By Quentin Young | editor
“As a state official, however far down it is, they’re still bound by the Constitution ... It’s not that you wait till litigation occurs.”
— Steven Green, law professor at Willamette University, on Colorado’s approach to a public religious school
A historic 38-star American flag, featuring a star for Colorado, the 38th state. (Photo courtesy of History Colorado)
By Chase Woodruff
From an art market in downtown Denver to a pancake supper in Olathe, public events will be held all across the state this weekend to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood. A proclamation by President Ulysses S. Grant on Aug. 1, 1876, admitted Colorado as the 38th state in the union. Coming less than a month after the nation’s 100th birthday celebration, Grant’s proclamation ensured that Colorado would be known by the nickname that a Denver newspaper had first suggested a year earlier — the Centennial State.
A view of the Colorado Department of Education building on Colfax Avenue in downtown Denver. (Google Maps)
By Ann Schimke
When the religious Riverstone Academy applied for a public school designation, several Colorado Department of Education employees raised red flags internally and escalated the issue to state lawyers, according to emails obtained through a public records request. Still, Riverstone got its public school code, and the department didn’t confront the school’s authorizer until months later, after the group’s director publicly announced that Riverstone was “Colorado’s first public Christian school.” This story comes to Newsline from Chalkbeat Colorado.
A mail ballot drop box is seen at a polling station on Nov. 4, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Jacob Fischler
The Trump administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a district court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s broad March 31 executive order restricting vote-by-mail. The move came just two days after a federal appeals court denied the administration’s request to resume the controversial plan, which would force significant limits and voter information collection requirements on states in regard to vote-by-mail. It also sets up a high-stakes confrontation at the high court between the administration and the 23 states that sued over the Trump order, a little more than three months before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
He fled gang violence. Now this ICE detainee in Aurora tries to avoid deportation. | By Lindsey Toomer
Flood of poll watchers, observers, monitors to descend on midterm voters | By David Lightman
Commentary: Yes, breathing wildfire smoke can harm your health | By Colleen E. Reid
Thanks for reading Newsliner. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.