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Valerie Richardson

Valerie Richardson

Valerie Richardson covers politics and the West from Denver. She can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Valerie Richardson

**FILE** Three young girls walk past the Med Stop marijuana dispensary in Denver, located across from Del Pueblo Elementary School, on Jan. 12, 2012. (Associated Press)

Federal authorities raid Colorado medical marijuana operations

Federal authorities descended without warning Thursday morning on multiple Colorado medical marijuana operations, seizing plants and executing search warrants at shops as part of what was described as an ongoing investigation. Published November 21, 2013

A San Francisco Police Officer with a Batkid sign on his bike waits for the arrival of Miles Scott, dressed as Batkid, in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. San Francisco turned into Gotham City on Friday, as city officials helped fulfill Scott's wish to be "Batkid." Scott, a leukemia patient from Tulelake in far Northern California, was called into service on Friday morning by San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr to help fight crime, The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation says. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Veteran cops challenge San Francisco’s gun limit laws

Gun rights advocates are challenging a newly signed San Francisco law that bans ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds and gives owners 90 days to hand them over to police. Published November 20, 2013

Hudak

Hudak fights recall drive in Colo. with D.C. cash

Colorado state Sen. Evie Hudak, the latest Democrat to be swept up in the state's recall brushfire, is fighting back with a cash infusion from Washington, D.C. Published November 10, 2013

**FILE** Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg speaks at the Real Estate Board of New York on Thursday, May 30, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Colorado voters slap down Bloomberg-backed income-tax hike

Voters kicked him to the curb again at the ballot box, rejecting a proposed statewide income-tax hike heavily financed by Mr. Bloomberg just two months after ushering out two Democratic state senators who backed his gun-control agenda. Published November 6, 2013

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, facing a secession movement, said "when I think of Colorado, it means all of our diverse communities and people." (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Colorado secession proposal lags in some counties

Those planning to move to a newly created 51st state carved from secession-minded rural counties in Northern Colorado may want to hold off on renting the U-Haul. Published November 5, 2013

FILE -- This May 12, 2006 file photo shows Homaidan al-Turki, right, and his wife Sarah Khonaizan as they arrive for a hearing at the Arapahoe County courthouse in Centennial, Colo. Homaidan al-Turki, a Saudi national serving eight years in prison in Colorado on a sexual assault conviction, appeared at a hearing today Oct.24, 2013, to ask a judge to release him from prison and allow him to serve probation instead. He seeks to be deported to his home country to serve the rest of his sentence.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

Saudis lobby for release of Colo. sex offender

On the surface, Homaidan al-Turki may not seem like the world's most sympathetic prison inmate, given his 2006 conviction for keeping his Indonesian housekeeper as a sex slave for four years. Published November 3, 2013

A protester carries a sign and wears a pin during a pro-coal rally in front of the state Capitol, in Denver, Wednesday Oct. 30, 2013. Various industry groups came together for the protest Wednesday, while nearby the Environmental Protection Agency held hearings on future rules to stem emissions from existing power plants, in one of 11 meetings being held across the country. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Coal advocates press case to EPA

Environmental Protection Agency officials received an earful at Wednesday's listening-tour stop in Denver as most speakers urged the agency to stop what they described as the Obama administration's war on the coal industry. Published October 30, 2013

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law every measure sent to him by the Democrat-controlled legislature, including the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, passed with no Republican votes. The act allows same-day voter registration and makes mail-in voting the norm. Critics of the law fear it will turn the two recall elections Tuesday into a statewide free-for-all. (Associated Press)

Colorado voters will be asked to make secession official

Eleven rural counties upset over a growing divide with the Democrat-dominated state government are asking voters on the Nov. 5 ballot whether their elected officials should pursue the creation of another state carved from northern Colorado. Published October 28, 2013

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, right, flanked by Tim Knight, who led the recall movement in Colorado against two state legislators for the votes on gun control laws,  announced that they are considering a recall campaign against five Democratic state lawmakers for their support of gun control bills in California, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

California gun grab triggers Colorado-style recall launch

California gun-rights advocates, emboldened by last month's successful Colorado recall vote, announced Thursday that they plan to target vulnerable Democratic legislators for recall over their support for sweeping gun-control legislation. Published October 25, 2013