The Mountain Minute: 9/24/2025

🎧 Mountain Minute – September 24, 2025
This week brings a wave of headlines — from budget crises and prison surges here in Colorado to new White House health warnings and national battles over Charlie Kirk’s legacy. Here’s your roundup.

Colorado News:
🔹 Evergreen healing – Students are slowly returning after the high school shooting. Senior Sylvia Howell says it’s an emotional process, filled with hugs, tears, and shared healing.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/a-seniors-perspective-fear-hope-and-the-path-forward-at-evergreen/

🔹 Budget crunch – Next year’s state programs could cost $850M more than available funds, driven by soaring Medicaid costs and TABOR’s strict growth cap.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/state-budget-growth-cap-leaves-colorado-with-tough-choices-ahead/

🔹 Child abuse hotline fight – The Colorado Supreme Court is weighing whether officials wrongly denied journalists access to hotline data vital for accountability.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/colorado-supreme-court-to-decide-if-state-wrongly-denied-child-abuse-hotline-data-to-media-orgs/

🔹 Prison surge – Colorado’s prison population is rising again as parole violators are sent back behind bars. Critics call it harsh, but supporters see a return to law and order.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/colorados-surge-in-prison-population-signals-return-to-law-and-order/

🔹 Water lessons – “Harris Water Time” revisits the Colorado River Compact’s century of negotiations that still shape today’s drought and equity disputes.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/harris-water-time-and-the-colorado-river-compacts-century-of-lessons/

🔹 AI in legal services – Colorado’s legal industry is turning to automation for research and hiring, sparking debate over efficiency versus what’s lost.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/has-ai-begun-transforming-employment-in-the-colorado-legal-services-industry/

National News:
🔹 1776 Project PAC campaign – The group is targeting teachers who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination, saying anyone cheering murder shouldn’t be in the classroom.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/1776-project-pac-launches-accountability-campaign-against-teachers-celebrating-kirks-assassination/

🔹 TPUSA blocked in Texas – Activists pressured teachers to stop students from starting a TPUSA chapter, with critics saying kids were even doxxed for supporting conservative values.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/texas-parents-pressured-by-activist-group-to-block-conservative-tpusa-chapter/

🔹 Tylenol warning – President Trump and HHS Secretary RFK Jr. warned Tylenol use in pregnancy may raise autism risks, while touting a treatment path. Tylenol’s maker disputes the claims.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/white-house-links-tylenol-in-pregnancy-to-autism-pushes-new-treatment-path/

🔹 Sinclair vs. Kimmel – Sinclair Broadcasting refuses to air Jimmy Kimmel despite Disney promoting his return, after backlash over his cruel jokes about Charlie Kirk.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/09/23/sinclair-holds-firm-rejects-airing-jimmy-kimmel-while-abc-parent-company-disney-touts-return/

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