FUNDRAISING EFFORT UNDERWAY FOR COLORADO RIVER
PHOENIX (AP) – A coalition of environmental groups is launching a fundraising drive to restore part of the overtaxed Colorado River.Conservationists from Mexico and the U.S., including actor Robert Redford, will gather tomorrow at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix for a “low-water-use” event. Redford will give remarks as well as screen a documentary entitled “Waterhshed.” which was produced by Redford and his son Jamie.
The director of the Colorado River Campaign, Gary Wockner, says there’s a chance to restore the river delta, which lies in Mexico and once had 2 million acres of wetlands.
Looming shortages are predicted on the river serving some 40 million people in California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming. Mexico also has a stake.
WEST NILE CLAIMS FIRST METRO AREA VICTIM
DENVER (AP) – The first month of background checks on private firearm sales in Colorado resulted in 10 denials for people with criminal records.
Statistics posted online by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation show the denials were in July – the first month universal background checks took effect. A total of 561 people requested criminal background checks on private sales that month. The CBI data did not specify the reason for the denials. The data is the most recent available.
Private sales are a small fraction of the total number of background checks for gun purchases. CBI processed a total of 19,596 background checks in July. The denial rate of just under 2 percent is similar to the denial rate for private sales.
Democrats passed universal background checks in response to mass shootings last year.
HUNGRY BEARS EMERGING FROM BACKCOUNTRY
DURANGO (AP) – Officials in Durango are urging residents to keep their pets safe from foraging bears after a 14-year-old pet miniature horse was attacked and killed.
The horse was just 32 inches tall and weighed less than 200 pounds. It was in an enclosed pasture just outside Durango when it was attacked last Saturday. Wildlife officers set a trap for the bear but eventually removed it so as not to attract other predators.
A state wildlife spokesman says bears preparing for winter have killed two sheep and a goat in the area in recent weeks.
VAIL RESORTS BATTLING PARK CITY OVER SKI TERRAIN
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) – A company managed by Vail Resorts Inc. is trying to evict Park City Mountain Resort from 3,700 acres of ski terrain – a fight that will play out in a court hearing this afternoon. Vail Resorts recently took over neighboring Canyons ski area from Talisker Corp., a longtime Park City real-estate operator that owns much of the land at Park City Mountain Resort. The Vail/Talisker combination is arguing that Park City Mountain Resort waited too long to renew a sweetheart lease granted decades ago by a mining company and should get off the land. 3rd District Judge Ryan Harris will hear arguments over documents Park City Mountain Resort says the other side is not entitled to receive.
