rssPosts 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.
Civil unions supporters brace for crucial committee hearing
DENVER– Supporters rallied today on the steps of the Denver City and County Building in support of a state civil unions bill scheduled for crucial consideration this afternoon by the House Judicial Committee.
Bennet at CU campaigns for Violence Against Women Act
BOULDER– U.S. Senator Michael Bennet told students, staff and faculty members at the University of Colorado campus here Tuesday that he was proud to champion the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and happy that the Senate voted in favor of its reauthorization by a broad bipartisan majority.
Sen. Spence makes conservative case for Colorado civil unions bill
A bipartisan majority of the Colorado Senate on Wednesday passed a civil unions bill that would grant legal recognition to same-sex couples. Senator Nancy Spence from Centennial, one of the Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, argued that the legislation would bolster limited government and individual liberty, core conservative political values recognized by majorities of Republican voters in the state.
Obama looking to shore up constituencies with CU speech
President Obama will speak this afternoon at the University of Colorado Boulder, part of a swing-state campus tour designed to pressure Congress into extending low-interest rates on federal student loans. The rates are set to double in July.
Boulder judge rejects bid to keep CU open for 4/20 pot protest
A Boulder District Court judge last night rejected attorney Rob Corry’s bid to prevent the University of Colorado Boulder from shutting down campus today. The judge ruled the university administration is free to bar non-students from entering the grounds as part of an effort to force annual April 20 anti-drug war and pro-legalization marijuana advocates to assemble elsewhere.
Pot advocates sue to stop planned CU protest clampdown
BOULDER– As Colorado University authorities prepare in earnest for the first time in twenty years to ward off the crowds due to gather here on campus tomorrow for the annual “4/20″ marijuana rally, attorney Rob Corry has filed suit to stop those preparations, calling them unprecedented in the history of U.S. campus protest, dangerous and an embarrassment to the critical thinking and free-exchange of ideas the university is supposed to cultivate.
Catholic politics, power dynamics highlighted in Colorado funding flap
The political tug-of-war waging within the U.S. Catholic Church made headlines in Colorado this month when the Church’s Campaign for Human Development threatened to pull tens of thousands of dollars in support from Durango-based immigrant-rights group Compañeros.
Poll: Wide support in Colorado for same-sex civil unions
For years, credible surveys conducted among Colorado voters have found opinion in the state swinging strongly in favor of legal relationship recognition for gay couples. Results released Friday by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling show the strongest support yet. Coloradans, according to a poll conducted last week (pdf), support a civil unions bill presently being considered by the state legislature by a whopping 30-point spread.
VIDEO: Obama campaign celebrates 6th anniversary of ‘Romneycare’
The Obama for America reelection campaign Thursday released a video celebrating the sixth anniversary of the Massachusetts healthcare-reform law championed by then-Governor Mitt Romney. The video revels in irony, a low-key soundtrack tinkling beneath footage of Romney proudly presenting the bill atop an enormous custom-built riser. Romney’s advisors recall candidly how the governor believed the law would catapult him as a statesman onto the national stage.
Colorado immigrants collateral damage in Catholic culture war
Nicole Mosher, executive director of Durango-based nonprofit immigrant-aid organization Compañeros, is weighing how to keep her organization running effectively in light of the surprising news that the anti-poverty Catholic organization that supplies half of Companeros’ annual budget would likely end that support due to Compañeros’ indirect association with gay-rights group One Colorado.
