Colorado: Adams County

Nine Democrats are vying to be appointed to the state Senate seat vacated by Denver attorney Jennifer Veiga, who resigned to move to Australia.

Her successor will be chosen tonight by the Senate District 31 vacancy committee. The district includes central Denver and portions of Adams County.

The candidates are:

Patrick Byrne

Age: 28

Occupation: Fiscal policy analyst at the Colorado Department of Transportation

Time in district: Two years

Why you? I am ideally suited to do this because of my budget experience in municipal, county and state government in Colorado.

Jill Conrad

Age: 40

Occupation: Ph.D. student in educational policy, education consultant, at-large member of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education

Time in district: Six years

Why you? I want to create new opportunities for everyone in the community to become engaged and empowered in our government, our schools, our communities and our state.

The Colorado Transportation Commission has approved a list of "ready to go" highway projects to be funded with federal stimulus dollars.

Colorado will receive a total of more than $500 million for road, bridge and transit projects statewide. Of that total, the Colorado Department of Transportation will get $317 million for highways and $12.5 million for transit projects in rural areas.

CDOT must have at least 50 percent of its stimulus money for highways committed to projects within 120 days. The remaining money must be allocated to projects within one year.

The following is a list of highway projects to be funded with stimulus dollars by region (a map of the regions can be found online at: http://www.

(Photo/Storm Crypt, Flickr)

The Colorado congressional delegation split along partisan lines, with all five Democrats voting in favor of the $819 billion stimulus bill and both Republicans voting against it Wednesday evening. The House passed the measure 244-188, with not a single Republican voting for the massive spending and tax-cut bill the Obama administration pushed to propel the economy out of the worst recession since World War II.

(Photo/Storm Crypt, Flickr)

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter issued a statement immediately after the vote, calling the bill “a bold step to try to stabilize our economy.”

Republican Rep. Mike Coffman got in a dig at the opposition party in his statement, calling the bill a “Democrat-sponsored spending package” in what has become the common Republican habit of belittling the party by abjuring use of the word Democratic.