Bente Birkeland
Bente Birkeland has covered Colorado politics and government since spring of 2006. She loves the variety and challenge of the state capitol beat and talking to people from all walks of life. Bente's work has aired on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, American PublicMedia'sMarketplace, and she was a contributor for WNYC's The Next Big Thing. She has won numerous local and national awards, including best beat reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. Bente grew up in Minnesota and England, and loves skiing, hiking, and is an aspiring cello player. She lives in Lakewood with her husband.
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More states have adopted redistricting commissions as an antidote to gerrymandering over the past decade. Depending on the state, commissions look and function very differently. Are they working?
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Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who in 2018 became the first openly gay man ever elected governor in the U.S., wed his longtime partner on Wednesday.
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A county clerk in Colorado is under investigation after sensitive information about the county's voting machines appeared on conspiracy websites.
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Colorado officials are pointing the finger at the Mesa County clerk, who's currently attending a conference promoting claims that the 2020 election was rigged.
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Independent redistricting commissions in Colorado and other states were meant to take some of the politics out of the process. Recent events, though, show that parties are still pushing for influence.
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Republicans in more than 30 states have introduced bills to criminalize or limit the rights of protesters. Simultaneously, some Democratic-led states are working to better protect protesters.
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Reports of psychosis associated with new cannabis concentrates have half a dozen states proposing new regulations They're also proposing more taxes to fund research about the unknowns in concentrates.
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Voting machine engineer Eric Coomer was falsely accused of rigging the election against former President Donald Trump by the conservative cable network. He faced death threats and has been in hiding.
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Weeks after the mass shooting in Boulder, Colo., the push for a statewide ban on assault-style weapons is losing steam, even among prominent Democrats who say it is the wrong strategy.
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Immediately following the shooting in Boulder that killed 10 people, some Colorado Democrats said they would push for a statewide ban on assault-style weapons. Now support for a ban is waning.