Latest installment spurs 103-mile pipeline paralleling the river to bring safe drinking water to 50,000 southeastern residents
Lamar
Avian flu wreaks more havoc in Colorado egg layers and wild birds
Worst-ever outbreak leads to slaughter of 6 million-plus chickens and has killed enough eagles and other raptors to raise wildlife fears.
Golf courses on Colorado’s Eastern Plains face existential challenge as drought tees off
A water-dependent pastime battles for sustainability on the small-town courses woven into the region’s cultural heritage.
A Colorado family tried to save their cattle ranch by betting big on rare birds. It’s paying off.
LAMAR — The day that Dallas May started to feel his family ranch’s fortunes solidify, after more than 40 years of raising cattle, was the day he got in his pickup to chase what appeared to be two poachers carrying weapons the size of rocket launchers. It turned out they were international bird experts from […]
Colorado releases more endangered ferrets into prairie dog holes and hopes for the best
LAMAR — Somewhere between the comforts of a plastic tote outfitted with clean, shredded paper and a bloody quarter of a prairie dog for snacks, and the yawning dark hole he was being tipped into as hawks circled above, North America’s rarest mammal had the genetic weight of the world on its furry shoulders. Black-footed […]
New Colorado law banning most American Indian mascots forces schools to confront cultural shifts
Faced with a new state law requiring the elimination of most American Indian mascots, a handful of Colorado schools are delving into their histories and having community-wide discussions about what a nickname, mascot or logo should represent. In Lamar, that means sticking by its Savages nickname, even if images and logos must be changed. And […]
Colorado’s rural pharmacies wrestle against big business to remain community cornerstones
CHEYENNE WELLS – Ted Billinger Jr. closed his pharmacy in this prairie town on March 13, 2019, as the worst storm on record hit Colorado. He delivered a prescription for a child with the flu and one to the local nursing home, went home, had a heart attack in his backyard and died. For nearly […]
From cleaning toilets to Congress, Betsy Markey is now leading Colorado’s renewed focus on small business
After Betsy Markey moved her young family to Fort Collins in 1995, she felt stir crazy. She and her husband had relocated from Maryland, where the technology company they founded was running smoothly and pretty much independently. That life didn’t really need her anymore. So she bought a little coffee shop in Old Town Fort […]
Protecting kids from porn? Assaulting free speech? Library critics take aim at public databases.
It’s a strange time to be a librarian in Colorado. Long accustomed to having their workplaces written off as musty-smelling anachronisms, a growing number of librarians lately find themselves under scrutiny, or attack. Across the state, and beyond, librarians have been accused of purposely peddling online porn to kids. And at the Colorado Capitol this […]