Local News

This year’s legislative session got off to a slow start, but that’s about to change. Two of the biggest items for Democrats are scheduled for hearings in the coming days. As part of our capitol conversation series, statehouse Bente Birkeland takes a sneak peek at what to expect.

On Tuesday (1/22), Delta County Commissioners will further discuss an ordinance that would block certain parts of Amendment 64, the constitutional amendment that makes recreational marijuana legal in Colorado. KVNF’s Marty Durlin reports on the ins and outs of marijuana legislation at the local level.

This week, residents and business owners from the North Fork Valley returned to Washington, D.C. in hopes of stopping the Bureau of Land Management proposal to lease 20,000 acres for oil and gas development. 

The Colorado legislature prints millions of pieces of paper each year, costing the state a hefty sum. But that could soon be a thing of the past. This year in an effort to cut down on costs, each of the 100 lawmakers received new i-Pads. Bente Birkeland has more from the state capitol.

Colorado’s Speaker of the House says he expects lawmakers to act on several of President Barack Obama’s recommendations to curb gun violence. Bente Birkeland reports that Governor John Hickenlooper has also called for a broad discussion on guns during the legislative session.

Colorado Democrats are once again trying to pass a bill to give illegal immigrants who graduate from Colorado high schools in state college tuition. Students currently pay out of state rates. Similar measures have failed in the past, but supporters expect the bill to easily clear the legislature now that Democrats control both chambers. Bente Berkland has more from the state capitol.

State lawmakers have already introduced more than 100 bills on a wide variety of topics since the legislature began last Wednesday. From the state capitol, Bente  Birkeland has more on the first of many gun measures.

An avalanche killed a Summit County man outside the town of Marble this past weekend. It's the second avalanche related death in as many weeks this winter. From Aspen Public Radio, Luke Runyon reports:

A hearing officer is making no recommendation about whether to approve or deny a license for the Pinyon Ridge uranium mill in western Montrose County. Instead, he's leaving the decision to state regulators. Retired judge Richard Dana submitted his six-page ruling to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment yesterday. From KOTO in Telluride, Stephen Barrett reports.

Nearly a third of this year’s state lawmakers are newly elected, and they’ll be expected to debate a host of complex issues from Medicaid to marijuana, gun laws to the death penalty. As part of our capitol conversation series statehouse reporter Bente Birkeland takes a look at the first week of the session, and gets reporter’s thoughts on the Governor’s state of the state address.