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Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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Political Wire: "Mike Huckabee won West Virginia's Republican convention on Tuesday, after an apparent deal with Sen. John McCain to prevent Mitt Romney from taking the 18 delegates at stake. Romney led after the first round of voting, with Huckabee second and McCain way back in third place."
Political Wire: "'With the Republican presidential nomination within reach,' Sen. John McCain is 'reshaping his campaign to press on without public financing that could limit his spring spending,' reports The Politico. McCain's 'rejection of the presidential public financing program he once defended is just the latest evidence of how ineffective the post-Watergate reform has become in an era of multimillion-dollar candidacies.'"
Let's see if we have this correct? McCain is dropping out of McCain-Feingold? The new candidate of change? 
Political Wire: "Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said that the campaign had raised 'about $13 million, $13.5 million' last month, according to the Washington Post. In contrast, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced last week that it had raised $32 million in the month of January."
"2008 pres"
6:08:44 PM 
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Comcast is scheduled out this afternoon to install a new cable modem and give us our shiny new static IP number. You will not be able to get to Coyote Gulch using the URL http://coyotegulch.net for a while. Right now we can't predict how long that will be since after the new Comcast setup is complete we have to email our DNS hosting service so that they can change our record. We're also unsure about the network configuration behind their new cable modem. Their tech last Friday assured us that we would have access to the new gear for configuration, etc. We wish he would fly in to do the installation since he was the one that finally had a memory of some business customers getting static IPs on AT&T's (the *old* AT&T) 24 network. With Comcast you sometimes get techs without much training. At this point we don't trust Comcast to actually deliver -- we'll see.
You'll be able to peruse Coyote Gulch at http://radio.weblogs.com/0101170/ of course.
Posting will probably be light this evening owing to the network changes on our side and the fact that today is Super Tuesday and the Colorado caucuses are tonight.
7:08:37 AM
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Captain's Quarters: "Eugene Robinson once again takes a close look at the Clinton Restoration, and again decides that he can't abide it. The Washington Post columnist wonders exactly how Hillary can argue that her experience as First Lady somehow included actual governance, and then in the same breath insist that Bill will have nothing to do with running the country as First Spouse."
Check out CQPolitics.com for a rundown on today's caucuses and primary battles.
Political Wire: "On the eve of the Super Tuesday election, the latest Gallup tracking poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama in a tight national race, 47% to 43%. Drilling down to just the Super Tuesday states shows Clinton leading 49% to 44%. In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain continues to hold a commanding lead over Mitt Romney, 45% to 25%."
Josh Marshall: "SurveyUSA has a final California poll out including calls from Monday night. The tally: Clinton 52%, Obama 42%."
"2008 pres"
6:56:35 AM
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Rocky Mountain News: "Colorado today joins the national stage in picking a president, marking the first time in decades the state has been considered a player. Republicans and Democrats tonight will go to their precinct caucuses and indicate which candidates they prefer for president."
"2008 pres"
6:46:05 AM
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We'll be that Powertech would like to avoid getting involved in state politics around HB 08-1161 but on Monday they were at the legislature looking for ways to change the compliance section of the proposed legislation, according to The Greeley Tribune "reg". From the article:
A company that wants to mine for uranium near Nunn proposed changes to a state bill in the Colorado Legislature on Monday that would change how the company complies with proposed rules governing mining. The bill, House Bill 1161, would require that companies such as Powertech -- the Canadian company proposing the Nunn mine -- clean groundwater to pre-mining quality after it finishes mining the radioactive material.
Powertech could use one of the amendments to get a pre-mining water quality waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency that some say is a way of circumventing certain water quality regulations at the state level, though other regulations on water quality would still apply from other agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In addition, the bill as introduced would require companies such as Powertech to provide evidence of five successfully cleaned mines before its permit is approved. Powertech proposed a change to the bill Monday that would allow mining companies to give only a "comprehensive history" of mining techniques and the risks involved in them. State Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, said the bill as it currently stands is aimed at stopping companies from getting that waiver from the EPA, which sometimes allows companies to do with the water quality what they want. "Local communities have the right to know what mining companies are doing," he said. Richard Clement, president of Powertech, said the amendments were worked out with the Colorado Mining Association to clarify what legislators are asking of the mining industry.
A companion bill, HB 1165, would give local governments more control over what sort of mining is allowed in their communities. Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, said current mining law doesn't regulate the in-situ leaching method of mining. The bills are necessary because mining companies industrywide don't have the best track record at cleaning water, Parsons said. "They regularly contaminate aquifers and don't clean up the messes they make," said Parsons, who added that he thinks Powertech will be able to clean up the water. "It's a pretty high hurdle, but it's an appropriate one, I think."
Opponents and proponents of Powertech's proposed uranium mine in Weld County will have several opportunities in February to voice their opinion about the operation according to The North Forty News. From the article:
The Larimer County commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on the issue for Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m., in the first-floor hearing room of the Courthouse Offices Building. While Larimer County is not a decider for the project, the commissioners could choose to pass along comments and concerns to Weld County, as well as state and federal regulatory agencies. In addition, hearings on two mining-related bills before the state legislature are planned. The bills seek to change requirements in the mining permitting process under the Mined Land Reclamation Act. They're designed to "raise a new standard of protection for scarce groundwater resources in rural Colorado communities," said Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, who co-sponsored the legislation with Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins. HB-1161, the bill dealing with groundwater quality and in-situ leach uranium mining, was scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 30. HB-1165, which allows the public to access more information about prospecting activities, will be heard Feb. 6. Fischer noted that Colorado is one of only a few states that maintain confidentiality around prospecting. Mining states that already require more openness include Montana, Utah and Wyoming. HB-1165 also affirms the authority of local governments to control mining operations within their jurisdictions. Both bills have been assigned to the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"2008 pres"
5:57:55 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 2:06:01 PM.
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