the homeless crisis
171 – Unhoused individuals counted by Boulder city staff for “July Point in Time Count Results,” of which 25% said they were experiencing homelessness for the first time
12.4% – Poverty rate in the US, up from 7.8%, the largest single year increase on record 

The post Month in Review | September 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo by the Paul Wilkinson Law Firm

[LOCAL]

• Online marijuana sales began on August 7th. Someone should really start a pizza + weed delivery combo.
• Fort Lupton police officer found guilty for leaving a woman in his patrol cruiser that was struck by a train. The officer parked his car on the train tracks after taking her into custody. She survived but was severely injured.
• Newly implemented law in Colorado to raise age to buy a firearm to 21 has been blocked by Federal Judge.
• Nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of bikes have been stolen in Boulder this year according to the Stolen Bikes dashboard
• Mike Johnson is inaugurated as Denver’s Mayor after beating Kelly Brough earlier this summer.

[NATIONAL]

• Florida tries to ban AP Psychology in their growing fight against being educated.
• Two attorneys associated with Colorado, John Eastman and Jenna Ellis, are indicted alongside Trump, this time simply for attempting to overthrow our government and end democracy as we know it.
• The State of Georgia also indicts Trump over his tampering with election results. Pardons in Georgia particularly hard to come by.
• Entire Colorado River Basin faces massive drought mainly due to decrease in snowmelt from shifting climate patterns.
• Mitch McConnell apparently freezes on live TV in a scary incident, prompting questions of his health and fitness for office.
• Twitter rebrands to “X” begging the question: why?

[INTERNATIONAL]

• Sinead O’Connor passes away at 56. Thank you for speaking up against Papal abuse when no one else would.
• U.S. soldier who was about to be disciplined sprinted across the North Korean border, defecting to the brutal regime.
• Over 1,000 Russians and Belarussians are stripped of their permanent resident status in Lithuania after being deemed “threats to national security”.
• Heading to Europe next year? Make sure to apply for a Visa, something previously unrequired.
• Group of West African nations say they will intervene in Niger’s ongoing coup if it is not soon resolved diplomatically.

Small Talk

“Tragically, young people are getting their hands on guns all too easily and putting them to terrible use against others — and with serious consequences for their own lives.” – DA Michael Doughtery on recent youth gun violence

“The fire was just traveling too fast, and too hot and next thing you know Lahaina town is gone, literally gone.” – Mark Stefle, Maui Fire survivor

“While I appreciate the need for transparency, it is important to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation regarding the law enforcement officers’ use of force.” – Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons on Sheriff’s records request denial regarding the shooting of Charlie Foster

“Now, more than nine months have passed, no evidence has been revealed and it has become even clearer that the impact of the dean’s actions has been irreparable and far-reaching.” – Letter signed by more than 300 academics protesting firing of CU Boulder professor Patty Limerick from the Center of the American West

By the Numbers

22% – Increase in abortions performed by Colorado clinics following harsh restrictions like those in Texas
$1 Billion – Barbie Movie revenue, highest ever for a female director
13% – Number of Colorado families who will receive free full time preschool, not the promised 50%
110° / 31 Days – Phoenix experiences an entire month of daily temperatures over 100°
60% – Increase in water bills after a sudden water rate hike for Lafayette residents
17 – People shot and killed by Colorado law enforcement in 2023 so far

The post Month in Review | August 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By John Herrick, The Boulder Reporting Lab

The Boulder City Council voted to raise the city’s occupancy limits on Thursday, accomplishing one of its top priorities ahead of the 2023 election and marking the council’s latest attempt to increase the supply of housing by chipping away at the city’s zoning laws.

The new law will raise the city’s limits on how many unrelated people can live together from as few as three to five across much of the city. The changes will not increase the number of people who can live in certain homes in the student neighborhoods of University Hill or Goss-Grove.

The landmark vote is part of a broader effort by a majority on council to increase housing density in Boulder, where most of the residential land is zoned to only allow single-family homes. In May, councilmembers made it easier to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. And in June, they directed city staff to begin drafting an ordinance that would allow duplexes and triplexes on larger lots in single-family neighborhoods, where they are currently prohibited.

The post Boulder City Council, in response to a housing shortage, raises occupancy limits with landmark vote appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Pilot aims to increase Boulder’s affordable housing stock while offering an opportunity for middle-income community members to buy market rate homes.

BOULDER, Colo. – The City of Boulder is launching a new program to help middle-income community members in Boulder purchase a market-rate home. The program is intended to help preserve economic diversity in the city and reduce the number of commutes to and from Boulder.

The Middle Income Down Payment Assistance Pilot Program (DPA) offers middle-income households a zero-interest second mortgage up to $200,000 or 30% of the home’s sale price, whichever is less. In exchange for this assistance, the home will become permanently affordable.

This pilot is one of ten current City Council priorities.

“This is an excellent way for middle-income families to purchase a home in Boulder,” said City Councilmember Bob Yates, one of the architects of the program. “We have folks who work in Boulder, but who can’t afford to have their families live here. The voters overwhelmingly approved this down payment assistance program in 2019. I’m happy that we are finally able to launch the program, so that middle-income families can enjoy the benefits of living in Boulder.”

Interested applicants must complete the city’s orientation and homebuyer education class, and:

• Income qualify. Household income is limited to 120% Area Median Income for the first household participating in this program. More information about income limits is available on the city’s website.
• Purchase a home in the City of Boulder. It must be a market-rate home within city limits. The maximum price is $1,375,000 for a single-family home and $544,936 for a condo or townhome.
• Occupy the home. Homes must be owner-occupied. Short-term rentals are not permitted.
• Agree to resale restrictions. A home purchased with a DPA loan will be deed restricted as permanently affordable, meaning resale appreciation is limited to an annual cap of 3% to 5.5%.
• Repay the loan after 15 years. The interest on the DPA loan is 0% and no monthly payments are required. After 15 years, full repayment is due. If the home is sold before 15 years, full repayment is due at the time of sale.

Future buyers of homes in this program are subject to similar rules and limitations as the initial homebuyer. More details about these requirements and answers to frequently asked questions are available on the city’s website.

To apply visit city’s website. If you have any questions about the program, please contact Hollie Hendrikson at hendriksonh@bouldercolorado.gov or by phone at 303-441-3134.

The post City Launches Middle Income Down Payment Assistance Pilot appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Sherry J. Daun brings wealth of knowledge as a leader within the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago.

Sherry J Daun, Director of Investigations, COPA (Civilian Office of Police Accountability), City of Chicago

BOULDER, Colo. – City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde announced today that Sherry J. Daun will join the city organization as the Independent Police Monitor, effective Aug. 21.

Daun was chosen after an intensive national search and will be a critical partner as the city seeks to evolve and mature Boulder’s system of police oversight.

Daun has worked for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) in progressively more responsible roles since 2008. She is currently the Director of Investigations, where she directs an intake unit that processes more than 5,000 cases of alleged misconduct by the Chicago Police Department each year. In that position, she improved timeliness, bringing the maximum age of cases awaiting review from over a year to 30 days. She also implemented a community mediation pilot program and responded to officer-involved shootings as the lead scene manager.

Daun is a highly skilled investigator and former attorney who understands the important role that community oversight plays in fostering constitutional, respectful and accountable policing. She is also an exemplary program manager with an impressive track record for achieving desired performance and customer service.

“I am confident Sherry’s wealth of knowledge, respect for the law, and demonstrated commitment to equity will benefit the Boulder community, especially as we continue to understand best practices related to effective oversight,” Rivera-Vandermyde said. “We are eager to welcome her and begin tapping her expertise.”

Daun shared that she is excited to support the city in the important work of effective, fair and transparent oversight, which she called “an essential component to building trust and credibility within communities who feel both underserved and overpoliced.”

Daun has a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and an A.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan.

A headshot of Daun is attached.

The post City Manager hires new Independent Police Monitor appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Louisville is lucky to have a reproductive right’s champion on City Council, Maxine Most. She’s not attempting to make medical decisions or play doctor. Instead, Maxine is applying two bedrock principles—equity and inclusiveness—to medical care. Simply put Maxine believes that equity and inclusiveness demand that pregnant persons have access to all evidence-based medical care.

Recent articles in the Daily Camera and other newspapers share horrifying stories about women who need abortions to save their lives being sent home to become sicker and their lives more endangered. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists unequivocally states that “Induced abortion is an essential component of women’s health care” because “Pregnancy complications, including placental abruption, bleeding from placenta previa, preeclampsia or eclampsia, and cardiac or renal conditions, may be so severe that abortion is the only measure to preserve a woman’s health or save her life.”  https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/abortion-is-healthcare

And, yet not all hospitals, including AdventHealth Avista (Avista) in Louisville, provide abortions when necessary to preserve the health or life of a pregnant person. Avista describes its care as “Rooted in Faith.”  AdventHealth, to which Avista belongs, is a major player in the health care marketplace; It is “one of the largest health care providers in the United States, with thousands of compassionate professionals working to Extend the Healing Ministry of Christ around the country.”  https://www.adventhealth.com/hospital/adventhealth-avista/mission-and-history

Even though Avista is a non-profit hospital—and as such does not contribute any tax revenue to the City— and in spite of its failure to provide evidence-based medicine, Maxine has done nothing to drive Avista from Louisville. Insinuations to the contrary are misleading. She is right to provide our community with accurate information, enabling pregnant persons and their families to choose whether to drive into Boulder.

To keep Maxine, vote no on the Ward 2 Recall.

Cathern Smith
Louisville, CO 80027

The post Let’s Not Recall Maxine Most, Louisville’s Reproductive Rights Champion appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Louisville, CO — The small group of residents supporting a recall claiming Louisville Ward 2 Council Member Maxine Most did not adequately support or advocate for Marshall Fire victims now say Most’s voting record is the real reason behind their actions.

A business leader who has worked for decades in the tech industry, Most strongly refutes claims that she is anti-business and not a collaborative member of the Louisville City Council.

“I stand behind a voting record that represents the priorities and values of the majority of our Louisville community,” says Most, who has voted unanimously with her fellow council members more than 90% of the time, including approving critical Business Assistance Program updates, a series of common-sense gun safety ordinances, a cap on the number of gas stations, and use tax rebates for those rebuilding from the Marshall Fire.

Most also championed regenerative agriculture on open space to sustainably address wildfire fuel mitigation in a community that values environmentally conscious approaches to land management but is still reeling from the Marshall Fire.

Like many in Boulder County, Most is a single parent who lives on a moderate income. In the past, she has had to rely on government assistance and community generosity to get by.

“I do my best to consider and represent those in our community that struggle, are marginalized, or don’t feel they have a voice, whether they are Marshall Fire victims, members of the LGBTQ+ community, seniors on fixed incomes, or young families looking for the first affordable home,” Most says.

Most believes her life experiences bring a needed perspective to the seven-member City Council. “We don’t always agree. However, the overwhelming majority of Council votes are unanimous.” Most states. “I’m proud to be a member of an extremely collaborative and collegial body.”

Most’s campaign believes the people of Louisville must send a clear message that recalls should be reserved to address egregious conduct – not policy disagreements. In the upcoming November 7 election, voters will decide five of Louisville’s seven Council seats.

“Forcing an expensive recall election, just five weeks before this scheduled election, is an unnecessary strain on the City’s financial and human resources,” Most says.

Most looks forward to finishing the last two years of her four-year term. As a 27-year resident of Colorado (the last 17 in Louisville), she understands how critical the balance between economic and environmental sustainability are to the future of our community and our state.

“I will continue to serve our community and solve problems for ALL the residents of Louisville.”

The post Louisville City Councilor Maxine Most Fights Back Against Ward 2 Recall appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Boulder, Colorado – With Boulder’s first head-to-head race for mayor, along with four council seats in contention, this year’s election results will have a broad-reaching impact on business interests and other policy concerns for our community. With the full slate of candidates finalized, Boulder Chamber invites you to its City Council Candidate forum.

Location
Boulder JCC

Date
August 29, 2023

Time
5:00 – 8:00 P.M.

Fees and Admission
Free and open to the public

Important Event Notes
Capacity for this event is limited, and registration is required

Contact Information
Courtney Warford, Marketing and Communications Manager
courtney.warford@boulderchamber.com

To register for the Boulder Chamber City Council Candidate forum, please visit the registration page. This event is sponsored by Elevations Credit Union.

About Boulder Chamber
The nonprofit Boulder Chamber is the region’s flagship business advocacy and support organization. With more than 110 years of dedicated service to its members and the Boulder community, the Boulder Chamber’s innovative programs help local businesses succeed while sustaining an economy that preserves Boulder’s high quality of life, including its environmental and cultural assets. Together with its member businesses, the Boulder Chamber is building a smarter, more vibrant economy – sustaining Boulder’s position as a global capital of innovation and a thriving center of economic vitality. For more information, visit http://www.boulderchamber.com.

The post Boulder Chamber to Host City Council Candidate Forum appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[LOCAL]

• Mike Johnston wins the Denver mayoral race, although neither candidate was likely to bring about real change.
• Boulder Beat to close down at the end of this year, sadly ending one of the best voices for real, local Boulder journalism.
• Boulder Police Oversight Panel member Lisa Sweeney-Miran is removed by City Council, prompting the panel to pause their work.
• In yet another controversy, Aurora Police execute an armed teenage boy fleeing from officers after stealing vape cartridges.
• Governor Polis signs “Magic Mushroom” Bill into law, regulating newly approved psychedelic drug therapy.
• Dacono City Councilmembers Jackie Thomas and Jim Turini are recalled over their abrupt actions surrounding the removal of the City Manager.
• Louisville City Councilmember Maxine Most faces a recall election regarding her alleged lack of compassion following the Marshall Fire.
• With recent laws against transgender care, Colorado is offering itself as a safe haven for youths in need of gender affirming care.

[NATIONAL]

• Trump indicted a second time, this time 37 counts including for hiding confidential documents. His lawyers immediately quit.
• Wildfire smoke from Canada obscures views of NYC and creates mass health hazards across North America. Canada still burns.
• Private fishing trips, vacations, and other potentially corrupting events have come to light surrounding multiple conservative Supreme Court Justices bringing into question the ethics of judicial decision.
• Hollywood writers go on strike, stalling many major productions and delaying releases.
• Texas woman who traveled to Colorado for an abortion was shot and killed by her boyfriend when she returned home.
• George Santos turned himself in and pleaded not guilty to charges of financial crimes.

[INTERNATIONAL]

• Explosion rocks the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine with evidence pointing towards Russia as the culprit. This will disrupt water and power supply for tens of thousands of people.
• France erupts in protests when a minority teen boy was killed by the police. Don’t worry, you won’t need to cancel your summer trip to Paris.
• Charles III is crowned King of England, which we honestly still cannot believe is a thing in this day and age.

Small Talk:

“Today is the day that Black Americans really get to celebrate our freedom … And in that, it’s important to get the whole community involved and engaged in that so that we can uplift Black voices together as a community.” – Terryjosiah Sharpe, coordinator of Colorado Springs first widespread Juneteenth celebration

“It’s good. It’s good. The job is done. We can go home now.” – Nikola Jokic on his incredible performance winning the NBA Championship with the Denver Nuggets

“Her pleas for help were shrugged off, she said, and she was repeatedly sent home from the hospital. Doctors and nurses told her she was suffering from normal contractions, she said, even as her abdominal pain worsened and she began to vomit bile. Angelica said she wasn’t taken seriously until a searing pain rocketed throughout her body and her baby’s heart rate plummeted.” – Angelica Lyons on giving birth as a Black woman via AP News

“I can’t imagine how terrible this must be for the child’s family, and also our first responder community… Today has been heavy for the City of Boulder, and we are all thinking of the family who just lost their child.” – Boulder Police Chief Maris Harold on the accidental drowning of a 9-year old in Boulder Creek

“I was incredibly surprised given the fact that I’ve been happily married to a woman for the last 15 years.” – Said Stewart, the man named in the Supreme Court ruling that just set back gay rights

By the Numbers:

$107,500 – Amount a family of four need to earn to live comfortably in the BOCO region
63.01 Degrees – Hottest overall average temperature ever recorded for the globe this past July 4th
2018 – Year when Titanic submersible company OceanGate was warned their underwater vehicle was not safe
28.8 – Amount of points Ron DeSantis lags behind Trump in latest poll according to fivethirtyeight.com
$56,000 – Base pay for teachers in St. Vrain Valley School District after recent raise by the district

The post Month in Review | June/July 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Then and now, how far we’ve come and where we need to go.

In the United States, there is a prolonged history of many groups trying to gain mobility and comfort to the same degree as land-owning, white men. This history is so long that the fight for humanization and equality started with the colonization of Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the late 15th century — long before the United States had been conceptualized.

It was not until 1954 with the beginning of the Civil Rights Era when the U.S. began to acknowledge and initiate steps towards dismantling the institutionalized harm dating back nearly 4 1/2 centuries. The social movements happening during the 13-year period from 1954-1967 were prolific. They inspired some of the most iconic visionaries in the United States to rally against racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia, and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.

Nearly 60 years later, 2023 has been filled with setbacks for civil rights across the country. The Supreme Court overturned the critical precedents of Roe v. Wade and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke set precedent for race-conscious admissions programs known as affirmative action. The list continues for LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants, disabled people, and anyone facing economic pressure.

With so much to fear, it is easy to lose hope, but there are still people fighting to end institutionalized hate in our country. Today’s social movements are working toward the same overarching agenda since colonization: liberation. Technology has played a great role in unveiling the struggles of many groups.

Technology has also played a great role in undermining democracy and creating a polarized atmosphere filled with distrust. The intensity with which all social issues have been polarized has contributed to an unprecedented loss of community. To movement leaders, the lack of community separates today’s movements from the movements of the past.

Hasira “H-Soul” Ashemu is an Afro-Indigenous person from northeast Denver. His passions for healing have manifested in his work as an author, coach, and speaker. It is through healing and justice that the Righteous Rage Institute for healing and social justice was founded to guide members through his lifelong experiences.

To Ashemu, the movement is not tied to one specific time or period. Instead, it is linked to the 500-year history of enslavement and institutionalized racism of Black people in the United States. He recounts the term “Maafa,” a Swahili word meant to represent all those who have been lost since the beginning of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. “When we talk about movements, the history of resistance started at the very outset,” said Ashemu.

He went on to explain that the history of resistance can be traced back from the slave rebellions of the Caribbean and its influence on the fight for abolition in the Civil War. This continues through the Niagara Movement, the Reconstruction Era, the Civil Rights Era, the Black Power Era, and into current movements like Black Lives Matter.

“Many of those that are involved inside of movements today, like Black Lives Matter movement, failed to connect their movements first of all to other people of color movements, the LGBTQ movement, and the Chicano movement. Where in the ‘60s that was done very well. The Black Panther Party did an amazing job of connecting all these movements together. It’s become more fractured now. The further we move away from that time, the energy is still there, just the contextualization and understanding of how and what is needed in order to put forward a successful movement [is not].”

H-Soul elaborated, “The way I see it is in this point and history, at this juncture, is the need to make sure that we are heavily into coalition building. In order to coalition build, you have to contextualize. In order to contextualize, you have to tell the history.”

The coalition building Ashemu is referring to is often tied to grassroots organizing which focuses on local-level awareness efforts to build social, political, and economic power. Grassroots efforts are by the people and can exist independently or as a larger part of an organization, party, or governing body.

I have worked as an organizer on a variety of grassroots efforts. The process may sound easy, but coalition building is extremely difficult. It involves a lot of emotional and physical energy to have tough conversations with people of all different backgrounds, and that is if you even get someone to talk to you. The pressures associated with the work tear you down, but it remains an effective method to build political power by the people. Most importantly grassroots organizing gets people talking in the community to foster growth and learn through the experiences of our neighbors.

Colorado House District 27 Representative Brianna Titone broke down the importance of grassroots methods as a legislator. It is imperative she treats her votes as a real-world force affecting the lives of individuals residing not just in District 27 but around the state.

“For an elected official, I think it’s very important for someone to actually go out of their way to learn about someone who is different because they represent everyone who is different. They have a variety of people in their district. They don’t represent just one person who is like them. It is incumbent upon themselves to learn about who their constituents are,” Titone shared.

Representatives are the bridge between the people and government. Meeting constituents where they are paints a clear picture to address and advocate for the electors’ needs.

Representative Titone knows it is impossible to personally know everyone she represents but finds hearing the experiences of her constituents essential to building trust in her district consisting of 88,000 people. Trust comes from the actions of learning as community is built. For instance, being vulnerable and taking criticism if you get something wrong or accidentally offend someone.

It is not expected that a person knows everything, but if a mistake occurs, using the ability to correct your actions to prevent any similar issues from happening offers a route to an ongoing conversation. This is of particular importance to elected officials because a disenfranchised voter with little hope will not place their faith in the governmental institutions taking their needs into account.

“When I ran for office, I didn’t put my identity [forward] as something that I wanted people to vote for. What I was really trying to do was [build] trust, that willingness to listen, and to understand people’s point of view. It’s more important for me to understand why that person thinks that way. I can get them to understand what their position is and why they feel a certain way and get them to soften their understanding. There’s a path forward,” explained Titone.

She also points to the importance of media as an important tool to expose people to new identities that offers an alternative way to engage in conversations.

Inventions like the radio made the media more accessible and provided a faster means of communication. The television helped sway elections, and access to smartphones has spurred momentous mobilization of people. The emergence of both of these mass mediums coincided with the social movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Radio and television helped reveal the horrors of the Vietnam War as well as connect social movements across the nation.

Katrina Miller is the owner of Blackat Video Productions. She uses video and film to start conversations on social issues. In Miller’s 2022 documentary film “This is [Not] Who We Are,” she creates space for Boulderites to talk about the city’s history of anti-Black racism.

The documentary challenges the ideological expectations of Boulder by telling the city’s history and examining the story of Zayd Atkinson. Atkinson, a Naropa student, was profiled by a Boulder police pfficer outside his place of residence while at work. It led to a tense encounter where the officer pulled out his firearm.

Highlighting Atkinson’s story showcased the impact a lack of relationship building can have in communities. The hostile officer did not believe Atkinson belonged. He was seen as an outsider, and it resulted in a terrifying situation with the police all too common for many Black people.

The documentary contextualizes the relationship between local history, current residents’ realities, and the current state of the movement. It calls attention to the racism experienced by people of color in Boulder. Miller’s film acts as a gateway for a broader conversation to discuss these persisting issues.

Opening a path to have deeper conversation on oppression can be contentious for many people, but it remains true that Boulder has a racist history and present. Movements must navigate through a web of social expectations to make the conversations productive and appealing for engagement.

Miller stated, “Fostering that conversation. People have been trying to break the code on that for a very long time. We know of past leaders, like Dr. King — and even in my eye more modern people like Colin Kaepernick. When he did a protest that was more silent and just more of a demonstration, look how hard he was come down on. How are we supposed to do this? Maybe we need to make our voices louder. We need to march in the streets. Either way it was criminalized, no matter which way we try to express our trauma and our hurt from how we’ve been treated in police brutality in this country.”

The defensive nature of people from a more-privileged social class — that instinct to recoil — is an obstacle and frustration for current members of diversity movements because it ignores the current realities of historically underserved communities. Allies are not exempt from this fragility and run the risk of falling into the “savior” mentality, perpetuating the idea of helplessness onto marginalized groups.

Even oppressed groups can engage in harm because of the intersectional identities of any given person. The term is often misused but was first conceptualized in 1989 by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe the relationship between race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics.

Dr. Reiland Rabaka is a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and manages to break down what this looks like in practice for “liberal” cities like Boulder. According to critical race theory and African American studies, places with an overabundance of white people have the ability to hold liberal ideologies surrounding sex and gender while simultaneously holding more conservative views when evaluating race and class.

“We need to push people to define what they mean by their liberal positions if they’re not including race in a very culturally homogenous environment like Boulder. We learned from the Black women’s liberation movement when they pointed out that somebody could be a feminist and a racist. The fact of the matter is somebody could stand up for gender justice but be complacent or silent with racial justice.”

As the founder and director of CU’s Center for African & African American Studies, or CAAAS, Dr. Rabaka creates space to bridge the gap between the CU campus and Boulder’s community at large. Academic departments, like CAAAS, use university resources to access the untold or forgotten histories of Black Americans connecting all our lived experiences post the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This remains true for other marginalized groups using education to build deeper understanding of their communities.

“This center grows out of my class on the Black Lives Matter movement. We garnered over 1,700 signatures. My students started a petition for this class, and I want to point out to you the fact that we got 1,700 signatures at that time, we only had 800 Black students. It shows you it’s not just a Black thing. Afro-American studies isn’t just for African Americans. It’s for anybody that wants to learn about the history of American culture. As an African-American Studies professor and as an American, it’s important for non-African-American folk to acknowledge that for 250 years, we lived in a society that said we were subhuman. When you acknowledge our humanity, that in and of itself helps begin repairing a particular kind of relation America has with African Americans,” Dr. Rabaka shared.

Fortunately, some local governments have used these conversation starters as opportunities to foster real conversation on the history and oppression of marginalized people. The town of Erie hired its first diversity, equity, and inclusion manager, Alberto De Los Rios.

De Los Rios took the position in 2021 with an interest in providing lasting change for the town as the area continues to grow in population. The department’s process of instituting change utilizes a three-tier approach to normalize, organize, and operationalize.

The process was created by Government Allies on Race and Equity, a community of civil servants dedicated to equity. Most of the population is still in the normalization stage of the process. For De Los Rios and his team, this is important because it is the stage to become aware and engage with the longevity of the work.

Through this framework, De Los Rios and his team have managed to start tackling equity issues in Erie’s Comprehensive Plan and Transportation Mobility Plan. Additionally, there is an ADA Self-Evaluation to undergo a multi-year effort making the whole town accessible. Unfortunately DEI work still received some pushback from local government officials however.

De Los Rios explains, “I just want to support people. I want people to really understand the importance of this and the passion of this, and I want to be there with resources. I want to be a team player.”

Being a team player is difficult in a society that highly values rugged individualism. The act of learning, educating, and connecting with people about their experiences is intentionally made difficult. Collectivism and unity are confronted with barriers in every direction for contemporary social movements. Education in any form can combat the narratives built to separate experiences of oppressed people.

Ultimately, since learning about Black, Brown, and Indigenous history often happens outside the classroom, it is white middle-class America that will suffer most from the removal and suppression of courses like AP African-American studies.

“When you start damaging those pieces of history, it’s going to impact middle-class white America more than any other group. It is more detrimental to that group because, as statistics will show you and tell you, most Afro-Indigenous people are not receiving — and haven’t been receiving — a proper education for years and years anyway. So who’s really being injured by this most? Black and Indigenous people who learn about their history don’t do so through the school system. We pick it up from our homes through the oral history that is still relevant in our community, whether it be through song and hip-hop or through art, etc., etc.”

H-Soul expanded on why banning the history of others only hurts yourself. “The highest number of users of the public education system are white middle-class Americans. So what’s at stake when white middle-class America is mis-educated about their own history? What are the implications? All it does is set them up for failure.”

“We can understand why is the system mis-educating and what’s at stake from mis-educating this group of people. It allows the fascist forces to reduce the middle class. From that perspective, that’s really a white issue. That’s not to say that Black and Indigenous people are not impacted by it, but our movements are where we’re educated,” voiced H-Soul.

The post Diversity Movements Through American History appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

What does “freedom” really mean to you?

Underneath all of the rankling, ugly acrimony that has widened the inexorably deepening chasm between the so-called “left” and “right” of American politics is this fundamental question. The differences between how these groups define the word today could not be more stark. At its core, what we bear witness to is a nation descending into a cycle of 21st Century fascism that will perpetuate as long as the GOP can find and fund its autocrats to motivate a minority base into enthusiastic compliance… while the Democrats continue to find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Here’s a more detailed explanation of how the definition of “freedom” differs, based on legislation enacted over the last few years in multiple states:

From the right side of the aisle:

Free•dom (n) – The belief that we are endowed by our Christian God certain inalienable rights, chief among them:

• To ensure our populace is free to practice the Christian religion as it sees fit and to ban from public visibility those who worship false gods and prophets who are anything other than the European Christian God;
• to ensure any fetus conceived is carried to term and born regardless of viability, harm to the mother, and/or method of conception;
• to ban from public discourse and/or education, at any public institution of learning, a historical perspective that casts any negative light on white, European Christian legacy, regardless of nuance or accuracy;
• to legislate how any human being can express their gender identity in any manner in any setting whatsoever other than what they deem to be either “man” or “woman”;
• to maintain a stockpile of however many firearms in whatever configuration imaginable with no oversight by any outside authority whatsoever and without accountability for any way those firearms may be used;
• to ban people from entering any port of entry into this country who are possessing of a pigment in their skin tone that is considered anything other than “white” or who are from a nation other than what is defined as Western Europe;
• to ban any potentially negative aspersion cast in any public forum that might be construed as to insinuate any governing body or individual may be acting in a racist or discriminatory manner;
• to ban any flag from being displayed on public — and in many cases, private — property other than the United States flag, the Gadsden flag, or the Confederate flag;
• to ban any oversight of environmental pollution by any corporation by any municipality, district or state body;
• to deny the existence of any sexual orientation other than “straight”;
• to require that any person writing or broadcasting any material — either through print, broadcast or digital means — that mentions any Republican elected official must register with the State;
• to seize the children of any parent who is deemed to have been providing that child with gender-affirming care in any manner, including on the basis of the color of the clothing that child is wearing;
• and to ensure access to voting only for those who embrace all of the above in its entirety. 

From the left side of the aisle:

Free•dom (n) – The belief that we are naturally born with inalienable rights as humans on this planet, chief among them:

• To worship any deity we choose or none at all;
• to a fundamental level of housing and medical access;
• to clean, potable drinking water, medicine and food;
• to equity in access to all rights regardless of the color of our skin;
• to express our identity — in any manner we choose as long as it does not physically impact another person — including religious, gender, cultural, or other identity;
• to present as objective and accurate a portrayal of American history in all levels of education so that we can continue to evolve into a society that learns from its mistakes and makes better decisions for all of us;
• to leave conception, procreation and reproductive health in the hands of the people and their medical practitioners, free from the legislative control of outside interests;
• to speak our opinions in any manner on any topic while understanding that freedom of speech in this manner does not guarantee freedom from consequence (outside of legislative prior restraint);
• to enact reasonable firearm guidelines that ensure people who want to visit harm upon others are not enabled to do so;
• to allow people to marry each other regardless of sexual orientation and enjoy all the rights therein;
• to accept any asylum-seeking refugees from any country regardless of that country’s location on a map and regardless of the refugee’s skin tone, and provide a clear and expeditious path to citizenship for anyone who wants to be an American;
• and to ensure easy, unfettered and widespread access to voting for any citizen of this nation. 

What does “freedom” mean to you?

The post What is Freedom? | Duly Noted appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

From Brian Hedden:

We are hosting two private fundraising screenings of our newest edit version at in the next month, and we’ve raised over $5,100 which has been paying for some beautiful new graphic design for the film (sneak peek video below).

UPCOMING EVENTS

In-person, Boulder, Colorado – June 30th, 7:00pm
Ticket info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/661308450377

In-person, Boulder, Colorado – July 21st, 6:30pm
Ticket info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/662562581517

These are private preview work-in-progress screenings for the purpose of raising awareness about the issue, the upcoming ballot initiative, and our fundraising efforts.

CROWDFUNDING UPDATE

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has joined our campaign and given us the strong start of $5,000! We have been already putting the funds to good use by commissioning more amazing work from our graphic designer, Joe Presser. Below is a video sample of his newest creations, set to the dialogue of the film.

Please help us continue to finish the film and prepare for its premiere this Fall. We are preparing to submit to film festivals starting July 1st so NOW IS THE TIME to help us reach our goal and give us the energy we need to finish the film. More info on where the funds will go in our video. In addition to contributing to the campaign, please also share it with your friends and colleagues asking for them to join us on this journey to end the toxic practice of fracking in Colorado and the world. Join us today! https://bit.ly/fts-crowdfunding – and please tag us in your social media platform of choice! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok Youtube

SNEAK PEEK VIDEO

And now, here it is, our newest draft of some graphics we are adding to the film THANKS TO THE CROWDFUNDING EFFORTS SO FAR. (These clips are from different scenes in the film so the sound will be disjointed and the transition will be abrupt in the compilation)

https://vimeo.com/838515632 Password: gfx

Follow Joe Presser on instagram to see more of his awesome work.

!!! ALSO !!! Last but not least,

I just learned about this virtual event next Wednesday evening that I am excited to attend and tell you about. It is hosted by people I know through The ManKind Project and I think it is going to be a wise and enlightening conversation:

The post Fracking the System – Upcoming Events and Crowdfunding Update appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

It’s time for the Raucous Caucus, the kickoff event for Boulder 2023 elections! Hosted by the Boulder Progressives, the evening will be a fun and fast-paced showcase for potential City Council and Mayoral candidates.

We invite the community (you!) to attend this exciting election preview on Wednesday, June 21st, 6-8PM at the Boulder Elks Lodge, 3975 28th St.

>>> RSVP Now! <<<

Raucous Caucus features questions prepared by Boulder Progressives and submitted by community members, with a focus on Boulder’s most pressing issues. We’ve made sure that questions will be asked that get candidates on the record about occupancy limits and housing, so don’t miss out!

The post RSVP to Kickoff the Boulder 2023 Council & Mayoral Election! appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Ordinance 8430 was passed by Boulder City Council to create police oversight; possible changes are being considered.

BOULDER, Colo. – A community conversation about the City of Boulder’s Police Oversight Ordinance,  Ordinance 8430, will take place on Wednesday, June 21, from 5 to 6:45 p.m. inside the Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Theater located at 1001 Arapahoe Ave. Members of the Police Oversight Panel and city staff will be present and will discuss the panel and hear feedback from community members on possible changes to the ordinance.

Spanish-speaking community members are encouraged to attend, and interpreters will be available. Individuals who cannot join in person are invited to provide their feedback on http://www.beheardboulder.org.

Conversatorio comunitario sobre la Ordenanza 8430 de Supervisión Policial se llevará a cabo el 21 de junio

La Ordenanza 8430 fue aprobada por el Ayuntamiento de la Ciudad de Boulder para crear la supervisión policial; posibles cambios están siendo considerados

BOULDER, Colo.- Un conversatorio comunitario sobre la Ordenanza de Supervisión Policial de la Ciudad de Boulder, la Ordenanza 8430, tendrá lugar el miércoles 21 de junio de 5 a 6:45 p.m. dentro del Teatro Canyon de la Biblioteca Pública de Boulder ubicado en 1001 Avenida Arapahoe.  Miembros del Panel de Supervisión Policial y personal de la ciudad estarán presentes, discutirán el panel y escucharán los comentarios de los miembros de la comunidad sobre posibles cambios a la Ordenanza.

Se anima a los miembros de la comunidad de habla hispana a asistir, y habrá intérpretes disponibles. Se invita a las personas que no puedan unirse en persona a proporcionar sus comentarios en http://www.beheardboulder.org

The post Community conversation about Police Oversight Ordinance 8430 to be held June 21 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Failure And Additional Lies By Boebert After Her Failure To Vote On Debt Ceiling Bill

DENVER: ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization, today called on Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CD3) to apologize for lying once again about her original lie to her constituents in Colorado’s Third Congressional District after failing to do her job by missing the vote on the debt ceiling compromise bill.

“Boebert has repeatedly failed the people of Western and Southern Colorado,” said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Sara Lu Loflin. “Boebert failed to vote. Then she lied about it. And now Boebert is lying about lying today when she blames the media for spinning her excuse for not voting.”

“Recent video shows that despite Boebert’s claim that she was protesting the vote, she was desperately running up the Capitol steps, hearing the vote was closed, but too late to make it.

Not only has Boebert lost her ability to fulfill the basic responsibility of her job, voting, she’s also lost her grip on reality. It wasn’t a ‘protest’ absence. She just failed to show up for work,” Loflin noted.

“Lauren Boebert clearly doesn’t want to work and doesn’t want the job,” concluded Loflin. “She can’t even keep track of her own story. Colorado’s Third District deserves someone representing them who actually cares about public service, who shows up to vote on their behalf, and doesn’t constantly lie to them. Where is Lauren Boebert’s apology?” asked Loflin.

The post Call For Boebert To Apologize For Lying About Lying appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

In the Face of Growing Anti-LGBTQ Legislation, Political Rhetoric, and Violence, Pride Month is More Important Than Ever

Out Boulder County Announces 2023 Pride Month Festivals, Marches, and Activities.

More than 600 Anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation have been introduced across the country. There is a rise of hateful political rhetoric targeting LGBTQ+ people and communities. Bullying and violence are on the rise in many states. There has never been a more important time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in Boulder County and to build strong community connections.

“This Pride feels different,” said Mardi Moore, Executive Director of Out Boulder County. “We are fielding calls everyday from people who are trying to move to Colorado because of discrimination in their home states. Efforts to attack our community were defeated here in Colorado, but we are one bad election from things getting bad here too.”

Out Boulder County is hosting Boulder County Pride in June, 2023. There will be three community festivals (Boulder, Longmont, and Lafayette) and two visibility marches (Boulder and Longmont) as well as a series of events throughout the month for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community and our allies to celebrate, build community, promote visibility, and spread awareness. Details for key events are included below. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Event Details:
*All Events included below are open to press
*Additional information about each event can be found here: https://www.outboulder.org/pride

Festivals and Visibility Marches

Boulder Visibility March
Sunday, June 11
11 – 11:30am
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

Boulder Festival
Sunday, June 11
11:30am – 5pm
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

The Boulder Pride Festival will be jam-packed with activities, amazing community partners sharing information, pride merchandise from Out Boulder County and other vendors, giveaways, and many other activities.

Longmont Visibility March
Friday, June 30
3:30 – 4pm
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

Longmont Festival
Friday, June 30
4 – 8pm
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

The Longmont Pride Festival is a family focused event that includes activities such as photo booths, a dunk tank and more. Community organizations will be sharing information at booths and pride merchandise from Out Boulder County and other fantastic vendors will be available to purchase.

Lafayette’s Pride on the Plaza
Thursday, June 15
12 – 4pm
Click Here For More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

Other Community Events

Name and Gender Change Clinic
Friday, June 24
3 – 4:30pm
Click Here For More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

QTPOC Pride
Sunday, June 18
12 – 4pm
Click Here For More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

50+ LGBTQ+ Mixer
in partnership with Boulder County Area Agency on Aging
Thursday, June 22
4 – 7pm
Click Here For More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

Rainbow Storytime
Thursday, June 9, 10 am
Saturday, June 24
1 – 2pm
Click Here For More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

Glamorous Goats
Monday, June 26
5 – 7pm
Click Here For More Information
Click Here for the Facebook Event

About Boulder County Pride
Boulder County Pride is a month-long celebration of the local LGBTQ+ community that builds community and promotes visibility and awareness. It is Out Boulder County’s longest running program. www.outboulder.org/pride

About Out Boulder County
Working independently and in collaboration, we facilitate connection, advocacy, education, research and programs to ensure LGBTQ+ people and communities thrive in Boulder County and beyond. www.outboulder.org

The post Out Boulder County Announces 2023 Pride Month Festivals, Marches, and Activities appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Collage by Irina Ratsek

I’m writing this on April 20.

The 24th anniversary of Columbine.

The New York Times published an absolutely gut-wrenching account of the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre today titled, “They Saw the Horrific Aftermath of a Mass Shooting. Should We?” It’s brutal. And it’s important. If you don’t have an account at the NYT, it’ll prompt you to sign up via email, but there’s no paywall for this one.

I’ve said it before: I’m done with arguing about guns. Because if 20 dead babies, bodies utterly shredded beyond recognition, didn’t spur actual change, nothing will. It’s a lost cause. The rabid 2A defenders — who showed up to Congress literally wearing assault rifle lapel pins in place of their American Flag pins — are the ghouls that the general public *chose* to represent them, and they simply Do. Not. Care. about what happens to a 6-year-old baby’s body when a Bushmaster XM15-E2S — an AR-15-style weapon — sends multiple lead rounds into their soft bodies.

This is on us. The American public. We have no one to blame but ourselves for the proliferation of weapons designed only to kill other human beings in the hands of people who would do others harm. These aren’t hunting rifles. These are killing machines. 

Spare me your arguments, 2A acolytes, because I’m not entertaining them. No one is — or has ever — taken your guns away, and it’s not going to happen. So you can stop screaming about it. But maybe you can take a moment to ponder why this particular amendment is the only one you care about, and likely one of only two or three you even know off the top of your head. 

“Uh, let’s see… there’s um… freedom of press… and uh… The right to claim the 5th… and uh… Isn’t there one about the pursuit of happiness or something?”

That’s pretty much how it goes down every time with a self-proclaimed “2A advocate” who doesn’t even understand that the only reason that amendment is even in the Bill of Rights is expressly to allow citizens the opportunity to protect for themselves all of the rights enshrined in the rest of the document. 

But much like MAGA, the 2A faithful have hitched their entire identities to it. To the feel of cold steel in their hands. It’s all they care about. While they’re dismantling the freedom of speech for drag show artists, or banning books in libraries or erasing the right to privacy (see the 9th Amendment) or trying to ban interstate commerce for abortion pills (hello 10th Amendment), they’re unironically unaware of their dripping hypocrisy at this point. All they want is their guns and the unfettered ability to force their exceedingly narrow Christofascist perspectives on the rest of us.

And with every passing day, more children die. At Denver’s East High School, on the porch of an old white man in Kansas City, in an Elgin, Texas supermarket parking lot, in the driveway of another old white man’s house in Hebron, New York, and on and on. All in just the last weeks. 

Because guns matter more. We get it. Twenty dead babies in Newtown, Connecticut bear that out. 

You win.

The post Gun Fever Has Blinded US to the Reality of Dead Children | Duly Noted appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

As book banning becomes increasingly prevalent in the US, we take a closer look at the situation in Colorado. What books are being challenged, and why? What does this trend mean for the future of intellectual freedom?

I recently started reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster with my almost 10-year-old. As he gets older, I see in real time the childlike sense of wonderment slipping away and glimpses of adult malaise already creeping in. In fourth grade, he’s already keenly aware of racism, homophobia and transphobia, and a myriad of social injustices he questions almost daily. I knew this time was coming, and that’s why I was saving The Phantom Tollbooth. I know he sees himself in the main character, Milo, and I remember the first times I felt “seen” in a book — whether in Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume when I was around the same age as my son, or in Fall on Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald as a young adult — incidentally, the only book that ever made me audibly sob.

For anyone who believes in the power of literature to transform the human spirit, Juster’s young adult novel first published in 1961 is an elixir. The narrative is one of discovery of education and wisdom; it’s an antidote to despair, a vaccination against ignorance and intolerance.

Incredibly, The Phantom Tollbooth was once banned in a public library in Boulder for being “poor fantasy.”

Public libraries and schools in the U.S. experience challenges to books every year. A book challenge is “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based on the objections of a person or group.”

A book challenge is “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based on the objections of a person or group.”

There has been a recent surge in the number of challenges and bans occurring across the country. These actions appear to be deliberate attempts to limit the accessibility of information and impose restrictions on what citizens can or cannot read.

Why are reading materials challenged?

There’s been more energy in recent years to increase representativeness and inclusivity in library collections. Even so, there are at least 50 groups pushing for book bans at national, state, and/or local levels, according to Pen America. These groups are often organized and widespread, and they share lists and tactics to challenge books in public and school libraries.

Dr. Lu Benke has been a librarian since 1974. She currently sits on a steering committee for Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy. Benke told YS, “Some groups, such as CatholicVote, hold campaigns such as Hide the Pride. This particular campaign tells parents how they can go to the library and check out all the books that are on display for Pride Month and keep them on a shelf away from kids and then turn them back in once the month is over. That is happening. When you’re organized and you make it easy for people to challenge things, it’s going to happen more.”

According to Benke, “It’s usually fear that causes people to challenge a book. They’re afraid that their way of life is being challenged and that books are making it happen. They seem to feel that an old way of life is being challenged, and they’re concerned that it needs to be protected.”

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) echoes the same sentiment. In a recent interview, Robinson indicated that “the book bans are really tied to the attacks on racial justice that are happening across the country, the attacks to drag queen story hours, and attempts to eliminate them — they’re all part of the same narrative of splitting our communities and criminalizing our stories.”

Which books are being banned?

Historically, materials containing themes of violence and sexuality were those which typically caused objections. In recent years, there has been a shift. Now the main themes in challenged books are LGBTQ+ issues and race, defined by featuring either characters of color or by addressing issues of race and racism.

The American Library Association provides statistics up to 2021 on which books have been the most challenged and most frequently banned in the U.S.:

1. “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
2. “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison
3. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
4. “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez
5. “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
6. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
7. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
8. “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
9. “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson
10. “Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin
    

From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.

In a January 2022 interview with Slate, Associate Professor Emily Knox at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign stated that we are indeed seeing a rise in book challenges across the country and that social media is exacerbating the issue. Knox indicates the “Four R’s” for censorship practices: reduction, removal, restriction, and relocation. Each action is, in practice, a form of censorship.

Knox indicates the “Four R’s” for censorship practices: reduction, removal, restriction, and relocation. Each action is, in practice, a form of censorship.

Literature is a reflection of our communities, which must include the representation of racialized and LGBTQ+ characters and issues. If marginalized groups are continually othered and left out of literature, this becomes so normalized, and it becomes even harder to challenge perspectives. In this void of representation, things happen — like 340+ anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced at state level across the country, for instance. Or 44 states (and counting) that have introduced bills restricting how racism and sexism can be taught by teachers in public schools including all-out bans in 18 of those states, creating a flurry of confusion and lawsuits.

The results of censorship

Book bans disproportionately affect those who are already disadvantaged in terms of time, money, or transportation to obtain materials from commercial booksellers.

Melissa Hisel, the director of the Lafayette Public Library told YS the intention of libraries is to build a balanced collection of material. “Nothing on our shelves is overtly endorsed by us. When you go to library school, you learn that when you’re building a collection, a large portion of the material should offend you personally. That’s a good indicator that you’re doing it right, and you’re providing balanced information.”

We asked Hisel what libraries would look like if they did restrict access to certain materials. “That guts the heart of the institution,” she said. “The purpose of the public library is to provide access to a world of information and ideas, and public libraries are for everyone. I would hate to see us go back to a time where they become exclusionary entities with an agenda. Their role is that of an equalizer. Everyone is treated the same; no money exchanges hands when they access our services. There is no other place like that in our country. If we were to restrict access to materials or intentionally not collect materials that may be controversial to some folks, it has the potential to destroy the entire institution.”

“I would hate to see us go back to a time where they become exclusionary entities with an agenda.”

Disallowing access to information and perspectives and seeing information as dangerous is at the root of book challenges and bans. This perspective assumes that if an individual is offended or concerned about certain content, then it must be universally offensive, and society must be shielded from it. When materials are deemed “offensive,” let’s also not lose sight that members of those communities see and hear that message loud and clear. They may in turn internalize that they themselves are “offensive” as well. Undermining the acceptance of marginalized groups and creating shame and isolation are exactly the point.

What’s happening in Colorado?

According to the Library Research Service, there were 20 challenges made in Colorado in 2021 (the latest statistics available), a 100% increase from the previous year. Of those challenges, nearly half were materials on LGBTQ+ topics, and more than half were children’s books.

Librarians and teachers across the U.S. have been disciplined for not complying with censorship measures. Cara Chance, a branch manager in Louisiana has been accused of insubordination for not removing an LGBTQ book display.

Benke recalled a similar situation in 2021 that occurred in Erie, when a young adult librarian named Brooky Parks was terminated: “She was holding two programs. One had the term ‘woke’ in it. The other had the term ‘anti-racist.’ Both programs were canceled by the board, who then quickly passed a policy that all programs had to adhere to community mores and fired Brooky. She got a lawyer, and she won. The children’s librarians or directors are being pursued at an individual level. That’s in court. What’s happening at the community level is equally ugly. They’re dropping off the librarians and directors on a social level and getting everyone to stay away from all library programming.”

According to the Library Research Service, there were 20 challenges made in Colorado in 2021 (the latest statistics available), a 100% increase from the previous year.

It’s not all doom and gloom. The library board in Wellington had an ingenious approach when confronted with a challenge of 19 titles last year. It didn’t just refuse to ban the books a patron challenged, it passed a resolution that the board cannot “censor, suppress, remove, monitor or place age restrictions on ideas or information in our public library.” Essentially, the board banned book bans.

What can be done?

Just because there are fewer attempts at book bans in Colorado than other areas of the country doesn’t mean that citizens concerned with access to information and censorship shouldn’t be prepared and vigilant. Hisel believes that it’s important for citizens to get involved: “Come out and speak up for your libraries. Be active in your communities, speak out in public meetings. Be aware of what’s going on, consider serving on your library board or school board. Make a donation to your library’s foundation or the library of your local public school.”

The wave of book challenges can be stressful for librarians and library staff as well. Benke gave YS additional advice for those working in libraries: “The best thing you can do is have a very clearly thought-out reconsideration policy. Interestingly, when people want to make a complaint about a book, they don’t want to do anything but take someone’s word about the book. They haven’t read it. They’re adamant that this is an awful book, and you just need to get rid of it. So when you have a clear reconsideration policy, you need to indicate where the problem is.”

Final (uncensored) words

Book bans are the canaries in the coal mine; they’re an indication of where our society is headed. Astonishingly, we haven’t collectively learned that mass censorship is a tool of fascism — and an effective one. We’re seeing this in real time with the rapid rise of the extremist right-wing movement and populism throughout North America. In less than a century, the book burnings by Nazi groups in pre-World War II Germany seem to have been forgotten. Maybe we also need to be reminded of the early years of Mussolini’s Italy, which involved violent raids on bookstores and censorship that was outside legal authority.

Astonishingly, we haven’t collectively learned that mass censorship is a tool of fascism — and an effective one.

Deliberately withholding literature and information from citizens throughout history has been a calculated strategy employed by those in positions of power as a means of preserving control. There’s an obvious hypocrisy when the unbridled “freedoms” of the Second Amendment are championed with fervor, while cherry-picking from the First Amendment where and when it suits. Is it freedom if it’s granted selectively under authoritarianism, or is this an oxymoron?

It’s crucial to reflect on who controls the information that citizens can access and always remain skeptical when a group desperately wants to control the popular narrative. We’ve seen over time that censorship has significant consequences, with losses felt throughout society. Collective societal empathy and knowledge are stifled, and citizens lack the ability to make informed decisions based on evidence or varied perspectives. Democracy and freedom are suppressed.

This is a time for rationality, compassion, and collective wisdom. We can fight for intellectual freedom if we’re not asleep at the wheel.

Juster’s lessons from the Phantom Tollbooth, more than fifty years after its original publication, still hold true: “Since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking.”

The post Book Banning on the Rise: A look into censorship in Colorado appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[NATIONAL]

• NPR quits Twitter after the Musk-led company slapped on a false label of “State Media” to the account.
• National Guardsman is arrested over a massive leak of Pentagon secrets, one of the largest security breaches in decades.
• DeSantis continues his clash with Disney in his latest culture wars brawl, with the company filing a lawsuit against the governor claiming he used his political power to hurt Disney.
• Buzzfeed shuts down its news division and cuts staff by 15% showing it’s more important than ever to support real journalism.
• Tucker Carlson loses his show on Fox News, a blow to disinformation and white supremacy dog whistles everywhere.
• Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony charges in the campaign finance case regarding payments to Stormy Daniels.
• Supreme Court Justice Thomas Clarence has been secretly accepting luxurious vacations and other donations over the years without properly reporting them raising questions over the Court’s biases.

[LOCAL]

• Boulder City Council removes Lisa Sweeney-Miran from the Police Oversight Panel sparking debate over the panel’s effectiveness and independence.
• Governor Polis signs several gun control bills into law including raising the minimum age to buy a weapon to 21 and imposing a waiting period.
• Dacono sets a June 27th date for the recall election of council members stemming from their surprise removal of long time city manager A.J. Euckert.
• False report of a pipe bomb in Erie at the King Sooper’s market sparks fear and highlights the growing threat of false gun and bomb reports.
• Erie Home Rule Commission completed its draft of a Home Rule Charter after four months of meeting and deliberation on the issue.

Small Talk:

“There’s so much excitement and optimism. How can you not feel good in the midst of everything else? … Our city is hungry for a new kind of leadership in these times and we’re already hard at work.” – Yemi Mobolade, on his candidacy for Mayor of Colorado Springs. He will be the city’s first Black mayor.

“I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.” – Joe Biden announcing his bid for reelection in 2024

“Our phones should be blowing off the hook, which they are, but they should be blowing off the hook even more.” – Charles Graves, Assistant Veterans Service Officer with the El Paso County Veterans Services on new compensation program for toxic exposure

“These defendants put many lives at risk during what should have been a normal lunch hour on campus.” – CO District Attorney John Kellner on sentencing two teens in 2021 Hinkley High School shooting

“Juul lit a nationwide public health crisis by putting addictive products in the hands of minors and convincing them that it’s harmless.” – Letitia James, New York Attorney General, on $462 million settlement that includes Colorado and other states

By the Numbers:

50% – 1 out of every 2 transgender individuals experience sexual violence according to statistics by MESA

72% – Reduction in plastic bag use after Louisville passes bag tax program

4+ per week – Average number of Americans killed in mass shootings this year, a record pace so far

$38.5 Billion – Proposed total state budget sent to Governor Polis

6 Weeks – New Florida bill would ban abortion following six weeks of pregnancy in the most recent attack on reproductive rights 

$6 Billion – NFL Team Washington Commanders sell for a record amount. Why does building these stadiums need public funding again?

The post Month in Review | May 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

I’m Tired.
with a Capitol T, hard-wired.

It’s not just the hours,
that the work requires.

Our babies are killing each other
and themselves for what? Power?

They say change happens slowly
when human nature is revolting,

Against the stories they have been told
just work harder and maybe you will get some Gold.

So we flash our worth in cars, clothes, and our 45’s
thinking that makes us “really” alive

It makes a bang so loud
making men feel so proud,

of their hate
they think makes them great.

We don’t seem to see other humans,
even dead bodies numb our feelings.

Even those who preach love,
turn on each other and kill the dove.

I’m Tired.
With a Capitol T, hard-wired.

Tomorrow is another day
to hope we learn to love and play

The post I’m Tired | Red Tornado appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

They’re marching.

They’re marching in Idaho, where their abortion ban enables relatives to sue anyone who “assists” the termination of a pregnancy after six weeks. They’re marching in Texas, where a similar law is in place — with no exceptions even for rape or incest. They’re marching in Wyoming where they’ve banned medication that triggers abortions. They’re marching with full bans on abortions in Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Dakota, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. 

They’re marching in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott (R) ordered that parents can now be investigated for “child abuse” if they provide gender-affirming care for their children. 

They’re marching in Utah, Arizona, South Dakota, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, where bans on gender-affirming care have been enacted and in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Hawaii, and Georgia where similar bans are being considered. 

They’re marching in Oklahoma with a proposed bill that parents can sue teachers who educate students about things that contradict their “closely held religious beliefs” — like evolution. 

They’re marching in Texas where book bans have pulled hundreds of books off the shelves of school libraries that deal with racism or LGTBQ issues, including Michelle Obama’s biography and Alex Award-winner Lawn Boy.

They’re marching in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Florida where they’ve enacted new laws restricting access to citizens’ ability to vote.

They’re marching in Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and 17 other states where they’ve enacted laws restricting the right to protest — in many cases offering protections for people who hit protesters with their cars. 

They’re marching in Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Florida, banning teachers from discussing racism in their classrooms.

This list of encroaching fascism across the wide swath of red states in the U.S. is far from exhaustive. All across the nation, the GOP has completely abandoned the facade that it’s a “small-government, fiscally responsible” party, and instead laced up its jackboots, buttoned up its brown shirts, and taken to the state legislatures to wage culture war against anything remotely challenging to white, Christian so-called “values.” The rights of the individual are firmly in the sights of their metaphorical — and literal — assault rifles as they trample the rights they disagree with while clinging zealously to the only one that seems to matter to them, the Second Amendment. Even as they preach about “protecting the children” while they expand access to guns across myriad states. 

As Jon Stewart put it in his televised interview with Oklahoma Senator Nathan Dahm (R), “What’s the leading cause of death among children in this country… and I’m going to give you a hint: it’s not drag show readings… it’s firearms. More than cancer, more than car accidents… You don’t mind infringing on free speech to ‘protect children’ from this amorphous thing… but when it comes to children that have died, you don’t give a flying fuck to stop that, because, ‘that shall not be infringed.’”

The fascists are committed to this war in ever-growing numbers. 

They’re marching.

The post The Fascists Are Coming | Duly Noted appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.