All’s fair in committee assignments, new majority says By Leigh E. Rich Changes are afoot at the state Capitol, and the new Democratic majority is leading the charge “to preserve and enhance the welfare of the people and the quality of their lives.” At least that’s the promise new Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, […]
12.03.2004
11.26.2004
‘Something like your first year of college,’ veterans say By Leigh E. Rich If you thought the transition from high school to college was challenging, try going from citizen-at-large to freshman legislator. There’s little time between November’s Election Day and January’s swearing in, and there’s much to do. After digging from the mind’s recesses what […]
11.26.2004
What to expect when your spouse is legislating By Leigh E. Rich If as the saying goes, Christmas came early for the Colorado legislators who won their November campaigns, then the New Year is already delivering new challenges—at least for those married to the members of the 65th General Assembly. “Your lives are not private […]
11.19.2004
Categories: Politics, Utrinque Paratus | Comments Off on Money and labor credited for Statehouse switch
Dems take the lead in the House and the Senate By Leigh E. Rich Less than two weeks after the election and it’s almost as if there hadn’t been a contentious battle for the presidency waged in the Rocky Mountain state. Colorado’s post-election analysis has focused almost solely on the regime change in the statehouse. […]
11.19.2004
Categories: Editorials, Feminism, Politics, Utrinque Paratus | Comments Off on Too many lasts for a first-world nation
American won’t be one until we are finished with ‘firsts’ By Leigh E. Rich In January, Democratic Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald will become Colorado’s first female Senate president. An elated Fitz-Gerald told well-wishers on election night—referring to her husband, John—that “for the first time in Colorado, we’re going to have a first lady who’s a man.” […]
11.12.2004
Sen. Ken Salazar serves up peanut buster politics By Leigh E. Rich The election’s barely two weeks old and Colorado has already made news in Washington. Was it the defeat of electoral reform proposal Amendment 36? Was it Amendment 37’s overwhelming push by Colorado voters to demand increases in renewable energy? Was it the red-to-blue […]
11.05.2004
Categories: Elections, Politics, Utrinque Paratus | Comments Off on Not pumpkins but Democrats at stroke of midnight
Fairytale ending … at least in Colorado By Leigh E. Rich Perhaps the T-shirt worn by one return watcher at the downtown Marriott City Center—the election night headquarters of the Colorado Democrats—said it all: “Kiss my” written above a picture of a donkey. This type of youthful and rebellious vim certainly dominated the atmosphere of […]
11.05.2004
Categories: Elections, Humor, Politics, Utrinque Paratus | Comments Off on Gridiron roasts 2004 candidates
There really were no sacred cows at annual satire By Leigh E. Rich It said so right on the poster. The 2004 Gridiron crew promised this year’s political satire produced by the Denver Press Club and KBDI Channel 12 would offer “no sacred cows.” And any unfortunate enough to have wandered into the event at […]
11.05.2004
Election Day a mixed bag for Colorado’s governor By Leigh E. Rich The landscape in Colorado looks far different than at the national level, where President Bush will serve another four years and have a sizeable Republican majority in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate during the 109th Congress. Not so for Colorado’s Gov. […]
10.29.2004
Categories: Books, History, People, Utrinque Paratus | Comments Off on Criminal’s life stranger than fiction
Whiskey Robber’s ballad a page-turner By Leigh E. Rich Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts By Julian Rubinstein Little, Brown and Company September 2004 304 pages $23.95 ($34.95 CAN) Perhaps few in the United States know much about Hungary, a […]
10.29.2004
New York’s centenary subway still takes us in new directions By Leigh E. Rich The New York subway turned 100 this week. That’s a lot of years and, some here in Colorado might argue, a lot of miles away. Not so anymore. New York City has been its own character in this bitter-but-not-sweet political farce […]
10.29.2004
Categories: Elections, Humor, Politics, Utrinque Paratus | Comments Off on From rancher to lawyer to the final frontier
Boldly going where no politician has gone before By Leigh E. Rich Reporter’s Log No. 1: Sleepless with a would-be senator Election Date: Tuesday, Oct. 19, 11:13 a.m. Imagine our surprise in The Colorado Statesman office as the call from headquarters came in. Do what with Ken Salazar all night long? Over the racket of […]
