All posts by Kurtis Lee

Features, Writing

Here’s what Colorado’s governor has to tell other states about legalizing marijuana

CORONADO, Calif. – Four years ago, in the hours after Colorado became one of the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, Gov. John Hickenlooper sounded a cautionary, if humorous, note: “Don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly.”

State voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, and Hickenlooper found himself wrestling with how to implement a law he had opposed.

Now, with other states passing similar measures, the Democrat has settled into an unexpected role — a kind of marijuana counselor to his peers. Governors call him up, he said, to ask for advice on pot.

“You don’t get to choose what your legacy is,” he said.

In the weeks before Californians voted to legalize recreational cannabis last month, Gov. Jerry Brown called Hickenlooper for consultation. Like Hickenlooper, Brown did not endorse the effort.

Read more at Los Angeles Times

Features, Writing

Democrats chase votes in Nevada’s rural outposts, far beyond Las Vegas’ glamour

PAHRUMP, Nev. — Along pothole-pocked Route 160, campaign signs for Hillary Clinton appear every few miles, erected among gravel and weeds beneath towering billboards for fireworks and R.V. resorts.

Such support for a Democrat is unusual in this community known for its deep conservatism, where residents sometimes shop at Wal-Mart with pistols holstered to their hips.

Continue reading Democrats chase votes in Nevada’s rural outposts, far beyond Las Vegas’ glamour →

Writing

Democratic candidates court Culinary Union, the kingmaker of Nevada

LAS VEGAS — When Edgar Montano first moved here two years ago, his work at a carwash offered sporadic hours, dismal pay and no job security.

Today, tending to guest rooms at the Luxor, the vast pyramid-shaped hotel on the southern tip of the Las Vegas Strip, his job folding linens and restocking toiletries provides the 21-year-old enough money — about $17 an hour — to not only pay rent to his stepmother, but send something back to relatives in Michoacan, Mexico.

Continue reading Democratic candidates court Culinary Union, the kingmaker of Nevada →

Writing

Candidates interrupted: Why presidential hopefuls are getting heckled by allies

When activists from the Black Lives Matter movement arrived at a campaign rally for Hillary Rodham Clinton last month with plans to disrupt the event, they were blocked at the door by Secret Service agents and herded into an overflow room. No room, they were told.

A noisy spectacle was averted, but the news spread quickly on social media, and Clinton staffers had to scramble.

Continue reading Candidates interrupted: Why presidential hopefuls are getting heckled by allies →

Features, Writing

Amid Ferguson unrest, Antonio French finds a national following

FERGUSON, Mo. – Antonio French sat in the front passenger seat of an air-conditioned sedan parked behind vandalized and boarded-up Red’s BBQ on West Florissant Avenue, scrolling through his iPhone, reading a barrage of tweets, emails and text messages.

Nods of appreciation and media interview requests have kept his phone vibrating these last few weeks.

“It’s been like a blur,” said French, in a respite from the muggy afternoon air. “We’ve been out here every day trying to maintain some focus.”

It’s a new reality for the St. Louis native and alderman.

In the two weeks since a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, French has become a pinnacle figure in what’s evolved into a national call for justice.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times

Writing

Amendment 66 defeat capped a year of challenges for Gov. Hickenlooper

Standing alone before a lectern in a downtown Denver hotel ballroom Tuesday night, Gov. John Hickenlooper did what’s been rare in his decade-long political career: offer a concession speech.

“At a certain point you take risk, but then you look at the reward,” said Hickenlooper, a Democrat, as election night ballots revealed a stark statewide rebuke of the $1 billion income tax increase for education that the governor staunchly supported. “And the opportunity to define Colorado as the national model for public education … that reward more than justified the risk of going out there with again — in a difficult year — a tax increase.”

For Hickenlooper, who is vying for a second term in next year’s election, taking political risks has encompassed much of 2013, say some political observers.

Tuesday’s defeat caps off a year in which the governor has been assailed by critics across the aisle as grossly out of touch with the state’s moderate electorate. He backed a package of gun-control bills, supported a measure that doubles renewable-energy standards for rural Coloradans and supported a sweeping elections-reform measure.

Read more at The Denver Post.