State representatives have passed Colorado’s 17.6 billion dollar budget… now senators will debate the bill. We’re likely see many of the same arguments for and against the budget from both parties. Bente Birkeland discusses the budget as part of our ongoing capitol conversation series.
A senate transportation committee has backed a Republican proposal to use tolls on a portion of interstate 70, while rejecting a Democratic measure. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
Passing a budget is the only thing the state constitution requires lawmakers to do during their 120 day legislative session. It funds everything from roads to preschool programs. Legislators in the house spent hours debating changes to the 616 page bill on Wednesday. Next week the senate will take up the measure. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
It was exactly a week ago that public health officials declared Alamosa’s tap water unsafe to drink. That meant telling about 10,000 people they’d have have to get their water elsewhere - It’s not the kind of call that’s made hastily, and health investigators made it before they were 100% certain that Alamosa’s tap water was carrying the potentially deadly Salmonella bacteria now believed to have sickened more than 250 people. KCFR Health Reporter Eric Whitney has the story of how Colorado’s disease detectives zeroed in on the water and were eventually proven right.
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Colorado College alumnus Alan Gottlieb will read from his novel, “Ultimate Excursions,” a novel featuring Tim Lake, a Peace Corps worker. Seeking a respite from the stresses of Peace Corps life in rural Ecuador, Lake embarks on a vacation to Peru that starts as an innocent journey that devolves into chaos. Sponsored by the Visiting Writers Series.
Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Gates Common Room, third floor of Palmer Hall, 1025 N. Cascade Ave. (east of Tutt Library) (map)
Tickets: free
In western Colorado’s Garfield County, ranchers are banding together to conserve thousands of acres of prized agricultural land, as pressures for development rise. But fraud surrounding a state tax credit that’s helping protect land like this has lawmakers pushing for reforms–and many who legitimately used the tax credit, worried about the future of the program. From KUNC, Kirk Siegler reports.
Increasing the severance tax rate for Colorado’s booming energy industry gained more traction on Tuesday thanks to Governor Bill Ritter. The additional money would pay for higher education, roads, wildlife and environmental impacts. Currently Colorado’s tax rate falls well below those of neighboring states. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
The future of early disease detection may be in the hands– or more specifically the mouths of researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder. As KUNC’s Brian Larson reports, CU’s own Nobel Prize winning laser technology is uniting the fields of physics and medicine though breath analysis…