Colorado
State Rep. Epps officially reprimanded by Colorado Speaker for violating House decorum during pro-Palestinian protest
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The Speaker of Colorado’s House, Julie McCluskie, has sent a formal letter of reprimand admonishing a fellow Democrat, Rep. Elisabeth Epps of Denver, for, among other things, joining a pro-Palestinian protest in the House gallery and disrupting proceedings during a special legislative session late last year.
The letter lists six House rules McCluskie said Epps violated, and warns her that any repeat of her behavior could lead to “further disciplinary action” by the House.
The reprimand comes just days before state lawmakers are set to return to the capitol for the annual legislative session, which begins Wednesday.
“It is my expectation that you will uphold the honor and dignity of elected office and this institution, and engage with members in civil and respectful ways,” wrote McCluskie.
The incident during the special session started when Epps attempted to add an amendment to a bill about federal food benefits that would have prevented them from being used to purchase products made in the Palestinian territories.
According to reports of the situation, Epps concluded her remarks on the amendment with the words “Free Palestine!” She then joined pro-Palestinian protesters who had been watching the day’s debate from the balcony around the House chamber.
When GOP Rep. Ron Weinberg, who is Jewish, took the lecturn to respond, Epps and others shouted down at him, interrupting his remarks. Democratic leaders called on state patrol to clear the galleries, and Epps eventually left after other members of her caucus went up to speak with her.
In her letter to Epps, McCluskie wrote that the representative engaged in numerous actions during the special session that were significantly disruptive to House business and caused delays, and engaged in disrespectful behaviors which “failed to uphold the honor and dignity of our democratic institution.”
McCluskie released the letter to all of the House members on Monday afternoon, including Epps. CPR News has reached out to Epps for a response and will update with any comment.
In the weeks since the special session, Epps has defended her actions on social media and criticized leadership for “punishing victims and protecting abusers”, saying that she has been called vile things by some of her Republican colleagues.
“Decorum is just one of your racist dog whistles for complacency + complicity” she posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to a tweet from a fellow Democratic representative.
McCluskie has disputed the claim that decorum rules are applied unevenly. She told CPR News she plans to release a set of decorum guidelines in the coming weeks to help lawmakers navigate when they may be saying something that crosses the line.
A history of disagreements
Epps, who took office last January, has been at odds with House leadership and the Speaker for a while on a variety of issues.
On the final day of the 2023 session, tensions flared in a Democratic caucus meeting. Several members, including Epps, criticized the Speaker directly, saying she failed to take action against racist and inappropriate comments on the chamber floor and didn’t do enough to support brown and Black lawmakers, especially the Black women in the caucus. During the meeting, Epps noted that she hadn’t talked to the Speaker in three months and said she didn’t think McCluskie calls out the “nonsense” from the other side of the aisle.
“It is predictable at this point. And it’s not just what happens on the floor, (it’s) what’s happening off,” she said.
Over the summer, Epps and another Democratic representative, Rep. Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch, filed a lawsuit against their leadership over alleged violations of open meetings laws. Their suit was eventually withdrawn after leaders, including McCluskie, agreed to changes.
The letter of reprimand was not McCluskie’s first move against Epps. Late last year she removed both Epps and Marshall from the powerful Judiciary Committee.
“Serving on a member’s top choice of committee is a privilege — not a right,” McCluskie said in a statement about her decision, which she said was made to decrease acrimony on the committee.
“My decisions on where to appoint members depend on their respect of their colleagues, ability to collaborate and adherence to decorum, which was clearly violated during our special session last month,” McCluskie continued.
More recently, Epps was reassigned offices, from a plum space in the state capitol to an office building across the street, a move she also took as retaliation.
“it hurts what Dems + speaker of the house are doing to me bc I won’t be silent or complicit—expelled me from judiciary cmte, now from my physical (not elected) office,” Epps tweeted on Jan. 2. “Yet it’s right in line with what bipartisan establishment is doing to other Black women. I’m not quitting, tho.”
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – A Southern Colorado landscape photographer started a wildflower database for El Paso County.
Jason Fazio recently launched the El Paso County Wildflower Project.
It’s a community-built field guide designed to encourage people to get outside, explore local open spaces and trails and help document the wildflowers found throughout our county.
“A lot of what people post is stuff that I haven’t seen yet,” Flavio continued. “So it’s been really great to see people submit things.”
The project combines photography, local exploration and community participation.
Visitors can browse featured wildflowers and submit their own photographs for possible inclusion with photographer credit.
Fazio hopes the website becomes a growing resource that celebrates both Colorado’s natural beauty and the people who enjoy it.
Watch the full interview with Fazio at the top of this page!
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
Colorado
Colorado neighbors lament likely closure of Roxborough library; $22 million regional library breaks ground nearby
For 22 years, the Roxborough library in Roxborough Village has served the entire Roxborough Park community. But that chapter might be coming to a close, as Douglas County Libraries prepares to break ground on a near-$22 million library in a growing master-planned Colorado community nearby.
A new regional library will be built near the intersection of West Titan Road and Taylor River Circle across from the incoming Douglas County School District elementary school in Sterling Ranch. It will also serve communities such as Louviers, Chatfield, Solstice and the greater Roxborough Park community.
“It’s an opportunity for this whole development to centralize a little bit,” said Alex Taylor, president for Sterling Ranch Community Board District No. 2
Taylor was among the first 100 residents to live in Sterling Ranch, and he can’t wait to take his two sons to the library when it opens near their home.
“Having an additional space for the kids to go and find the new set of books,” Taylor said. “Creating a centralized space for everybody in all of the various communities in this region to be able to congregate.”
The 18,000-square-foot library will break ground in Sterling Ranch this summer. But this developing situation does not satisfy everyone in the community.
“Don’t take ours to give them theirs,” community member Denise Martinez said.
Seven minutes away at the Roxborough library, some neighbors don’t want to say goodbye to their longstanding community hub. But the library board has set the lease to terminate next year.
“It would be devastating to this community on so many different levels,” Martinez said.
Martinez says the smaller Roxborough library is one of the only shared amenities in the community and is walkable for many.
“I truly believe that this is the hub of the community,” Martinez said. “This is the gathering spot.”
“Our community has been here for over 40 years, and people have paid into the library system for that amount of time,” said Ephram Glass, president of Roxborough Village Metropolitan District. They’ve been paying their property taxes. The library has been accumulating all this funding, so that they could build a new facility for Roxborough, and now for that money to then go to a brand new community that hasn’t been paying in for decades, I think a lot of people will be very pissed off.”
Glass and Martinez both enjoy taking their children to the library. They say it’s a close walk or bike ride from Roxborough Primary and Intermediate School and worry about children losing accessibility to the library.
“It would take an hour and 16 minutes walking to the new facility from this one, or a 25-minute bike ride. There’s really no shoulder,” Martinez said. “This doesn’t give our kids access at all. I mean, they will ultimately not be able to go to the library unless they have a ride.”
“I imagine some kids will take the e-bikes over. Many will just not go,” Glass said.
Glass is a member of the Roxborough Village HOA, which he says offered to donate a parcel of land near the existing Roxborough library with no strings attached.
“The board chose the Sterling Ranch site as the best site,” said Bob Pasicznyuk, executive director at Douglas County Libraries.
Pasicznyuk says there have long been plans to open a larger library in the area. He says DCL chose the other site, which was donated by the Sterling Ranch developer, partially because it was centrally located in northwest Douglas County.
“Ultimately around 35,000 people will live just in Sterling Ranch alone. The audience base would then go up to say (50,000) or 60,000. Right now it’s about half that many,” Pasicznyuk said.
Pasicznyuk says the all-in cost of the library in Sterling Ranch will be $21.6 million. That includes $250,000 for an outdoor porch, $200,000 for an outdoor children’s play area and $450,000 for other outdoor improvements, including a seating area, trellis and event and trail space.
Martinez is upset those outdoor amenities will come at the cost of the library and not the Sterling Ranch developer.
“I just think that it’s ridiculous to build a park and a veranda and even insist upon those things,” Martinez said. “I just do not understand what that really has to do with literacy or books or the library. I was kind of shocked by that actually.”
Despite terminating the lease, Pasicznyuk says the library board has not voted to close the Roxborough library just yet, but admits they have always consolidated smaller libraries when larger ones open.
“We’ve been 22 years in the second-floor strip mall rental, and while we’ve been glad for the opportunity, it’s going to be an amazing opportunity to move into a freestanding library with all the amenities that we have,” Pasicznyuk said.
“It isn’t good for this community. If you’re here to serve the community, why would you shut this down?” Martinez said.
Martinez started a Change.org petition to “Save Our Roxborough Library.” She now has more than 1,400 signatures.
“We need this. This is vital for our community,” Martinez said. “We just feel like we’re being absorbed.”
“It’s a prized amenity, so it makes sense that they want to keep it,” Pasicznyuk said. “I’ve never seen a reaction other than people love their library. So, even though you’re opening a new library, and I can describe 10 things about it that might be improvements over what we have today, people are going to, because they love their library, wish to keep what they have.”
Meanwhile, Taylor is excited for the library to open in Sterling Ranch next year.
“I’m absolutely empathetic to the fact that somebody might be disappointed that a library would move a few miles away from them versus where it’s historically been,” Taylor said. “The library will be something that everyone can enjoy. It’s going to be a library in Sterling Ranch, but not just for Sterling Ranch.”
Taylor says he’s been working with Sterling Ranch’s developers and the library on a partnership with the nearby Lamb Spring Archaeological Preserve. They are hoping to bring some artifacts or replicas into the library and use a mammoth hunter-gatherer theme for the children’s areas.
“It is a major archeological site in this region that there is evidence of mammoth activity and human activity going back possibly as far as 9,000 years ago,” Taylor said.
Roxborough-area residents say they plan to attend the next library board meeting on June 24 to make their voices heard.
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