Dana Coffield

3 days ago | coloradosun.com | Alex Hager |Dana Coffield

There’s a break in the clouds that have hovered over Colorado River negotiations for more than a year. State water leaders appear to be coalescing behind a new proposal for sharing the river after talks were stuck in a deadlock for more than a year. The river is used by nearly 40 million people across seven states and Mexico, but it’s shrinking due to climate change. As a result, state leaders need to rein in demand.

4 days ago | coloradosun.com | Courtney Tanner |Dana Coffield

The 15 days that Caroline Dias Goncalves spent in a federal immigration detention center, she said, were “the hardest of my life.”In her first statement since being released on bond Friday, the 19-year-old University of Utah student described what she experienced while in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

1 week ago | coloradosun.com | Celia Frazier |Dana Coffield

GRAND JUNCTION — Tracy Scott spends most of her days caring for 24 formerly wild horses and a burro that roam 42 acres of dry, sagebrush-dotted land behind the coral and teal-colored home she shares with her husband on the outskirts of Grand Junction. It’s hard work — hauling hay, filling tubs with water and working with the mustangs on trusting humans. Recently, Scott has been doing all the work herself.

1 week ago | coloradosun.com | Alex Hager |Dana Coffield

President Donald Trump has tapped longtime water manager Ted Cooke to be the next commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The nomination, submitted Monday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, attempts to fill a pivotal role at the top federal agency for Western rivers, reservoirs and dams. If confirmed, Cooke will become the main federal official overseeing Colorado River matters. His nomination comes at a tense time for the river.

1 week ago | coloradosun.com | Robert Davis |Dana Coffield

Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday granted pardons to four Coloradans convicted of state charges of possessing psilocybin and psilocin after voters legalized the natural medicines in 2022. The executive order announcing the pardons says it applies to a handful of people who were age 21 when they were convicted of possessing the psychoactive ingredients found in certain kinds of mushrooms.