Blake skirted formal CSU chancellor search process, selected 6 days later

The Coloradoan today reports more evidence that the Colorado State University System board and Joe Blake likely violated state laws by meeting secretly to discuss his application for the chancellorship. Blake formally submitted his application for the position the same day of a closed April 29 meeting with the head of the CSU governing board. Blake, then-vice chair of the board, was named sole finalist for the chancellor position by the board a week later.

Gessler goes after Buescher with direct-democracy cudgel

Denver attorney and state Republican insider Scott Gessler appears to be building his campaign for secretary of state on opposition to ballot-initiative reform. It’s a move that positions him as a populist champion of citizen lawmaking at a time when broad consensus has built among lawmakers and analysts in favor of reining in the state’s famously loose initiative process.

More vacancy committees slated for off-session legislative hopefuls

Michael Johnston’s win in the SD 33 vacancy committee election Monday night is just one of a handful of district party gatherings expected within the next few weeks to choose successors for state lawmakers departing for greener pastures.

Vacancy group picks Obama education advisor Johnston to replace Groff

High school principal Michael Johnston, who advised Barack Obama on education policy during his presidential campaign last year, won election at a vacancy committee meeting Monday night in northeast Denver to take the place of Democratic Senate President Peter Groff representing Senate District 33 in northeast Denver.

Federal government botches DNA crime lab backlog crisis

Kellie Greene spent three years living in fear, waiting for police to catch the stranger who raped her.

Her fear slowly turned to bewilderment over the bureaucratic tangle that continues to put women like her at risk of violence.

Enviros lament failure of bill targeting IREA energy efficiency

While praising the Colorado Legislature for passing more than a dozen “green economic recovery” bills in the session that wrapped up Wednesday, conservation groups also skewered lawmakers for failing to require greater energy efficiency of the state’s largest rural electric co-op.

CSU chancellor search committee meets as House votes on university leadership bill

The Colorado State University chancellor search committee is meeting this afternoon to review a second round of roughly 12 candidate applications for the university’s new top spot. The committee reviewed a first set of about the same number of applications last month, according to CSU spokesperson Michele McKinney. So far, none of the names of the candidates for the position have been revealed.

From tiny-little ideas, high-flown rhetoric, Brophy makes a point

In the era of torture memos, government spying and secret rendition, Republican Sen. Greg Brophy is blogging about “surrendering liberties” in response to laws that would regulate phoning-while-driving.

“It’s all about liberty and logical thinking,” he writes, reaching for the stars. “The banning of cell phone usage is an affront… Liberty cannot be surrendered without careful consideration. Society must benefit greatly from the surrender of liberty and in this case society doesn’t, so it is just an unwanted and unnecessary infringement.”

University transparency bill advances in House, stoked by ‘rumors’ about CSU search

The Colorado House today voted to advance legislation introduced suddenly this week by House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann and Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer that calls for greater transparency in filling leadership positions at the state’s public universities. The bill faces a key second vote on Monday, so, as Rep. Weissmann warned, “The universities will be working hard this weekend to defeat it.”

Ritter says he expects to sign bill granting benefits to same-sex partners

Gov. Bill Ritter said he will probably sign a bill passed Tuesday that extends health insurance benefits to gay and lesbian domestic partners of state employees.

“I expect to sign that but I haven’t heard from the opposition on that,” Ritter, a Democrat, told The Denver Post’s Tim Hoover. “If there’s a request to do that, I’ll certainly let them do that.”