Colorado: Kansas

While Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, stands by his pledge to put the state's checkbook online, one Republican is still moving forward with a bill that seeks to just that.

House Bill 1288, sponsored by Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, unanimously passed out of the House Finance Committee Wednesday. "All of the Democrats I'm working with on this bill believe it needs to be done by statute not executive order," she said, noting that her bill received widespread bi-partisan support.

Nikkel says its important to put the checkbook online through statute instead of executive order because an executive order can be repealed at any time and by any governor.

Denver's historic Union Station. (Photo/Bettinche, Flickr)

Local rail and public transit enthusiasts are in for a cold slap of reality after the historic signing of the $787 billion economic recovery plan.

Denver's historic Union Station. (Photo/Bettinche, Flickr)

During Tuesday’s visit to Denver with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden said the federal stimulus bill will be a big boost to mass transit in the United States, with funding impacts for commuter rail projects from Colorado to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

“We should have the best transportation system in the world, and we don’t,” said Biden.

But many mass transit advocates are disappointed with the funding disparity between the money pegged for bridge and road repairs ($29 billion) and the funds for passenger rail and other mass-transit improvements ($17.

It's refreshing to see the conservative Colorado Springs Gazette not catching the local GOP's collective vapors over the possibility that some detainees from Guantanamo Bay might be relocated to Florence's ultra-high security federal prison, Supermax.
Republican lawmakers pounced...gathering 35 signatures on a petition asserting that the nearly 250 Guantanamo detainees, many of them accused of membership in terrorist groups, would threaten "the safety and security of the communities in which they will ultimately be housed."

The petition, which was sent to Ritter this week, also expresses "grave concern about the economic and security risks that the relocation of Guantanamo detainees to Colorado pose for our state and local communities.

With Colorado liquor stores now open on Sundays, supermarkets and convenience stores are pushing to be able to sell full-strength beer.

Owners say there's little demand for the 3.2 beer they're limited to selling and that liquor stores have an unfair monopoly on the sale of regular beer.

More than 100 of the owners turned out at a press conference kicking off the effort Tuesday at the state Capitol, where they delivered petitions signed by about 67,000 customers supporting the change.

State Rep. Buffie McFayden, D-Pueblo West, and Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, are sponsoring a bill that would convert existing 3.2 beer licenses to licenses to sell full-strength beer.