Colorado
What Brazil and Colorado Have in Common in Restricting Liberty
The legendary rocker Joe Walsh once sang, “The Rocky Mountain way is better than the way we had.” But in Colorado, unfortunately, the Rocky Mountain way now more closely resembles censorship in Brazil than liberty in America.
More than 100 international free speech advocates, including five former U.S. attorneys general, joined an open letter to the Brazilian Congress last month condemning Brazil’s severe censorship, which includes suspension of the social media platform X.
While some may look on with mawkish curiosity at foreign intrigue they deem irrelevant to life in America, others may view Brazil’s authoritarian impulse through a lens of gratitude that it couldn’t happen here. Both are wrong.
One need only look to the state of Colorado to find an American example of governing authorities who seek to silence speech with which they disagree and compel reiteration of their preferred message.
More on that a bit later.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who owns X, has been engaged in a dispute with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes that stems from de Moraes’ demands that Musk’s social media platform censor messages he disfavors.
On Aug. 30, de Moraes officially suspended X nationwide in Brazil. He also froze the bank accounts of Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX that provides internet access via satellite.
In his order, de Moraes said X presents a “real danger” of “negatively influencing the electorate in 2024, with massive misinformation, with the aim of unbalancing the electoral result, based on hate campaigns in the digital age, to favor extremist populist groups.”
Besides the former attorneys general, signers of the Sept. 12 letter to Brazilian lawmakers include three members of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, The Daily Wire’s Megan Basham, bestselling author Rod Dreher, podcaster Tammy Peterson, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, X “Spaces” host Mario Nawfal, former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and leading academics such as Princeton University’s Robert P. George.
Sifting through de Moraes’ parade of red herrings reveals that he and others in power in Brazil fear that allowing access to certain speech on X might lead to an electoral result they wouldn’t like.
As international pressure builds against Brazil’s scurrilous attacks on Musk, X, and the fundamental human right to free speech, many Americans are awakening to the rising global tide of censorship at home.
Now, back to Colorado, where current state law invades the sanctity of the counselor-patient relationship. For patients who desire to live according to their true identity as image-bearers of God, created biologically male or female, the state has declared that any message other than so-called gender-affirming care will put a mental health care professional’s license at risk.
Colorado’s “pro-choice” legislators, who frequently pontificate that the issue of abortion should be left to women and their doctors, also banned doctors from offering women progesterone to counter the effects of the abortion pill.
Thankfully, legal challenges to this Colorado law are underway, but the chilling message from the Legislature is clear: The only state-approved choice once an abortion pill is taken is the one that results in the death of an unborn child. And that’s the only choice about which women can be trusted with information.
Government as gatekeeper to information in Colorado isn’t limited to the state. Local school officials decided that parents didn’t need to know their daughter would be required to share a room on an overnight field trip with a male who identified as female. Apparently, the parents couldn’t be trusted to make the “right” decision for their child. Much better to leave it to the “experts,” of course.
Colorado is also home to Lorie Smith and Jack Phillips.
Smith, who witnessed the now decadelong persecution of Phillips, a Christian baker and self-described cake artist, at the hands of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Smith took that body to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she won the most significant victory for free speech in many years.
Smith, a graphic artist, won for herself and other artists across the nation the Supreme Court’s recognition that coerced speech and censorship are two sides of the same unconstitutional coin. Phillips now waits to see if the Colorado Supreme Court will affirm this same principle for him.
At the heart of the matter in Brazil and Colorado is the widening gulf between the governing and the governed. It is a tempestuous sea of mistrust.
Government officials assume the role of arbiters of truth and the authority to decide what information the masses should have at their disposal. It is a story that has played out on the world stage many times and one that rarely has ended well for the common man or freedom.
America, owing to its extraordinary constitutional protections for the God-given rights of the individual, has been an exception to the general rule of history for nearly two and half centuries.
As Walsh would put it, “Life’s been good.” To remain so requires vigilance in defense of liberty at home as exemplary leadership for the world.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
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.
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Organizers for the Pikes Peak or Bust Parade announced on Friday, June 19, that due to a lack of resources, the parade has been canceled.
Originally scheduled for July 11 in Downtown Colorado Springs, parade organizers said they could not secure the resources needed to produce the event at the level the community deserves.
“We know many of you were looking forward to the parade, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who offered their time, support, sponsorship, and enthusiasm,” said organizers.
While the parade will no longer be taking place on July 11, organizers said the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo will return on July 14 through July 18, and tickets remain on sale.
Organizers hope to see the Colorado Springs community at the rodeo, and they remain hopeful that the beloved tradition can return in the future.
Denver Post writers have explored Colorado’s many corners and offer ways to find fun, relaxation or something new for summer. Take a look at how you can expand your possibilities this season if you’re keeping travel close to home this year.
In the mountains
Colorado’s 10 most popular hikes, according to AllTrails
Colorado waterfall hike: Copeland Falls best this time of year in early morning
This hiking trail near Red Rocks will help you get in shape for 14er season
Gorgeous Colorado hike reopens this summer with new rules for hiking, camping, human waste
An Estes Park getaway can be about more than just the outdoors
Camping
Gorgeous Colorado hike reopens this summer with new rules for hiking, camping, human waste
Forest service now charging $20 for dispersed camping in Homestake Valley
Within driving distance
These adult summer retreats can help Coloradans escape burnout
Big balloons will rise above Colorado’s heat this summer; watch ’em soar or take a ride
Looking for beach vibes? Here’s where to find them in landlocked Colorado
Movie-theater hotel adds vintage Airstreams, Quonset huts in San Luis Valley
Sleep in a treehouse, hike with llamas, stargaze and more summer whimsy
Pick your own flowers at these farms and garden centers in Colorado
Is city fishing safe? Yes, experts say, but there are updated guidelines to follow.
Big balloons will rise above Colorado’s heat this summer; watch ’em soar or take a ride
Here’s where to fish with kids near Denver
Summer fun
Biodegradable pickleballs, size-inclusive skorts made in Colorado and other sports gear we love
More women are playing padel than ever — and for good reason
Meet the Boulder dogs cast in this summer’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Gravel biking events are a hot commodity in Colorado this summer
Want to get off your phone? Learn blacksmithing or floral design at these Colorado classes and makerspaces.
Beyond Colorado
10 tree-house hotels in the U.S. for you to commune with nature in comfort
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