Monument’s council voted 7–0 to bar e-motos, electric dirt bikes and off-highway vehicles from the town’s streets, sidewalks, trails and parks, with a fine of up to $250 for a parent who knowingly lets a minor ride one. It also voted 7–0 to support Ballot Issue 2B, the construction use tax on the November 3 […]
Tag: 2026 Elections
Posted inGovernment
If the City Says No, Try the County
Projects that failed to get into Colorado Springs, Monument or Palmer Lake keep reappearing before El Paso County, where the answer is nearly always yes. Voters in Colorado Springs and Palmer Lake have claimed a say over annexation. A bottling plant that, fully built out, could use as much water as the development Colorado Springs […]
Posted inOpinion
Half of Colorado’s Voters Belong to No Party
Matthew McConaughey asked Americans on Sunday to stop treating a vote for an independent candidate as a wasted one. In a state where unaffiliated voters outnumber Democrats and Republicans combined, the argument deserves a hearing, and Colorado’s independents can begin with a ballot they already receive. Matthew McConaughey’s six-minute video, posted to Facebook on Oct. […]
Posted inGovernment
2B Asks Monument’s Builders to Pay the Rate Shoppers Already Do
Monument taxes construction materials at 2 percent, a lower rate than any of ten Front Range towns of similar size. Nine of those ten set that tax at the same rate as their sales tax. Ballot Issue 2B would raise Monument’s to 3.5 percent, put the town in the middle of the group, and send […]
Posted inGovernment
Laura Kronick Reads Every Line of the Budget. Now She Is Running for Mayor.
A retired Hewlett-Packard solution architect who served on the Monument Sanitation District board before joining the council, Laura Kronick has built her time in town government around reading the books line by line. As mayor, she says, she would bring the region’s water providers and outside experts together to find a renewable supply the town […]
Posted inGovernment
Kenneth Kimple Wants Monument Ready Before It Needs to Be. Now He Is Running for Mayor.
A retired Navy air traffic controller who manages Fort Carson’s airfield, Kenneth Kimple has spent years on the Planning Commission and the council pressing the town to plan ahead: for a wildfire evacuation on the east side, a backup connection for its water, and roads that can carry its growth. As mayor, he says, he […]
Posted inGovernment
Palmer Lake Candidate Forum, October 4, 2026: Revenue, Water, Buc-ee’s and the Fire Department
Ten of the twelve candidates for Palmer Lake mayor and trustee answered six questions at a Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce forum at Palmer Lake Town Hall on Sunday, Oct. 4, the day before ballots were mailed. Several kept returning to the town’s finances; the town administrator estimated last month that Palmer Lake could run out […]
Posted inOpinion
The Ethics Behind “Traditional Methods”
A pediatric dentist who teaches residents at Children’s Hospital Colorado has written against Amendment 83, the measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that would put a right to hunt and fish into the Colorado Constitution. She is studying for a doctorate in bioethics, and her letter, offered to The Independent for publication, turns on the […]
Posted inGovernment
Atis Jurka Wants Palmer Lake Residents Heard First. Now He Is Running for Mayor.
A retired Army officer who has spent two years on Palmer Lake’s board, and cast its lone dissent on some of its biggest decisions, is asking voters to make him mayor. Atis Jurka’s campaign rests on the idea that residents should be heard before decisions are made and able to see how their money is […]
Posted inGovernment
No Rural Health Transformation Money Reaches El Paso County
The federal official who runs the program announced Colorado’s $169 million share from Colorado Springs on Monday, alongside the congressman for the Fifth District. None of the money may be spent in El Paso County, which is not among the 52 counties the program covers. Federal rules keep at least 85 percent of it from […]