Wild sequence of events in the Colorado House just now:

Sen. Michael Bennet backed out of a gubernatorial forum hosted by Colorado Muslims because he didn’t want questions about the war in the Gaza Strip, organizers said. Bennet’s campaign disputed the characterization on Tuesday. @sethklamann.bsky.social reports: www.denverpost.com/2026/04/08/m...

Per new legal filings, Polis’ office suggests they want to comply with this latest ICE subpoena — but the state labor department has told ICE to come back with a grand jury subpoena. Amid the confusion, a Denver just overseeing a prior lawsuit against Polis wants everybody in court later this month.

Speaking of remarkable reporting: This Guardian story about the indescribable massacres in the Sudanese city of El Fasher at the hands of UAE-funded militia: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Belatedly got around to reading this reporting tour de force from the NYT. Remarkable level of detail and insight, down to where people sat in the meetings (which, among other things, maybe provides some insight into the sourcing). www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/u...

“It’s our responsibility that we leave no stone unturned, that we look at every possible action that we can take to shore up the state’s fiscal health,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie said.

There’s just no bottom.

During President Donald Trump’s first year back in office, 4,750 people without legal status were arrested by federal immigration authorities in Colorado, new data shows, reflecting a near-quadrupling of the prior year’s arrest rate, @sethklamann.bsky.social reports

Colorado legislators are planning to cut a teacher recruitment program that promised to pay 2 years of a student’s college tuition on their path to becoming educators, leaving soon-to-be-graduating high school seniors in a lurch. "Everything is blown up," a parent tells @lizzy-hernandez.bsky.social

How Colorado fared under the first year of the Trump administration’s mass deportation program: More than 4,700 arrests of immigrants from more than 80 countries, thousands of deportations, a detention center flexed to max capacity. www.denverpost.com/2026/04/06/c...

Colorado’s proposed ban on allowing SNAP food assistance to pay for soft drinks is on hold while a lawsuit against the federal government plays out, but Gov. Jared Polis is planning an executive order to limit state soda and alcohol purchases

ICYMI: On March 20, Gov. Polis’ lawyers told a judge there was no reason to believe ICE would send the state another subpoena looking for undocumented minors. But the state had already received that exact subpoena — a week before the filing. www.denverpost.com/2026/04/02/j...

An American journalist identified as freelancer Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad and Iraqi security forces are pursuing her captors, officials said.

Absolutely gutted to learn my friend, Shelly Kittleson, has been kidnapped in Baghdad possibly by Kataib Hezbollah, according to initial reports. Shelly is incredibly kind, talented, and cares deeply about the region and its people. Praying for her safe return.

The latest ICE subpoena comes as a Denver judge this week rejected Gov. Jared Polis’ request to end litigation from last year without placing limits on his authority to respond to the federal agency.

BREAKING: Colorado Court of Appeals rules that Tina Peters must be resentenced. Panel of judges also upholds her convictions (despite Trump’s attempted pardon). www.denverpost.com/2026/04/02/t...

Gov. Polis & state officials are weighing whether to comply with a new ICE subpoena as he also tries to end a lawsuit that stopped him from complying with a similar request + as he implements a policy blocking subpoena discussions from ever being released: www.denverpost.com/2026/04/02/j...

New: In a win for the GOP, a federal judge rules that Colorado makes it too hard to opt out of the state’s semi-open primary system. The ruling doesn’t set a new threshold, but it’s a boost to conservatives who want to keep unaffiliated voters from their primaries. www.denverpost.com/2026/04/01/j...

Breaking: A federal judge has dismissed a Trump admin lawsuit against Denver, the state of Colorado, and various elected officials that challenged “sanctuary laws” that limited federal immigration cooperation. www.denverpost.com/2026/03/31/c...

Foreign journalist kidnapped in Iraq: Interior Ministry https://aje.news/c99agg

Reuters: U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST COLORADO LAW BANNING 'CONVERSION THERAPY' THAT AIMS TO CHANGE A MINOR'S SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY

The death penalty but it only applies to one ethnic group in the seperate courts you’ve set up to try them in www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/w...

Kim Bimestefer, head of the agency that oversees Colorado Medicaid, is resigning, days after lawmakers told Gov. Jared Polis’ staff that they planned to hold a vote of no confidence in her and call for her removal. Twenty-eight of the Senate’s 35 members signed on. www.denverpost.com/2026/03/30/c...

Tapping the sign again, amid the latest predictable Hasan Piker discourse.

New: Democratic socialist Melat Kiros comfortably beats U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette at the CD1 nominating assembly, 67% to 32%. But DeGette stays on the ballot, avoiding dropping below the 30% minimum threshold that would’ve seen her political career end. Both will appear on the June primary ballot.

GOP President Donald Trump -- after endorsing #CO03 Rep. Jeff Hurd, and withdrawing the endorsement after his tariff vote and endorsing Hurd's primary challenger Hope Scheppelman -- met with Scheppelman and decides to re-endorse Hurd. #copolitics

The shock drubbing of Diana DeGette at the Denver County assembly, ahead of a formal assembly vote next week, was among signs that Democrats participating in the party’s caucuses and assemblies are dissatisfied with incumbent official // Story by @sethklamann.bsky.social

Gubernatorial hopefuls Bennet, Weiser pledge to back Colorado's laws limiting ICE cooperation www.denverpost.com/2026/03/15/c... by @sethklamann.bsky.social

This chart from TRAC shows the monthly voluntary departures from the Aurora detention center. VDs are immigrants without legal status who essentially request a deportation. The increase here is fueled by the Trump administration's efforts to keep immigrants detained and deny them bail.

New: Gov. Polis’ office has told lawmakers that he will hold off on intervening in Tina Peters’ sentence until after the Colorado Court of Appeals weighs in. Delay comes as every Democratic state lawmaker signs a letter urging Polis not to reduce her prison term: www.denverpost.com/2026/03/11/t...

I really wanted to know more about Renee Good, killed by ICE in January. Fortunately, my editor allowed me to take some time to do a deep dive into who she was before she died. Read and listen to what I found out about her from her Colorado tribe here: www.cpr.org/2026/03/11/r...

“Those guys were not examples of what we hope ICE officers would know and do in the field,” U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson said of ICE agents who testified in his courtroom about how they’re using their warrantless arrest powers in Colorado: www.denverpost.com/2026/03/11/c...

New: Senior Denver ICE official says in court that officers involved in leaving “death cards” in arrested immigrants’ cars have been removed from field work and placed on office duty. ICE’s office of personal responsibility is still investigating. Background: www.denverpost.com/2026/01/23/c...

Wild detail in this @elliottwenzler.bsky.social story about departures in Denver’s transportation agency. A former employee asked that they not be ID’d in the story after the agency’s head called the former employee’s relative— who still works for the department: www.denverpost.com/2026/03/11/d...

New: Gov. Polis’ office has told lawmakers that he will hold off on intervening in Tina Peters’ sentence until after the Colorado Court of Appeals weighs in. Delay comes as every Democratic state lawmaker signs a letter urging Polis not to reduce her prison term: www.denverpost.com/2026/03/11/t...

Some other details from today’s hearing about whether ICE is violating a court order related to warrantless arrests: • ICE has more than doubled its deportation officer ranks here in the past year or so, to roughly 200. • 4 agents have been pulled from street duty, in part over warrantless arrests.

In federal court in Denver this morning, U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson said his picture and home address were posted online by someone in Florida after Jackson ruled ICE’s warrantless practices were likely illegal. The online post said Jackson “loves illegal immigrants.”

After recent poll showed Americans were more sympathetic to Palestinians than Israelis for the first time, new Quinnipiac poll finds the % of Americans who feel the U.S. is too supportive of Israel matches the % who think it’s just right (44%), also the highest ever. poll.qu.edu/images/polli...

What an insane story by @sethklamann.bsky.social and @samtabachnik.bsky.social This town (population 30) has a median income of $10,000 and its government collapsed and it’s running out of water and every time someone tries to help they get chased out of town www.denverpost.com/2026/03/08/h...

Interesting. Senior Judge Brooke Jackson of Colorado blocked the government from invoking the "automatic stay" to keep a keep a man locked up even if an immigration judge releases him on bond.

Wild story from @sethklamann.bsky.social and @samtabachnik.bsky.social about a tiny town in remote southwest Colorado where the local government collapsed in acrimony and the state is scrambling to fix its water supply. “Yelling has been a factor in Hartman since God was a boy,” an ex-trustee says

Colorado lawmakers aim to ‘assert state authority’ amid federal gaps on vaccines, worker safety and other issues

In mid-January, a fight at a trustees meeting collapsed town of Hartman’s government. It was the culmination of years of infighting, but now the town’s water supply is near collapse, with no government empowered to fix it. From @samtabachnik.bsky.social and me: www.denverpost.com/2026/03/08/h...

This probably goes without saying, but it is extremely unusual that Tina Peters’ direct appeal hasn’t even been decided yet and there’s clemency in the air. Seems like it would be useful to know first whether the Court of Appeals thinks her convictions and sentence are legally sound.

Reuters Exclusive "U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school." "The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the ​Middle East."

Tina Peters’ lawyer has said this a couple of times over the past 24 hours. Polis’ tweet Tuesday removed whatever doubt remained about his intent to commute Peters’ sentence. But I wouldn’t expect it in the next few days.

New: Colorado Democrats blast Gov. Jared Polis as he again hints at intervening in Tina Peters' prison sentence. His office confirms it won't be a pardon, though. www.denverpost.com/2026/03/04/j... via @sethklamann.bsky.social @coltrain.bsky.social

Colorado lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would give voters more time to vote and drop off their ballots amid President Donald Trump’s threats to buck the Constitution by trying to nationalize elections // Story by @sethklamann.bsky.social

All else aside, it’s hard to describe how disingenuous this comparison is. SJL faked letters of support to duck a state legislative ethics probe. Peters participated in a plot to undermine Colorado’s elections and has spent her brief time in prison getting in fights and earning write-ups.