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Colorado News - ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest
- D.C. scuffle threatens county funding - Telluride, CO - The Daily Planet
It is a twisted chain of cause and effect, one that begins in the misted forests of the Pacific Northwest, loops through Washington and ends in the ledgers of San Miguel County.Recently, Congress slashed special funds for cash-strapped schools in rural corners of the Northwest, where governments can no longer survive on taxes from the dwindling timber industry. Those cuts could ripple across the Rockies in the coming months, costing county governments millions in federal money.“It’s a real mess,” said county commissioner Art Goodtimes. “A lot of Western counties are going to be in trouble.”Here is what happened, and a glimpse of how things could shake out for San Miguel County:For eight years, a law called the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act has provided a lifeline to small districts in rural Oregon, Washington and California. When logging revenues began to plunge, Congress enacted the law to keep schools open and rural roads from falling into disrepair. - Summit Daily News - Water deal provides relief for West Slope
Water users in Summit County and across the rest of the West Slope can rest a little easier.Last week’s landmark agreement on how to share the Colorado River during drought conditions provides some relief to worried water users, including ranchers and ski resort snow makers.At issue is how the Colorado River is divided up among seven states, and more specifically, between the Upper Basin (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the Lower Basin (Nevada, Arizona and California).Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne signed a record of decision on a set of new rules for allocating water in drought conditions, and for operating Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the giant Colorado River reservoirs in the Lower Basin. - Glenwood Springs Post Independent - Ritter calls for balance on Roan
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced his comments about the future of the Roan Plateau on Thursday, calling for a balance between responsible energy development and protection of wildlife and the environment.Moments after Ritter announced his thoughts, environmental, recreation and energy groups sent out a flurry of press releases either criticizing the governor or praising him.Ritter called his proposal for the Roan Plateau, located near Rifle, a "unique Colorado solution." He is seeking increased protection of sensitive areas, more use of technology to minimize environmental disturbances, and incremental leasing of federal lands - a policy he believes will better protect the environment, increase state revenues and pace future development. The current federal plan for the Roan calls for all leasing to come all at once. - The Steamboat Pilot & Today: ACET, VNA collect federal funds through act
Local law enforcement and public health entities are poised for a funding boost, thanks to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 passed by Congress earlier this week.The bill’s funding inclusions from Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., included $89,300 for the All Crimes Enforcement Team, formerly the Greater Routt and Moffat Narcotics Enforcement Team, to fight methamphetamine in the area, and $119,000 for the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, which is based in Steamboat.The bill was approved Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate and Wednesday by the House of Representatives, and is expected to receive President Bush’s approval shortly, Salazar spokesman Cody Wertz said. - Craig Daily Press / Salazar earmarks Northwest Colorado projects
U.S. military veteran Bill Harding has traveled to Grand Junction, driven some of his fellow soldiers there and is very thankful that U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., found some dollars to help veterans seek medical care.“The veterans of Northwest Colorado appreciate all he’s done for the guys up here and all the veterans in rural America,” Harding said.Harding referred to one of four earmarks Salazar put into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. He considered each one a strong priority for Northwest Colorado, Salazar Press Secretary Stephanie Valencia said.The Appropriations Act is a large, diverse spending bill, essentially outlining the 2008 federal budget. President Bush signed the bill into law Thursday.Among Salazar’s earmarks was a provision to increase mile�age reimbursement for veterans who travel for medical treatment. - Grand Junction Sentinel - Ritter gives tepid nod to Roan drilling
Natural gas drilling atop the Roan Plateau should continue, Gov. Bill Ritter acknowledged Thursday, so long as the federal government protects the plateau’s environmentally sensitive assets.“I think we can strike a balance that’s going to benefit Colorado’s environment, economy, communities involved … and certainly the energy industry,” Ritter said.In a letter sent to Sally Wisely, state director for the Bureau of Land Management, Ritter said he hopes the agency will work to ensure watersheds, wildlife habitat and other aspects of critical environmental importance are protected as development moves ahead.Ritter requested the BLM protect several places atop the plateau that the agency has not flagged as areas of critical concern.He also requested incremental leasing of the federal lands. - The Denver Post - David Sirota - We should be enraged
Just a few weeks ago, Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University released a little-noticed study showing that one-third of Americans now "believe in a broad smorgasbord of conspiracy theories" revolving around government complicity in everything from the Sept. 11 attacks to the Kennedy assassination.The same survey last year found that "anger against the federal government is at record levels." It would be easy to chalk up these troubling findings to the unending propaganda of fear. America has been experiencing the searing blast of politicized terror warnings and breaking news graphics for the better part of six years now, and populations living under such constant government and media shock treatment can go a wee bit berserk.But while many of these conspiracy theories are offensive and factually unsupported, the underlying paranoia and loathing are not surprising, and the feelings are not motivated merely by a fear of the next bogeyman around the corner. The sentiments are symptoms of a deep crisis of confidence in our public institutions — a crisis that is a predictable reaction to a government that now all but admits it breaks laws, hides information and disregards the public. - Grand Junction Sentinel - State could lose millions in royalties
Colorado stands to lose millions from its share of federal mineral royalties under the spending package passed by Congress, officials said.A provision tucked into the budget measure approved Wednesday changed the way the federal government splits its mineral royalties from 50-50 to 52-48 with the federal government getting the larger share.The new split raised hackles in western Colorado, where officials depend heavily on the state share of mineral royalties to smooth over the effects of drilling and other production activities. Local governments also count on shares of the state severance tax to meet needs related to mineral production, such as new schools, roads, sewers, water lines and treatment plants, public buildings and the like. - Grand Junction Sentinel - Officials' opinions on oil shale mixed
Rio Blanco and Garfield County officials sounded positive — and skeptical — notes after a federal document identified some potential effects of oil shale development on public lands in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.Rio Blanco County Commissioner Forrest Nelson said the Bureau of Land Management took the proper go-slow approach toward oil shale.“We just don’t want any train wrecks,“ Nelson said. “Shell has run into a few problems at their test site up here, but I’m still optimistic something will happen, if oil prices stay where they’re at.”Royal Dutch Shell is testing its in situ-recovery method in northwest Rio Blanco County.Garfield County Commissioner Larry McCown said public lands might not be the site of the next oil shale project. - The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Lawmakers talk prisons, funds at meet
With state budget issues not unlike those facing Fremont County, there will be a lot of problems and not a lot of money in the new year, legislators warned local leaders Thursday.State Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, and Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, delivered the news."I feel we are going to have a contentious session, more partisan than usual," Kester said. "I am hearing we will be faced with a raise in taxes and I am opposed to tax raises, so we are going to have to pay attention every day this year."McFadyen said one of the biggest issues coming down the pike at
