Tariffs, Tick-Borne Illness, and the Fight to Protect Colorado’s Kids

On Monday, June 22, 2026, guest host Yvonne Paez filled in for Kim Monson with a morning that ranged from Colorado’s roads to the world economy. State Farm agent Roger Mangan examined the cost of the state’s uninsured drivers, Carol Lucero detailed three ballot measures to protect children, Pam Long broke down tick-borne illness and how to prevent it, and Susan Kochevar made the case for tariffs and rebuilding American industry.

What Colorado’s Uninsured Drivers Cost Everyone Else

Start listening at 07:43 – Hour 1

Roger Mangan, a State Farm agent with more than 50 years in the business, told listeners that uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage has become one of the largest line items on a Colorado auto policy. On a typical premium of $1,000 every six months, he said, $300 to $400 now goes toward covering drivers who carry no insurance at all.

The reason, Mangan argued, is that Colorado does not enforce its own law. State statute requires every driver to carry coverage and lets police impound the cars of those who do not, yet officers rarely have the time or resources to act. The result is that paying customers subsidize the uninsured through their own policies. He pointed listeners to their legislators, who he said fund the system too thinly to enforce the law already on the books.

Mangan also urged drivers to match coverage to their circumstances, suggesting that collision coverage on a 15-year-old car worth a few thousand dollars can cost more over time than it would ever pay out. His office, he said, will review any driver’s policy at no charge, even for people who are not clients.

“So essentially, you’re buying insurance in your policy for the uninsured driver out there in Colorado.”

Roger Mangan, State Farm agent

Three Ballot Measures and a Record-Breaking Petition Drive

Start listening at 16:20 – Hour 1

Carol Lucero, a volunteer with Protect Kids Colorado, said three citizen initiatives she helped circulate have qualified for the November ballot. The first would impose life sentences on those who traffic children, the second would protect girls’ sports and private spaces from biological males, and the third would bar irreversible sex-change surgery on minors. Lucero said internal polling showed each measure drawing roughly 80 percent support.

She traced the effort to Erin Lee, the founder of Protect Kids Colorado, whose daughter was secretly transitioned through an after-school club, a story Lucero noted first broke on this station. What began with about 100 volunteers grew to more than 3,300 circulators across the state. At one large church, signature lines ran 20 people deep and the team returned for five straight weekends, gathering 10,000 signatures at that single location.

When the boxes reached the Secretary of State, Lucero said, 91 percent of the signatures were validated, which she described as a state record. She framed the campaign as pro-child, asking only that serious, permanent decisions wait until adulthood.

“We want kids to have that opportunity to stay kids.”

Carol Lucero, Protect Kids Colorado volunteer

Tick-Borne Illness, Natural Remedies, and an Old Question

Start listening at 29:51 – Hour 1

Pam Long, a West Point graduate and military director for Health Freedom Defense, said tick-borne illness is finally drawing federal attention after years of neglect. She pointed to a new $10 million Health and Human Services initiative on Lyme disease, which infects roughly 500,000 Americans a year and turns chronic in about 20 percent of cases, often mimicking rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and multiple sclerosis.

For prevention, Long recommended long sleeves, tucked pant legs, light colors, and staying to the center of trails, along with plant-based repellents using oils such as lemon eucalyptus, cedar, and peppermint. She described tick-removal tools and the value of saving a tick for testing, plus natural antibacterials such as Japanese knotweed. Research shows they can outperform some pharmaceutical antibiotics against the bacteria that causes Lyme, she said.

Long, whose own son contracted Lyme disease, also raised a question she said listeners should weigh for themselves. Citing decades of documented government experiments with insects and aerosols, she asked whether today’s novel tick-borne diseases could be a byproduct of bioweapon or gain-of-function research. Either way, she said, the answer for listeners is the same: tick-borne illness can be prevented and treated, with natural remedies available alongside conventional antibiotics.

“We don’t have to live in fear. We know that there is prevention. We know there is treatment.”

Pam Long, Military Director, Health Freedom Defense

Tariffs, the American System, and Who Controls Industry

Start listening at 71:25 – Hour 2

Susan Kochevar, an entrepreneur and owner of the 88 Drive-In Theatre, said a speech by Ambassador Jamieson Greer at Davos changed how she thinks about tariffs. A self-described free-market advocate, Kochevar said she came to see tariffs the way Alexander Hamilton and the early republic used them, to fund the government and to shield young American industries from established foreign competitors.

She argued that the long push toward a service economy was propaganda that let other countries absorb American manufacturing. When foreign nations control steel, medicine, and other essentials, she said, they gain leverage over the United States, a vulnerability the COVID supply shocks made plain. Kochevar also flagged members of Congress who hold investments in China as a conflict of interest that can shape laws making it harder to hire and build at home.

Picking up a theme Paez raised from her years living in Mexico, Kochevar tied economic strength to culture and the rule of law, arguing that productive, self-reliant citizens have always unsettled centralized power. She pointed listeners to Greer’s speech as the plan behind the current trade strategy.

“And what they’re talking about is protecting our markets so that we can regrow our industries.”

Susan Kochevar, Owner, 88 Drive-In Theatre