The Colorado Independent

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

Posts by John Tomasic

John Tomasic has worked as a writer and editor at various news, literary and academic publications, including at the Huffington Post, Business 2.0 magazine and Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope All-Story. He was managing editor at OffTheBus, the Huffington Post’s 2008 presidential-election citizen-journalism project, and editor at Pop+Politics, a journalism training program and website hosted by USC's Annenberg School. He was an analyst for the UN commission established to investigate war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. He has a master's degree in history and has taught at universities in America and Europe.

Quinnipiac Finds Strong Colorado Support for Death Penalty, Close Guv Race

By | 06.13.13 | 7:52 am

DENVER– Coloradans support the death penalty by wide margins, according to a poll released today by Quinnipiac University (pdf). Pollsters tied the strong views held on capital punishment to the slim margins Governor John Hickenlooper notched against three potential Republican rivals in the same poll.

Supreme Court Declines Denver Abortion-Protest Case, Handing Win to the Offended

By | 06.11.13 | 11:21 am

In the battle between the right to offend with free expression and the right to not be offended by free expression, the U.S. Supreme Court this week handed a win to Americans who don’t want to be offended.

Udall Sends Out ‘I Warned You’ Pitch in Wake of Surveillance Revelations

By | 06.10.13 | 1:56 pm

He made impassioned speeches on the Senate floor, held press conferences and appeared on the Sunday talk shows. For years, Colorado Senator Mark Udall has been telling anyone who will listen that key provisions of the Patriot Act are being used by the the government to tread on citizens’ constitutional rights to privacy.

Coffman Joins in Vote to Reject Order Suspending Immigrant Youth Deportations

By | 06.06.13 | 12:16 pm

Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman joined other Republican members of the House in voting to lift the executive order issued by President Obama last year that suspended deportation of undocumented immigrant youth and offered them the opportunity to apply for work permits.

Report: Oil and Gas Industry Exerts Outsized Political Influence in Colorado

By | 05.30.13 | 2:12 pm

DENVER– A report released today by Colorado Ethics Watch describes oil-and-gas industry spending on state election campaigns and legislative lobbying efforts as disproportionally influential and “shocking.”

Gessler Pays Back Travel Cash, Seeks an End to Ethics Flap

By | 05.23.13 | 6:28 pm

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler on Monday cut a personal check to the Department of State for $1,278.90, looking to put an end to an ethics investigation that has stretched on since the middle of October and that seemed likely to continue attracting headlines and draining public funds for months to come.

Gessler Taps Auditor to Examine Spending at Heart of Ethics Complaint

By | 05.22.13 | 7:21 am

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler appears to have had himself audited. In a witness list he sent Tuesday to the parties involved in an investigation of his discretionary spending last year, Gessler included the name of accountant Kevin Collins.

Weld County Board Renews Decision to Ban Plan B at Health Clinics

By | 05.08.13 | 6:28 pm

Colorado’s Weld County Board on Monday renewed a 2010 policy that prevented county health clinics funded by the federal Title X women’s health program from dispensing Plan B emergency contraception to their mostly young and low-income patients.

Colorado Supreme Court Punts on Fetal Rights, Rejects Catholic Health Case

By | 05.06.13 | 3:23 pm

DENVER– The national media storm came and went. The Colorado bishops issued their condemnation. And the state Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

On Hot-Button Election-Reform Bill, It’s Gessler Versus the Clerks

By | 05.01.13 | 12:14 am

DENVER — Colorado’s Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler arrived late to testify at the Senate committee hearing, but he came prepared. A practiced courtroom lawyer, he began slowly. He threw in folksy asides. He answered his own rhetorical questions. And he smiled at the majority-Democratic committee members as he railed against the election-reform bill they all support and that he wants desperately to derail. It was a dramatic moment in Colorado politics that had been building since Gessler took office two years ago.

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