Navajo Nation plans to sue over massive Gold King mine waste spill
One of the nation’s largest American Indian tribes is planning to sue over damages caused by a massive mine waste spill in southwestern Colorado.
Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, Navajo Attorney General Ethel Branch and other tribal officials will announce Tuesday that they have directed their attorneys to file a lawsuit over what they describe as an “unprecedented environmental disaster.”
Begaye recently renewed the call for the federal government to reimburse Navajo farmers, saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s actions in the wake of the 2015 spill have created a culture of distrust.
An EPA-led crew triggered the spill during preliminary cleanup work. Three million gallons of wastewater carrying arsenic, lead and other heavy metals tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
The EPA has said it takes responsibility for the spill.
10th Circuit rejects ‘penalty’ for children of naturalized citizens seeking visas
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court joined three of its peers earlier this month and determined the child of a newly naturalized U.S. citizen is not moved to a longer visa line as a result of his parent gaining citizenship, and...
Colorado committee votes to rename César Chávez Day to Farm Workers Day
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 14 hours ago
A Colorado House committee has voted to rename the March 31 state holiday from César Chávez Day to Farm Workers Day, following a national shift prompted by sexual abuse allegations against Chávez. House Bill 1339 was introduced on Friday and...
Colorado Sen. Mike Weissman calls for cold water on heated hate speech
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 17 hours ago
Likening the recent record-setting warm temperatures to hot political rhetoric, Colorado Sen. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, pleaded for an end to death threats and other hate speech directed at lawmakers of both parties. “The increasingly tragic reality of our politics, however, like...
Ethics panel dismisses complaint against Colorado agency chief Dan Gibbs
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
A state ethics panel has dismissed a complaint against Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. The complaint, filed in December 2021 by the Republican-affiliated group Defend Colorado, alleged Gibbs awarded the think tank Keystone Policy...
Denver airport hasn’t had notice ICE agents will assist TSA yet. Wait times are short, though
Bernadette Berdychowski
bernadette.berdychowski@denvergazette.com
Updated 16 hours ago
As President Donald Trump deployed immigration agents to help U.S. airports manage hours‑long security lines during the partial government shutdown, Denver International Airport remained relatively calm on Monday. At the nation’s third‑busiest airport, TSA PreCheck lanes remained open to start...
Appeals court recognizes longer window to sue insurers for withholding policy details
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court split with its own prior decision earlier this month and concluded injured motorists have two years, not one, to sue insurance companies for withholding relevant information about an at-fault driver’s policy. In 2019, Colorado lawmakers enacted a measure to...
Trump open to $5 billion ICE funding cut if SAVE Act package passes
Zach LaChance, Washington Examiner
zach.lachance.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 20 hours ago
President Donald Trump signaled he is open to a $5 billion funding cut for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the Senate passes the Save America Act, along with other amendments. “I don’t think we should make any deal with...
Appeals court decides free speech cases, error-prone judge reversed again | COURT CRAWL
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 21 hours ago
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state’s Court of Appeals decided multiple cases implicating free speech rights, plus Colorado’s most error-prone judge was reversed on appeal yet again. Heard on...
It’s time to let unaffiliated voters caucus | Vince Bzdek
Vince Bzdek
vince.bzdek@gazette.com
Updated 21 hours ago
There’s no getting around it: Colorado’s 3,000 county caucuses, which just wrapped up recently, left half the electorate out in the cold. Since unaffiliated voters now make up 51% of all Colorado voters, a majority of Colorado electors are barred...
With new medical school set to open, Feinstein will step down as UNC president
Hap Fry, Special to The Gazette
hap-fry@gazette.com
Updated 13 hours ago
GREELEY • Dr. Andrew “Andy” Feinstein, the charismatic president of the University of Northern Colorado, has announced that he will step down from his leadership role just on the cusp of what is perhaps his signature accomplishment being realized. He’ll...
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Study: Most of methane hot spot comes from natural gas leaks
A puzzling concentration of the greenhouse gas methane over the Southwestern United States appears to come mostly from leaks in natural gas production, scientists said Monday. Researchers identified more than 250 sources of a methane hot spot over the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. They include gas wells, storage tanks, pipelines […]
Forest officials issue closure order over endangered mouse
Federal officials are closing off sections of national forest land in southern New Mexico to protect an endangered mouse and keep people from getting tangled up in barbed wire and electric fencing meant to ward off cattle. Supervisors with the Lincoln National Forest say campers are tearing down fences that had been put in place […]