Longmont city council members knew that the state might sue their community over the new oil and gas regulations that they passed a few weeks back. But it was a risk that they were willing to take in order to protect their town’s residents’ health, property values and overall quality of life.

Longmont's ordinance requires a minimum of 750-foot setbacks from occupied structures, compared with the state’s 350-foot requirement, and Longmont’s new regs also prohibit drilling in residential areas of the city. It all sounds good, but a recently discovered loophole in state laws may severely hinder any benefits that might have come from the city’s new rules.

When the name-calling, finger-pointing and flip-flopping finally came to an end and the vote was taken, the Longmont City Council had passed a new set of oil and gas regulations that represent the first real test of local government versus state government when it comes to regulating the oil and gas industry.

When it comes to genetically modified organisms, more commonly known as GMOs, the U.S. is pretty far behind the rest of the world, but not in every category. We grow and eat more of these genetically engineered foods than anyone else. We’re easily number one. So much so that there’s really no other country in our rearview mirror. Nearly 80 percent of the global market for GMOs is in the U.S.

It started with an errant shot … and now another one. This time it was a mule deer just south of Casper, Wyo. The bullet took off the deer’s lower jaw and sent the pain-crazed animal flailing in circles, stumbling to the ground, then back up. But it didn’t run away, or couldn’t. By the time Ron got down the hill to see what he’d done, his head was already swimming.

At a City Council meeting a couple weeks back, Boulder Mayor Matt Appelbaum spent a fair amount of time suggesting that Boulder’s elected leaders need to do a better job of filling out their legally required disclosure forms, which were, of course, designed to shine light on potential conflicts of interest. The mayor’s right.

Ever since last year’s decision by Boulder County Commissioners to allow genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to be grown on county open space lands, opponents of that ruling have looked to this November’s election as the next best way to reverse the county’s position.

Businesses have already succumbed to the area’s growing international reputation as ground zero in the fracking wars, and the old town center is pretty much a ghost town at this point. The locals are mad about it, but they can’t seem to agree on whose fault it is.

Administrators at CU are like those people who go to Vegas, lose a bunch of money, come back home and tell everyone who will listen that they really won, and then either refuse to admit, or are honestly incapable of grasping, that they have a serious problem.

On Feb. 24, Judge Naomi Buchwald dismissed a lawsuit filed by Coloradobased Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) against Monsanto. But OSGATA is not giving up.