Valerie Richardson
Articles by Valerie Richardson
Bill calls human embryo ‘person’
The North Dakota Legislature is taking center stage in the abortion debate as it moves to define a fertilized human egg as a person — an effort viewed largely as a vehicle to challenge the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing abortion. Published February 24, 2009
Calif. budget dumps furniture
The California Legislature ended its three-month budget impasse Thursday, but not before axing state Controller John Chiang's plans for new office furniture. Published February 20, 2009
Fake-rifle student returning to school
A Colorado high school student expelled for having fake drill-team rifles in her car was cleared Friday to return to school. Published February 14, 2009
Student in hot water for mock rifles
Marie Morrow, an honors student and drill-team commander in the Young Marines, isn't the kind of student who normally gets expelled. Published February 13, 2009
Akaka’s sovereignty fight garners Obama’s backing
The stars finally may have aligned for Sen. Daniel K. Akaka's effort to win sovereignty for Native Hawaiians. Published February 10, 2009
Salazar gains plaudits from environmentalists
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is a tough guy to categorize. Published February 8, 2009
Comptroller blasted for ‘plush’ office
California State Controller John Chiang may be preaching fiscal restraint in the face of the state's budget crisis, but he's practicing something else, according to one Republican legislator. Published February 5, 2009
Shooting death fuels debate over guns
Sean Kennedy, a 22-year-old golf pro, drunkenly banged on the door, yelled obscenities and smashed a window as he tried to enter what he thought was his house. Published February 2, 2009
Prisoner-transfer plan resisted in Colorado
Nuclear waste has nothing on terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Published January 27, 2009
Inaugural poet fits right in with Obama choices
Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, not a politician, but there's a symmetry between her selection as inaugural poet and that of the president-elect's choices for his inner circle of advisers. Published January 19, 2009
Traditions stand test of time, D.C. politics
The presidential inauguration is steeped in history, pageantry and tradition, much of which occurred by accident. Published January 19, 2009
Bush delists gray wolf in majority of U.S.
DENVER | The Bush administration removed the Canadian gray wolf from the Endangered Species List on Wednesday in every state except Wyoming, making a last-ditch bid to put states in charge of the animal's recovery in the face of staunch environmental opposition. Published January 15, 2009
Blacks lead both houses in Colo.
Terrance Carroll and Peter C. Groff can be forgiven if they're secretly annoyed with the president-elect for stealing their thunder. The two Coloradans are about to make history as the first blacks to preside over both houses of a state legislature in the same session. Published January 6, 2009
Gay marriage backers target New England
Two New England states have already legalized same-sex marriage, and a Boston-based advocacy group wants to see the other four join them. Published January 4, 2009
Colo. GOP sees 2010 election boost
It's hard to say who was feeling luckier after the Senate announcement in Colorado Saturday: Published January 4, 2009
Denver educator eyed for Salazar’s Senate seat
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. stunned the state's political establishment Friday after word leaked that he planned to name Denver's little-known schools chief to succeed Sen. Ken Salazar, the Interior secretary nominee. Published January 3, 2009
Unions clash with cost-cutting state legislators
Unions invested heavily in the 2008 election in Colorado, and it paid off: The labor movement defeated three anti-labor initiatives, including a right-to-work measure, and helped Democrats increase their edge in Congress and the Legislature. Published December 30, 2008
Denver axes mascot ‘Boone’ in diversity drive
Many universities have come under pressure to reject their American Indian mascots, but in what may be a first, the University of Denver has ditched a non-Indian mascot on the grounds he wasn't sufficiently diverse. Published December 27, 2008
Candidates aplenty for Salazar’s seat
DENVER | When Ken Salazar leaves the Senate to head the Interior Department, as expected, there won't be any shortage of prominent Colorado Democrats to succeed him. Published December 19, 2008
Greens worry Obama will drop their cause
Environmentalists fear their top priority - a national climate-change policy - will be sidetracked in Congress by concerns over the slumping economy. Published December 16, 2008
