CO Legislative News

The following article appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette today.
Republicans replace Pueblo West Senator - (from the Associated Press)
"As expected, Republicans have selected former state legislator Lewis Entz to replace Pueblo West Sen. Gigi Dennis, who resigned to take an appointment with the Bush Administration. Entz, a Republican from Hooper in the San Luis Valley, was the only person nominated by the Republicans' Senate District 5 vacancy committee. It met Saturday to replace Dennis, and the vote for Entz was unanimous.
Dennis resigned last week to become Colorado state director of the Department of Agriculture's Office of Rural Development.
Entz will be sworn in Wednesday morning. He represented the San Luis Valley as a state representative for 16 years before being forced out by term limits in 1998. Entz also has 14 years experience as an Alamosa County commissioner and most recently served on the Colorado Water Conservation Board. He said Dennis leaves him with "big shoes to fill", adding that it would be a challenge catching up on legislative business for the last five weeks of the session.
Entz promised to represent small communities as much as large ones, calling rural communities "the backbone of the nation."