CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200% their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. While the much-needed water has improved...
US West Faces Reckoning Over Water but Avoids Cuts for Now
CARSON CITY, Nev. — The white rings that wrap around two massive lakes in the U.S. West are a stark reminder of how water levels are dropping and a warning that the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River face a much drier future. Amid prolonged drought and...
US Travelers Brace for Snowy Thanksgiving, ‘Bomb Cyclone’
MINNEAPOLIS — A storm packing heavy, blinding snow and fierce winds that wreaked havoc as it whipped through Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska marched into the upper Midwest on Wednesday as anxious Thanksgiving travelers buckled up and barreled headlong into a busy, if not perilous, holiday week. The wintry storm that left at...
Wintry Weather Threatens to Snarl US Holiday Travel
DENVER — A storm that dumped heavy snow in Colorado and Wyoming forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights in Denver on Tuesday and has made driving impossible in some parts of the two states just as the busy Thanksgiving week travel period went into high gear. About 7 inches...
Voters Decide on Sanctuary City, Airbnb Rentals
Voters in the West took a dim view of taxes, while New Yorkers backed a new way to elect some of their leaders and a New Jersey city cracked down on Airbnb. Tucson voters seemed uninterested in becoming a sanctuary city, and those in Washington weighed whether to roll back...
Giants, Rockies Use Majors-Record 25 Pitchers in 16 Innings
SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner is planning to pitch once more this season. After he started Tuesday and tossed seven innings, 12 relievers followed on a night the Giants and Rockies combined to use a major league-record 25 pitchers. Colorado finally finished off San Francisco 8-5 early Wednesday morning when...
Colorado's Hickenlooper Ending 2020 White House Bid
DENVER — John Hickenlooper will drop out of the Democratic presidential primary on Thursday, according to a Democrat close to him. The former two-term Colorado governor, who ran as a moderate warning of the perils of extreme partisanship, struggled with fundraising and low polling numbers. His planned departure from the...
Should Grizzly Bears Be Restored to California's Sierra?
Wildlife advocates are seeking a court order that would force U.S. officials to consider if grizzly bears should be restored to California's Sierra Nevada and habitats in other Western states, following the animals' resurgence in the Northern Rockies. Grizzly bears are protected as a threatened species outside Alaska. An estimated...
10-Year-Old 'Emotional' After Climbing El Capitan
A 10-year-old Colorado girl who appears to the youngest ever to conquer the famous "nose" route of Yosemite National Park's El Capitan said the experience was "really overwhelming, really emotional." Selah Schneiter of Glenwood Springs completed the challenging 3,000-foot climb last week with the help of her father and a...
At Least 2 Handguns Used in Charter School Shooting near Columbine
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Two high school students used at least two handguns in the shooting at a charter school that killed one of their classmates and injured eight others in a Colorado community that just weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of one of the nation's worst school shootings,...