GOV WARNS COLORADANS ABOUT HIGH FIRE DANGER AHEAD
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – Gov. John Hickenlooper is urging Coloradans to remain cautious and prevent wildfires despite recent snow and rain.
Hickenlooper said Thursday that the danger of wildfires starting and spreading isn’t as bad as last year but he doesn’t want people to let their guard down.
The governor spoke at his annual briefing with state and federal officials on the wildfire outlook at Centennial Airport. While a wet spring has helped ease the threat in the northern and central mountains and the populated Front Range foothills, all parts of the state are still in some degree of drought. Things are the worst in southeastern Colorado. Drought conditions over the past two years there have not only raised the fire danger but have led to failed or reduced crops and cattle loss and abandonment.
COLORADO ELECTIONS ABOUT TO CHANGE
DENVER (AP) – Governor John Hickenlooper is expected to sign a Colorado elections bill overhaul that allows same-day voter registration, a provision opposed by Republican lawmakers concerned over voter fraud. Democratic Rep. Dan Pabon, a sponsor of the bill, said Hickenlooper plans to sign the bill Friday afternoon in his office.
Pabon called the bill “a historic measure that will enfranchise more voters.”
With the bill, every registered voter will get a ballot by mail, but they can still vote in person. People could also vote at any of the voting centers established by the bill, instead of the current system of going to a designated precinct polling place. Those would be eliminated. The bill would also eliminate the category of “inactive” voters, which restricts their ability to get ballots by mail.
WILLIAMS PUTTING OFF PLANS FOR NEW PARACHUTE GAS PLANT
PARACHUTE (AP) – Plans for a new addition to a gas processing plant in western Colorado are being pushed back, but officials say it has nothing to do with a leak of hydrocarbons recently discovered coming from a pipeline near the facility.
A Williams spokesman says the expansion is being delayed until 2016 because of the decline in local drilling levels. The project had been slated to open next year.
Williams was planning to add technology that will allow it to remove more ethane, propane, butane and other valuable liquids from natural gas. he construction of the facility was expected to employ up to 80 temporary workers, and Parachute’s town administrator said it would have helped the town economically.
