Posted inNews, Outdoors

Colorado’s geographic renaming board begins process of scrubbing Native American slur from 28 sites

The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board on Sunday began the process of scrubbing the offensive slur “squaw” from 28 of the state’s peaks, valleys, passes and creeks.  Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in November created a committee to strip the offensive name from federal maps. The Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force in February identified […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Colorado oil and gas could help America break free of Russian energy

It was a little more than a month ago when Russia, a longtime oil titan, invaded Ukraine. Today, gas prices are soaring as an international tragedy unfolds.  What is happening to the people of Ukraine is horrific. The humanitarian catastrophe they face is the world’s first concern. For a moment, however, I want to focus […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Sen. Kirkmeyer and Sheriff Reams: Make fentanyl distribution and possession a felony, again

Fentanyl is poison, and it’s time that Colorado policy makers recognize it as such. Drug dealers are lacing recreational drugs with fentanyl, often unbeknownst to drug users, to get users hooked. If tobacco companies did this, Congress and the Colorado General Assembly would jump to action. The same would be true if drug dealers were […]

Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government

$76 million could fix Colorado’s youth mental health system, study finds as kids are sent out of state for care

The operators of Colorado’s youth residential treatment centers, where children with the most acute mental health struggles go to recover, have warned for years that the system could fall apart without more funding. There are signs it’s happening now.  Suicidal kids are waiting weeks, sometimes months, in hospital emergency rooms for a bed at a […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government

Colorado’s largest oil and gas producer wants permission to drill closer than 2,000 feet from homes

The buffer between homes and oil and gas drilling in Colorado is by rule 2,000 feet,  except when it isn’t, and a move to drill in the middle of a residential area in Firestone is raising questions about how secure that buffer will be. The state’s biggest operator, Occidental Petroleum, through its Colorado subsidiary Kerr-McGee, […]

Posted inEnvironment

A record number of Coloradans are pursuing conservation easements as land, water prices increase

Tony Caligiuri was ready for it to fall apart.   Instead, the pandemic gave conservation in Colorado a boost. Soaring land values, spiking prices for water, legislation boosting incentives for landowners who protect their land and growing pressure to develop open land has fueled a record year for conservation easements in Colorado. “We were bracing ourselves […]

Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Colorado has finalized its congressional redistricting, but don’t forget about your powerful county commission

Congressional and state legislative redistricting may have grabbed the headlines this year, but Colorado’s powerful county commissions will also need to overhaul their districts after a decade of big population growth.   County commissioners are required to reassess their districts after the once-a-decade U.S. census to make sure they are close to equal in population.  Nearly […]

Posted inClimate, Environment, Growth, News, Transportation

New CDOT rules will force road projects to cut emissions — or else put money toward transit options

Colorado cities and state agencies planning big road projects must now design them to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide alternative transportation modes for the public, in a historic change of mission passed Thursday by Colorado Department of Transportation commissioners.  The expected 10 to 1 vote has been hailed by conservation groups and some local […]

Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government

Weld County’s health department is no longer allowed to post about COVID on social media

Updated Dec. 16, 2021: Following publication, Weld County reversed its decision and will allow the health department to post about COVID on social media. Weld County’s commissioners will no longer publish information about COVID-19 on social media following pushback on posts made to encourage residents to get vaccinated against the disease.  Three members of the […]