Valerie Richardson

Gay-marriage foes slam plans to televise Prop 8 trial

Supporters of traditional marriage are outraged over a California judge's efforts to bring television cameras into court next week to cover a trial challenging Proposition 8, California's initiative against gay marriage.

January 6, 2010

Feisty Pombo will run again

Former Rep. Richard Pombo, the feisty California Republican known for his black cowboy hats and his epic battles with environmentalists, announced Tuesday that he will run again for Congress.

January 6, 2010

Native Hawaiian tribal rights bill spurs row

The next time President Obama vacations in his native Hawaii, there could be something new on the island: an Indian tribe.

January 5, 2010

Drug skeptics fear Colorado going to pot

When Colorado voters passed an amendment in 2000 allowing medical marijuana use, it was not clear that they were giving the go-ahead to launch hundreds of over-the-counter pot shops across the state. Yet that's the reality.

January 4, 2010

Retailers judged naughty or nice on Christmas theme

The Gap is naughty, Target is nice, and Dick's Sporting Goods is a little of both, according to results of Focus on the Family's Stand for Christmas project, which invites shoppers to evaluate retailers based on Christmas-friendliness.

December 24, 2009

Balloon-boy hoax parents get jail terms

The Fort Collins, Colo., parents behind the balloon-boy hoax received short jail sentences for falsely reporting that their young son had floated off in a homemade balloon in order to gain publicity for a reality television show.

December 24, 2009

‘Balloon boy’s‘ parents get jail time

The mastermind of the "balloon boy" hoax, Richard Heene, was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail for his role in triggering an international panic by falsely reporting that his son had floated off in a balloon.

December 23, 2009

Colo. court upholds tax privacy for illegals

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that authorities violated the constitutional privacy rights of suspected undocumented workers when they seized their tax records in an identity-theft investigation.

December 15, 2009

Colo. court upholds illegals’ privacy rights

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that authorities violated the constitutional privacy rights of illegal immigrants when they seized their tax records in an identify-theft investigation, a decision that infuriated illegal-immigration foes.

December 14, 2009

University of Colorado bans Nerf guns

Shortly after Colorado State University voted to ban firearms, the University of Colorado decided to get rid of simulated toy weapons.

December 11, 2009

Colo. college shoots down Nerf gun use

It was a rough week for gun rights in Colorado.

December 9, 2009

Abortion re-emerges as top issue

Those who remember the 1980s must be experiencing deja vu: Meryl Streep is the toast of Hollywood, Michael Jackson's latest release debuted at the top of the charts, and abortion is the hot-button political topic in Washington.

December 8, 2009

Tancredo rouses gun rights advocates

DENVER | Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, best known for his tough stand in Congress against illegal immigration, has taken up a new cause since his retirement from the House last year: defending American gun owners against international treaties.

December 4, 2009

Delayed Pap test proposal, breast cancer report fuel health fight

A leading medical group added new fuel to a budding health care controversy on Friday by recommending that women delay their first cervical-cancer screening until age 21 instead of starting the test three years after becoming sexually active.

November 21, 2009

Tribe battles to keep logo for Fighting Sioux

The most prominent defenders of the University of North Dakota's right to call its teams the Fighting Sioux are neither alumni nor hockey fans.

November 20, 2009

Sebelius shuns new mammogram report

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rejected an independent panel's advice that breast-cancer screenings be delayed for women in their 40s in the face of a backlash by Republicans, who argued the report is a taste of things to come under a Democratic health care system.

November 19, 2009

Colorado joins trend to tax medical marijuana

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. on Tuesday directed the state's medical-marijuana dispensaries to pay sales tax and obtain retail-sales licenses, bringing the once-taboo product closer to mainstream respectability.

November 18, 2009

Washington Blade closes; new paper for gays planned

The Washington Blade stopped the presses Monday after 40 years, but another publication serving the gay community may rise in its ashes.

November 17, 2009

Washington Blade newspaper shutters

The Washington Blade newspaper has shut down after 40 years, but staffers say they plan another publication to serve Washington's gay community.

November 16, 2009

‘Balloon boy’ parents set to plead guilty

The Colorado parents accused of perpetrating the "balloon boy" hoax were charged with felony and misdemeanor counts Thursday and have agreed to plead guilty Friday as part of a plea agreement.

November 13, 2009