COLORADO SHERIFFS UNFAZED BY TODAY’S NON-RULING OVER GUN CONTROL BILLS
Denver—15 round magazine limits will still be in effect in Colorado after today’s decision in Denver Federal Court. Judge Marcia Krieger was supposed to rule on whether to overturn the new magazine limit passed by lawmakers this year but she says there was nothing for her to decide since the attorneys for both sides worked out an agreement.
The 55 sheriffs were hoping for a preliminary injunction on the law but both sides agreed that magazines with removable baseplates won’t be considered part of the ban since they won’t hold more than the permissible 15 rounds. Now attorneys plan to get down to the nitty-gritty to debate whether the law violates the 2nd Amendment to the constitution. No trial date has been set for the sheriffs’ lawsuit.
ALABASTER MINING DECISION APPEALED BY CARBONDALE GROUP
Carbondale—The Wilderness Workshop of Carbondale is trying to prevent alabaster mining in Avalanche Creek. The environmental group has teamed up with a Denver law firm to appeal a U.S. Forest Service decision to allow mining in the creek south of Carbondale. Minerals like alabaster are popular for artwork but opponents say current law bars such activity. The Wilderness Workshop says the Forest Service approval was based on a mining law that was passed almost a century and a half ago.
MORE FINES LEVIED IN PARACHUTE CREEK LEAK
Parachute—The fines just keep on coming in the natural gas leak at Parachute Creek. A third outfit, pipeline company W.C. Striegel of Rangely is being fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration just over nine thousand dollars for the leak. OSHA fined two other companies yesterday for violations that led to the spill of toxic hydrocarbons. OSHA investigators say the three companies may have allowed workers to be exposed to cancer-causing chemicals like benzene.
RENEWABLE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS DISCUSSED
Denver—Rural electricity providers began talks Wednesday with the Colorado Energy Office on how to increase renewable energy sources. The advisory group was set up to give the electricity providers a chance to respond to a new law that doubles renewable energy standards for rural energy suppliers. The rural energy suppliers have said they won’t be able to meet the goal of getting 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 without raising rates more than the 2 percent cap in the law. The eight-member panel includes environmental activists that pushed for the higher energy standards. The head of the Colorado Energy Office told panel members that they’re not there to debate whether the legislation was good or bad, but to identify the obstacles to achieving its goals.
