It’s 5:30, dusk scudding into darkness. A fawn stands on the centerline of Highway 20, gazing with vacant curiosity into my Pathfinder’s grille as the truck’s brake pads challenge the laws of physics having to do with objects at rest and in motion. A car is barreling down at us from the other direction. The […]
Little sympathy for the deerly departed
Posted inArticles
The linchpin to a national supergrid
Clovis, New Mexico, may link three grids and become a renewable energy hub.
Posted inArticles
Light rail exists in Denver, and comes to Phoenix
Nelson Harvey takes a ride on Denver’s light rail to see whether it’s changed his city for the better.
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Rants from the Hill: Desert Insomnia
Living the not-so-quiet life in the rural West.
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What 4-H teaches 7 million kids about food
A new book explores what the century-old organization looks like today.
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Nevada wilderness bill is wilderness in name only
The U.S. Senate is set to take up a deeply flawed Nevada wilderness bill in the November lame-duck session. If passed, it would set terrible precedents for all future wilderness bills. The bill, HR 5205, introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., bundles together seven separate Nevada lands bills, and after being amended by the House […]
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Plans for the Village at Wolf Creek move forward
Controversial southern Colorado resort takes another step toward construction.
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Why are Hopi rangers impounding sheep at Black Mesa?
The latest in a fraught relationship between Navajo and Hopi in northern Arizona.
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New Mexico commission votes to divert Gila River
Decision greenlights contentious multi-million dollar diversion project.
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Don’t think of the Keystone oil pipeline as inevitable
I’ve usually admired David Brooks, New York Times columnist, and Mark Shields, campaign strategist and analyst, for their smart political opinions on public television. So it was sad recently to see their heads stuck in Alberta’s tar sands over the highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which will surely be reintroduced in Congress next year. Pipeline […]
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Gentrification comes to Denver
With the right policies, the city can be desirable and affordable.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Light rail enters the West’s most sprawling metropolis
New transportation sparked a renaissance in Denver. Can it do the same for Phoenix?
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Trains carrying oil raise tough questions in Northwest
As crude oil rail shipments increase, residents fear derailments and explosions.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Talking with kids about grizzlies
A volunteer educator reflects on teaching kids about conservation, and learning from them.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
State the obvious
I can’t decide if High Country News is part of the problem or not (“House of Misrepresentatives,” 10/27/14). You seem to be deathly afraid of offending Republicans; every time you publish something like this, it’s always “Congress” doing it, never “Republicans in Congress.” At least you used the “R,” and I noticed it’s all “R”s. […]
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Spending at windmills
About two-thirds of Utah’s legislators are tied to banking, insurance, land title, development, real estate or other firms that would benefit from the transfer of lands to the state (“Bad medicine,” HCN, 10/27/14). Utah’s Legislature is over 80 percent Republican, with highly gerrymandered districts to ensure that the 30 percent or so of Utahns who […]
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Solace at the end of Homer Spit
When I quit my job and joined a pilgrimage of heartbroken dreamers staggering toward Alaska.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Social work blues
Review of ‘Fourth of July Creek’ by Smith Henderson.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Selfies with bears, a stolen train in Wyoming, a loose bull and more.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.