This article is a sidebar that accompanies the news story, Western elections wrap-up Alarm bells rang early this year when the Supreme Court lifted key restrictions on corporate political spending. The decision gave corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited amounts to explicitly campaign for or against candidates, and allowed independent interest groups to […]
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Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
There’s something in the water
A Colorado family discovers that their clear “Rocky Mountain Spring Water” is unsafe to drink
Posted inHeard Around the West
That bites!
ARIZONA As foreclosures increase throughout the West, ex-homeowners slamming the door on the way out sometimes abandon cats, dogs and other pets, including exotic snakes. And then there are the native snakes that slither back to reclaim their turf once the humans are gone. The variety of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes co-existing with subdivisions can […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
The windhover
Wildlife biologist Travis Booms tracks remote Alaska gyrfalcons
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Dr. No
How Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn — and his colleague, Sen. Jim Inhofe — run roughshod over the West
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Draining the tub
On Oct. 17, history was quietly made: The surface elevation of Lake Mead, a huge reservoir on the Colorado River near Las Vegas, dropped below its record low and continued to fall about a tenth of an inch per day over the following days. Those fractions of inches might seem insignificant, but when projected across […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Fascinating conundrums
THE SOUTHWEST That wistful Iowa farm boy in the ads for a language-learning software called Rosetta Stone — “He was a hardworking farm boy. She was an Italian supermodel. He knew he would have just one chance to impress her” — now has an opportunity to learn Navajo, too, reports the Daily Times of Farmington, […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Oklahoma vs. the West
This dispute includes drilling, wilderness, guns and climate change
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
How outsiders shape the West
Note: This is the editor’s note for a package of stories about Oklahoma vs. the West (links at the end). — The biggest story happening now — the Nov. 2 elections and their results — is impossible to cover in this edition of High Country News. We go to press a few days before the […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
The dark side of Indian law
In his new book, In the Courts of the Conqueror, Walter Echo-Hawk discusses the 10 worst Indian law cases ever decided.
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
HCN bids farewell to an old friend
Sometimes we are fortunate enough to get a closer look at the lives of our remarkable readers. Shortly after longtime HCN reader and donor William L. Berry Jr. died on Sept. 30 from pancreatic cancer, two of his sons, John and Scott, got in touch with us to tell us a bit more about their […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Coal reality check
It’s a risky time to invest in coal. Production was down almost 8 percent in 2009, and consumption fell even further. Environmentalists have fought new coal-fired power plants tooth and nail — and won. Some plants are already planning a switch to natural gas. Meanwhile, the shape of future federal carbon regulation, a looming threat […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Dam removal for dummies
Your plain-English guide to more free-flowing rivers
Posted inOctober 25, 2010: Lynch-Mob Politics
Us and them vs. all the rest
Ethnic diversity strengthened early Butte, Montana – and still can.
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
False moderates?
Your article is correct in stating: “The most hard-line right-wingers didn’t do very well in Wyoming’s Republican primary.” But that result wasn’t terribly indicative of the political leanings of most Republican voters in Wyoming. Rather, it’s a commonly accepted fact among both Democrats and Republicans that Dems switched parties to vote for Matt Mead in […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Tamarisk takedown
This is incredibly short-sighted thinking on these environmentalists’ part, in my opinion (HCN, 10/10/11). It’s called the southwestern willow flycatcher, not the tamarisk flycatcher. This is a bird that needs willows and insects to survive. Part of the reason tamarisk is so invasive is that almost nothing can eat it. Releasing the beetle means two […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
‘Please stay in the kiddie pool’
It was one small group who blew the rock in the Salt River Canyon (HCN, 10/10/25). The guy who lit the fuse was too incompetent to get himself or his customers past an irreplaceable, completely natural challenge. It broke my heart, even though my rafting is defined by the inner tube. No one has a […]