Colorado Legislative Session Started Yesterday, Prairie Dog Population Successful in Boulder City, Peters Requesting Conviction Turnover from Denver Judge

Headlines Thursday, January 15, 2026

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    Colorado Legislative Session Started Yesterday, Prairie Dog Population Successful in Boulder City, Peters Requesting Conviction Turnover from Denver Judge KGNU News

Colorado Legislative Session Started Yesterday

Colorado’s annual legislative session began yesterday. One of the biggest challenges lawmakers face is another huge budget shortfall. That means it’ll be hard for any bill that costs money to make it across the finish line.

Democrats still hold a wide majority in both chambers. Both parties say they want to focus on making Colorado a more affordable place to live. It’s Governor Jared Polis’s  last session in office because of term limits. He’ll outline his top priorities on Thursday during his annual state of the state address.

 

Prairie Dog Population Successful in Boulder City

The city of Boulder announced in this year’s annual prairie dog report meeting that they will continue a pilot program that has assisted residents in walling off their land to prairie dog activity. A 2025 report from the city showed the pilot program was promising, leading to the critters occupying 7% less land than in 2024.

For residents, the program has the city covering up to half the cost of barrier projects preventing recolonization and expansion of prairie dog territory. While they are essential to the area’s ecosystem, their territorial expansion also concerns city managers due to their grazing habits leading to longer term desertification. 

Along with the continuation of the barrier subsidy program, the Boulder Reporting Lab says the city is considering lethal control of their pupping season from March 1 to May 31 to sites that have previously gone through prairie dog removal procedures. 

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Peters Requesting Conviction Turnover from Denver Judge

Attorneys for former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters are appearing before the Colorado Court of Appeals today in a final bid to overturn her 9-year prison sentence.

Peters was convicted in 2024 in relation to a security breach of voting equipment following the 2020 election.

The appeal is focused on a controversial claim that a pardon issued by President Trump should apply to Peters’ state-level crimes, a move Colorado officials call unconstitutional. The Denver Post reports that the dispute has already had devastating consequences for the state, with the Trump administration pulling over $700 million in federal funding in what the AG describes as a “revenge campaign.”

Governor Jared Polis has suggested he may consider commuting the sentence; however, state election officials are urging him to stand firm to avoid validating election denialism. Peters is set to remain in prison until her first parole eligibility in late 2028.

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DOJ Escalates Investigation into Lawmakers Over Military “Illegal Orders” Video

 

Colorado Representative Jason Crow and five other lawmakers are under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The probe stems from a video they released advising military members to refuse “illegal orders.”

President Trump has labeled the message “seditious,” and claimed on his social media that it is “punishable by death”. Federal prosecutors are now seeking formal interviews with the group. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is attempting to retroactively demote Arizona Senator Mark Kelly for his participation.

The parties involved call the investigation a “weaponization” of the government meant to silence dissent. They maintain that advising troops to uphold the law is protected free speech.

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You can hear daily headlines on the Morning Magazine, KGNU’s weekday morning show with coverage of local and regional public affairs and news with headlines and commentary. Click here to listen to full episodes of the Morning Magazine.

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