For those folks questioning the need for the COGCC's new proposed protections for our mountains, rivers, communities and wildlife, read no further.

Those two spills occurred about two to three weeks after one man went to the hospital after drinking his cabin’s spring water, which was allegedly contaminated by a release from area drilling operations.

One of the discharges reportedly caused water contaminated by oil and gas waste to emanate from several springs in the area of Cascade Canyon, northwest of Parachute, and to flow into nearby tributaries, according to state records.

A sheen was visible on water discharging from the spring, according to the NOAVs

Stores, though open, went partially dark. Neon signs were switched off and vending machines unplugged. At home, residents of this former Gold Rush town began living a little bit like pioneers, dusting the snow off the grill, stringing clotheslines in the backyard and flicking off their TV sets. Within a week, electrical usage across town was down as much as 30 percent.

With oil prices reaching a record $120 a barrel, Alaska Electric Light and Power said customers might have to pay for an extra $25 million in diesel over the three months it would take to repair the lines. The utility warned that rates would probably leap from an average of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour to more than 50 cents, or about five times the 10.3 cents that is the national average.

Boulder will soon become the nation's first smart grid city and Xcel Energy will lead the charge.

The advanced, smart grid system -- when fully implemented over the next few years -- will provide customers with many technologies designed to provide environmental, financial and operational benefits.

Tim Masters is free. Finally. After 10 years serving for a crime he didn't commit. Gail Schoettler's commentary today sums it up quite nicely.

Without due process, and with behind the scenes withholdings and back room deals, how can justice really be served? And how, given the number of people who have been put to death for crimes they didn't commit, can we continue to use the death penalty as a means of justice.

It's deplorable and wrong.

Tim Master's will never regain the 10 years of his life he missed during the years he served, but hopefully something good will come out of this fiasco. Like an overhaul of our justice system. A rethinking of how we determine one's guilt. A more thorough use of DNA evidence. 

Next Tuesday marks the 35th anniversary of Roe, the landmark decision that gave women access to safe legal abortion services.

35 years later, it's still one of the most contentious issues in our country.

And a recent study, published by the Guttmacher Institute cited that abortion rates are at their lowest  in 34 years, with 19% of pregnancies ending in abortion.  

The study didn't cite why this percentage of women terminating their pregnancies has fallen so dramatically. Increased access to the morning after pill. More contraceptive options. More women continuing instead of terminating their pregnancies.

In any case, there are a couple of events worth mentioning so stop by to celebrate. There is a Roe Happy Hour in Denver, a Rally on the steps of the Capitol and forum at Naropa.

The Fort Collins City Council voted 6-1 to dismiss task force recommendations and allow colored lights, wreathes and all the yule tide Christmas cheer outside city buildings.

To celebrate other denominations, a multicultural display will be added in front of the museum.

My favorite testimony from the public hearing...
"Basically, the city subtly . . . removed Christmas and replaced it with a pagan holiday called the winter holiday. "I don't celebrate winter."

I bet he's celebrating winter today!

Let the holiday cheer return to Fort Collins! 

The recent outrage about holiday displays continues in Fort Collins.

First, a task force made recommendations to ban colored lights and wreaths from the exterior of city buildings but allowed whatever religious adornments on the inside of city and county buildings.

Then Fort Collins residents got angry. They came together with city council members and made different recommendations—keep the trees and lights, but don't allow  any religious displays on the inside of city buildings.

The city council will decide the final fate of the Holiday display tonight. I'll blog the outcome tomorrow.

But I have to ask you all, is this really what the holidays are about? 

USA Today reported a poll showing 46% of Americans would support using military force against Iran.  

Are you crazy?  We aren't even out of Iraq yet and we are talking about military action against Iran?  

What about Pakistan? With incredible instability, a US puppet regime and tested nuclear weapons, shouldn't the US be focusing more on some type of non-military action in that region? 

Maybe the Bush regime sees Iran as an exit strategy.  They've royally messed up Iraq and have no idea how to leave. Iran. Yes...Iran.

It makes sense. Increased fear within the US will shift the focus away from Iraq and onto Iran.  And it will push conservative turn-out because Americans respond well to fear tactics. 

The teen birthrate in Denver is double that of the state average. Yes double.

Something needs to be done to reverse this trend and the Denver School Board is looking into options. One of which happens to be providing contraceptives to students.  

Providing birth control at school health centers is a logical solution and it makes it easy for students to to access.

In other states that have faced similar situations, allowing student health centers to offer contraceptives has substantially decreased teen birthrates.  

Abstinence works until it fails and then teens end up pregnant. Why not give teens the opportunity and the access to make responsible decisions about sex?

This is a common sense solution to an issue that has long term effects on the lives of women and their families.
 

Yup, kids are voting in Mesa. Well kinda.

An organization called Kids Voting Mesa County gets kids engaged in the civic process. They get to participate in forums, write letters to the editor, interview candidates and write articles for their school papers. At the end they get to cast their ballots—online to simulate the mail only ballot in Mesa this cycle.

This program provides a missing and much needed link between youth, civic engagement, and voting. Making civic participation second nature to young people will hopefully translate into a more engaged citizenry. The results aren't in yet, but let’s hope so.