Tag: columnists

Every day, we lose too many of America’s heroes — not to enemy fire, but to isolation and despair. These are men and women in Colorado and across the nation who once wore the uniform with honor, but now suffer silently, often alone. The crisis facing our veterans is one of the most urgent public…

There was a time in American civic life when directness was considered a virtue, clarity a strength, and moral distinctions something to be drawn, not dodged. That time, we are told, is past. Now, we are taught to value conversation over conviction, dialogue over discernment, as though stating a truth too plainly might cause irreparable…

Excellent books abound. But it is a rarity to find one that almost perfectly captures the current moment. Upon recent reading, that was my reaction to Evan Osnos’ “Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury.” The title derives from a catastrophic California wildfire a few years back. In trying to determine the blaze’s origin, experts were…

Pride has always been about more than parades and parties. It’s about showing up — boldly, visibly, and without apology — in a world that too often asks us to shrink ourselves. As Colorado’s first openly transgender state legislator, I’ve marched with joy and purpose, standing shoulder to shoulder with people from every corner of…

Everybody has a story — and if you ask questions, you can sure hear a lot of them. Boarding United Flight 5861 last week up at DIA for the short hop to Colorado Springs, I ducked and made my way down the narrow aisle of the CRJ200. Like most flights these days, the plane was…

As storm clouds gather on the horizon over my ranch near Yuma, I watch cattle hunker down against the coming weather, backs turned to the wind. These animals represent more than just my livelihood—they embody a multi-generational commitment to feeding America from 1899 when my family first homesteaded this land. Colorado’s beef industry traces its…

It’s a strange kind of feeling when a driverless car pulls up next to you at a stoplight — with no one inside. You’ll see them all over San Francisco, as my fiancée and I did last fall. But as unnerving as it is to wait longer to turn into a parking lot because you…

President Trump’s recent executive order to cut off the federal subsidy for NPR and PBS generated a storm of outrage from the left. Predictably, the usual suspects staged demonstrations and NPR, PBS and Democrats have counterattacked with lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Trump’s order. NPR and PBS aren’t identical twins. So, let’s call them fraternal…

If there are faster ways to disseminate rumors around rural America than farm radio and Facebook, I don’t know what they are. Nebraska-based radio pundit Trent Loos heard rumblings that the nationally recognized agriculture education program at Wiggins (Colorado) High School was on the chopping block and took to the air, encouraging stakeholders to attend…

When terror struck Boulder one week ago today, it was a vicious flash of antisemitism that rocked the state and the country — and exposed a dark underbelly embedded in a city reputed for peace and love. On Thursday, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman — an Egyptian citizen and illegal immigrant — was charged with 118…