Gov. Jared Polis relies on ‘super-secret memo’ to back private investment bill in Colorado legislature

while the Tegna-Nexstar merger gets all the Denver oxygen, Scripps will now own two of three TV stations in Grand Junction and Colorado Springs/Pueblo markets. #copolitics via @nicolevap.bsky.social

"The Mesa County Commissioners directed staff Tuesday to explore ways to get around a Colorado law that requires governments to post legal notices in newspapers except under certain conditions."

NEWSLETTER: Updates on our May 7 celebration of the life of Fred Brown, our Top of the Rockies Awards gathering, our mentorship program and more. Get caught up here. ⬇️

Aurora lawmakers creating rules to curb profanity, personal attacks at meetings ‘Some folks are so intimidated that they don’t even want to come to our meetings at all’ sbee.link/9jdkey3uxc #AuroraCO #COpolitics #Civility

ICYMI: The Colorado Title Board on Friday again rejected a proposed state constitutional right-to-know initiative for the fall ballot, still maintaining it doesn’t meet a single-subject requirement.

The Colorado Title Board on Friday again rejected a proposed state constitutional right-to-know initiative for the fall ballot, still maintaining it doesn’t meet a single-subject requirement.

"McCluskie acknowledged the tension between increased threats to lawmakers and a need for those officials to be transparent."

ICYMI: Sponsors of a bill to reauthorize the Colorado Public Utilities Commission agreed Thursday to remove a provision that would have let the three commissioners engage in “nonpublic” discussions after hearing evidence on adjudicatory matters.

Sponsors of a bill to reauthorize the Colorado Public Utilities Commission agreed Thursday to remove a provision that would have let the three commissioners engage in “nonpublic” discussions after hearing evidence on adjudicatory matters.

CFOIC is co-hosting the tribute to Fred Brown with SPJ. Please join us at the Denver Press Club on May 7.

Colorado Transparency News: bodycam footage fees; funeral home inspection reports; right-to-know ballot initiative; public defender records case; DougCo open meetings case; broken coal plant records; legislative caucus transparency; more.

Proponents of a proposed Colorado constitutional amendment to create "a fundamental right to know the affairs of ... government" are asking a state board to reconsider its ruling last week that the ballot title is too broad. Background:

A bill advancing in the Colorado legislature would restore public access to funeral home inspection reports with some limitations.

A bill advancing in the Colorado legislature would restore public access to funeral home inspection reports with some limitations.

"Chief U.S. District Court Judge Troy A. Nunley waited until a temporary restraining order was about to expire before announcing he has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Nexstar Media Group-Tegna merger from moving forward."

ICYMI: A state board on Wednesday declined to set the title for a proposed fall ballot initiative that would enshrine in the Colorado Constitution “a fundamental right to know the affairs of all levels of state and local government.”

That's a new one. Hopefully they aren't charging anything, let alone sales tax, for PDF copies of CORA records. 24-72-205(5)(a) "[A] custodian shall not charge a per-page fee for providing records in a digital or electronic format."

A state board on Wednesday declined to set the title for a proposed fall ballot initiative that would enshrine in the Colorado Constitution “a fundamental right to know the affairs of all levels of state and local government.”

Local TV giant Nexstar consummated its acquisition of Tegna just hours after it was green-lit by Trump's regulators. Now a US judge is giving serious weight to lawsuits alleging it should be found illegal. My story for NPR: www.npr.org/2026/04/14/n...

Douglas County seeks Supreme Court review in open meeting case buff.ly/TD0PKbq

Wonderful.

"A Denver progressive activist is suing two Democratic state lawmakers and the invite-only caucus they lead, alleging they violated the Colorado Open Records Act."

UPDATE: District Judge Troy Nunley has extended the restraining order on the Nexstar acquisition of TEGNA for an additional 7 days, pending his decision on whether to issue a longer injunction.

ICYMI: The Office of the State Public Defender is not a criminal justice agency, the CO Court of Appeals ruled, reversing a district court order that a prison inmate be paid $13,650 in penalties because the agency withheld a document from him. coloradofoic.org/court-of-app...

ICYMI: Colorado’s Law Enforcement Integrity Act does not permit agencies to charge fees as a condition of releasing body-worn camera footage depicting possible misconduct by police officers, the Colorado Court of Appeals decided. coloradofoic.org/court-of-app...

The Office of the State Public Defender is not a criminal justice agency, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, reversing a district court order that prison inmate Eric St. George be paid $13,650 in penalties because the agency withheld a document from him.

A big police transparency ruling: Colorado’s Law Enforcement Integrity Act does not permit agencies to charge fees as a condition of releasing body-worn camera footage depicting possible misconduct by police officers, the CO Court of Appeals decided. coloradofoic.org/court-of-app...

Colorado Transparency News: parolee risk assessments; Fred Brown; Dougco commission open meetings ruling; SC ruling on child-abuse hotline stats; Nexstar-TEGNA merger; Local News Day; public radio First Amendment court win; secretly recording executive session; more.

At various points in her career, journalist April Morganroth reinvented herself to start fresh in a new state, leaving behind a wake of professional and personal misconduct.

“Because this error was discovered by a reporter and it was confirmed by legislators, all using the criminal justice open records act, it would seem mind-boggling to now close off that ability."

“I pored over them at the Secretary of State’s office and wrote down everything that looked interesting — including, in the spirit of transparency, how much the state alcohol lobby spent to keep the refrigerator in the press room stocked with beer.”

A bipartisan bill in the Colorado legislature is aimed at making sure the public regains access to records used by 9NEWS to show errors in the way the state screens the risk levels of parolees.

“It's weird when you think that a competitor technically could be a mentor, and yet that's what Fred was for me.”

That time in 1973 "Ethical Fred" Brown pored over public records and permanently ruined afternoon beer parties for the Colorado Capitol press corps.

ICYMI: Fred Brown, who died this week at age 85, demonstrated his passion for both journalism ethics and access to government information long before he joined the board of the newly formed Colorado Freedom of Information Council in 1988.

Fred Brown, who died this week at age 85, demonstrated his passion for both journalism ethics and access to government information long before he joined the board of the newly formed Colorado Freedom of Information Council in 1988.

"Two Ouray County commissioners publicly reprimanded their fellow commissioner after discovering she secretly recorded an executive session last week. "

ICYMI: A judge last May wrongly decided that the Colorado Open Meetings Law did not apply to several Douglas County Commission meetings held outside of public view, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

Remembering and honoring our dear friend and colleague Fred Brown.

A judge last May wrongly decided that the Colorado Open Meetings Law did not apply to several Douglas County Commission meetings held outside of public view, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

"A district court judge has opened public access to court records for a civil case against the former Ouray police chief, after it proceeded for almost 10 months in secret."

A lawsuit alleges the Pueblo 70 school board "violated Colorado’s open meetings law ... by not clearly describing agenda items related to Riverstone Academy, an elementary school that backers have called Colorado’s 'first public Christian school.'"

“The Constitution does not permit the government to punish journalists or broadcasters for coverage it disapproves of,” said Zansberg. “We made that clear in our argument, and today the court protected the editorial decisions of a free press.”

Media attorney and CFOIC president Steve Zansberg represented Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT Public Radio in this lawsuit.

BREAKING: A judge blocks a Trump administration order to end federal funding for NPR and PBS.

“CDHS’s approach would hinder, if not altogether eliminate, oversight of state-funded residential facilities for children."

ICYMI: Five years after The Colorado Sun and 9NEWS sued the state Department of Human Services, the CO Supreme Court ordered the agency to disclose to the news organizations aggregate child-abuse hotline statistics from three residential care facilities. coloradofoic.org/five-years-a...

We wanted to know: 1) the total number of reports of child abuse or neglect made from each facility over a three-year period and 2) the number of those reports from each facility that were screened in for investigation. Thanks to @coloradofoic.bsky.social for fighting for us.

Beylkin and Zansberg: The evolution of Colorado's anti-SLAPP statute.