Health care  

Denver Business Journal: Colorado community health centers expect to add 5,000 jobs
Colorado's 15 community health centers launched a joint campaign Wednesday to add 5,000 more jobs by 2014, with leaders saying the employment increase will be needed when 540,000 more state residents are expected to be insured upon implementation of the federal health care reform law.

Colorado Springs Independent: Memorial issue pushed
A city task force is urging for a measure on the Nov. 1 ballot asking voters whether to change Memorial Health System's business model. While task force member and Councilor Tim Leigh says the measure should wait, task force chair Jan Martin, Council president pro tem, says the matter has been studied long enough.

Summit Daily News commentary: Health & health care: Too important to remain silent
Nothing is more important than your health and the health of your family. But the decisions we make as a community - and as a state - shape the health and health care experiences of individuals living here. That's why Summit Community Care Clinic is so excited about the Colorado HealthStory project. Personal stories about real people's health and health care experiences are the best way to learn what is working and what's not.


Jobs and economic security
The Denver Post: Job openings on the rise at nonprofit groups, group says
Amid the gloom of the job market, there is a bright spot where openings are up 34 percent over this time last year.

Aspen Times via Glenwood Springs Post-Independent: Udall seeks review of worker visa program
Senator expresses concerns that lack of oversight of foreign worker program might harm U.S. workers.  

Greeley Tribune: Greeley posts 3.9 percent increase in personal income in 2009-10
The growth can be attributed at least in part to a recent surge in oil and gas industry employment, which has seen the workforce for energy support services grow 20 percent from 2009-10, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.


Fiscal policy
Longmont Times-Call: SVVSD leaders support Initiative 25
Initiative 25, if it makes it to the November ballot, is Colorado schools' best chance for increased funding, so the St. Vrain Valley School District Board of Education unanimously approved on Wednesday a resolution supporting the measure. The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a project of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, is a main proponent of Initiative 25. Find details at www.brightcolorado.com.

Denver Post commentary: Lobato lawsuit unfounded
The plaintiffs' legal claim is based on Article IX, Section 2 of the Colorado Constitution, which reads, "The General Assembly shall, as soon as practicable, provide for the establishment and maintenance of a thorough and uniform system of free public schools throughout the State . . . ." The key words in that clause are "free," "thorough" and "uniform." Since money for schools doesn't fall from the sky, public education could hardly be free. It must necessarily be funded by taxpayers. So "free," in this sense, means without tuition for students. The constitution does not imply that spending be unlimited.
Also: Colorado News Agency commentary: In Lobato, might high court issue a ruling it can't enforce?
Also: The Durango Herald: Teachers from Cortez testify in Lobato school finance trial

Loveland Reporter-Herald: Loveland mom worries about safety after busing cuts
"I'm sorry we had to reduce bus services," said Leonard Sherman, a member of the board whose district includes Mary Blair. "The budget is what the budget is. We've reduced teaching staff. We've reduced administrative staff. We've reduced classified personnel. We had to do what we had to do to balance the budget."

Vail Daily: Eagle River fire district tax proposal will go to voters
Eagle River Fire Protection District says it faces a $1.7 million shortfall, needs more revenue.

Salida Mountain Mail: County will present three ballot questions
(A) proposed tax would be applied to vehicles licensed to travel on public streets or highways, and commissioners indicated they are considering an exemption for vehicles larger than one ton, including farm equipment. A second ballot question will ask voters for a 1.25 mill levy to pay off the debt on the Chaffee County Detention Facility. The proposed levy would adjust annually and sunset when the jail is paid off in 13 years. A final initiative on the ballot will ask voters for permission to raise the countywide sales tax by .25 percent. The increase would cover one-time county capital expenditures and could not be used to create or pay off long-term debt.


Justice
Colorado Springs Gazette editorial: Let's drug test welfare users
Do what Florida has done to those who head welfare families, only do it with those who head government-fed corporations. Before bailing out AIG types, at a cost of $180-plus billion, at the very least demand drug tests on the CEO and board. The taxpayer has a right to know that anyone given billions will manage the public funds in a state of complete sobriety and obedience to law.