In a move that could have far-reaching implications for the the West’s ailing coal industry, a federal judge in Denver has ruled that U.S. Department of Interior officials failed to follow the law in approving expansion plans at two Colorado coal-mining operations — and that the agency has an obligation,…
Most of the Denver residents old enough to remember the 1965 flood were, of course, quite young at the time — some in their teens or twenties, others mere children on the night the South Platte brought the city to its knees. To a kid, an event of such magnitude…
More than sixty years ago, when the federal government decided to build a nuclear weapons plant, it picked an eleven-acre spot on the Front Range northwest of Denver, a landscape studded with farms and ranches — and just sixteen miles upwind of a major city. When it opened in 1952,…
The campaign to seek national monument designation status for a rugged stretch of canyons, meadows and forests between Buena Vista and Salida, which recently shifted from a long-running battle in Congress to a call for executive action, is about to pay off. President Barack Obama is expected to announce this…
He lost a tough, key race to rising Republican media darling Cory Gardner, but Mark Udall still has some unfinished business before giving up his U.S. Senate seat in a few weeks. And at the top of the list is Udall’s push for passage of S. 1794, his bill to…
Six years after the drill-baby-drill crusaders of the Bush administration targeted one of Colorado’s most ecologically unique places for widespread energy leases, a surprisingly reasonable compromise has been hammered out over the fate of the Roan Plateau. The deal is being praised by state and federal officials as well as…
After years of battling the Pentagon’s plans to expand the 367-square-mile Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, ranchers and other residents of southeastern Colorado thought they’d finally achieved peace with honor last fall, when a top Army official formally announced that the military was abandoning any land acquisition plans for PCMS. But…
Between Buena Vista and Salida, the Arkansas River sweeps through Browns Canyon, an area of granite cliffs and rugged backcountry that’s popular with elk, bighorn sheep, mountain lions and black bears — not to mention hunters, anglers, rafters, hikers and campers. But this quintessential slice of Colorado wilderness is also…
No one denies that the vividly named Seidel’s Suckhole offers challenges aplenty to rafters navigating the Arkansas River, as witnessed by the tragic death of Sue Ann Apolinar, who’d booked a journey with a company called Arkansas Valley Adventures. Jesus Espinoza, Jr., Apolinar’s son, subsequently sued AVA, maintaining that the…
Our Adam Roy recently told you about Casey Nocket, who he described as “a graffiti artist…suspected of leaving her mark on one of the state’s most-visited slices of wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park.” Now, Nocket is thought to have done likewise on another beautiful part of our state: Colorado National…
These are the tools you’ll need to extract sperm from some of the rarest trout in the world: a towel, a small glass dish like those used on cooking shows to hold chopped ingredients, gloves, fish tranquilizers and your thumb. On a recent day, no fewer than ten biologists, staff…
The city’s $3.25 million settlement with Jamal Hunter is just the latest hit the Denver Sheriff’s Department has sustained in recent weeks. Between charges that complaints of abuse have been ignored and accusations that guards have been drinking on the job, smuggling in drugs and porn and instructing inmates to…
WildEarth Guardians probably wouldn’t advise you to take a family day trip to the South Platte River anytime soon. The grassroots environmental group is accusing a sugar-processing mill of illegally dumping harmful pollutants into the river…
A new study of the Stapleton neighborhood, Denver’s nationally acclaimed infill project, concludes that key traffic engineering decisions have encouraged high-speed driving rather than traffic “calming,” made residential areas less safe and generally worked against efforts to develop the area as a showcase of New Urbanism — a design ethos…
Denver B-cycle launched a new station Wednesday on Delaware Street and 11th Avenue, but this one has B-cycle executive director Nick Bohnenkamp feeling giddier than the previous eighty locations. “This is Denver’s first on-street bike station,” Bohnenkamp explained during Tuesday’s opening ceremony with Denver mayor Michael Hancock “That might not…
Less than an hour after the plane dropped them off, Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters saw the polar bear tracks. The two Boulder-based explorers were just beginning their campaign to complete a rare, unsupported land-to-pole trek, walking almost 500 miles across the sea ice from Canada’s Arctic shores to the…
The American Lung Association’s massive State of the Air report for 2014 is out, with the organization grading places all over the country in terms of air pollution, including Colorado. Ozone-pollution figures for fourteen Colorado counties were available, and the ALA’s judgments are harsh: Eight of the counties get grades…
“Shining Cities,” a new report from Environment Colorado, compiles an incredible amount of data about solar power, including a ranking of the top ten solar cities in the United States. Yes, Denver made the list — barely. But while this accomplishment might seem worthy of praise, Environment Colorado energy associate…
Should 3.2 beer be banned in Washington Park? Two weeks ago, Denver City Councilman Chris Nevitt suggested the city try banning beer in Wash Park for six months in order to combat drunken behavior; he sent that request to Laurie Dannemiller, director of the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation…
April is here, and Denver’s parks are abuzz — but not because of daffodils, robins and honeybees. Rather, it’s our First World right to get buzzed — whether it’s with booze or with pot — in these public places that has people springing into action. And while the 4/20 Rally…
Over a hundred residents of Washington Park and beyond made their way to the Denver Baha’i Center last night to debate whether or not the park should put a temporary ban on alcoholic beverages — specifically 3.2 beer, the only liquor allowed there. The crowd seemed evenly divided, with half…
For the past two weeks, the area around Colorado Springs has been besieged by tumbleweeds. Piles of the dessicated, rolling shrubs have clogged streets and yards, trapping residents at home in at least one case. For farmers, the plants have choked off irrigation ditches, the piles of tinder-dry shrubs forming…
