Glenwood Springs–The travel management plan for the White River National Forest may be held up for a while. The U.S. Forest Service has ordered more studies after an appeals officer denied attempts to prevent parts of the plan from being implemented.
Glenwood Springs–Garfield County commissioners agreed to consider contributing another 250 thousand dollars to continue construction of the South Canyon Trail.
Rifle–Garfield and Rio Blanco counties stand to get a share of 17 million dollars in oil and gas revenues from drilling on the Naval Oil Shale Reserve. Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall is presenting some ideas on how to get that money today at the Sheriff’s Annex in Rifle.
Grand Junction–If you see smoke in the sky today, chances are it’s coming from a 300 acre wildfire north of Grand Junction. The lightning-caused fire is burning on BLM land and is not threatening any structures.
In other news…
DENVER (AP) – Colorado education officials are considering
asking the U.S. Department of Education for waivers from some of
the federal government’s strict accountability requirements.
State director of federal programs Patrick Chapman says the
state may apply for a waiver from the law that requires 100 percent
student proficiency in math and reading by 2014.
State officials want to see what is required to receive a waiver and to understand what freedoms the waiver might offer.
DENVER (AP) – Nursing home officials are warning that a steep
cut in Medicare payments for short-term patients will likely result
in layoffs. Colorado Health Care Association spokeswoman Arlene Miles says
Medicare is cutting payments for its patients in short-term nursing
homes by nearly $60 a day per patient. The change amounts to
almost $37 million less in federal payments to Colorado
nursing homes next year, threatening staffing levels and squeezing
facilities already challenged by low patient counts.
SATELLITE CUTS
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) – Weather forecasters in the United States
may be forced to rely on European satellites for some of their
weather information because of federal budget cuts.
University of Oklahoma professor Berrien Moore says only four
satellites supply data for weather forecasts, and that number could
drop to two. Panelists meeting Monday at the American Meteorological Society said they lack the solid data they need to make their case to
Congress.
