The state health department announced a plan this week to fight childhood obesity on a new front, one that might be a little bit surprising. As KCFR Health Reporter Eric Whitney explains, it involves…Happy Meals.

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Colorado’s unemployment rate is up one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.4 percent, while the Gazette is reporting unemployment in the Colorado Springs area rose .4 percentage points in January…and, Colorado Democrat John Salazar wants to give the federal government more power to negotiate Medicare drug prices.

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In Colorado Springs, D-11 considers methods of cutting their budget, including having fewer assistant principals (Gazette, KKTV). The Gazette reports on a busy city hall yesterday, with topics including a proposed hearing today on a troubled nightclub in the city and a request from the convention and visitor’s bureau to help fight what’s called negative national press. The Downtown Partnership is seeking new rules for bars and clubs (KRDO). Republican candidates held a forum last night (KKTV).

In Pueblo, the Chieftain reports the cost of snow removal is less this year so far, than in years past, but that the city may be losing money on red-light cameras.

The LaJunta Tribune-Democrat reports that Otero County Commissioners toured portions of the proposed Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site with Army officials.

Disclaimer: KRCC and KRCC News make no guarantees regarding the content within these reports, however consider them part of the news and media outlets reporting on issues affecting our coverage area. The Index is not exhaustive, and is not an endorsement of any kind.

After a heated debate, the state senate has cleared a bill that aims to crack down on insurance companies for giving financial incentives to employees for denying claims when someone is sick. It now heads to the house. Bente Birkeland reports from the state house.

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Scientists are calling it an “amphibian Armageddon.” In the last 30 years, more than 100 species of frogs and toads have been wiped out by habitat loss and amphibian chytrid, a fungus that attacks their skin. No one knows why this common fungus is suddenly proving fatal. Some think climate change is making frogs more vulnerable. Whatever the reason, chytrid is spreading quickly through one of the richest frog habitats in the world: Panama’s cloud forest. That news prompted five people from Colorado Springs to pack their bags and head south for a rescue mission. Reporter Sandy Hausman went along on the trip, and has this report from Panama City.

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All photos courtesy Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Disclaimer: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is an underwriter of KRCC.

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The Colorado Senate has unanimously approved a bill to help auto dealers who are dropped by carmakers…The archbishop of Denver is defending a decision by a Catholic school in Colorado not to allow two children to continue as students because their parents are a lesbian couple…and, workers hiked up the side a canyon today to examine another boulder that might fall onto Interstate-70.

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